Not Writing--Zumba! Zumba! Zumba!

As if I didn't have anything else I needed to be doing (like writing, for instance), I've recently taken on another profession. It's been another passion for me over the last five years, mainly because I can't bear sitting down all day on my squishy little tushy (and believe me, it's not that little--but it is definitely squishy). I've found that if I write without stopping for ten hours every day, my hands don't hurt at all, but my legs are none too happy. A bit of high-intensity Zumba works pretty well, though. It also doesn't resemble the moronic drone of the treadmill, but feels a lot more like dance than exercise, making it worth doing. (I've never found exercise worth doing if I HATE every second of it.)

Going even further out on the fitness limb, I earned certification in Zumba Fitness this last June, and in August I started out as an instructor with a pretty easy schedule: four half-hour classes per week at the local Curves. Not too bad. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I wasn't likely to get much writing done, but I could deal with that. The ladies there were lovely, and when I introduced the little coin belts for belly dance, they loved them, ordered a bunch (which I sold at cost), and we've had a fantastic time jingling around the room ever since.

If only it had stopped there. But, no, if I had Tuesday, Thursday and Friday free, that meant I might be writing (God forbid!). So when the Outer Limits Fun Zone e-mailed me asking me if I was interested in teaching some classes, I said yes. They said they wanted to start out small. I thought that meant a class or two. 

But no. SEVEN. Yup. Seven full hours of Zumba added to my week, in four morning sessions and three evening sessions. Even worse, the place offers bouncy houses, snacks, and big-screen TVs with Wii and XBOX games for the kids, so I can hardly drag them out of there once I'm done teaching a class. 

A perfect scenario, really. I'm tired. I'm getting a great workout several times over five days a week (and practicing new songs on weekends). The kids are getting a TON more activity. I've lost five pounds over the last four weeks (which is a LOT for me), and the flab on my upper arms is almost gone (phew!), and even if my tushy is still a bit squishy, I can honestly say "I'm working on it!" Even more, all the showering takes time, along with shopping for "work" clothes (jeans just don't cut it) and driving around from venue to venue. It's all good, and it all takes time.

Only one problem: I'm still writing. Yup, at the end of the day, when my throbbing feet need to be raised up for the evening (who knew my feet would feel like they did when I waited tables?), I open up my laptop and let my fingers move as rapidly as the salsa steps I took a few hours earlier. WITH this schedule, I've finished my revision of my novel, and I've even written and polished up my query letter. The only thing I haven't had time for yet is researching agents to begin my search, and I have enough time today to get that done and still clean the bathrooms, do the dishes, teach one more Zumba class, go to lunch with the hubby, and vacuum. Darn!

In fact, after all this working out, I am absolutely itching to write. This isn't working at all! 

Help me think, please, dear readers. What else can I fill the empty spaces with? What do you do to keep yourself from writing?