How Mother's Day should be

This year Uchenna wanted to make Mother's Day special for me, so he seriously went all out: spa treatment, Baby!

Yes, he signed me up for an afternoon at our local day spa.

First, the massage. When I was in Provo, I went a couple of times to the massage therapy school in Lindon. The advanced students there conduct a clinic on Saturdays. It's nice, if little discount and, well, clinical.

This massage was a completely different experience. I don't know what the room looked like, since it was dark except for a couple of dim table lamps, but I got a sense of plants, chairs and side tables, other hinted-at decor. And gosh the lotion she used smelled good. Of course soft music. The place is called "All That Jazz," so Uchenna figured they'd be playing smooth jazz the whole time, but it was mostly Enya.

As much as I loved the massage itself, the best part was afterwards. The girl said, "Just relax, take your time, and come out when you're ready." If you get a massage, prepare yourself for the after-effects; post-massage zoning out is complete zen.

From there I went to the pedicure-manicure room, which was bright and sunny, with more plants and more Enya. And lots of towels. I think they went through an entire wash-load of towels just on me. They had a little feet-sized jet tub, exfoliating scrub, hot parafin, and more foot- and hand-massaging. And they painted my fingernails and toenails. Why have I never thought to paint my toe nails bright red before?

Then there was the facial. I had something over my eyes--no, not cucumber slices, just mini sunglasses--so I couldn't see what was going on. But after a 10-minute facial mask that made my skin tingle (I couldn't see my watch, but the lady said, "I'll be back in 10 minutes"), I felt another odd sensation. I thought, "Is she vacuuming my face?" I am not making this up. The lady ran a little suction wand all over my face. I don't know the point of that, but I'm sure it was beautifying.

Finally I got a hair cut. Uchenna said, "Well, I thought I'd better get the full package because I knew you needed a haircut." And I said, Okay! We explored their web site afterwards and found all kinds of funky things they do--sauna and hot rocks and what-not--but I didn't feel I needed any of that. This was about as much pampering as I could absorb. Ahhhh!

Note: Uchenna suggested I take pictures to post on this blog. Of course, pictures were only feasible during the pedicure, and while I didn't bring my camera, I did have my cell phone. Anyway, as soon as I can figure out how to get them from my phone to the computer, you can see the blurry cell-phone pictures of some happy feet.