Seriously sore . . . and a harrowing experience

Wow! I am so sore today! I spent the weekend in LA taking the certification courses for AFAA (Aerobic and Fitness Association of America) and holey moley - I am sore! I did completed the kickboxing certification on Saturday (9am-5:30 pm) pretty much moving all day! It was great fun and I learned a lot about proper alignment and movement in a group exercise setting. The teacher was awesome - energetic and informative. I want to be a teacher just like her! Sunday was certification for primary group exercise instructor (9am -7:30 pm)!!! This class seemed to drag on forever. Part of the problem was that there was a lot of repetition from the day before - which helped me, but made it somewhat boring. Another problem was that there were over 100 people being certified, so there was a lot of confusion. The teachers were both nice, but their style was less engaging that the instructor from kickboxing. All in all, I think it went well. We had to demonstrate proper technique and teaching ability to the examiners and also take a written test for each class, but I feel that they both went well and I am confident I will receive my certifications. I have to wait 4-6 weeks before I will know for sure.

All in all it was a fun weekend. The driving was the gnarliest part. We left late on Friday and it was raining pretty much the whole drive down. Luckily my husband is the best driver on the planet. Seriously, the man is a machine behind the wheel! It is a good thing too, because on the way down - at about 1:30 am - an SUV passed us and the driver lost control of the vehicle. She hydroplaned into the center divide, ricocheted off and continued hydroplaning kind of sideways & backwards literally 100 yards in front of us, then went off into the ditch where her car flipped over and landed wheels up. It was by far and away one of the scariest things I have ever seen in my life. Needless to say, we stopped, called 911 and proceeded to help the girl - who was thankfully unharmed - out of her vehicle. We left once the police came, but I don't think the image of her vehicle sliding along the road in front of us and flipping over will ever leave my head. I swear, I will never speed in the rain again! Luckily, the drive back was uneventful and we eventually got home at 2:30 this morning. For that reason - an the fact that my body feels like it was run over by the defensive line of a football team - I am playing hooky today!

Okay, so I am feeling rather frustrated right now, so if you are not up to reading major venting, stop now!!!

So here's the deal, I have worked for a non-profit rehab center for nearly 3 years now. I started out full time, but when I went back to school, I started working part time. Mostly for the last year and a half I have worked only Saturdays. Saturday shift tends to be very mellow, just monitoring the clients to make sure that they complete chores, monitoring the phones, and doing some minor paperwork like charting and filing. Mostly I sit and for this whole time I have been able to get some homework done. I never hid the fact that I do homework there, in fact, I explicitly stated that I needed to be able to do homework or I would not be able to maintain the job. Especially now that I am in class or clinicals five days a week and then at that job one day, I have only one day left to be with my family. I really don't want to spend the bulk of that day doing homework, and effectively ignore my children all week.
All has been well with the job, even if I have felt a little burn out, I was working through it. We had a rough group of clients for a while there (which happens) and I was feeling stressed. But then this last week my boss (who has been my friend since she started working with me, but has become distant since she became "the boss") called me and chewed me out. She basically told me that I could not do my school work while at work because everyone needs to be doing more work. When I asked her what specific tasks she needed me to complete, she could not give me any other than that I need to be walking around the building. While I understand her point that they don't want to pay me to do my homework, I would have appreciated a different approach, especially since it represents a change from the original agreement. The bottom line is that unless I can do homework there on Saturdays, I cannot maintain that job. I frankly need that time for my schoolwork and I am not willing to sacrifice my family or my success at school for a job.

So, as much as it pains me to do it, I think I am going to have to quit. It makes me really angry because I feel that things ran smoothly on Saturdays. Some days were better than others and I admit my own responsibility in becoming too lenient with the women, but damn it I get tired of being a glorified babysitter for grown women who should be able to follow directions, but obviously can't. (See - there goes my burn out!!!) Regardless, the few women I have been able to connect with and maybe make a difference made it all worth it.

Damn, I hate conflicting emotions, so I will end for now.