All Critters, Big and Small

Critters! I love critters that look at you soulfully and contentedly. I love critters that look at you playfully with the overt desire to cause mischief. I even love the ornery critters that don't want much to do with me. To quote little Agnes in the movie Despicable Me, "It's so fluffy, I'm gonna DIE!" That's the best summation of how I feel about most animals.

Why is this important today? Frankly, I don't have a big reason. I just really appreciate my cat perching on my arm, and my puppy trying to hone in on all of Nate's and my attention, and our older dog looking stoic as he asks for belly rubs. Perhaps it was this video at Godvine of therapy dogs helping wounded soldiers. The power of an animal to heal, should we let them, is immeasurable. I simply appreciate that today.

"Paying your gratidues" is all about publicizing what you're grateful for. If more people did that instead of complaining about what they hate... life would be happier."


Gratidues #218-233

218. The healing powers of an animal with fur and slobber
219. A Saturday with no work to be done
220. My turn on the receiving end of a massage trade
221. A friendly jewelry party with girlfriends
222. Workouts with my husband despite feeling gross
223. An "old" chiropractor in a new space
224. Louis, a man I met and talked to at Staples (Pray for him as he starts seminary)
225. My apprentices in class at work
226. Evolving friendships, even when the outcome doesn't always suit my preferences
227. Parallel paths
228. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's preventative initiatives and health coaches
229. Fancy push pins with "animal skins"
230. A husband that brings you a stack of fresh clothes, neatly folded "just because"
231. Dill and Honey Poached Salmon from the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook
232. Stories of life and birth and bucking the status quo, reputation-be-damned
233. Morning tea, perfectly brewed, one cup at a time

The photo is by me. It is circa February 2011 of a cat I used to cat-sit, "Whitey". I miss him and his brothers.

Would you willingly put stickers over your paint job?

I am a fan of bright colors. I'm also a fan of decorating rooms. I'm not a fan of painting or the thought of painting a mural that will one day be covered by another layer of paint, or worse... feeling guilty and not covering it even though trends have moved on! 


Nate and I took a brief shopping trip to Five Below, a "finer" dollar store with real, usable items often found in other stores, but at prices of $1-$5. They had calendars on sale for $3 as it was already mid-January. One of the calendars was a "wall art calendar" of birds and a vintage cage. I figured for three dollars we could spruce up a well-scuffed paint job in our massage storage room-slash-reading room between the hall and the office. 


I went with a "birds bursting out of the cage" theme and allowed the giant, removable stickers to flow across the wall, anchoring the design with the birdcage, which looks like it is perched neatly on top of a side organizer unit where we keep our Scentsy air freshener lamp. I debated actually putting up the paper calendar pages, but it went so nicely with the birdcage, I figured, "Why not?" After twelve months, it will still look nice.


Overall we enjoy the effect. It's very bright and splashy, and we thought it was a very nice addition to an otherwise boring and overlooked room. I might actually sit and read here now!


Have you used wall art? Painted murals? Removable pressure-based vinyl art? Wall stickers? I'd be interested to hear your experiences.

Busy Pocket

Some weeks the strife is large. This week is like that. In fact, in the middle of that sentence I got a call from work about a project that made me want to pull my hair out. But in the midst of the craziness, I'm finding some insight, oddly enough.

I'm finding that instead of holding onto healthy habits and behaviors, stress at home and on the job makes me either revert back to unhealthy behaviors, especially where my weight loss and exercise regimen are concerned. But instead of dwelling on the bad or the mistakes, I plan to plan! This means I will chart out my week and find time to squeeze in healthy habits, set realistic goals for work that can get done in certain time frames, and practice saying "no" to adding additional responsibilities.

What do you do when you're stressed? How do you handle it? Are you a planner?

"Paying your gratidues" is all about publicizing what you're grateful for. If more people did that instead of complaining about what they hate... life would be happier."

Gratidues #211-217

211. Delicious coffee with the perfect milk-to-coffee ratio

212. My women's group and the dynamic women who come together to study and socialize

213. Not being afraid to speak up and let people know something's wrong

214. Massage trades

215. Friends' shop-at-home parties

216. Quick thinking on the job

217. The opportunity to grow my massage clients

Image by Lua Ahmed via Flickr. Creative Commons License.

SOPA & PIPA: An Open Letter to Michigan Senators and Representatives

DATE: January 18, 2012
TO: Congressman Levin, Senator Levin, and Senator Stabenow*
RE: SOPA & PIPA


I am writing as one of your long-time supporters to respectfully request that you do your part to require the SOPA/PIPA to be rewritten so as to avoid costing Americans thousands of dollars by promoting the un-American concept of "guilty without due process". 


Piracy isn't right. However, there are a lot of people out there who do things the right way and should not be punished. All should be treated within the tenets of the basic right to due process and the concept of "innocent until proven guilty," rather than simply shutting content providers down who generate massive revenue and provide income streams to hard-working, honest Americans. More government restraints are not the answer. "Big Brother" is not the answer. Good, balanced legislation is the answer. 


Passing the legislation as-is will be the epitome of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater". As someone who has supported you through several elections and as someone who provides legal, original Internet content, I urge you to please stand up what is the best interests for ALL, including copyright holders, and the upright Internet content users, by demanding the legislation be changed before it passes. 

Very Respectfully,

Carrie Burgan

Oak Park, Michigan

*Edited versions of this letter was sent via e-mail today, January 18, 2012.


Learn more about SOPA and PIPA and why modifying their content is essential by visiting www.americancensorship.org


UPDATE 20 January 2012: https://fightfortheftr.wordpress.com/press-releases/


Image by MVit via PhotoXpress.com. Used with permission.

Auto Show Shenanigans: Massaging the Michelin Man

It's no secret that I take groups of massage students out and about to work on the public. Each year we take a group to the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan to massage the media during Media Preview Week. The Auto Show clinical event is always booked to the gills just hours after we post it, as students also get the chance to look around on the floor. 

This year I subbed for another supervisor and headed down amongst the media and car enthusiasts to work the event (versus simply organizing it). The highlight of my few hours there was being the Michelin Man's personal massage therapist. I was able to be in several promo photos for Michelin tires, as the media lounge was sponsored by Michelin and the Michelin Man was making promo appearances. It was campy, but a total treat.

Visit the Michelin Man via the Michelin 2012 NAIAS Website. See Michelin's official "massage photo" here on Michelin's Flickr page (sans Carrie and sans Irene's... boo!). 

Simple Pleasures: Instant Tea

A lot of things in our house are Jerry-rigged. We didn't really do most of those "repairs". Instead, the two previous owners (our home has only had three real owners including us) enjoyed the DIY spirit. Although we find a lot of strife hidden in the DIY projects (especially in things like, oh, wiring) we do like the Insinkerator 190°F faucet they installed. I'm happy to report they installed this one correctly! We were able to ditch the tea kettle and instead just use water directly from the tap. Also handy for cleaning and sterilizing things on the go. Instant Hot Water: Simple Pleasures.

Nate & Carrie Happy Moments #4: Little Debbie Birthday Inferno

Nate's 30th Birthday "Cake"

May 17, 2006

We celebrated Nate's birthday at home. We weren't going to get a cake, but at the last minute I ran out and got snack cakes to make a towering Little Debbie inferno. I also decorated the townhouse in a kids' soccer theme.

Click for more Burgan Happy Moments