A Little Known Fact About Yours Truly...AKA "The Secret Life Of The Massage Therapist"...

Ok...I may have gotten myself into something I can't get out of and now I may have to FAKE an MS relapse in September just to pass this up!!! I'm talking about my "volunteered participation" in the MS150 ride...you know the one...Saint EB is my dedicated "rider" and I am...well, I was SUPPOSED to be just a cheerleader. LOL

Something came over me (like the plague) two weeks ago...something I should have THOUGHT about before opening my big mouth (which IS a rare occasion actually...the thinking before speaking part). I volunteered myself to give post ride therapeutic massages to the MS150 team Saint EB is riding with! GOOD GOD, NELLIE! What WAS I thinking?!?

It came over me like a blast from my past. I think I had been feeling soooo well physically that I thought, "Hey self. Why NOT take one for the team and volunteer to do something good for a change. You used to BE a massage therapist in your other life. This is no big deal".

So, the secret is out...I've outed myself. It's true...I am STILL a Registered Massage Therapist in Texas. But I haven't PRACTICED as one in over 10 years! I used to have my own office for a time (while only doing psych nursing on call) and saw mostly injury related issues and psychiatric referrals. I really LOVED this work.

But, then I moved to Seattle and returned to working full-time in the psych field and simply tucked my massage therapy practice back away in my mind...it has occasionally clawed its way out every now and then at work when a coworker is having a back or neck pain, but that has been the extent of my ongoing "practice".

I think I have missed doing this type of work for quite a while. Don't get me wrong...I enjoy the work I do now. But there's something ever-so-relaxing and healing about massage and rarely has anyone EVER been disgruntled for it (although I DID break one of my attorney client's ribs once...talk about a lawsuit waiting to happen! LOL). I seemed to always be in my "happy place" when I was doing this type of work.

So, I opened my big mouth and now I must pay the piper. I already have a few friends lined up who have consented to let me "practice" on them (they don't seem frightened at all and seem quite pleased at the prospect of a free massage!). And I HAVE been working out with weights and walking a lot (Saint EB thinks this has only been for HER training experience...Moohahahaha...it has been for ME!) to try to build my strength back up. I am a bit concerned though that 4 of the riders on the team are firemen...I imagine they have BIG muscles and high tolerances for pain. (Crack one of their ribs and see who cries, "mama"...LOL)

I just hope this "bigger than life" feeling I have gotten from the Novantrone continues to pay off...I'm going to have to muster up every ounce of strength and endurance I have to "perform" for these folks. Unless, of course, I DO fake that relapse! The only problem is, Dr. She Who Will Not Be Named is also on the team and she has NO sympathy for me!...