Well, it's been nearly a month since I've posted anything. Since then, I've taken a continuing education course in infant massage, offered free chair massage at a MetroMoms event, completed two knitting commissions, and attended a natural building workshop. Whew!

The infant massage course was lots of fun. We learned about studies proving that children thrive when held and touched as infants, and practiced the technique on dolls. One of the students had her husband bring her toddler nephew, who had been receiving massage since he was a baby. He was so cute! He would sit still for a little while, then jump up to go pounce on his uncle, or to play with one of the dolls. Then, when he was ready, he would lay back down for a little more work.

The MetroMoms event was allot of fun, too. It was a "move and be healthy" type of thing, held at a Wiggles Play Center. Not only did the kids get to play on the playsets, but the moms participated in a hula-hoop contest, while the dads had to feed and change a "baby" - one handed! It was so funny to see grown men get so competitive over baby bottles filled with water and diapers that just would not come off of the doll. It was all in good fun, though.

If you are interested in my knitting, you can check it out at themerryknitter.blogspot.com. I've knit a Christmas sticking and three pairs of baby booties this lately. I'll start on a sweater this month.

The natural building workshop was so much fun. We built the walls of a small cabin out of cob, a traditional building material in the UK made up of sand, clay, soil, and straw. You add water and viola, you have...well, thick mud with straw in it. But, when it is stacked and squished into the shape of a wall, it dries rock had and can last for hundreds of years. You know those white houses with the thatched roofs in England? Those are cob. You can check out the slide show of some of the pics and video I took during the workshop below.

Where's Merry?

ok, so maybe that title would work better if my name started with a W. But, it's the best I could come up with at the moment. ;)

I've got a couple of events coming up in May. On the 3rd, I'll be giving parafin dips and hand massages at a "healthy spa day" type thing hosted by New Directions Chiropractic. I'm not quite sure where it is being held (I should know these things if I'm gonna be there, huh?) but I'll post them here as soon as I find out. Or you can e-mail Dr. Neidrich for all the gory, er um, fun details through her website NewDirectionsChiropractic.com.

Also, on the 19th, I'll be doing free, yes I said FREE chair massage at a Dallas MetroMoms event, "Getting Strong! Hop, Skip, and Jump to Family Fun!" It's at the Wiggly Play center in Frisco. If you're interested, you'll need to register through MetroMoms at this website: http://www.metroplexbaby.com/MetroMoms/2008/20080518_GettingStrong.htm According to the site, one lucky family will win an orbit baby stroller.

So, anyway, hope to see you there. (oh, btw, be on the look out for my new newsletter, Take A Moment, coming out on the 15th of every month. I'll post it here, but you can sign up for the HTML e-mail version on the left hand side of the blog, or at the contacts page of my website.)