Shake, Shake What Yo Mama Gave Yaaa

I love Zumba. It's a class I take at the gym that combines salsa, hip hop and belly dancing into one fabulous hour of cardio/dance drama. I used to cheer and dance for 14 years, but nothing prepares you for being in the spotlight like a room full of woman shaking their stuff and another room full of men close by breaking their necks to see us break it down. The first time I carefully tried to follow the instructor, step for step, wiggle by wiggle. Now I know the routines and am able to throw it around a little more confidently. Then I brought my friend Faith into the equation...

Do you all have that one friend that always makes you laugh? That's Faith. She is from the heart of Georgia and is possibly the craziest, silliest girl I know. I love her for it. We met in college and have remained close friends. Just recently she and her husband moved to the QC so we are enjoying hanging out more. Last night she joined me for class and turned the whole experience upside down. She was flailing around, singing with the music yelling things like, “Ohhh shake it sistas,” and “Stir it up, stir it up.” When she missed a step (which was often) she let out a huge laugh and whooped and hollered all the way through the hour. When the instructor told us to shake our butts, she responded with a squeal, “What if you don't have one, is there an alternative move?” What was fabulous is that it made everyone loosen up. She said what everyone else was thinking. She free-styled when she couldn't catch up or catch on and it encouraged others to follow. She was just being herself. I love friends that help you loosen up. As the oldest child I am a little more type A than I would like to be, so friends like Faith are a blessing. They help you come out of the box a little. By the end of the night we were all free-styling well after class was over.