Five Week Boothbay Harbor YMCA Challenge

I was so proud of myself last week. I exercised every day, sometimes more than once, and I wrote about each new experience I had. In 8 short days, I had become a Person Who Exercises. Everything that is supposed to happen was happening: my mood was better, I had more energy, my skin was glowing, and I felt stronger. I vowed to carry my exercise habit into the school year, and friends were asking me if I would be doing a Hometown YMCA Challenge Blog next. And then it all unraveled, starting with a pair of Exercise Capris from the Dollar Store. I've always been a little skeptical of the "athleisure" trend. Word blends are annoying and I can't wear multi-colored spandex capris with mesh side cutouts to work. Any spare cash I have goes toward finding Appropriately Boring Teacher Outfits. I'm envious of the Workout Moms who rush out of Barre Piyo Crossfit to pick their kids up at school in their PowerLite Gia Fabletics Capris. They look hot and I look frumpy and ti...

Earlier this summer I did some educational consulting in New Hampshire, and in between sessions I got the chance to visit with an old college friend, Erika. Arriving at her house, I got out of my car and she remarked on my blazer. "Look at you," she said. "Wow!" I own two blazers. One is white linen and the other is navy blue. I put them on when I want to look like I know what I'm doing.  "Don't pay any attention to the blazer," I told Erika. "It doesn't mean anything." Day 8: 9:15 am Easy Rider Cycling I wake up at 5 am and drag myself out of bed for Total Body Challenge. Meagan is mysteriously absent today and so are Super Nice Middle Aged In-Shape Woman and Nice Classmate. I have to create my own program of cardio, weights and sit ups and it's not easy. I worry a little bit about how I'm going to carry my new love of attending exercise classes into the fall, but I decide to put off thinking about that for now...

I didn't get to write a post on Friday, but I did attend Friday's Total Body Challenge at 5:30 am. I started to feel less like an awkward outsider and more like the new kid in class and I chuckled while some of my classmates groaned or harassed each other to lift their core during Meagan's rapid-fire program of jumping jacks, weights, and sit-ups. The girls joined me for Aqua Combo at 8 am, which is another brand of Water Aerobics in the cold pool. We stayed for a swim in the Mermaid Pool and chatted with some of my Mermaid Friends; I learned that one Mermaid is a former grade 7 teacher, and the other had her babies at Beverly Hospital like I did. My friends Jen and Scott arrived on Southport at dinner time, and the girls and I went over for a visit. Because I am ridiculously awkward, I somehow managed to scrape my leg on the side of a piece of furniture while also sort of tumbling head first into a bookcase. "It's ok," I joked with Jen, "I'll put it ...

Publishing my blog ended up being a little more complicated than it originally seemed, both technically and emotionally. My friend Adrianne and I talk a lot about something called "Imposter Syndrome". Wikipedia defines it as, "a concept describing high-achieving individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud."  I've struggled with Imposter Syndrome all of my life. In fact, I worked as an educational consultant earlier this year and had a nasty case of it.   Do I really have anything of value to offer? I wondered.   Are my ideas dumb and obvious? In the case of this blogging project, after I let more people know I was doing it and added the subscribe option, I started to worry that this whole project was ridiculous and stupid and that my writing is horrible, trite, and a waste of everyone's time. I sent frantic texts to Allison and Adrianne asking if I should erase the whole t...

If I had to pick one person who has impacted my life most significantly, and I couldn't pick one of my children, it would without a doubt be my friend Allison. It sounds cliche to say I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for her, but I stand by that cliche and raise it: After all these years, I don't know WHO I'd be, either. Allison enthusiastically read my first post and after the second texted me, "I'm really into it," which felt kind of like every time an elementary teacher put a sticker on your paper all combined into one giant moment of pride. So it's no surprise that by 8 am this morning Allison had sent me the directions (not so easy) I needed to add a subscribe button to this little project of mine.  Like I said, no cliche, she's the real deal. Day 3 5:30 am: Total Body Challenge Wednesday Edition Determined not to wander the halls of the Boothbay Harbor YMCA again searching for the Total Body Challenge, I make every eff...

By yesterday evening, I had shared my blog with my most trusted friends and my children and it seemed like #MermaidYoga was trending. "I want to go to Mermaid Yoga," said just about everyone that had read the day's post. By dinner time, my daughters were asking me which classes I was going to attend tomorrow, and when Mermaid Yoga meets again, and could they go too. But I went to bed without a plan. Day 2, 8 am: Deep Water Aerobics I wake up at 6 ready to plan my approach for today.  The girls are home in the morning and I figure I will extend the option to attend a class since enthusiasm was high for Mermaid Yoga. I look at the daily schedule and text my daughters assuming they are still asleep. "You could do the water aerobics with me and then I could drop you in town while I do the Pilates one, but we would have to leave around 7:25," I write. It is now 6:39 am and I am shocked when Lucy texts me back, "Ya that sounds fun." I am hesitant. "We...

When I sent my friend Adrianne a link to my first post she sent back a message we both laughed about: "Really excited to meet Relaxed Stacy". "Spoiler Alert," I told her, "there's no such thing as 'Relaxed Stacy'; in the end I realize I'm just built with an extra motor." To be honest, on my drive up here I started to wonder if I was really going to do this at all. And when I said yes to that "extra" beer last night I was pretty sure Day 1 was going to be a massive bust. But there I was this morning, waking up a little before 5 am, putting on my exercise clothes, and hearing my husband say "I'm super impressed with you right now." Just like that I was dressed, in the car, and catching the last bits of the foggy pink Maine sunrise. Day 1, 5:30 am: Total Body Challenge When I arrive at the desk an older gentleman expresses zero concern that I don't have my YMCA card. He has no idea where the Total Body Chall...

To my potential readers, Let me start by saying that I fully acknowledge that as a teacher I have more time off than most people. I know, we teachers get a lot of time off. So much time. And while you wouldn't envy my salary, you're likely pretty jealous of my long and luxurious summers. It's ok with me if you go ahead and admit right now that you hate me at least a little tiny bit for it. What you wouldn't give for all this time. If you work a job that doesn't follow the school year calendar, let me apologize in advance for this blog and the 10 (yes 10) weeks I have off this summer. As I write this, I am in week 4 of my vacation. And why not crank this whole thing up a notch and say that I'm already bumming out because I feel like it's "almost over". I know, I am an utterly ridiculous human. But, if you're just a tiny bit interested, and if you feel like there is any way you can get over your jealousy at my long vacation, and if you'...