My Brain is Still in California

My last post was on the 10th, which is . . . how many days ago? What day is today? Who am I? Where do I live?

In a nut shell since the 10th, I've:

- Had an amazing book signing with fellow-author, Sarah Bowen Shea (photos to post when I can figure out what "safe" place I tucked them in)
- nursed a sick kid back to health
- hosted my mother-in-law for 4 days
- done the regular "Mom" stuff
- nursed a hurt foot
- traveled to Ojai, CA for 3 days of BodyHoops Teacher Training (ie., hours and hours of hoop dancing/move learning/lesson plan learning/etc.)

I got home from the last adventure sometime after 11PM last night. Based on how well today has gone, I do believe I left my brain in California.

Despite the fatigue and the challenge of getting back into "mom mode" after a long weekend away, I'm really quite excited about things to come. My plan is to arrange several 6-session hoop classes for children starting in the fall. I'll likely organize to hold some adult classes, too, depending upon how things unfold these next few months. First I need to polish my hoop moves, but since I'm now hooping daily, I'm hopeful that my skills will be up to par by the time I get all of the business details worked out (insurance, location, costs, etc.).

I can't say enough about how amazing the weekend in Ojai was. It was the first time for as long as I can remember that I was truly out on my own from start to finish - including driving myself to and from the airport. I'm over 30, but I haven't ever done the rental car thing on my own (either my husband or one of my parents has been along for any rental car excursions with me), driven down a 12 lane highway in California, stayed in a hotel on my own or eaten more than one meal a week at a restaurant alone. But last weekend I did it all. And thanks to my GPS (awesome "little" invention), I navigated from Burbank to Ojai and back without fail, slipping in some dining adventures along the way.

The teacher training (I did Level 1 & Level 2) was fantastic. Diana Lopez, the founder of BodyHoops, was our instructor, and she really has this all figured out. She ran the weekend as a series of mock classes so we could get a true sense of how classes are paced, develop our own hooping skills, and get a handle on the terminology. We had group discussions, she helped us troubleshoot, and all the while worked with us at our own experience levels cheerfully and encouragingly (is that even a word? See? Brain hasn't caught up with body yet). The training manual has it ALL written out so that I can remember it all in a week or so when I'm all caught up with being back home and can really focus on moving forward. I do look forward to practicing every day to get better. Seriously, daily. Can you think of a better way to coax a smile . . . better yet, a full belly laugh, out of yourself at the end of a long than hula hooping? Maybe one day in the not-so-distant future I'll even get my Level 3 license. It is totally on my dream list now! And maybe even fire hooping. OK, definitely fire hooping. Yes, fire hooping. I'm getting in touch with my fun self and I'm loving it.

Interested in learning more about hooping? Want to order your own awesome, weighted hoop (these aren't the hoops from your youth)? Leave me a message and I'll get you a coupon code to save you $5 on your order!

Next up . . . the very delayed run-down of the book signing (which, too, was a positive experience). With that post, look for info about how you can WIN a copy of Run Like a Mother. I'm timing it just right with Mother's Day. So maybe you won't have it in hand for Mother's Day, but really mothers should be celebrated and appreciated more than one day a year, right?

Happy running, happy reading and happy hooping!