#44 ~ Happy Year 1983

Every day was a new challenge, new discoveries, new victories. We seriously started to think that we need a bigger gym, we just could not accommodate all the students that were coming in. My Rhythmic program was growing and I needed higher ceiling and my own floor.
Our accountant said that we are doing so well financially that if would be stupid to change anything. But as I mentioned before, we never had any "business" training and /or experience. We were looking to expend. But we could not get a loan in the bank, because we did not have any credit history. We could not even get a credit card. Sears refused us a credit cars for that reason. When I asked how do I get a "credit history", I was told that we have to borrow money, In my mind... if you don't have any debts that should be a good credit history. You buy only what you can afford...We just could not understand the concept.
Mr. Lewis was the father of one of our students. He offered a partnership: his credit history and our labor. Worked for everyone. We found a great property, right on the busy street (Blanding Blvd), borrowed money and built a big gymnasium...Sounds easy and effortless, but it was an "every day" hard choices and decisions to make, people to meet, lessons to learn...
I was happy with high ceiling, dance studio, and the floor dedicated just for my Rhythmic gymnastics program!!!

Great day at St. Augustine with my girls

And then a great news: I was pregnant!!! So happy, so excited, so overwhelmed with emotions!!!

Day at the Epcot Center with Masha and Elizabeth

And here she was, baby Joanna!!!

What a beautiful baby she was! I was back in the gym within 1 week, which made most of my students, staff and parents very surprised.
I would spend mornings and afternoons at home and teach from 3 - 9pm. My Mom was taking care of baby Joanna while I was at the Gym, and I ran home to nurse her as soon as I was done. Sometimes my Mom would be very frazzled and exhausted, because baby was fussy and crying, like all babies do..., but we managed.