What I Did This Week

What. A. Week. I am struggling to keep my eyes open, but I already went one day this week without a post, and I just couldn't do another. So here's a quick recap of the week:

• I worked out only three times: upper body workout on Monday, 1.5 miles Tuesday, 3 miles today. But on Wednesday, when I knew we didn't really have time to workout, I insisted that we walk to our meeting on campus, which was about a 2.5 mile walk each way. No excuses!
  
• I did precisely one round of yoga for Courtney's June Yoga Challenge, and I guess there's nowhere to go but up from there, right?
  
• I interviewed for a teaching position at another high school and endured all the stress, preparation, and anxiety that comes with such an event.
  
• As a result of the above, I slept terribly all week.
  
• Terry and I attended Follies at the Ahmanson Theater and had a great time despite not loving the show.
  
• I enjoyed a fantastic surprise goodbye lunch with my coworkers.
  
• I posted on Wednesday but completely forgot about WIAW.
  
• I taught my last day of classes at my current school.
  
• On the day I was supposed to hear back about the job,  I left my phone at home. Like a champ.
  
• My coworkers and I helped with the high school graduation. I was a bag checker: I searched people's bags to make sure they didn't have weapons, air horns, flowers, water. I learned that people get pretty pissed when you try to take their stuffed animals away.
  
• I got the new job. (!!!!!!) <--More on this one when I'm not about to fall asleep.
  
• Terry came out to work with me today and we packed up my classroom, took his mom out to lunch (please don't judge the fact that I've been to Lemonade four times in two weeks), and completed our aforementioned three miles in a super nice neighborhood near my current school. It was a gorgeous run.
  
• After this crazy week, we went to the ballet.

I had never been to the ballet before, but I danced (including ballet) for 12 years and had impossibly high expectations for a professional company's performance. We saw that Swan Lake was playing at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, performed by the Bolshoi Ballet, and Terry suggested we make it a date. (How lucky am I?)

I can't tell you how excited I was. I still truly love dance, and I absolutely appreciate how difficult it is to turn your body into a piece of art. Before the show, we grabbed sandwiches and a little pasta salad (plus some wine!) and enjoyed it all on the big patio outside of the pavilion. We also walked around and took a few photos before the show.

View from our picnic spot

Definitely going to try to recreate this pasta at home!

View of city hall 

Around 7 pm, we headed in to hear a few minutes of a pre-performance talk by a dance historian, who was a brilliant speaker and provided some rather impassioned information about the ballet. She said that Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty are the most famous and best works by Tchaikovsky. Also, a ballerina who performs both the white swam (Odette) role and the black swan (Odile) role in Swan Lake typically retires Swan Lake from her repertoire first, because it is such a difficult and exhausting performance. 

The ballet itself was everything I had hoped it would be. The ballerinas were stunning. They executed the choreography impeccably and expressed incredible emotion through their bodies. I was particularly impressed with the Four Swans and the Black Swan solos. What an amazing night. Apparently so amazing that I prompted the lady behind me to tap me on the shoulder at the end and say, "Wow, you really appreciated the whole show!" I sure did!

After such an exhausting week, I'm ready for a good night's sleep. I look forward to a workout tomorrow (strength + cross training) before we head up to do some wine tasting with Terry's parents. I hope you had a great week!