Lately..

I've had my nose to the grindstone. Just been busy I suppose. Teaching my own classes and subbing quite a bit too (22 classes total last week). Since the middle of March the weeks have been going by very quickly. Can't wait for May when we've got two camping trips planned ....hopefully some weekends away surrounded by nature will help slow things down a little.

In other news we're auditioning an instructor at the gym tonight. She's a cheerleader coach at the local university and has experience teaching hip hop, cycling, and pilates. I asked her to teach a hip hop class tonight with some pilates based ab and mat work at the end. I learned in Texas that this kind of interview always worked better. I can't tell you how many times I auditioned somebody for 5 or 10 minutes and they were flawless only once hired to have them show up late all of the time, have crappy report with the members, or be completely horrible when in front of a group. The opposite proved true as well. A few times somebody would audition horribly but I took a chance and hired them anyway and they turned out to be a complete and utter *star* when they got into the group dynamic of a real class. I know if a gym let *me* audition this way I'd appreciate getting to know what kind of a member base I was dealing with and whether or not I would be able to gel with the crowd before I got committed to teaching there.

(((( shudder )))) I'm having flashbacks of teaching at Lady of America back in Texas just now. Woooo Weeee. The constant scrutiny, judgement, rude women members stomping in and out of class as they felt like it? Or just plain yelling at me if I made a mistake or missed a cue? The purple carpeted aerobics room shoved into a mirrored corner in the middle of everything? Treadmills on one side and weight machines on the other? Women yacking on their cell phones 2 feet away from me while I was trying to lead a yoga class? Had I gotten just a mere taste of them at an "audition" situation.... I would have never taken the job.

Having said all this, I hope the girl tonight likes our gym and is a good fit. I'd love to find some spots for her to teach some fresh new stuff.