Chiropractic Crap

After 3 months of severe lower back pain, my sister talked me into paying a visit to her chiropractor. She declared him to be a god of the spine, a miracle worker, and a genius. He's not too hard on the eyes, either, so I was there faster than you can say "subluxation".

I have to say I am really glad I started going. I've just returned from my third visit and already I'm feeling some relief from my back pain. However, I apparently slept like a contorted fool last night because I woke up with a stiff neck and the inability to turn my head. Lucky for me, Dr. Sexy helped me there too. I really like the feel of his phalanges on my head.

Anyway, I digress.

At my first visit, I was required to fill out a questionnaire about my symptoms and medical history. To summarize, I have a lot of back pain, headaches, sciatica, and constipation (Oh yeah, constipation baby). On the final page of the history forms was a human body outline where I was supposed to circle my specific location(s) of pain. Ten seconds later, my outline looked like a 3 year old had drawn spirals all over the torso, and I was feeling pretty crappy about my pain levels.

It didn't help that I had spent that last four days pretty much writhing in pain, and rolling around on the floor like a seizing bull dog.

So after I submitted my forms, we moved on to a series of X-rays. Now I don't know if it's my medical background, or just general insecurities, but I am REALLY uncomfortable playing the part of the "patient". Dr. Sexy stepped out of the room while I could disrobe and doll myself up in that stupid hospital gown they give you. I caught myself hiding my bra under my jeans, as if he has never seen a racer-back target special bra before. I decided to keep my socks on and then realized that I looked like a complete doof in red socks up to my calf with little snowmen all over them.

So there I stand, braless and in a johnny, complete with red snowman socks. I could hardly restrain myself from taking a photograph and posting it on Hotornot.com

It didn't take long to get the xrays back, and let me tell you, they are horrifying. My spine is twisted very much like a corkscrew and my right hip is 9mm higher than my left. But that's not the worst part....

My colon takes up my entire pelvic space. It looks like 6 Chipotle burritos end-to-end and scrunched into an intestine. No joke, and I just vomited in my mouth. After looking at my xray, and reading the part where I checked off "constipation" I'm pretty sure Dr. Sexy muttered to himself "Uh....Duh." I'm also pretty sure he secretly refers to me as "That Large Colon Girl". It's okay, Dr. Dreamy. I still love you.

I couldn't tell you a single thing he said to me while going over my xrays (something about it looks bad, but we can fix it) because I was mortified by my colon.

So, tonight I have traded my usual cup of tea for a very large glass of water complete with a soluble fiber supplement.

Benefiber you are my hero.







I found this tonight and it made me laugh out loud:

Technical Errors and Pictures of the Kitchen

***UPDATED 4/30/09 with more kitchen pictures for the Tour of Homes***

Ok I figured out how to post pictures in order with text between! Woo hoo!

Here's the kitchen:




As promised, here's the picture of our finished kitchen! Love it! Paint is by Behr (both shades), and the stools were on clearance from BB&B (for some reason they look really tall in these pics.) The rug is from Home Depot. Table and chairs from JC Penney. Most of the decor came from BB&B, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, or little shops from our travels.

On a silly note, I came across a photo of my hubby and our dog, Sherman, that was taken a couple of years ago...I just love this picture. Doesn't Sherman look SO happy?

I'm Back!

I can't believe it's been over a month (a month!) since I posted last. Things have been absolutely crazy but I want you to know that I am BACK and I will be posting more frequently.

I promise :)

I want you all to know that I have stuck to my new year's plan of more writing (I've been writing for myself, a potential book) and have started painting. I'm starting out small with an 11X14 canvas, so we'll see how it turns out. I am just so excited to be doing something creative once again.

This post will be a all over the place but I want to share some of my cooking with you as well. On the easy side, I tried out Poppy Seed Chick from Kelly's blog. It was SO good. Just go to her site and search for it! I made it after painting my living room hallway, AND going to yoga so I was pretty tired but still was able to cook a delicious dinner. And, FYI I can't stand poppy seeds usually but this was A.mazing.

Tonight, Adam and I are cooking Parmesan Tilapia. I love seafood! After moving from Vermont to Arizona I was pretty upset to discover that the seafood selection in the desert is pretty scarce. Go figure. BUT we have found a pretty decent selection of fresh seafood at a local market that has really good tilapia. I'll be making it with Garlic Mashed Potatoes. MMMM Wonderful. I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

We finally finished the painting in the kitchen! I say finally because we had been working on it off and on since last summer. So, 6 months and two paint color changes later (long story people) it's finally done! And let me tell you, I LOVE cooking in my newly decorated kitchen! I'm having a hard time posting photos IN my entry so I will post it a little later...does anyone know how to post a picture in the middle of your text? It keeps placing the photo at the very top of my entry and I want it down here. I'm such a newbie. :)

Shopper Keeper

I've noticed lately that the space in my walk-in closest is dwindling by the day.

Hello, my name is Genesis and I am a shopaholic.

After being locked out of my own house and waiting for nearly 2 hours in the cold for a locksmith to arrive (see previous post about Season of Giving), I rewarded myself with a new sweater from one of my favorite stores. Yeppers...I rewarded myself with shopping after waiting for a locksmith. This has to be the world's lamest excuse for a shopping trip. Oh, and let's not forget that I got a new sweater for myself and Christmas, at that point, was 6 days away. Shameful.

I feel like I deserved it though....I was cold from being locked out of my home and sore from the Hot Yoga class Allyson talked me into. I didn't know your neck muscles could get sore. I didn't know it was possible for muscles surrounding your ribs to get sore. AND I didn't know sweat could literally run off your forearms and feet. It was nasty and it felt great until I woke up the next day.

I digress.

I can't help that I get down right teary-eyed over a sale at Macy's or that I become absolutely giddy when my husband needs to go to Old Navy for new underwear and socks because it means I can browse the ladies section while waiting for him. I feel like 2 year old that has finally conquered the potty chair, and in exchange receives a handful of Reese's pieces. Sales are MY Reese's Pieces.

So.

Thanks to my addictive behavior to all things that can be worn (don't even get me started on purses or shoes, I may start foaming at the mouth), my closet runneth over. It's reaching maximum density in there. It's quite possible that my husband might suffocate upon entrance one of these days. Drowning via cotton.

I cling to old items for sentimental reasons. I still have the dress I wore to high school graduation. HIGH SCHOOL! And I do believe the straps of the dress are still tied in the exact same spot I had them in on that hot day in June. Wrinkles remain imprinted across the front of the skirt from sitting and listening to speeches anxiously awaiting my diploma. I remember feeling like that day would never arrive and now I find myself wishing it hadn't passed so quickly.

I still have the shirt and shorts I wore on my last day of college. The last day full of smiles and laughter and joy as we, my best friends and classmates, realized we would no longer have to study together, complete projects together and meet for clinical rotations at 6am together. The day we also realized we would never GET to do these things together again. As joyful as I was that day, I was sad too. I was saying goodbye to a part of my life I could never get back even if I wanted to. Sometimes there is a piece of me that would like to relive some of those days over. It wasn't the end, but it was the end of the beginning.

I have my scrubs I wore as a student for my clinical rotations, the dress I wore to college graduation, various outfits from special events and days that I hold near and dear to my heart. As I look around my closet I see clothes, but I also see memories. I see segments of time, places I have been, things I have achieved. People I've met, friendships that have developed, relationships that have grown and some that have fallen apart. And among my memories that flash before me, I see people I wish I could gather up and hold onto. As we move on to new chapters of our lives we inevitably leave some people behind, separated by time and distance.

Going through my closet is like going through a photo album and it really breaks my heart to part with a lot of this stuff. I know there are people out there who need these things WAY more than I do, and I will be donating everything I decide to eliminate. It's just difficult for me to let things go. Things. These things. Why do we hang on to material items? None of this defines who I am. These items are not what is important in life, it's not what really matters. And yet, on some sentimental level they are difficult to part with. Letting these things go is a marker, to me, of how much time has passed. It's a reminder of who I used to be and what I have become.

Time goes by so fast, doesn't it? Do you ever wish you could slow time down or relive a few of your most extraordinary days? I wish I could re-experience some of those exciting moments. This is impossible of course, and that is why I am going to make a better effort at letting go of so much "stuff". I want to live for now, be in the present and not hang onto the days of my past. Besides, isn't that what photographs are for? :) So this week, I will arm myself with several Glad bags with the goal of filling each one for donation. And after I learn to let go, I will be Glad I did! :)

P.S. I might just post a few pics of some before and afters !

New Year

Happy 2009 to all! (I think I have something like 2 readers now...maybe even 3. Thank you for keeping me company!) I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year and a wonderful Christmas! I certainly did!

I've been thinking about everything that has changed in the last year...At this time in January of 2008 I was newly engaged, building a house, packing to move in February of 2008 and thinking about where I wanted to be married. One single year seems so long and at the same time, so short. Does it for you, too?

As I enter 2009 as a newlywed :) I hope to finish up decorating our house, travel a LOT this year, work on my photography album, scrapbook, paint and hopefully sell on yessy.com, work-out and become healthier, maybe get another dog, and do a lot more writing.

I was falling asleep the other night after Christmas thinking about what the future holds. My mind started running wild - it usually does when I'm falling asleep - and the most unusual idea for a story came to mind. I won't share my idea here, just yet, but I will tell you that I confided in two people very close to me and they both think it's a wonderful idea for a book. I explained the entire concept and the ending to my story and was met with complete shock at my creativity. To be perfectly honest, I have always wanted to try my hand at writing a really good story and it's a fantasy of mine to have a book published. In the past, my insecurities have had a tight grip on my confidance and I haven't written what I'd like to.

Adam and I went to see a movie this week and one line really grabbed my attention. I thought about it the entire drive home.

"Our lives are defined by opportunities...even the ones we miss."

Isn't that true for all of us? How many opportunities have defined your path and have determinied what and who you would become? How many opportunities did you miss that you wish you could have another chance at? I have a few regrets of lost opportunites.

I want this year to be different. I am planning on trying lots of new things this year and want to make this year one of personal growth, discovery, experience, and hope!

What are your hopes and dreams for 2009?

Happy New Year! It's going to be a great one!

The Season of Giving

The holidays are in full swing and it is the season of giving. Tonight I gave $135 to our local locksmith.

Adam and I finished wrapping gifts for his parents, sister, and my mom to send off to Vermont this afternoon. We gathered all the gifts and hurried out the door to head for the local UPS pack and ship. As we walked out of the house, I pulled the door closed behind me and a nano second before it latched I said "...got the keys???"

Click.

Adam looked at me stumped and said "uh...no?"

Holding gifts under one arm, I rummaged through my purse in futile hope of locating a spare set of house keys. I have receipts from 2007, a sharpie, hair pins, lipstick, my wallet, a spare pair of earrings (there they are!), our key card that was never returned to the front desk of Turtle Bay Resort AND Treasure Island, and a match book from some random restaurant, but no spare keys. Adam attempted to pick our lock with one of my hair pins but proved himself to be a poor locksmith. I guess he'll never manage a B&E after all.

After the failed attempt with the hair pin (that promptly broke off in the lock....Goody Hair Supply Inc will be receiving a letter), we walked to a near-by coffee shop to locate a phone book and a qualified locksmith. The estimated wait was 25 minutes.

90 minutes later they arrived and successfully let us in...within 5 mins using nothing more than some lubricant spray, a tension wrench and a lock pick. I am now in fear of this man...let us all pray that he will not return to loot our house on his day off. I might as well leave the doors unlocked. Seriously, this guy got into my house quicker than I get into a box of Girl Scout Samoas. All this for $135. What a bargain! This is the price of stupidity, people.

Has anyone seen my brain lately? I am seriously considering stapling a spare key to my forehead after this.

Mystery

Can someone explain to me why if one single bulb on a strand of Christmas lights goes out, the entire strand is deemed useless until the initial culprit is located and replaced??

One bulb goes out....and THEN THEY ALL GO OUT!!!

This happened on a strand I used outside. A strand of 350 lights. Luckily, I was able to locate the bum bulb and saved my strand. Unfortunately, this didn't work out so well on FOUR OTHER STRANDS.

So.

Now it is nearly 11pm on a Thursday and I am going out to walmart to buy four more strands of lights for my tree.

If you've ever wondered who goes to Walmart at nearly midnight on a weekday. Here's your answer.

People like me.