Jill Reese

Ive been having back back pain for MONTHS. Since August or September. Starting in my neck on the right side, and over time just getting worse until it is my entire back. But the worst pain is still in the neck, right side. A coworker of mine has been trying to convince me to go to a chiropractor since I started working over here at CMN, and this week after I had to work from home on Wednesday because I couldn’t stand up straight, I decided to listen!

The chiropractor was super nice…I had two recommendations, and after doing some googling, I went with my coworker’s suggestion. He started talking to me about my pain and doing some nerve tests. At which point he informed me that my skull is sitting crooked on my neck, and asked me to describe how I sleep at night. My response: “Well, I sleep flat on my stomach, no pillow, head turned to the left, with my hands tucked under my hips.” Ive never seen a doctor’s eyes bug out of their head before, but that did it. Ive always acknowledged that I sleep kind of weird…and can’t really turn my head to the right anymore….but didn’t really think it was THAT bad. Apparently if you don’t want to have spinal surgery by the time you are 55, my comfy way of sleeping is not recommended.

Anyway….he cracked and pulled on lots of stuff in my back and now I feel TONS better. I have to go back a few times, but it is amazing how much better I feel already. But I have homework. I HAVE to find a new position to sleep in. And I don’t wanna. I was pretty successful last night at sleeping on my side…I just had to use a wall of pillows to keep myself from turning over. And I ordered a body pillow to use as my wall so I don’t throw the pillows on the floor. Sleeping in one specific way for 20+ years is going to be a difficult habit to break!

I am definitely not a patient person. At ALL. I do things quickly, make decisions quickly, and have a hard time being patient with people who waffle over everything. That being said….I had patience this week, and it totally paid off. LITERALLY.  I needed to buy a plane ticket to LAX for my China trip. Over the weekend the cost was about $350…then it went up to $450….and I was good and didn’t check it again until Wednesday night, when it had gone down to $240. SCORE. Im so glad I waited and saved some money.

On another note, how insane are price changes on airline tickets??? Dropped $200 in one day?? Come on.

So if you have read anything on here before, you know that I pretty much hate everything about AT&T. The only reason I have their cell phone service is because they were the only company with the iPhone, and now Im stuck with them because of the unlimited data. Whatever. The thing I hate MOST about AT&T is their customer service. I have never called into the 800-number without having to talk to a minimum of three people. Never get connected with the right person….EVER. Even though every person I deal with swears that the next person I am transferred to will be the correct person that can definitely help me out.

Anyway…in 2010 when I moved to a new apartment, I wanted to simply transfer my internet from the old to the new apartment. No biggie, right? WRONG. You have to completely cancel your service and then activate new service. Send in the old box and get a new box and everything. With all the damn fees associated with new service, even though you can’t get the good deals for first-time customers, because you are transferring. This is where everyone should go “WTF!” I thought that was ridiculous, and argued, of course, and they agreed to waive the installation and new box fees. Cool. Until I get my first bill….all the fees were still included. When I called to ask about it, they said they would never have waived the fees, and there was no note in my file for that, so I had to pay for all of it. Acted like I was completely making this up. *sigh*

Fast forward to October 2011….when I moved yet again, and cancelled my AT&T internet for good. Ive still been getting statements from them for some reason, and the last statement showed a credit/adjustment of almost $150. I finally called them today to ask them to give me a refund, or figure out what this is about (had to speak with FOUR people, of course) and they told me that they were sending me a check for $145. Why, you ask? BECAUSE THEY FINALLY FOUND IN MY ACCOUNT WHERE I SHOULD HAVE NEVER PAID FOR THE BOX AND INSTALLATION WHEN I MOVED. Seriously. 12 months later. They only found it because when I cancelled, they had to go through my account to close it out, and THEN they saw the note. I nicely thanked the woman, but in my head I am thinking ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME!???? Not a good way to conduct business.

The best part about all this is the money that I will receive in 7 to 10 days, of course. But a damn close second is the satisfaction I get out of knowing I wasn’t crazy! (this time, anyway) Jeez.

- Sherlock – Saw this over the weekend. It was good, but I felt that the story didn’t need to be SO convoluted. I think I need to watch it again to really appreciate it.

- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – This was SO GOOD. I really liked how they handled the wife thing from number 3. I would even buy this one. Although the building climbing part actually made me cover my eyes. When he yelled “NO SH*T” I cracked up. Freakin hilarious.

- Brave

- One For the Money (hilarious, awesome book. hope the movie doesn’t screw it up!) Okay, so Katherine Heigl did not ruin this, and it was pretty damn cute. I LOVED the casting of Morelli/Ranger. Ive decided that it should be a TV show, though. Not really enough juice for a movie sequel, but I think it would be GREAT as a weekly, bounty hunter chase-of-the-week. Make it happen, ABC! Instead of putting dumb Katherine Heigl back on Grey’s.

- The Hunger Games

- HayWire (this looks like ALIAS, which as we all know, is the best TV show ever made, right??)

- Wrath of the Titans

- Safehouse (Ryan Reynolds and Denzel, hellooooooo!)

- Mirror Mirror

- This Means War (two awesome actors, and by awesome I mean HOT)

- The Avengers

- Snow White and the Huntsman

- Battleship

- Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (good book)

- Dark Knight Rises

- Step Up 4 (I know, I know, but these are so FUN)

- The Bourne Legacy

I need to get back to my Sunday mornings at the movies. Best time to see anything!

Not that it wasn’t official before, but now that flights are booked, it is OFFICIAL-official. IM GOING TO CHINA. And I am unbelievably excited. Im going with a GHP tour group for 7 days in March. Ive wanted to go to China since grad school. The same summer I studied in London, I was supposed to go study in China. Even went so far as to plan out how I would fly directly from  China to London to meet the other group. Sadly, not enough people signed up for that trip, so it got cancelled. My substitute trip was Russia, but I passed on that one. And Im glad I did. Half those dudes got robbed while they were there. It was nuts.

ANYWAY…even though I still went to London, my China trip was not meant to be. Now….11 years later, It’s ON.

We will be traveling to Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou. And get to see the Great Wall! And Tiananmen Square! I have even made Marilyn dig out all my China history books from grad school so I can do some skimming through and reading.

WHOO HOO!

The design team went to see the King Tut Exhibit last week before it goes back to Egypt forever! Ha. (the ads are so dramatic about it)

Anyway, this was so amazing. The items were so beautiful and absolutely perfect in details and colors.

It reminded me of how much I LOVE history. I had gotten kind of burnt out in grad school, but I found myself able to provide facts relating to Egyptian history along the way. Made me want to drag all my books out!

Speaking of, I need I start looking through my china books to get ready for my china trip in March! SO EXCITED.

Yesterday I volunteered at the GHP Annual Meeting so I would be allowed to attend. Im too cheap to pay, so I’d rather print badges for MORONS. (not a general term about most people I typed badges for, but there was at least ONE)

This was such a good event! I really didn’t have any critiques, although I know the girls didn’t believe me. Ha!

GHP has the best event managers in Houston.

I think I’m obsessed with TOMS now. They’ve totally grown on me, plus they have a great mission.

“I’m shiny!”

My foot has been bothering me SO much, and I refuse to consent to an MRI until after both the Austin half and my china trip.

So…I needed new shoes anyway, so when I went to get refitted I made sure to ask for some with extra padding at the ball of the foot.

Check these babies out:

I’m all fancy now! Haha. Switched from Mizuno to Saucony. I figure any little bit helps!