What's Eating Me?

The heat, for one thing... this Memphis heat is eating away at my soul. It's too hot to move.

In fact, most of the time I don't want to move a muscle.

Oh and first off, since I went through a bit of a "blogging hiatus" through the weekend's events, I would like to rewind really quick and state that partly, the reason for our trip to Hot Springs was that June 1st was Mr. J's Birthday... He was a big 3-2. YEAH!!! Rock On Richie! He's my nerdy bad ass... and I'm privileged to be on his inside track. ;) [Love You Bear].

I peeled myself out of bed this morning, took a nice hot bath in "green tea" bath salts. Threw myself together and trudged down the road to begin the day. At lunchtime, we walked down Main Street, they were doing karaoke by the park, which drew quite a crowd. I spied a couple of Council members performing a rendition of "My Girl". They didn't sound half bad. However, upon returning from the heat, I had to shed my over shirt and enjoy the breeze of my desk fan.

O.k, maybe you've been waiting for the recap of Hot Springs, or maybe for more photos? I'll start with the weekend. I didn't quite know what to expect, but had hoped for the best. Richie worked a half day so we could try to leave pretty early. His brother, on the other hand, neglected to tell his employer he was going out of town so they ended up arriving around 10:30 PM.

Earlier that day I ran my errands, got the car serviced, tires checked, etc. Went home and continued packing up, Richie assisted in last details, making sure we didn't leave anything important behind. We stocked the animals up on their foods, got them set and we hit the road.

When we got there, I snapped a couple photos where we were staying, and a couple of shots of my good old pal "Lake Hamilton" (quite photogenic).

Since his brother and family were not arriving until way late due to his neglecting to tell the boss about the trip, Richie and I headed to town to check out the German restaurant he'd been wanting to visit since the last trip we made. It is called Brau Haus. They had alot of German beer (bier ?), and Richie had some Kielbasa with Kraut and Potatoes. Not one for that sort of thing, I opted for a nice Chef Salad, which fit the bill fine.

Saturday, we started the day with a little of "Chuck's Southern Barbecue" (Highly recommended by AJ and Mr. J), then we proceeded to sweat to death taking in the Garvin Woodland Gardens, which was lovely but humid. The kids got quite restless during all the extensive walking, but it was a good walk. Then Saturday night Marie (my Sister-In-Law by way of Richie's brother), and I went to partake of the Thermal Mineral Bath and a Massage (first one I have ever had!). It was pretty cool, but at first a bit embarrassing.

First they ask you to go into the changing room and get totally naked, then put all of your belongings into a locker, take the key and put it around your wrist. Then you meet your "Bath attendant".

My Bath attendant looked exactly like Stephanie Weir from Mad T.V. (Weird!) Yes, and it was even weirder when I came out with a towel that barely covered my ass, and she escorted me to the bath room, and told me to drop the towel!

Now, let me just say that this entire spa area looked vaguely reminiscent of a mental hospital to me for some reason, and it was very old looking. So "Stephanie" gets me to the tub, says turn around and just drop the towel and step into the water-make sure it's not too hot. I cringed for a moment, and then thought "What the hell, these people don't know me and my fat ass." So I jumped in, and she turned on this very large motorized 'bubbler' that actually made the water swirl. So I was literally in this old looking big tub with an electric "swirler". She then said, "here drink this warm water, it will regulate your temperature, and I'll be back in 15 minutes to scrub your legs, arms and back."

[Insert Look of shock]

I was expecting to soak, not be bathed by another human being... So I never felt quite relaxed, but I did my time in the thermal bath. But in 15 minutes exactly, said attendant came back with a big Loofah sponge and actually scrubbed my legs, arms and my back... I felt like a big naked retard. :)

After the thermal bath, it was on to the steam room, where I thought I was going to suffocate (and they gave us Ice Water here, to cool off). I ended up blowing breath into the small Dixie cup full of ice, just to get a breath of cold air. This lasted about 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, they transferred me to this bench where I lay back and get my whole body wrapped in hot towels for about 10 minutes except the cold towel they put on your face.

Once that was over, it was up to the Massage room, where you once again have to bare all for the attendant. I was numb by this time, and got a very talented young lady who delivered a quiet, peaceful 20 minute massage. Marie's masseuse was a holy roller who had been there all of 4 months and talked to her about Jesus the entire time, so her massage was not as relaxing. lol! (I don't think they're supposed to preach while they massage!)

After our mini-retreat, we went back and the guys had cooked out on the grill so we had some food, and turned in for the night to our respective abodes. Richie and I watched a movie until we crashed out. I was going to check out the Alligator farm I heard about to make sure all was "pet friendly" there, and that no animal abuse was happening, but couldn't get in touch with anyone, no answer. I wasn't quite sure how to get there either. I will try to go infiltrate that next time I can get up there.

All in all, the weekend was short lived, but it turned out alright. I think I prefer the Fall season though, I am just a cold weather girl.

I hope to have the rest of my Hot Springs photos ready for viewing tomorrow, and will share some select ones with you then. Meanwhile, are you guys still interested in reading more from my Teen journal?? Or hearing via voice cast?? Input appreciated.