Sometimes...

your client doesn't walk away feeling better. Sometimes, they get off the table in more pain than before the massage.

I hate it when that happens.

"Im Westen Nichts Neues..."

Nothing much going on here, in the House of (Lucrative) Pain. I *think* I did really well on my Anatomy & Physiology exams, but I'll know for sure next Wednesday.

Oh, and I picked up two regular shifts at our flagship spa in another town not too far away. Thursdays and Fridays, almost doubling my hours, w00t!

Other than that, it's been quiet. Oh, except that my kittens have earmites. *sigh* Is this veterinary odyssey never going to end?

The Nuge...

knew what he was talking about.
And considering that I'm learning about toxoplasmosis in microbiology right now, I find this song oddly appropriate. And it just plain rocks.

W00T!!

Had my first Microbiology Lab Practicum today...120 out of 100!!! (Yes, I did the bonus questions...it's always good to have some extra points!)

I totally did a happy dance when I found out I had gotten everything right! *squeeeee*

Now here's hoping I can do the same tomorrow in A & P.

Oh, and the Unknown I identified? Bacillus subtilis.

Thanksgiving Comes First!

If you're like most people I know, you are sick, sick, SICK of all the Christmas schlock being peddled before the smoke from the last Labor Day barbecue has fully dissipated. My friend Jim makes his case very eloquently as to why this practice needs to be stopped. Not by meddling with legislation or anything silly like that, but by making our disgust with this practice, and our desire for some respect for the holidays, known.

Post about it.

Link to his post.

Google "Thanksgiving Comes First".

Patronize merchants like Nordstrom, who don't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, and boycott those who do (if possible, of course). Write letters to corporate headquarters!

Spread the word, basically, that Christmas should mean more than being able to buy tinsel along with your Halloween costume.

Thanks.



Besides, anyone who digs Mr. Rogers is more than okay in my book and deserves support. :)

OLD SCHOOL!!

Shake it, Baby!



I remember dancing to this...of course I was in elementary school. I LOVED DISCO. And I'm not ashamed of it, either. :D

"I'm hot, sticky-sweet..."

"from my head to my feet, yeah!"



More cheese, what can I say? Hair bands are great for it!

Another one loaded with cheese...

Hoobastank, "Inside of You".



I totally rocked out to this song (among others) while doing the dishes yesterday. Thank God for my iPod, otherwise no housework would get done (by me, anyway...poor Mulligan, if that were the case!).

School...

is totally kicking my ass. I'm only taking two classes plus the accompanying labs, but still. I don't know how students with a full class load do it. I'm sorry about the dearth of posts, or at least more content-heavy posts (not that I'm known for particularly content-heavy posts, but you know what I mean!), but school is definitely the reason for that dearth.

In other news, walking through freshly-fallen, crunchy leaves is FUN! I'd forgotten about that after living in the desert for so many years. :)

My daughter knows me too well...

My oldest child showed unerring accuracy when she sent me the following song with the email subject "I have now found the perfect song for you". It describes me to a T, though I'm trying to break myself of the procrastination habit. And I'll stick to coffee or tea, not hot cocoa! Anyway, it's in Japanese, but there are English lyrics at the top of the screen.

Aerosmith ROCKS!

And is just the slightest bit cheesy.

Most excellent post...

by a very special young lady! And the song she showcases is pretty frickin' awesome, too. Albeit disturbing. :D

Go, read, and please disregard the cussing. Hey, like mother, like daughter! Didn't know potty-mouth was inheritable...

Tuesday Haiku

Intoxicating
fragrance; beauty to behold.
Illuminating

Shut down. Cold.

My sometimes-nemesis at work, LINDA, has been harassing everyone at the spa to sign up for some lovely "business opportunity" (aka "pyramid scheme"), and she had yet to tackle me. Maybe she was saving the best for last? Who knows what goes on in the mind of LINDA. Anyway, she was getting ready to leave, while I was futzing around on my laptop, with our colleague Elisha also sitting at the table in the breakroom, texting away.

I felt LINDA looming next to me and glanced over to see her officiously holding a clipboard and poised pen.

"Christina, would you mind giving me your cellphone number?"

"Yes."

"Okay!" (Pen still poised, ready to write.) "Oh, you mean you would mind giving me your number?"

"YES."

"Um, do you have an email address?"

"Yes. But I'm not going to give it to you, and I'm not interested in your 'business opportunities', either."

(Sputtering now.) "But, but what if I need to get in touch with you?"

"For WHAT?"

"Spa business?"

"The spa has my number."

Finally vanquished, she retreated in disarray, slinking off to wherever LINDA lurks when not annoying me.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Elisha burst out laughing, "That was AWESOME!"

I demurred, explaining how hard it had been for me to overcome early indoctrination in people-pleasing politeness.

Elisha said with a smile, "That it was so hard for you makes it even MORE awesome!"

"Well, I'm forty years old. If I haven't learned by now how to stick to my guns, I might as well pack it in.

"You have ten years on me, that gives me a decade to grow some big, brass, Christina-Balls!"

For which I had no reply but laughter.

Rooftops

I've loved this song for a long time, had never seen the video for it until this morning. While I'm no longer a disaffected youth, I still say "scream your heart out!" Why the fuck not? Whether you have something you want to get off your chest, or whether you're so happy, you want to let the world know, just shout it out!

Try not to think badly of all the emo children in the video (I include the band!), I was once emo, too. Before they even called it that! Ask me about my emo poetry sometime. It made my kids laugh! ;)

Not a very feel good moment...

happened very early yesterday morning, when my three-year-old pup, Harley, had a full-blown grand mal seizure.

My room is very small, so when I'm at my desk on the computer, I'm right up against the bed. I heard a "thump" and saw Harley on the floor. Not an unusual occurrence, since he tends to get tangled up in the sheet or pillow case and take a tumble while trying to get out again.

This time when I glanced over, however, instead of a sheepishly tail-wagging Harley, I saw him splayed out on the floor like a starfish, his tail whipping back and forth as he frantically rubbed his face into the carpet, all four limbs trembling and shaking. I totally freaked out as it seemed to go on forever, but was most likely only seconds.
After he stopped seizing, he tried to get up but was unable to. I tried to set him on his feet, but he just fell over. I picked him up and took with me as I went to my roommate Mulligan's room to ask for help. (Sorry for waking you in the middle of the night, Pal!)
I was well aware that there wasn't really anything he could do to help with Harley, but just having him as a sounding board was very helpful.

Harley was by now at least responding to his name and weakly trying to wag his tail. When I put him down, he was able to stagger a few steps before falling over again.

I made the decision not to take him to the vet, since I knew that nothing could be accomplished by that except wasting my money.

After we went back to my room, I kept Harley on my lap while I hied myself to google to do some research. He just buried his head between my thigh and my elbow, maybe the light was bothering him. I just don't know. This whole situation freaked me the fuck out, and I was near tears as Harley was recovering. The oddest part of it all was Tucker's reaction. He literally got up and moved away whenever the recovering Harley tried to snuggle with him. Totally unheard of behavior in Tucker!

The research showed me that idiopathic epilepsy (scroll down) does crop up in Italian Greyhounds, with an onset between ages 2 to 5 years. I did a TON of research before I settled on this breed, but somehow missed this. Dammit

About an hour after the seizure, Harley was his old self again, and he and Tucker were snuggled up together on the dog bed under my desk.

I was very shaken by this whole ordeal, especially after talking with his vet yesterday morning. There's nothing anyone can do, I'm supposed to just "keep [my] eye on him" and hope for the best. If he has more frequent or more severe seizures (though I can't imagine anything more severe!), he'll have to be put on phenobarbital to control them. Which would fucking suck..

So all this is in addition to the ongoing battle against ringworm, which is one I SEEM to be winning, albeit very slowly. Weekly lime-sulfur dips are the pits. Not to mention stinky. And expensive. *sigh*

Sorry to be all "woe is me", but if I can't vent on my own blog, what good is it?

Hopefully I'll be back with a cheerier topic tomorrow. We'll see.

Feel Good Moment

"I hope you're told every day how amazing you are!"

Well, it never hurts to hear it again! Thank you, Ms. Lesa. :)

Epic. Party. Take Two.

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with friends old and new. It was Phlegm Fatale's birthday, and we helped her celebrate it in style.

Vine drove quite the distance to meet up with me in Small Town, then we headed over together to Elsewhere, TX, where the shindig was being held.

Here's the infamous flouncy top, with me wearing it, incidentally...



I've been informed that the flounciness doesn't show well in a still photo. Meh.

The food was amazing (especially the Amish Blue Cheese, NOM), the company of the highest caliber, and much fun was had.

Here are some of the attendees:

FarmGirl and Vine.



AepilotJim and Alan.



FarmDad and Farmmom, who brought me some amazing pickles, jellies, and some of the best barbecue sauce I've ever eaten (mmm, chipotle! Thank you, Dixie!).





Evylrobot Michael and Jennifer (such a cute couple!).



WTF? I have no pics of the birthday girl all by herself? Shame on me!

Well, here she is in a group pic; love you, Babe!



Also in attendance, but who avoided my camera, the ever lovely Holly, and her spouse, JPG.

LawDog, naturally. And his brother, Chris!

And I finally got to meet (and massage) Tolewyn, now I can add him to the "Bloggers I've Met" list on my sidebar!

We even recorded Vicious Circle that night, YIKES.

I did chair massage most of the evening, while wearing high-heels and being slightly tipsy. And I sang. While massaging Phlegmmy's feet.

Also, Phlegmmy's couch is supremely comfortable and I was so glad I had called dibs on it earlier!

Saturday we had a very leisurely breakfast and continued the gabfest, which is naturally the best part of any such gathering.

Then I gave the birthday girl her gift, a massage (on the table), with hot stones! w00t!

I also took the opportunity to work on Farmmom's new knee, before the FarmFamily took off for home. I was glad to be able to help.

Finally, round about 5 PM, Vine and I loaded up all my paraphernalia (and it was a LOT), and we headed back to Small Town. Back to the daily grind, and I will just have to sustain myself with the memories of a fantastic party and gathering. Until next time, that is!

Missing a signal?

I massaged a birthday boy yesterday, a young man turning 20. The massage on my schedule was a prenatal massage, but his pregnant girlfriend decided at the last minute to gift him with the service.

It was his first massage, so I guess he was shy (or maybe his girlfriend threatened to shank him), because he kept his boxers on. He also kept on his socks, which I discovered as I undraped his left leg. I asked him if he had athlete's foot, but he demurred, so I asked for permission to take his socks off, which he granted. Left sock, dirty, worn-out, white cotton ankle sock - off. Undrape the right foot... *blink blink*...new, black, woolen knee-sock. Hmmmm. His clothes and shoes were expensive, even I, thrift-store shopper extraordinaire, could tell that much. So what's up with the socks? Is it some strange code that I'm unaware of? Does it mean anything? You tell me.

Alternate universe?

After I had changed into my party clothes, I went over to Mulligan to say good-bye, since I would be gone overnight. He took one look at me, asked me to pirouette for Jack (the FORMER roommate, who was finally there to pick up some [but not ALL] of his crap), and said,

"That is a particularly flouncy top!"

Who are you and what have you done with my roommate?!

Squat Fail

So, Friday morning I'm all psyched up for the epicness that is Phlegmmy's party, so I decide the best thing to do is hit the gym.

Lower body workout day, including squats on the machine. I'm up to 100 pounds now, and was just finishing up my second set of 15, when I pulled a little too hard on the handles, accidentally disengaging the brakes, as it were.

I didn't realize this until the elevator kept going down, down, down...and my knees were up around my ears! I tried to push the bar back up, but had absolutely no leverage. Somehow I managed to eel my way out of my predicament, but did NOT have the upper body strength necessary to push the weight back up far enough to engage the brakes in the proper position. So I had to remove the weights from either side, push the bar back up, lock the brake, add the weights BACK to either side, and do my final set of 15.

I'm so glad the gym was practically deserted and nobody noticed my fail.

Note to self: 1.Don't pull so hard on the handles. 2.Do more upper body workouts, because you are pathetic!

I think a hearing test is in order...

Me: I have Altoids...

Vine: Wait, what?! You have TOYS?!

Me: *blink blink* Not at the moment! ALTOIDS. Sheesh.

Overheard at Phlegmmy's...

"If I had a dick, it would totally be bobbing at you right now, too."

Creepy/Cheesy...

if such a thing even exists! Also parked on my iPod, "Lucifer" by German band "E Nomine"...it has Ominous Latin Chanting PLUS Evil German Lyrics, how could you go wrong with that combination?



In other news, I might be internetless for a couple days, it's PARTY TIME at Phlegmmy's tonight! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PHLEGM!!!!

Another great song...

...for cardio, Alan. CARDIO.

Thank you, Jennifer!

For posting a beautiful, articulate rant on the vileness that is Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. I only wish I could write like that!

Go RTWT, people.

NOT lost in translation...

Had a fun time before microbiology class today, doing an exercise involving twizzlers, toothpicks, and mini-marshmallows...

Check out my DNA and mRNA!



In other news, I think there's a better time and place to discuss one's marital woes than micro lab.

And Mr. K.? "Magnanimous" is NOT synonymous with "Huge". Just sayin'.

In other, OTHER news, another mouse has bit the dust! w00t!

I got chills...

they're multiplyin'!

Another classic, if you ignore the fact that Sandy changes herself completely to win her man...I LOVED this whole movie and all the music in it, the summer I was eight, and since then, too.

Changing my colors...

just for now. It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and as Epijunky points out, there are a few things we can do to raise awareness.

One really easy thing is to change your blog color or avatar to something PINK. Which I have done. A few clicks, that's all it took.

Unfortunately, dealing with cancer itself is NOT so easy.

For all the women (and men!) dealing with breast cancer, for all the family, friends, and loved ones of breast cancer victims and survivors, this pink's for you!

Rude!

Elisha and I just did a couple's massage, and right in the middle, my client asked, "Do y'all make good money doing this?"

How the fuck am I supposed to answer that (and keep my job)? I should have said, "Only if you tip me well..," but instead I laughed and replied, "Enough to live on!"

Then he asked, "Really?"

Some people.

---

UPDATE:

Oh, and he was a crappy tipper, too. Left 5 bucks for each of us. He told the front desk he wanted to leave "10%...split it between 'em." Stingy bastard.

Just like Buzz Lightyear...

And the fucking MICE are Woody.



So, I was getting ready to leave for work this morning, fixing up the wee-wee pads that grace the floor of my bedroom (my dogs REFUSE to go outside with Mulligan, but we're going to work on that this week.)

Right in the middle of one of the pads was a lone mouse turd. Fucker. The mouse trap remains un-sprung, yet at least one mouse is still frolicking in my room while I'm asleep, helping itself to my dogs' food, and giving me the figurative finger.

So I rebaited the trap with crunchy peanut butter (thanks, Y'all, for the suggestion!), and also moved the second trap into the back of the pantry in the kitchen, where mice are also congregating (or so I've heard). Wonder if there will be a corpse or two waiting to greet me when I get home from work today...

Ew...

I found mouse poop in my closet today while reorganizing it. I also found two unused mousetraps under the kitchen sink. And some cheddar cheese in the fridge. (Gotta go with the classics!)

I'm happy to report that your standard mousetrap works as designed and advertised. And that I disposed of the carcass myself. And now the trap is rearmed (baited with the same hunk of cheese...I'm nothing if not frugal), and placed in the same apparent rodent superhighway at the back of my closet. Let's see if I have any more of the critters running around here, helping themselves to my dogs' food! Speaking of my dogs...WTF? They have been stuck in this room, thanks to the ringworm that I don't want them to give BACK to the kittens, yet they haven't been interested in capturing and/or killing the vermin?! Somebody needs to take their Canine Cards away!

She kicks ASS!

My incredibly brilliant and talented daughter, Silver the Evil Chao, hits one out of the park!

Go! READ!

Amazing.