YOB: #27. Get A Massage

By Beth

Who doesn't like being pampered? I mean really? I'm not sure I know anyone who would not like to just relax and have someone ease their stress a little. That being said, I have to admit that I had some qualms about getting a massage. Sure, I like having relaxed muscles and have had people give me neck and shoulder massages in the past. But I was married to that person, or in a serious relationship with them. Apart from those type of relationships, I really don't like being touched. I'm not a germaphobe or anything, I just like having my own personal space. My friends understand this about me and love me anyway. But it was with some trepidation that I entered the spa that August afternoon.

Originally, our plan was to go to Hershey over a four-day weekend while my kids were away. Hershey had caves nearby we would visit, hot air balloon rides in the area and the Spa at the Hotel Hershey. However, this year has already been expensive enough and when I was looking at the spa information and Lara was researching hotels in the area, we discovered that what we would be spending on this trip was a bit more than we were willing to dish out. Lara mentioned that I could stay at Lara's bed and breakfast for free and there was a spa nearby as well as balloon rides. Caves too. So our plans changed for that weekend. We also figured we could knock out one or two more items on the list since we were at Lara's and had several days to get things done.

OK, let's get back to the spa. We got there a little before 3:00, which was when we thought our appointment was. We had had tea with scones that morning and spent several hours killing time, window shopping. At Best Buy, I drooled over the new iPods while Lara drooled over refrigerators. We also had interesting conversations about lingerie in Cacique, which had a pronunciation guide under the store name outside. We are now referring to the store as Ka-ki-kyu, just to be stubborn.

We got tired of the window shopping and headed to the spa. It was in the upstairs of a house in Bel Air, Glenda's Day Spa was the name. The atmosphere inside the waiting room was serene. There was one of those trickling fountains set in this really cool looking cupboard along with special soaps and stuff. There were two other people in the room so I took a seat in a rocking chair while Lara sat across from me in a chair. It was very quiet. At this point, the giggle loop comes into play. We sat and waited, and waited, and waited. While waiting, Lara checked her planner and passed me a note saying that our appointment wasn't until 3:30.

Oops.  There was someone getting a massage in a room off the waiting area, all I could see were shadows. It looked kind of funny. I smiled. I looked at Lara. She smiled. Have you ever been in a really quiet, or serious place and all of a sudden a wave of hilarity sweeps over you? Maybe if you keep your mouth shut and don't look at anyone you'll make it, but then you make eye contact with a friend who knows exactly what you're going through and it's all over. Yeah, that was me! And the more I thought about how inappropriate it would be to burst out laughing, the funnier the situation became. I'm not quite sure how I got through that without being kicked out of the spa for disturbing those trying to relax. It would have been better if I hadn't been across from Lara, I'd have been able to avoid eye contact.
 
Eventually, the girl in the room off the waiting area came out looking nearly dead, but utterly relaxed about it. She and her mom and sister left and I moved to sit next to Lara to avoid the return of the giggle loop. I did this in an extremely graceful manner, as I am an extremely graceful person. My foot caught the corner of the rug in the room and I nearly fell head first into the bench I was headed to sit in. Surprised I wasn't asked to shush. We filled out paperwork, circling parts of the body where we had the most stress, told why we wanted a massage and were then informed that our "couples massage" would take place shortly. Uh...This isn't exactly what we had thought we were signing up for, but we just shrugged and said, how bad could it be?

Uh...it was slightly awkward. OK, maybe more than slightly. There was no changing area in the room and we weren't given robes and while we are both adults, still, I haven't been that naked with someone else in the room since I was married. We hurried under the covers, trying not to giggle too much. I was still slightly nervous about the whole stranger touching me thing but tried to focus my mind on how good the massage would feel. I didn't ask my masseuse to focus on any particular area so I got equal treatment all over. She started with my face. While it felt good, all I could imagine wile she was doing it was how my face must look being pushed around and trying so hard not to laugh. I did not want to disturb Lara's massage. I had several moments of biting the inside of my mouth to keep from laughing during the massage, so I can't say it was as relaxing as it could have been. I discovered that my right knee is WAY more ticklish than my left and that the worst part was when she did my neck. That hurt!

I did not fall asleep although many people do. When it was over I did feel good, relaxed but if I hadn't been trying so hard not to laugh, I probably would have felt even better. Lara and I compared notes on what was done to us, I laid back down on the table and took a picture of my face resting on that head rest thing from underneath. It looks funny! We sipped some water, tipped our girls and left. It was a good experience, although if we ever do it again, I think we would both want private rooms. That way my giggling won't interfere with her relaxation. The next day we went to Harpers Ferry and climbed a gargantuan mountain to see a rock. And then a graveyard. I think we should have made the massage AFTER that, as we both had sore legs and backs after that hike!