"This One Time, at Band Camp....." oops, I mean on June 11th, less than 72 hours ago!

 Just a few days ago, Tuesday the 11th, to be exact, I had "one of those days" that those of us with chronic pain experiences every once in a while, or maybe more frequently, as in my case. Being a Phase 3 member of Kaiser Permanente's PMRP (Pain Management Rehabilitation Program) in Sunnyvale, California since April of this year, I am hard at work using the skills and tools I have learned. At the top of my skills list is the concept of "The 3 P's" which stands for Planning, Prioritizing and Pacing. This is a technique that we practice to break down each day and organize what we want and need to do in a way that considers what is the most important and how we will make each activity, task or event work around our challenges by breaking it down into doable pieces and at a pace that works for us in the given sequence of moments we call the "next hour" or the "the work day" or even the "whole day." So I had figured out Tuesday, with excellent planning and was looking forward to getting a few things taken care of... (previously posted on Pain Management Program Silicon Valley)

"Sigh...left my home before 9am, felt good that I got it together before noon! Had 3 tasks planned; take my son to the gym, take my 13.5 year old standard poodle to a new groomer, then head to the high school I would like teach at next year to drop off a book I borrowed from the teacher that coached me in 2011 after I got my credential. The good news is I did all three things. The bad news? I let my son out of the car in front of the gym but started to drive away as he was getting his gym bag out of the back of my car. Had trouble finding the new doggie hair salon but got her there close to on time. Then got to the school and my coach had stepped
out of the office, so I introduced myself to the Assistant Principal of Instruction, letting her know I would really like to teach there if she had any part-time openings for next year. I was excited, things seemed to be going well... as I waited I was straightening my shirt, when I felt a tag on my right hip..strange. Oh shit, my pants are on wrong side out! Now granted they are "Yoga pants", thank you God these didn't have a white cotton crotch! I thought I looked fine, My hair was brushed, my outfit was casual, however school is out for the Summer, so all of the administrators were in sweats or jeans with flip flops...l am now heading straight home! My "I have it all together feeling" felt shattered, yet I had to laugh at myself! I taught fitness classes from 1984 when I started teaching "Aerobics" until I retired from teaching Yoga, Pilates, Zumba and any other types of fitness in 2009. Never in my career had I had this type of "fitness attire wardrobe malfunction," despite the fact that it actually happens quite often to the poor group exercise instructors that get dressed in the dark to teach in the wee hours of the morning! 

Not exactly the lore of "Band Camp" but amongst the fitness teachers of the world this is a common topic filled with many experiences that are probably high on TMI.