Tennis Anyone?

Now that football season is over with this weekends Superbowl, which we will be there and I cannot wait, I turn my attention to my second favorite of tennis. Although I've missed most of it, these last two weeks have been the Australian Open. I am excited to see my favorite Serena Williams again going to the finals as well as Nadal. For me I love that each of the grand slams take two weeks each to through the draws and now with all the channels out there I can usually see most matches and watch all day long. In addition the Tennis Channel now usually covers the events leading up to the slams so that makes for a whole lot of tennis.

I have always used watching sports as an escape from my illnesses. I remember way back during one of my hospital stays(and it was a long one) and the Olympics were on. I can say that being focused on that got me through that stay.

Once a year I still get out on a tennis court. When we go to Rockmere, we always play tennis at least one time if only for about a half an hour. I still have such good memories when tennis played such a huge part in my life. I started playing very early, about 6 or 7. When I began to play all the time was in junior high. As there were not many people my own age, I began to play in a summer league at our local park. Almost every weekday in the summer from 8am until noon, you could find me on the court. I played in high school although I played on the boys team as there was no girls, and I hardly played although I did letter.

I had a great time playing in college although it added so much extra pressure that after making it to regionals I burnt myself out. I took some time off until I began working at the Billie Jean Tennis Center which became Pennbriar and was a tennis and fitness club. Since I was always there teaching classes and training clients, the leagues would always use me to complete their foursomes when someone couldn't play. I'd be teaching my class and someone would come to the window and wave a tennis racket back and forth meaning can I play.

I was fortunate when we moved to Florida to work again at tennis and fitness club so again I could play when I was able.I miss it and would love to play again, but for right now I enjoy watching the pros play.

Melissa

Pampering, NOT!

5 days, 5 days and WE ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL! We got our seat assignments about 10 days ago and as I was hoping for the 35 yard line, we got more like the end zone. Now I am NOT complaining, as we are close to the tunnel so we can cheer(or Boo) depending on who comes out our tunnel. Through the years we have sat many different places throughout the stadium and there really are no bad seats. Besides as much as I enjoy football as a sport we are really going for the experience.

This week will be a busy week for me as I haven't been out much since Christmas and that was a rough time as well. I need to get me nails and toes done as well as my get my roots done. I will get the high and low lights another day as that makes for a very long time in the chair. My mother grew up going to the salon with her mother as did I. Early on it was just new hair cuts or braids before a performance. When I was around 16, I committed the cardinal sin which I wish I could take back. One day while laying out in the sun with my girlfriend, we put Sun-IN in our hair. My hair has never been the same since and I have been coloring from that day forward.

I was lucky in that as a brunette, my hair should have turned orange(as my friends did), but mine did as the bottle said and gave my hair that sun-kissed look. The problem was I originally had beautiful subtle red high-lights(all natural, my dad is a red head). So when I was bored with the lighter color and tried to back to my natural, it never came back in as pretty as it was. So I began to color it closer to my natural chestnut color in the falls and winter and blond in spring and summer(yes, blonde's absolutely have more fun at least when you are young!). When we moved to Florida and I was in the sun a great deal, I began to keep it blond most of the time. That is what it is now, but as women on my mother's side grey very early(I am 37 and I'd guess 30-40%grey) I have to color my roots and then do high and low lights. I love the color it is now and have had it the last 8 years.

I'm not sure if I ever "enjoyed" going to the hair salon as I was usually fitting it in between clients so I never had time to relax and enjoy it. I never used to get my nails done and kept them very short. I had them put on for my cousins wedding a few years ago and liked the way they looked so I have tried to keep them on.

Now I consider the salon a torture chamber. If I wasn't so grey, I would never go back. When I first became very sick, I gave it up and had my husband help me color my hair but the store bought ones dried my hair. I found a salon I like and after going for awhile and getting to know my stylist and shared with her my illness, she offered to come to the house when I was too ill to go to the salon. That helped me out tremendously but she has moved away and I'm not too familiar with the new girl yet. So for now I go and dread every minute of it. She tries to get me done as quickly as possible and many times I'll leave with a wet head as I can no longer sit in the chair.

The nail salon is not much better. I watch all the women coming in enjoying their pedicures and manicures. Even though I am 5'5", my legs are short and I can't quite comfortably reach the stools. I count every second until I can get home and lie down. I do like getting them done because then I don't have to worry about it again for almost a month. My disease slows down the growth of my nails. Then a least I look somewhat groomed!

I really only do this now on special occasions as it has become too hard to do regularly. Just one of the many things we all take for granted that has a whole new perspective from chronic pain.

Who wants to Sleep?

Sleep. I can remember the very first night that it left me. I had just been in the hospital for surgery and my parents and I went to Rockmere(our family cottage) so I could recuperate. Up until that point, I went to bed whenever I felt like it, the next thing I knew it was morning and I went about my day. I never gave sleep any thought, I took it for granted as I did being pain free and having lots of energy. It was a non-issue as many things were now that I have had the time to think back upon and it is amazing to me the things I just didn't think about.

Back to that first night. I don't remember the exact moment I awoke, but I remember walking down the stairs and going into the kitchen. I grabbed a pain killer and something to drink and then went back upstairs expecting to fall asleep.

One of my most beloved activities is reading. My grandmother taught me the value of a good book before I can remember. I still have a list of all the extra-curricular reading I did in kindergarten when I lived with my grandparents and it has something like 60 books on it. For a 5 year old that's pretty good. I never knew how valuable and life-saving that love of reading would become.

Again, back to that evening, when I couldn't drift back to sleep, I picked up my current book and got lost in another time and place and before I knew it, it was morning. This would become my routine for now as long as I can remember. Since that evening, I have slept the whole way through the night, 3 times. 3 times in 17 years.

Now, I sleep when it decides to take me. It's never for very long or very deep, but it does come. And now there is the computer to keep me occupied for those long hours when the house is quiet and my husband and dogs are asleep beside me. I have always loved the night, that feeling of being the only one awake in the whole world. There will always be books on my nightstand no matter where I am, no matter the time, no matter what. Sleep is no longer my best friend, but a wary partner that dances around and steps on my toes. We have gotten used to our dance, but it is lacking in substance.

Good night(or should I say good morning)
Melissa

Superbowl!!!!

A week before the Superbowl. If anyone would have told me a year ago that I would be going to the Superbowl I would have called them crazy. Although my beloved Tampa is not playing, Pittsburgh is. So not only do I get the joy of watching my second favorite team play, but as Andy absolutely hates the Steelers it should be quite fun. I have already ordered a Steeler sweatshirt as I have nothing back from when we lived in Pennsylvania. I am on the hunt for a Terrible Towel. If you are a football fan or from Pennsylvania you probably know what I am talking about if not, you probably have this strange look on your face thinking what in the world is a Terrible Towel? This should explain it perfectly.
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/2713/towel.html

I do NOT want to like a new recruit with a new towel that I could buy for a few bucks, but want to show that I have been a loyal fan through the years. I did have a Towel that got thrown away as my husband was clearing some things out and as we are loyal Bucs fans I figured I'd never use it again so no harm. Needless to say I have every family member(all from Pennsylvania) at this moment frantically looking through their belongings for a Terrible Towel. If not I am going to have fight like crazy to outbid a whole bunch of other people on Ebay trying to do the same thing. Hey, at least I'm not looking for a pigs nose and a dress!

Bad Day

I have not had a good day today. I got up in the middle of the night to get some water and my husband had moved the chair back after taking the Christmas tree down and I stubbed my toe bad! I actually thought I broke it as I couldn't put any weight on it and the pain was sharp. back in bed, anytime I moved it the pain shot up into my ankle and my knee. I couldn't fall back to sleep right away so I watched tv for awhile. I guess I fell asleep as my husband's alarm startled me. When I got up, the foot was fine, I had no pain all day and now it's back tonight and it hurts pretty good. That makes no sense to me why it would be OK all day and now it hurts again. Oh well what are you gonna do?

I am in so much pain tonight(not just my foot)I feel like I'm losing it. I cannot get comfortable and I want to scream. I'm gonna take a nice deep breath(or as deep of one as my lungs will allow) ....in with the good energy and out with the bad energy..... Now I feel better! Of course the pain meds and muscle relaxer help!

It's a little slow jumping into the new year. I kind of think we will be on hold until after the Super Bowl. We are trying to find activities to go do down there so we can get the whole experience. I'd like my husband to go to this professional networking lunch on Friday, but he didn't seem that excited. There is a concert Friday night and then a breakfast Saturday morning. The rest of Saturday are big expensive golf tournaments and we have no interest in those which is a very good thing because they are way to expensive for us. All Saturday night is parties where the celebs and athletes will be to "be seen". We don't want to go to those because I am sure they are going to be packed. Sunday before the game is a brunch and I really want to go, but it is very expensive. We're looking at it as a once in a life-time experience, but on the other hand, we need to watch our money. I would guess we need to decide quickly as it will fill up. We still don't have our tickets.

One of the nice things researching this as done is I found where the NFL has package deals for their events. The one that interests us is the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. I found out the price for the trip isn't as bad as I originally thought so I am motivated to save so we could do that trip within maybe 5 years. Of course we would like to stay a little longer than just for the game so I need to get that coin jar turned in, see how much more I need. LOL

OK, I cannot type anymore my back is killing me, so I am going to sign off.

Goodnight!
Mel

Is It Really 2009?

2009? Where does the time go? Just yesterday I had a career that I loved, I lived exactly where I wanted to live and had a body to die for. I have never understood peoples propencity for making New Year's resolutions. I don't know if I always felt that way, or if watching others make them and then break them allowed me to see that making them are futile. I do know that I used to get a kick out of watching the fitness center fill up with people I have never seen before on January 2nd and then dwindle back down to the original numbers as the weeks went by. Our regulars used to get so upset as the new people took up room in the classes and made the wait for the exercise machines longer. They couldn't wait for all those resolutions to fail so we could get back to business as usual.



Why do people continue to make these resolutions year after year only to fail most of the time? My clients who stayed with me during all my illnesses would say at the beginning of each new year,"this is going to be your year". Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for that year!



It is very hard to watch all these years go by and still be as sick as I was last year and the year before, etc. Even though I know that's to be expected, I guess it makes it real. It's hard to know that I have almost been this ill for 10 years, a decade. Where did my thirities go? My thirties were suppossed to be great years in my life, I was suppossed to have continued to have great career success, it was suppossed to be a time of activity and living and life. Instead, it's been years of hospitals and doctors and lying in bed. Of watching more TV than I ever would have wanted, of suffering and praying for this time to be over. Of wishing I was anywhere but here instead of seizing the day.

Melissa