myofacial release

Have you heard of it?
I hadn't...until a physical therapist saved my life.
My doc thought she could help me with back pain I was having...boyyy was she on the money.

It all started when I thought I was 18, but was really 35, and rather awkwardly and enthusiastically launched myself off the 1/4 pipe at a waterpark. Yeah, no. Not a good idea. I heard a distinctive POP and my back was never the same.

3 years went by with my back "slipping out" more and more often. I would breath wrong and it would catch. It lasted a couple days, being uncomfortable, then gradually started to last 2 weeks. Nightmare.
Then I got sent to Swati, whom i'm convinced has magic hands. This woman barely touches me, and can cure me of my pain within an hour.

It's called Myofacial Release. Look it up...everyone has an opinion about it, but i'll tell ya, it is truly the way to go for some folks....me being one of 'em.
I can feel the facia releasing and relaxing while she treats me. My leg will sometimes jerk, my muscles will twitch and jump, and sometimes I want to outright puke on the floor. It's intense. No drugs, no shots, no surgery. Awesome.

Just a snippet that I pulled from a site that can offer a little insight as to what the hell i'm talking about.
http://www.myofascial-release.com/
What is Myofascial Release?
Myofascial Release is a highly specialized stretching technique used by physical therapists to treat patients with a variety of soft tissue problems.
To understand what Myofascial Release is and why it works, you have to understand a little about fascia. Fascia is a thin tissue that covers all the organs of the body. This tissue covers every muscle and every fiber within each muscle. All muscle stretching, then, is actually stretching of the fascia and the muscle, the myofascial unit. When muscle fibers are injured, the fibers and the fascia which surrounds it become short and tight. This uneven stress can be transmitted through the fascia to other parts of the body, causing pain and a variety of other symptoms in areas you often wouldn't expect. Myofascial Release treats these symptoms by releasing the uneven tightness in injured fascia.
In other words, Myofascial Release is stretching of the fascia. The stretch is guided by feedback the therapist feels from the patient's body. This feedback tells the therapist how much force to use, the direction of the stretch and how long to stretch. Small areas of muscle are stretched at a time. Sometimes the therapist uses only two fingers to stretch a small part of a muscle. The feedback the therapist feels determines which muscles are stretched and in what order.
Each Myofascial Release technique contains the same components. The physical therapist finds the area of tightness. A light stretch is applied to the tight area. The physical therapist waits for the tissue to relax and then increases the stretch. The process is repeated until the area is fully relaxed. Then, the next area is stretched.
The therapist will be able to find sore spots just by feel. Often, patients are unable to pinpoint some sore spots or have grown used to them until the physical therapist finds them. The size and sensitivity of these sore spots, called Myofascial Trigger Points, will decrease with treatment.

Learn about it, live it, love it

waterslides & babies

The idea of a baby coming out of a woman's body frankly gives me the willies.

A great friend had her baby the other day.
The baby, now known as Emily, kinda popped out, quick like. In an hour. It was like a waterslide. She said it was so painful that she wanted to beat her husband with a crowbar.

Then the joy of getting up every two hours to feed this new addition comes about.
Then the word NO becomes terribly popular.
Being able to run at full tilt now becomes an issue.
Then Houdini like magic begins to happen around the house as things begin to disappear. Your favorite ring, the remote, etc.
Then your little bundle of joy becomes a master artist. Most likely your living room wall or kitchen floor is the canvas.
Which school; what after-school camp or activity will they do; PTA?; volunteer for school activities.
Puberty.
Saving for college.
Car insurance, drivers license...taking your car.

Ya know...there was a time when the idea of having a kid was exciting. Now...not so much. Don't get me wrong, I would embrace it if I became pregnant. But I can't say that I would strive for it.

Living vicariously through your friends is an under-rated idea.

Customer Service...what does it mean?

Customer Service means, well...customer service, right?

No...it does not

It means, jerk you around as much as possible until you get so frustrated that you wonder why you bothered in the first place.

That's if you actually get through to someone.

The automated phone lines have become so ridiculous that the

electronic voice pretty much tells you to "go suck it" all by itself.

Why is it, when people are tripping over themselves for a job, when I hand someone my money, they simply cannot say thank you?

I've stood in a grocery line for 24 minutes, more than once. After handing a clerk my cash, i've said "thank you", to which they stare at me wondering why I haven't moved yet. Who trains these people?

I like it when something gets botched, like my last furniture order.

• I had ordered a living room set, a King Bed & a King mattress & boxspring.
• I paid for delivery due to so many items.
• I waited 2 weeks for my many items.
• I received a phone call the day before my scheduled delivery date, letting me know that my mattress & boxspring "didn't make it on the truck".
• Ohhhhhh.....and I couldn't have the mattresses until the following Thrursday.

If your anything like me, the idea of sleeping on my new couch or loveseat

for a week didn't sit well.

I called customer service and asked "is there anything that can be done since this leaves me with no bed for a week?" The customer service rep very casually told me to suck it.

Long story short......In the end, nothing was done.

Maybe my standards of customer service are set to high.

Maybe I need to start saying "suck it" when someone calls me!

This is what is wrong with people today.

This is the mentality of folks we meet.

This is wrong.

I was taught to have pride in what I do.
I was taught that how I treat someone is a direct reflection on myself.
This is because I was taught to care.

No wonder our local mom & pop businesses go belly up

and everyone shops online now.

I miss them.

They used to say thank you when I handed them my money.

Skydving...sane or a husband killer?

I asked my husband near christmas which one he'd like more....

skydiving or a PS3.

The look was something I could only call histerical...and painful.
He chose skydiving.
Me? Nooooooo...I fall enough as it is.

He waited till it warmed up, then made his appointment for today.
It had been raining and thunderstorming on and off for 2 weeks, I prayed for a decent day.
It was georgeous, HOT, but gorgeous.

Anthony looked calm and collected, as usual. I was nervous. My husband believes Murphy's Law was written for me, so I tend to be in a constant state of unease.

List of stuff to do:
Water...check
Munchies...check
Gift certificate...check
Make sure insurance policy is up to date on Anthony...check

We arrived and everything went smoothly.
I got comfortable on the ground as he walked to the plane, suited up and ready to go.

I was anxious as hell. I searched and searched, and when he showed up as a itty bitty spot in the sky I was relieved. The landing went well, they breezed on in (tandem jump), and touched the ground softly.

As he was walking towards me, his grin was huge. It didn't leave his face. He was thrilled!
When we watched the video, he was smiling so big that I knew that he was finally impressed by something!

A place for my adrenaline junky of a husband to finally release.
His next gift will be the 6 hour course and his first, on his own, AFF (accelerated free fall)....sweet jesus

Italian Grandfathers & Ancient Lawn Deer....

I grew up in Upstate NY, where all the restaurants in town were owned by little italian men, the waiters were always male, shirley temples had 5 cherries in them & my grandmother ate parmesean cheese out of the palm of her hand.

I was my grandfathers lucky charm, which made me feel special enough to

never utter a peep while he played poker with my Uncle Dom and the family.

They were long lazy nights by the lake, fishing for sunfish, dragging the inner tubes out from under the house, and feeding the ducks to the sound of laughter.

Aunt Florence would scold us for riding the ancient lawn deer.

The buck had an unfortunate accident during one of those wild rides, and having one antler didn't suit Aunt Florence. What in the world were the deer there for anyway?? It was a mystery to us kids. She never would tell us the answer to that question. I know she would walk away laughing as we picked our brains trying to understand the meaning of the lawn deer.

My grandfather knew everyone in town, but I guess back in the day that's just the way it was. I miss those days. His stories would keep me enthralled when I was young, and enchanted when I was older. I would never tell my grandfather that "I'd already heard that one". No way.

My grandfather & I would sit infront of the wood stove, at a wobbly card table, playing Crazy Eights for hours. Those nights I remember...those nights were meant to be remembered.

Grandpa worked at JC Penny's for his entire life. He sold shoes.

He always seemed to be having the time of his life.

I believe it's because he had a captive audience for his stories while he had your shoes.

I would hang out with him, going into the backroom to help him find the perfect pair of shoes for his many regulars. He would always take the time to lace your shoes for you, to use a shoehorn and carefully ease your new shoe on, then have you stand so he could be sure your toes weren't crammed into the ends.

He cared about what he did...
He taught me that helping people properly was something to take pride in, no matter what you do in life.
He taught me a strong work ethic.
He taught me that people always wanted to talk about something.
He taught me that people loved to be remembered.
He taught me that people really want to laugh at something, no matter how they look when you first see them.
He taught me to speak to people, to see some good in people & he taught me how to handle the bad in people.

When I was a toddler, my grandfather would shave with the

old brush and shaving cream in a bowl.

I would knock on the door, as if he didn't know I was coming, and he'd sweep me up onto the toilet top. I would sit while he swirled shaving cream all over my face, probably preparing me for the life of an italian woman. I remember those moments as if they happened yesterday.

When my grandfather died, I asked my grandmother for his shaving brush.

It sits in my bathroom right now.

When I look at it I smell shaving cream, and it makes me smile.

I feel alone today

I'm beat. Who knew that decorating for a baby shower would take FOREVER. It's a baby shower for pete's sake.
I had purchased 2 of what looked to be THE cutest ceiling decorations, with dangling ducks and butterflies.
Pulled from the package last night and strung between me and Alicia it LOOKED to be the cutest decoration ever made on this planet. We ooooo'd and aaaahhhhh'd and commented about how these 2 decorations would be the center of attention.
Only 1 made it up....barely.
After walking around the house 4 times, holding the damn thing up in the air, trying to find the perfect spot, we finally found it. At last!
We realized we needed a ladder because of her fantastic cathedral ceilings. We fetched one from my garage and propped it up in her living room.
Now people, I am the queen of fall. The last time I was hanging a decoration, I fell and gave myself a concusion. Oh...and only a week and 1/2 ago, I fell down my own stairs. Both times doing significant damage to myself.
So up the ladder I went. But we did this over, and over, and over, realizing that the damn thing was not truly designed to hang from the ceiling at all. There was no way it would ever look as cool as it did strung from 2 people holding it. So , after the 6th attempt, perilously balancing from my ladder, we thumbtacked the freakin thing to the ceiling. Alicia used a broom handle for the finishing touches, making all the wrinkles and folds, that were not supposed to be there, even.
The 2nd beautiful ceiling decoration looks fantastic on the kitchen counter.....in the package.

LMAO

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1935465

NY City

NY CITY

I walked until my white sneakers were black...solid black.

He was on a mission...find the right subway. I was on a mission...to buy at least one thing from someone selling stuff on the side of the road. Cool stuff. I almost became one of the official missing, name on a milk carton kind of missing, when a bracelet caught my eye and I slowed to only 25 mph instead of our 45 mph pace.

Slowing down to smell the roses doesn't exist in this city, it's a place someone would step over their mother to get a $10 cup of coffee.

But, you can do it.

You just have to step off the beaten path.

Semi-dark alleyways held incredible works of art. Store windows held mannequins doing strange things. Museums held disturbing paintings.

Buildings had gardens and trees growing on the roofs.

Everyday street poles were covered in beautiful mosaic tiles.

ChinaTown had the coolest storefronts.

I wandered into a temple while in Chinatown. Ate the best Coconut Curry i've ever tasted. Wandered through Central Park. Rode the subway with my husband, not having a clue what we were doing...but we made it from Brooklyn to the City alive, with wallets & limbs intact. We wandered the street at 10am and looked for a store that was actually open for coffee. We learned that the city doesn't wake until noon. I went into a store that sold nothing but long forgotten fur coats...hundreds of them...I just stood there, gawking.

I enjoyed my trip to NY City. I would go again when I want to walk 40 lbs off.

Brown Furry Animals in the Road

So i'm driving down the road to work this morning and have to swerve to avoid hitting a squirrel. Damn thing...running all over the place, all crazy-like. I looked in my rearview mirror, only to see something that certainly was NOT a squirrel.

I backed up...of course.

In the process of backing up I ended up in the wrong lane so I could be closer to the animal perched on the edge of the road. It was obviously trying to decide the best course of action. I think it was confused by the reverse action of my x-terra.

I stared at it as the large brown creature that resembled a lemur / monkey, ran up the road in front of me, then, in leaps and bounds, jumped it's way across the road.

I was enthralled. I had also forgotten that I was sitting in the road...in the wrong lane.

A car rolled up beside me and, being incredibly excited, I started pointing like a madwoman to the side of the road that was now blocked by the other car. I figured they may see the phenomenon I had glimpsed.

Turns out the sheriff was not as amused as me. He looked a bit concerned.

When it dawned on me that it was an officer, I started laughing histerically and rolled down the passenger window. Mind you...It did not dawn on me to be embarrassed. I was actually considering jumping out of my car to follow the little brown fellow into the tall grasses for another look.

When the window came down far enough, I yelled to the sheriff "I swear I saw a monkey crossing the road!" If it had been nighttime, I would have been asked to step from my car.

I started laughing again when I realized how that must have sounded.

The poor guy was looking at me with concern. He asked "Are you alright miss?". I gathered myself and told him I was fine. I inquired whether there were any wild animals in the area that looked like lemurs. He told me there was everything from bobcats to any number of animals.

I inwardly thought to myself that I was happy I was dressed in my work clothes or else I would have seen the "hippie light" come on over his head. I would have been late for work.

I thanked him and he looked at me like he wanted to ask if I had run out of my medicine.

He nodded, then sat there staring at the road for a second, and drove off.

I pulled into the driveway closest to me, and sat there trying to decide if I should get out and wait, hoping to see it again.

I knew I was going to need medicine if I didn't quit it.

I pulled away and set off to work. I told that story 5 times througout the day, then got home that evening and shoved my husband off the computer. I looked up small mammals in NC and found only 1 animal it could have possibly been. Unless someone's pet lemur had escaped and was on the run, I had found a Mink.

I was wondering why it couldn't have been the Chupacabra......sometimes the internet sucks.

Steampunk Adventure

What is Steampunk?

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction and speculative fiction, frequently featuring elements of fantasy, that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used — usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England — but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles, analog computers, or digital mechanical computers (such as Charles Babbage's Analytical engine); these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality.
Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously dystopian than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.
Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.

That said....
We are going to re-do our main bedroom bathroom in such a style. It's going to be cool..really cool.

Have you seen Sherlock Holmes? If you have...check out the style used in the rooms. Tin ceilings...kick ass wallpaper. Steam heat and wood.

We found an awesome old radiator at the fleamarket with the most beautiful scroll work in the metal. Against hardwood floors....yeahhh. 1st piece down

We were incredibly lucky to have met many people involved in this wonderful movement. We have attended the most fantastic New Years Masquerade Balls & gatherings. It's fun to dress in petticoats and see the men dressed in finery from another time.

I couldn't believe how many websites cater to petticoats & bloomers! I am a proud owner the most beautiful black petticoat.

My husband, Anthony, has found a use for the incredible amount of junk (sorry...treasure) that he has gathered for years. One wall of his workshop...aka "The Garage", is covered with the many guns he has created. Not to mention lamps, robots and assorted steampunk weapons. It's kinda cool.

Check it out......