Hope everyone who celebrated a holiday had/has a great one!

We just got home from visiting Brian's family in Binghamton, NY for the weekend. I don't have much time right now to write because my parents are coming up here for lunch, but I did want to say one thing:

Madonna's latest CD, Confessions on a Dancefloor, RULES!!!!!

I got it from Brian last week before we left for NY and have been compulsively listening to it since then. It is fucking brilliant. There. I said it.

If you like to dance, you MUST get this CD immediately! No matter what you think of Madonna, the music is irresistible.

Enjoy!

Labels: deep thoughts, family, holidays, music

I treated myself to a massage on Saturday morning, since I passed the DC-1 exam. Plus, I was hoping that it would address my "stress knot" that I've mentioned here before.

A little before 10 a.m., I showed up at my local YMCA and met the massage therapist. I filled out a health questionnaire and told her about my stress knot. She asked me a few questions about my job, my general health, and the kind of pressure I wanted for the massage. I told her to go medium/heavy. So this girl -- who could not have been more than 120 pounds -- worked me OVER! Holy smokes.

Not even a few moments into the massage, I was grunting like a stuck pig. Really! I made noises that I never knew I was capable of making: squeaking, moaning, groaning, sighing, and a few yelps when she hit a particularly tender spot. I mentioned that this made all the other massages I've had in the past seem like mere backrubs. She chuckled and said that I've probably only had spa or Swedish massages before, and that she practiced deep tissue massage.

I described my stress knot to her and she pinpointed the problem area immediately. When I expressed my surprise at how quickly she found it, she told me that she sees many people with the same type of problem. She called it a "mouse knot" because it's apparently caused by using a mouse all day. She worked that little sucker out from behind my right shoulder blade within five minutes. I could actually feel her slide it up the muscle in my back. It was definitely an odd sensation, but it brought instant relief as soon as it was gone.

She also massaged my feet, hands, legs, head, and face. While she was working on my face, I told her about all my sinus problems. She showed me an acupressure technique for relieving sinus pain. It felt wonderful! She also told me about a brief exercise that I could do while sitting in the driver's seat of my car to help my stress knot.

I had originally only scheduled a half-hour job, but she didn't have any clients immediately after me, so I extended it to a full hour. It was worth the $55, and while it certainly was not a relaxing, Calgon-take-me-away experience, it was absolutely effective. All the stiffness in my neck and upper back disappeared.

Overall, she was very knowledgeable and gave an excellent massage. I staggered out of the YMCA in a stupor and went on with my day. Later in the afternoon, I took a nice little nap and I swear I slept better because of the massage.

I may have to make this a regular thing.

Labels: health, stress

OK, so I'm at work, and actually busy for once, so I don't have time or energy at the moment to think of 100 things about me. Here's the first 35 to whet your appetites:

1. I’m an only child.
2. My husband is an only child.
3. I am sometimes sad when I think that I will never be an aunt.
4. I don’t drink coffee.
5. I sometimes drink hot tea, but not often.
6. My favorite (non-alcoholic) beverage at the moment is Tropicana Light Fruit Punch.
7. I finally kicked my 2-can a day soda habit about six months ago. I’ve lost about four pounds without even trying since then, and I think avoiding soda has played a part in that.
8. My favorite clothing store is Kohl’s. I adore their Croft and Barrow and Apt. 9 brands.
9. I buy most of my shoes at Payless, because I have a very wide foot and they make cheap, cute shoes in wide widths.
10. I also love Homegoods. It’s like a TJ Maxx or Marshalls, except it only sells housewares.
11. I currently wear a size 12/14, but most people wouldn’t know it, because I have a very narrow waist and a J.Lo butt.
12. Actually I have a fairly traditional hourglass figure. And I like it that way. So does my husband!
13. My two favorite forms of exercise are weight lifting (I’m talking serious iron…not pastel-colored 2 lb. dumbbells) and walking.
14. As previously mentioned here, I have majorly slacked off from weight lifting because I’ve been studying for the DC-1 exam.
15. I plan to return to the gym this weekend.
16. My favorite subjects in school were Spanish and English.
17. My least favorite was math. I sucked at any kind of math.
18. How I wound up in the financial services field, considering my complete ineptitude at math, is still a mystery to me.
19. I love pizza. Especially margherita pizza from Bertucci’s.
20. Sadly, I’ve had to cut down on my pizza consumption, because otherwise I’d be 300 lbs. by now. I’ve gone from eating several slices of pizza a few times a week to eating it only a few times a month. Boo-hoo.
21. I love Panera. I always get the same thing when I eat there: French onion soup and a chicken Caesar salad.
22. I love to cook, and am an avid Food Network viewer.
23. My favorite shows on Food Network are Good Eats and Everyday Italian.
24. Alton Brown, the host of Good Eats, is one of my secret crushes.
25. Joaquin Phoenix is my huge, not-so-secret crush. Drool…
26. I was expelled from college because I hardly ever went to class. I was a commuter student and hated it.
27. My parents forced me to be a commuter student, rather than live on-campus, because they thought I’d party too much if I lived away from home, and that my grades would suffer. How ironic.
28. My final semester’s GPA was 0.0.
29. My parents still don’t know that I was expelled. They think that I just decided to leave because I wasn’t happy.
30. I began taking online college classes through the University of Phoenix a few years ago. I’m on hiatus now because I have to get some professional credentials for my job.
31. My current GPA is 3.94.
32. I’ve never watched a full episode of any reality TV program.
33. I think most TV is garbage.
34. When I do watch, I usually stick to Food Network, Discovery, HGTV, or PBS.
35. I think I’m the only person on earth who doesn’t own an MP3 player.

Labels: celebrities, college, family, food, FYI, health, marriage, meme, school, shopping, TV

This post might only interest the locals who read my blog (yeah – both of you!).

I heard on the news this morning—Good Day Philadelphia, to be precise—that the Borgata Casino and Hotel will be announcing their plans today or this coming week to build a casino and resort in Limerick Township.

WHHHHAAAA???

Further, the reporter said that there will be premium outlets going up in the same area.

Well, you KNOW I had to try to verify this information. So I called Limerick Township and spoke to a very nice lady named Mary this morning. Here is how the convo went:

Me: “Hi Mary, my name is Lori and I live in Limerick—Heather Glen, to be exact. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s called about this, but I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the proposed Borgata casino that I heard about today on Fox.”

Mary: (giggles) “No, we have had a few phone calls about that already today. It’s news to us!”

Me: “Really?”

Mary: “Yep. None of us here had heard anything about it until we watched the news this morning. The township manager walked in this morning and mentioned it, and he didn’t know about it before, either!”

Me: “Hmmm. That’s…interesting. So, where are they proposing to have it built?”

Mary: “Right off the Sanatoga exit of 422.”

Me: “And is it true about the outlets, too?”

Mary: “Uh, yeah…we’d heard about that already but they’ve only been proposed…not officially approved by the township yet.”

Me: “Well, thanks for the information. Have a nice day!”

I’m not sure what to think about this, if it’s true, that is. I suppose that a casino/resort could be a good thing—taxes would probably stay low for residents, and new jobs would be created. Plus, it’s far enough away from my neighborhood that I don’t think we’d be directly affected by it.

But I’m TOTALLY into the outlets.

Yep. Could spell lots of trouble for Lori...

Labels: local news, Philadelphia, Philly burbs, politics, shopping, TV

I am so thrilled, overjoyed, relieved, elated...I took the ASPPA DC-1 exam yesterday and passed! I have been studying and stressing about this test for months. I am so glad it is over and I passed on my first try. I'm also going to get a bonus for passing, so that makes it even sweeter! Now I can prepare for the holidays without all this stress hanging over my head. Whew!

I took Bailey to the vet again on Friday night for an x-ray. It took almost an hour, but the vet finally called me back to an exam room and told me that everything looked fine. His thyroid test also came back normal.

The vet recommended that Bailey get more subcutaneous fluids for at least the next week, but I said, "Look, this is going to get expensive if I have to bring him here every other day for a week to do this. Can you teach me how to give it to him so I can do it at home?"

Five minutes later, I was sticking a needle into the scruff of his neck, and he was NOT happy about it. But it went OK. So I went home with a bag of IV fluid and four needles. Brian and I worked together on Sunday evening and gave him another round of fluids, and since then, Bailey has seemed to perk up a bit.

I was talking to my mom about it (she's a nurse) and she thinks that maybe he was just dehydrated for no apparent reason, and that's why his kidney values were elevated. He's doing much better now, thankfully. This morning, we played with one of the cats' many toy mice, and he was chasing it and batting it around like the old times.

Life is back to normal again. This week I'm returning to the gym--I'd been on a rather extended hiatus, unfortunately, while studying for this exam. No more excuses!

Labels: accomplishments, health, pets, stress

Sorry I haven’t been around lately. It’s been a difficult week.

First of all, this coming Monday, I am taking a very difficult exam in order to get credentials for my job. I have been studying for this exam for months, and though I know deep down that I’m pretty well-prepared, I am still a nervous wreck. I hate tests.

Then, last night I took my older cat, Bailey, to the vet. He’s been acting weirdly for the past several months, and I figured he should be checked out. He’s lost weight, seems listless, and no longer plays with his brother (our other cat Sebastian) anymore. He just kind of mopes around and has no energy.

Trying to get this cat into his carrier to go anywhere is an ordeal. It took Brian and I about ten minutes, working together, to secure Bailey in his little crate. Bailey doesn’t like car rides, nor does he like the vet (does any cat?), so the fur was definitely flying…his little legs kept splaying all over the place as we tried to stuff him in his cage. At one point, I just started laughing hysterically, much to Brian’s annoyance. It was a pretty funny sight!

We finally got Bailey settled into his cage, and although he was yowling very loudly, we got to the vet’s office without further incident. I put Bailey on the scale, and learned that he’s lost more weight than I’d thought: in April 2003, he was 11.7 pounds, and last night he weighed only 7.4 pounds. Which means he’s lost around 60% of his total body weight. Not good.

The vet examined him as I described his symptoms. She immediately thought it might be diabetes, because I’d noticed he was drinking slightly more water than normal. So she took a glucose sample, and it came back normal, which was a relief. His temperature was normal, his heart rate was a little elevated, but probably due to his vet anxiety, but she commented that his fur seemed dull and a little flaky. She also remarked that he was moderately dehydrated, so she gave him some IV fluids. She took some more blood and a urine sample (and I have no idea how she did that) and sent us home.

This morning, she called and said that everything looked normal from the blood test, except his kidney function was elevated. She was still waiting on the results for the thyroid panel, though, and thought that it could be hyperthyroidism. We won’t know that until later. Then she recommended that we leave him there at the vet’s office for the entire weekend for IV fluid therapy, which costs $400. At which point I nearly fainted.

I said, “Well, after that, then what?”

She said that they’d do an x-ray to rule out any obstructions or other problems. She seemed to think that the kidney issue was indicative of some other problem, and not necessarily a kidney problem itself, because she mentioned that his urine was still very concentrated (whatever that means) and that it was a good thing.

So instead, I told her we’d bring him in again tonight for the x-rays, to look for the problem right away. As much as I love this cat, I just can’t see blowing $400 on IV therapy for the weekend and then spending $150 for the x-rays on top of it. Why not just get the x-rays out of the way first?

I have no idea what to think now. I’ve been doing research all day here, trying to figure out the problem. Unfortunately, many health problems share the same symptoms: lethargy, increased thirst, moodiness, vomiting (which he’s been doing intermittently for months), depression.

The two issues that keep coming up in my research are chronic renal failure and hyperthyroidism. However, the chronic renal failure stuff indicates that most cats lose their appetite…which is not the case with Bailey! He has remained interested in food, and especially his treats, so no problems there.

Now I am completely stressed. I thought that I’d be spending this weekend doing some final preparation for the DC-1 exam, and maybe some Christmas decorating, but it seems that I now have other obligations.

Bailey is our first cat. We adopted him from a rescue just a few months after we got married. He is really the best cat I’ve ever had, and I’ve had many in my life. He’s a real lap cat who loves all and any kinds of human interaction. In fact, many times it’s almost as if he WERE human. He sits on the empty chair next to us at dinner every night—not begging for food, just to keep us company. He sits on the bathroom vanity every morning while I shower and get ready for work. He sleeps with us every night. He lays on my lap as I work on the computer at home. Sometimes, if he’s feeling really affectionate, he grooms me…he licks my hair and nits it with his teeth. He just wants to be around us all the time. If something is seriously wrong with him, we’re going to have to make some hard decisions, and I just don’t even want to think about it right now.

Thanksgiving was good, by the way. The food turned out fine and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Labels: family, holidays, money, pets, scary, stress, work