I was chatting with a friend the other day, and in the course of the conversation, it somehow came up that I had taken horseback lessons way back when. She said, "You sure have taken a lot of lessons!" I always supplied my kids with lots of lessons/classes but hadn't really thought how I'd applied it to myself. This need for extracurricular stimulation started back in elementary with swimming classes and went on from there.
Elementary:
1) Beginning swimming. I was stuck in that class for three summers until I became brave enough to jump in the deep end.
2) Intermediate swimming.
3) Advanced swimming classes.
4) Piano lessons for about six months (until my parents got rid of the piano right out from under me when I didn't practice).
When I could afford to pay for things myself:
5) Community ed course in Findlay when I was 18--no idea what the course content was.
When I moved to Columbus, exciting choices faced me:
6) Sewing
7) Singing
8) Cooking gourmet foods
9) Ice skating
10) Dancing to African music. (I mentioned before that I had been pointed out as a bad example. Bad, bad teacher!)
11) Ballet
12) Tap (I performed to Top Hat at a luncheon in the OSU grad school hallway.)
13) Modern
14) Jazz
15) Horseback
16) Bowling
When I moved to St. Louis for a short time:
17) Snorkling
When I moved to Springfield, OH for a short time:
18) Piano
19) A community class with my boyfriend Steve to show him how willing I was to learn about his chosen field of study: architecture. (The only thing I remember about that class is that we discussed Ionic vs Doric columns, and I'm pretty sure I don't know the difference today.)
20) Skiing
When I moved to Madison:
20) Piano again (Did I practice enough? No, I did not.)
21) Tennis (once at UAH, once through private class. Did I ever become good? This is more of a resounding no than the swimming.)
22) Singing again
23) Zumba
24) Drawing (I seem to be finally having some success here despite the fact that I don't practice enough!)
Self-taught:
25) Crocheting
26) Writing
So, anyway, I've discovered that I may be curious but not necessarily persistent with the result that some classes were more successful long-term than others. It's not likely that I'll drown in a swimming pool but may not fare so well in an ocean. Seeing as I cry at the drop of a stitch, sewing didn't really work out for me. Tennis lessons never really took, either. With my teacher, I seemed to be able to keep a steady rhythm going; but playing with Steve was another matter altogether and other forms of exercise that lacked zig-zagging like mad across a hot tennis court made more sense. When I sing better as Marge Simpson than in my real voice, you'll understand why I don't sing in public. On the other hand, I still use my ham and cheese recipe from the gourmet cooking class, I zumba like a crazy Latina, write like I love it, and draw--if not award-worthy--respectably.
Of course, I've probably left something out, but I'm sure it's made me a better person.
Can anyone beat me with their own list of lessons?
