What the *bleep* was I thinking?

Yesterday started off really well. My mom came up for the day to enjoy her mother's day present: brunch, leisurely stroll at a local garden and an afternoon at the spa. Brunch was fantastic. We were able to sit outside in their garden patio where I enjoyed Brie stuffed French toast and chicken & apple sausage. After brunch, we headed to a local garden affiliated with the university. I'd never been to this particular garden before, and while it wasn't as impressive as Filoli in California or Longwood Gardens outside Philadelphia, they had some incredibly unique plants and shrubs I'd never heard of before. On top of that, it was an incredible day weather wise, so that made the garden even more enjoyable.

Then came the spa. Ohhh, man. I'd been to this spa before (but only for a pedicure), so I knew about their services and setting. After shedding our clothes for Japanese-style kimono robes and fluffy-white slippers, we were taken to our choice of tranquility rooms. The first had a fireplace filled with tea light candles, lemon-infused ice water, strawberry fizzle hot tea and four semi-reclined chairs and ottomans and lots of natural light coming in from two windows. The second offered the same 4 chairs and ottomans and ice-water as well as hot water and a selection of teas with honey, various sugars and cream. But, the kicker was a natural stone wall with water cascading over the stones down into a shallow pool. Ahhh, so incredibly relaxing. We were only there for about 10 minutes before the therapist called me back for my treatment, the Taughannock Falls Waterfall treatment. I won't do it justice, so instead I take the following description directly from their website:

While lying on a wet table the six Vichy shower jets allow the water to flow over you as warmed stones glide smoothly over the body helping to relieve tired, achy muscles. Wash away the stresses and worries of life. This treatment incorporates an aromatherapy salt scrub and finishes with a hot stone aromatherapy rub.

While on our honeymoon, I had a facial aboard the cruise ship but had never had a body treatment before because of knowing I'd feel uncomfortable having someone else being forced to touch my body (not to mention likely seeing my body sans clothes). So, it was really nice not only having the robe fit (a bit on the big side, actually) but feeling comfortable in the setting and with what was being done to me.

I'm pretty sure my mom had a really fantastic time (she had a facial and a pedicure) as she'd never been to a spa before, and I certainly enjoyed my day. So, that sounds like a full day already, right? Well, after arriving home at about 4:30pm, I sat my butt down and watched the most recent version of Pride & Prejudice. I'd seen it once before, but given that I'm currently reading the book and am nearing the end, I was interested to see how closely the movie follows the book. The result, the storyline is pretty much the same, but certain events were quite different. It's still enjoyable, though. So, with about 15 minutes left in the movie I decided to ask my husband if he was interested in taking a walk after it was over. (No, he wasn't watching the movie but was instead lying on the floor reading one of the programming books he'd checked out from the library.) He agreed to the walk without any questions of where, what type of walk, etc. We set out on the walk through our neighborhood without a plan of how far or long of a walk we'd be taking. On similar walks we'd taken in the past, Koba dictated how far we'd go, but alas, he was not there. :( So, without a word, we went beyond the point where we usually turned around with Koba ... all the way to the end of our road (which turns out is 1.2 miles), and at the end of the road, we decided to keep going ... despite blisters beginning to form on my feet, not having any water and quickly approaching darkness. In all, we walked 5.1 miles across greatly varying altitudes. (This is where today's title comes from.) By the time we got home, it was almost completely dark, I had 6 small blisters on my left foot & 4 on my right foot and my left knee (the one that had begun degrading before losing all this weight) was hurting. Oh, and get this, I still went hiking through a gorge trail this morning because we'd planned to do it, and my knee is still hurting with every step I take. Even still, it all felt good. And, while I won't yet call it official, I weigh what I have lost, 137 lbs, as of this morning!