Hello from Tracy.

Glad you are feeling better but sorry about your neck - naps are a good thing ! Gratitude is the best - thank you for sharing this word yesterday, I must have needed it ~ woke up today with a new outlook...Have fun at your classes and can't wait to see the pictures !! See you in Portland next month =)

A heat pad!!!! This little one in my belly has been leading me to have some back issues that also give me a stiff neck. Fought the headache for two weeks with massages and hot showers. I finally gave in and bought a little heat pad and feel worlds better--not to mention that it is toasty warm to curl up with when it is chilly outside. Safe travels to you (and the heat pad will fit in your suitcase for the trip home!)

Ali, why dont you book in for a massage. take an hour out and do it for yourself. Sounds like its what you need at the moment, and it might help that stiff neck too.
A spa might help also.
Hope your weekend is wonderful.
Dee

Stiff neck.....an old remedy - would be to Vicks vapor rub and then a scarf around it for awhile.
I personally wear a scarf most of the time in the winter - neck gets cold and then I start to feel the stiffness which turns into a headache...so I am known as the scarf person in the winter!!!

Aleeve and some icy hot - I like the heat pad, too but it only works when you can sit or lay down :) Have a great trip!

I usually just do a heating pad although the massage sounds nice:) Looking forward to taking classes tomorrow with you. Hope you are feeling better:)

a nice bath after your class tonight might help.
I love outdoor living spaces, but they are sooo much work.
Have a good weekend :)
M

Ali- You won't be able to get the relief you need right away, but for future reference try www.cornbaby.com. They are "heating pads" made of corn and wrapped in flannel. I cannot tell you how good they feel. They even make a necksize that my hubby and I love. As for immediate, i vote for the massage option!

I had the stiff neck for two days with a cold the first of the week. Tylenol, and my 'herbie ( flax seeds inside flannel that is heated in the microwave) helped me.
A massage and a hot bath would work also. Hope you're feeling good again soon.

I use ThermaCare heat wraps (sold in drugstores and grocery stores on the medicine aisle). They have a gentle adhesive to stick to where you need it, and they stay hot for up to 8 hours. Once you peel off the backing the pad begins to heat up. You can wear them under clothes and nobody would even notice. Good luck!

Ibuprofen and a rice sock....fill up an old cotton sock with uncooked rice, tie off the end, and microwave. (beans work, too) I feel for ya! I've dealt with neck pain my whole life...it stinks. Hope ya feel better!

I too had sore neck - thought i pulled something or slept wrong - felt like a "crick"- had a virus- took anti-biotic - much better-have a good weekend!

Just wanted to make you aware that stiff neck along with the cold/flu symptoms can be meningitis. Do a web search to see what symptoms you have. Feel better soon!
Jodi

thanks for the tip on the "green" issue
of domino. i think all the magazine
editors were thinking the same thing
this year (maybe all trying to have a new
take on the somewhat expected march green?
i've seen at least 2 other march issues
(coastal living and another i can't remember)
that were featuring a bunch of environmental
topics. this is a pretty exciting trend and i
hope it influences a lot of folks. i'll be sure to
check out domino's website to see their take on it.
also have you tried some relaxing breathing techniques
to help relax your neck? :)

this issue of dominio is my favorite! sometimes i think they go overboard with the ads, but this month was perfect. and i love that it is green!

Have fun in Tracy, it is a great store. We live about 1 east of there and my 11 yr old daughter and I wish we could have joined you for classes this weekend but she is a Girl Scout and has to sell cookies :(
Have fun and come back next year!!

Ali-sounds like you have the "Nora" virus that has been storming the nation. We had it two weeks ago...my dad had the really stiff neck w/it too. It starts as either a cold or a 24 hour stomach flu and then followed by a stiff neck and sometimes achy joints in the knees and wrists. The stiff neck last for about a week. My dad had the depression with it too. At any rate do not put heat on it! Heat only makes the muscles more inflamed. You need to keep on ibuprofen to help reduce the inflamation, and put ICE on it to help keep the inflamation down. That really helped me and my dad. Hope that helps!

If you're somewhere without a heating pad, wet down a hand towel, wring it out and put it in the microwave until it's hot and wrap it around your neck and shoulders. It does the trick in a pinch...

Hi Ali!!! Can't wait for the classes and crop on Saturday....See you then. Get some rest and I hope you feel better soon.

Ali, so sorry you aren't feeling well. I second what Jackie said up there: ice, not heat, for your neck. Hopefully it will pass quickly for you. There's nothing like being sick to remind us to be GRATEFUL for our health once it passes, is there?
And... a NAP? No wonder you seem so joyful/positive all the time! lol ;)

ice, muscle relaxers, and rest.
then once the muscle is less tender, stretching and massage.
i get neck pain-serious neck pain-a couple times a year.

Wish I was closer to get into one of those classes! I know everyone will have fun though. I can't pick up a Martha Stewart Mag without getting just tons of layout ideas!!!

Domino had some great tips for going green in your home. I read the same articles. I, too, fantasize about the lush gardens featured in MS's outdoor mag, hoping one day I'll wake up and it will magically appear.
If you have the time while in San Fran...go for a massage. And if the spa does neck adjustments. that should do the trick. In the meantime, stand in a hot shower and let it beat down on your neck to help loosen it up a bit.
Still reminiscing about your visit to VA. I'm constantly inspired by you, Ali!
Jeanette :)

Ali, another really good way to get your smile on: go outside and skip down the street. I mean, totally skip. You can't skip without smiling. And I am sure that if they did some scientific research on this we would learn that the act of skipping produces a chemical rush, a euphoric release of happy hormones.
It's great whether you do it alone or holding someone else's hand (who must also be skipping).
In fact, it even helps to watch someone skip. But doing it yourself will really make a long-term difference and get you out of that funk completely. Try it and let me know how it goes. =)

Heating pad and just RELAXING those muscles - not sitting up, straining, or leaning. Make sure you are laying down or in a position with no stress on your neck. Plus 2 ibuprofen. Usually works pretty well for me (I have worked with a lot of neck related strains and tension in my life!).
As for the HUGE outdoor garden, as much as I love that idea (I am a gardener at heart)....I just think about all the maintenance. Then I think about the garden help I'd have to hire to tend to it. Then I suddenly snap back to reality and am happy for my small patch of garden and realise that my dreams take me to other playgrounds and gardens that I can view, enjoy, and feel guilt-free about accidentally neglecting ;)
Finally, Domino puts out the most forward home decor magazine, bar none. They have an eye for detail and making things 'work' like no other. Most of the homes look lived in and cozy. They look like some place I'd like to live. Sure they can be a little pretentious (as almost all home decor magazines are), but they are not over anyone's head. This month's magazine really hits home for me, as I have always been interested in limiting my ecological footprint on this earth. It's great to see some businesses taking a serious, committed plunge into keep our earth in tact for future generationgs.