Sunday, October 12, 2008 - Post-Spa Afterglow

Oh, Nation - I must recommend at least once in your life to go to a real spa and enjoy a body polishing. From head to toe I was salted, sloughed, slathered, and scented. And it wasn't over; after nice orange water, ginger tea and lunch, it was time for couples massage with my daughter. We picked the aromatherapy oils for ourselves (we each picked Garden Fusion without knowing), and the 80 minutes of rubbing began. I fell asleep three times, and wondered what were the weird sounds I kept hearing (it was me snoring quietly) - I kept waking myself up! The second time, I woke up to my daughter and her massage therapist giggling at me. Here we are after the massage, standing in front of a serenity stone - a great obelisk of a water feature:


After more water and tea, we drove back - fully exhausted, bordering brain dead - to have dinner at the condo. We then decided we weren't quite too tired, so drove back to Woodstock for a little shopping.


It was a wonderful 2 days of connection and bonding. Very expensive (I'm sure next time I'll look closer to home for similar services), but worth it.

I chose the body polish prior to the massage as it was to awaken my skin to the full restoration of the massage. I was a submissive participant to the talented hands of, first, Chris for the polish and then Audrey for the massage. (NOTE: I don't stop to think very often of exactly how much stress I am truly under. My greatest concern is the lack of union work for my husband. His job keeps me in this house and with medical benefits. He won't get benefits next year, though, as he hasn't worked the necessary number of hours this year. I'll have to purchase the benfits from my employer: they will cost a large deduction of my salary, and I already know they won't be as comprehensive. ) These unspoken, subconscious stressors have really done a number on me, both physically and emotionally this past year. So the massage really drained that out of my lymph nodes. When I finally went to bed, I slept though the night and next morning a total of 11 hours. I haven't slept like that since I stopped drinking - 20 years ago.


In our photo, my daughter is concerned she looks too pale, however, in comparison to me she looks downright olive (just like paternal grandma Rose aka "Nana Goo-Goo"). I on the other hand appear to be knocking at death's door; my hair,eyes, and skin are the same color with the exception of the horrible rosy cheeks. People worry about "crow's feet"; I look like I've been attacked and stamped by a flock of angry crows.