Home Remedies

Well, this marathon is trying to kill me! Did I tell you that I have a personal trainer now? He is also trying to kill me. The first time I met with him, he said to me, "Okay, do 15 push ups." I looked at him, decided he was serious, and replied, "I appreciate you thinking I'm capable of something like that, but trust me, I can't do 15." Can I just tell you that this man not only had me do 15 push ups, but he had me do THREE sets of 15. Mind you, I was about to die after the first seven, but I struggled through the others. I am leaving out that this was circuit training, meaning that he had me doing other types of painful resistance exercises in between the push up torture. And at the end of these workouts, which he switches up on me, he always applauds my strength, determination and my not getting sick. I secretly think that he hopes that I will vomit one day. You know that I watch Biggest Loser and that Jillian tells the contestants that if they don't vomit then they aren't working hard enough. Ummm...not sure I agree with that. I've worked pretty hard before and not lost my lunch.

So needless to say, after this first workout, I anticipated that my body would hurt worst than I could imagine. I patiently waited, and sure enough, the next day I could barely lift my arms. I was complaining to my mom about how sore I was and she said, "I don't know why you don't believe me that Vic's VapoRub relieves sore muscle pain." I just shook my head and thought, "people and their home remedies." But nevertheless, I heavily applied Vic's to my triceps, biceps, shoulders and upper back. I slept well that night and was thoroughly surprised when I awakened and could lift my arms! That's right folks, I was no longer crippled by my stiff muscles.

I was reminded of that movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Remember that? In the movie, her dad was convinced that Windex was the cure all to any and everything. You have a zit? Put some Windex on it. And voila! Problem solved.

There is also the Chris Rock stand up, where he talks about his father being convinced that Robitussin is the cure all. He says that his dad used to tell them to put "Tussin" on their cuts and scrapes. "Dad, I broke my arm!" "Boy, you better go put some tussin on it."

I'm wondering now, after my miraculous recovery with the Vic's, if there is any truth to the Windex or Robitussin theory. I don't know if I'm courageous enough to try, but I implore you to do so, if you feel so inclined.

Fireman Bachelor Auction

I got an email from my friend Tiffani, on Wednesday, asking me if I wanted to go to the Fireman Bachelor Auction...."Um..yeah", was my response. Of course I wanted to go. I didn't know that these things really existed. Obviously I'd heard about them, but I just thought they were urban legends or mythical beings...like unicorns. Well, I found my unicorn yesterday and it was FUN!!!

When I got the flier, the first thing I noticed was that there were two levels of tickets: general admission and VIP. Naturally, I wanted to know what VIP included and tried to figure out if it was doable. It was more than reasonable, but I needed 7 other ladies to go in on it with me. The deal was that you buy a booth and you get a fireman server, champagne, appetizers and dessert, a goodie bag and the best seats in the house. Or, you could pay a few bucks less, get nothing and stand for four hours. To me, it was a no brainer. However, aside from Tiffani, I didn't know anyone to ask.

So, yesterday, we're standing in line waiting to buy our tickets and we were still talking about how we wanted VIP. We decided to "work the line" and get other ladies to go in on it with us. Well, being that outgoing people that we are, we were super successful and our night was AMAZING! We had a few issues with the service and the website being misleading, as far as what was offered and included in our package. But once we spoke with management, let them know it was unacceptable and told them what we expected, it was all cleared up and better than we ever could have imagined!

I think back on last night and am reminded that all life is is a series of choices. If I would have decided that it wasn't worth it to ask random people to go in on a table with us, or if I had decided to not tell management we were unhappy, then my night would not have been nearly as spectacular. I met some great people last night, and I'm not only talking about the firemen. LOL. Although, they were great. But, I'd like to think that if I make the most of every situation, then I won't ever have to look back and think "what if". "What if I would have only asked?" My mantra has always been, "If worst case scenario is that someone says 'No', then what is there to lose? A no will only leave you with what you already had. A yes can turn your world around."

Pilates

I can't just disappear for a month and every time I resurface, start my blog off with a surprised statement about how I've disappeared. It's old. I get it.

I finally broke down and joined the gym next to my house, mainly because I live in the dessert and it's freaking hot, and because I was bored of the work out DVDs that I have. My theory was that I could join a gym, and I would have options. I was right! Not only do I have options, but I have HEAVILY air conditioned options. That's the best!

I should also tell you that somewhere between me not blogging and me joining a gym, I decided to run a marathon. No, I didn't already run it...I just started to really think on planning to train for one. Haha. Needless to say, joining the gym was the first step in the 26.2 mile direction.

Yesterday I packed my gym bag, went to work, and then left work and immediately went to the gym. I was very excited to A) start running again B) start running in my new gym, and C) start running in my new gym's cardio theater. What is cardio theater, you ask. I'll tell you. (I was excited about this too.) It's a theater room and instead of comfy chairs, there are exercise bikes, treadmills and elyptical machines. They play a different movie every day! Yesterday was Terminator 3. I would have preferred 2, but I was okay with 3. I did learn something about myself. I learned that I am completely incapable of jogging and watching action movies. I almost fell of the treadmill about 3 times! Yeah. There would be a loud explosion and fight scene, and for some reason, my first reaction was to stand and watch. Well, you can't just stand and watch when you are RUNNING on a treadmill. I had to grab the bar SEVERAL times. It was fun though, despite the many near death encounters. I thought they were brilliant for coming up with that!

Today I thought I would take it easy and go to pilates for some stretching and "light" strength building. I should have gotten up and left when the instructor said, "my pilates class is different. I like to call my class intense pilates." Intense pilates? Yep, intense pilates. Then, THEN, she asked us to keep and open mind and proceeded to work us senseless. My poor, poor body! My easy, stretch, recovery day was shot by intense pilates. Now I need a recovery day from the recovery day. It was a good ab workout though....I'll probably go back on Thursday.

Oh Wow

I can't believe it's been over a month since I blogged. You would think that with a new job I would have lots to write about, but the reality is that I really don't. I find myself very tired lately and I am convinced that allergies are out to kill me. I woke up several times the other night because my heard hurt too bad to sleep. I know you're wondering why I didn't take any medicine, and it might just be easier to lie than to tell you the truth. The truth being that I'm a tad bit paranoid about having a brain aneurysm and dying, and since that apparently feels like the worst headache of your life, then I don't want to mask that with Advil or something else. Make sense? See...don't judge me. It's a legit fear...that and roaches....

So I love my job. I'm learning a lot and meeting some great people. I love the idea of helping people, and I love even more that what I do can really make a difference. Yay! With all of that being said, I'm gonna try to meet more people and have fun stuff to tell you about. It really is a shame that making friends costs money. I've said this before, but you can be broke and still have your good friends, because your good friends don't mind doing free things with you, like going to the park or watching a movie at your place. But when you're just starting out a friendship, I think we can all agree that it's a tad creepy to have someone ask you if you want to come hang out at their house. Nope. I don't know you, I won't be doing that. Thanks.

Til next time! Hopefully sooner than later. I really did miss this.

The Greyhound

I was gone out of town for a few days to spend some time with my dad's side of the family. I rode out there with my parents, but they came back before me, so I caught the Greyhound home. Can I just tell you that if you just listen to what people around you say, it can make for a pretty interesting ride!

There was a lady sitting a couple of rows behind me who was talking about one bus trip she took where someone sold a sandwich, chips and soda meal for $5. She then said, "Imagine, if you sell 20 of those for $5, you'll make like $75." In my head, I thought, "Hmmm...are you sure it's not more like $100?" But who was I to tell her she was wrong.

There was another woman in the front of the bus who was taking her whole family to Circus Circus, but she kept calling it Circus City. Finally, her daughter in law said, "Circus City is that computer store! We're going to Circus Circus."

So that was just a bit of entertainment for me.

My Twitter

I'm only talking about this because clearly I need to carry a notebook with me to write my blog topics in. I remember lying awake last night thinking of the most brilliant blog ever, but now, now that I'm actually at the computer and about to blog, I am drawing a blank. But I remember how great it was and how easily it flowed in my head last night. Sigh. Alas, it is gone and all I have to talk about is how bad I am at twitter.

For those of you who don't have twitter, twitter is fun at first, but quickly gets old. But I assume...Oh my God! I just remembered what I wanted to talk about!!! Twitter reminded me because I follow Lil Wayne and it's been boring ever since he went to jail. Ding ding ding! I wanted to talk about celebrities who go to prison and what it's like for them on the inside. Man, sometimes if you just talk it out, you will get to where you need to be.

My question is this: When celebrities go to prison, what is the setup? Is Lil Wayne just in the mix with all of the other criminals, or is he somewhere like Martha Stewart was? Does Lil Wayne have protection or is he just exposed and in trouble if he drops the soap? Am I the only person who wonders these kinds of things? I was just thinking about that. A lot of rappers go to jail and I was just wondering what the situation is for them. Perhaps they come out more "hardened" than before, or maybe it's just a publicity stunt. Maybe they don't even go to jail, but if the public thinks that you did, then you sale more records.

In conclusion, hurry back Lil Wayne, twitter needs you.

The Warrior

Today marks the first day of the fourth week of working out. That is right folks, I have been working out religiously since March 1st, with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays. I decided this weekend that my body is probably getting used to my Turbo Jam and Hip Hop Abs DVDs, and that I should mix it up. Well, coincidentally, there is a treadmill in my house. So today I woke up, put on the workout gear, and hopped on the treadmill. I started off with a "brisk" walk and quickly worked my way up to a jog. Mind you, I hadn't jogged in I don't know how long and I've never been one to do long distances. Today, however, with my Jay-Z CD playing and my pure determination, I breezed my way through a mile and a half. It was effortless and it left me feeling invincible! Mid run, I started to think about everything that had been bothering me and I just felt all of it falling off. I didn't have a care in the world. I'm thinking that jogging may be the way to go, and I'm excited to incorporate jogging into my weekly regiment.