Uhm Yeah, there's a certification for that!

Yeah, about this turning 40 thing and the bucket list...uhm, somewhere in between those two things I decided to teach dance fitness, i.e. Zumba. It's one of those things where you start the sentence with, "See, what had happened was..." I say that because I was never one to always dance (unless in the club back in the day) or attend any type of fitness class on a regular basis (not on your life, unless it was in my living room) or desire to teach (well, it was that one time that I thought I could teach African dance after taking an African-robics class). But, that's all in retrospect. We're talking about the here and now.

Yep, a year and a half ago, I walked into a Wednesday night Zumba class taught by Sara Bremer, not really knowing what to expect and I was hooked. It kind of put me in some kind of hypnotic trance or the music must have had some hidden messages delivered to the subconscious mind because all of a sudden I said, "I can do this. I'mma teach Zumba!" (I'm still wondering where that voice came from 'til this day!) I took a Zumba certification class and told Angie Acosta of Queen City Dancing Queen, "Okay, I'm certified, but I want to teach with your group." Yep, you know how the story went because I'm teaching with Ang and the QCDQ posse.

Yeah, about that... Uhm, here's the thing. I was supposed to be just teaching and having fun - but that is work! Learning choreo, being consistent, remembering stuff -did I tell you that as I've aged, my memory is starting to suck! Yeah, and now I'm accountable to lead groups of people all the while having an aging memory issue - and an getting AFAA Group Training Certification.

Hold up, what was that? Get a what? An AFAA Group Training Certification. Wait, who said anything about that? I just wanna dance! (You mean to tell me there's a certification to teach dance, too?) Yeah, who knew that I had to take that test. Fast forward and rewind back to last Friday - all day from 9-5:30. Certification Day. All. Day. Long. Here's the other thing...after spending the whole day going over muscles, figuring out what strength and stretch exercises to do for the practicum part of the test and breezing through a study workbook for the test and etc, and etc. - we start the test the last hour of the day. Someone should tell AFAA that college students have the agility and adaptability to workout all day and mentally exhaust themselves and still take an exam and someone should also remind AFAA that most of the participants were well beyond the collegiate age group! (Let me just say, I am not sure if I ate enough brain food because I was mentally exhausted by the time I took that test.) Side Note: The instructors for the day were absolutely wonderful and did their best to instill information into the participants.

Halfway through the test, I looked down at my answer sheet...(sigh) there were a lot of C's marked. Oh well... Let me just get back to dancing when things were not so complicated. Hey, I've got an idea! Maybe someone should make some music that subconsciously teaches all the muscle groups, nutrition, energy sources, fitness risks and benefits, etc (the etc. is everything you should know for the AFAA certification) and that way, while we're exercising our bodies our minds are getting plugged with information. Yeah? Yeah? You like that idea? It's yours, consider the first one free. If you make a million off of it, then I charge 20% for the idea. Good luck!

Why do we grow old and stop living?

Tracee, is not only my best friend, but also my prayer partner. This morning as we met on the phone for prayer (she lives in Brooklyn, NY), one of her requests was for her grandmother to stop being afraid to live. I thought about it for a second and realized that I, too, should pray for my Granny. With all of my grandmother's faith in God, she still fears to live.

Why do older people stop living life? They fear traveling on airplanes and boats. They always heed the warning, "Be careful," even if you're just going to the movies.

I think I should pray for myself that I don't paralyze my livelihood by fear. When I grow old, I want to be a hellraiser on two wheels. I want to ride my motorcycle to the beach and find a nice little lake and skinny dip. Well, I want to try skinny dipping before my tits fall to my navel. But, I pray that I won't let sagging boobies prevent me from dipping in my bornday suit! I want to continue to travel and even go further across the world meeting different people on  various paths. When I get older, I want to hike a tall mountain and then zip line down to the valley and then snorkel in the ocean and tell my doctor and CNN that old people ain't dead!

I remember when I went to Guatemala, one of the ladies on our mission team was 78 years old. I watched her get around on her own like a middle aged spry woman. When she checked her email I thought, "What does an 87 year-old woman doing with email!" Many older people reject computers and technology, but not her. She admitted that she does a "crop" walk to raise money each year (5 miles) and at age 72 she jumped out of a plane. 72 years old and sky diving! Wow! That's how I want to live - live life to the fullest!

A few friends of mine that I met through Zumba have been teaching me about laughing out loud and living. I live vicariously through these girls via their photo's on FB. They go out and dance like there's no tomorrow, throw get-togethers with each other. They even threw a Golden Girls party and dressed up like the characters from the show. Tracee used to throw "Game Night" parties where games were played all through the house and "Black Exploitation Movies" and "Old Sitcoms" parties where they watched the movies and shows, played trivia games about them. Just original fun and living life out of the box.

So, this year you will be reading my blogs about me: pole dancing, dancing in a cage, ziplining, rock wall climbing, and traveling!

Ohh, I know - we should have a Sex in the City Party and watch the movie...and then the Glee party, sounds like costumes, characters and fun!

My bucket list for age 40

1. I want to wear a bikini by my birthday. I tried on my a bra and panty set tonight to see how close I was to my goal. Heck, I've been working out and done a few sit-ups (my ego was obviously speaking over reason). Yeah...let's just say that I've got some work to do before I go bikini shopping.

2. One of the two times that I was sent to camp, I experienced some risk-taking-fear-facing challenges. One of them were zip lines and now that I've found that there are zip lines here in NC, I'm adding it to my list.

3. Learn to swim. I know, I know! I've heard it all before but no, I don't know how to swim! I've been in the pool with friends and all I could do was stand in the 4 ft. section. Whateva! And no, it wasn't fun being the only person in flight attendant training breaking down (with anxiety) in the pool as we simulated emergency water landings.

4. Learn to ride a motorcycle. I have too many friends fighting me on this objective that I may have to postpone it. "It's too dangerous." Yeah, I know...I've heard. But, I still daydream of me riding through the countryside on my Honda Shadow.

Okay, I need to think bigger. My bucket list has to be more risk taking like parasailing, riding in a hot air balloon (I'm not skydiving so forget that!), try out for America's Next Top Model (short models edition), stalk Oprah to get on her show, meet President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, deliver a baby...yeah, stuff like that.

Let me revise my bucket list and see if I can get more daring. Life is too short for me to hold back. I know, because the year pass by as if it were only two months long -- and 40 would be here before I know it.

Father time please stop for just a second.