The preparation for certification

Tomorrow is my Zumba certification class and I am all packed.

Here is my bag sitting by the door and ready to go. This bag was a great idea. It has all my food and drinks, my toiletries, a towel, my dance shoes, a change of dance clothes, a change of regular clothes, extra hair clips and bracelets, and three tensor rolls for my ankle (never hurts to have extra...).

I finally decided on dance clothes.

I'm borrowing this idea from someone I know who runs marathons and often photographs her running outfits this way, "flat", for her blog.

Here's "Flat Miranda" number one... Pink hair ties and hair clips, my pink and orange Rhythm Rocker shirt, grey sports bra, pink and orange bracelet (Wrap Me Up Scotty), black samba cargoes, and orange socks. I was very decisive about this outfit, it was easy to pick this out. My favorite pants with my favorite shirt. Picking out a second outfit drove me nuts until my friend told me I should wear my new pink cargoes (thank you Tay). I talked about them in a previous post and I ordered them from Zumba.com about a week ago and had no hope they would be here in time, but they were! You can see the pants I'm referring to here on my blog, but not on Zumba's website anymore. Two days after I placed my order, they took that particular pair out of their shop. It had been on sale with every size (but XS) still available. That's practically unheard of, so I figure it just wasn't a popular pair of pants because usually every size -but- XS sells. I'm really glad I bought them when I did.

Here's "Flat Miranda" number two. It works out that the same hair ties and clips work with the second outfit. Handy that... This is my "Join The Party" shirt in mulberry, with my new pink cargoes, and a pair of pink socks. I've got my matching "Join The Party" bracelets too. The shirt and bracelets were some of my birthday presents this year, and I posted about them back in August.

It's a relief to have my clothes in order for tomorrow. I had everything else organized except for that. But now, my bag is packed and ready to go. All I have to do in the morning is get dressed, have some breakfast, and get on the road. In fact, I'll probably put the bag in the car tonight so I don't have to think about it tomorrow morning. There aren't too many ways to prepare for the actual class. I don't know the playlist, obviously, but even if I did, and I knew some of the selected songs, the choreography might (probably will...) be different. My nervous energy needs an outlet, so I've channeled it into packing my stuff for the day. Aaanndd...writing this post. Heh.

I've heard it said that one should, "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best." I suppose that's good advice in certain circumstances. Tonight though, I am preparing for the best - one of the best things I've done since starting Zumba in the first place. And hoping for...I'm not sure exactly, it's hard to put into words what I'm hoping for. Greatness maybe, excellence possibly... I want to be the best me I can be at this, and there are certain people who have walked with me on this journey that is Zumba and I'm hoping that I can make them proud.

Best advice: Be the best you that you can be at whatever it is that you do, at whatever it is that excites you.