Five Months?

I realized this morning that I have been out of school for five whole months! Today is actually five months EXACTLY since I sauntered across the stage at graduation. Ok, well maybe it was more like a lumbered across the stage, but we won't discuss that here.
A lot has changed in those five months.
1) I passed my national certification exam
2) I applied for the State of Maryland exam
3) I took the State of Maryland exam
4) I applied to get my license in the State of Maryland
(Do we sense that the State of Maryland has been an issue that has stuck in my craw?)
5) I received my license from the State of Maryland
6) I had to put my 14 year old kitty to sleep
7) I applied for a full-time job with a massage chain of which people tend to get envious.
8) I was offered a part-time job with a massage chain of which people tend to get envious.
9) I graciously declined the job offer from a massage chain of which people tend to get envious.
10) I started my own massage practice in the evenings and Saturday afternoons.
Yes, I started my own massage practice! I have named it Mini-Me.
Well, ok, I named it Allgood Therapeutic Massage (www.allgoodmassage.com).
11) WGH left his position with his J-O-B. This has been a truly recent event and there's not much to say at this point, except - hey - is anybody looking to hire an Audio-Visual wiz who also shoots and edits video and plays bass guitar?
No? Well, thanks anyway and keep that in the back of your head in case you run into somebody who may be doing just that.
12) I had my first chiropractice adjustment.
I did that because I'm renting space in a chiropractor's office and since both doctors have experienced my massage techniques, I felt that I needed to experience what their patients may experience.
Wouldn't you know that the good doc found that one of my legs appeared shorter than the other?
He said it was probably due to a subluxation in my sacroiliac joint.
In English, that means that my pelvic bone is out of whack.
13) I gave free chair massages at "In the Streets" in Frederick while I also passed out business cards and stalked Bryan Voltaggio of Volt restaurant and runner up of Top Chef: Las Vegas.
Much has changed in the last five months, and who knows what will be going on in the next five, but for now, things are getting very interesting and exciting.

Seems Like It Never Ends

From April 19, 2010 to April 14, 2011, my focus was on finishing school - and doing it well, I might add. Once I got that done, I needed a break and I took WGH and myself to Florida for a week. Since returning, my focus was on studying for my national certification exam, which I took - and passed - yesterday.
To say I was relieved would be an understatement. During classes in school, the instructors would talk occasionally about what might be on the national exam. My understanding is that the national board uses a database of 3,000+ questions and (somewhat?) randomly chooses 160 questions for the applicants to answer. The questions have to be weighted in different areas and I wonder if they may have a handful of questions that are asked of each candidate, based on legal, business, and ethical subjects. It's been one of those mysterious things that you have to do, but you don't know exactly what to expect, but it eventually gets done. Which is why it is such a relief.
On the computerized exam, they have a button you can press on the question screen if you want to "flag" the question for further review. I flagged the very first question on my exam, which I thought was a really bad sign. However, once I got into the exam, I knew most of the questions right away and began enjoying it. In all, I had flagged maybe 10 questions. Out of 160, that's not too bad.
At any rate, now that I am done with the second hardest part of the whole process, I am beginning the hardest part - applying for the State of Maryland Juris Prudence exam. I say that it is the hardest part because of some of the loops that the state makes their applicants jump through. Such as not accepting personal checks, only certified checks or money orders. Or requiring two passport type photos, one of which is placed on the notary(!) page and stamped by the notary. And then, getting my signature notarized.
I know I will get it done, but it's a matter of taking the time to do it all. I've gotten this far, I know it's just a little bit more aggravation and then I'll be licensed.

Adventure in the Smith Graduation Land

Since graduation was Friday, I had taken a couple hours off from the J-O-B to make sure that I get to the ceremony on time. Meanwhile, WGH left work at his usual time, which coincidently was the same time I left early. However, he had bad traffic in the 50 miles it takes for him to get home from his J-O-B and he got home about 10 minutes after I felt we needed to leave. At least he had prepared me for it and I had gotten everything ready for him to go away for the weekend to celebrate my new found freedom.
We got to the ceremony without incident and got to see the classmates dressed up, the teachers and staff dressed up, and I wore sneakers. The speeches were poignant and appropriate for the occasion. The announced special honors for honor roll students, including yours truly and a nice representation of my class.
When we got to the "walking across the stage" part, guess who got to be FIRST across the stage? Especially with a last name that begins with an "A" as in Allgood-Smith!

It's happened to me before, too. I was the first to walk across the stage when I graduated from Salisbury State University a "few" years ago.
After the ceremony, we retired to the multi-purpose room at the Chesapeake Arts Center for some refreshments. I abstained from them in hopes of a real meal once we departed. I visited a little with staff and classmates and then decided I'd had enough and wanted to get on the road.
WGH and I headed down the road, had a bite at Wendy's, and got across the Big Maryland Bridge.
While stopping at the Wawa in Easton, apparently there was some sort of formal high school/college group in white shirts and black skirts coming back from a competition as we saw a good number of them. I'm guessing they were a choral group.
Unexplained, however, was the middle-aged brotha man in a Tigger costume bouncing over by the cawfie machines.
We finally arrived at the luxurious Microtel in the 'Bury to commence the weekend o'celebration. Somebody must have known we were coming because they scheduled a rock band in the restaurant/bar about a football field away and they are serenading us with such classics as "Proud Mary" and "Blister in the Sun."

Tomorrow we plan to enjoy some of Ocean City's finest venues such as Dumser's Dairyland and Thrashers Fries. We'll head back to the 'Bury to enjoy the "Pork in the Park Festival" where anybody who's anybody on Maryland's Eastern Shore will be there. And we're somebody. Tomorrow night, we'll catch up with DJ Wookie at Dead Freddie's back in Ocean City for some heart-pounding, foot-thumping fun.
Well, I gotta bring this post to a close, as the band is playing "Purple Rain."
Peace Out.

Day 195 - Gettin' My Sports On (2 Days Left, According to Google Countdown)

Over the weekend, I had the priviledge to be invited to give chair massages (back, neck, shoulders) at a fundraising event for short-term missionaries going to Honduras this summer. Which means that I actually bought a massage chair that I found on craigslist! WGH and I went on Saturday to pick it up in Alexandria, VA, which is basically a whole other world.
A world where people don't really believe in turn signals.

Even better is that my lovely seester gave me the ducketts as a graduation gift to get it!
Which this also means that once I'm licensed, I will basically have all I need to do "mobile massages" as well as having some clients come to my house or me go to theirs for regular massages.
It's exciting to see this starting to come together!
Back to class from tonight. We studied more about sports massage, got a demo, and practiced. There isn't much else to say except that half of my class, including me, the ones who are graduating this week, seem somewhat disinterested. We're doing what we have to do to get through this week and looking forward to not having to go to school this time next week.
Here's to three more classes left.

Day 184 - Life Goes On (22 Days Left)

Sun comes up sun goes down
This ol' world keeps spinnin' around
Not much has changed since you been gone
I miss you honey but life goes on
- Little Texas*

During the last 11 months I have been trudging away at learning massage and all the things that go with it, like Professional Development, Anatomy, and Pathology, life has gone on around me, just like the Little Texas' song says.
I have tried my best to deal with things as they have come up, but it's definitely put a strain on everything: relationships, finances, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Not to mention the dust bunny army that's been able to amass itself behind the bed, under the couch, and in the dark corners.
Today, we took the commuter car back to the shop to see if he can fix the problem it's had since we took it to him last time. Of course, the price of gas has gone up significantly, so there's more choking the wallet to put gas in the cars to make it to and from work and/or school for both WGH and me. I hope we can get the commuter car back really quickly - and that it works well.
I hate sounding like I'm complaining because I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and right now, the tunnel has nine more days of anatomy and five more days of sports massage.
Interestingly enough, I can see why we are studying the anatomy of the lower limb while taking sports massage. What we're learning in anatomy will help us in learning sports, seeing as how the lower limb is pretty important in sports.
In tonight's anatomy class, we had a big surprise: we didn't have the instructor we thought we were going to have. (sarcasm)   I will say, though, that it looks like our stand-in instructor, who will be with us for the duration, will do a fine job in teaching us what we need to know.
A nice result of all the pretzel stretching we did last night in sports: my legs were stronger today and I didn't feel as much like a little ol' lady when I got up from my chair.
*I may be a little biased toward them, since one of my many cousins was the lead singer

Day 177 - Plugging Away (35 Days Left)

In Pathology tonight, we took our last quiz and turned in our homework. I ended up getting a 15/15 on the quiz and a 98% overall grade for Pathology, my nemesis class. It's tough, but with some studying, I was able to pull off a pretty high grade. Yay!
After all that got taken care of, there wasn't much else to do, and with the expectation of a pouring rain storm with flash flood watches, I decided to go home early. So, here I sit at home on my couch when I would normally be in class.
It's kinda nice, I gotta say.
On other note, there's something I've been thinking about for the last few days. WGH and I hardly see each other through the week, but I have to give him props because he's so encouraging and helpful to the things I can't do because I'm at school. Also, because he leaves before the crack of dawn and I don't have to leave for another few hours, and then when I get home from school, he's already asleep, our communication through the week is sporadic at best. Sometimes, when he actually reads this blog, he can actually find out what's going on in class and at the J-O-B, since we barely have 15 minutes otherwise.
So I just want to give a shout-out to WGH and say "Thank you" for all the support. Also, I need to thank my sister, who has been available and willing to help out when WGH has needed a ride to drop off a car at the shop - or pick it up. She's also very supportive of this endeavor, despite her initial misgivings.
And to all of you, my friendly readers, all four of you, thank you for your ways of encouraging me and inspiring me to get through this.
Wow...kinda mushy or something tonight.
Back to my usual tomorrow.

Day 168 - I Must See Your Papers (49 Days Left)

Almost two years ago, I was laid off from my J-O-B of 18 years, during which I had climbed the proverbial corporate ladder. In the ensuing months that followed, I sent out dozens of resumes and cover letters. I practically tailored each resume for each position for which I applied. After six months, I finally was offered an entry level J-O-B. At the time, I just figured that keeping our house would be better than trying to move WGH and I to my mother's house, so I bit the bullet and took the first J-O-B offered, which was data entry and what I still do.
On a side-note, the new HR person at the J-O-B as me the loaded question of "if you could change one thing about this company, what would it be?" Feeling like I have nothing to lose, I was honest and pretty much laid it out there. If anything comes of this in the future, I will keep you posted, but for now, I was pretty proud of myself for being diplomatic yet honest about my thoughts with no fear of reprisals.
In this evening's class, we discussed resumes and application letters, which will be our "big assignment" for this installment of the Professional Development class, and a big portion of our grade for this class.
The great thing about this is that we'll get a chance to have many people, including those who are responsible for hiring people, look at our resumes, proofread, offer suggestions, and generally help us get the job that we are looking for in this field.
I'm actually looking forward to this assignment.
How weird is that?

Day 159 - Maybe Cowbell Will Help (65 Days Left)

I apparently got punished for skipping skool on Friday night by waking up Saturday morning with a dry throat - the beginnings of a scratchy throat, which is the beginnings of a sore throat, and that could lead to a full blown cold, bronchitis, or other nasty things I don't even want to think about.
I ended up going to clinic and doing my shift. I had one client, one student exchange, and then a repeat client: WGH. I got through the shift on cough drops and water. Afterward, WGH and I just "happened" to go by Sonic and have some tator tots and a vanilla malt...oh and a sammich, too. But nothing else on the menu matters to me besides the tator tots and vanilla malt.
Anyway, after the feast on Sonic while sitting in the commuter car, I fell asleep on the way home. Upon arrival at home, I took a peppermint and euchalyptus bath. And then fell asleep.
On Sunday, WGH went to the store and got me a neti-pot, which I found weird, but have gotten used to it and now want to use it about every hour. However, I think that may be overkill. I got done the things I needed to do and rested when I needed to as well.
However, Monday came on like a slap in the face. I wasn't all that congested when I woke up so I thought I was getting better. However, after being at the J-O-B, I was feeling rather miserable and after torturing myself for over six hours at the J-O-B, I finally went home, crawled into bed, and slept for two hours.
When I woke up, I checked my temperature and it said 99.0 degrees, so I knew that when I went to school, I wouldn't be able to receive any bodywork with any kind of fever, but knew that I needed to get to school just because of the hours policy. Plus, it was the first night of this class and I like to see who the teacher is and get a feel for how the class is going to go.
Apparently, though, I wasn't the only one in my class not feeling well. Several - and I mean several - stayed home because they were sick. Oddly enough, all the symptoms seem to be earily similar. Maybe we all got the same bug? Who knows? At any rate, I went like a masochistic pony in a glue factory.
When I arrived at class, I saw that the teacher was someone whom I've known as a TA for all this time. She hasn't been one of my class' regular TA's, but one I've seen around a lot. She seemed rather aloof when I've seen her around, but after tonight's class, I think I've figured out that she's just shy.
We did our introductions and then an exercise in draping, opening, and closings, and then began bodywork. I worked on my partner, and then since I couldn't get any work done, I signed myself out and came home.
Now that I'm home, I'm wondering if I need more cowbell or more neti-pot to help with this fever.

Day 158 - Skipping Skool!

I was supposed to be in a make-up class from last week's snow storm. However, since I took my finals last night, I skipped skool.
And I don't feel guilty because I was able to spend the evening with WGH on his birthday.

Day 157 - Longus DayiNightus (69 Days Left)

In learning Anatomy, we're learning a whole new language. Greek and Latin...maybe something else or other thrown in there, too. Hence the title of this post. My version that means "Long Day and Night."
I started this morning, went to the J-O-B, worked eight hours, and then immediately drove to school so that I could take the Antomy final and then immediately take the Spa Treatment final afterward.
I ended up getting a 41 out of 50 on the written portion and 20 out of 20 on the hands-on portion of the Anatomy final.
After that, I raced up to Subway, got a double-meat 6-inch sub, raced back to school, scarfed it down, along with the cookies, and then ran (well, walked) to class. I took the written Spa Treatment exam and got 91 out of 100 and then we did the hands-on, which I got 95 out of 100.
So far, looking good for a continued 4.0 GPA. Yay!
I would also like to wish a wonderful birthday to the man who has supported me emotionally, physically, and just being awesome for the last nine months of being in school. Thank you, WGH. AKA Ricky. Love you bunches!

Day 154 - Rant of the Wall (72 Calendar Days Left)

When I first was registering for the massage program, the admissions person I talked to said that everybody, at some time in the program, hits a wall.
I believe I've not only hit the wall, I've crashed into it and am trying to break through it.
To say that I'm frustrated with the whole experience right now would be pretty accurate, if not an understatement. I believe most of it stems from the winter weather our region has been experiencing the last couple of weeks.
Don't get me wrong, I like a good snow storm - as long as I don't have to be out in it. However, because TPTB* at the J-O-B don't seem to care about their staff and apparently believe that being there seems to be a matter of life and death it takes an act of Congress to close due to inclement weather and then TPTB at the school reschedule cancelled snow classes on Friday nights, I cringe whenever I hear reports of a winter storm coming to town.
I have visions of my May Graduation Orlando Vacation Celebration (say that five times fast) going down the tubes because I have used all of my PTO (Paid Time Off) at the J-O-B due to the stinkin' weather.
Last week, we missed two classes due to snow and we made up one on Friday night and are scheduled to make up the other this coming Friday, with a final exam. However, last Friday, one of the student liaisons brought a "revised" schedule for this week into class and basically, the thought was that because a good number of students may not be able to make class on Friday, we would take the final exam on Wednesday, unless we can all agree to be there on Friday.
This caused a cascade of discussion on our facebook group over the weekend, and it seemed the classmates were divided on which way to go with it. By the time we got to class tonight, we still really hadn't agreed on the best thing for everybody.
THEN - in comes TPTB. They tell us that the exam is on Friday AND we have to be there the whole evening. Well, at least it was a definitive answer, frustrating as it was.
Why did they introduce the revised schedule in the first place? Was that the local school doing that, or TPTB? Does one hand know what the other is doing? It sure caused a lot of confusion and frustration among our classmates unnecessarily. Why do these things always boil down to a lack of communication?
Frankly, I have the time built up that I can sign myself out of class after the exam and I'm still good to go, but that still means driving 41 miles to the school to be there for an hour - at the most, probably.
So, what happens?
More anxiety. While sitting in class.
I can't pay attention to what's going on in the lecture because all I can think of is this junk. By the time we hit our next break, I told the teacher that I was signing out for the night and explained that I just wanted to be there for barebones on Friday, if possible. She was awesome and has worked it out with me so I can take the final at another time, Thursday before my other final, and I don't have to come at all on Friday.
That's a HUGE relief to me.
AND! I can celebrate WGH's birthday with him on his actual birthday on Friday! (He says he'll be 23, but I think I need to check his birth certificate.)
After getting all that straightened out, I still signed out for the night and came home, as there is a winter storm (ice and snow and all kinds of fun stuff) on its way and I didn't want to be a part of it tonight.
And we wonder why I keep saying I want to move to Florida.
I try not to let this stuff stress me out, but it doesn't seem to be working right now. I think if it were one or the other, J-O-B or school, it wouldn't be so bad, but between the two right now, I'm pretty much hitting the wall.
*The Powers That Be (generally meaning "Corporate")

A First or Two

For the first time, WGH came to clinic and not just dropped me off to pick me up later, but came later and I gave him a massage in "my" environment - student clinic, which is supposed to simulate a spa with "real" clients and such. He was last client of my shift and I have to say that I liked that. I didn't feel rushed like my client has to get out and go home or I have to get going because of time constraints or whatever.
Also, when giving out clients, our TA asked if of the therapists (student therapists) had cubicles side by side. I mentioned that the cubicle next to me was empty, so another student and I were assigned a mother and daughter, whom we could open up the curtain so they could be together. The other student and I agreed that it was a pretty cool experience doing that - tandem massages.

After my clinic shift, I was starving, so WGH and I decided to go check out the Sonic that we've just heard about recently. After a crispy chicken sammich, tator tots, and a vanilla malt, I was in a full food coma. Ahhhh.

Day 152 - Squirrely Situation

Rather than share about tonight's class - it's anatomy, that's all you need to know - I want to share about what happened at the Stately Smith Manor and Zoo today.
This morning I was going through my routine of getting ready, which generally consists of putting on make-up, clothes, drinking cawfie, reading the newspaper on-line, reading an on-line devotional, and just mentally preparing myself for the day. I noticed some tree branch movement outside and then heard some activity on the roof, around the chimney. This went on for a minute or two. Since we have had critters on our roof before that have decided to infiltrate our house via the chimney, I started banging on the fireplace to scare them away.
Just for safe measure, I put a make-shift barricade in front of the fireplace door: a TV tray.
When I got home, I tossed my dinner in the microwave and went about my business until the dinner beep signalled. After settling down to eat my dinner, WGH and I began discussing the day and we ended up on the topic of the noises I heard this morning by the chimney and he mentioned that Gringo the cat had been looking at the fireplace funny.
This is usually NOT a good sign.
I asked for a flashlight and as we peered in the fireplace, we saw a stunned squirrel hiding in the back of the fireplace.
I told WGH that I wanted to finish dinner and think about what our next move should be. Hey, I have priorities.
Dinner. Then squirrel removal.
As I enjoyed my beef stew, I began formulating the plan: ok, I need work gloves. Check, WGH is very helpful in getting those.
Ok...finished dinner.
First, we made sure we had the video camera, because you must document these events.
From here, I will just share the video, because if a picture is worth a thousand words, video is two thousand.

And yes, I have been bitten by a squirrel before this event, but that's a story for another day.

Day 151 - Loofah Vandross

There are many words in the English language that just sound funny. Squash. Thesaurus. Catharsis. Loofah.
Tonight, we had the joy of working with dry loofahs to exfoliate our partner for the evening. (Exfoliate - another funny sounding word) Exfoliation is the removal of dead skin. It helps to relieve dryness, improve circulation, and give the skin a more youthful appearance.
Oh sorry, I was starting to sound like a commercial.
My partner this evening like the patchouli oil I used the other night, so when we got to the massage part after the exfoliation, we both used it. Patchouli reminds me of hippies for some reason. But hey - maybe sometimes I like to think of myself as bohemian. Even though I'm totally not. Usually. Most of the time.
Where was going with this anyway?
Oh yeah...should I start working in a spa someday, I may be doing body treatments, such as body exfoliation - and maybe I'll be using a Loofah with patchouli while listening to some Luther Vandross. Or space music. Or a tuning fork.
On the "outside of class" part of life, which isn't much, WGH was cruisin' home from work this afternoon when the commuter car decided that it didn't want to work anymore. After a AAA tow to the shop, I picked him up and was able to get home in enough time to scarf down some chow and run back out the door. Unfortunately, I forgot my uniform shirt for class. Fortunately, I was already wearing a black shirt - not to dress code for class, but at least it was black. Also fortunately, it's winter and it's pretty stinkin' cold out so when I didn't take off my fleece sweater/sweatshirt thingy-ma-jig, it wasn't as obvious that in dress code. And if they had sent me home...oh well.
It would have been more time at home.

Day 150 - No Life on a Friday Night

Because we had off this past Monday from school, we had to make it up tonight. Our class had Anatomy, and because it was a Friday and students and teachers seem to not come on Friday's, we were combined with another class. We took a quiz (9/10 for me, thanks) and turned in homework, then proceeded to watch an entertaining video on Anatomy. Imagine "The Wiggles" teaching anatomy. That's kinda like what the video was like. It's called Standard Deviants School and it actually seemed to help it make some more sense. If you get bored and want to learn and be entertained, check it out.
While watching the video, I multi-tasked and tried to get a little ahead with my studying ahead.
Basically, it's a Friday night and I'm pretty much just ready to go right to sleep. I have no life. I see the people at work and in class more than I see my WGH.
Less than three months to go now.

Day 142 - Rockin a 95 off 295

In case I hadn't mentioned it before, BSOM is located off I-295 in Linthicum, just an exit or two away from BWI Aeroport. WGH has gotten to know the area better than I since he drops me off at class sometimes and goes and does - uh - something. I'm not really sure what that is, but I know he has visited the aeroport and Guitar Center.
Anyway, this evening, we took our Core final exams, which was hands-on. When all was said and done, I ended up getting a 95%! Yay!
The 4.0 GPA continues.

Day 140 - Sympathetic Redneck

As I was growing up, I learned some important "improvisational engineering" skills from my dad*. When we would be out on the river on his boat, and it may do something like - well - stop, he would figure out the problem and be able to fix it with a beer can (of which there were ample supply) and rope or duct tape.
I have fixed our toilet in much the same way a couple years ago. When the little floaty thing didn't want to float that well making it keep running water, I affixed a small empty plastic bottle with twisty ties for added buoyancy. Viola! It floats and turns off the water when it's supposed to!
Last night, I took CC (the Commuter Car) through the car wash. Afterward, I noticed the radio didn't work so well on the way home from school and discovered that the antenna had been damaged in the car wash. WGH noticed it as well this morning so when he got home from work, he took a page out of my dad's book by breaking off the antenna and then "replacing it" with a wire hanger, duct taping it in there for good measure, of course.
We're rollin' real redneck now, boy, I tell ya.
So much for life OOS (Outside Of School). Back to class.
Tonight, we had more Core class and more bodywork! One of the things that we have learned in our studies is that there are basically two states of the Nervous System: Sympathetic and Parasympathetic. Sympathetic is the "fight or flight" state while the parasympathetic is the "rest and digest" state.
As Massage Therapists, we generally want our clients to be in a parasympathetic state so they can get the most benefit out of what we're doing.
Over the years when I've gotten professional massages, I noticed that I wouldn't fall asleep, but go into "the zone" - my best word to describe what happened to me. I now realize that I went into a parasympathetic state.
While getting bodywork during these Core classes, there have been times when I've gone into "the zone." Between last night and tonight, I was there.
So, much like last night...ahhhh.
Good night.
*More stories about my dad can be found by clicking here to read my eBook about him.

Where Have You Been?

I'm so sorry for not keeping up with this blog for the last two weeks. I have been out of school since December 18th (clinic), which in my mind, means that there are no blog entries to make.
For a week, I got to go to work and come home and not have to worry about going to school. That's not to say that I sat at home during that time. I don't recollect exactly what I did, but it was not sit at home and watch TV, which was what I was doing right before starting school last April.
Maybe I was preparing stuff for Christmas.
I don't know what I had to prepare, since we were going to my sister's that day and all. At any rate, we had a lovely Christmas day.
The day after, my sister, WGH, and I set out for a week vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We didn't make it there that day due to bad weather conditions, but ended up staying at a Hampton Inn for the night.
We made it to our destination the following day and pretty well enjoyed the week of doing - well - next to nothing.
I have a few observations about winter vacations I'd like to make.
1) No matter how comfortable the bed, it's not your own so you don't sleep as well.
2) There isn't much you can do outside so you either just drive up and down the barrier island or you sit in the condo. If you get really ambitious, you go to the fitness center where they have an indoor pool. You have to drive because it's too cold to walk the mile it takes to get there.

3) You go out to eat any chance you get just to get out, including driving 25 or so miles just to get a French Toast Bagel.
4) You eat way too much and need to food detox the moment you arrive home.
5) You can get really addicted to watching things like 48 Hours: Hard Evidence, Regis & Kelly, or anything on the Food Network.
6) When you make a full pot of coffee, you have to drink it fast before all the coffee burns on the burner, unlike the thermal pot you have at home.
7) You can't get out of things like shoveling because the resort staff has so many units to take care of. Unfortunately, you have no snow shovel with you, so you have to use a broom. If you're on the bottom unit, you have to also sweep the unoccupied top unit's deck because otherwise, if you stand on your own deck, you get a shower from the melting snow.


8) It's 20 degrees when you arrive, but 68 degrees when you leave to come home.
When all is said and done, it was a nice trip, but I'm glad to be home. I'm also glad that I only have three and a half more months of school left. Then I can begin preparing for the certification exams and getting on with my new career.

Here are some pictures from the OBX Christmas Vacation Extravaganza!

Sonic!!! There are none around Frederick, so we tried to take advantage as much as possible  

Another trip to Sonic

Lighthouse in Manteo - Check out the snow!

Close-up of the Lighthouse

Perspective of sweeping the upper deck

Sun and Snow - What a vacation!

New Years Eve
We had a buffet dinner at Port O'Call

Guess Where!

The food was really good! We ate and got out!

Nothing like being closed for the SEAON THANK
(Note to self to find out what a SEAON THANK is)

Didn't get to see the wild horses of Corolla, but did see a wild pony of Wanchese.

Day 138 - Can I Get an Amen!?!?!

Today was one of "those" days. It wasn't bad at the J-O-B, but we had one of the first snows of the season today. It began this morning, and it seemed that one by one, co-workers left and went home to miss either the snow or the traffic. It could go either way...people are nuts, ya know.
Anyway, knowing that my work commute is a whopping 14 minutes, I figured that I could handle staying until the end of the day. And I was busy the whole stinkin' time. I didn't even have time to primp my hair or do my nails!
Unfortunately, in those 14 commuting minutes, 12 of them are on a back, winding, hilly road.
Because I didn't feel like landing in a ravine or on the side of a tree, I really took it easy and it took me a whole 30 minutes to get home! That's over double my normal commute!
I couldn't handle that every day.
(Have I mentioned in my previous life, 30 minute commutes were considered a "good day"?)
There was a debate on whether or not we would actually have class or not tonight, and then after it was decreed that class would be held, a debate with myself if I would go or not.
But, after arriving home and freshening up a bit, I got back in the car, brought WGH with me, and we rode to Baltimore together. The roads weren't that bad, actually. And the traffic didn't stop/slow/get ugly until about the Patuxtant River bridge, close to I690-500.
Some call it 695, but I call it "six-ninety-five hundred" because of the way people* drive.
*I've become one of "those people."
Upon arriving at the school, I got my stuff, got into the classroom and we promptly took the anatomy final exam. After we finished, we were free to go because of the weather.
I actually stuck around after I finished. Well, mostly because WGH had gone off to the wild blue yonder that's also sometimes known as Arundel Mills Mall, but I also was able to find out my grade whilst waiting for him.
98% baby!
Yeah!
That's the way you do it!
Take that, Erector Spinae muscles! Oh yeah, transversospinalis muscles? What do you want, suboccipital? You want a piece of me, you sphenoid bone?
Don't worry, I got this.
Oh yeah...sorry. I tend to get excited about these sorts of things.
Tonight marked the end of classes for this year, so can I get an amen to that?!?!
I still have clinic on Saturday, but I think that's pretty easily handled.
So, in conclusion. I would like to say that WGH and I arrived home around 8:45 - and that was after making a pit-stop at Dunkin Donuts because SOMEBODY wanted a hot chocolate. Not naming any names or anything, Ricardo Leon Smith.

Day 136 - Shiatsu Takes My Breath

We had our final exam tonight for Shiatsu - a written portion and then a hands-on portion. I was quite confident in the written portion and highly confident for the hands-on portion.
We took the written portion first, and when I first got the exam, I brain-dumped the meridian circuits and any other pertinent information onto the back-page for reference. From there, I completed the hand and foot meridian points portion of the exam and then finally, to the rest of the exam. I was so confident in the whole thing, that I believed that I got a 100%. Later discussion revealed that I got a 99%.
I can live with that.
After I finished the written portion, I made a field trip to the gas station and filled up the tank. On a side note, since October 13th, when we purchased the commuter car, we have put approximately 7,000 miles on it. That's 7,000 miles in less than two months.
Wow.
Well, that's why we got that car. To put miles on it and not care.
Anyway, after returning to the school, I studied a little bit for the Pathology quiz tomorrow night and then began preparing for the hands-on portion of the Shiatsu exam. My partner went first performing the exam. She did well, I believe. Then we took a break and switched partners doing the work and it was my turn.
As soon as I started, I felt like I was breathing heavier than normal and my heart was beating faster than normal. I'm not usually one to get nervous over this sort of thing, but I had a pretty hard time trying to catch my breath while performing my protocol on my partner. Besides the fact that it's a very physical modality, if you don't center yourself just right to begin with, it takes way more effort to get there. I was "there," but my breath wasn't following me.
Well, I guess I should just keep working on getting back into shape and practicing yoga to help with flexibility and strength.
All-in-all, I think I did pretty well for both portions of the exam.
Another thing that we have learned in this class is that gas happens. Because of the physicality of this modality, sometimes gaseous expulsions have occurred, courtesy of fellow classmates. Tonight was no exception. And the best part: while the perpetrator of the expulsion was laughing because of the first expulsion, further expulsions ensued, which made the rest of the class lose their wu wei (beingness).
I guess this is better to happen in class, where we can get all the giggles out, rather than when it's our client on our table or on our Shiatsu mat.
In the meantime, WGH has been his wonderful, goofy self and been putting together our Christmas cards to get ready to mail out. Yeah, Christmas is in 10 days and we're just getting around to the cards. Considering that I was trying (unsuccessfully) to convince WGH that we didn't need to send out cards this year, I think we're doing pretty well.