It's a beautiful day!

Wow, what a beautiful day it is. Sunny and almost 80 degrees and it's only March 18. We'll all be sad when the weather cools down again. After all, we haven't even officially hit spring and it's summer weather. I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

Has it really been three years??!!

Today is the 19th day of summer vacation and I keep waiting for it to feel like summer has begun. We’ve already been to and back from Florida to visit Mary Lee and Mom O with an overnight stop to visit Uncle Lester. We’ve been getting things ready for Jacob’s graduation party on Sunday (7/10). We checked out paper products and food stuffs at both Sam’s and Gordon’s as well as paper products and party supplies. We ordered the cake today from Sam’s and bought party supplies and ordered balloons yesterday from Party City. Need to get all the food bought and arranged, clean the house, and get everything ready. In between all this running around, we’ve been to the Y several times, gone on several walks. gotten hair cuts (got mine cut and colored strawberry blonde yesterday using the gift certificate I bought during the NFHS Orchestra Silent Auction), made numerous phone calls for doctor’s appointments, getting the new last spring but now dead tree replaced, getting the leaking basement fixed, and getting estimates for a new roof.


Jacob took himself to get a haircut on Tuesday and Howard said he was old enough now to pay for his own haircuts. Honestly, I would gladly pay for his haircuts if he wouldn’t get it cut (shaved) so close. His hair being so short makes his face look round and his head look too small for his large body. He has been working a few days a week and playing his computer. That’s basically it. Jacob did go to Josh’s on Wednesday for a few hours to play a game with Josh, Heather, and some of their friends, but he had to be back home by 10:00 p.m. because of the restrictions on his license until he turns 18. Now that he has his license, Jacob doesn’t walk ANYWHERE. At least he walked to work because he had no choice before, but Jacob wouldn’t even consider doing so now. He’s such a lazybutt!

Visit to the Lake on my birthday

Visited with my family on my birthday. It was so nice to see Kitty, Brenda, Al, Becky and everyone else. Didn't plan for it to be land on the day of my birthday, but that's the way it worked. We went to the lake (aka the Vinings Trailer park). The trailer park was having a potluck to celebrate their 50th anniversary. There were LOTS of people there. Becky won't eat other people's food so she didn't go. Everett was working around their place, and didn't go either. Howard and I went to be with my family and so that Jacob would eat something. He's such a picky, picky eater. We don't particularly like eating food prepared by people we don't know, so we didn't eat there either. We went back to Kitty's place and made ourselves sandwiches.

The best part was going on a ride on Kitty's pontoon boat. I don't like being on little boats because I get antsy and claustrophobic, but a pontoon boat is different because you have room to move around. We went out for about an hour and the weather was just perfect. Later, everyone (except me, Howard, and Becky) went back out to go fishing. That did not appeal to me at all.

Kitty's friend (and massage therapist) also came to visit with her new husband and brother (?). They are very nice (and young). They brought their wedding pictures to show to Kitty. Al showed up later in the afternoon, so I got to spend a little time with him. He showed me how he had fixed up the girls' trailer and how good it looked. Howard and I then headed back to Kitty's. Al said he would be back that way in a few minutes, but I never did see him again. We never got around to going to Al's place, so we didn't see Melissa at all.

Right after they got back from fishing (around 9 o'clock), everyone sang me happy birthday since Brenda got me a cake. It was funny being there on my actual birthday. Everyone knew it was my birthday (because of the cake?) and kept saying happy birthday. This was the first time since I was a kid that I can remember having a cake with my family and having them sing happy birthday. It was embarrassing fun. I sure am lucky to have such a great family.

My First Blog Entry and Chiropractic Visit

Lots of people have blogs and I have been thinking of trying this out in my classroom, so I thought it would be good for me to try this out myself.

Right now I'm sitting at my kitchen table using the laptop that I bought for Howard for our anniversary last year (but which I use more often!). Howard is still sleeping and Jacob is at summer school, and I'm listening to a book on CD at the same time. The new kitchen window is open and I can feel the breeze coming in. Heaven.

Yesterday Howard and I attended a presentation on the merits of chiropractic at the Maximized Living Health Center on 10 Mile and Orchard Lake. I had gotten a free computerized scan of my neck and the chance to come in for a free x-ray and chiropractic adjustment when we attended the Farmington Founder's Festival on Saturday. Since the scan was free, I thought, why not? Then I discovered that the place giving the scan was a chiropractor and I was all for the free x-ray and consultation since I have a spot in my back that's been bugging me and I've been wanting to have my neck checked out. So I went in on Monday and had my neck and back x-rayed and then went back for my first adjustment on Tuesday. I had to read literature about subluxation and chiropractic both times.

Before the adjustment on Tuesday I was taken to their rehab room and told to do some stretching exercises. Other people were sitting on chairs doing some type of goofy bouncing thing. I didn't like that the after the assistant showed me how to do the exercise that I just immediately put the same device on my chin without cleaning it off or anything. Not very sanitary. When I got the adjustment, which only took about a minute, it was in a room that was open and visible to everyone sitting in the lobby area (the place they call the "hot seat," where patients wait their turn to be adjusted). I didn't like the lack of privacy at all.

The only thing I paid was $20 at the festival, which was going to be donated to the local YMCA. When I went back on Tuesday, I thought I was going to get my x-ray results, but I was told I needed to come back that night (although we came on Thursday night instead) with my husband to go over the x-rays. Dr. Chris (that's what everyone calls him--but I think that sounds like what a kid might call a doctor and I would prefer the more formal Dr. Last Name or even just Chris, maybe) even called me at home to stress how important it was for me to come back because my neck was "worse than he expected."

Anyway, we went in and ended up sitting through what really amounted to a promotion extolling the benefits of chiropractic and how it basically cures ALL problems in the human body and can prevent disease by correcting and preventing subluxations, or places where the spine doesn't line up properly. Dr. Chris explained how the spine, which is the protective bone surrounding the spinal cord and all nerves in the body, needs to always be in the correct position and aligned perfectly so that the nerves coming from the brain send the proper signals to keep the body functioning at 100%. Supposedly, as long as your spine is 100%, then you will keep your body functioning at 100% and will be free of all disease and illness. He then gave us lots of statistics and articles attempting to show that medicine is the worst thing a person can use and that drugs are responsible for the highest percentage of deaths each year. He basically said that medical doctors are in cohorts with the drug companies and are in it only for the money and that medicine and doctors are only necessary for emergencies (such as a car crash, broken bone, etc.). He said that medicine masks problems, doesn't fix them, and that it's medicine that makes people sick, slowly killing them one pill at a time.

Some of what he said made sense and some seem a little far-fetched. For example, he also showed us lots of x-rays of spines, starting with the neck bones and spine of a normal person and moving on to x-rays where people had problems with their neck bone (which he called the arc of life since this is the starting point from the brain that all nerves travel through) and described the problems that this particular person had or would experience without chiropractic care. He used these x-rays to try to convince us that people with particular spinal misalignments would end up with cancer or heart disease or thyroid problems, etc., based on which part of their spine had subluxation (misalignment). The idea was that the subluxation was cutting off the nerve to part of the body, thereby preventing the brain from sending the message, through the nerves, to that particular part of the body. Dr. Chris was very passionate about it all and seemed to truly believe everything he was saying. It was all very convincing but really just designed to get you to buy into their program called the "5 Steps to Maximized Health," a specialized program offered ONLY through the Maximized Living health centers that centered on eating well, exercise, no medication, continual chiropractic care (naturally), and reduction of stress, all in a Christian-centered atmosphere and belief system.

It wasn't until after sitting through this 90 minute presentation that Howard and I got to wait our turn (before 7 other people) to finally see my x-rays--which was the reason why I thought Howard and I were going there in the first place. The bottom line is that I do have some severe problems in my neck (no surprise because I've suspected this for years), but the center wanted me to sign on for an intensive session of adjustments and rehab, among other things, to the tune of $3,500 payable over a year (or $2950 payable up front).

I'll admit that I was upset and scared when I saw my x-rays because my neck is in bad shape. The two bones at the bottom of my neck are starting to fuse, which is the scariest thing. Dr. Chris made it sound as if he were seriously concerned that I was going to get heart disease, or cancer, or something, not by what he said when he was alone with us but by his concerned manner and way of trying to get me to make the connection between the x-ray results and what he had discussed earlier with the group. My x-ray matched very closely one that the group had viewed where he said the person was going to get sick, get heart disease, etc., if he/she didn't get help immediately. I started crying and didn't have much to say. I'm sure Dr. Chris thought it was because I was concerned about heart disease, cancer, etc.; but I was (and am) seriously concerned because I'm worried about arthritis setting into my neck and spine. That's what upset me and what I want to have fixed.

After Dr. Chris left, his assistant came in and gave us the price and plan. She also tried to gently convince Howard (twice) to get a free exam, which he of course declined. He doesn't buy into chiropractors. I don't sign up for things on the spot--especially at that price--and said I wanted to think it over. She said I could still sign up through one o'clock the next day because the offer would still be good until then. Good for only another 15 hours?! Hhmm, sounds like a high-pressure tactic to me.

I went home and researched Maximized Living online, finding only personal anecdotes, both for and against. What I did find, though, was that Maximized Living is like a franchise or chain and that people who previously worked for them thought it somewhat like a cult. The doctors in the the clinics see HUNDREDS of patients a week, which is part of the philosophy of a Maximized Living clinic. Several people talked about sitting through the same presentation, hearing the same words and scare tactics I heard, and being offered the same $3000 program. Sounds too much like a marketing promotion and too little like personalized health care for my tastes.

So, to sum up, I'm glad I got the x-rays because it confirms that I do have issues with my neck. I also learned a lot about chiropractic and believe it can help with my neck misalignment and pain. I am going to get adjustments to get the subluxation in my neck fixed, but I won't be doing it at Maximized Living. The place is a little too marketed and new-agey for me.