Well, it's been a while......

Yup. I let my wee blog slip and you might wonder why.

Well, basically I got busy with one thing and another. I've had a good summer though, all in all. I renewed my lease and my rent wasn't raised (apparently they kept everyone's rent the same bacause most people are hurting financially and they didn't want to lose anyone). I had someone move into the next room (a nail tech) and discovered that a fan in the room covers SOOOO much noise. So if you happen to be in a noisy place, consider using one. Now that the colder weather is coming in, I'll probably have to switch it to a small heater. The white noise is also pretty relaxing. I didn't think it would be, and so I was pleasantly surprised.
What else? Oh, I'm just completing my first case study and that has turned out to be VERY interesting. If you are planning on submitting a case study to the MTF, remember the deadline is October 8th for the practitioner contest. I'm not expecting this first one to get anywhere, since the winners are usually on mega cool subjects (and I don't know if I'll even get it written up in time). The lovely monetary prizes are a good motivation too.
Oh, and if you haven't given to the MTF yet, remember that they're probably the most important organization in the profession and it's their 20th Anniversary, so PLEASE just send them $20 if you can.

OK.....I'm off to tackle a to do list from Hades.....

I hate doing Taxes

I hate it.
I just hate it.
Can I say that again?
OK
I hate it.
It's a pain in the gluteal cleft.

Has being nice become so rare...

...that it's unusual?

Has anyone seen those Liberty Mutual ads on T.V. where it shows a chain of people doing nice things for strangers? Is there not something weird about that?

I just find them weird.
Surely being nice and considerate to strangers isn't THAT unusual.
Or am I wrong?

Wish I had some original ideas......

....I'm trying to think of some cool Mother's Day Specials, but I can't think of anything original or fun.
I keep coming up with the same promo ideas over and over again. I need something fresh.

Wish everyone would....

....just shut up!!!!!

Busy day today. Two new clients in the afternoon.
Thing is...I was about to kill someone since everyone in our little area seemed to be making a racket. It's not a usual thing. Normally our little area is quiet, but it seemed that 2 people in there today just forgot all about the fact that there were others there and had long conversations with people in the corridor or had their door open and made a racket inside.

Of course, it doesn't help that I'm hormonal.
Really hormonal.
Could tear a body part off level of hormonal.
Maybe I shouldn't be working at all.

Funny how things change

OK, so you know how they're going to be putting up walls in the place I'm in (which I blogged about a few posts ago)? So this means that there will only be me and 1 other LMT in our place, and only 4 of us sharing our little area.

Well, the other MT approached me today and asked if I did chair massage and if I ever did gigs that needed 2 therapists, she'd be interested. She also suggested that we market couples massage (although I did say that the wording would have to be different since the couples would be in 2 different rooms) so I said "Yeah, sure". So my theory is that since we're both comfy with each other and there is no worry of another therapist moving in on our territory, that we help each other out.
Know what?
I LOVE IT!
See, she's got her business and I've got mine. Both of us are chugging along there with our client base built and I know she doesn't have that "Eeek...there's my competition - I don't want her around" attitude because I don't sense it. And I know she doesn't get it from me either.
She's cool.
So I'm going into coopetition mode with the therapist in the next room.
So now I'm putting my thinking cap on to see how to promote us...........

MTBOK

So it's coming close to the time when the period ends for the massage therapy profession to give comments on the second draft of the MTBOK.

For those that don't know about this document, here's how I view it - it's like a evolving blueprint for the direction in which our profession is going - it will have a huge influence on our legislation and our education. I think the fact that a bunch of folks have put together such a document is wonderful. It's unifying. It gives clarity to our profession. It's also a really interesting read. Here's the thing - they really, really want therapists and educators to give feedback. The fact that they are looking for feedback and want this to have a democratic element to it's development is fantastic in my view.

Giving feedback is very straightforward. After reading the document you just go to an online form and give feedback on a per line number format. When I entered my comments it took about a half hour. Some of the areas I thought needed clarification and then there were some that I thought should be removed or added to. I'd read the document and highlighted the areas with a yellow highlighter pen. Do you know I committed sacrilege by doing so? Yep, you see all Irish people should use green highlighter pens - but that just goes to show how important this document is. It's worth committing sacrilege for it.

So if you're sitting watching the Olympics and you're twiddling your thumbs during the commercial breaks, please put the time to good use and give the document a wee read and give feedback. By the way, there'll be a nice by product by doing so - by commenting you're giving back to the profession and you'll feel good about doing it!

The importance of giving to the MTF

I didn't give to this organization last year and I should have.

If you don't know about the MTF, then please visit their site and have a look around.

They're a huge player in massage therapy research, providing grants for MT research and they also publish an open access journal. They also do programs that provide massage for those in need.

I reckon there's a big reason they've a wee star in their logo - they're like the shining star of the massage world and one organization that we can all get behind.

So I'm coming up with ideas on how I can give. One involves selling some old CDs, which I'll blog about when I do it. The other is just having a wee box in my room in which I'll throw some money in that I know I won't miss and then I'll give it to the MTF every quarter or so.

Anyway, I'm embarrassed at the fact that I didn't give them money last year - it's not happening in 2010.

Oh, and I'm heading to their research conference in May in Seattle. Hopefully I'll be able to blog a bit about it when I'm there (although I might be too busy trying to cram stuff into my head - they've got a great line up planned ), but even if I don't have internet access, I'll be sure to ramble on about it when I get back - all being well.

My Wee Blog......

....has been going for a year.
Yep, my first post was on Feb 16th last year.

Time flies when you're blogging.

Still needing more votes for the groovy hair contest

VOTE HERE

Also, forward this link (www.surveymonkey.com/s/FW6LRWL) on to your MT friends, teachers, neighborhood coyotes etc.

Thanks!

Case Study Info

So a couple of posts ago I told you about how I got a $50 amazon gift cert for giving an interview.

I ordered some books tonight and included one on how to do a case study.
Yep, I've been drawn to the whole research side of massage lately, and I'm thinking I'm going to enter a case report in this years competition with the Massage Therapy Foundation.

I'm not doing it to win since I probably won't (I think that those involved more in pure medical massage have way more of a chance), but I think the process of doing one will be interesting and I also think it might be a tool to help with my practice - maybe have me re-evaluate some things? Maybe? We'll see.

I'll keep you posted!

It's an Irish female thing...or maybe just a female thing

Yes, I'm a wee bit worried.

It turns out that they're going to be doing some construction where I work.

I'm not exactly overjoyed at this since there's not only the noise issue while that is going on, but there is the added worry of how it's going to turn out.

See, the way the place is set up now is that I'm in an area that was designed for massage therapists and aesthetitians, but they can't fill the rooms in our area (there's only 1 other therapist there and 2 aesthetitans). The main area of the building has nail techs and hairstylists. These are all individual rooms with individual businesses. So, they're doing to put up walls, knock down walls and basically incorporate half of our area into the main area, which is noisey and has hair-chemical smells etc. So the wall is going right next to my room which means that a hairstylist or nail tech will be in the next room to me AND I LIKE THINGS TO BE REALLY QUIET and NON-SMELLY.

So I'm not overjoyed at this.

The other thing that is happening is that they're tearing out the shower room. I haven't done one body treatment since I moved there (which is weird since I used to do about one a month when I worked out of my home), so I don't mind taking them off my list of services, but there's still that feeling that I'm NOT IN CONTROL.
Because I'M A CONTROL FREAK!!!!!!!!
AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm giving everyone the virtual thumbs up

Why?
Because I want to.
It's also a tribute to all thumbs everywhere in our profession.
I think we should have a national "massage therapists: kiss your thumbs" day.

Someone's water breaking while doing prenatal massage?

This isn't something that I hope ever happens to me.

However, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it did actually happen to me SOME day. (By the way, that whole "luck of the Irish thing" isn't true).

I had someone booked this afternoon for a prenatal massage. She called at around 11 am and said she wouldn't be able to make it since she'd just had her water break. I was totally impressed about the fact that she had the presence of mind to call me. You'd think there would be other things on her mind (like pushing a baby through a birth canal), so I thanked her profusely for letting me know. I also sighed with relief because I was booked this morning and she had initially wanted a morning appointment, so it could have been an interesting experience.

Phew!

Don't you just love it.....

...when you "think" you recognize a phone number as being one of your friends and you answer it in an unprofessional way, only to find that it's actually a client?

I need to plug in phone numbers of friends into my contact list on my phone.

It wasn't "too" bad. I answered it with a big "Helllloooooo....how are you?" instead of my normal "Good afternoon..." followed by my business name, followed by my name etc.

It could have been worse. I could have answered with "What the hec was that on your facebook page last night?", or "I don't know about you, but I'm having a crappy day" or just a blunt "What do you want?".

Yeah...it could have been much worse.

Always say thanks...

...because you never know where it will lead.

So a few posts back I wrote about being #14 on a bloglist on the site www.guidetomassagetherapyschools.com , so I sent them a "thank you" through their website.

They pinged me back and asked me if I'd be up to being interviewed.
"Why yes!" I said, feeling like a celebrity.

So after completing the interview they sent me a $50 amazon gift card!
That was so nice of them - just for answering some questions.
Just goes to show that saying thanks leads to nice things sometimes. I should do it more often!

Don't you just love it......

....when you're in a cubicle in the bathroom and you make some extraordinary noises and then you come out and find 3 people at the sink and one of them is your next client?

Yep.
Fabulous.

A Massage Therapist's Right Thumb Meets Another Massage Therapist's Right Thumb

This was actually from a couple of weeks ago when I got to meet my fellow blogger, Christina (of lucrativepain) when we went to lunch.
See that tree in our front yard? It's now covered in snow and the whole neighborhood is white.

Friends are a good thing to have, especially massage therapist friends.

Back pain

I got angry at something yesterday (something stupid when I look back at it) but it made me instantly angry to the degree that it made my hands shake. That's pretty angry for me. Things don't normally get to me to such a degree, but it just popped out of the blue.

Right after the hands started to shake I got a wave of intense low back pain. Scary low back pain.

I have a herniated disk at L5 that gives me problems with flare ups every now and then. So most of the time I get bad LBP it's from that and I've "done" something to fire it up physically.

But yesterday? That was ALL emotion.
It went away after a few minutes, but it made me wonder about how much pain I deal with in my job that is rooted in emotion. And anger mostly.

Then I wondered about what it would be like to have a switch to turn off "negative" emotions. Then I wondered about "negative" emotions and aren't they useful too when it comes to finding out things.

Yesterday I discovered that my own back pain is related to anger.
It funny the discoveries that we make about ourselves, isn't it?

The godaddy ad

So a lot of therapists are upset with the godaddy ad that they showed during the Superbowl and petitions are being put together about it.
I've seen worse stuff on T.V on HBO mostly. The ad didn't impress me at all, but it didn't turn me red with rage either.

Anyhoooo....I'm posting the petition on here just in case anyone wants to add their name to it:

Here's the ad to review

And here's the petition

I like the way people are taking a stand and doing something. Too often MTs just sit back and let things happen. I think this is a good sign.

I like it.

Survey for MTs

OK, so take a minute to do this if you haven't already:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FW6LRWL

Thanks!

New Site for Massage Therapists

MASSAGE THERAPISTS!!!!

Yes!
Please go to a new site for massage therapy research and get involved in the coolness of learning about research.
Yep, it was created by yours truly.

I had lunch today.....

...with a fellow blogger.

It was great. Yep, Christina of Lucrative Pain, fellow massage therapist is great and I know we're going to be good friends.

How cool is that?
We "met" through each others blogs and now we're having chin wags over lunch.

Makes me glad for blogging!

I like this - I've no idea why, I just do!

Nice wee surprises

I was checking my analytics tonight and found a link to my wee blog from here that really made my day.

I'm number 14!!!

I don't know if that actually means anything, but I'm taking it as meaning it's freakin' AWESOME!!!!!!

I'm thinking of getting one of these....

It's supposed to be a nose warmer, but I'm thinking of using it just as a nose-cover.

Don't you hate it when you've just got over a cold, only your nose is left with "scabbiness" that's just horrible?

ESPECIALLY when you've got new clients and you know that the only thing that they're looking at the first time you meet them is your nose.

I had that today.

Fab.

The thing about modern conveniences.....

...is that we are totally dependent on them in order to keep us SANE.

What modern convenience is every massage therapist TOTALLY dependent on?

Yes, you guessed it, our washer went kaput today and guess what else? It's going to be over a week before the repair peeps can get here.
A WEEK! Whoop-dee-freakin'-doo!
A WEEK of running to the public laundromat with the sheets from work (which I got back to today - I'm still a wee bit stuffed up, but not too bad).

Oh well, at least it wasn't a month.

You know, when I was young and I was living by myself I used to do all my laundry at the laundromat - now it just bothers me. I'm turning into a grumpy old woman!

And yes, that's a picture of a dude in a washer. Don't ask me why he's there - I don't know. Does anyone know what really goes through the mind of a man?

Ever had one of these days?

Off sick today...

...woke up with a sore throat and a definite problem with the nasal passages.

So I'd to reschedule everyone today - 6 massage hours.

I think that's one of the major drawbacks of working for ourselves, right?

Sickness = zero income.

UNCOOL!!

UNACCEPTABLE!!

UNFAIR!!

New Year "Stuff"

It's funny the things I learn from my clients.

I worked on New Years Day and I was the only one working in the location I work in. I was busy - five and a half hours of massage and I worked 'til 8 that night. I thought I may as well work rather than sitting around the house watching T.V., plus I need the money.

One of my regular clients and I were talking about new year resolutions and I said that I had the same one that I did last year that I never stuck to - to reduce the girthiness of my stomach, work out, stop eating rubbish etc.
She told me that she heard good advice on on the radio which was:
"Don't carry anything into 2010 that prevented you from growing in 2009"

I like that. It made me think. It even made me think about the reasons WHY I didn't stick to going to the gym. Also, I have plans that sometimes don't work out because I get bored with stuff easily. Hmmmmmm..............that whole self analysis thing is sometimes good.

I also think I'm going to keep a wee book of "Things I've learned from clients". But then, will I procrastinate with that too?