I was talking to my friend, Lindsey, the other day.
I love her so much. She is one of those people I could spend hours pondering life with.
And laughing with.
We both have awkward underpants stories that have haunted us throughout our lives.
But her stories are better. I can't breathe right when she re-tells them.
Her lost swimsuit-bottoms-jetskiing-in-a-lake-after-a-speaking-engagement-with-people-
she-just-met-that-day? One of my favorite stories of all time.
Joy.
I so love to laugh.
I think we are made for it.
Our faces look so much better when we are smiling.
All the wrinkles go the right way.
Lindsey and I talked about hard things, too.
Like who we wanted to be when we grew up.
Things keep switching up on both of us. Life is crazy life that.
But I told her that I knew one thing, no matter what career path I am on....
If I can make some people laugh while I am figuring this life thing out...
If I can usher in some joy...
If I make some people hold their sides when I tell a story...
I want to do that.
Because joy lets us breathe.
I had a moment of pure unadulterated joy on our family vacation this summer in Colorado.
Laughing so hard I couldn't catch my breath.
Which should have been scary because I was in a pool.
Except that I wasn't swimming...I was in a water aerobics class
with my sister, Jenny, my sister-in-law, Traci, and my cousin, Janna.
Yep. Water aerobics.
The class was called "Aqua Pump."
That should give you a visual. We were pumping it up...in the water...
with about 20 other women...in our swimsuits...to 90's hip hop.
They had all the jams playing.
It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Right. Or a whole bunch of AARP members with pool noodles.
You get it.
We were at the lower end of the age spectrum.
So we were feeling good about ourselves.
Except that Janna and I were having issues with our swimsuit bottoms
while we were pumping it up.
Who knew that while performing underwater jumping jacks
your swimsuit wants to stay in one place while you jump up and down?
This would have been no big deal...
expect for the lone guy swimming laps in the lanes behind us.
He had goggles on. We weren't interested in giving a show.
Janna and I had to resort to one handed jumping jacks.
One hand flailing in the air, the other hand was keeping our pants up.
We moved on from jumping jacks to the "taco/tostada" move.
This required us to bend in half like at taco...then flatten out like a tostada.
Keeping your head above water.
Using your core.
Let's be honest. I don't actually have a core.
I was very little taco...mostly tostada.
The few times I got the move right propelled me across the pool towards another aqua pumper
who was facing me.
She was coming for me, too.
Our feet were headed towards each other.
I yelled out, "I don't want to touch feet with you."
Something I have never said to a stranger before.
We altered our course.
Strangers shouldn't touch toes in the water.
Or should they?
Our instructor thought that we should at least hold hands.
Yep.
The whole class joined hands. In two cocentric circles.
One inside the other.
And we proceeded to put Esther Williams to shame.
Or shame her...I don't know...one or the other.
One circle jogged to the right, hands held under water.
One circle jogged to the left, clasped hands held high above our heads.
The instructor would yell, "Switch," and we would change directions and arm positions.
Traci was all business - she hit every switch with precision.
My sister, Jenny, was laughing so hard she could hardly make the switches.
I was waiting for some synchronized swimming instructions - it felt like that was the next step.
We were so pumped up after our aqua pump class
we talked other family members into joining us for a different class, later in the week.
Aqua Plunge in the lazy river.
A full hour of under water laps with resistance training.
With 9 of us.
My two sisters.
My sister-in-law.
My teenage niece.
My two married nieces.
And their husbands.
Seeing David and Zach taco/tostada?
That was a pleasure.
Aqua Plunge was no joke.
There were floaty weights involved and deep lunges as we struggled against the current.
David was bypassed by an elderly plunger who taunted him saying,
"And you thought this would be easy!"
Cousins lined the side of pool nearest the lazy river and cheered us on.
We gave them high fives and hollers as we would come around the corner
to complete our laps.
We were a bit raucous. There were high spirits.
Joy.
I would do it all again in a second.
I am trying to talk a couple of my girlfriends into
helping me find an aqua class that we can take here at home.
Not because I feel great in a swimsuit.
I just really, really like laughing.
Get yourself down to the Y and do a few taco/tostadas with a friend.
You'll see what I mean.
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