The Stick

That's right. The Stick.
You use it by rolling it over an area of your body, and the combined pressure and movement helps get rid of knots in your muscles. The massage also agitates your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, which increases blood flow to the area. Increased blood flow helps get rid of soreness, promotes healing of damaged tissue, makes makes it easier to stretch, and generally feels amazing.
We use them in the training room a lot, and my dad got me one for Christmas. I'm not going to lie, they are pretty magical.

clean

Having a towel rack in the shower seems very counterproductive for having a dry towel when you are finished. So I put cleaning supplies on it instead.

After dinner my roommate and I are going to go see Where the Wild Things Are. Cool huh?

I would just like to point out how long my hair is getting.

Also, I've never had Old Navy Performance Fleece before now, and I never understood the hype about it. However, now that I have a jacket, I get it, cause OMG OLD NAVY PERFORMANCE FLEECE! It. Is. Amazing.

SPORTS! AH! SPORTS!

Told you I would explain:

Since I am no longer in high school, I no longer have the opportunity to take a weights class every other day.
Therefore, I am not lifting weights as often as I used to, or working out for an hour and a half close to everyday (counting sports AH SPORTS! ...sorry, I will explain tomorrow).
Therefore, I have no one to make me do squats and make sure my legs stay super strong.
Therefore, I stopped doing squats, cause I hate them.
Therefore, my legs have gotten much weaker, especially my VMO (vastus medialus oblique).
Therefore, my VMO is not firing as effectively when I bend my knee.
Therefore, my vastus lateralus is pulling on my patella with more force.
Therefore, my patella is not tracking on my femur correctly.
Therefore, the articular cartilage on the lateral posterior side of my patella is rubbing on the cartilage of my femur.
Therefore, I am getting chondromilacia of my patella, which is agitating a plica I have.
Therefore, my knee is starting to catch when it goes through the last 10 degrees of flexion on the way to being fully extended.


Or, if you don't speak anatomy: My knee hurts. :(


However, I am working on strengthening my quads again, so hopefully that will get everything back in order.

Still Life

Whenever I go into a dining hall, I steal as much fruit as I can get away with. If there is fruit, I'll eat that if I get hungry, instead of being tempted to make popcorn or something.

Turns out I have chondromalacia in my left knee. Which means that one of my four quad muscles isn't strong enough, and my kneecap isn't sliding on the right spot on my femur. This explains the horribly painful grinding feeling I get under my kneecap when I go up or down stairs after I've been running.
Strengthening my quad should be simple though, and I'm sure that will fix the problem, for I never had issues with my knees in high school when I was taking weights.

here's the mail....

As you can see, my mailbox is empty. This is it's normal state of being, and it in no way surprises me. However, I am currently waiting for a letter from the University that tells me to go over to Marquette Central and get a refund check for my housing deposit. In order to have access to the campus-housing selection, you have to give a deposit of $200. As there were no on-campus apartments avaliable when I went to select one for next year, I get my deposit back.
So in the grand scheme of things, I'm not losing or gaining any money, just returning it to it's proper place. But I'm still excited for my check.

I worked both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, providing my services as someone who knows first aid/CPR at a volleyball clinic and a tennis match. This means I sat around doing for a big chunk of time both days. But they are paying me to sit around, so I will sit around all day if they want me too. Also, I really do think it's better to have me be there and not needed, than to not have me be there and needed.

Did you know they reference Pulp Fiction in Space Jam? I just watched it and My. Mind. Is. Blown.

breath in breath out

This is fog.
The visability is about the same as it was on the worst inversion days over the holidays.
Except it's just H2O here, not smog and dirt.

Enjoy the little things

Sometimes a University will do something,

Like build a new building.

They'll put all the Student Resources in it,

Like paying tuition and scholarships and admissions.

And that new building will have an "Open House,"

Where they will have a drawing you can enter,

For an ipod touch.

But more importantly,

There is,

Free cookies and hot chocolate.

Galaxar out?

Sorry about this.
Photobooth you know?

anarchy in the U.K.

Things to do Today:

• Go to class (check)
  
• Go to another class (Check. Kenisiology is the study of how the body moves. I am excited out of my mind. Our professor told us "Go ahead and just call me Chris, or if you're not comfortable with that Dr. Simmons is fine." I must only refer to him as C-Dawg in my head and behind his back.)
• Buy a big binder (not as big as I wanted, but the huge 4 inch one I would like was $19 - which I thought was a bit outrageous. But check.)
  
• Sit for a minute (currently doing)
  
• Lunch
• Class again
  
• More class
• Dinner
• Work out
• Let out inner Punk (check)
  

I call these my hobo gloves, and they are fantastic because I can wear them outside on my way to class to keep my hands warm, but then I can LEAVE THEM ON in class and still have my finger-tips free to write notes or type. They also make me feel like a bit of a bad-ass, especially when I'm wearing them with a T-shirt or have my sleeves pushed up. Letting the inside-punk Michelle out makes me happy, and in a city where there are few things that give me pure joy, I think I should let her out as much as possible.

hello again

Well, I'm back at school, but as you can see, it was actually a very nice day today (until the sun set anyway). A month in the inversion-stuck Salt Lake Valley made me forget how bright the sun is when it's not filtering though a layer of muck, filth, grime, and smog - I had to wear sunglasses when I went outside!

I just noticed there's a girl in the bottom of this picture. I have no idea who she is.

It feels very normal to be back here in my shared dorm room and walking around campus. But at the same time, I don't WANT to be here, and that creates a very strange feeling when paired with the fact I feel like I SHOULD be here.

I can't wait until we get a puppy. ^.^