Voodoo, Volunteering and Dirt

Friday I succumb to my frustrating fatigued and on the advice of my friends and colleagues, I went to the witch doctor to get stuck with pins. Ok, I went to an acupuncturist - one that pretty much my whole department and then some have seen. I was lucky enough to get a visit in before he left for two weeks for China.

I not a skeptic - honestly. I'm a big fan of the "body is your temple" and you need good physical health to have good mental health and vise versa. He asked me if I had ever gone to an acupuncturist and I laughed "where I come from we call it Voodoo." He asked me where I was from - I told him Cleveland. He was from Louisville and we immediately had that Ohio connection (Louisville is right across the river from Cinici.) He told me about what the Chinese believed. We talked about how long I had been under the weather and what he thought it might be and then he stuck some pins in me. I barely noticed them. He massaged a few knots in my neck and talked to me about circulation (how the tension was blocking blood flow and consequently not allowing my sinuses to clear up.) He suggested that I eat a warm breakfast (oatmeal instead of yogurt) and how really we were looking at healing my organs (digestive, liver, respiratory). A few more pins, a few deeps breaths and an hour later I walked out feeling a little bit better with a bottle of dirt (ok, their herbs but it tastes like dirt tea) I headed out with high hopes for the next 48 hours.

I finished Friday off having beers (more than one) with friends I hadn't seen in a while and woke up this morning, tired. Not fatigued, not struggling to get out of bed. Just plain tired. It was different. I am hopeful the acupuncture is working... along with the dirt. And the beers too.

And just in time as today was a mega day of volunteering... or just a long day of volunteering. I picked up another skater in my league and we sped off to Monroe (north of Seattle, rural town) to help out with an auction for a kid who had Leukemia. There wasn't much to do early on, so I spent a lot of time getting to know my fellow skaters and explaining roller derby to those who knew nothing about it and laughing about it with those who remember it from their youth.

I sped back to Seattle, ran a few errands (kitty food, lipstick, apples - the important stuff), ate some lunch and then went to volunteer at Provail's and Parkview's auction. A new friend of mine works there and I was glad to be there - to help out with an organization I wouldn't have done anything with otherwise (and not for any reason, beside exposure). They had quite a diverse group of people volunteering and hopefully raised a lot of money for all of the work they do for those with speial needs.

All and all, it was a good day. Tiring. But a good tiring.

Finally.