's motd Tuesday Oct 21, 2008

[Guest guest]

A WEEKEND I WON'T FORGET!

Tuesday, 21 October 2008

I have to tell you that I had a great time at our October Weekend Retreat. First of all, there were so many people in the group that I'd never met before. Plus, there were those who I had not seen in many, many moons. Now I'll admit, this group was a rather unhealthy and inactive one. But we were out to change that.

I could tell that many of them did not exercise on a regular basis and were not really staying on a weight-loss food program. I also saw sadness in many of their eyes. And you know how I like to turn sadness into gladness. So, I'll admit, I had my work cut out for me with this group on a couple of fronts. The retreat was a lot of hard work. The gals who came in from all over the country to join us took quite a few classes. (No surprises there, right?) And, I'm proud to say, they got better with each class they took. But, besides all of the sweatin', our weekend was also a great deal of fun. We did a lot of laughing together. (And that's really important, too!) I wish you could have been there for our evening extravaganza on Saturday night. First, we had a group that included a DJ and ten professional dancers who taught everyone the Slide, the Disco Points and the YMCA. Those dancers were great. They even performed a few dances for us to watch them do their thing. Whew! And I thought I had lots of energy! Next we got into our karaoke part of the evening. I have to tell you something. See, I have never been to a karaoke music session...ever! So this was all brand new to me. About 15 people had chosen the songs they all wanted to perform. And boy, did they ever sing!

One of the ladies who sang was our own Dana M. from Slimmons. She could have changed her first name to "Donna," Saturday night! I mean, you should have heard her sing Donna Summer's Last Dance. I'm telling ya', you would've thought she was in a recording studio. Her voice was so clear, beautiful and unbelievably strong. Dana got a well-deserved standing ovation by the time she finished her performance! After that show, I've gotta say that karaoke is definitely in my blood now, baby!On Sunday, our final day together, besides another sweatin' class, we played Pictionary after lunch.

We also did a lot of journaling this weekend. Many of the ladies in our group read some of their personal journal entries to us. We learned a lot about each other and they learned a lot about themselves during these sessions. By the end of the weekend, I got to know all of the ladies very well and they got to know each other, too. I know many of them will keep in touch and be an excellent source of support which is oh-so important. Also this weekend, they learned a lot about their bodies, how to treat themselves and how to eat healthy, too. What a staff I had to help me! And I want to thank them all again. Thank You Anne, Sherry, Janet, Kathy, Dana, Felize, Sue and Jan! I could not have done this retreat without my incredible team!Now the question is: Will I have more retreats?Love,