Some days, it just all falls into place, in spite of everything...

Some days, it just all falls into place…
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending my first ever public Zumba class. I enjoy Zumba, but had never tried it outside my Wii game and the safety and privacy of my own living room. I wasn’t expecting to completely embarrass myself, but I wasn’t exactly expecting to come away with the huge amount of energy and the on-top-of-the-world feeling that I found. I enjoyed a place directly behind my friend Chris, who has been attending classes for a while, and by the time I left I was aware of two things. 1. I am not as rhythmically impaired as I originally thought, and 2. Even though I have panic disorder and regularly fear that I suffer from some cardiac malady, I clearly do not suffer from any cardiac maladies at all or else I would have surely not been able to do an hour of Zumba.
So, I came home with all kinds of energy and this led to not being able to sleep. I didn’t want to kill the healthy buzz I had going by indulging in Uncle Ben or Magic Hat, so I tossed and turned and thought of what color nail polish Kate Middleton would choose to wear for her wedding that was getting closer by the second and I intended to watch, even though I had had no sleep. For the record, I now know what color she chose but I’ll be darned if I’m telling any of you before I get a chance to run out and snag a bottle. It’s not even a color I would normally choose, but I must have it now.
Anyway, I finally fell asleep somewhere around midnight thirty, and woke up to get our Royal Wedding party going at 3 a.m. Charley had been kind enough to make cucumber sandwiches, crumpets and tea cakes, and had provided a nice assortment of English breakfast teas for the party. I had a wonderful time sitting on the sofa with my girlies, watching the Royal Wedding and eating tea and crumpets. Remember the crumpets…they’ll come back in this story later.
At 8 a.m., I needed to be at the church to commune with my friends over biscuits and to discuss secret, important topics that I will not discuss here, things like what might possibly happen in the Fantastic Four and what we should call the bathroom news. Unfortunately I had to cut my morning short to go meet with Mrs. Bell, the principal of the primary school, who thankfully I happen to adore. We discussed the end of year report that I must prepare and present, and discussed once again my vision of placing a Georgia habitat in the courtyard. Shortly after this is when it all began to go downhill. Mrs. Bell asked what was in the container. I told her it was a praying mantis. She quickly retreated to the other side of the room and looked at the container with caution. It was about this time that Ms. Tinnell, funny, patient, artistic Ms. Tinnell, happened to walk by the office. “I’m so excited about you bringing your mantids to our classroom. Maisy tells me you are going to wear the crown she made you.” OOPS. I have left the crown at home and I tell Ms. Tinnell that it is her duty to tell Maisy of this unfortunate turn of events.
Later she walks back by the office and I ask her about the crown, and if she has told Maisy that I forgot it. She says no. I tell her that she simply MUST tell her or I will be in trouble and the presentation will be ruined. She says Maisy is still high off her tea and crumpets and won’t notice. “Just stuff another crumpet in her mouth,” she advises me. I love this lady. She tells me that she wants to come live with us because we do fun things like raise praying mantids and serve tea and crumpets. I love this place. I love this school. I love being on this council where I can do things like place mantis eggs in the garden and actually have people appreciate it. Thank you Lord, for bringing me here. Thank you for letting me be in this beautiful place. Thank you for teachers that don’t think twice about saying, “stuff another crumpet in her mouth.” Thank you, so very much, for bringing these people into the lives of my children. There are no words. Just “thank you.”
I finished my day by presenting my final mantis show of the year to the first grade of West Jackson Primary School. I was astonished by how much they remembered from last year. They remembered all kinds of things like exoskeletons, metamorphosis and insect classifications. Finally one little boy had a question. “How long have you had the mantis tattoo?” When I told him I had had it for about five years, he said, “Man…you are the coolest ever.” Thanks little friend…you are pretty cool too.
Hello to my calling. You are getting much louder.
PS—the color is Essie’s “Allure.” I have it now!