I'm Sexy and I Know It ...

 Who'da thunk??!? 

My film debut would be me in a swimsuit, showcasing an exercise program? 

Seriously! 

As is my usual two-to-four times a week custom from October to April, I went to aquafit at the pool today.  I usually show up about 20 to 30 minutes early and do some core work treading water before the 50 min cardio program starts. 

The cardio program started at 12:10 today.  

I entered the pool about 11:40. Another gal joined me shortly thereafter.  We were the only two there in the shallow pool. 

A few minutes later the aquafit instructor waved the two of us over. He is a super friendly guy who just started leading these classes, of mostly elderly women, at the beginning of the New Year.  He's only been in Canada, from south Asia, for about two years. 

He was quite nervous and a wee bit awkward to start with. 

But he has really come along the last 6 or 7 weeks.  He is always asking for input and opinion in his broken English.

He waved the two of us over and asked if we'd be okay if he video'd while he instructed and explained the differences between doing jumping jacks in shallow water versus deep water versus on land. This was a requirement of his becoming certified as a fitness instructor. 

I thought it weird that he would ask just us two rather than waiting for the entire class to arrive.  

We gave our "click here to accept" consent without really knowing what we were consenting to. 

Before we knew it he set up his phone camera on a tripod, the music in the entire pool shut off and he waved us over to the end of the pool. 

And the two of us were versed in the art of doing jumping jacks for about 10 minutes. 

By the time the recording was over, a dozen or so others had entered the pool wondering why the heck they were apparently late for class when they were still 5 minutes early. 

Our film debut ended right at 12:10.  

Time for class to start. 

He motioned for the class to start the warm-up jogging while he went to fire up the music playlist. 

After 15 minutes of silence throughout the complex (so the instructor's instructions could be heard on his phone camera while he recorded his two willing participant athletes) the class music started belting out... 

"I'm Sexy and I Know It " was the first song. 

Followed by Adam Levine belting out "Moves Like Jagger." 

Coincidental that these two songs were the first ones played after my swimsuit film debut? 

I think not. 

It's February Again. Already!

 

It seems every year has two New Years. 

Of course there is January 1st, the actual New Year of the Gregorian calendar. 

But September often also feels like the "New Year."  

The kids go back to school. 

The casual days of summer are winding down. 

Many clubs and churches and sports teams and groups begin a new season. 

For many years, September brought to me a pull and a longing to 'go back to school.' Not for anything in particular.  Not a yearning for high school math and PE and lockers with combination locks that haunt my nightmares even on occasion still, 40 some years later.  

I just wanna learn stuff that I want to learn.

 I do admit that the last few years that pull has been a little less intense.  I have been busy.  Busy forging a new life. A new husband. A new house. And new adventures. Surely the waning pull for schooling has nothing to do with an aging brain.  

Last September that old feeling surfaced again, and I signed up for a watercolour painting class at Studio 2880. I loved it! Much of it was stuff I knew, but I did learn some things, but mostly I loved just being scheduled every week to have to do something that I enjoyed, but didn't necessarily make time to do (outside of needing to be intentional about painting 110 Christmas cards each year.)  Happy New Year. 

8x10 Watercolour Painted at Studio 2880

Then January came. The real New Year. 

New year, new starts. 

I began signing up for classes that enticed me. 

And here it is the last day of January and I find myself registered and participating in 11 different classes, groups and clubs. All of them in the creative arts in some way or another. 

Most of them online. 

That's the problem with the online world and algorithms. All you have to do is show interest in ONE thing. And BAM! Everything that comes across your feed is more enticing than the last.  And you gotta try them all. 

So my clean, simple watercolour art studio that my new husband and new house have granted me, has suddenly become filled with acrylic paints, fabrics, papers, glues, canvases, scissors, inks a plethora of other things. 

And my Amazon delivery guys are on a first name basis. 

And I rarely emerge from my studio, except to go to the pool three or four days a week. Not so much to get a bit of bodily exercise, but to get me out of the house so I can stop by Michaels for more supplies on the way home.  

And tomorrow is February. 

And February means Opus Art Supplies daily practice month.  

Opus Daily Practice is an event I have participated in for the past eight years.  

Each day they give a prompt word and the participants create a piece of art somehow remotely connected to the word.  

For eight years, I have taken that prompt word and painted a watercolour work of art. Ok, they haven't all been 'works of art'.  Many have been experiments. But they are watercolours.  

Eight years times 28 days, and a couple of Leap Year's thrown in there. That's a LOT of paintings. In recent years I have made most of the paintings greeting card size so I could get rid of them - 8x28 equals many. (Sorry, I don't math or PE anymore). 

But tomorrow is February... 

Watch for the Opus Daily Prompts to bring out more than watercolour paintings in me this year.  

Also, I'm trying to keep up with all kinds of classes and mediums and content. So you might wonder how I connected the prompt with the image you see. 

There's a very real possibility there isn't much connection at all between the daily word and the art. But I will post some form of art each day in February. You can use your imagination to make a connection...

...or just shake your head.