Can You Hear Me Now?

I awoke quite startled the other day. I heard what sounded like a train going through my apartment, and shot up in bed, wondering what the hell it was. Well. You know those really crinkly plastic bags, that make a LOT of noise when you smash them between your hands and stuff? Not that you do that, but cats love those bags. And one of mine decided to crawl inside one (I sometimes leave the odd one on the floor for them to play with) and run up the hall and under my bed, chased by the other one. All I saw was a plastic bag racing under my bed followed by another cat, too fast to tell which one. Seriously, have you ever seen a plastic bag run?? It’s the funniest thing ever. And loud. Then I heard a thump, and all was quiet. I was worried she had hit her head or something? Oh my God, what happened?? I looked over the side of my bed, and there was the bag, but no cats to be seen. Later when I got up and went into the living room, I saw Pepper crouched in beside the sofa, looking like she was about to pounce on something/someone. I called Pita, and she slowwwly crept up the hall towards the living room, taking careful tip-toe steps, watching Pepper the whole time. So I settled into my chair, because obviously they were both okay, and playing some sort of game that didn’t involve me. So they tear assed up the hall again and chased each other around for awhile. Never a dull moment around here, with those two!

On Wednesday afternoon I had my free monthly shiteous housekeeping. Well, okay, it’s better than nothing, but really, if you see something like my coat on the floor, could you maybe pick it up instead of just vacuuming around it?? They sent me two girls this time, one that had been here before and a new one that I guess is being trained. The thing is, when I buzz someone into my building and then it takes 20 minutes for them to get to my door, I know I’m dealing with idiots. This goes for delivery people as well; some are deducted $1 from their tip. I realize there are no arrows pointing to which apartment numbers are which way, but if you go up one hall and don’t see mine, wouldn’t you just try the other hall? Instead of going upstairs to every other floor, wandering around aimlessly, before coming back to the main door and buzzing me again to ask where I am? And listening when I say “go to your right”? Instead of wandering around aimlessly until someone directs you up my hallway? And then, when I open the door, (after 20 minutes, I emphasize), I realize that one of you has BEEN HERE BEFORE? Not that long ago? Do you know what I’m getting at? Because I have no idea, I just keep asking questions??

Anyway, they were not the smartest cookies. I remembered the training session I had to put the one girl through with my cordless phone the last time she was here, but I guess it didn’t take (”hit Line 1. There is no Line 2. Just hit the Line 1 button and dial out. Then hit it again to hang up”) because I heard both of them hitting all sorts of buttons on that phone, beep beep beepity beep, talking to each other in their language, and finally giving up and coming to ask me if I had a phone they could use. I said “yes, you were just holding it”, and got up to show them where the phone was they had just put down. I pressed Line 1 to get the dialtone and handed it to her.

So, yes, although I am grateful to have free housekeeping for a couple hours/month, I just, you know, AAARRRGGGHHH!

I had a really great night out on Thursday. I met friends at the Ironwood for a special C-Jazz event, where Matt Masters was taking his first shot at singing old jazz standards in front of a live audience, and my friends the Polyjesters were playing with Terra Hazelton. It was such a great show… Terra has such an amazing and unique voice; as my friend Heather said, “she sounds like every Christmas carol you’ve ever heard”. So happy and joyous. But she also has her sexy, sassy and sultry side. She’s awesome. And the PJ’s were great playing with her. I see many more regular gigs with them all together in the future, because Terra is moving back to Alberta in the Spring (she lives in Toronto now, where she sings with Jeff Healey’s Jazz Wizards) and taking a break from Big City Living. We had dinner at the club earlier, and I had the same thing I had last time I was there - because I resist change and love Brie - the veggie burger with brie cheese. Heather ordered these glazed chicken strips that looked DELICIOUS, so both Michelle and I have decided we are getting those next time we go (which just happens to be this Thursday, to see Emm Gryner).

On Friday I went for my 8th Quantum Release session. We are back onto the emotional thing. Between this session and my last one, Kevin ran me through his biofeedback machine and did a brain scan and checked out my nervous system and everything, and didn’t find much coming up on the physical side. He switched to emotional and WHOOSH, there it was. I said “but last time you told me what Pat said about my emotional health being responsible for my physical health was a load of crap…” and he said that she was right, after all. (I KNEW IT!) I have way, way, way more going on in there emotionally than he realized, we just broke through the surface. “But I feel good, emotionally,” I insisted. “I thought we were done that part?” Nope, we’re not. I grumbled and started to whine “how bloody much more is there?!?” and Kevin looked at me sternly and said “do you want to get better, or not?” “Well, yeah,… but, can I wait a couple weeks before coming again, because I won’t have the money until then.” He said he really didn’t want to stop now. “I will comp the session next week. And I want you to know, I don’t comp anybody. I told you at the beginning this wasn’t about the money. Do you believe me now?” Yeah, $540 in free treatments, I do believe him. Plus, after this session he asked me questions about certain times in my life and what was going on, because he felt certain things and wanted to be sure we were on par. And we were. Then he got me talking about my Dad, and my anger there, and low and behold, I talked and talked and talked… so I guess it’s not “all gone”. He then suggested I write it all out, do the “unsent letter” thing. I pouted that I sort of hoped I could just come to these sessions, lay back, and get it all out of me without having to dredge it all up again. He said although that is possible, it would take a lot longer. So, in order to move the process along, I need to do the journaling exercise that my friend/client/Coach Ken has been bugging me to do for years as well. OKAY FINE. I’ll write the damn letter!

I received a call the other day from a woman who recently had triplets, and doesn’t want to go back to work, but thinks doing bookkeeping from home like I do would be a good way to make a few bucks without leaving the babies. She has a similar work background to what I did before this, mostly working in the one-girl-office environment and doing everything, including some accounting, but never full-cycle bookkeeping. Unlike me, though, she has never worked directly for another accountant that she can call with questions when starting out, nor taken any accounting courses (I did enter the CGA program, I just didn’t get very far before I had to quit, but I did get straight A’s in Financial Accounting I, II, Business Law, Marketing, and Simply Accounting. Ahem). Anyway, she is coming over on Thursday morning and I’m going to show her “what I do” and how I set stuff up. To be honest, it would be nice to sort of train someone on how I do things, (THE RIGHT WAY), and have someone to refer people that are referred to me to (got that?) As much as I’d like to take on the World’s books and make sure they are done properly and everything is neatly reconciled, it’s just is not possible. I am but one mere human.

Monday night I went to the premiere of “A Mighty Heart” with AH. I think he was the wrong person to take. Let’s face it, he’s a Middle Eastern Arab Muslim. No matter how hot ‘n sexy he is, or kind and helpful he has been to me over the years, added to the fact that he has lived most of his life here in Canada, does not change that… his attitudes are quite different from mine. So when I come out of a movie like that, I’m horrified by what happened to Danny Pearl. When AH comes out of a movie like that, he says “what goes around, comes around.” WTF???

It’s common knowledge that many Muslims (and probably others) believe that “The Jews are responsible for 9/11″. There is this (bullshit rumour, IMO) that “4,000 Jews didn’t show up for work at the World Trade Centre that day because they were warned in advance…” Oh, PLEASE. There were 400-500 Jews killed at the WTC that day, (although the list of those killed does not include their religion, it’s pretty obvious when you see names like Steinman, Berger, Rosenberg, Bernstein, Horwitz, Weinstein, etc.) And are you going to tell me that not ONE of those 4,000 supposedly warned wouldn’t then call their buddies from work, or police, or SOMEONE to advise them of what they’ve been told? Not one in 4,000 is a decent person? Gimme a break.

AH falls into the category of those that believe “the Jews are responsible for 9/11″. That’s like me saying “The Muslims are responsible”. And I would never say that, because I know not all Muslims are bad people. I could say “Al-Qaeda is responsible” just like AH could say “The Israeli government is responsible” if that’s what he wants to believe. Don’t say “Jews” are. Daniel Pearl had NOTHING to do with it, or anything else Israel may be blamed for. He was Jewish by being born into a Jewish family. He was an American. He did not practice his faith religiously, if he did he would have married a nice Jewish girl, not a Cuban. He was a journalist for the Wall Street Journal, looking for answers and truth. He offered his articles to be read by anyone he was going to interview, so they could see what he was writing about, and what his angle was. Daniel Pearl was in love with his wife who was 5-1/2 months pregnant at the time of his death, and he did NOT deserve to die!!!

My biggest problem with arguing about these things with AH, is that I am quite ignorant in the world of politics and the happenings over in the Middle East. AH is not; he grew up in Lebanon surrounded by wars and has lived and breathed it. He has his reasons for hating Israel and I won’t deny that anyone from Lebanon would, knowing a little of that history. He has an intellectual sounding comeback for every argument I put out there because he is far more knowledgeable about world politics and media than I am. For example, when I said “Osama Bin Laden came right out and admitted he is responsible for 9/11!” AH came back with “the media were delivered a tape from Al-Jazeera and they didn’t air it for over a week… because they wanted to edit it to their liking. Don’t you think if it was the real thing, they would have aired it within minutes of receiving it?” And to that I have no answer, because I have no clue whether or not what AH says is true. Because I don’t keep on top of this stuff like he does. Alls I know is, the media has been so ACCURATE and open-minded in its reporting, and George Bush has been so honest about the Whats and Whys.

(That was sarcasm, BTW).

When AH said “well, he wouldn’t have died if he didn’t deserve it. He did something. Good people don’t just get killed for no reason…” I responded with “tell me, again, how your brother died?” (He was killed by two men in Lebanon many years ago). He didn’t say anything after that, point taken.

In closing, I don’t believe “Jews are responsible” and I think generalizing “Jews” into a category like that in the first place is bullshit. Are all “Germans” responsible for what Hitler did? Please. (In all fairness, however, as a friend of mine studying the Middle East at this very moment just pointed out to me, “many people from the Middle East are not necessarily disagreeing or attacking the specific issue - but are putting it in a much wider historical context which does not generally translate well to North American ears…” and that he may not have meant exactly what he said). But still. I don’t like some of the stuff he said, and he clarified it enough that I know he meant what he said.

I rolled all my coins this past weekend. $350!! Not too bad, considering I only started saving the loonies and toonies last September (and have grabbed the odd one out of the vase here and there). It is going right on my credit card to start paying down my trip, and thus another item is crossed off my 101 list. While rolling the coins, I happened across a 1945 dime that is worth about $10.00 and a penny worth about $4.00. Woo hoo!

I’ve been doing some reading lately of websites that have to do with fat acceptance. It is really quite interesting. I’d like to think it’s a bit of a “movement” happening… not a Pro “Eating-whatever-the-hell-you-want-until-you-can’t-get-out-of-your-own-bed” fat acceptance movement, but to accept the fact that some people eat healthy and exercise and will never be thin. That trying to be model-thin is unrealistic for many people no matter how hard they try, and try they do, with diets and creating eating disorders and driving themselves crazy stepping on that damn scale 100 times/day and hating themselves for not looking like Kate Moss. Sites like Big Fat Deal, that I have been reading for awhile now, which led me to the now famous Fat Rant by Joy Nash, and the WONDERFUL, awesome and brilliant Kate Harding. And let’s hear a rousing roar of applause for Mika’s latest single:

That line “no need to fantasize since I was in my braces”? This guy makes that pretty clear. Excellent read, and I thank you, dear Brian, and all the above links, for helping me get closer to the acceptance of myself, and no more diets for me. I know I need to work on the eating healthier overall and regular exercise to just see where my body ends up, but it’s nice to know I’m “allowed” to feel sexy at any size.

Okay, I linked to so much stuff you’ll be reading all night now, so I shall sign off.

I’m supposed to be filing and organizing in my office but I would much rather make stuff like this:

At least I’m staying off Facebook!

I am overdue for an update. I don’t know, blame Facebook, that place is brutal.

I still haven’t looked into getting my camera or cord or whatever I need fixed (I just haven’t had TIME. Well, okay, I’ve had time, but that damn FACEBOOK…) to upload photo and video again. So I’m still tossing old stuff up here. And by “old” I mean last month, and really, the cats haven’t changed since then. I think they have reached their full growth, and I’m happy to see that they aren’t huge cats. They’re a nice size, although Pita still thinks she’s only a few inches long and continues to try to curl up in my neck or get into little places and positions she used to be able to do when she was a few weeks old… it ain’t gonna happen, sweetie, but damn, it sure is cute to watch you try.

I went for my 7th quantum release session today (the first of two freebies). This was the most exciting one so far! I feel great today, so I was in an excited and positive mood when I arrived, and I told Kevin how amazing it is that I have honestly let go of my past and all the emotional crap from over the years. That even when I try to think about shit from my past, (and as my mom says, “don’t TRY!!”) my mind immediately filters it and goes to something else. It’s neat. And wonderful. So why, I ask, am I still eating junk and not in perfect health?? Huh?

Anyway, Kevin proceeded with the session and focused on the physical. We actually talked and joked around during this one, which we don’t normally do; you’re supposed to block out all other distractions. I stopped wearing ear plugs after my 3rd session because I hate those things, but I still put a towel over my eyes. Anyway, Kevin and I were talking and he started the healing stuff and we just kept talking and joking around. He said “this is a freebie, so I can give you a hard time if I want to.” I said “Yeah, well, that will go in the book”. I told him if he heals me, I’ll write a book about it and get us on Oprah.

After the session our coversation went like this:

Kevin - Well, now that you’re rid of the emotional stuff, I can really see your core strength. All that emotional crap was covering it up before, but we broke through that. Pat (the psychic that works in the next office) said all your physical problems were emotional? That’s a load of crap.
Me - Yeah, well, she said my emotional baggage caused my health problems and are keeping them there. But obviously after so many years, there is actual physical damage too. Wait a minute, did you just say that Pat is full of CRAP?
Kevin - Well… yeah… I tell her that to her face all the time. Anyway, your health problems are physical, it’s just that the emotional stuff was so deep it was covering up the ability to see that. Now that it’s cleared out, we can work on the physical and really get some healing going.

So… yay! I walked out of there so full of hope. I truly believe I am on to something here, no matter how hocus-pocus others may think what I’m doing is. I will walk again, like normal, without a walker, without a cane. I know it.

You can put an I Can Has Cheezburger application on your Facebook page. Awesome.

The other day I was home flipping channels and watched a bit of the local News at Noon. They were giving away passes to the premiere of A Mighty Heart, so I called in and was one of the winners! The catch being, of course, you have to pick the tickets up at the TV station. Well, I wasn’t about to pay cab fare for that, or go through Access Hell for movie tickets. I called a couple people, but no one was able to grab them for me during regular business hours. I called the station and explained my situation, so the Very Nice Receptionist offered to leave the tickets for me at the security desk to be picked up after they lock the doors at 5:30. I then called AH and asked him to swing by there on his way home (it wouldn’t be out of his way) and also to come with me (it’s on Monday) because I think this movie will interest him. Anyway, he called me when he arrived at the station so that I was on the phone if he needed to prove anything to the security guys about picking up on my behalf. AH stood at the door for a couple minutes because there was no one at the security desk, (I said, “it’s already 20 minutes into their shift, they’re in the break room” haha) and then someone came and opened the door. “Who are you here for?” he asked. “I’m here to pick up movie tickets from the security desk”, answered AH. “Okay, c’mon in” said the man. Who just happened to be the nightly news anchor, which made the entire trip worthwhile for AH. “That was the guy from the news!” He was so excited. He’s never been so close to *celebrity* before. “It must have been my suit, why he let me in. I look all professional and stuff. Wow, I see him on TV every night! EEEEEEK!!!” (or something like that).

I am all booked and confirmed for my trips to Toronto and Montreal in September. It’s going to be… amazing. I’m going to see pretty much everyone I want and hope to see, I believe! Even Lobelia, who no longer lives in Montreal and has been touring mostly around the U.S. and Europe with her new beau (who lives in England, where she will eventually end up since they are getting married!) has a show in Montreal when I’ll be there. It’s going to be surreal, even better than last September, if that is at all humanly possible. One day I’m going to make a list of all the people I love that I will be seeing while I’m down there, and the people I’ve been dying to meet that I will finally meet in person, and I will freak myself out that it is actually real and going to happen.

Yesterday was a crazy full day. My friend Carolyn came by and we went to Starbucks for lattes and catching up. She’s my friend from 6th grade through high school that I have rarely seen over the past 20 years, but we managed to fit in two three(!) visits so far within the last year, so we are doing better! She looks younger, happier and healthier every time I see her. Her family recently returned from a vacation in France that sounded awesome! I want to go to France. But for the time being, I settled for a Starbucks Caramel Macchiato.

At 1:00 I had my 6th Quantum Release Therapy session. As I mentioned earlier, I would decide if I would continue with these sessions after I had completed the six. During my session last week, Kevin told me the emotional *crap* (my word, I can’t remember what he said) that came out of me was so strong, it almost knocked him right over. It was like a volcano erupting. I do have to say, emotionally I feel so much better. I feel very much at peace, and when I was talking to a friend the other day about these quantum sessions and how they are helping me get rid of emotional baggage, he asked me “did you ever try writing an ‘unsent letter’ to your father? That’s a good therapy that worked for you before…” (an unsent letter is when you sit down and write a letter to someone you are mad at or that hurt you, and you get it ALL out, hold nothing back, and then don’t send it… just rip it up or delete it). I realized then, that I don’t need to write one. It’s all gone! I have nothing to say in that letter. It is GONE. And that is when I knew the therapy is working.

Kevin spent most of the session yesterday gently touching my right arm, hand, leg, foot… he concentrated more on the physical aspect. When he was finished, he told me “I think we’ve pretty much rid you of the emotional stuff… there doesn’t seem to be much there anymore, which is why I concentrated more on your physical this time… and although we know your physical health problems are rooted in the emotional, your physical hasn’t improved, so there is obviously some damage there that needs to be addressed.” For sure… even if the emotional crap is the root of my health problems and how they began, I have been dealing with the physical aspects and worsening of symptoms and broken bones and excess weight for many years, and I’m sure there has been a lot of nerve damage among other things. Kevin continued: “Since we have come this far, I really want to see where we can go from here. So, I’d like you to come in again next week, and I will comp that session. Then I’d like you to come in again the following week, and I will comp that session. I also want to do a biofeedback reading on you to check your nervous system. I really want to see if we can improve the physical parts of you now.”

How AWESOME is that?? He’s giving me $390 worth of treatments for free! So I guess my mind is made up about whether or not I will continue. I picked a great day and time for my appointment too, because Access was on time and (almost) direct for me both ways. No long waits!

Next, my mom and Bob picked me up from home and we went for supper before our chiropractor appointments. We went to Bella Roma, which is the best pizza in Calgary, so I always have to get pizza when I go there, even though they have a great menu with lots of other choices. I ordered a medium so I could take half of it home for today. Then it was in to see our chiropractor, thank GOD, because the pain in my lower back and side had spread to my upper/mid back and I’ve been feeling like I have broken ribs or something as well. He gave me a niiiice loooong treatment which consisted of a lot of PAIN and “Owwwwww!!!!” coming from me, but that’s how it goes… he works all those pressure points and gets right into the soft tissue (he’s not just a bone-cracker chiro) and fixes you right up. He said “you hate me now, but you’ll love me tomorrow”, and of course he was right. I’m still sore as hell, but definitely better than I was.

My brother sent me a link to these cookies last night. The BASTARD. “I ate a whole box tonight!!!” he said. And he’s 6′4″ and 190 pounds or something ridiculous like that. Hate!

I guess I’m accident prone. Lots of people are using their Facebook Notes section to fill out those little surveys that go around, and many of them have questions like “Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? Have you ever had stitches? Have you ever had surgery?” And most people are all, “no, no, no”. WHAT?? Is that possible? I’m all “oh, hell yeah, I can’t count how many times!!” Geez. I actually do consider myself a lucky person overall, but those of you that have never needed an ambulance or surgery and have never had a broken bone or anything, you are some lucky people.

Speaking of being lucky, how about that couple in Ontario who won $32 million in the lottery, and while they were driving to Winnipeg to pick up their winnings, they bought a scratch and win ticket, and won another $10 million? I kid you not. It was on the morning news yesterday, but you think I can find a link?? No. You just have to believe me. How do I get me some of THAT lucky energy??

Speaking of accident prone, I fell the other day and landed smack on my tailbone. Many of you probably know how much that hurts, and since I cracked my tailbone when I was 14, it has always been a sensitive area. Anyway, my chiropractor has been away, so I’ve just had to wait it out. In the meantime, not getting treatment for that I believe led to pulling a muscle somehere around my ribs on my right side yesterday (while doing nothing strange - just drying myself off after my shower - it’s like it was just sitting there, waiting for me to turn that way or something) and now I am in SO MUCH PAIN, every move is agony. I will finally get to see my chiropractor tomorrow and he will fix me up, but until then I’m living on Tylenol while hunched over grabbing my ribs or lying down with a heating pad. I am soooore.

Robyn tagged the hundreds and thousands of people who read her journal, so since that includes me, I have been tagged! I’m going to try to think of things you don’t already know about me if you’ve been reading a long time, so this may be “Seven Things about my Past and Juicy Gossip”.

1. The oldest single I own was autographed by two of the members who wrote/played on it, almost 20 years later! Here’s the story. My first ever ‘45 single was “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by Taste of Honey (1978). Many years ago, I was working at a local talent agency and re-organizing their band files. I came across one for a “Don Johnson” whom I had met years before that, when he was playing drums at a gig with Steve Pineo. I read his file, and it turned out he had been the drummer for Taste of Honey. I thought that was cool, that he lived here now. In the mid-90’s, when I was doing accounting for a pub called the Unicorn, Don Johnson was coming in to sing with his new band. I came down that night and brought my single to get it autographed. He signed it and then told me “Perry Kibble is here, too” (another former Taste of Honey member and co-writer of the song). So I met Perry, and he also signed the single. I think that is so cool. Full circle moment. NB: Perry Kibble died a couple years later in 1999 of heart failure at the age of 49.
2. I used to work for the (Famous One Or Two Hit-Wonder Band That Shall Not Be Named). They used to own a chain of pubs across Canada and I worked at the Head Office, doing payroll and all kinds of stuff. After they fired the Best Accountant Ever who then Sued Them and Won, I took over most of her job as well, and worked there for as long as I could until I ethically could no longer take it. After I returned from a business trip to Toronto where I really saw Mr. CEO’s true colours and what my “options” were if I wanted to move up in the company, I quit. (Not the FOOTHWBTSNBN’s fault - they were nice guys, but not being involved in the day-to-day business, they weren’t aware what an asshole the CEO they hired was, and everyone was afraid to say anything because the Best Accountant Ever was fired after 35 years of service when SHE tried to say something). After I left, the Truth came out, (because… WHY would Donna leave?? There must be something going on…) and that CEO was fired. I then received calls at home from FOOTHWBTSNBN, begging my return (lalalalala! I rock!) but I was still unhappy with the people they chose to continue running the business and didn’t return, except to come in on Saturdays to help out the one person I DID like in the company (the new accountant) and she paid me big bucks to do so. But after a few months she had seen enough as well and was going to leave, and so I never returned, and shortly after that the main pub they owned in Calgary mysteriously shut down and the company went into receivership. NB: The FOOTHWBTSNBN are still milking the one or two hits they had in the 60’s and 70’s for all they are worth and keep releasing “Best Of” compilations and touring.
3. I once walked out on a job I stayed at for 6 weeks, which was the most pathetic working environment since FOOTHWBTSNBN, by going in at 8:00 in the morning, leaving an “I quit this bullshit” note on my boss’s chair, and going home before she even came in.
4. I used to work with a Freak Side Show. I really just sold tickets and worked the concession stand and helped with promo, but occasionally during rehearsals I would try different things, and I’ve done fire eating and tongue transfers with fire. When the show had to close its Calgary location, all the props (such as the 2 headed calf, creepy things in jars, the haunted Dummy) and carnival-like decor were stored in the basement of the house I lived in.
5. One of the stars of that Freak Side Show, the Impaler (he stuck long needles through various parts of his body and hung fish hooks from his chest, and he really did it… it wasn’t a trick… the guy was into being “tortured” and liked pain… his hero was Fakir Musafar) (do not click that if you have a weak stomach) was my room mate for awhile. He was 19 at the time. He pierced his own penis in our basement one evening. We had visitors, and were like… “don’t go downstairs!” When he was finished, he came upstairs as if nothing was any different, just another day. A few weeks later he took the piercing out when he was sleeping on a hide-a-bed at his parent’s place, and the ring at the end of his penis sort of slipped over a piece of metal at the side of the bed and hooked itself there, and he rolled over….

   Okay, I know, all you guys are hugging your privates right now, feeling his pain. Sorry. Some of these have very little do with things about ME, but I’m having fun reminiscing! Hehe But this is taking too long so the last two will be short and simple.

6. My biggest pet peeve is gum chewing or the sound of someone’s saliva smacking in their mouth. If you are anywhere near my ears and chewing gum or eating (and are a saliva smacker when you do it), then I am going to FREAK out and will try my best to do that politely and leave the room if I am able. But nothing makes me shiver with disgust more than that. Sometimes I’ll be beside a cab driver who is chewing gum, and I want to scream!!!
7. I always get excited about receiving, opening and reading my fortune cookie after a Chinese food meal, even though I don’t believe a single word of those at ALL.

If you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged as well, to write Seven Things about Yourself. You’re then supposed to tag seven people, but do whatever you want!

I have been spending a lot of time on Facebook, searching for old friends. I’m finding a few, but not a ton, because I’m at the age where most of those people have families and careers (unlike me) and better things to do than hang out on Facebook (like me). However, the ones involved in the arts are usually found on there, because they like to network!

One of those old friends from 15 years back I have been communicating with, and after catching him up a bit on the changes in my life since my MS diagnosis, he sent me the following message:

Life can be such a struggle at times, but it is the struggle that makes us stronger and also more complete. I feel that if a person has an uneventful life, they haven’t lived it. You are resiliant and can roll with the punches and you have also learnt who your friends are.

Keep enjoying all that you have and also what you love the most. Life is a great gift!

I love that message.

I forgot to link to this in my last entry… a long time ago I posted a song on here by a hilarious New Zealand folk/comedy duo called Flight of the Conchords. They now have their own show on HBO, and the entire first episode is online. It is about the funniest thing I have ever seen, and I sure wish I had HBO!! This will be another series to buy on DVD when it comes out. You can watch it here, and I can’t recommend it enough!! Make sure you have 27 spare minutes to laugh your ass off.

I didn’t make it to a Quantum release session this past week, but I should get my last two in next week. I don’t know if I will continue after that or not… I do FEEL great, mentally, but I sure don’t physically, and that’s really bugging me. I dunno. I said I’d give it 6 sessions, so I will, and decide after that. According to my practitioner, my last two sessions released a LOT of emotional crap. The last one he said was like a bunch of GI Joe figures (or Barbies, or whatever) mashed together and exploding out of me like a cannon. Basically representing the release of people that have hurt me in the past. Like I said, I do feel better emotionally so maybe I am getting something out of it subconsciously. Time will tell if there is any long term effects.

I have decided I am going on a vacation in September, whether I can really afford it or not. Where there is a will, there is a way. I will be going to Toronto for about 6 days, and then off to Montreal for 5 more. Hit two birds with one stone! Emma will be in Toronto at the same time, so I will bus it back to Montreal with her. This trip will involve seeing/meeting soooo many wonderful people and some of my favourite musicians (of course!) so I can’t wait! The only condition is, in order to go to Montreal as well, I need to be able to do the stairs in Emma’s house (and to get on the bus in the first place), which I wouldn’t be able to do right now. So that means I have just over 3 months to exercise and get my legs working better so I can go. So that is my goal, and since I’ll be booking my flights soon, I will HAVE to be able to do it. No backing out. Exercise every day or no trip!!!