So a couple of weird dreams have woken me up in the past few days.
Monday I was living at a place, not my house, that had some very aggressive vipers in the back yard. My cats, including cats from my past, loved playing with them before they finally killed them off. Any time the cats opened the flap on the cat door the vipers came slithering up to the door to try and sneak attack who ever came out. The cats always got the best of them. I had friends come over and they came in through the back and I had to kill the vipers with a pitch fork because the cats were sleeping. I woke up after that strangeness!

Tuesday I was hanging out with my brother and a best friend at the beach. We were in some enclosed building riding on box springs and mattresses while sharks kept coming up and attacking. After all of that I ended up at a casino that seems to pop up often in my dreams.

Strange stuff! Don't know what it all means but hopefully Freddy doesn't come knocking/scrapping on my door!

Finally going to have a few days for vacation in May. Will be getting massages, natural hot steam bath and hanging in the hot tub with my lovely wife. I guess I'll have to give her at least one massage during that time but I look forward to not having to do 5 a day for the week. My body needs the rest!

C' ya!

Me

Enhancing my blog to keep up with my "atta' boys" and other strange happenings at work...

Yesterday was one of those days of strange and wonderful happenings. Just before going in I get a message from work. I call them and they say never mind. I hit the shower and start getting dressed to find that there is another message from work. You now have a 3pm and would you mind getting a massage and assessing a potential new therapist. Ummm...sure...force me to take a massage from somebody that is more than likely try their best to make sure I'm good! Yeah, I'm down with that.

I get to work to find that my 3pm is one of my co-workers that has been out. She's got some issues that the docs can't figure out. The main thing is tremors in her hands but I had no clue before I got there that this was going on. Several people were helping her to the room. I'm thinking that they're joking because we tend to have fun at work, within reason, but no she really has tremors in her hands. My job is to get her to relax. That's not a big deal and I've been told that I do that well. I had previously discussed with her mom that I don't want a gratuity from her since she'll be doing these often. Maybe just a trip to the frozen yogurt place once in a while would be good for me. She is a friend and co-worker after all. Time goes by, her hands are settled now and she's all relaxed. Her mom tells me that they denied my friend the opportunity to tip but at the end of the night there is one from her in the drawer. Of course I told my friend that she will be getting it back at a later date. She confirmed that she didn't do it. Now we have to figure out who done it!

I got my massage and all was good. I'm still learning to relax. Strange but true.

Later in the night I had a return client that had been working with other therapist for a few months. I guess it was my turn again. It's always fun to see a clients changes as I work on them. This was one of those times. I worked on face and scalp then proceeded to the neck and shoulders. As I moved to the neck she says that was the best scalp massage that she ever had. I confessed that I kinda' zoned out for a few minutes while working the scalp. I'm still pretty new and fellow therapist tell me that you'll do that from time to time and your fingers will just take over.

Things are pretty tight in the neck but I have my own routine in place to get those muscles loosened up now. As I worked I saw an ongoing smile continue to grow as her neck loosened up. Again, I got another compliment of how great it felt to be able to move her head and neck normally. I went through everything that I do with my clients and finished up with some good foot work. Once, I finished I got compliment that every therapist like to here..."I've had a lot of massages but that was by far the best one that I've ever had!". Always, always great to hear from someone you haven't worked with for a few months. Kinda' makes you want to say "see what you've been missing" but I know our group is pretty good so I just stick with the "thanks, I really appreciate that!". Of course I'm happy for the rest of the night.

Over all this has been such a great venture! I'm so happy that my friends pushed me to this!

New Year, time for new goals...or not! Some of the things I've already started will continue.

I need to pick my path for massage. Currently it's been very gratifying to keep people happy. Trying to learn the ins and outs of a big corporation that sells massage has been a little trying but I'm getting there. The overall lesson that I learned during my first 5 months is that therapists are all different and we all bring something a little different to the table regardless of how long we've been working at it.

I'd like to stay in touch with more of my SG friends that I've made. I seem to blog once a quarter, that'll probably be the norm, but dropping a note or comment might be a better choice.

I need to get out more...tired of the daily grind. Work, sleep, eat, sleep, play a game or watch TV, sleep then back to work. Take note there is a lot of napping going on there. The massage biz really takes it out of you and it takes time to recharge.

I look forward to the coming year and the many sets being done by my favorite SGs and hopefuls. Big hugs to ya' all.

C' Ya!

Ron

It's been a long time since I wrote a blog post. A lot has happened during that time...some good and some bad so I guess that there is a balance going on there.

First things first...I'm now doing my thing with massage and working on people and getting paid for it. I work for one of the biggest chains in the country. It's not perfect but I'm finding my niche and really enjoy going to work almost every day. It's such a thrill to see somebody come in and tell that they're stressed out or have a knot or soreness from tight muscles then watch them leave with that look of relief. This is one of those deals that if I ever won the lottery that I'd probably do this for free just because I enjoy it so much.

The next challenge is figuring out where I want to take this new career. I thought sports massage but I lost a few key contacts due to moves out of the area. I hear that prenatal is really a good area to go to help those people with healthy deliveries of their child. I think what ever I choose it'll just add to the enjoyment.

Over these past few months I've gotten brave enough to pay attention to a few more SG's and add comments to their blogs or send nice to note to encourage them. It's really great to get responses from them and I thank them for that. I plan to keep that going from now on. It gets difficult some days to keep tabs on all the hopefuls and new SG hopeful sets coming out. I check most of them out via Kraven's blogs these days. She is great at promoting others even at the potential expense of her own sets. By the way Little Monster would be a great set to see come out during the month of Halloween and Ruby Red is pretty awesome too!

Now for the happy bummer news in my world. Oct. 1 I lost a very great close friend to cancer after a 5 year battle with the beast. Double trouble for her family because her grandma passed away on the same day. First she beat Lymphoma and was in remission for 3 years or so. In 2010 they found out that she had developed Leukemia from the protocol that they used in the first battle. I, like many others, feel ripped off because we all had so much more that we wanted to do with her over the coming years of our friendships. At the same time we're happy because she doesn't have to go through the hell that she's endured during these past years. She was only 42. She was smiling to the end despite her battle.

I think her husband, also one of my best friends, put it best at her memorial - "This sucks". Afterwards we all went to their house to celebrate her life, at her request. The things that I will always remember is that we laughed at lot, worked hard at community events/outings that we went to and played even more after those events. I still get teary eyed once in a while but I usually end up laughing remembering all the silly stuff we did together. I think she's probably laughing at me right now trying to write this blog!

I can't leave this blog ending like this though...I have to chuckle a little at my buddy Greaser. If I didn't know any better I'd say he's back to normal after his short stint in the Army...if he actually has a normal way. Hell look at his profile pic. He used to have no make up on and slicked back 50's look.

Also, always need to thank the efforts of all the SGs, hopefuls and photographers that put up their sets for all to see. You all are awesome!

The journey continues on my quest to become a massage therapist (technically a Registered Massage Practitioner)...

This past Monday I took the Maryland test, after filing tons of paper work w/photos and separate money orders for each fee that they wanted. Today I found out that I passed it and now get to file more paperwork with the state and yet another money order!

The brass ring is so close. I can't wait to get my hands on people to make them relax, feel good and help them heal a little quicker than normal.

Kinda' gonna' be strange after spending 20 plus years in computers and electronics to get totally away from it!

Thanks to all the SGs and hopefuls for putting out their sets and literally putting their beautiful bodies on the line for all of us to enjoy! Even though he's not as sexy as the girls I have to say "Good Luck" to Greaser after he finally gets out of the Army. He made me say that!

After many hours of studying for the National Massage Therapists Exam I have successful passed. There is only one more minor/major hurdle to get my license...The State of Maryland! There is a whole pile of paperwork to file and some wonderful fees to submit. If they like all of that then I'll be able to take a test at the end of June, 2 months after graduating. If all of that goes well then I get to give them more money and they give me my license.

Finally and hopefully I'll be able to get a PAYING job! It's been fun working on peeps for free but it's time to pay the bills.

Gotta thank all of the SG's - hopefuls and pinks for all of their sets. You all are so awesome to see and occasionally chat with!

Obviously from my sentence...I graduated from massage school. Things went pretty well for the most part. The book work/test taking seemed pretty easy considering I haven't been in school for over 20 years. I ended up with 3.86 average I think. I worked on over 60 different bodies during my time at school so I'm pretty relaxed when I work on somebody that is new.

The big push is waiting for the national exam. I sent in paper work over 2 weeks ago and still nothing from them. Once I get to take the exam then I have to pay out $400 plus to Maryland only to take a simple test and finally get my license. The main issue with them is that you have to submit paper work at the beginning of the month and then wait til' the end of the month to take the test. Once a month only! If I miss it then I'm outta work for another month.

The fun stuff has been trying to keep up with all of the new sets and hopeful sets. I'm wondering if they're considering 2 a days for a while since there have been so many great sets out there. Thanks to all of those people that have been putting the sets out!

Also trying to come out of my shell and friend more people. It's just not something I do very well some times. Again to those that have accepted a big THANKS!

Grats to Greaser on getting through the first part of his Army stuff and becoming a tank driver. A big hug to Rydell for keeping up her smiling face and great attitude during her moves to the west coast.

Rumor has it that we've moved into 2011. The month of January was a blur for me. I started "muscle mod" in school. The stories about how difficult it might be were very true. I don't think I've ever studied so much about one subject in such a short time.
I think I lived at the school since I was making up time from being sick for a couple of days and one day I took to help my friend at her scrapbooking event. To this day the instructors still ask me where night class got to in the book.
The best thing is I survived and now have a good grasp on the muscles that I'm working on. Today I got to work in the student clinic on my first client from the public. Only a couple of things were missed but the client had no idea. I worked out some tight spots on the clients back and sent them home happy. They we're happy enough to offer a tip, which we're not allowed to accept due to ethics rules concerning students.

I've enjoyed keep up with those that I keep up with. Good times for Rydell on your move to the west! Greaser when in doubt "run Greaser run"!

Now I've got a massage table to go out and practice with. It's been interesting to try and make practice sessions with friends. Who wouldn't want a free massage? I guess with all of the time we spend doing our normal lives it doesn't make sense to take an hour to get relaxed. However I do have a few that have volunteered their bodies for an hour.

The next step is making a relaxing room in my house so that I can bring people in for a massage. It's been a fun adventure so far.

Greaser keeps pointing out that I'm doing this massage just to get the women! Well to tell you the truth the women are the scary part of the deal...at least until you get the hang of it.

We recently learned abdomen and chest massage. It's pretty easy to work with a guy because you can just undrape and bam! you're there and into it. With the gals you have to be careful not to uncover or invade the breast area. Wardrobe malfunctions will cost you in this field! Luckily we have a few nice female students that have allowed us to use them as our test subjects so that we learn not to fumble around in that area. One of them claims that she really "hated" have her pectorals and shoulders repeatedly massaged over and over by all of us. So much so that she can't wait to "hate" it some more next week!

There's some trippy muscles down below your small intestines that I never felt before. Probably won't be going in that area very often. It's just weird in there!