And.... I'm back!

Ahhhhhhh, I needed that!

Seriously, we massage therapists are the least secure people in the entire world. At least I can admit it, that's half the battle, right?

I had an awful client the other day. The worst part is that it SEEMED to go fine. Sometimes it is hard to read people. But it turned out that the poor girl hated her massage. I was crushed. My job is to make people happy and to make people feel better.

So I was super duper bummed. And stressed. And hating life.

A bit melodramatic? Perhaps. But that's the thing about massage therapists... we want people to LOVE us.

I've mentioned needing a new job and after working on this girl and the reaction I got from her, I was thinking, "I'm done! I never want to give a massage again! I'm awful. I'm a horrible therapist!"

Um, yeah... so it's been a rough few months and I perhaps take everything a little bit too personally.

But today (my first day back after that client) I had five treatments (four massages and one herbal wrap) and I ROCKED them! Even my client who just did an herbal wrap (which I think is a stupid thing to begin with) loved their treatment! And because of my bad experience with that girl I was extra good about communicating with my clients and I think that led to them being even happier than they would have been.

Because seriously, every single client was glowing and raving about me afterwards.

So that was a good learning experience and has made me a better therapist.

Ahhhhhhh!

Sigh!

Seriously, I needed that. I needed a reminder that I AM, in fact, very good at what I do. And I can make people happy and make them feel better.

I had one bad massage. It's not the end of the world. Or the end of my career.

I didn't let it affect my work or drag me down. I stepped up and did my job and did it well.

What can I say? I'm proud of myself and am feeling much better about life.

This probably doesn't need a blog entry but it will be good for me to go back to and look at the next time something happens and gets me down. A good reminder that no matter what happens, with the right attitude I am capable of pulling myself back up again and possibly becoming even better!

That's right! Rock on, crouton!

Goal List for 2011

My mom is in town and we were talking yesterday and she said, "So, what are you going to do with your life?"

I said, "I really don't know. Do you have any suggestions?"

She didn't.

I've been talking for years about needing change and I HAVE been making lots of changes... it just hasn't been in the major things like my job and living situation and marital status.

But she's right. It's time that I do something. Step it up. And get out of my comfort zone.

Since I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with my life, it is hard to write a list of goals. Usually I do goals that I want to achieve in my lifetime. In an effort to focus myself a bit more, I am going to make a list of goals for 2011. Some of these might be contradictory, and some of them I am not even sure I want to do (I need to feel them out.) But here we go...

Goals for 2011:

Take a writing course

Go to Paris

Move back into the city

Get engaged

Go back to Northfield for my ten-year college reunion

Eat gyro pizza in Northfield

Get out of debt

Quit my job or reduce my hours and get some other sort of new (non massage related) job

Take Tai Chi/ Qi-Gong classes

Learn sign language

Throw a Star Wars themed party

Celebrate my mom being healthy and beating cancer

Play on a soccer team

Play on a volleyball team

Fit into size 8 jeans

Take a strip-tease class

Make a video of me and my puppets

Smile every single day

Learn hypnosis

Have my family get a dog when my folks move back (this really might happen!!!)

Remain injury free and healthy in general

Learn acupuncture and Chinese medicine

Learn how to sew

Reduce my sugar and meat and alcohol intake (I've already cut out soda pop!!)

Read 50 books

writing

I'm so proud of myself. I finally did it! I signed up for a creative writing class. I've wanted to do this for... well, forever. I took one in high school and loved it. I was the queen of English in high school. I lived and breathed English.

Then I went to college. And I took one English course where I got completely overwhelmed and intimidated and dropped that as my potential major. A big mistake on my part. Though I can't say that I completely regretted becoming a French major. Still, I wish I had taken more English and writing classes.

However, it is never too late to correct things. I can still be a writer. I can still take writing classes.

I signed up for an eight-week beginning creative writing class. If nothing else, I hope it gets me writing more. A little kick in the pants. Hopefully it will get me writing better as well.

I will admit that I am nervous. I'm getting butterflies in my tummy just thinking about it. But that's a good thing. It has been far too long since I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

And I want to get away from doing massage as my sole source of income. And writing is something I love. And even though I don't really have the money to be doing this, sometimes you have to take that leap of faith and do it anyways. Sort of like how I didn't really have the money to take the myo-fascial massage certification course that I took years ago but taking it was the best massage decision I ever made and has made me a much better therapist and got me the jobs I wanted.

This could be the stepping stone to getting me on the path I want to be on. Or it could just be fun. Or it could just be a learning experience.

Either which way, I'm proud of myself for finally doing it.

Yeah me!

gift giving

Ya know what? I'm going to go ahead and admit it... I love gifts. I love giving them. I love receiving them. I love watching other people give and receive them. So when I see a tree with tons of presents underneath it, it doesn't make me angry that Christmas has gotten so commercialized... it just makes me happy.

Gifts don't have to be big or expensive to be great. A truly great gift will show the person how well you know the person. How much you have been listening when they speak. How much you understand their secret wants and desires. A good gift isn't about getting stuff, it is about connecting with a person.

I received a great gift yesterday. My client Kristin handed me a gift bag after our massage yesterday and warned me a few times, "It's nothing big! Don't get too excited." She had gotten me a new hat and scarf. And they were perfect. The style and the color were so completely "me". She said, "They just screamed 'Nikki' to me." And they do. I couldn't have picked out a better combo for myself. And I am always cold and miserable in the winter so they are totally useful. And little did she know, but I just lost my favorite scarf last week so it was impeccable timing to get a new one. All and all, it was a mind-blowingly perfect present. Not everyone would have been super happy to get it, but it was perfect for me. That's one of the signs of a good present... if it is specifically tailored to a particular person.

And, I'll admit, it made me super excited about Christmas. I can't wait to see everyone give and receive gifts.

Gifts. Gifts. Gifts. I think those people who hate gifts, don't understand the fine skill that goes along with good gift giving.

holiday newsletter

It's that time of year again... Christmas! And do you know why I love Christmas? Because people send out Christmas cards! I've noticed that more and more people are sending out photo cards.

I can see the allure... minimal effort with the pre-printed greetings, plus you get to show off your adorable family. I'm a fan. But what I like even more are the holiday newsletters that people write. Some people feel strongly against them which I just don't get.

I tend to send out cards instead of a newsletter and this year, with the economy, my card writing isn't what it once was. I started writing down names of people I wanted to send cards to and had to stop myself and say, "Nikki, you are not sending out 78 Christmas cards!"

Sorry.

But, in the spirit of the holidays I have decided to write my own holiday newsletter and post it right here...


Greetings!

What a year it's been! I have to admit that it has been a bit of a rough year in some ways. My mom's health has not been stellar- first she had a heart attack and now her cancer has come back. But she is a trooper and is pulling through. There have actually been a lot of health problems in my family this year, but I think that it is also simply because I have such a huge family. What can I say, it ups the odds that something bad is going to happen to someone in my family. In reality, however, about 95% of my family is healthy and happy. There is much to be thankful for.

Baby Amelia is finally home

Love was definitely in the air this year. Four of my cousins and one of my uncles got married. That's a lot of doing "the chicken dance"! I can't even say whose wedding I enjoyed the most. Each cousin put her own unique twist on her wedding.

My sister Sam and me at Heather's wedding reception

Katie got married in Sonoma, California and my trip out there for her wedding this September was probably one of my favorite vacations of all time. I love traveling with my father and sister, they love to kill time at work by researching the places we are going and always find amazing things for us to do.

Me and the jelly fish at the Monterey Aquarium

Our amazing house in Sonoma, California- can you say "hot tub"?

Washing Butch the Elephant is still one of the highlights of my life!

I spent lots of quality time with my friends and family. We even revived the Becker Family Kegs 'n Carnies party.

Work continues to be slow and unpredictable, yet I love it so much that I'm not sure I can follow through with my plans to quit my job this coming summer to find steady employment. Steady employment is over-rated anyway.

I traveled a lot this year. Way more than normal. Not only did I manage to make it to Atlanta, Pittsburgh, California and St. Louis, but I also made it up to Minnesota (twice!!) The temps may be cold up there but the warm hearts inside some of my favorite Minnesotans more than make up for that!

Despite some of the negative things that have happened, I have to say, it's been a great year. With my amazing friends, clients, family and, of course, blog readers, I feel truly blessed and happy. Thank you all and merry Christmas! Love, Nikki

Ways to tell you are really sick

Everyone loves a good "sick day" where you lounge around on the couch watching movies all day.

But when you have to call in sick to work because you are violently ill, it's the worst.

Signs that you are legitimately sick:

1. Instead of lying in bed, you sit upright. And instead of sleeping or reading your book that you are really into, you just sit and will yourself not to die.

2. You mentally start apologizing to people for not being nicer to them when they were sick.

3. You think about making a will.

4. You use your phone to call your sister who lives in the same house as you.

5. You ask your sister to go to the store for you, not once but twice, even though she has to go out in the freezing rain.

6. You hear your phone buzz saying that you have text messages but you have to take a nap to work up the energy to reach over the two feet to check it.

7. You've kept down a total of two crackers today. You know you should eat more but the thought of eating two more sounds overly ambitious.

8. The ONLY time you left your bed all day was to go to the bathroom.

9. You lose track of how many times you've puked.

10. You try to stay as perfectly still as possible so as not to get things stirred up again.


Okay, for reals! I've never in my whole life been as sick as I was this morning. I think it was food poisoning. Hope it was, because I don't want anyone else to catch this and go through what I went through! I still don't feel great but am no longer worried that I'm going to die!

yes you can!

One person CAN make a difference. A huge difference. A night and day difference. A life and death difference. So don't feel that you can't do anything because you are just one person. Don't feel like you have to do something "huge" to make a difference.

I had someone who ruined my day today by making a stupid, unthoughtful remark. I was FUMING. I actually felt my blood pressure rise. And I understood fully the phrase "makes my blood boil." And since that person was my boss, there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it.

One person. One comment can do that.

BUT... I got off the train and stopped by my local stationary store to buy my day planner for 2011 and I had a conversation with the owner/clerk that shifted my whole mood around.

Did he do something miraculous? Did he save the world? Did he pull a woman out of a burning building? No, he sold me some paper products, but he did it with a smile and with warmth and with some chit-chat about old type-writers and it completely changed my day. Which in turn is going to completely change how I react and relate to everybody else that I encounter today.

It's a domino effect.

Just keep that in mind. We can all do our parts to make this world a better place. Even if it is just by smiling.

Side note:
I searched google images for a picture of people helping each other to put with this post and that search also brought up this...



Which I think fits in perfectly with this post because it proves my point... somewhere out there ONE person put together a group of Legos to look like the Village People which totally cracked me up and made my day better. It's the simple things that we can do.

meeting baby Amelia

I love kids. Love 'em. Three-year olds, eight-year olds? Great! We can have a good time. But babies terrify me. Preemie babies take that to the extreme.

If I ever have a kid of my own I will be fine and I will get over it, but my general rule is that if they can't hold their head up on their own, I don't want to hold them.

So I passed on holding Amelia, my teeny tiny little niece. But I'm so glad that I went with to meet her at the hospital. I sat and talked while Kelly held her. She is quite the trooper and is putting on tons of weight- up to six pounds which is impressive since she started at 3 pounds 14 ounces. And she may get to come home soon!



We also went back to the hospital a few days later but with all the little kids. The kids (and anybody feeling kind of sick) were not allowed in the room with her, so Kelly held her up to the window for everyone to see.

coolest museum in the world

Having grown up right next to Chicago, I have been pretty spoiled when it comes to cultural things. We have some of the greatest museums ever in Chicago so it takes a lot to impress me when I go to other towns and visit their museums.

I was a little skeptical when my brother told us we were going to Tellus museum about an hour outside of Atlanta. I'm so glad I went though because it blew my mind! It was the greatest museum ever, filled with a rather random collection of exhibits.

My favorite was probably where you got to pan for gemstones like old fashioned miners and actually keep the gems (shards really) that you find.



Then you get to go excavating! There is a "sand" pit, filled with little rubber bits that are similar to sand in that they can cover things up and you can brush them away, but don't make nearly the mess. So you got to take your brush and unearth dinosaur bones!



You also got to dig through the sand to find fossils, which you again got to to keep.

They had a sweet dinosaur exhibit... where you got to touch fossilized dinosaur poop! Yuck!





This guy's head was like two and a half feet across!

They also had an amazing gem/mineral/rock exhibit.

Check out this periodic table! They gave you examples of things made from a lot of the elements!



If you are ever in the area you HAVE to go there, especially if you have young kids with you! Or 31-year old girls named Nikki!

favorite niece

It's a really hard call deciding who is my favorite niece. But Ella is definitely up there. The girl cracks me up. Her favorite song is "I love rock and roll" by Joan Jett. I was lucky enough to catch her singing a bit of it. She only knows the chorus but loves to belt along...

say no to November

Alright, November, I've had just about enough of you. Your days are numbered. (heehee, get it?)

I think I've been handling all of this crap remarkably well... up until today at least. Today was the funeral for my uncle Gary who passed away the day after Thanksgiving.

He had liver cancer. We knew it was a terminal case but thought that he still had a few more weeks if not months left.

What more needs to be said? It sucks.

I want to go to bed and wake up someplace warm and happy with a baby panda wrestling his siblings in my yard. That sounds like a pretty reasonable request to me.

I don't even want to talk to people anymore because it seems like I keep just having more and more bad news.

No more complaining. Let's talk about happy things. Spread some joy. It is the season, or so I've heard.

Obligatory thanksgiving post

Thanksgiving! My favorite holiday! Seriously, can you think of a better holiday? It's not religious so nobody is excluded. It doesn't involve gifts. It just involves food! Lots of glorious food!

Plus it is a day to think about what you are thankful for.

Which is the best thing EVER!

Of course, every day should be a day to think about what you are thankful for but I'm glad people are doing it at least once a year.

This year has been a bit rough with a lot of medical problems in the fam but there has still been so much to be thankful for!

1. Though she still may need to do some chemo or radiation because she had such an aggressive form of cancer, but my mom's cancer surgery went super well.

2. My nieces are off entertaining themselves and are not harassing me.

3. Amelia, my premmie niece, is eating really well and might get to come home from the hospital next week!

4. My sister-in-law is a good cook and has kicked me out of the kitchen (because she doesn't want help) so I get to chill.

5. I went on amazing vacations this year.

6. My friends make me laugh like nobody's business.

7. Giving up diet coke has been going remarkably easily.

8. Pink stuff. I don't know what "pink stuff" is but I think cool whip, cherries and pecans and pineapples are involved as well as some other ingredients. The end result is a delicious pink blob.

9. Sunshine and 60 degree days in November (in Atlanta.)

10. Baby panda bears.

11. My family and friends being there to support each other.

12. The amount of support and love that I have.

13. Salad forks. Yup. Random, little known fact about me... I love to eat all my food with salad forks.

14. Sweet tea. Did I mention I'm in the South?

I'm writing this post on my iPhone which just goes to prove two things: a) how bored I am and b) how much I love you guys.

I'm still sitting in the hospital room while my mom naps which is just about as exciting as it sounds. But she is supposed to be going home later this morning which will be awesome.

She is restricted to not lifting anything over five pounds. Do you know how impossible that is? That means she can't even carry her purse!

I drew some pictures yesterday to decorate my mom's room... which is super blah and doesn't even have a picture in it. The night nurse commented on what a good drawer I was. I laughed and said that the night nurse who said that probably thought they were done by a seven-year old! Maybe I'll include a photo of my drawings when I get back to a computer... the dogs that I drew did turn out kind of adorable if I do say so myself.

All in all, it hasn't been a bad stay at the hospital. This hospital has figured some stuff out... for example when we are waiting for her to get out of surgery we got to sit on either rocking chairs or lazy-boy type chairs that fully reclined. And in the room they have chairs that pull out so you lie down.

They also have a fun crazy robot that zooms down the hall bringing trays back to the cafeteria. Don't get in its way!

scam artist?

I gave money to a guy on the el today.

I mention this because it is not a normal occurrence.

I get asked for money all the time. But I rarely give. Why? Because I am bitter and jaded. I believe the majority of them are scam artists. And as for the people who claim to be so hungry? I know that the homeless shelters have a SURPLUS of food. If you are hungry, go there.

So why did I give this guy money today? Because he had a REALLY good spiel! And quite frankly, even if he does end up being a scam artist, he did such a good job asking for the money that I feel he deserves it.

His whole approach was that he had gotten out of jail (was released, not escaped!) a week ago and is looking for work. He had resumes with him and asked if anyone knew of a job that would hire an ex-convict and asked for us to take his resume or give him any leads.

He also asked for money so that he could continue his job search and buy a 7-day train pass. He was asking us for money because he never wants to resort to stealing again.

A bunch of us gave this guy some spare change or a dollar. Interesting how if someone is just down on their luck, we won't necessarily help them, but if we see someone who is trying to better their life, we are willing to lend a hand.

Do we believe that lending money to people who are down on their luck won't help them get to a better place? Why don't I give to those people?

This guy had it right... he knew exactly what we wanted to hear... that people can change... that given a chance and a little help, that he could avoid a life of crime and become a good, hard-working citizen. He gave us hope. And I will gladly give up a few dollars in change for a little hope.

ailments

You know how people get old and all they talk about are their ailments and their last bowel movement?

I feel like this blog is heading in that direction.

Not about me. I am doing great.

But my family is falling to pieces!

I won't even run down everything that is wrong with people. The most serious being my brother's preemie baby that was born at 29 weeks, my two uncles who are battling very serious cancer and my mom who has surgery this Monday for her cancer.

But THEN just to top it off, I found out today that my uncle on the other side of the family had a stroke yesterday and is now paralyzed on his left side!

That poor man! His poor family!

It's been one of those months where things keep going wrong.

But, despite being paralyzed and having slurred speech, my uncle has not lost his sense of humor.

The doctor asked him, "How do you feel?"

And my uncle responded, "With my hands!"

Ba-dum-dum!

A little laughter and positive thinking and I think we are going to get through this a-okay.

a bit irreverent

So you know that old fun trick of adding "in bed" to the end of fortune cookie sayings to make them funnier?

Taking "You will get lucky" and changing it to "You will get lucky... in bed".

Last night I was drunk and when I am drunk I have very weird dreams.

In my dream I came up with the fun idea of doing that to Bible verses!

Some of them actually work...

"Do unto others as others do unto you... in bed."

Teehee!

"The Lord says to Jerusalem,

'Foreigners will rebuild your walls,

And their kings will serve you.

In my anger I punished you,

But now I will show you my

favor and mercy... in bed.' "

"I will protect and defend you like a wall;

You will praise me because I have saved you... in bed."

"My people, foreigners will

serve you... in bed

They will take care of your flocks... in bed

And farm your land and tend your

vineyards.

And you will be known as the priests of

the Lord... in bed."

"Your shame and disgrace are ended... in bed."

"Your joy will last forever... in bed."

My sister just informed me that I am going straight to hell.

boo hiss on this!

Ugh. Chugga chugga chugga ugh.

I've decided that my family needs to send out random happy emails. Because now whenever I see an email from a family member, I cringe, knowing that it is going to be bad news.

The latest is that the polyp that my mom had removed from her cervix a few weeks ago, turned out to be malignant.

Awesome. Fucking awesome. This will be my mom's third go round with cancer.

They caught it early and I'm sure it will be fine. But nobody should have to deal with cancer three times in their lifetime.

I don't write for weeks and then THIS is what I choose to write about? Ugh. Sorry blog readers.

Let's think of some positive things to add to this post...

I bought a new pair of pants yesterday that fit perfectly. And show off my booty.

I get these amazing coupons from Victoria Secret so that I ended up getting 6 pairs of underwear for only $16 yesterday. Since each pair retails for $8.50 individually (which is RIDICULOUS!) that is quite a steal. And they are really cute. And have snowflakes on them. And little wooded fairy scenes and other cuteness. What can I say, if you want to feel cute you've got to start on the ground floor and work your way up.

Do you know what I'm going to go do? Go throw out my old ratty underwear. You know, the pairs that you keep just in case all your other ones are dirty but that you never, ever want anyone to see. Gone. Time to purge.

My shopping trip yesterday took me less than twenty minutes! I'm a super shopper!

I got to work on my favorite coworker yesterday and I totally helped fix her messed up shoulder!

I have a great family.

I'm in good shape. And now that it is too cold to run outside I have turned the tv towards the treadmill and have found that I can run even longer when I am distracted by a good movie.

My friends rule.

See, things aren't so bad!

height

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm too tall.

I always thought that at 5'8" tall that I was a pretty good height. I can reach things on the top of shelves. But I have no problem finding clothes that fit. The best of both worlds.

Whenever I play volleyball I wish for a few more inches. Though really what I need is to develop a vertical jump and then the height thing wouldn't matter.

But when I'm dating, I sort of wish I was a little bit shorter. Why? Because a lot of guys are right around my height. That should be perfect, right? Our lips would be at the exact same level- making for easy and ideal kissing, right? No more crick in the neck as I have to bend my neck back to kiss those tall guys.

But it's not actually ideal. Height matters. It shouldn't. But it does. We are taught that men are our big strong protectors. But when the woman is the same size as the man, or worse yet, bigger, it changes things. Men feel emasculated. Women feel less sexy.

Is that something that people can get over? Or does it permanently mess up the dynamics in a relationship and cause problems? Does size matter?

adventurers

What kind of person are you? What kind of chances are you willing to take?

What keeps people at home? Is it contentment or is it fear?

Having just watched a sci-fi movie, it got me thinking about space travel. If traveling to other worlds was an option... would you do it?

A lot of people don't even travel to other countries, let alone other worlds.

There is pretty much no place on Earth that we can't get to, but we don't always go to those places. Why not? A lot of factors play into that. Money. Danger. Comfort. Health.

What reasons would you need to travel to another world? Or would you do it just to find out what is out there? What if all your family and friends could come with you? (I think that would be most people's thing holding them back.)

seating chart

I think the most stressful part about wedding planning (no, not that I am planning one) is doing the seating arrangements.

You can do buffet style and let people choose their own tables. But then you get that poor couple who doesn't know anyone who is wandering around with their plate of food looking like the new kid in the school cafeteria.

Or you can do assigned seating but then you have to worry about all sorts of things... are Grandpa so-and-so and cousin so-and-so near each other? Because they've been feuding since last fall. Crap like that.

And once you separate the feuders, you have to think about the flow of the party and who will mingle well with whom.

At the last wedding I went to, I got stuck sitting between my four-year old niece and my eight-year old nephew. And you know what? That wasn't fun for me.

So instead of having a good time with witty conversation, I got to babysit. Thumbs down.

Thankfully I had my new camera with me to entertain my not-at-all-camera-shy niece Charlotte.

I took this video and looked over at my brother with a shake of the head, who then responded, "Now you know what it's like for the rest of us having to put up with you when you're drunk!" Ha! Touche, Jaime, touche!

sunset

I was riding home on the el the other night and I had my head in my book and was pretty oblivious to the world around me, when I decided to look up and saw this intensely beautiful sunset!

My photo doesn't do it justice. There were blues and lavender and lilac and pink and all sorts of colors. It was stunning. Sort of took my breath away.

And nobody was noticing it.

I almost didn't notice it.

So I put my book down and watched the sunset for the rest of the ride home. And I resisted the urge to be the crazy person on the train who was interrupting people to force them to look at the sunset!

It was a big reminder of how much wonderful stuff I can miss out on if I get too wrapped up in my own crap.

Irony

So I had a super scary dream this morning about seeing this guy walk into a building I was in and go crazy and open fire shooting a gun at random people.

I lay down on the floor and did not get hit by any bullets.

But as I was laying down on the floor I had the thought that "This is really messed up! I bet it's gonna give me nightmares!"

boobs vs. butts

So here's your random post for the day:

Men often describe themselves as either being boob men or ass men. Meaning that they are attracted to either a woman's ass or a woman's boobs. Yeah, I know, you didn't really need that clarification. You are smart people, I'm sure you figured that out.

The other day we were talking about breast feeding while I was at work (since my coworker is about to give birth) and an idea occurred to me:

Do men who are breast fed vs. bottle fed turn more into boob guys? Does the amount of time that they are breast fed (til the age of two years vs til six months) play a role? Does what their mom's boobs look like play a big role in it?

Or do those things not matter at all?

I've never seen any research on it, nor do I think we should waste our money doing research on the topic but it could help explain it. Though it wouldn't explain why the other men love butts. We decided that was just the default option.

quarterbacks

What is it about quarterbacks that makes them just so damn sexy???

Sorry, it's a slow blogging day, so I'm going to write about what I saw on TV yesterday. I watched a special about Mark Sanchez, the quarterback for the New York Jets.

Yum.

The most interesting thing that I learned about Mark is that he is second generation Mexican-American and is often held up as a role model in the Hispanic community.

Lot of Hispanic television shows and sports programs want to do interviews with him... in Spanish.

Only problem? Mark grew up speaking English in his home! He has had to learn Spanish as an adult so that he can do these interviews.

Becky's baby

One of my favorite coworkers, Becky, is pregnant. Very, very pregnant.

The doctors with their fancy ultra sounds claim that she is only having one baby. A little girl. So that is what she is planning on. But she won't be surprised if there is another baby hidden in there. Or a unicorn. Yes, a unicorn. They are magical, hence why they don't show up on the ultra sound and hence why she is so ridiculously big.

I took these photos of Becky on Saturday.

She laughed when she saw them and said that she didn't realize that she is THAT big. When she looks at herself in the mirror, she said she doesn't think she looks as big as she does in the picture. Yet, in my mind, the pictures don't even do justice to how big she is! Huge! Awesomely huge!

Becky and I work a lot of the same shifts and our schedules often tend to work out perfectly so that we have the same breaks and end up sitting in the break room talking to each other. I see her more than I do any of my other coworkers. It has been great watching her pregnancy (her first) develop.

So Becky says to me this weekend, "It's going to be so weird because I am going to have the baby and you will only ever really end up seeing her at like our Christmas party and stuff."

I kind of gave her a questioning look because I didn't find that to be so weird.

And she continued, "Because, you and the baby hang out so much now. You guys are buds! She is used to hearing your voice all the time and being around you. She is going to be born and be so confused, wondering where you are!"

How cute is that?!?

twitter oops

I'm by no means an expert on Twitter. I use it occasionally just to post my random thoughts that I don't want to clog up Facebook with.

But I forget that other people, besides just my followers can see my twitter posts.

So when I tweet snotty things about how Match.com should have a box that you can check saying that you don't want to date anyone who watches Glenn Beck... I should have been prepared for snotty replies. Oops!

old age

Sometimes a moment is so tender and sweet that words alone can't capture it... and then a photo helps.

Yesterday as I was walking in the Loop, I saw one old man helping another old man, who had a cane and who was slightly worse off than himself, walk down the street.

regret

Do you ever do something and then immediately regret it? Like putting your leftover Chipotle into your backpack so that you have your hands free to take pictures. You KNOW right away that it is a bad idea. So it comes as no surprise when an hour later it spills ALL over the inside of your bag. And it smelled SO strongly! I was the stinky person on the train today! We all have to be that person at some point in our lives- my day was today.

The other thing I think I am going to regret is signing up for Match.com.

I've hated it every time I have done the free trials in the past. Why is this time going to be different? They sucker you in though... they tease you... they tell you that someone has written you an email but they won't tell you WHO wrote you an email or WHAT the email says until you pay them money and sign up.

How can I live with that? How can I live with not knowing what the emails say? The curiosity was too much. I caved. But I immediately regret it. Match.com is creepy. They tell people when you are online and how recently you have been online. "Nikki has been active within two hours." Seriously, I don't want people to know that. And then tell people if I have read their emails or not. I suppose that is good for the people sitting there thinking, "Did she get it? Has she read it?" Ugh. I hate this shit.

So why am I doing this? Because I keep saying that I want to start dating again... and this is the easiest way.

But I don't really want to do it. I want a boy to come magically land in my lap. Is that too much to ask?

I'm going to have to start using my magical voodoo powers to lure them to me.

the morphing of a man

What do women want? Do we even know? Filling out a profile for eharmony today has got me wanting to never date again. Ugh.

But I was thinking about what we want from guys. We want a guy who is open and talks to us and shares his feelings. Who wouldn't want a guy who goes to yoga class and musicals with them?

Basically what we want is a guy who is a girl!

But with a peni$.

Doesn't that sort of defeat the point? Don't we like guys because they are guys and manly and different from us?

I'd love to be able to do yoga with a guy. Share something with him that I love. But then I think about the guys in my yoga classes... am I attracted to those guys? Hell no! Do I want a touchy-feely girly man who wears spandex? NOOOO!

So why do we keep trying to change our men into women?

I'm not saying no to compromise. I can sit down and have a beer and watch a football game. That doesn't make me less of a woman. And a man can go to a yoga class or go shopping with me, that doesn't make him less of a man. We don't need to have separate activities and ways of speaking/ dealing with things.

But I don't feel like men have the same urge to change women that women have to change men. Why is that? (Or am I completely wrong about that?) Do we want to change men because it would make US happier? Or because we think it would make THEM happier?

Part of me thinks that we think we are helping them... WE feel better when we talk about things... therefore if we could just get men to talk about things more, wouldn't THEY feel better too? Not necessarily. Men are different. I think we forget that sometimes.

Then again, maybe that is the role that women are meant to play. I have heard many married men say that their wives have made better men out of them. Or that their interests have changed because of their wives. Getting drunk and blowing up fireworks is not nearly as pressingly important as it once was.

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for."

So normally I talk about how beautiful and wonderful life is and all that jazz.

But not every day can be sunshine and rainbows.

I've been reading about the Holocaust which is leaving me feeling somewhat subdued.

And I was on the el this morning and I noticed that it wasn't just me, everyone was in a somber mood.

Not a single person was smiling.

Though one gentleman was wearing a ridiculous pair of skin-tight, stone-washed jeans that was tempting me to smile.

The book I am reading talks about how the Jews in the ghetto in Warsaw, amidst all the horror and uncertainty and death, still found things to appreciate and love and that helped them to get through it.

And it made me think about the fact that sunshine and rainbows aren't the ONLY beautiful things out there.

You can find beauty in a melancholy train ride... if you look for it. The camaraderie of slugging through the day with a bunch of your fellow humans. The rhythmic swish-swish of the wheels on the track. The whistling of the wind finding its way through the cracks. The stale lingering smell of fast food. It might not be beautiful in the normal sense of the word but you can find something to appreciate even in the mundane.

autumn

Do you know what the best part about fall is?

No, not the colors.

No, not the smells.

It's cashmere!

Yup, straight up cashmere. I could live happily cuddled inside cashmere sweaters for the rest of my life.

poll

And don't forget to vote in the new poll (to your right)!

spam-a-lot

I wonder how many emails out there never get seen because they go to a spam folder? I've gotten pretty good at giving a quick glance to my spam folder every day but how many other people do?

I actually received an email the other day that TOLD me that an email I sent had been filed as spam. Apparently I had too many of their bad "key words" included in my text. But that was sent to a university, hence why I was notified. Had it been sent to yahoo or google I would never have known.

There is that old phrase "the check is in the mail." Things out there, on their way, maybe lost forever. Nowadays we have the phrase, "Lost in cyberspace."

When someone says they didn't receive your email you scoff, thinking, "Sure, it just disappeared!" But do emails just disappear? Do they get accidentally deleted when we don't go through our spam accounts closely enough?

Makes you wonder about all the emails you might have missed out on.

The Zookeeper's Wife

I have to tell you that I'm not really loving our book club selection for this month. It is called The Zookeeper's Wife and is about Poland being invaded by the Nazis. Fascinating? Yes. Interesting? Yes. Unbelievably depressing? YES!!!!

However, I must admit that when you have had a bad day, filled with annoying clients, there is something about reading about the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw that helps you put things in perspective and feel a lot better about your life!

I mean, really? I'm upset because I had a bad client?!? Get an f'ing real problem, Nik!

how about cutler gets tackled again??

Seriously, Bears?!? So far this game is so painful to watch that I am thinking about going to read my bookclub book instead... about Warsaw being invaded by the Nazis. I find it more uplifting than this game.

the motion of the ocean

Is there anything more calming than sitting next to a big body of water with waves rolling in?



(There is nothing exciting on this video, it is just really sort of relaxing and pretty and calming. I could have it going as background video at all times.)

As people on the coasts will tell you, nothing is as great as the ocean. And I have to agree. But Lake Michigan, especially when the waters are churning, is a close second. And a LOT closer to home, so I'll take it!

The lake has always been a really special place for me. When I was a little girl my mom used to take me and my brother Mike (and occasionally my other brother Ryan, i.e. Mike's best friend that I saw more of than his own family did) down to the beach. I think I am one of the few people that the lifeguards at the beach ever forced to have a "time out." Oops. Apparently pelting little old ladies with wet clumps of sand is forbidden. Who knew?! :)

In high school I would go down to the beach with friends to play sand volleyball.

Right after college I worked a block away from the lake at a horrible job and I would escape down there on my lunch break to regroup and restore my sanity.

Later I became obsessed with the lakefront bike path and would spend hours rollerblading along it... occasionally going all the way up to my job in Evanston.

And when I had my evil boyfriend that is where I used to go to cry my eyes out. Walking along, seeing how pretty it was, telling myself to stop and notice how pretty it was and being so miserable that all I could do was cry.

I was thinking about that this week. Because I was sitting at the lake and was just so happy that it made a tear come to my eye. And so I recalled all the other, much different, tears that I have shed at the lake.

I am in such a different place now.

It's hard to imagine being as miserable as I was. Being on the emotional roller coaster that I was on. And again, all I can say is "Thank you!" to my friends for putting up with me during that time! I mean, I know it's always fun to have a sort of crazy friend who makes you feel better because your life is going a lot better than hers. So I'm glad I could fill that place for you back then. But you guys put up with a lot of drama from me that year. And though I still blame all of you for not giving me a sound talking to and just snapping me out of it... I do love you all for being there for me... again... and again... and again!

A large part of me wants to forget those times. Pretend that they never even happened.

But sometimes we need rough times like that to make us appreciate the good. Too much sunlight can make us blinded. Sometimes we need shadows as well.

Though, I'll tell ya, I am liking being in the sunshine a lot better.

I'm not the girl I used to be.

Part of me looks at this blog and says "A year with nikki? Not much has happened in this year!" Until you look back at that person that I was. I feel like I have done a lifetime of growing in the past three years. And each days brings me closer to being the person that I want to be.

So maybe I am still in the same job and haven't published a book yet. Maybe that didn't happen this year. But I've learned to be happy with still being in my job and happy despite the fact that I haven't published a book yet.

I think one of the biggest lessons you will ever learn in life (and especially in terms of happiness) is that it is not always about changing the world. It is about changing how you perceive the world.

Love. Happiness. Change. It all comes from within.

And 10 times out 10, I would choose to be who I am now even if I haven't quite done everything that I've wanted to do, rather than be who I was six years ago but with all the accomplishments in the world.

I'm a f*cking work in progress, I tell ya.

Why does every single solitary post I write end up talking about change and progress and blah, blah, blah?!?

I do REALIZE how annoying that is. I'll work on it, I promise. Don't worry, I'm still riding the el daily... I'm sure I'll have more stories from there soon! This past week has been strangely (blessedly!) uneventful!

confused

This morning as I lay in bed I was soooo confused... why was there a car alarm going off? And why was it so close to my head? I'm not even going to admit how long it took me to realize that it was actually just my alarm clock going off!

just sending it out there...

thank you for
this perfect,
perfect
day

rearranging furniture

Oh, that is SO much better.

I don't know anything about feng shui. All I know is that the stupid sideboard in the dining room has been annoying me since it got moved in here. I didn't realize just how much it bothered me though until I finally moved it this morning (it's friggin' heavy! fyi) and now my soul just feels lighter.

Not to mention that moving furniture makes you end up doing some deep cleaning which is good (for the house and the mind) too.

They say that your space is a reflection of yourself. So what does it say about me that I've been sitting here for months with a room arrangement that bothered me but that I was too lazy to do anything about?

Wow, that is soooo me. If something isn't that bad and isn't a huge deal, I feel no need to really do something about it.

But the little action of moving the sideboard- taking action and changing things- actually made a huge difference in the room and in my mood.

Imagine if I took that sort of action with everything in my life? I'm pretty happy right now but how happy could I be?

changes/ improvements

Who is this new 31-year old Nikki? I feel like I don't even know her! Guess what I did last night? I watched the Bears game!

That, in and of itself, isn't that amazing. I've watched hundreds of football games in my life. What is amazing is that I watched it by myself. I came home from work, wasn't tired and needed something to do before bed and decided, "I think I'll go watch the Bears game." I had full control of the TV and that is what I chose to watch. On purpose. That might be a first in all of history!

Of course, if all football games were as exciting as the last quarter (which is all I caught) of the Bears vs. Packers game last night, I would watch football ALL the time! (I know, I know, this coming from a girl who actually enjoys watching soccer, possibly the most mind-numbingly-boring sport for non-players to watch) What amuses me even more (watching myself from an outsider's prospective) is that I even got really into it... yelling at the TV and at that smug little Aaron Rodgers!

Good times.

I wonder what other changes are gonna happen this year?

I think I know what the next one is going to be... I think I am going to become a phone person. I use my phone for normal things- to call and make appointments, to order food, that sort of thing- but I'm not a big phone talker. I don't chit-chat much. The only two people that I really talk to on the phone are my mom and my best friend- and I talk to them ALL the time so I know that I am CAPABLE of talking on the phone. So let's do it. Go ahead and call me, world. I'll actually pick up. We can chat.

snippets

What to write about today? I have an hour to kill before going to work and I have to write about something because my other option is cleaning the house. I'd much rather ramble and put out a sub-par blog post than get out the mop and attack the bathroom floor. Besides, I don't want to get covered in dust or smell all cleaning-chemically when giving my massages later. Yup, that's the excuse I am going with anyways!

Here are the things I have been thinking about:

So I think I am going to start dating again for real. I've been taking a break from dating for a while now. Which was great. It was much needed. I feel über confident in myself and who I am because I finally took the time to be by myself. That was great. But I think it is time for me to jump back in. With both feet. And just open up and do it.

So starting Oct 1st I will be available. Come and get me, boys! Why October 1st? Oh, I shouldn't admit this... not even to you, my lovely blog readers... but it's because my horoscope said that would be a good time for starting relationships! That's as good a time as any, right?

I'm kind of starting to look forward to it... to being courted and wooed. Receiving cute text messages. Being covered in kisses. All that good stuff.

No more crushing on boys that aren't really interested. I want to find a boy who is as crazy about me as I am about him. That shouldn't be so hard, right?

Heeheehee. If only it were that simple.

What else can I tell you?

My siblings gave me a crap load of good wine for my birthday... but then made sure to tell me that they DO also like me when I am sober, that it wasn't some sort of hint.

I'm pretty excited about fall being here because it makes for EXCELLENT sleeping weather. Cuddle. Cuddle. Cuddle.

I'm pretty not excited about fall being here because it is COLD! And it is hard enough to play soccer normally but when I can't breath because of my allergies it really ups the difficulty.

How hard must it be for Jamie Lee Curtis having everyone know you were born a hermaphradite? Much better to just have it out there and have people say, "Wow!" and then get over it than try to hide it as some sort of big secret your whole life, though.

And what else?

Hot chocolate sounds REALLY good right now. But it gives me weird breath so I will put off that craving until after I have my clients.

Wow, my standards for blog posts has really gone downhill now that I have hit 31. Sorry about that, guys!

massage pet peeves

I'm fairly laid back. When I'm in a good mood, pretty much everything rolls off of me. When I'm in a bad mood, not so much. But for the most part it does.

Especially at work I tend to roll with the punches and have infinite patient with my clients. They are paying me to be nice to them. I will be nice to them, no matter how annoying they are. I pride myself on my client handling skills.

But yesterday I had a client who was driving me nuts. She was jumpy. I understand that some people are a little uncomfortable the first time or two that they get a massage. I can cut them a break. But she has had at least 15 massages. And every single therapist has noted that she is jumpy. And I can understand that some people are ticklish- which again is annoying, but I can at least understand that a little bit. This woman was not ticklish.

There are certain things that you do to help clients not be jumpy... you start with your hand in a very neutral area like the top of the shoulders and then move it from there and you maintain constant contact with the client's body... no jumping around and moving your hand from their shin to their low back. And you go at a slow and even pace. No surprises. No REASON for a damn client to be jumpy! I mean, really? Why are you freaking out when my hand touches your back? Is it a surprise?!? I don't think so... you came in and are PAYING me to put my hand on your back, dumbass!

There is no reason for it to annoy me as much as it does, other than that it stops me from giving a really great massage. And when I get annoyed I just remind myself that I have no idea what is going on in this client's mind or in her life... she may have been abused, it might have taken her years to even get to this point where she could let someone else touch her.

Or she might just be annoying and stupid, but I will give her the benefit of the doubt just in case.

pole dancing revisited

My sister was telling me that a woman in her book club signed up for pole dancing classes.

This isn't that unheard of, I mean, even MY uncoordinated ass has tried it.

There are many classes offered throughout the city... What makes this new class different is that it is CO-ED!!!

And so my question is this... what kind of guys sign up to take co-ed pole dancing classes? Skeevy perverts? Gay guys? Normal dudes just looking to meet a "nice" girl?" Is it the new hip thing for married couples?

I am just having a hard time imagining this.

Libra

I'm going to get all hippy on you for a moment and talk about Zodiac signs.

I was born on September 23rd (tomorrow! yeah!) and different horoscopes list me as different signs. Some say that Sept 23rd falls under Virgo. Some say it falls under Libra.

But I know that I am a Libra.

There are certain personality traits associated with each sign of the Zodiac. I don't know that they are really true for everyone. How could they be? But for me it is 100% spot on.

This is what they (the wonderful people on the internet) say about Libras: (I've put in bold the things that really resonate with me)

Libra is the seventh sign of the zodiac and is represented by the scales. Libra is the only sign that is not represented by a human or animal, but the scales signify the Libra's need for balance, order, and equality. Many astrologers view Libra as the most enviable sign because it occurs during the peak of the year when the rewards of hard work are harvested.

Libras are very easy to like because of their charming ways. They are capable of making anyone feel interesting and important. They are great listeners, but they also expect you to listen to them in return. They have great observation skills and very good perception. They strive to bond with others and Libras are at their best when in personal relationships.

Appreciators of Beauty
Because Venus, the goddess of love, rules Libras, they appreciate beauty in anything, whether it is a person, art, or music. Because Libras love and appreciate beauty, their homes are often filled with exquisite and attractive items. They enjoy owning the best money can buy and take pride in their good taste. Because of their affection for beauty, Libras make great designers, artists, and musicians.


Sensitive
Libras are very charming, but part of their charm is in their sensitivity to others. They are great at seeing and delivering what other people need to pick them up. They dislike cruelty, nastiness, and vulgarity, as they are naturally gentle and loving people. Born diplomats, they often try to settle conflicts between people as this upsets them to see clashes occur. Libras themselves try to cooperate and compromise with everyone around them to help create a tranquil atmosphere.


The sensitivity Libras possess helps them be aware of not only their position on a subject, but also that of others. This along with their listening skills and willingness to compromise makes for great relationships. Even if a Libra does fight with a mate, their charisma and kindness always helps smooth things over. Because Libra is the most empathetic of all signs, the spouse of a Libra will always feel like his or her feelings are understood.

Weaknesses
With all their caring and kind ways, it may be hard to imagine Libras as having negative aspects to their personality, but as with all other signs, they can. Libras do not handle criticism very well, which often makes them seem insecure. But one of their biggest faults is the need for admiration. They like to be the center of attention and be praised for things they do, so some may see them as self-centered.

Because a Libra values beauty so much, they may sometimes become too focused on outward beauty and forget to look deeper into a person's full character.

Because they are so understanding of other's feelings, they may be seen as indecisive or unable to make up their minds. Any sign as blessed with charm as Libras are can always be seen as flirtatious.

Parts of the Body Ruled by Libra
Lower back, buttocks, and kidneys - Libras may suffer from problems in the lumbar area and may be prone to kidney infections and kidney stones.


Famous Librans

Actors/Entertainers
Michael Douglas
Susan Sarandon
Angela Lansbury
Carrie Fisher
Matt Damon

Musicians/Singers
Sting
John Lennon
Chuck Berry
Luciano Pavarotti

Artists/Writers
T.S. Elliot
Truman Copote
E.E. Cummings (my favorite poet!)
Friedrich Nietzsche

Leaders/Politicians
Mahatma Gandhi
Jesse Jackson
Margaret Thatcher
Dwight Eisenhower
Jess Helms

Libras are one of the most admired signs in the zodiac because of their kindness and compassion towards others. They make wonderful friends and great lovers who make you feel loved and appreciated.



If I were to get another tattoo it would probably be the Chinese character for Balance.

Balance. Harmony. Zen. Peace.

I feel so unsettled when things are out of balance in my life. If I am fighting with someone it eats me up inside.

And one of the hardest things for me is to pick a point of view and defend it. Because I can not only see both sides to something... I can usually see about seven or eight sides to a situation!

Balance. Balance. Balance.

Not only is my sign all about balance but I am also born on the Autumn equinox- the day of the year when the world is perfectly balanced between equal amounts of day and night.

I have the feeling this is going to be a good year for me. A balanced year. Lots of work. But also lots of play. How can people be sad about getting older when life just keeps getting better?!? :)

pity party

I hate it when people cancel plans at the last minute. I hate it even more when that person is me.

I spent all afternoon trying to convince my body that it is my birthday week and that I, therefore, can NOT be sick but my stomach was having none of it. I've been feeling queasy all afternoon.

I'm blaming it on my lunch. I had a Lean Cuisine pizza which was so bad that it doesn't even deserve to be called pizza. They should just call it cardboard with pizza toppings. It was either that or the milk I drank. I don't THINK the milk was bad. It shouldn't be bad. But it was chocolate milk so I can't just do a sniff test because it just smelled chocolatey!

I kept thinking that I would start feeling better, but no, I had to tell my friends that I was lame and would not be making it out tonight.

I also kept thinking that if I just puked that I would probably feel a million times better. Which makes me wonder, do other people hate puking as much as I do? I will go to the ends of the earth to avoid puking.

But that reminds me of a client I used to have. Good ol' Larry. Larry hates toilets. Dirty toilets just disgust him. So one night he went out to the bar and got HAMMERED. He puked as he was leaving the bar and once more on the way home. He got to his apartment and what did he do? He got out his cleaning products so that he could clean his toilet before he puked in it!

That still cracks me up.

Send some healthy vibes my way, won't you? This belly ache is no fun at all.

overkill

Sometimes I get a little embarrassed when I realize that I just sent someone an email and EVERY single sentence ended with an exclamation point.

I couldn't help it. I was really excited.

Perhaps I need to tone it down a bit.

Or find better ways to express my enthusiasm. So I don't end up looking like a third grader who just discovered punctuation.

theater

I'm super lucky to live in Chicago. We are a theater kind of town. All the best improv comedians come through here. (Some of the NOT-so-best improv comedians ALSO come through here.) Big shows like Wicked or Phantom of the Opera come here straight from Broadway. I like going to those.

But I also love checking out the little theaters. The little shows that people don't get paid a lot of money to be in and instead do it simply because they love it.

I saw a show on Friday that was put on by the Redmoon Theater. They put on shows all over the city, in parks, at the lakefront, at Navy Pier. Why do they do this? Most likely because the location of their real theater is a pain in the ass to get to and is in a bad part of town. But it gives them the opportunity to be really artsy and creative and use different venues to the fullest.

Friday's show was called The Astronaut's Birthday and was at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Or should I say it was outside of the MCA. There were some bleachers set up in front of the museum so that you sat staring at the front of the museum. We were lucky, we got seats. A lot of people just had to sit on the sidewalk. They aren't so big in making sure their audience is comfortable.

So the director came out before hand and explained what was going to happen.

There are 18 windows on the front of the MCA. Six on the second floor, six on the third floor and six on the fourth floor. The performers were inside the building with projectors.



Old school projectors. Two for each window. And a WHOLE bunch of transparencies that they had drawn on.

There was someone down by us who would use his walkie talkie to tell them when to switch to the next slide, keeping in time with the music, lighting up different windows at different times and keeping the story flowing seamlessly. There were a few times when you could also (purposefully) see the shadows of actors walking around inside the building. I'm not usually into comic books but they did an amazing job. (And it was actually easier to read/see than these photos from my phone demonstrate.)







Anyways, it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I got blown away with how creative the whole idea was. And I felt so lucky to live in a city with so many artistic and creative people!

you're welcome

Today I was riding the el home and there was a father who was entertaining his young son with his iPhone.

Sitting by the doors. Playing stupid games. Pretty oblivious to everything.

And I saw a man. A young man in a track suit, get up, and for absolutely no reason, move to the completely other side of the train to sit near this father and son. No reason for that. He had his own seat to himself where nobody was bothering him on the other side of the train.

So my guard was instantly up. Granted, I happen to be a *little* bit paranoid after my phone was stolen and I saw someone's phone stolen and I've heard eighteen million stories of people's phones being stolen.

But I thought, he wouldn't steal it out of the hands of a little kid, would he?

And then I stopped being so naive.

And I thought about something my friend and I had just talked about... about doing something. How often do we sit there and not do anything? When my phone got stolen a woman on the train said to me afterwards, "I thought they seemed suspicious!" A whole lot of good that did me after the fact!

So do I wait until they get their phone stolen to say that I thought that guy looked suspicious? That a feeling in my gut told me he was up to no good?

Do I walk over and say "Hey, phones get stolen on here a lot, you should probably put that away?"

I thought about that.

Instead what I did was get up and go stand by the door. And I made eye contact with the potential thief. Just to let him know that I was aware. That somebody was paying attention, even if the dad and his son weren't.

I didn't say anything and really I didn't do anything. But the guy couldn't have made it out the door with the phone without getting past me.

Sure enough, he got off at Central (the iPhone thieving capital of the world.) And he sort of slowed down as he walked by the kid but then looked up and saw me blocking his quick exit and kept on walking.

Now is it possible that this guy was just a genuine nice guy? Is it possible that I am crazy and paranoid? Absolutely. I will be the first to admit that. But thankfully, now we will never know. And it took very little effort on my part, but the guilt would have killed me if their phone HAD been stolen!

F.A.Q.s

One of the questions that people and clients often ask me is if my hands get tired/ hurt from giving massage.

Usually my answer is no. They don't hurt. That's the big reason that people go to massage school- to learn how to give multiple massages in a day without hurting yourself. Plus having the massage table really helps. You can adjust it to the right height and then use your body weight to apply pressure rather than having to work your arm muscles.

That's usually my answer.

Yesterday if you had asked me around 6 PM, you would have gotten a whole different answer. Yes, it hurts so bad! And then I probably would have broken into emotionally exhausted tears.

I've been on vacation for two of the last three weeks. Giving massage is like any other athletic activity- if you don't do it for a while you get out of shape! So it's been slow and it's been slow and it's been slow and then suddenly BHAM! Yesterday I was fully booked with five and a half hours of massage, and of course all of them wanted deep tissue. That's the equivalent of not working out for two months and suddenly playing in a soccer tournament. And did I mention that I didn't have a break? For some reason the front desk staff decided that I didn't need to take a lunch yesterday. I explained that just because my lunch time is "flexible" does not mean it is okay for me to not have one.

It was rough. It reminds me of when I first started out and overworked myself and had to go home and ice every night. Owwwieee!

So I'm not going to lie to you guys, it does hurt sometimes. But it is still worth it. Completely and totally worth it.