Category: relaxing

Posted in 2025, life, relaxing

The Head Spa

Posted on by nancyb422

My son and daughter in law like to give “experience gifts” and I am happy to receive them.

For Mother’s Day, they gave me a certificate for a 90 minute head spa experience as the website calls it. I love my hair. It’s long and for a 65 year old woman, pretty thick. I’m currently growing it out for as long as I can stand it. It’s working out pretty well because long hair means I don’t have to wash it as frequently for “a style”. It’s just long. I had no idea what to expect but made sure my hair was nice and dirty. It wasn’t a prerequisite but it worked out that way in my hair washing routine.

I made my reservation online for the more local spa in Berlin Connecticut and when I arrived for my 10am appointment I was greeted by Callie, who would be giving me my spa treatment. She is an esthetician who was trained for the scalp massage by the Head Spa owner and she was really good.

Let me just say, if your favorite part of a trip to the hairdresser is the scrubbing your scalp gets, this is the place for you!

You lay face up on a massage table that has a covered resting place for your head. Below that is the water basin. First the technician uses a camera to look at your scalp and shows the build up of natural oils on your scalp. I was amazed to see 2 and 3 strands of hair coming out of one pore. I lose enough hair every day to make a wig for a doll and now I see why I’m not bald.

After that, it’s scalp cleaning, massage which includes your neck and shoulders, and scalp mask. While the mask is doing its work, you get a mini facial! I’m pretty sure I dozed off during some portion of the experience. At the end, you get to see your clean scalp on the screen again. You can either have a “light blow dry” or get the leave in conditioner and a towel to dry your hair. I went with option number 2.

I washed my hair on Saturday, but I can still feel the effects of the mask and leave in conditioner. My hair is weirdly smooth where it’s normally a little dry.

It was $200 for the experience, which considering it was an hour and a half, is not too bad. It’s something I would definitely do again!

Have you ever gone to a head spa? Is it something you would want to do?

Posted in 2025, hobbies, leisure time, life, Politics, relaxing

Madam Secretary

Posted on by nancyb422

The television show, Madam Secretary, had been on my Netflix Watch List for a very long time. Just when I went to start watching the six season show in early April, I discovered it was leaving Netflix forever on May 14th!

97 episodes. Could I do it? That would be an average of 3.5 shows a day! Highly unlikely. But I started watching anyway.

As my bedtime approached last night, I had managed to get through 4 complete seasons – 67 episodes. Many days it was 2 episodes a day, one at lunchtime and one in the evening. One rainy Saturday, I managed FIVE! It wasn’t totally “unproductive time” as I could knit and watch, and many times, scroll on my phone and watch.

Obviously, I really enjoyed the show! Since it ran for six seasons I felt it must be a somewhat realistic look into the federal government and the State Department in particular. Handy for our current situation!

I learned of how we aid(ed) countries around the world and I learned what you see on the surface is not always what’s happening below. Foreign Ministers, corrupt governments, and who’s helping who behind who’s back.

I enjoyed Téa Leoni as Elizabeth McCord, the Secretary of State. A former CIA agent, she was realistic, but could be emotional, she could be tough but remained diplomatic. Her Department staff as well. Assistant, speech writer, press secretary, foreign policy advisor, chief of staff, no idea of many of these positions before this show, and now my eyes and ears perk up when I see or hear those words.

Tim Daly as her husband who was a professor at the war college (and was recruited for some CIA work), and her three children, also grew on me. When the show began, she had been tapped as Secretary when the current one’s plane blew up over the Atlantic Ocean (season one’s mystery!). They had to move from their farm in Virginia or somewhere, to Washington DC, so culture shock and living in a fish bowl hit them hard. They learned to navigate it over the seasons.

This morning, my Netflix popped up and Madam Secretary was gone.

I still have 2 seasons (30 episodes) to watch and according to my local library’s catalog, they have all five seasons on DVD. Lucky me because I still have a portable DVD player! I’m going to give myself a little break before I head to the library to pick up Season 5.

Have you ever watched the show? Did you like it? Think it was realistic or not? Let me know!

Posted in 2025, family, Goals, Home, life, Politics, relaxing, thoughts

2025 Mental Health Goals

Posted on by nancyb422

In my quest to be mindful in 2025, I’m focusing on my emotional and mental wellbeing in addition to my physical wellbeing.

I know that sleep is important, and in our house it’s always been important to my husband! For most of our marriage, this man has gone to bed at 8pm and would get a good 8 hours of sleep. I would usually make it into bed by 10. Since the first, I’ve made an effort to head up by 9pm, get some reading in and have lights out by 9:30. I also started wearing my Apple Watch to bed so it can record the different stages of my sleep.

Another bedtime ritual I’ve started is a 5 or 10 sleep meditation with my Peloton app. I wear my ear buds, start the program and absorb the soothing music and soft voice of the instructor. I usually discover I’ve fallen asleep! My average sleep time for a week has ranged from 7 hours 15 minutes to 7 hours and 28 minutes. My crowning achievement was a night of sleep with NO minutes awake!

100%!

Because I don’t have a set time I need to be in the office, This year I’m learning to embrace that! It’s tough to get used to when for so many years, I’ve been at my desk by 8:30! My alarm is still set for 5:45 but I take time to drink my coffee and complete my workout. I have extra time to read the paper!

There are times at work that cause me and the two people there (one being my son) to start to wallow in frustration and self-pity. It’s specially tough to see it in my son, so I always try to turn it around and cheer us all on! We have so much more going for us than against us!

I’m packing up for the day and heading home at 3pm (to-do lists are vital for me!), so I can walk with my husband and our friends for some exercise and socialization.

I’m not on board with our upcoming federal administration so that has made me anxious when I read stories that seem more fiction than fact. For the time being, I’m averting my eyes because I know there is nothing I can do to change any of it. I hope in the near future I can get involved with an organization that will help make a difference for people in need.

My mental health is better when I stay positive
Posted in 2024, hobbies, Home, jig-saw puzzles, life, puzzles, relaxing, toy stores, toys

Puzzle Time

Posted on by nancyb422

I finished another puzzle!

National Parks

I started puzzles earlier this year and really enjoy it.

I found this national parks puzzle at Amato’s Toy Store in Middletown and it was more difficult than I thought it would be!

There were very similar colors in a lot of the squares and letters were very tiny. Each square had a white frame around it.

I don’t work on a puzzle every day so it takes a month or two to put one together. My husband is very patient with me and doesn’t complain about it being there. The yellow mat it sits on is part of a roll up system if I needed to move it.

This 1,000 puzzle is by MasterPieces and I enjoyed it but I like the puzzles by White Mountain because the pieces are larger, but the puzzle isn’t easier!

Posted in 2024, leisure time, life, relaxing, thoughts

Sleep Glorious Sleep

Posted on by nancyb422

Does your sleep pattern change often? Mine drives me crazy sometimes!

I know it’s the weekend because I will sleep through the night and wake up at 6am. But as soon as Sunday night rolls around I wake up at 1am, 3am, and 5am! My alarm goes off at 5:45 and I’m always tempted to get up when I wake up from a doze around 5:30. But I stick it out and wait for the alarm.

I try to figure out if it’s related to something I eat, or don’t eat, at dinner or afterwards. Is the room warm or cool? But there’s no clear answer.

I must get enough sleep because I’m not tired during the day or nodding off in front of the television!

Posted in 2024, Home, leisure time, life, relaxing, thoughts

Cozy In The Cold

Posted on by nancyb422
Daily writing prompt
What are your two favorite things to wear?

I like to be warm and cozy as we head into the COLD time of year. Right now I find myself wearing my Lands End down vest in the house and under a jacket when I’m outside. It’s handy at work too!

At home, I have my favorite pair of pajamas and they are so comfortable the only time I don’t wear them is in the dead of summer! They were from Victoria’s Secret many years ago and look like long underwear! On weekday mornings I’m in my workout clothes but, on the weekends, I like to wear these pajamas.

Posted in 2024, friends, leisure time, life, Memories, photography, relaxing

11/21/2024 Hump Day

Posted on by nancyb422

In August of 2019, we took our sixth and final week long motorcycle trip. We traveled to upstate New York. Among the places we visited, our final stop was Storm King Art Center in New Windsor New York.

Wavefield

It’s a 500 acre park with over 100 outdoor sculptures and this is one of “the sculptures”!

It’s called Wavefield and it was created by Maya Lin, the sculptor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The medium is earth and grass – but you probably figured that out!

There are many impressive sculptures in the park and it was fun to wander around the grounds looking at the sculptures. Some move around and one is a giant swing that you can sit on.

I’d love to go back there and walk through the fields!

Posted in 2024, family, hobbies, leisure time, life, photography, relaxing, Travel

10/16/24 Hump Day Photo

Posted on by nancyb422
The Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC

Greetings from our nation’s capital! My husband and I are here for 3 full days to explore Washington and Alexandria. Two days are in the books and both have been great.

Day one we took the metro into the city and visited a bunch of monuments around the mall and went to the Holocaust Museum. Today we went to Mount Vernon and the spent a few hours in Old Town Alexandria. Tomorrow we’ll be back to DC for the White House, Capitol building, the museum of the American Indian, and on the way back we’ll stop at Arlington Cemetery.

If you’ve been here, what’s your favorite place to go?

Posted in 2024, friends, hobbies, leisure time, life, Memories, photography, relaxing, Travel

9/11/2024 Hump Date Photo

Posted on by nancyb422

There’s nothing like “seeing the colors” on an October weekend in New England!

Our motorcycle gang of 4 people, 3 bikes took off for Vermont on a Friday morning in October of 2015. We stayed at the Grey Ghost Inn in West Dover. On Saturday, we took a ride to Mount Equinox and had an amazing 360 degree view of mountains and valleys.

Of course when you’re on a motorcycle, you take a very circuitous route there and back so I’m sure we spent the entire day riding to a place that is a 2 hour round trip! Of course, there’s stops for snacks, lunch, more snacks, candy…..

Along the way we passed through 2 covered bridges and this beautiful steel bridge. This was taken as we were motoring by and there are 3 or 4 pictures I took leading up to it because I’m always hoping for at least one spectacular shot. I think I succeeded here!

What’s your favorite part of fall? Do you have changing colors where you live? Let me know in the comments!