Me Time aka MT

Ya know what it feels like to get locked out of your house by at least one, if not both furry babies? While wearing your pjs? Yeah, that happened today. I stepped out to meet my new landscaping crew and point out what I wanted maintained. When I walked back around the house my front door was closed. Auto-lock was engaged. I may have swore. Luckily my neighbor was at home and she has a spare key for my house. Crisis averted.

Lawn care is my newest MT indulgence. I have mowed three times already this year and twice my back was not happy about it, so I decided to invest in myself and hired a service to mow and weed eat weekly. Since I charge $70 for a 60-minute massage and my weekly yard service is $35, I only need to do an additional two massages per month to pay for my yard work. $140/month for more free time,  less pain, less guilt for not doing more lawn maintenance, and less stress is a deal to me.  There are still a LOT of weeds I need to pull from my flower beds, but having mowing and trimming off my To Do List makes me smile.

I also invested in some CBD hemp extract products. I was curious about the efficacy of the oil in massage therapy and after I had two clients and a relative inquire about it, I knew I needed to do some research. A friend/client told me about Bluegrass Hemp Oil (BHO), they are local and they do their own distillation really near my house. I bought a 4 oz bottle of the regular strength blend to cut into massage oil. (I opted for sweet almond and coconut oils to blend with the CBD oil.) I also splurged and bought a $5 tube of vanilla lip balm. I put my oil blend on my hands and wrists yesterday morning, before starting work and throughout my day I reapplied lip balm. So far I can report I was very calm and my hands were not the least bit sore at the end of a full day of massages.  Since my back had been tight from the previous lawn work, I put some of the oil on my lower back at bedtime last night. I can report my back is not nearly as painful today. I still have some muscle ache, but it is an ache instead of sharp pain. I am probably going to start offering this service to clients, so if you are interested in natural healing, please reach out to me.

I have not seen the Quackeydoodles for three days, but here is the last pictures I took of them. 

And how do I know that Spring is finally sprung? Fire pit and patio furniture are here.

Birds

This cosmic wormhole of truth comes to you from Kim's backyard. And birds.

This afternoon I was on the look out for Mr. and Mrs. Quackeydoodle. Of course I named them! When they first started hanging out in my backyard, they were inseparable, but the last three days they have been coming solo for their dinner. I am hoping that means they are taking turns sitting on a nest...only time will tell. But today while I was birdwatching I heard the loneliest birdsong. His (no real idea if male or female, robins are the same) sad little song never wavered or deviated. Several minutes of the same one or two lines of music (no real idea about musical compositions, musicians are not the same) 😉  So I started wondering what he was trying to say. Was he sad? Happy? Looking for a mate? Notifying other birds of some event? Inviting other birds to take sanctuary? To me, HE sounded sad. Over and over he sang his little heart out. Nothing but love for you Brother Robin.

I spend a lot of time watching, listening to, and interacting with birds. I will not claim to speak bird, but I've found if you observe them regularly, you start to understand their songs more than you would expect. Doves are unmistakable quivering noises. Jays are annoying squawks. Songs are messages. Loud shrieks are not good news. Clicks are distress. Mockingbirds are jedi masters.





  .......Alas there was no duck sighting.

What a Week

....I have had. I went to Kinky Boots with my sister on Tuesday and LOVED IT! Wore my own lace up boots because that’s just how I roll. Laughed hysterically when the very loud lady sitting beside my sister starting catcalling and making odd shouts of appreciation. Anne’s face was priceless. 

I also lost part of my car exhaust Tuesday night....kinda sounds like I am riding a Harley right now. Number of clients that I was scheduled to travel to on Wednesday? Four. 😐  So I called in a lifeline to Papa Joe. He always “fusses” at me when I don’t ask for his help when my lawn really needs to be mowed and I am slammed with massages. He was good enough to help me out. He usually brings his own mower...but not this day. This day he used my walk-behind mower and it definitely got the better of Papa Joe. I was watching while I trimmed around the borders. He did figure 8s, angles, missed huge patches, didn’t miss some of my flowers.....it was both funny and sad. So after Papa Joe told me goodbye and I thanked him for his help, I waited until he was around the corner and re-mowed my lawn. Thank goodness for that time-saving idea of mine!

Took my car to two different garages, the second one assured me it would not be too long of a wait. An hour and a half later he tells me the estimate is $511 but it could be done in thirty minutes. A few minutes pass and I find out they are out of the parts and he can’t get the parts until the next morning. Number of massages for tomorrow? Four. 😑. So I am taking my car into the shop before I start work and hoping I can do three massages, (one lovely lady was good enough to reschedule and help me out) and then dash over after my last appointment to get my car before the shop closes. Fingers crossed!

I only won one game of cornhole this week.

The ducks are still staying here and I have bought duck food that they waddle up for 2-3 times daily.

I bought a $3 sippy cup so I could take a drink into Kinky Boots. Made $30 tee seem reasonable.

Oni left her toy mouse in my client’s shoe.

.....what a week I’ve had.

Random Bitchy Thoughts

As a massage therapist I find the commercial for the Spinal Institute very annoying. Now I am not saying this procedure will not help people with chronic back pain.  I am saying their marketing is stupid. Toward the end of this ad, the fellow, who just had the procedure done, shares how much better he feels now.  Then he  throws this massive satchel over his shoulder and walks all wonky largely due to the weight of the satchel.  They probably thought this made him look so much stronger after their miracle cure.  And it probably does to most folks.  To me, it looks like a good way to get him back in for more treatments when his back craps out again.  Think about that....

I read some comments today about a recent tragedy and folks were throwing out the "thoughts and prayers" as usual. The inevitable "It was God's will" made its rounds too.  So I can appreciate that people offer sincere sympathy and heartfelt condolences. I empathize myself.  What I cannot abide is the whole accepting God makes bad things happen to good people.  Seriously?  What kind of god does this?  And why would anyone worship a deity that tosses out random shit storms, especially when the storm hits a genuinely nice, spiritual follower, who was living Christ-like?  I say rubbish.  What you have here is what mathematicians call statistics and law of average. Shit happens. Shit happens to both good and bad folks. Sometimes you are blessed and other times you are cursed. Living a good life ups your odds of living well but it does not guarantee you anything. I like the idea of it being your time. Good times and bad times.  Let's leave the big guy out of the equation, huh?

Sunday Moments

I did 5.5 hours of massage today....and I don't mean that light pressure, relaxation type of massage. I mean deep tissue, getting in there and fixing stuff kinda massage. But it was the .5 that was the best story.  I saw my favorite kid and today we talked a wide range of topics, from turkey hunting, ducks, Solo trailer, and eventually Star Wars.  Because who doesn't like talking about Star Wars? So I tell him how much I loved Han Solo when I was 13 and how I cried when he was frozen in carbonite. Kid giggles hysterically. So did I. Then we discussed the new Avengers movie that comes out later this month. **Spoiler Alert** If you don't want any hints about the movie, please stop reading now.
We were speculating on the trailer scene where Ironman unsuits himself and puts his armor on Spiderman to save his life.  Will Tony die? I said I would be very upset if that happened. Kid says "You're not gonna cry again are you?" then laughs hysterically.   I did too.

Then I came home and found my newest feathered friends in my FRONT yard today. They were foraging under my bird feeders so I opened the door and threw out the corny seed mix on the ground nearby and they came right up for supper.

The baby groundhog and its Mama were in the backyard.

Daily Dose of Magic

Today, I had planned on filling my bird feeders before the snowy weather hits. As I went to collect the feeder, two finches lit on my porch and let me know those feeders were empty damnit!  I carried the feeders out back where I keep the bird seed and while I am filling the feeders, a hummingbird buzzed around me.  Soooo I mixed up some sugar water and filled my hummingbird feeders too.

I set myself on cleaning off my back deck, and by cleaning, I mean throwing twigs and branches off it and praying I can find a gardener to clean up my yard sometime in the very near future. I surveyed my disaster of a yard and decided I would skip mowing. I mean it's hard to be motivated about your lawn when they are predicting 3-6 inches of snow....tonight....it's April....  And then I saw an even better excuse for not mowing.  A mated pair of Mallards were resting near my bamboo.

I smiled and grabbed my camera.  The universe heard me. I did not want to mow and weed so the birds all visited and made my decision easy. Bird visitors = No Mow Zone.

Politics

.....are frustrating, scary and full on crazy train these days.

Sometimes I Wonder

.......if Brutus really enjoys it when I sing to him.  I sing a lot to my critters.  I never ask myself if the cat likes my singing because.....she is a cat after all....they are snobs. So tonight after I belted out my Brutie Pup Song, I only got a half-hearted tail wag for my effort. Cosmic Wormhole of Truth moment happened like this:

Wow. I don't think he liked my singing tonight.
It's almost like he is wagging his tail to be polite....
I wonder what he is thinking as he stares up at me, half-wagging.
I hear Bru's thoughts.

I love my Mom, but her singing is just not pleasant to my ears right now. It does seem to make Mom smile when she is singing to me tho'.... I will just wag my tail.  That seems to make her smile too.