This entry is not for men, or women who offend easily!

More than a week since my last entry? Bad blogger! Bad, bad blogger! Unfortunately there has been precious little to write about. We did have a flood caused by our poor plumbing, but I am tired of water stories. I am happy to announce that both the plumbing and my washer were fixed quickly. Now, on to this week's story.

I have a hard time finding hairdressers that I like. I am indecisive, so I need someone who doesn't mind making suggestions; but I am also picky, so they must have good taste and skill. It is not a job for the faint hearted. I was in need of a hair cut when we got here in February, and this being July, you can imagine how badly I needed to find a salon. It is not hard to find a salon here, there are lots of them around. The problem is that they all look kind of icky, and I assume that no one speaks English. This wouldn't work for me. When I see the finished product, I often feel as if the person who cut my hair didn't understand a thing I told them anyway, but I would like to think there was at least a chance.

Yesterday Mr. Smith noticed that a new salon/day spa had opened in the shopping complex nearby. After scoping it out for me, he made me an appointment for this morning. I admit, I was excited. I decided that I would have a cut and color. Then I started thinking about the "day spa" portion of the business. After much internal debate, I decided to go for a facial too. My face has not felt clean since we got here, and my breakouts were increasing. When I got there they went into high pressure sales mode. After looking at all the services they offered, I picked a more extensive facial and I chose to have my eyebrows threaded as well. I have plucked my eyebrows exactly once in my life, so they were definitely bushy, and it was only 40 rupees which translates to $1.

Just by the way, threading hurts. If you were one of the unfortunate people who tried an Epi Lady, imagine a tiny one made just for eyebrows. Basically they twist up a long thread, then use it to rip out hairs as they twist and untwist it. Now, common sense told me this was going to hurt, but I had forgotten why I had only plucked my eyebrows once in my life: because I'm a baby, and it hurts like a son of a motherless goat!

The facial was an interesting experience. Several goopy substances were smeared on, massaged in, then wiped off my face. Twice I felt an electric current being sent through my face. The first time by some kind of wand, the second, by special gloves. Weird, yet cool. At the end, a VERY thick goop was applied to my face, effectively sealing my mouth and eyes shut. This was left on for about 20 minutes while the girl massaged lotion into my hands, arms, shoulders, neck and then WHAM!...she went to second base! I am going to assume that this is normal, surprising, yet normal.

The interesting part for me is that through the whole thing I was totally terrified someone might try to touch my feet. The marble floors dry out my feet big time, so my heels are cracked and no matter how hard I scrub, my feet no longer look clean. So, essentially, what I have learned about myself is this: It's O.K. with me if you want to have a go at my girls (a term I picked up from my niece-in-law), but if you want to see my feet, I'm going to have to know you better. This is a revelation to say the least.

All in all, the score card looks like this:
Five hours away from the kids: Good
Hair color: Fabulous
Hair style: Cute
Eyebrows: Neat and trim
Facial skin: Not a big, blocked pore in sight
Embarrassment factor: High - Next time I will opt for the less extensive facial