parting is such sweet sorrow!

Well, it had to come to an end. Three weeks of jumping, swimming, running, pumping, and doing Pilates every day flew by, and tomorrow I head back to the halls of high school, this time in a subject I'm a Master at (or so says the diploma). I'm certainly not complaining-- I mean tons of people wake up every day hoping for a job and I have one, albeit for only six weeks-- but I sure do LOVE my part time job, which makes it a little bittersweet. Every day at the YMCA, I am greeted by folks who SMILE at me as I walk through the halls chasing my Tot! They think he's precious, dirty face, barefoot, and all. He's told every one of my senior (citizens) about his train table that Santa Claus brought him and they never seem to get tired of his blabbering baby talk, smiling and cooing at him, despite the fact they have no idea what he's saying most of the time. They never fail to thank me after class for a "great workout" and tell me how much fun they had. Eh, not so much with the American Lit students.

Pretty often at the YMCA, I receive souvenirs from the retirees who are enjoying their retirement and stop midway through their travels to buy something for me and/or my kids. Just this week, I left with two chocolate bars from Austria and a handcrafted Easter egg, not to mention a sweet thank you card from a lady recovering from surgery, simply thanking me for the motivation I give her every day in the pool. I'm no stranger to homemade jelly, breads, and cookies either, because what could be better than burning tons of calories and following it with a softball sized snickerdoodle. All this makes the paycheck seem even bigger come payday.

I also have a younger crew I see most days and when we're not laughing, gossiping, and catching up on the latest episodes of trash TV or debating what to do with a mouthy 3rd grader, we're huffing and puffing at a 7.5 on the treadmill or hitting the sprints on the Spin bikes. I've marveled at first time 5kers, ladies shedding baby weight, and newbies who've never lifted a weight before and see the first hint of muscle tone. Talk about "Meeting the Standards," we do that every day. One can see why my trade off is a little tough.

When I show up tomorrow I'm not guaranteed smiles at the door, but if I'm lucky I'll get a few. I'm not certain of compliance. I may have to ask twice for a project to be done, whereas I never have to ask a water member to REBOUND! There will be bathroom requests, too many cellphones, and questionable dress code violations. Of course, that last one does come up sometimes at the Y, but it's not my place to judge an octogenarian's choice of Speedo.

But it isn't all bad. How many people get to work with their spouse? I can see Coach every day at lunch and sometimes that's the only child free conversation we'll have that day. How many people are made privy to the relationship woes, best friend drama, and SAT stress that doesn't personally affect me (not yet, anyway)? And speaking of cellphones, the teens can teach me waaay more about technology than the water members, and I'm all ears. I learned everything I need to know about the kids I-pod touches from last semesters 4th period. And I may not get a smile first thing in the morning from a sleep-deprived, heart-broken, English-hating teen, but when I DO manage a slight grin or tiny chuckle from the coolest of kids, it's soooo worth it! Makes the paycheck seem a little bigger at the end of the day.