Boy do I need a vacation.  At least that is what my body is telling me.  I have been doing hair for 23 years.  How long can a person stand with their arms up and out in front of them for 8-12 hours a day before it starts to catch up to them.   Right now my neck is out.  That is not a new thing for me.  My Chiropractor said I had some sort of whip lash awhile ago and my neck is convex instead of concave.  The X-Ray's are weird, it is true.  I am off by about 2".  When I follow his advice and go in regularly I am actually 5'4"........hmmm who knew!

 This weekend we went on a weekend overnight bike ride.  My muscle cramps started on Saturday at Walmart, shopping.  My left calf kept going into excruciating knots that I would have to kneed through to keep walking.  My back has been sore, Hell it's always sore, I guess I am just used to it.  I stand and lean and bend over sinks for a living, so I deal.  My neck and shoulders always hurt, again. normal.  But we went on a quick "Get the Hell out of Dodge" ride and I don't know if it was sleeping on the cardboard bed at "America's Best Value" in Bishop, or sitting on the back of the bike with wind whipping my helmet back and forth for a total of 10-12 hours but I was exhausted when we got home Monday.  Slept for around 2 hours Sunday night (comfy mattress and forgot earplugs) and Monday night I slept like a rock for 4 hours because I had to get up early to go to work and start at 6 am.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, I almost called my people and canceled.  But no, I thought, I will work my 8 hours and get into the Chiropractor.  As I got out of bed and "walked" down the hall, I looked like I was in a "Thriller" video.  Between my neck out, my lower back and Asiatic nerve being pinched and my calf cramping......well lets just say... at 4 am, going to bed with my hair wet from my shower the night before.....bags under my eyes from not enough sleep.....it was not pretty.....AT ALL.


I went to the chiropractor, I was off by 3", I need to go back tomorrow.  I was so sore after my adjustment on Tues, I almost threw up.  As of now, I go back tomorrow, thank God.  I'm still "off".  I was supposed to start our hiking season with my Mom today, but no way in Hell could I carry a backpack and with my calves cramping for no reason here and there... no bueno.  We have another one scheduled for Sunday, maybe after my adjustment I'll be back to par.  The problem is I KNOW I need to exercise.  I have done a lot of walking and some running, but since my broken ankle, I have only gotten to CrossFit 4 times....Since Dec. 6 th.  I think I need to implement Yoga back into my schedule for Fridays for sure.  I know I need to work out to stay at the top of my game, and to be able to hold my arms up in 5th position, Russian style of course.


Last week I had a young client say.."Wow! You have really big muscles!"  Oh sweetie.  I thought, I haven't been working out, but then I realized that I have a lot of upper body strength and it is probably from working all day like that, Arms up, shoulder height or higher , constant movement.


A couple years ago when Jay got back to work, I cut back to 8 hour days.  I am at my clients mercy hour wise.  Yesterday I worked 4:20 to 11:40pm.  I had to stop at the bank on the way home and got in the door after midnight.  Some days I start at 4 am.  My ideal day would be 8-4.  Since I work such sporadic hours and my body is giving me an eviction notice, I decided yesterday to cut back to 6 hours a day.  I don't mind working 5 or even six days a week, but the longer hours are killing me.  I don't know the longevity of a hairdresser but you don't see a lot of older hairdressers unless it's working at Madges Pink Puff doing perms and roller sets.  Thankfully over the years my clientele has aged with me so they understand my aches and pains.  The younger ones don't.  I wish I had some fantastic story as to why my body hurts and my neck keeps going out.  I think its because I got out of bed and went to work, then repeated it for so long!  We haven't gone on a vacation, more than a quick or extended weekend, since I opened Salon Moxie in 2005.  I used to make sure, no matter what our family took a vacation every year, then we got to busy and started cramming in GO GO GO weekends.  Then money started to dwindle away.  After I pay for Jayson and Guoda's rehearsal dinner this month... I will save what I can and get away for a week.  Hopefully in August before Stevi goes back to school.  I found some cabin rentals in Bucks Lake that are affordable and that is one of my favorite places on earth...(many stories of younger years)  So I will... I need to... Or I will end up being a greeter at Walmart before I turn 50......... LIGHTS.......!