This is getting interesting

I've been going to see Jim on a fairly regular basis for 90 minutes massages.  It's partly because of my back and I think it does definitely help.  But going to see James is also the only form of male physical contact that I have right now.  Maybe that's a little sad, but I don't want to be with some random guy just so I can have that physical contact.  So this is what I do instead.

Anyway, I had an appointment with Jim yesterday evening.  As always, it was fantastic!  Normally, we don't talk much, but this time we were talking even as he started massaging me.  I asked him what made him decide to become a massage therapist.  He told the whole story - which I won't recount here because it's long and it doesn't much matter.  He said that he's still going to school to become an Advanced Massage Therapist, which I thought was pretty cool.  It also might explain why he's so good at this!  He also started talking about how he does some massage work outside of the salon.  He offered to give me his cell number and he can bring his table to my place for massages at a much lower cost.  Gee, let me think about that... um, YES!  He did acknowledge that I should probably still come to the salon from time to time so that it's not like he's "stealing" my business, which I agree with.  But it'd still be really nice to get great massages for less and I wouldn't even have to leave home!  It's nice to know that he's comfortable enough with me that he's willing to do that, and I feel comfortable enough with him that I'd be okay with him being in my home.

The other cool thing was that Jim and actually learned a little about each other, which was nice.  It's kind of strange to spend so much time with someone, be just about naked, have their hands all over you, and still not know anything about them.  The sweet thing is that we actually hug when we say good-bye now.  Jim is so much younger than I am - 13 years! - that I can't imagine anything romantic ever developing.  But I can see us being friends and hanging out.  I have no idea if that will happen, but it'd be fun if it did.  Friends are good!

This is probably my last post until after I get back from my trip, so I hope you all have a nice Labour Day weekend and beyond!

Going Away

I leave next Thursday for nearly two weeks.  I'm flying to Dallas where I'll meet up with my mom at my Aunt Char's house.  I think my cousin Kyra is going to be picking me up from the airport.  We'll spend the night there, then leave sometime the next day to drive up to Oklahoma where my great aunt and some of my dad's cousins live.  We'll spend a few days with all of them with kind of a casual family get together that Saturday.  Last I heard, Tim and his wife were not going to be there, but I don't know that for sure.

Sunday evening I'm going to get to meet one of my dad's biological sisters (the youngest one) who also lives in OK.  I met the oldest sister, Joann, on a previous TX trip.  There's one other sister, but since no one is in touch with her, I don't expect to ever meet her.  Anyway, I met the sister in OK, Sherrie, once when I was about seven or so, and I have a vague memory of it.  But she and I have gotten to know each other some over the last couple years on Facebook and since we're going to be pretty close to her, I definitely wanted to see her.  So we're going to see her that Sunday!

Mom and I will drive back to Dallas on Monday, Labor Day.  We're supposed to visit with a friend of Mom's that evening.  I've met her, but I don't know her that well.  That's okay.  Tuesday will be doing a little shopping and then I'm going to get together with a good friend from college that evening.  I haven't seen him since we graduated, but we've always stayed in touch, so I'm really looking forward to seeing him again.

Wednesday morning Mom and I will leave Dallas and head to Waco.  My dad's one living biological brother lives there, so we're going to meet up with him and his wife.  I think I may have met him once, but I was a baby or something so obviously I have no memory of it!  It'll be interesting.

From there, Mom and I will drive to Houston, which is where Mom's youngest brother (Dave) lives.  He's turning 50 in a couple weeks, so we're going to be there to celebrate with him.  The really fun part is that he and his family know that Mom is coming, but they don't know about me!!  Now, I think I'll be telling his wife, Kelly, soon so she can be prepared.  Mom and I are going to be staying with them, so it seems a little unfair to spring it on her.  But Dave and my cousins will be surprised!  I saw Dave a couple years ago, but I haven't seen any of the rest of his family since before I moved up here.  Mom and I will be there for about 4 days and I think it'll be fun!

So that's the trip.  I'll be gone for nearly two weeks.  Other than going to Jasper, it's the first time I've left town in nearly a year, when I went to Ohio last October.  Now I just hope that it's not super hot so I'm not one big puddle of sweat the whole time!

The Latest

I'm still going to the chiro three times a week - Mon, Wed, Fri.  I'm definitely starting to tell a difference.  I feel like I'm walking more "normally," if that makes any sense.  The problem is that when I try to go for a walk, my lower back still gets stiff.  So I guess it's a work in progress and that's okay.

In an effort to keep my back loose, I went for another massage on Tuesday.  Well, keeping my back loose is my excuse.  The real reason is because I love it!  I honestly think the massage I got on Tuesday was the best I've ever had.  I also think it really helps that I have a real comfort level with Jim now.  It's really kind of a funny situation.  On the one hand, Jim is basically a stranger.  I mean, it's not like we have any kind of real conversation, right?  But on the other hand, he sees me with almost no clothes on and has his hands all over me.  He may just be doing his job, but it's still kind of an intimate thing.  At least to me it is.  I've decided that part of why I love going is that this is my only form of male physical contact at this point.  And I don't really even care that that's part of it.  It makes me feel good and I'm not harming anyone in the process, so why not go for it?  I just have to make sure I don't go so often that I go broke!

I haven't gotten to talk to Tim very much lately.  He was home for a few days and had some other things going on.  However, we had a little conversation a couple days ago about his cell phone.  Since we're talking while he's away from home, he's having to use his cell.  No big deal for most people, but his plan didn't include Canada.  So he went and changed his plan and they told him it was all good.  He got his bill recently and... not so good.  Hundreds of dollars.  You also have to keep in mind that whenever he's staying in a hotel (instead of his trailer that is kept in one place, separate from his home), I call him on the hotel landline in order to save him the cost and it's a little clearer.  (My home phone has a really low calling rate for N. America, since I knew I would be calling the States on a regular basis.)  Anyway, all of this to say that Tim was REALLY unhappy with his cell phone bill.  The cell company basically said "too bad" and wouldn't change anything.  So he ended up buying a second cell phone under a different provider and he's going to use it ONLY to talk to me.  I almost didn't know what to say!  I felt really bad that he's going through all this hassle, but it also made me feel really special that he's doing all this just to be able to talk to me!  Wow.  I was honestly amazed that he was that motivated to find a good way to talk to me, not to mention the fact that it'll be that much easier to keep things secret if we're not using the same phone as he uses for everything else, so we both feel a little safer now.  Such craziness.

I leave in a couple weeks for my fun vacation, but I'll babble about that another time!

It's Official

I received my divorce judgment in the mail yesterday.  It won't be officially granted until the 31st, but it's basically done at this point.  I'm divorced.

The Root of the Matter

Do any of you, dear readers, no longer use shampoo and wash your hair naturally?  Or do you know of anyone else who does?  I've been hearing a little more about getting rid of shampoo and letting your hair do its thing naturally and I'm curious about it.  I also read this article a few days ago, which was interesting.  I think I would just go ahead and do it except I'm concerned about how long I'm going to have really gross, greasy hair before it gets "normalized."  Anyone know anything more about this? 

I'm Twisted

A while back I started having a little trouble with my back, which was why originally had a massage with Jim.  As much as I LOVE those massages, I'm still have back trouble, mainly in my lower back and hips, like what you might call haunches.

My friend Ginny just started a new job a couple weeks ago, but before that she was working at a chiropractic office.  So since I'm still having trouble with my back, I made an appointment with one of the chiropractor's at that office, the one Ginny recommended.  My appointment was this morning.  I've never, ever been to a chiro before, so Ginny told a little about what to expect, but it was still a brand new experience.

First the assistant did some tests, like range of motion and scanning the nerves of my spine.  Then the chiro came in to do her thing.  She actually used this spring loaded thing instead of adjusting me by hand.  I guess sometimes she uses the little tool, sometimes her hand.  Anyway, apparently there's a joint in my pelvis that's out of whack and my body is trying to compensate, which means that one or two joints in my neck is also out of whack.  So she did a couple little adjustments on my neck and several on my lower back/upper butt.  It didn't feel like much, so I'm not sure what to think.  However, I have a follow-up appointment on Wednesday afternoon, so we'll see what happens.

Ebenezer Suz

I'm probably going to sound completely cold and heartless, but this is my blog, so... better here than anywhere else!

Overall, I consider myself a fairly compassionate person.  But whenever I see those "starving children in Africa, so please send money" commercials, I feel nothing.  No compassion, no pity, nothing.  I see bits on the news about this massive famine in Africa right now, the worst in decades, and do you think I feel for those people either?  Nope.  I just tune it out.

I'm sure there's a cultural thing I'm missing out on, but you know what I don't feel any compassion?  Because I don't understand why people keep having children if you're diseased, unable to feed yourself, unable to feed the children you keep having, etc.  I just don't get it.

So is it just me?  Am I heartless?  Or is it just a cultural (or maybe biological) thing that I just don't have?