Exercise, Mom, and a Ball

This week consisted of: I went to the gym every day except for Thursday! Yeah for me! I did aero-step and pilate classes both a couple times. Aero-step is where they torture you with weights while you are stepping up and down in crazy patterns on your little stool. I suspect this will improve my coordination. It definately couldn't hurt any! It is a little painful to see exactly how clumsy one is by trying to follow a perky instructor who is bouncing up and down on her stool WHILE being I am surrounded on all sides by mirrors! I rue the moment she directs the class to face my direction, putting me in the front so they can see me falling all over myself in an attempt to get fit. It is actually pretty effective however. My body has been in a constant state of aching the entire week.

Also this week on Wednesday my Mom went to her first chemo since she got sick last time. She actually looked like herself again, even down to the little sparkle in her eye. She is a little thin, and she is still working on getting her strength back, but she felt good enough to tease my dad and Danny a little bit. It felt good to see a that little bit of oneriness again. Her doc took her all the way off of one of the chemos. He kept her on the 5FU, but he cut it back to about 3/4 as much as she was getting last time. Hopefully this will keep her from getting as sick. We ended her time in Missoula at Famous Footwear where I helped her pick out a couple pairs of shoes. She was supposed to just sit there while I brought shoes TO her, but she was up looking around quite abit herself. She has a great love of shoes. They lift her up in so many ways.

Thursday I went to school with Derrin to help out in the Kindergarden class. It is always so much fun there. All his little classmates are nice little kids. His teacher says that his class loves eachother almost TOO much. She can't hardly get them to quit talking. She is great at finding assignments for the parents so you actually feel like you are doing something worthwhile for the kids while there. She had me take each kid out, one by one, and go over their numbers and shapes. I quite enjoyed myself. Teaching kindergarden seems like it could be a great job.

Today I met with the lady who is organizing the annual Hospice Ball. We go to it every year because Derrick and Dave donate all of the electrical setup and maintenance for the event. This year, I am going to be doing the portraits there. Today we picked out several materials to use in the portrait backdrop. She said it includes a convertable and Marilyn Monroe to fit the theme "Dancing with the Stars". I must admit, I am a little apprehensive about taking this on. I don't feel quite qualified. At the same time, it will be a really good opportunity for me because it could be a stepping stone into being a photographer at other events. So, this weekend and next week I'm gonna be practicing portraits in artificial light situations... we'll see how it goes!