day off

It was my day off!! Ryan had taken the girls with him to work first thing in the morning, and they were going to be picked up by his mom and loved up for the whole day, then he'd go and have dinner with them and bring them back around their bedtime. That meant I had ALL DAY to myself!!

In preparation, I had booked myself a haircut which was highly overdue, and an indulgent pedicure at a ritzy spa where I had some cash left on a gift card. Woo!! Free!!

So, the morning consisted of lazing around, checking facebook and email, drinking tea, having a bath (unheard of!!), shaving my legs (even more unheard of!!), and totally loving every minute of it. Then I put on my flip flops and headed out into the pouring rain to my pedicure. I'd say that the flip flops in the pouring rain was the first of three unpleasantries of my day, which were far outweighed by the thousands of pleasantries, by the way. Yes, sloshing around through puddles with naked toes was rather...squishy and cold!! But then into the warm indulgent spa I headed, where I was greeted and sitted down and given a nice cup of steamy green tea.

Spas are an interesting thing, let me tell you. I mean, I have appreciated every visit I've had to this particular one because I LOVE LOVE LOVE massages, and because it's always on a day when, like this particular day, I am free of my usual motherly responsibilities, and that's usually the highlight of my visit, to be honest. But there's something about the spa thing that kind of freaks me out as well. This "I deserve this" attitude that lingers in the halls, the indulgent sighs and the snotty expectation of being treated like royalty that some clients bring with them is almost enough to make me puke. It's a bizarre world. That said, I was really looking forward to this pedicure!

Now, the last time I had come in was for a wax. Yes, a wax. My first ever. A bikini one. Eeeep!! It was an experience, let me tell you, and I'm not so sure that I would really pay to have that done again, but at least I tried it, right? So, I was looking forward to something different this time.

When the girl came out into the waiting area she greeted me kindly and led me to the pedicure area where I sat on cushions, got a warm weighty thing around my neck, and stuck my feet into some nice, hot, aromatic water. Then the girl looked at me and said, "It's nice to see you again! I remember you from last time when you came in and got a wax."

Then I realized that yes, this was the girl who waxed me. And then I thought, "You remember me?" And my mind started flipping through all the reasons that a bikini waxer might remember a particular client.... I think I won't elabourate. Suffice it to say that I had a hard time not laughing my head off for a few minutes while we got the pedicure started! Hey, I'm glad that I'm memorable!! :D

That was my second unpleasantry, and to be honest, it was more hilarious than anything, but rather odd as well...

The third was rather disturbing actually. And no, it wasn't how much skin she sanded off the bottom of my heels. It was my witnessing of a really shocking parent vs child moment in the spa. A mother brought her 5 year old son in to get his hair cut (why you'd pay to have it done at a ritzy spa is beyond me!) and he was terrified and refused to sit in the chair. The tactics that were displayed!! MY GOODNESS!! From threats such as "we're not leaving until you get your hair cut" to "do you want some consequences?" to "you're not having your friend over!" to "sit here and think about it, then come and get your hair cut" to "I'm going to be really mad if you don't do this" to "do you want some MEAN consequences?". My goodness. The poor kid was just so scared. I admit that it struck a particularly strong note in my because he was so similar to Plava in how he was reacting to the situation. It almost hurt to watch and I just wanted the mother to realize that it's just a haircut!! He's only 5!! Just cut it yourself for pete's sake!! It doesn't have to be perfect!! Spare the trauma!! Spare the shaming!! But she didn't. She knew she couldn't force him, so after nothing worked, she got his coat, threw it at him, told him to GET IT ON, and threatened that she'd be going across the street and getting into the car and if he didn't come he'd have to cross the street himself. ACK.

Yes, that was number 3.

Once that was over, I headed home for lunch, or brunch, because in my relaxing morning I had forgotten to eat!! :) Then I wisked off to my hairdresser's salon and got my hair chopped off again. Aaaah, yes. When I got home, I relaxed some more! Then I made a dinner for myself and ate, and wondered what the girls and Ryan were having for dinner, and then relaxed some more, and then they came home. It was so nice to see them, and then they were asleep in their beds.

What a day!! Lovely!! So good to have days like that every now and then! I feel very rested, and have some nice purple toenails to show for it. :)