I tried to stay away I really did. But even though this is likely the busiest I’ve ever been in my life, I miss having stuff to say and throw into the ether of the interwebs.
How busy is busy? Crazy crazy busy. This new job that I’ve started is a full time desk that was about four months behind, and I’ve been playing catch up since I started here in February. (In case you’re wondering about my frequent job-hopping and general trustworthiness, I am a contractor while I’m in school and as such I get around, :)) School is also busy, but that’s nothing new, and won’t change anytime soon. I am also doing a side project in school, helping my family with various stuffs, and trying to spend enough time on myself to recharge the batteries. There is no garden for me this year, nor woodworking, and I have to indulge my creative juices mainly in the kitchen which requires far less of a time commitment for productive results. I’ve baked a lot of bread.
I’ve also been keeping up with the exercise, seeing it as a crutch of sanity, and in fact, am stepping it up for a couple of months just to get leaner for the summer. And as a function of that I’ve just bought and fallen in love with a special foam roller, called the rumble roller. I’ve long had a foam roller, which is great for treating muscle aches and pains, especially if you’re prone to muscle tightness, knots, and general stiffness. Well this is like a foam roller on crack, with bulging bumps that look a bit medieval, that dig deep into the muscle tissue and do great things.
I spent about an hour with it the first night I got it, and holy cow, it’s the greatest self treatment tool I’ve ever used. Painful, but excellent. My calves have not been so loose since I was a kid, my right forearm which had a suspicious tingle I thought was the start of carpal tunnel is gone, my quads are looser, and so on. I use it on traps, neck, lats, and even arms which are surprisingly sore. After using it, my deadlift went up by 20 lbs, just like that, which I attribute to looser muscles ‘firing’ properly for the first time. So if you’re prone to muscle tightness and enjoy sports massage, this may be the answer. I brought it to the gym when I bought it, and it was immediately popular with all the trainers, they practically fought over it while I worked out.
Of course, if you don’t enjoy deep tissue massage, or find hard massage painful, then this is likely not for you. It really is a tool for athletes, so if you need it, you likely know.
Mom and I went to Austin for a long weekend, and had a blast. One of the neatest things we did there was take a tour of the city on the Segway scooters. I have never seen such childlike excitement and happiness on my mom’s face. Never. She took to it despite her fear and hesistation, and had a blast. She still talks about it, and wants to buy one. I’ll post some pictures soon, it was really amazing. If there is a Segway tour in your area, run don’t walk there and take one.
All the cats are great – Tweak needed and got about 1200.00 worth of dental surgery, and the respiratory infection she nursed for like six months magically disappeared. Pumpkin still loves Cheney, follows him around like a lovestruck puppy, and sits on his head at naptime. Cheney is… still special. Alfie is good buds with everyone and loves her new scratch post. All in all it’s a pretty happy household.
And on that note, I will come back and write about something else soon. I miss you all!