A Spa Treatment and a Piano

So last year for Mother's Day, Tyler bought me a gift card for a 50 minute, full body massage at a fancy Spa here. I had never been to a spa before, and truthfully the thought of going to one really intimidated me....so it didn't get used til yesterday...a whole year later (I HAD to use it this week or it was going to expire). The gift card was transferrable, so I opted for the 50 minute facial instead, that was to include the facial, and a neck, shoulder, and arm massage. I will come out of the closet and say that I am a Homophobe. What does that have to do with anything?? Well that's why I transferred the services to a facial, rather than do the full body massage. That may sound funny to some people, but that's just the way it is. Maybe someday I won't be so paranoid and will try out the body massage!


Anyway, so yesterday my heart was racing as I left my kids with their Grandma Caudle, and headed over to the spa. When I walked in, it was pretty much what I expected...it smelled of many different "soothing" smells and was filled with upscale women in their 40's and 50's who wore just a little too much makeup. One woman stared at my flip flops while I walked in. "Dang it, why couldn't I have worn my nicer sandals??" I was thinking as she stared. (My husband thought the same thing about himself one evening when we went to the Olive Garden for dinner and he thought someone was staring at his flip flops...wow we sound like paranoid people, haha!) After the lady at the counter got my name, she took me downstairs to wait. This large hallway-type of area was painted with a dark chocolate brown, and the doors and entryways were a dark silver color. There was some weird music playing that was supposed to be more relaxing, but really it just made me more nervous. Honestly at that moment I wouldn't have minded leaving. I felt like I was in a fancy haunted house and that any minute someone was going to fly at me with a knife. I know this all sounds SOOOO crazy, it does to me too while I write it!! Finally I met the woman who was going to be doing my facial. She left while I put on my little button on towel and layed on this bed that had LOTS of padding and had beautiful dark, silky blankets that I was to get under. She came in and told me what she would be doing since it was my very first facial. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. All the different creams, gels, and masks that she would put on my face and then wipe off, smelled SO good. She mentioned she'd do some extractions since my skin isn't great, but I had no idea what that meant. I had my eyes closed when all of a sudden it felt like she was shoving a giant needle deep into my skin!! She did it in several spots where I had some small blemishes. It took everything I had not to cry!! (TMI I know, too bad) Also the music...still on the creepy side. After massaging my arms with a gel (and my neck and shoulders) she wrapped them in what felt like a gauze material (I had a hardening mask on at this point, with round things over my eyes (no I don't think they were cucumbers) and then a hot washcloth on top of those so I couldn't see exactly what material it was!) and then she put my wrapped arms in some long rubber-type of gloves that were heated. Before she left the room, she turned the bed on...it vibrated up and down my back for about 20 more minutes. By the time she came in and my 50 minutes had flown by, I was glad I had gone in that day. Even though it took me the whole 50 minutes to really feel comfortable there, I would definitely go again! My face felt so clean that I didn't want to put on makeup. The experience really made me wish I was rich and could afford that treatment monthly!!!





So that was my first spa experience. Now about the piano...

I'm a member of freecycle.org. On that website you can get emails of what people in your town are trying to give away for free, and you can also post things you would like to give away. I've given away many clothes, old books and picture frames, etc on that website. There is rarely anything that someone is offering that I'm dying to have, but the other day someone listed "an old oak piano that just needs tuning". HOLY COW!! I emailed the person back and by the next day I was at the woman's house with my hubby, someone's big truck, and 3 other guys to lift it!! (One of the guys was Tyler's boss, and the other two were his coworkers...all of which were on the clock except Tyler since it was his day off!!) It is a cute, shorter paino, and EXTREMELY heavy. Even with 4 guys they could barely lift it (it is oak afterall!!) and one of the guys was hurting a little afterwards, I felt so bad but hopefully Tyler will find out if he's okay today!! It is now sitting in my large dining room area. It has one missing wheel, the wood is chipped and scratched in places, and some of the keys are a little chipped on the ends. There is also one key that sticks, and another that the sound carries even after you let go of the key. It is also missing a knob on the cover...and the cover is incredibly hard to shut so it's better just to leave it open and let the kitty play on it at night!!?! (Actually she only played it a few times last night before I fell asleep) Despite the imperfections of the piano....IT WAS FREE and the sound the piano gives off is so deep and loud! I've been walking on air since before we even went and picked it up! I'm so excited to be able to practice again...even though I never liked to when I was younger! I'm glad that my mom made us girls take piano lessons though. I'm excited (and Shaylee's even more excited) to teach Shaylee to play the piano now. She's the age I was when I started...7. Right now I'm trying to bid on some Alfred piano books on Ebay which are the kind I was taught from.

Tyler is happy because I'm happy (about the piano) and I'M happy that I'm happy, so yes life is still good, haha!