Another Gem

Time for another gem from the "Friendly" neighborhood convenience store ...

I was standing at the counter and someone approached behind me and asked, "What does that say on your back?" I explained that the tattoo symbol on my back meant, "Peace and Harmony." To which he replied, "Cool."

Seconds later, he was out of his shirt displaying his tattoo on the same place on his upper back which he described as the John 3:16 Bible verse written in Sanskrit. To which I responded, "Cool."

And because it was a large tattoo, I asked the common question, "Did that hurt?" To which I got a not-so-common answer: "Well, I got it in prison so it probably hurt more than it should have."

About Time

I met Adrienne Mabel yesterday for the first time. She's the beautiful big blue-eyed baby girl of my BFF. She FINALLY had her baby girl yesterday and I was there for the whole birth.

BFF exhibited her strength, willpower and endurance yesterday. During the labor and birth, the nurses were amazed at how calm and collected she labored through the whole process. She moaned a few pains and asked a few times, "Why won't this baby come out?" But it in the end, she never strayed from her calm, collected will to get through and have a beautiful baby in the end. She made the 12 hours of labor and Three Hours of Pushing look like it wasn't the most painful experience she's ever had. And I think she would tell you, by the looks of her gaze into her baby's eyes, that it was all worth it.

Given how long this labor took and how many Hours she had to Push, it is no wonder that Adrienne came out holding onto the umbilical cord for dear life. The jokes flew about how she didn't want to come out and was going to crawl back up there. The Doc even joked that her other hand was flipping him off. But I think it really meant that she slid down the rope (which is what the cord looked like) and announced, "TA DA. Here I am."

To which we all responded, BFF resounding over the rest of us, "It's about time."

HUBS!

Hubs is coming home today! He's been gone for almost two weeks and I'm just getting accustomed to it. Now he'll be here for 6 sleeps over our 1st anniversary. I'll probably get accustomed to him being home again. And then he'll leave. Isn't there some drug I could take to get used to this?

Follow-Up

I rolled into my 2d acupuncture appointment much more relaxed than I thought I would. On my way over, I conjured up my most relaxing thoughts and was able to settle those anxious feelings a tad before I subjected myself to more needle torture. I secretly hoped that would mean I didn't have to get the series of needles in my back that were intended to clear the toxins from my body.

Contrary to my plan, I got the series of needles in my back. But this time, they didn't hurt at all; a good sign that the toxins were cleared from my body. I was told that due to the clean and healthy life I led over the weekend (ahem, choke), my body kept releasing the toxins even after their medium (the needles) were gone. I think someone should invent a way to make pillows and cushions be the medium that the body needs to release toxins.

Post toxin release, she poked me with a few more needles that were intended to release the block in my arm keeping my energy from flowing throughout; the flow of energy that is necessary to heal injuries or release stress naturally. Immediatly upon insertion and extraction of each needle from my wrist, the side of my face near the triangle part of the outer ear, and from the inner-eye (YES INNER EYE), I could feel a sensation that was so much like a removal of a plug that released a deluge of stuff from inside. I felt cleared in the same way you get relief when your nose finally unplugs after days of sniffling and breathing through your mouth. In one area, near the triangle of the outer ear, in the void left when you open your jaw, she missed the "meridian" where she intended to place the needle. I didn't feel a thing. By contrast, when she placed the needle in the "meridian," a mere hair from the original placement, I confirmed my belief in the values of acupuncture. I felt, this time, an extremely intense release of a plug and then subsequent flow that hasn't stopped since my appointment yesterday.

I felt GREAT when I left. I still have the tingling sensation in my fingers but the arm pain is gone. I don't know how it's done or whether there are studies on the science of acupuncture, but it doesn't matter; feeling is believing.

No Pain, No Gain

I've been having this weird sensation in my left arm. It started as a knot underneath my left shoulder blade; a place it regularly shows up when I'm stressed. Hubs usually puts pressure on it once per day 'til it sees fit to leave; usually 4 days later. This knot, however, got worse every time Hubs touched it (which will turn out to be a good excuse for his absent back rubs, I'm sure). Soon, I couldn't even find where the knot was located because it was buried in the pain which radiated up and down my shoulder blade. I could only get relief when I'd put pressure on another totally unrelated location behind my shoulder and behind my elbow. The final straw came at the end of weeks of dealing with this when my fingers got tingly and numb.

So I made an acupuncture appointment and went to the first one last week. My appointment was 2 hours 45 minutes long. She took my entire physical and emotional history. She did diagnostic tests that consisted of waving a hot wand over my fingers and toes to measure the balance on my two sides. She took a pulse from each of my wrists and could tell there was a difference in the two sides of my body that indicated something wrong. In the end I was told that I have toxins in my body that need to be realeased. Once the toxins are released, she needs to clear a block that is not allowing my arm to heal naturally through energy transport through my body. All this, of course, with the use of needles.

I had needles running up and down my back that were inserted through a plastic sheath that punctures a mere 1/8 or less of an inch into my skin. Some I didn't even feel, others felt like I was getting stabbed. Where there was pain, there were toxins that were using the needle as a medium to exit my body. She used another series of needles on my wrist and then on my underarms; obviously a very tender part of my body.

The wrist needles didn't hurt a bit until she barely turned them and pulled them out. It felt as though she was pulling something out of my arm. And the same went for the underarm torture. I felt as though she'd stabbed my heart through my underarm and then she pulled it out with the needles. I'm obviously being dramatic because there wasn't even a needle mark left in its place. And like I said, they were in less than 1/8 of an inch. But if the pain was any measure of the amount of toxins in there, I think she's in for a flood of toxin release.

I have another appointment in 45 minutes to release the remaining toxins she couldn't remove with the first appointment. I hope this treatment is the last because I am feeling a bit anxious about it. But just as a follow-up, these past days were the first of many many days that I didn't have pain in my shoulder when I sneezed or coughed. I think that's a good sign.

I will report the follow-up tomorrow.

Biking Betty

I think I'll be a Biking Betty this summer. Our sleepy little town of Helena becomes a mountain biking mecca for many during the summer. And I haven't, admittedly, taken advantage of the greatness that is the biking circuit here in my own home town because of the fear factor that gets me every time. But this summer is going to be that summer where I look fear in the eye and then I'm going to kick his ask.

And to start, I'm going to join the ladies group called Biking Betties that goes every Tuesday at 5:30 to ride the trails in Helena. I have no doubt that it'll only prove to help my skills immensely and maybe by the end of the summer, I will do a ride without getting bruised.

I went this morning for the first time this year. And I fell enough times to appreciate the value of being upright. But I didn't fall enough to increase my fear factor. So, I can safely say that I just want to get back in the saddle again and show that mountain that it ain't gonna get me for long!

On Her Own Time

I haven't had anyone really close to me have a baby in my life; nor have I had one myself. But my BFF, the one with whom I share everything including my brain, is having a baby and she's overdue by at least 6 days and counting. I am quite excited, nervous, anxious to finally meet the little girl who will look like, act like, and learn from my BFF which means she'll most definitely be an amazing, beautiful, smart little girl. OH and did I mention stubborn?

We've taken walks; we've eaten spicy food; we've even threatened to take her on the back of a bus down York Road to bounce her out. No show. BFF's done squats, yoga, walked down the block bouncing up and down on the curb looking undoubtedly ridiculous. Nothing. BFF and the Papa have practiced some other unmentionably personal things. To no avail. BFF has pushed on her belly and gotten foot rubs and generally just practiced everything in the book to persuade that little girl out of her growing belly. NADA. I've tried to coax her out with song, dance and discussion. Still nothing.

I think she's just stubborn.

My prediction for this child is that she'll just do things on her own time. Like her Mama.