House of Sway: July 2011

The State of the Art

I'm working on an article about my recent trip to Florence. It's due Aug. 19 and will be for a business and travel publication. As with any time I have massive amounts of information to cram into a single travel article, I sometimes doubt that I'll be able to do the locale justice. I think I did manage to take some good photos, though, and hopefully, after I decide which ones I'm going to submit for printing, I'll know which ones I can post here, too.

As far as my day-to-day work goes, I'm still finding it frustrating that companies can misplace my invoices, or they might get buried in my editor's inbox, etc. And because it takes most magazines at least 30 days to pay freelancers, I can't know that the invoice has been misplaced or skipped until 30 days passes. Then by the time I let the finance department know and they rectify the mistake and cut me the check, two months may have passed. The result is an earnings spreadsheet with lots of red boxes representing thousands of outstanding dollars. Completely annoying.

On another writing front, I've legitimately given myself an ultimatum. (Can you say something is an ultimatum even if there aren't really any negative consequences?) I've told myself I have to finish my novel by my 30th birthday. I turned 27 in May, so I feel like three years should be a reasonable amount of time to accomplish this. I've had an idea brewing since 2006. I was working at a law firm in downtown Phoenix and some scenes and characters came to me. I started scribbling down some notes, and ever since then, these characters have not left my mind. And for the past half decade, I've lived with them in my head, and their story has developed more and more, and I know that it's time for me to just get it out and down on paper. The problem is, I often have a hard time justifying to myself time spent on "investment work" rather than work that's going to immediately pay the bills. Which is a lame excuse. Last year I did National Novel Writing Month and got a good start on it -- so I know what I'm capable of if I just make the stinking time.

From now on, Fridays are for fiction. Monday through Thursday I'm going to work hard to fulfill my other work obligations, and then no excuses, Fridays I'm going to sit my butt down and try to write as much as I can. Even if none of it's good. Even if none of it will be ultimately usable. I just have to get it all out and down on paper. Wish me luck with that.

The State of the Household

My boyfriend left yesterday morning for a week-long vacation with his family, so it's going to be very quiet around here. Usually I get pretty lonely whenever he's gone this long, but I honestly have so much to do and think about this week, that the time will probably just zip by. For starters, I need to crank out that travel article mentioned above, plus working ahead on other upcoming to-do's wouldn't hurt at all. And if I can get all of that to a good place by next Friday, then I won't even have to feel bad about taking Friday and Saturday to work on my fiction project.

Not to mention, I need to clean the house. With me being gone on my own week-long vacation just a few weeks ago, plus with both of us having been so busy with work and other projects these last couple of weeks, the condo is in major need of being put back together. And not to say my boyfriend is messy, but ... let's just say it will be easier for me to reclaim our living space with him gone for a week.

Plus, there are books I want to read, movies I want to watch, bubble baths I want to take, and non-boyfriend-friendly meals I want to cook. I don't know how much, if any, of these things will really happen in the next seven days, but hey, a girl can dream, right?

The State of the Extracurricular Activities

Also, this week is my first working week as an instructor at that fitness studio I mentioned in a previous post. I have been training my fanny off the past 12 weeks, and then this past week just about did me in. I've been at the studio every single day for several hours at a time, and yesterday I was there from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. going over everything all over again. "What?" you ask. "What kind of fitness instructing requires that much intense studying?" This is one of those barre workouts -- a mix of yoga, pilates and ballet barre work. It got me into the best shape of my life and became so fun and addicting that I knew I wanted to become an instructor. Little did I know how much each instructor actually puts into teaching one of these 60-minute classes, though! As in instructor, you're leading a class through a routine, so you're talking the entire hour, giving them cues for each exercise, plus walking around and giving them individualized and positive corrective feedback. The entire time. You have to have the flow of all the exercises memorized, plus you have to stay on the beat and change the music where appropriate. If you see that most of the people in your class are having a hard time with the exercise you've set them up in, then you need to change it on the fly to something a little easier yet still challenging ... The whole thing is a blend of certain material that is etched in stone, and other material that the instructors have to improvise as they go. Plus, you have to make sure that you don't go over 60 minutes, or under 60 minutes.

I can't remember the last time I had to speak in front of people for a full hour. Maybe never. In a way, you're kind of putting on a 60-minute performance for your class that they can follow along with. It's been a little overwhelming to learn everything, but regardless, today is my first full-length class. I have to teach a full 60 minutes with real clients in the class. Another instructor will be present in case I pass out or something, but otherwise, it will be all me. And then tomorrow, Aug. 1, I'll teach my first real class, and no other instructor will be there to bail me out if, say, I forget an entire section.

It is a lot to remember, and at times, a lot of pressure. But sometimes, when the other instructors who are going through the training program start to panic, I just say, "Hey, relax. Remember, at the end of the day, you're just helping people exercise." Not that big of a deal.