Today was a busy day.
Early this morning I participated in an international teleconference,to which I belong as a volunteer. It is challenging, interesting, and very worthwhile from my point of view.
Serendipity allowed me to meet a very kind and interesting woman who lives nearby, who occasionally calls me to help her with her computer. She reciprocates the favour by giving me a wonderful massage. I had never had a massage before in my life; it was a pleasantly surprising experience. I recently assisted her in creating a Powerpoint presentation for a talk she was giving, and today I enjoyed a wonderful massage.
I had a lovely chat with my Mom and sister yesterday, over FaceTime. Mom is looking great! She is going through some miserable therapy right now, and is doing very well with it. I am counting off the days she has left to undergo the therapy, marking off each day on my calendar. My youngest sister dropped by to see my Mom, with her two daughters and their beaus, so we all waved hello over FaceTime.
The weather has turned very mild, mild enough that the heat pump is once heating the house. The difference between the heat provided by the heat pump and the oil furnace is very noticeable. The air from the heat pump that comes through the forced air system is the exact temperature to which the thermostat is set, so that sitting near a register while it is running is cool, sometimes chilly, and the heat pump runs for a long time until the interior temperature in the house matches the desired temperature. In contrast, the heat from the oil furnace is very warm as it comes through the forced air system, so that sitting near a register while it is running can be unpleasantly warm, but it doesn’t run for very long until the interior temperature in the house matches the desired temperature. I do not have a preference.
Threes play a big role in my life. Usually clustered events occur in concurrent groupings of three. I choose to use the number three as an alert system, if a behaviour has occurred three times I consider it a pattern, and I deal with it as a pattern.
Well, I reached a number three in a negative cluster of events this morning, and three on a developing cluster of positive events this morning. They might just cancel each other out! Good bad good bad good bad, as Harry Nilsson put it.
January 23rd saw a full moon, a “Wolf Moon”, in the sign of Leo. Mr. Galbraith would approve.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
-7°C
Date: 6:00 AM EST Monday 25 January 2016
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 102.2 kPa
Tendency: rising
Visibility: 24 km
Temperature: -6.7°C
Dewpoint: -8.1°C
Humidity: 90%
Wind: NE 5 km/h
Wind Chill: -9
Quote
“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.”
John Kenneth Galbraith
1908 – 2006
I have found that 3s come in my life. Sometimes I think that I make them work to balance out. I am glad for you that the negatives balanced with the positives.
I have never had a professional massage, though that sounds heavenly! The closest is when the pain reliever works right now. Strong drug by IV, not my choice, but is needed for now.
It is suppose to get warmer here too, I cannot wait.
“Sometimes I think that I make them work to balance out.”
This is entirely possible in my case as well Lee Ann. Still, the system works for me, helps to keep me balanced through good and bad situations. It also keeps me in touch with the fact that nothing, no matter how good or bad it is, lasts forever.
I have loved my massages, but in part that is because the woman who does them is such a gentle and tolerant human being, she has very good energy.
Sorry to hear you are in need of IV pain relief! I hope that your pain disappears very soon, in time to enjoy warmer weather.
The moon still looked full on Monday morning. It was nice to see it in the blue morning sky, draped with some light clouds.
The massages sound lovely. A friend of ours once gave Julia and I a good massage. I haven’t forgotten it!
Joan, we were lucky this month, with clear skies we could see the full moon. I wonder if it looks different in Yuma than it does in southern Ontario. Wouldn’t it be fun to be able to explore these kinds of questions!
A lottery win could be put to good use I think, on things like massages, and hair cuts, and all kinds of luxurious lovely experiences.
Never had a massage either. The body-shy factor with me would be too overwhelming to enjoy it. Once, when I worked at medical transcription, the owners gave us all a gift certificate to a local massage parlor and most of the ladies went and got one. Not me! I am ashamed of myself, too, for not going – making it a waste of their money on me! I did used to go to a dry heat sauna place in Salem with some girlfriends once a week, but that was almost akin to torture, not soothing loveliness. That was also 50 years ago.
I love that you have all the heating options and that none of them involve chopping and lugging wood!
Bex, I know what you mean about the body-shy factor. In my situation, it was just a lucky accident. I got to know the woman in another context, grew to appreciate her gentleness and tolerance over a period of time. I could relax with her, because I knew she was not judging my body in any way, it is more like she sees every body as an opportunity to learn about healing touch. There has never been a hint of appraisal, an intrusive question, or a well meaning suggestion about what I should be doing with my body. Like you, I could not go to a massage parlour and enjoy it.
Yay for central heating systems!!! Wood heating is so romantic, and so high maintenance, we aren’t missing it at all. In fact, Attila has taken to expressing appreciation for the heating situation here almost every day.
I’ve no doubt you are experiencing the great relief of not having to secure wood and haul it in and clean up after it, much as we all love the beautiful warmth and scent and sounds of a crackling fire. I wish we had a little fireplace we could light up once in a while; but I have to settle for lighting a candle when we need a little living beauty. It works!
I’ve gotten therapeutic massages quite often throughout the past years. My best friend Cathy is the one whose massages are most effective, as I am so relaxed and comfortable with her. Unfortunately she lives in Saskatoon, two hours away, so we don’t get together often and when we do I don’t like to make her work! As it is her business.
Two great examples though:
1. News of Mom’s terminal cancer sent me into a tailspin the likes of which I never imagined I would experience. Constant weeping, swollen itchy eyes, rash, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t think straight. Doc gave me anthihistamine and light tranquilizers; nothing helped. Went to Cathy, who gave me a massage that put me to sleep on her table (that never happens to me!) and after that I began to settle down.
2. I used to live in the city and drive around like a bat out of hell, but now that I live in the country, the city traffic makes me very nervous and twitchy, and the thought of driving in the city puts me off even going there. Once when I was there I was afraid to drive somewhere I had to go in the city, but after Cathy gave me a massage I had no fear. So I realized that when tension in the body is gone, so is fear. Interesting lesson for me.
Kate, I almost think you are psychic at times. You have touched on points that are active right now in my life, without knowing it. My massage yesterday was as you describe it, I fell asleep from time to time during the massage. At the end I had trouble moving, I was so sore, not from the massage, but from the released tension that I had been holding in my body. Touch can be such a gently powerful force!
I loved the days of bartering! I miss them as well as newsletters that arrived in the mail. The old days…..
I too like bartering Nora! But, and it is a big but, I don’t like to haggle. If someone is looking for a deal at my expense, then I am not interested. For me it is the reciprocal nature of the exchange that is appealing.