Proof That I Need To Take Care Of Myself More Often...

I had my massage today. It was lovely. Especially after I went running this morning in 26 degree weather. Thank God it was sunny. And my friend made me go.

So I’ve apparently not been there in awhile. You’d think that I’d know this because I couldn’t tell you for the life of me the last time I was there. Or maybe because my knots had knots. Or maybe because I forgot how to get there and had to Mapquest it.

But nope, none of those is why I knew I hadn’t been there in awhile. The place I go to is a massage school, which means they’re students who need hours and therefore, it’s cheap(er). In fact, it’s $35 for an hour long massage, quite a deal. Errrr, it was $35. When I got my credit card receipt, I saw that it was $40. Now, keep in mind that I’m not complaining. A $40 massage is a wonderful and rare thing. But wow, it’s been awhile.

And when I went to go get my mani/pedi yesterday, I realized that it had been awhile since I’d had a mani/pedi. Again, I could possibly know this because there were people working that who I didn’t recognize – as a family business, the staff has been remarkably stable since its opening. Or maybe because I can’t remember what color polish I last had on my toes. Dark purple maybe?

But nope, once again, it’s because the prices have gone up. When I first started going there at least seven years ago, it was $25 for a manicure and pedicure. Considering I knew about – but didn’t frequent – places that charged $17 for the manicure alone, good deal. Plus, they give the greatest foot, leg, hand and arm massages as part of your treatment. That alone is practically worth the $25. But for the last few years, it was $30 for the mani/pedi. Yesterday? $35. The only good news is that there were two girls in there on spring break with me who I could overhear being shocked that it was no longer $25. At least my shock wasn’t as great.

Again, $35 for a mani/pedi is not something to sneeze at, but it still makes me sad that everything is getting more expensive because I’m turning into one of those old fogies who remembers when gas cost $0.98.

And quickly back to my massage: The therapist told me that I have perfect skin for a massage. Totally did a double take on that one and finally had to ask what exactly that meant. Apparently, that means that the knots in my back don’t adhere to my skin and make it so tight that the therapist can’t work with it. That or she was totally bs’ing me. Still a totally weird comment.

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And I know I promised the story regarding my in-laws. I will preface this by saying that they’re really nice people. Really sweet and caring people. They just aren’t always the most couth.

For Easter, they took us out to brunch (no comments on how this occurs only because the parents, two sets of aunts and uncles and the sister can’t agree as to whose “turn” it is to host a holiday so now all of them refuse to host anyone for any holiday). It was (to quote my husband) the nicest restaurant in Edwardsville, which really isn’t the strongest compliment. It was fine though.

They had a salad bar that consisted of iceberg lettuce, two kinds of shredded cheese, no veggies or other toppings, and three kinds of salad dressing. My in-laws were in front of me getting their salads, so I waited patiently while they made them. Since the dressing was on the wrong side of the lettuce, I had to watch what they were doing before I could even start to get my lettuce.

FIL lifted up the dressing scooper with some sort of dressing on it, brought it near his nose and sniffed. He then shrugged and held it out to MIL. She said she had no idea, so he urged her to taste it. This is when internally I began screaming no, but my physical body could only drop its jaw and stare. She dipped her finger into the dressing and tasted it. “Yep, thousand island.” At that point, he didn’t pour it on his salad, which would have been bad enough. Nope, he returned the scooper to the dressing, stirred it around and scooped up a full dipper full of dressing before pouring it over his salad.

Yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck! Any guesses as to what kind of dressing I most certainly did not put on my salad? Seriously, in what world is it acceptable to put your finger in food that you’re sharing with multiple people? It’s a buffet. Put the dressing on your salad. If you don’t like it, go back, get a clean plate and try a different one.

Ok, done venting. Almost. We went to Max & Erma’s for dinner tonight after getting pics of the kids (awwww) and happened to sit right near the ice cream sundae bar. Three different families sent their kids back with their dirty ice cream bowls and no parental supervision to get more ice cream. One kid couldn’t get the sprinkles to come out so tried picking them out of the puncture holes. And my husband wondered why I wasn’t in the mood for any dessert tonight (although after eating an entire hamburger, there was no way I could have eaten anything else anyway)! Yep, now I’m done venting!

Have any of you run into situations like the above that just gross you out, or am I being way to picky?

I Feel So Decadent...

Back in January, my parents added an item to our calendar at home. “Aquarium” it said. 8am. When I asked my mom about it, she told me that she was going to take the wee ones to the aquarium on Thursday of spring break. Auntie Megan volunteers there, and she wanted to show them the museum.

If they were going to leave at 8am, my mom decided they needed to spend the night so they could really get going in the morning. I’m ok with that….

Last night, after the wee ones left, I went running with Denise, who’s now going to join me in my C25K journey. Since I was sick all last week and fairly comatose the majority of the time, I ended up starting over at week one, so it worked out perfectly. We even get to go again tomorrow morning before I take the wee ones to their playdate. The only bummer is that it was harder after sitting on my rear for a week and being sick. It’ll come back though.

Then… I took a bath. With bubbles and everything. I think it’s only the third time I’ve used the tub since we moved in a year and a half ago. Not surprisingly, the kitties came to see what I was doing.

And not surprisingly, Meow (the fat one) demonstrated his agility by sliding into the tub. Fortunately, his front paws stayed on the ledge, so only his back half got wet, but he was awfully confused. He isn’t strong enough to pull his bulk out of the tub, so I had to lift him out. Lucky for me, he was too confused to freak out, so I didn’t have to worry about being scratched. Watching the poor, half-drowned rat try to clean himself and dry himself off was quite entertaining. His brother Roar tried to help him, and it was awfully sweet watching the two of them try to fix things.

This morning, I had no children in the house. A day all to ME; what a concept!

I got my hair cut this morning, which was a two hour process somehow. I was able to go shopping at my favorite grocery store – I know, how sad to have a favorite grocery store. I was able to spend some time soliciting for more donations for Mister Man’s preschool fundraiser, although most of the “right people” weren’t there, so I didn’t get any donation in hand. But I did get a yummy bubble tea for lunch!

Then, I got a mani/pedi. After all, I have a wedding to stand up in. I have to look good for it, right? I love my mani/pedi place. They give great hand and foot – including the arm and leg – massages as part of the process. Ahhhh, total relaxation. I even read a little bit of a gossip rag while they did the pedicure.

Really, the only bummer is that I wasn’t able to get a massage appointment for today. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when I called at 4:30 to ask for an appointment during spring break for the next day. So of course I made an appointment for Friday afternoon. I really can’t wait!

Ok, there’s one other bummer. It’s snowing. It’s been snowing the entire day. Ok, I exaggerate; for a few short periods, it rained instead. Some of it has been giant puffy flakes that came down so fast that it was hard to see. It’s even starting to accumulate, although I don’t think I’ll have to shovel. Needless to say, there was no dinner on the deck, and the chicken I marinated was cooked on my stovetop grill pan instead of the “real” grill.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow… one, simply because I’d like to grill and eat outside – it is spring break after all! – and two because running in 33 degree snowy weather is not my idea of pleasant!