part 18 of 364

Things that keep Melissa alive

Part 18: Air + Pillow = best $5 ever spent

Have I ever mentioned the words Headache, Neck, Spine, or Smash-my-head-with-a-cinder-block on here? Let me give you a hint: Yes, I have.

I have a spine that was not made to do somersaults, sit-ups or sit on airplanes. But to be fair, was anybody's spine made to sit on airplanes? Do any of you out there find airline seats comfy? I can't figure out if they were made for super short, or super tall people because no one with an average height has the head rest hit them in the right place. While I'm on the subject, is there someone we can petition about this? What if I sent out a massive email forwarding campaign where people could add their name to a list petitioning to make airline seats fit human bodies, instead of aliens? I wonder who we send such a petition to...

Anyway, back to the survival of Melissa on airplanes: A couple years ago I borrowed my friend Julie's blow-up neck pillow and immediately decided they are pointless to use as they were made. But, I was so desperate for something to ease my discomfort that I just shoved it behind my shoulder blades and gasped in disbelief. I was comfortable! I found that if I don't blow it up all the way, it can be used more universally like on my lower back if I prefer, or wherever. I've even sat on it before when my sit bones were feeling airline-seat bruised.

It took me a while to realize that if it's great on airplanes, it's stupendous on a long car ride! But what about those foreign hotels that think a 1/4 inch slab of fluff = a pillow for a bed? No problem! Blow up the neck pillow as high or low as you need to make the tortilla pillow just the right height for your neck and shoulders. Then stick it underneath!

Forget Obama's health care plan. I'm trusting my well-being to my $5 velveteen neck pillow. Don't leave home without it!

the font of my mind

I've had fonts on my mind lately. I think it's because of my trip to California last week, and I'll explain why a bit later.

Have you ever noticed the font trends? Like clothing, fonts go through trends, as well. I think the first time I realized that the font world consisted of more than Times New Roman was in High School. Enter Comic Sans.


Every time I see this font, I think of my 10th and 11th grade math class. My teacher had apparently just discovered the fonts in wordperfect and decided that this was her favorite. She used Comic Sans on every math test, disclosure document, and bulletin board item. She must have been a trend setter because I then saw Comic Sans everywhere.

By now, the trend has mostly passed. The one exception is the lower grade school teacher (who I believe the font was made for anyway).

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Follow me to college in the late 90's and early 2000's when every wedding invitation used Papyrus:


This font was so overused in fact, that people began making fun of it

But, can you blame people for liking it? Wouldn't you feel more important receiving an invitation that looked like it was from the emperor of Rome?

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Enter the 2000's, and the stay-at-home-mormon-mother-photographer-and-blogger phase. Does this look familiar?


That's right: Scriptina. It started showing up EVERYWHERE. And I mean that. Blogs, wedding invitations (the new papyrus), billboards, company logos, and just basically anything that you wanted to attach heartfelt meaning to. It's still around, sadly. Because once you design permanently in Scriptina, you are stuck with a logo that is so heartfelt that no one can actually read it.

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I'd like now, to submit to you the future trendy font. As we know, California trends trickle west.

Let me introduce you to Copperplate Gothic Bold. Every grocery store in California had a store front that looked like this:


I even saw road signs in this font. I suppose that it could be that this font trend will stay isolated to the middle California coastal region but my bet is that we will eventually see it in the highly font-trendy Utah region. And with your help, we can make it happen. Copperplate Gothic Bold: First California, then Utah... Then THE WORLD!

part 17 of 364

Things that keep Melissa alive

Part 17: things that help Melissa sleep

Laying awake at night counting my breaths has become more of a habit than I'd like believe but there are a slew of little tricks I've learned that seem to help. One of them might include pretending I'm Meg Ryan. But I've recently learned that her forehead is really tall and flat compared to mine, so now I don't know.

Today, when I logged into my work computer and my MSN started up, one of the articles that came up was about weird sleeping tricks to try. Here are the things they recommend:

1- Sing yourself a lullaby. I do this! I always sing I Know that My Redeemer Lives for some reason. I think because it's one of the more boring hymns to me. But, if I'm going for boring then I should definitely try The Spirit of God.

2- Rock yourself to sleep. I don't necessarily rock myself but I do two things that are similar: A) I rub my feet together. B) I also play guitar and that almost always makes me sleepy.

3- Curl your toes. I do this too! I had heard that flexing your feet, toes and other extremities and then relaxing them can improve blood flow and relax you.

4- Tidy your bed before jumping in. I don't usually make my bed too nicely in the morning. Just throw the covers closed so no spiders jump in. But, before bed I have to actually pull the covers tight and make the bed. Then I fold the covers back diagonally and climb into the cool, crisp, tidiness.

5- Write in your journal. I find that when my mind won't stop working at night, if I pull my journal out and write about something completely different then it helps me relax and stop thinking about what I was stressing about. Recently, I have been writing about each member of my family. The basics of their life and my favorite things about them. I just finished Rob's family. Now I will move on to Ken, Jen and their family. This way I kill two birds with one stone (family history, and sleeplessness)

6- Melatonin. According to the article, cherries have melatonin in them. I didn't know that. But for years I have had a bottle of melatonin supplements that I will take every so often to help me sleep.

7- Place a light weight on top of you. I now understand why I love to sleep with a rice bag. I use it in the winter to warm up my feet, but I have gotten into the habit of moving the rice bag to by sternum once my feet are warm. The weight on my sternum is just comforting and helps me fall asleep. I've also noticed that when I have a headache and I lay in bed on my back with the hot rice bag on my forehead, that it tends to put me to sleep. It has to be the weight!

I was shocked to realize that I do all of their weird tricks from time to time. (though not every single trick every night... good gracious). I also have some weird tricks that they don't mention. But, what do you do? Or are you one of those lucky individuals that never has a problem falling asleep.

Dale Carnegie said that no one dies from lack of sleep, but I swear my ability to sleep keeps me alive.

part 16 of 364

Things that keep Melissa alive

Part 16: the hike

Most everyone out there knows about my headaches. They are still much of a mystery to me in how they hurt, where they are located and when they decide to arrive. But there is one conclusion I have made: My shoulders like to work. When they do, my head is generally happy.

So I try to take long enough hikes that require me to carry a backpack. And then offer to carry everyone's water. 2 weeks ago, Jon, Katie, Jenny Jo and I hiked from Big Springs over to Rock Canyon. That is probably the longest hike I've ever been on and by the end my shoulders were so tired...but oh so happy. There were also some pretty spectacular views from the top.

It's possible walter's feet hurt worse than mine by the end

Depression terraces

This last saturday, I went on another hike with my friend Catherine. We decided to explore the Oquirrh mountains above Kennecott. It afforded some pretty spectacular views of the mine and of Catherine.

Catherine in her element: Texting.

Working my shoulders keeps my headaches at bay and that keeps me alive! ~Now: what do I do when winter comes?