Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Carpe Diem


I recently added getting a fish pedicure to my life “to do” list. It’s a trendy way of getting a pedicure where small carp fish eat the dead skin on your feet. I actually tested it out on my hand recently when I was at a salon open house. It tickled but was fun and my hand felt really soft when I pulled it out of the water. I have to admit it was a bit creepy when I looked down and saw the little creatures swarming all over my hand though. Even so, I decided I should give it a try at least once and was looking forward to scheduling my first fish pedicure. But that may be an issue now since the Florida Board of Cosmetology just banned it. They said there was no way to disinfect a pool of fish between uses.

So what’s a girl to do? Do I give up on my whole fish pedicure idea or look for one on the black market? Maybe I can just stick my feet in the ocean with some food on them and see if anything takes the bait. Or maybe this just means I have to take a trip to Asia where it is still legal.

What do you think? Is it unsafe and unsanitary? Would you try it? Did the board make a rash decision?

Cat “Here fishy fishy” Cathy

Friday, February 13, 2009

Señior Blackberry

I’m still laughing about the way I acted the other day so I wanted to share. I had a fake mustache from a social event at the skating rink. I have no clue what a fake mustache has to do with skating but everyone got when we arrived and it was fun. This little detail will become important later.

After skating we all went out to eat. I was seated next to a social acquaintance who was telling me about his ex girlfriend in a not so nice way. I can relate to needing to talk about an ex so I wanted to be there and show support. Plus the story was pretty juicy and everyone likes a little gossip and scandal now and then. Considering this I think I was probably provoking him in some ways to share his story.

But this was not the first time he had told me the story and his ex is also an acquaintance of mine. Plus I think people often act badly in relationships for a variety of reasons and sharing this ‘dirt’ is just not a good thing to do. No matter how hurt you are and how much you feel wronged by an ex I really believe the best thing to do is realize you chose that person for some reason. Enjoy remembering the good times and learn from the bad times. Except for your closest friends (and your therapist) it’s best to just say something complimentary or nothing at all about an ex. It seems like concentrating on the negative will only bring on more negativity and make it take longer to grow and move on INMO.

So about 10 minutes into the scandalous conversation I realized I needed to put an end to it. But how? Hmmm…Surely there is a smooth way of doing it. Maybe, but I took the silly Catastrophe Cathy approach since it was all I could think of at that moment. Right in the middle of the juicy details I put my fake mustache on my phone and turned to a friend sitting on my other side and said “look , it’s Señior Blackberry!”. She thought it was cute and took a picture of my phone. This distraction effectively ended the gossip albeit in a less than diplomatic way.

I hope my acquaintance is feeling better and I hope if he reads this he realizes I’m not judging and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Cat “Señorita” Cathy

Monday, February 9, 2009

Ouch…What Did I do to Myself This Time?

I played roller hockey for the first time in many years last night and as a result I’m nursing my latest injury today. I was excited to be playing again but nervous since I was the only girl. But I played well and got lots of compliments and the guys seemed to be ok with me being there. It’s an aggressive sport and I got knocked over at one point which was fun. The guy felt bad for hitting me but I was ok. He asked a me a few times if I was ok so I let him know in a joking way the gloves would be coming off later…that’s how the hockey fights start. The falls and hitting didn’t cause my latest injury though. My skate got hit by a fast moving puck. I wasn’t wearing hockey skates so there wasn’t much protection. It hurt but I just kept playing. I guess the adrenaline was going so I didn’t care. By the time I got home though the pain had set in and my foot started to swell. I barely slept from the pain and I had to crawl around my apartment since I could not stand on it.

Is it broken? I don’t think so. It already feels a little better today but I am moving slowly and I did schedule a doctor appointment for tomorrow. I’m going to the same doctor who fixed my broken leg 7 years ago. I wonder if he will offer me a two for one deal.

This latest injury just reminds me of all the abuse my poor body has been through over the years. It started as a young extreme Rummy when I was in elementary school and just liked to jump off of things “for fun”. From there it’s been 20 plus years of mountain biking, skating and other miscellaneous sports injuries. From bumps to bruises to breaks, I’ve had them all. Perhaps it’s time for me to settle down and start knitting or something….nah, I think I still have a few more good years left in me. Even when I decide it’s not worth the pain anymore I will still do sports but just the less aggressive type. I believe it’s important to be active throughout your life. It keeps you in shape, reduces stress and it’s fun!

Hockey was a blast. I have no regrets about playing and assuming my foot isn’t too badly injured I hope to go out again soon. With the proper skates this time of course!

Cat “Stanley Cup“ Cathy