I had the BEST weekend! On Saturday, I drove up to Hershey, PA to spend the weekend doing spa stuff with my sister. The Hershey Hotel has a chocolate spa! Yes, chocolate. I smelled so yummy at various points it was all I could do not to lick myself.

The spa is just so nice and relaxing. Upon check in, you are taken to the ladies' locker room, given sandals and a comfy robe, and shown around the facilities.

On Saturday, I had an hour-long massage and the therapist took some extra time to try and work out the kinks in my neck and upper back. After that, I had the Chocolate Immersion treatment. The treatment involves being scrubbed down with a moisterizer-based scrub which had ground up cocoa beans in it; then that is rinsed off and then you are covered in a cocoa mud solution, wrapped in plastic, a thermal blanket, and a wool blanket and left alone to relax in a darkened room. After about thirty minutes (during which I could NOT turn off my brain to relax at all), I was unwrapped, rinsed off, and lotioned up. It was weird but really nice. I smelled absolutely marvelous after that.

We had a light dinner, and my sister and her sister-in-law hit the sack. Seeing it was only 10PM and I'm not only a grown-up but a night owl, this wasn't going to cut it for me. So first I took a walk around the hotel's garden. They have two really big koi ponds and when I walked past, the fish would swim along - they probably were thinking FOOD! But their little bodies looked like tiny souls in the River Styx. The cold got to me after a bit, so I headed in to the bar and had not one but two chocolate martinis. Wicked and tasty. By now, my sister had woken up and when I wasn't in the room, called my cell phone so I headed upstairs. It was around midnight by then. We ordered cookies and milk from room service, and then went to bed.

Up at 6ish, we were dismayed that although the room was rather lovely and full of complimentary things, there was NOT a coffee pot! Not only that, but there wasn't any place to get a complimentary cup of coffee. For almost $300 a night for the room, you'd think they could come up off of a complimentary continental breakfast. Thankfully the spa opened at 8:30am and we headed there for some coffee and muffins (which they have all day along with fruit and tea in their quiet rooms where you wait between spa treatments).

After my muffin and several cups of coffee, I was called to have my Sweet Feet pedicure. My first pedicure ever and man, it was great! The chair had a special whirlpool soaking tub where I was told to relax for a few minutes. The therapist was really nice and very gentle with my ticklish feet! First she filed and trimmed my toenails, the entire foot and lower leg was exfoliated with a sugar scrub. That was rinsed off and the cocoa mud solution was painted all over my feet. After that sat for a few minutes, it was rinsed off and then lotion was massaged into my feet and lower legs. I would have been okay with just that, but no! Then these little plastic bag slippers with melted paraffin in them were put over my feet (smelled of lavendar - very nice) and that was covered with terry cloth booties. I sat for about 10 minutes or so until that was removed, and I got my toenails painted in a really pretty purple. I never paint my toes and knew Catherine would get a kick out of it, so I choose her favorite color.

After that we headed back to our room to get ready for the brunch buffet. Wow! If I wasn't impressed just by the beautiful circular dining room, then the food just blew me out of the water. I had a little of everything - tried to eat like it was a tapas restaurant and I took little tastes of things: grilled duck breast over a mixed greens salad, mushroom salad polenta sandwiches, shrimp, oysters, crab claws, prime rib, and desserts! I felt horrid in that my sister woke up ill and couldn't keep any food down but I wasn't going to pass up eating because she wasn't.

After lunch, I had a facial. It was so wonderfully relaxing.

The two days made me feel so soft, smooth, and refreshed. I can't wait til next year!

Wow - how'd that happen? I have five years of archives. Five years? I've been blogging for five years? Well, certainly not with any level of consistency that's for sure. New for knitting? Currently I purchased a kick-ass pair of clear Converse sneakers and made a special field trip to pick up some sock yarn in a colorway that: A) I'd wear; and B) didn't look so outlandish as to make me look like I had clown feet. I succeeded but haven't done anything but swatch it. I have to finish my oldest son's socks.

Finally finished that cardigan. It turned out well and I actually wear it! Gasp! Been busy with work and toddlers. James and Catherine will be three at the end of Marth. Can you believe they're going to be three already? Within the past three weeks they've been potty trained and moved from their cribs to toddler beds. That wasn't the original plan - the original plan was to get Catherine a bed and James and Andrew a bunkbed and move James into Andrew's room. Catherine doesn't do well on her own and I don't think they're ready to be separated into different bedrooms quite yet. Too many changes at once is not necessarily a good thing.

Oldest daughter still doing great in college. Oldest son in danger of failing 11th grade; it's his own fault and I'm no longer going to be paying for summer classes so if he fails, he fails. Plenty of people had had to repeat grades and didn't end up adversely affected. If anything, it might make him more responsible. Middle son is a second grader who would now like to be either a football or basketball player when he grows up. I told him that he better hope he takes after me; his dad is rather un-tall.

Contract for work ends in March so I might end up writing more on my blog; however, I'd rather get another gig! I've become accustomed to making some money.

Rented at house in the Outer Banks, NC again this summer but this time around we're going for two weeks. My oldest is going to come home so she can spend some vacation time with us as a family, which will be nice. Last year, she was in Italy during the summer, came home for a few days, headed back to OK, and was actually in NYC the time we were at the beach. The husband is only going for one week so it works out that we'll all head down together and then after the first week, he'll head back home with oldest daughter so he can take her to the airport and she'll be back in time for classes. They start early in OK.

Sister is mostly cancer free; she has to have a hysterectomy on Thursday because they've found a bunch of tumors on her uterus. They aren't cancer but could be cancerous - not sure that that means. But she's been going through menopause - actually, chemo-paus - because chemotherapy killed her ovaries. Not fun. One fun thing is this year is her 40th birthday so we're going to the Hotel Hershey to do chocolate based spa things for a weekend girl's trip. Not thrilled that her sister-in-laws (two out of three) are also coming. Don't know them and from what I've heard about them from my sister, don't care for them much either. Oh well - the spa things aren't group activities (they better NOT be) and I can always drink my vodka, listen to my ipod, and belly dance the night away.

Performed in a student showcase for belly dancing in January. My first performance in front of a paying audience! It was a blast. We rehearsed together a grand total of three times before the show - the third being on the day of the show! This was for American Tribal Style belly dance; as long as you know the moves and some of the cues, you should be able to follow along. It's improvisational but everyone knows all the moves that are available for either fast paced or slow paced music.

Husband is in Vegas this week for work. James is crying this morning that his ear hurts. The tooth fairy kept forgetting to leave Andrew money for his tooth but finally got her shit together last night. My best friend back in OKC is sick and her doctors don't know what's the cause nor how to fix it. They can just relieve her discomfort for now.

Some images from the Outer Banks, North Carolina - specifically Corolla:

well shit. I had a nice long newsy post and I screwed the pooch on that one.

Let's see. I'm still knitting. Just not getting anything finished. The cardigan is still in pieces waiting to be blocked and assembled. The front section of the lacy t-shirt is finished and the back is on the needles. The fir cone lace shawl is in a bag of UFOs in my craft cave. I don't even remember where I am on that one.

My crafting time has been taken up recently by making a tribal style belly dance costume. So far, the bra is covered and there is some trim on it. I had to wait for the coins to get here so I can get them sewn onto it as well. The belt still needs to have some coins sewn on as well as some long ribbons. That green fringe in the photo is from a scarf underneath the belt. I'm also working on a turkish vest (no pictures) and need to get that finished. I have a three-part goal for my halloween party. Make costume, lose weight, create/choreograph a routine. So far, I'm two for three - I can't find a song. I'm still working on that part. It's probably going to be more off the cuff but I still need to get it going.

Other than crafting, I've been working more than I want - 32 hours last week and it's supposed to be about fifteen. Dealing with four kids all summer was draining. We did rent a house in the Outer Banks (North Carolina - specifically Corolla) for a week in August. That was a blast! I had a great time. I was at the beach every morning and afternoon. I tried very hard to avoid the sun and still got a tan! But no one got burned and that's saying something considering both the twins are so darn pale - one a blonde and the other a redhead!

James and Catherine are 2-1/2 years old now. Can you believe that? Potty training is on the horizon but I'm not pushing it. Sometimes they want to sit, sometimes they do not. It's early yet.

My oldest daughter was in Florence, Italy this summer taking some classes, doing some tours, and having a great time. She was ready to come home after the six weeks. Middle son got to do a week of skateboard camp and my oldest son was in summer school for six weeks making up not one world history class, but two.

Celebrated my tenth wedding anniversary with a White Trash wedding anniversary party. Everyone had to come dressed in their white-trashiest and I served a bunch of classics: pigs in blankets, little smokies, mini-corn dogs, saltines, velveeta, and a krispy kreme bread pudding for dessert. Surprisingly, that tasted pretty good albeit way too sweet even for me. I averaged about a party every other month last year. The next party is being planned for Halloween. I was thinking of decorating the house with birds a la Alfred Hitchcock. Perhaps next year - I don't have time to make any birds before then.

Summer 2007

Finally! I got all the pieces knit for the cardigan. I'm so HAPPY! I need to get a new piece of foam insulation to use as a new blocking board so while I find time to get out of the house and do that, I'm going to cast on for my next project. This time I'm making a lacy t-shirt that is in Knitting Lingerie Style by Joan McGowan-Michael. The LYS I hit up for the yarn recommended for the shirt didn't have it but they recommended Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. I haven't swatched yet. Wish me luck.