Sergeant Tony's Blog

I asked Meredith to the junior high school dance.

When I was in the 7th grade.

Not yesterday.
(I know what some of you were thinking … and shame on you!)

Meredith had light brown hair and the most enchanting green eyes. She was a little shy, and a little bookish, a really good student, and she had a great sense of humor. And because her last name started with an L, we sat next to one another in most of our classes. Thank you alphabetical seating chart! This gave me a lot of opportunities to talk to her.

She thought I was funny, and when she laughed hard she snorted a little. I loved that! And since I thought — and still think — that a girl snorting when she laughs is waaaay too cute, I tried hard to make her laugh as much as I could. Being shy, she kinda sorta didn’t want to laugh and snort in class, but I couldn’t help myself! And the more she tried to suppress it, well, the worse it got!

It was wonderful! She would playfully hit me on the shoulder while she laughed and say, “Sttttoppppppp-snort-Tonnnny!”

Pure joy!

Meredith wasn’t a cheerleader and she didn’t run in the cool popular clique of girls. Think Jan, not Marsha. In fact, most of my buddies didn’t even know who she was. But I thought she was irresistibly cute and fun to talk to. I really liked her. And the fact that she thought I was funny, and that she had that sweet laugh, endeared her to me. I couldn’t imagine going to the dance with anyone else.

On the evening of the dance I waited for Meredith in front of the school. When her dad drove up and she got out, I felt like the luckiest boy in the world. “Wow … ” I said to myself. She looked like a princess! Absolutely breathtaking!

She wore a dark navy blue dress, almost black, with a small white floral pattern with touches of powder blue in the flowers. I’d never seen her wear that dress to school. As I thought about it, I imagined that maybe she and her mom might have gone out shopping and bought that dress just for the occasion. I noticed that her hair was in a different style than usual. I imagined that she’d spent a long time getting it just right.

I wondered if her parents had taken pictures of her looking so radiant on the evening of her first “date.” She looked gorgeous and I was love sick! I didn’t pay any attention to the disapproving look that I’m sure her father was giving me. A look that probably said, “If you touch her, I’ll keel you!” He probably pointed at his eyes with his right hand and then pointed them at me …

As for Tony Ludlow, I looked awful. There was nothing particularly special about what I was wearing. And to make matters worse, the dance was held in the school cafeteria where it was like a sauna in early October and I felt like I was sweating through my shirt and looked horrid. I was very self conscious.

Despite how I looked, I thought of myself as a pretty good dancer, for a 13 year old white kid. I was cuttin’ quite a rug once the dance began in the dimly lit cafeteria! I might have been doing the “Funky Chicken.” I don’t remember. I’m sure that what ever I was doing, it was funky.

Truth is, I probably looked ridiculous. But if I did, Meredith never let on. She seemed to be having a good time! She actually seemed to be proud to be with me. It was the first time in my life that a girl actually chose to be with me and seemed to be okay with that decision. (Turns out it would be a rare thing in my later life!)

Well, everything was going just great until the first slow dance.

A SLOW DANCE?? Are you KIDDING ME??

I was terrified.

Meredith and I just stood there looking awkward and nervous as the official slow dance music started – “Nights in White Satin” – and other couples, mostly older more mature 9th graders, started slow dancing. I’d never slow danced in my life!

I was very nervous and could feel my shirt clinging to my back as projectile-flop-sweat was leaping off my forehead like rats abandoning ship. I had no idea how to put my arms around Meredith. Was I supposed to put my arms around her shoulders? Around her waist? High? Low? And where were my hands supposed to be? Not too low, I was pretty sure. How tight was I supposed to hold her? How close were our bodies supposed to be? What parts could touch? So many things to try to figure out in 2 seconds.

I was quite the playah.

Lucky for me, Meredith didn’t seem to mind my awkwardness and we stumbled into one another and wrapped ourselves up like fishing worms.

And then we started doing that little foot shuffling circle movement that passes for slow dancing. After I quit worrying and fretting, I started to relax a little and enjoy my first slow dance. Niiiiice …

This was really fun, I thought, no matter how stupid I looked or how uncomfortable I felt. It was pretty wonderful to hold Meredith in my arms and feel her arms around me. This was awesome! The smell of her perfume was intoxicating. And I was hoping that the gallon of industrial strength Old Spice I had applied to my skinny hairless chest and my pale whisker-less face wasn’t causing her to become nauseated.

Through the dim light and the crowd of couples slow dancing, I spotted my buddy Ronnie over to my left. He and his date were in the darkest part of the cafeteria … and they were not only slow dancing, they were kissing too! NO WAY! But there they were, making out!! … and it looked like fun! I wondered if Meredith wanted to do that too.

Now I had kissed a few girls by this time. Several of us had played Spin the Bottle in 6th grade so I wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the whole kissing thing. It’s true that I weren’t no ladeez man, but I sort of had a general idea how kissing worked.

So I managed to “dance” us over into that same corner with Ronnie and Becky. There was plenty of song left (Thank you Moody Blues) by the time I got us over to the corner to make my move.

So I pulled back, looked at Meredith, calculated the distance from my lips to hers, tried to allow for wind speed, humidity, velocity, lighting, angle of attack, and the phases of the moon, and prepared to move in for “the kiss” … and then … got cold feet … and froze. Froze!

Meredith – God bless her – waited patiently while I mustered up the courage to close the deal.

Time seemed to pass in slow motion as I attempted to achieve radar lock-on for the guidance to Meredith’s waiting lips. I knew what to do … but I just … couldn’t … move. I was terrified and started over-thinking and over-analyzing it all. And the longer I lingered the more awkward it became.

At last I managed to unfreeze myself. Unfortunately at the exact same moment that I finally started to make my “make-out move,” Meredith decided to save the moment and end my embarrassment by resuming the slow dance posture, moving her face toward my shoulder.

The result was that I completely missed her lips … and her cheek … and ended up kissing … her right ear.

My first school dance … I have a really cute girl who is waiting for me to kiss her … and I totally screw it up!

I kissed her ear.

“Did you just try to kiss me?” she asked sweetly.

“Uh … no.” I lied, unconvincingly.

I felt like a complete moron, a total goober, a miserable disappointment to all men everywhere. What a loser!

The rest of the dance went without incident … or a kiss. But we had a really good time anyway. I thought. And the night ended when Meredith’s dad picked her up in front of the school. Ronnie and I stood there as I waved goodbye.

“Did you kiss her?” Ronnie asked, as we waited for his dad to pick us up.

“Yes,” I lied.

A couple of months later, at the Christmas break, Meredith’s family moved to Dallas. I never had a chance to go on another “date” with her. And although I never saw her again, I’ve never forgotten her either.

Timing and opportunity aligned that night at the dance and I blew it. I missed my chance to kiss my first date.

Timing and opportunity are things we’re presented everyday. Maybe not with kissing at a school dance, but with other more meaningful things. More important things.

Timing and opportunity.

Sometimes the door of opportunity opens only once. Be prepared to move! The universe rewards action. And even though this was a silly little story about a 13 year old me and a “move” that I never made, opportunities of all kinds are presented to us everyday. Be prepared all the time to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you!

Luck favors the prepared!

How many opportunities have you missed because you were frightened? Or not ready? Or too timid? Or not bold enough? Or simply moved too slowly? And how many times have you moved quickly on an opportunity and the most amazing things happened?

When opportunity knocks … OPEN THE DOOR and invite her in!

Thank you Meredith! I had a great time … and I hope that you still snort when you laugh!

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5K RUN AT CHRIST METHODIST THIS SATURDAY

Ready for a 5K run? Here’s an opportunity!!

Why not run this Saturday at CUMC!? The race begins at 8 AM at the church. You’ll need to register at the church this week, or race morning. Proceeds benefit Cornerstone Preparatory School!

Talk to Jan Averwater or James Hanrahan at CUMC Recreation and Athletic Ministries.

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APRIL IS OUR ANNUAL “BRING A FRIEND TO BOOT CAMP MONTH”

In honor of my friend Tom Farrar, April is our “Bring a Friend to Boot Camp Month!”

You can bring a friend to Boot Camp during April for a FREE WEEK! No strings attached and no obligation to join.

The Boot Camper who brings the most friends in April will get $100!! US Legal Tender. Not 100 Dollars in Boot Camp Bucks! Real money!!

Here are the only rules:

1. Your visiting friends must be prospects for membership, so no out of town visitors will count toward your total number of friends for the contest.

2. Repeat visitors don’t count beyond their first visit – so you can’t bring your friend Bob 15 times during April and count it as 15 friends!

3. Friends who join are counted twice!

Also, your friends can join USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP for only $90 in April! That’s 50% off the first month’s fee of $180! Only your friends and family can take advantage of this deal.

Use Facebook to invite your friends AND get a discount on your enlistment. (See below)

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RAMPED AND AMP’ED IN APRIL!

Next month will be pretty special at USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP as we ramp things up!

“April” actually begins next Monday on March 29th.

We’ll be returning to the U of M for monthly “Mt. Fuji” workouts at 0530 on April 22 and 29th.

We’ll be going into the “new” gym once a week at 0530 for our special workouts … the ones we did before the church remodeled. (Remember the “rifle drill?”) Those workouts will be every Tuesday in April, actually beginning on Tuesday, March 30. These are awesome workouts!

The Tuesday and Thursday evening classes return beginning on Tuesday March 30! Those evening classes will be at the track at St. Agnes on Walnut Grove. (Actually behind St. Dominic)

You’ll hear more! I’m back! And I’m bringin’ it! GET SOME!!

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BOGA Expands

By popular demand, in addition to the 0530 class tomorrow morning, BOGA will be on tap for the 08:30 AM and the 5:30 PM classes on Friday!

All BOGA workouts are inside.

BOGA is 22 minutes of hardcore Boot Camp + 22 minutes of Power Yoga = BOGA

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LOSE THE WEIGHT – “TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE!”

You could lose 20 pounds by June!

The secret behind weight loss is more about diet than exercise.

After my own personal success with Take Shape For Life, I became a health coach for TSFL. That’s how much I believe in it!

You can go directly to the Take Shape For Life website (below) to get more information. You can also sign up there as well.

Feel free to call me if you’d like more info. 901-644-0145. I’d be happy to be your coach and help you genuinely lose the weight you’ve been wanting to lose!

Go to: www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com

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BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

So far this experiment has been pretty amazing!
Here’s how it works!

Make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, you can take $2.50 off your reenlistment fee!
Up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

“Great Boot Camp workout with Sgt. Tony this morning!” is good!
“I love USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP!” is good!
“I love Sgt. Tony and his Boot Camp ROCKS!!” is REALLY good!

You get the idea! Use your own wording and personality, just include the specifics.

Restrict yourself to just one of these status updates per day. You don’t want 8 status updates in a row going out on the same day!

The deal gets better …

When one of your Facebook friends, who isn’t a boot camper, goes to the website (www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com) because of YOUR status updates and contacts me through the boot camp website, you get an additional $5 off your next enlistment for a max of $20!

Your friend has to actually contact me through the website, not through Facebook. This will help to measure traffic to the website generated from Facebook.

AND … if someone joins because they learned about us through your status update, your next monthly enlistment is FREE!

Already FOUR of you have qualified for $40 off for April and your May enlistment is FREE!

So log on and get started now!

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RACE JUDICATA

Race Judicata is scheduled for Saturday, April 10 at 10:00 a.m. The race will take place at Jefferson Davis Park, located at 51 North Riverside Drive and there will be food and music following the race. Check-in starts at 8:30 a.m.

The race is open to the public. Runners and walkers are welcome!

Strollers welcome! Food and Music Following the Race!

Race Judicata benefits Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS). MALS provides free legal service to the elderly and low income families. For more information about MALS, visit:http://www.malsi.org/

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What would you do today if fear were not a factor, failure were not an option, and money were not a question?

To your continued good health and fitness,

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow

USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145
www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

http://www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/esuite/home/combatchallenge/