Back at the Spaaaaaahhhhhhhh

The days went by very slowly, but finally it was Monday, January 4.  The day started with getting my blood sucked and my port flushed.  No problem there.  I went home and finished my packing.  Glenn loaded the car, and I was off.  I can't remember if it was 11:20 or 11:40.  I went by way of Great Highway to avoid the 19th Av traffic.  Before I knew it, I was at the Highway 37 turn off, then I saw the Sonoma 18 mile sign.  I got here before 1.  I'd requested an early check in but didn't expect my room to be ready that early.  "Good afternoon, Mrs. Carlson, we've been waiting for you.  Welcome back, here's your key."  Next thing I knew, my luggage and I were in Mission Suite 932.  My only treatment Monday was a Watsu with Soledad at 5, so I had lunch and a bit of a nap.  I made my way to the spa with time for the bathing ritual.  What a wonderful sense of homecoming.  As I've said before, a Watsu with Soledad is the perfect way to start your week at the SMI.  You dump all your cares and woes before you get in the pool.  A Watsu with Soledad is a spiritual experience that leaves you ready for whatever comes next.  In Monday's case, it was a dash to the locker room and a hot shower--while the pool is wonderfully warm, by six o'clock it was probably heading down into the 40's outside.  I had dinner then watched the end of the Fiesta Bowl and started setting up for Tuesday.  It was then that I discovered that I had left my Ambien at home.  Oops.  What a perfect week to find out if I can live without it.  So far, so good.
So, Tuesday, I started off with breakfast of Lemon Cottage Cheese Pancakes, then off to the Spa for serious pampering.  I started with a Chardonnay Olive Oil Sugar Scrub with Mary.  Mary is little but she is mighty.  There were months of dead skin cells to scrape off.  My skin felt yummy--smelled good, too.  Next was the Tandem Massage with Soledad and Lani.  Nothing should feel as good as the Tandem Massage.  After that, I grazed on fruit and nuts followed by the Bathing Ritual and a facial.  A dinner of rack of lamb and back to the room to try to stay awake through the end of the Orange Bowl.  Today, I started with a Rejuvenating Kur with David, a Gingerbread Scrub with Arlene--a special they are running for the holidays that leaves you soft and smooth and smelling like a ginger snap--good stuff.  I had lunch, a nap, and a Sonoma Stone Massage with Soledad.  Soledad got several hugs and lots of love after the massage.  She and her husband are leaving at 4 in the morning for a two month vacation in Asia.  Good thing I came this week.  I would have hated to miss her.
Here I am, back in my room, fire burning in the fireplace, getting ready for bed for yet another day of non-stop pampering.  I hope I'm up to it.
xxooxx