A quick look in the mirror today reminded me that I’ve been schlepping off on my workouts. I was in a pretty bad car accident mid November of last year which immobilized me considerably and effectively kept me away from the gym for the last 3 months or so. When you’re on a tight schedule and your gym is not at home, getting to and from work with a gym in between becomes damn near impossible. Yes I’ve seen athletes pull it off, but I’m no athlete.

Looking at my pasty self in front of that mylar mirror made me think of Black Swan and all those skinny dancers. Not because I bear a striking resemblance to Natalie Portman,I do, but because of how damn skinny I am! Which leads to me to this rant: Dancers. HOLY CRAP! Have you seen a male dancer? In full get-up and all?? They are INSANELY fit! I guess you’d expect that from anyone that has to balance their body on their toes while gracing across the matlay dance flooring. Flexing and holding impossibly painful, yet strangely beautiful, poses in front of glassless mirrors. Arousing many a curious patron with their grace and flexibility while practicing on their ballet bar.

It was then and there that I think I needed to get into classical/ballet and dancing. My slender figure would benefit greatly, as would anyone else’s, from the intense workouts and discipline required of a ballerina. A tutu wouldn’t be half bad either.  Now I’m off to get my first piece of dance equipment for home.

I was going through all the wonderful comments you guys make on our website and I was pleased to see how many of you decided to go with our company because a product was Made in America. I knew our Gymnastics Equipment as well as our Dance Equipment and many of our other products, are made in America.  Whenever I hear “Buy American” I usually see it as a marketing ploy. I can’t stand salesmen or ploys to trick me into buying something (which will make me the most honest salesman ever). I went online to look up actual reasons to buy USA made products and I’m going share with you my favorite:

-Foreign labor standards allow unsafe worker conditions in many countries. When you buy American you support not only American manufacturers but also American workers, safe working conditions, and child labor laws.

-US manufacturing processes are much cleaner for the environment than many other countries; many brands sold here are produced in countries using dangerous, heavily polluting processes. When you purchase American-made product, you know that you’re helping to keep the world a little cleaner for your children.

-The growing lack of USA ability to manufacture many products is strategically unsound. When you seek out American-made goods, you foster American independence.

- Foreign product safety standards are low. For example, poisonous levels of lead are in tens of millions of toys shipped to the USA. When you buy toys and other goods made in the USA, you can be confident that American consumer protection laws and safety standards are in place to protect your family.

- As the US manufacturing ability fades, future generations of US citizens will be unable to find relevant jobs. Buy American and help keep your friends and neighbors-and even yourself-earning a living wage

-Shipping anything from overseas can take a long time and be pricey when you consider duties and fees that have to be paid. Even if you don’t order directly from another country, if the company you do order from gets their products from overseas- they most likely pass those extra fees onto you

I was going to list all our products that are made in the good ol’ U S of A, but then I discovered it’s too many.  From Gymnastics to Dance, you can be sure it’s made here- even most of our Anti Fatigue Mats.  In fact, the things you won’t find are made here are the Soft Floor Tiles (trade show flooring) and our Yoga Mat.  But I guess you can’t win them all.

It was National ‘Mean Girls’ day recently, and I know you’ll make fun of me but I LOVE that movie!  So, as offended as I was, when this next thing happened to me, I thought it very appropriate:

I’m going away this weekend on a much needed mini vacation to Catalina Island.  I’m really looking forward to turning off my phone and just disconnecting for a while.  I haven’t really had any time to just relax and enjoy the amazing weather we’ve had this summer (I know…sad). 

So anyway…I went to Nordstrom yesterday looking for some swim shorts and when I asked the sales clerk she replied “That season is over, you can try Ross.”  I was mortified!  But being National Mean Girls Day I took it as festive. Plus, she really got me thinking about how fast the seasons are changing! That means the Holidays are fast approaching!!!  I somehow always forget to start shopping, so I guess I’m grateful?  Now I’m stressing out and starting to think about how I can get the most gifts for my buck. Getting to the mall to shop is not an easy task, especially when I start thinking about lack of parking and the unorganized shelves. I really would prefer to do all my shopping from home, if only I could not pay for shipping. 

 I wish I knew more people that needed dance equipment, gymnastics or cheerleading equipment.  We have many great products that are really affordable.   In fact, that is even before you take into account that a lot of the dance and gymnastics equipment includes shipping!  That really makes life easier because when I am budgeting how much money I will spend on all the people in my life, I rarely think about shipping costs.  I also never think about shipping errors, which is odd because I see how often shipments get lost or damaged.  By the way, if that ever happens follow the procedures from who you are ordering from and you will be protected. 

We can do everything we’re supposed to, to get your cheer mats or other package and out on time, and stuff still happens!  You wouldn’t believe how often a storm delays a plane, or a truck breaks down or some overwhelmed delivery guy accidentally delivers the package to the wrong address.  I figure I should probably start shopping now, and attempt to avoid all the chaos or at the very least have enough time to rectify the problem. Oh well…as soon as quitting time hits, I’m stress free!