Thankful Thursday: A Loving Massage

               This is my first time joining a weekly meme and frankly I am really having doubts about posting because when I looked at the blog posts that joined the Thankful Thursday meme, they were all about deep and profound things and mine is kind of..different, I guess? But I decided to gather up some courage and forged on because I am really thankful about this and I wanted to share that feeling to the rest of the world. (Or at the very least, to those who take the time to read my blog J Thank you for all your visits!) Ok, here goes.

               I am very thankful for massages. I know, weird right? But I’m not talking about just any kind of massage. I’m talking about a loving massage--the kind given by someone who really wanted to take care of me.

               Today was the start for ‘that’ time of the month and it is usually a very painful and stressful experience. I would be curled up into this pathetic little ball of misery but today was quite different. It was still quite painful yes, and I was still miserable BUT a loving massage did wonders for me.

               Nowadays, massage and spa places offer affordable rates for relaxing massages and I know that they can really remove all those body aches and pains. But for me, nothing beats a home massage given by someone I love and someone who loves me and cares for me. Commercial massages soothes body aches and pains but a loving massage also soothes heart aches and pains. There is nothing more soothing and relaxing in the world than the feeling of knowing that someone cares for me and my well being and is taking the time to take care of me. No commercial massage can beat that.

Philippines: Missile Target?!

             
               My brother sent me a message via facebook saying that the Philippines was one of the target places for missile launches from North Korea! I was alarmed of course specially because the country doesn't have the technology to detect when and where the missiles would hit.
               So of course I had to read about the article right away. When I finally got to read it, I was a little bit relieved. The article actually states that North Korea will be launching satellites into outer space and in order to do that they would need to use rockets or missiles to launch them. These rockets have boosters and it is estimated that some of the boosters will fall on Philippine territory.
               Unfortunately, the country doesn't have the technology to predict where the rocket boosters will fall and the dangerous part about it is the possibility of it falling onto populated areas. However, according to the article, the country will be asking for help from its allies like the United States to help in predicting the location.
               Still, I kept thinking, the country responsible for launching the rockets or missiles should be the one to clean up after themselves right?

Zombie Hair?!

               When God decided to give genes for great hair, my parents were unfortunately absent. So now, I am left to bear the consequences. I don’t know why but my previous posts on the struggles I’ve been having with my hair seem to have set off some sort of hair frenzy in me. So please don’t be surprised if I have consecutive posts dealing with hair related topics. Ok?

               I stated in my previous posts that I had curly hair right? Well aside from that, I also have fine hair (which might account for my susceptibility to hair loss) which I got from my mom. She also experienced hair loss though I haven’t asked her how she’s dealing with that. Hmm..I really should talk to my mom about that. To make matters worse, I also have prematurely gray hair(s) which I got from my dad’s side. I was in elementary when I started having gray hair for cripes sake! I’m quite sure it’s a genetic thing and not just an environmental factor because my younger brother already has quite a lot of gray hair. He’s had to resort to dyeing it because they were quite numerous already.

               *Sigh* I really don’t know what to do with this hair anymore. (Which, by the way, smells like garlic. If you want to know why, just click here.) If I’m not careful, I might look like this! *Gasp*

A 'Hair'-raising Journey (Part 2)

             
               Just an update on my previous post regarding the use of garlic oil on the scalp and hair to treat hair fall. I've strained the mixture to separate the chopped garlic cloves from the garlic and olive oil mixture and applied it to my scalp and hair. Suffice it to say, the smell is absolutely horrible. I'm not a very garlicky type of person so you can just imagine the intensity of the smell is twice or thrice than if I were someone who loved the aforementioned spice.

               But, I shall endure. All in the name of ending my suffering. Who knows, I might become a garlic lover as I continue using this.

               Now I just have to think about how to remove the garlic smell from my hair. Any suggestions?

A ‘Hair’-raising Journey (Part 1)

               I’m desperate. Desperate about my hair that is. I’m not vain about it since I wouldn’t really consider it as one of my redeeming features but it has come to a point where it might become my downfall. Or rather, my hairfall. (Yah yah, lame joke again, I know)

               I’m sure many can relate to my current predicament, specially the ladies. Falling hair is not something we want to admit to ourselves but the reality is that it is a very common condition. I didn’t have hairfall before. It began when I agreed to having my hair straightened (or relaxed) at one of the local salons in my hometown, because I hadn’t accepted yet that I was born with curly hair. Now I’ve accepted my curliness, but the wheels have fate have started turning and it is inexorably leading to a future where I hit middle age looking like an ancient crone because of thinning hair. Or even (gasp) baldness!

               With that grim future looming nearer each day, I have tried countless ways to stop falling hair. I’ve tried hair spa treatment, scalp massage and the like. My relatives suggested I apply aloe vera sap on my scalp but since I don’t have ready access to said plant, I was forced to find other more accessible means.

               After much searching, I came across a forum suggesting the use of garlic oil on the scalp and many have attested to its effectiveness. Since I don’t have access to ready-made garlic oil, I was forced to be resourceful and make garlic oil on my own. I looked for videos on how to make homemade garlic oil and I now have a jar filled with olive oil and chopped garlic. The instructions were to let the garlic sit in the oil for a couple of days before applying it to the scalp so that’s what I’m going to do.

               I’ll be posting an update once I have applied the garlic oil to my scalp. If you have any suggestions dear reader, regarding how to treat falling hair, I would really appreciate it.  

You Be the Judge

               “I took a nap in a bog one day and woke up screaming. 3796 leeches, 2910 fleas and 1044 vampire bats were stuck to my bald head drinking my blood in ecstasy. How many bloodthirsty bloodsuckers were dining on my head?”

               These lines didn’t come from a gory vampire novel bent on turning our innards inside out. Nope, not at all. Guess what? They’re a math problem. For elementary pupils. In third grade. It turned out that these and a number of other math problems containing some violent and illegal topics were downloaded by a teacher online for a class. The teacher was fired.

               I was horrified when I read the article. I am a college teacher and the idea of elementary school children being exposed to these types of materials in school alarmed me. ‘There is already enough violence in the outside world; do they have to be exposed to it in school too?’ I thought. I immediately assumed that if kids were exposed to enough violence in their everyday lives, their future is placed in jeopardy and the chances become higher of their growing up and having the same violent tendencies that they were exposed to.

               I visited the site where the math problems were downloaded. The content had been taken down and replaced by an article written by the site owner who made the math problems. After reading his article, I understood his side a bit and what he was trying to achieve with those unusual math problems.

               From his point of view, math has been a constant headache for elementary school teachers (even college, I tell you) because it has two elements that children hate: it’s boring and it’s hard. So he tried to make the first fun so that even if the subject was hard, it would still be enjoyable. And there is no denying that children like gross and gory stuff. Just take a look at all the cartoons and movies nowadays.

               So I’m thinking, there has to be some middle ground. School authorities do not approve of those kinds of materials but children love them. How do we make these two meet?

Note: Post title was taken from the website where homework material was downloaded from. To read the full article about the teacher who was fired, click here.

Update to Caught in the Web

               While I was browsing through my facebook page, I came across this pic and just couldn't help laughing and remembering the post I made about how dependent I've become on the internet. Or how much of an internet introvert I am. Take a good look at the pic and I'm pretty sure many can relate!

So what would you be doing if your internet is down? Share some thoughts!

When “IT” comes...

               I was actually planning on writing about an article I just read the other day and I have made a resolution to always push through with things I plan. Unfortunately, mother nature has effortlessly managed to throw a monkey wrench through those plans. (I know, I know, I need to update my idioms) When mother nature comes knocking, there’s really no way to refuse, she ALWAYS, ALWAYS gets her way.

               In this instance, she chose this time to make it “that” time of the month. Women will be able to understand this right of the bat but with men, not so much. (No offense to the men though.) Unfortunately for me, “that” time of the month also means some serious pain for me. Any woman who has ever had dysmenorrhea can totally relate to this. All that puking and cold sweat..ugh.

               Any plan of writing a well-thought article flew out the window. All I could think of was the excruciating pain in my lower abdomen that reached all the way to my lower back. I can’t even remember the time when I didn’t have dysmenorrhea. I remember I was once hospitalized for 3 days because of it. I was throwing up everything that came down my throat and I was seriously dehydrated. The meds wouldn’t work anymore and I was curled up into a ball of sweaty misery.

               I have tried many ways to get rid of this condition. I’ve tried proper diet, exercise, hot water bottles. Right now the only thing that can stop it is to drink some pain reliever meds when the pain is just starting, because if I wait until the pain becomes unbearable, it’s no longer effective. But I also don’t want to become dependent on the pain meds because it might have some adverse side effects.

               Any ideas on how I can deal with this?

Caught in the WEB

               
               Today I realized just how dependent I’ve become on the internet!  Arriving home coming from an appointment, I fully expected to be able to turn on my laptop and log on to the magic that is the world wide web. The bottom right corner of my screen always indicates whether I’m connected and online or not, as well as the number of bars for the wireless connection we have at home. Gray signal bars with a yellow dot on top of it (I’m sure you’re all quite familiar with that icon) was nothing new to me. It only meant a signal was available but the computer wasn’t connected to it.

               So I clicked on it and sure enough, there was a wireless network available, but not ours. So I went downstairs to turn on the modem and the wireless router and went back to my room, expecting to see the proper icon this time. Horror of horrors! That was not the case. I did see that I was connected wirelessly but there was no internet connection. I’m not really what you’d call a tech-savvy person but I had some (not a lot. You’ll see why later.) knowledge of basic networking, enough at least to attempt at fixing the problem.

               I rolled up my sleeves (figuratively speaking) and set to work. It didn’t really involve anything technical; I just plugged and unplugged the devices or restarted them. I got tired of trying to fix it, not from turning it on and off, but rather from the several trips I had to take traipsing up and down the stairs to check if I had internet or not. It never occurred to me to bring my laptop downstairs.

               Adding salt to an open wound, the software for the wireless connection is written in Chinese! This would have been no sweat if I knew Chinese but my knowledge of the language was zero percent. Negative even. It was already quite late, and I was already tired and grumpy and sleepy. (seven dwarfs?) I had to lay down my arms and surrender the battle. For now anyway.

               So here I am writing this as a way to let off steam. I’m not really sure when I’ll be able to upload this post, since you know… How about you? Any frustrating experiences with internet connection? Come on, share them. (to assure myself that I’m not alone in this, muwahahaha!)

Update: Up until now, there is no internet connection at home yet. I'm using the net at a different house.*Sigh*