Weekend was good: I was still riding out my AL wave… I went horseback riding on Saturday; we met up with some friends Sunday. I’m getting better with my downward transitions– going from fast to a cold, hard stop. The cowboy at work is gonna take me out to his ranch this spring. I can’t wait. I’m such a wannabe cowgirl.

What else. Oh, my bathrooms flooded while I was home alone. That was fun. After spending an afternoon wringing out a crap load of sacrificed towels, I then waited for the City to come save me. They broke up a blockage in the yard clean-out line. I thought the drama was over, and then the next day, both showers ponded. I didn’t want to be a helpless wussy girl calling a plumber for help every damn time, so Hubster bought me a snake and then I spent an inordinate amount of time watching YouTube plumbing videos. To my dismay, I found a site/channel called “Hot and Handy,” which annoyed the crap outta me. Plus, her video on snaking a tub is insultingly basic. Anyway, everything is running fine now, so the houseboat is back to being AirBnb ready.

Man, this last week has been such a blur! The east coast trip last weekend went unexpectedly well! We had a super tight itinerary visiting with my parents, my grandparents, his parents, his three siblings, plus a gabillion nieces and nephews… My 90+ y/o grandparents even taught John and me how to play Mahjong. Super fun: my own set just arrived today from Amazon. Hehe. 😉 Overall, I think my mental skills tactics helped keep my sanity. That or the secret is 48 hours in and out.

Funny thing: I realized that my parents buy bedding the same way they used to buy me clothes: a king duvet cover for a queen comforter over a full mattress. No concept of fit and size.

So of course as soon as I got home on Monday morning, there was no rest for the weary. Our friends who were house sitting said Remy puked twice on Sunday and then wouldn’t eat. When I got home, she still refused food, and she just looked really off and walked all wobbly. I took her to the vet, who suspected a stomach bug, but then her blood work showed crazy high liver stats. Ugh!!! So now she’s on a bland diet for the stomach thing AND she’s on antibiotics for possible liver infection (could also be liver cancer) AND he thinks she has mild spinal disease. Then the next day, Martin’s tummy started gurgling like crazy, and he stopped eating. They are both doing better, but I now have a fucking pet pharmacy on my kitchen counter. These dogs are taking years off my life. That said, I dunno what I will do when the time inevitably comes. 🙁

Speaking of the inevitable, I had my date with destiny on Wednesday. Seats sucked, but well, that’s what I get for vacillating on the buy. Otherwise, my buddy G and I had a blast. I am embarrassed to say that I went through a gabillion outfit changes before finally settling on something. I’m such a dork. The crowd was a weird mix of cougars, teenie bops, mid-aged couples, and families. Very mainstream. Like I said, the venue sucked. Acoustics were shite. The jumbotron screens were sometimes cheesy and overdone (although I did like the laser show). Ah well, those were all secondary factors anyhow. 😉 AL was smokin’!! (I have got to move that sleeve tat up on my bucket list.) Thankfully, G brought her camera. We got some nice shots. At one point, Adam and I were separated by a mere 50 feet. Yeah, G and I left our seats and stormed the aisle. 🙂 Sadly, no backstage QT or Freebie Five action. But lots of fond memories permanently ingrained.

When we got home, G went into the house first (I hid outside), and she told the hubster I was coming home later, because I was hanging with the band. He didn’t even flinch: just said, “Yeah, right” and then just started asking her about the concert. Fifteen minutes later, I emerge from my hiding place outside… Hello? Thanks for coming out to get me, guys. WTF.

A few weeks ago in mental skills training class, the prof was telling us about this elite group of Tibetan monks. Apparently, they had practiced autogenics (some subset of meditation) for like 15 years, and it gave them so much power over their bodies that they could essentially heat parts of their bodies through mind power. Every year, they would go on some pilgrimage to the mountains wearing their usual robe attire and sandals in the snow. Then, at night they would sleep in the cold. All of them would be fine, because they could heat their bodies on demand. So of course, I became totally convinced by this story.

For a week, I diligently listened to the autogenics track from the course materials. No on demand heating… On week two, the track started…. “Relax your right foot. Feel the heat starting at the bottom of your foot…” Holy shit, I felt the warmth!!

OMFG! Immediately, my brain started trash-talking the monks: “What the heck, man. 15 years to do this? I got it down in ONE WEEK!” As I started celebrating my victory, I realized that other parts of my body were also heating up, but the track hadn’t yet progressed to those areas.

Fuck. My heated mattress topper. GODDAMMIT.

I was a full blown believer too. What a buzzkill.