Let it be proclaimed from the mountain tops: I have the best spouse and daughter in the world. For Mothers' Day this year they gifted me a spa afternoon (with light lunch). Four treatments in 4 hours: a facial, massage, pedicure and manicure - all in the delightful surroundings of a local spa. Even though only one of the treatments was a 'masssage,' I got 4 massages in the time I was there. During a facial, your face, shoulders, neck and hands are massaged. During a massage your back, legs, neck, shoulders and arms are massaged. During a pedicure your feet, and calves are massaged and during a manicure your forearms and hands are massaged. I walked out of the spa like an overcooked lasagna noodle.
"What are you looking for in today's treatments?" my esthetician Casey asks.
"Relaxation. Complete and utter relaxation."
My regular massage therapist, Erin, works on my body to heal it. She gets in there with her elbow, releasing the knots in my shoulder and back - I love Erin - I love her therapeutic massage - I love that she fixes me, but unless I tell her to go easy on me, those massages are generally not relaxing. I was signing up for a day of sighing and relaxed drool seeping out of my mouth. I checked that box.
During the facial, I almost fall asleep twice.
"Okay, when you're ready, come on out and we'll get you set up for your soak and massage," Casey says in her softest voice.
Alrighty... time to get up. I sit up very slowly, feet testing the floor. I grab the bathrobe and snuggle in and toddle out the door.
Casey meets me with a red wine glass full of lemon water and directs me to the next room. Candles are everywhere. Massage table in the centre. To the back of the room, a jacuzzi tub. Casey leads me over to the steaming tub.
"Okay Heather, I'm going to leave you here to soak for about 20 minutes. The controls are on the side here. You just relax, lay back and enjoy. I'll be back in 20 minutes." She backs out of the room in complete silence.
Soaking in a tub is one of my most favourite things - forget raindrops on roses - nearly scalding water with a good book in my hand, and I'm in heaven. Soaking in a tub in a room full of candles? Decadence. I hang my fluffy robe on the chrome hook on the wall, swig back half my glass of lemon water and sink into the perfectly heated tub. This. This is fantastic. I reach over to the controls for the jacuzzi and hit the "ON" button.
It's like there is a 250 HP power motor somewhere in the room. The propulsion of the jets nearly lifts me from the tub. Where is the low setting on this sucker? As I'm desperately searching to adjust the settings, one particular jet gives me a jolt in my nether regions.
"Whoa!" I jump. I let out a surprised snort of laughter. Do I have to pay extra for that? And then you know how sometimes you have those thoughts that you oughtn't have? Not-for-public-consumption thoughts? There I was, in a jacuzzi tub with jets that apparently wanted to please me, and I had them for 20 minutes. I sat with my hand on the controls, debating for a full minute and a half.
NO. It would be WRONG. Wouldn't it? But I am supposed to be here to relax and that would relax me... I glance over at the door. I look at the clock on the wall. What time had I come in? Was it 2:00 p.m.? I hadn't looked when I sat in the tub. How much time had I wasted? Then I got to thinking about the logistics. Where were the jets? The good ones, I mean. Not directly under me. So I'd have to kind of have to position myself on one hip to get the kind of massage I was now contemplating. Well, it wouldn't hurt to just try...
"WHOA!" Too much! The 250 HP was too much. My finger punches the low setting over and over. Where was the 'just right'? Where was that setting? Shouldn't there be a setting with a star beside it or something? To let you know that if you're going to attempt something wholly inappropriate in a near public location that THIS is the setting to use? I start giggling. This was some sort of twisted version of Beat the Clock. I couldn't relax under these circumstances! Now I was totally thinking about it too much. Here I'd already wasted a good 7.5 minutes just trying to figure out the right setting. I snort again. By the time I figure it out to get the full benefits - she'll be knocking on the door to let me know it's time to get out of the tub. I turn off the jets completely.
"Get thee gone temptress. Away with your bubbly wiles."
Still, it did keep a smile on my face for the rest of the day...
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