our song

Do you and your significant other have a song? What about you and your friends? 

There are certain songs that obviously bring you back to a certain time in your life, but there are also certain songs that remind me of certain people. 

The song Lodi Dodi by Snoop Dogg came on my ipod yesterday and it reminded me of my best friend. Now that song could have reminded me of college in general but it very specifically reminded me of my best friend, to the point where I found it hard to think about anybody else while it was playing. All I could picture was singing along with it in the dorm rooms next to her huge ass stereo. 

There are some songs that are pretty obviously chosen because that person and I shared a special memory or moment when that song was playing or related to that song. Some of them just randomly remind me of people and they would probably be surprised to hear that in my mind that is "their song."

Lady in Red by UB40- Matt White 

(Because I was wearing a red shirt at a valentine's day dance and he danced with me to this song.)

Bizarre Love Triangle- Alex M. 

(We were dating my freshman year of high school when it got really popular so it was often on when we talked on the phone.)

Walking in the Sun by Chaka Chan- Brian Y. 

(He played it for me and told me it made him think of me.)

Any song by the Violent Femmes- Katie Cerullo

(Because she first introduced me to them our freshman year.)

Wonderwall- Emily D 

(We made a music video to it!)

Da Dip- Matty Mac 

(We were out with his friends one night and I mentioned to them that Matt did a little dance to that song and he was so embarrassed and mad at me for outing him!) 

Forever by Ben Harper- Travis 

(He used to play it for me on his guitar.)

The Sign by Ace of Base- Dave H. 

(We had a running joke about it.)

anything by Madonna- Luke B.

(He was a DJ at parties in college and played it a lot. People would also take their shirts off at midnight when he played a certain song. What song was it?)

Jump Around- Pat McG

Beast of Burden by The Rolling Stones- Jamie "Red Car"

(We used to listen to it while getting on. He had it on a tape and would stop and rewind it again and again.)

anything by Aerosmith- Margaret Pol 

(She used to have a handmade sign hanging on her wall about how great Aerosmith was in high school.)

Tan Shoes and Pink Shoelaces- Jalin C.

(We lip synced to it for the talent show.)

Stand by R.E.M.- Leah P.

(She was obsessed with REM)

I can't help falling in love with you by Elvis- Chuck V.

(I don't know if this is the song that he did actually sing to Jamie the night of their rehearsal dinner but in my mind it is.)

the song that goes "I still remember, when we used to be 9 years old. I was a fool for you, from the bottom of my soul..." - Rory D.

(because when I WAS 9 years old I had a huge crush on him. And would watch him ride his bike up and down our block.)

Shout- my sister Critter

(We danced to it at her wedding and had a great time.)

Come on Eileen- Tammy (the bball coach)

(Because she hated that it was on all the mixes.)

the album "Street Corner Singing"- my dad

(It was the very first CD we ever bought and had a bunch of great oldies on it. I would put it on and sing and dance around. One time my dad was lying in bed reading and I kept walking past his doorway doing funny dance moves and faces until he FINALLY noticed me and started cracking up.)

Those are just the first ones that came into my head. There are lots more. What is your song? What song do you think of when you think of me?

laughter is truly the best medicine

A client came in tonight and was just super tense. I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me. Work had been crazy. Lots of stress. Knots galore. 

Normally this client falls asleep pretty quickly, but tonight we got to talking. And now don't call PETA on me, I swear I'm not actually an animal torturer, but we got to joking about ways to torture squirrels. I have nothing against squirrels (as long as they are outside where they belong and not in my walls) but knowing many bird lovers, I can commiserate with how big of pests squirrels can be when they are eating all of the food out of your bird feeders. 

I mentioned how my best friend was considering greasing the little dome under the bird feeder so that the squirrels would slide off. I suggested coating it with Nair and then laughing in revenge at the bald squirrels running around. 

There is a window right next to one of my client's bird feeders where my client was contemplating setting up shop and shooting the squirrel in the ass every time it tried to eat from the feeder. The squirrel would hopefully start having a negative association with eating from the feeders and stop. But then we worried that the squirrel might have S&M tendencies and actually like it and keep coming back especially for that. Which of course, led us (in our slap happy state) to imagine the squirrels running around with little leather studded collars on! 

It's probably one of those things where you had to be there to find it really funny, but that's not the point of my story. We found it funny and we were laughing a good, deep belly laugh. The effect the laughter had on my client was visible. Sure, my client still had knots but the tension that they were holding in their neck and shoulders was gone. My client felt a million times better. 

Which got me thinking about the other massages I give. I try not to talk too much during the massages so that my clients can relax, but my favorite clients and the ones who keep regularly coming back tend to be the ones that I laugh with. 

Maybe spas have it all wrong. Screw the candles and the quiet rooms... what they should be surrounding the clients with is jokes and comedy. 

or better yet...

So screw making "thankful lists." I've discovered an even better way to beat the blues... hula hooping! Hula hula, hula hoop. Hula hula, hula hoop. I love to hula hoop! I've seriously have a giddy post hula hooping high going on. This isn't the kind of hula hooping I did as a kid. This is serious stuff with tricks and dancing involved. Why isn't all exercise this fun?

thankful

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. What a weird expression. I tried to find out where that idiom came from and here is what I found- 

"The wrong side of the bed is the one that leaves you grumpy and unsociable first thing in the morning (my own has two wrong sides). There are many similar expressions that begin the wrong side of ..., of which the original seems to be wrong side of the blanket for a child born illegitimately. Some others are getting on the wrong side of somebody, the wrong side of the law, laughing on the wrong side of one’s mouth, and on the wrong side of forty (or thirty, or fifty, or almost any age, really).

All express the idea that there are good and bad aspects of any situation. A well-known American example, the wrong side of the tracks, is the only one of the set that seems to be based in a real, physical location.

Some writers say there was once a superstition that to get out of bed on the left side, the sinister side, led to bad luck, but this sounds like a well-meaning attempt to explain the mysterious. If there ever was such a belief, it’s not reflected in the recorded use of the expression, which is actually not that old; it seems to have been derived from another phrase of similar type."

I wonder if maybe the expression started because, like me, people found themselves cranky from the moment that they woke up and decided that they needed something to blame it on. Today has all the makings of a good day, so why on earth should I be cranky? And yet trying to rationally convince myself that I shouldn't be cranky is like trying to talk sense to a two year old in the midst of a temper tantrum. Sometimes you've just got to ride it out. 

The most successful method that I have found for pulling myself out of a funk is to think about all the things I am thankful for. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's a good thing to do nonetheless. 

Things that I am thankful for...

*nobody broke in and killed me in my sleep last night (though the door slamming shut in the middle of the night due to the wind did give me quite a scare)

* I came "so" close to beating June on wordtwist yesterday- but I didn't which still gives me something to strive for- it's good to have goals

* I have a tennis lesson today

* I got up early enough that I could do my laundry so I would actually have some clean clothes today

* I have PMS which means I am not pregnant and as an added bonus have much bigger boobs than normal today

* my sister and I are on a quest to find the house that we saw in Chicago magazine, we know it is in our town somewhere and so we have been walking down different streets trying to find it. Quests are fun. 

* I had pizza from Homemade Pizza this weekend and it was unbelievably delicious

* my room is a very comfortable temperature

* I had two of my favorite clients for back to back 90 minute massages yesterday

* they both made me laugh really hard

* they were both really good tippers

* I got to work early yesterday so I was studying the anatomy books to see which muscles attached onto the ASIS and was reminded of the importance of the pectinius (sp?) muscle (which does NOT attach onto the ASIS) and so I actually worked my client's pectinius muscle (which I never do, due to its location and it is often tender) and she found it to be very helpful. Always good to switch things up! 

* The anatomy book had a fun fact about how some old Greek philosopher guy named the end of our tailbone the "coccyx" because he thought it looked like a cuckoo's beak. Some guy in France in the 18th century mistakenly thought it was called the coccyx because he thought the sound of gas passing through the anus sounded like the cuckoo's call. 

* I get to take a hula hoop class tonight

* I learned that there was a showgirl who worked at the world famous Tropicana nightclub in Havana, Cuba and she was gorgeous and very popular and had a flower named after her in Brazil.

* I heard back from my old boss the other day

* I was on the el the other day just minding my own business and some guy on the platform tapped on the window next to me, I looked up and he blew me a kiss

* I ripped the crotch of my jeans which gives me a legitimate excuse to go shopping for some new clothes today

* I'm healthy

* I love my friends

* my niece had a really kickass birthday party this weekend

* I can remember my dreams

* it is warm enough that I can be barefoot. I love being barefoot but usually freeze to death when I am!

Hmm.... I have to admit, that kind of worked. Or maybe the Midol has finally kicked in. Either way I am feeling better. What are you thankful for today?

lovin' the single life

I have to admit it... I LOVE being single. Love it. This isn't the first time I've been single, but this is the first time I have enjoyed it so much. Usually when I am single it is because I am nursing a heartbreak and getting over some guy. Now I am doing it simply for the joy of being single. 

So what do I love about being single?

1) I get the whole bed to myself. I still just sleep on my half but I don't have anybody encroaching on that half. Nobody is snoring. Nobody is stealing the blankets. Nobody is getting up in the middle of the night and waking me. Don't get me wrong, I like a good cuddle. But I like a good sleep too!

2) There is no drama in my life. None. (deep sigh!) The only drama is because my brother gets pissy about the dishes- see it's always because of a boy! Honestly, I've never felt so at peace in my whole life. 

3) I don't have to worry about if I am paying enough attention to a significant other. I don't have to call anybody, email anybody or make sure I fit enough "quality time" with anybody into my schedule. Don't get me wrong, I haven't turned into a complete recluse or anything.  It is just the fact that nobody is going to get mad at me if I don't call them that makes me happy. 

4) I don't have to take into account other people's needs or wants when I make decisions. I can take tennis lessons. I can stay in on a Saturday night and read a book if I want. I can move to Paris. You can't just up and move to Paris when you have a boyfriend. 

5) I don't have to worry about being pregnant or getting STDs.

6) I can eat foods that make me gassy and not worry if I am tooting in my sleep.

7) I have ridiculous amounts of free time. 

8) I think the whole "no drama" thing deserves to be mentioned again. I don't have to deal with other people's moods or problems. Nobody is putting me through an emotional roller coaster. Nowadays the only time I cry is at sappy movies.

9) I don't have to worry about hurting someone's feelings. Breaking up with someone is the worst thing in the entire world. I hate the feeling of knowing I am hurting someone that I care about. It eats me up inside. Unless you have gone through it, you don't know how bad it feels, so I am not even going to try and describe it. Having been on both sides of the break up, I would say that I would take being the person who is broken up with, rather than the person who does the breaking, EVERY single time. I would much rather have the hurt and the pain and the anger of being broken up with, than the guilt and pain of hurting someone. I get all worked up even just thinking about it. And I don't have to deal with that! Yippee! Hopefully my next relationship will be "the one" and I never have to go through another break up for the rest of my life. 

10) Hope. Instead of just making do with the relationship I am currently in (like some people are doing) I have the hope that I can find someone who really in the yin to my yang. The world is full of possibilities. As I said to my sister, the best part about being single is that there is still a chance that I could meet Zac Efron and sleep with him!

I know that I will get sick of being single at some point. I think it is our connections to others that really brings meaning to our lives. And I will get lonely and just way too horny at some point. Ahhhh! But for right now, I am just basking in peace and happiness of being single. 

the rain

We've been having some glorious weather lately. Temperatures around 80 and bright sunshine. The kind of weather that makes you happy to be alive. The kind of weather that makes you come up with any excuse you can to be outside. And then... the rain came. And with it came the cold. There had to be a good 30 degree drop in temperature from when I got to work to when I left work yesterday. I was walking to the train last night in the pouring rain and, despite my umbrella, was getting quite wet. I was so cold that I was shivering. 

So I stopped at the Walgreen's by the train station because I knew that they sell clothes. But I just couldn't bring myself to spend $24.95 on a sweatshirt that I didn't really want and would probably never wear again. I settled on spending $1.95 for a pair of gloves. A very wise decision. 

I got on to the platform, which thankfully was covered, just as the skies really let loose. I thought it had been raining hard before but this was insane. It literally looked like someone was pouring bucket after bucket of water down. I kept thinking to myself that this rain storm would be awesome if I was watching it at home, curled up all warm and dry on the couch. 

Which of course led me to be very thankful that I have a warm and dry house to go home to. I wondered how the homeless people were fairing last night. Did they make it to a viaduct or underpass in time? Did they get caught out in the rain? Were they gathered around a fire in one of those big metal garbage cans or is that something they only did back in the Depression? Being homeless is a life that I know so little about. I wouldn't last one night as a homeless person. 

The whole reason I am writing this blog today though is because all of that reminded me of a conversation I overheard between two homeless men this past fall. 

1st guy: Hey man, where you going?

2nd guy: I'm gonna find someplace to sleep.

1st guy: Man, we already got some place to sleep (indicating the floor of the vestibule of the bank we were next to, where the ATM was located) Let's go get something to drink.

2nd guy: No man, I want a bed.

1st guy: (shrugging) I want a beer.

And then they walked off in different directions. 

The Rolling Stones said it best...

"You don't always get what you want... but you get what you need."

I walked into work today and was disappointed to see that I only had one client. No clients = no money. 

I've been feeling frustrated lately after working with some long time clients and not seeing any real improvement. I'm using every trick I know and yet their shoulders and low backs and whatever still continue to give them problems. I know that part of it is that they aren't taking care of themselves. They have stressful jobs, sit with terrible posture all week, don't stretch, don't drink water and in some cases won't let me work on the root of the problem because that area of their body is too sensitive. I know that it isn't truly my fault and that by the time they get back to see me, after what they do to their bodies all week,  they are right back where they started so that's why we are not making much progress, but it's hard not to feel like a failure. 

It's only with two or three clients that I feel this way, but they are my favorite clients. I want to help them. And I worry sometimes if I am just not good enough. 

So I was feeling down about that when I got to work today and saw that I only had one client. This client was a woman in her 40s who had rheumatoid arthritis and scoliosis. Basically what that means is that she has chronic pain and it is a constant battle to keep her muscles from becoming super knotted. 

My hands worked their way around her body. Working on a knot here. Easing tension there. Her muscles released a lot (a LOT!)  but I could still feel some tension in her neck when we finished. I know that the body releases at its own rate and that if it took a client weeks or months to get to the point that they are, that it isn't necessarily going to all go away and be fixed in one little hour, but I was still disappointed with myself. Until...

When I finished the massage I went to wash my hands and a few minutes later when my client was ready she came out of the room. She saw me and she had tears of happiness in her eyes and she gave me a big hug and said, "That was far and away the best massage I have ever had. I haven't felt this good in years." 

There is a reason I do this job. Maybe I am cut out for it after all. 

Sometimes you get what you need.