(no subject)
When I got dad home from the rehabilitation place last May, his toenails were in such good shape. I had been trying to get him to allow me to trim his toenails for a few years not that I really WANTED to trim his toenails, you understand, but looking at his poor toes after HE had butchered them made my skin crawl and I was STRONGLY of the opinion that I should be doing them instead of HIM doing them.... and he would not admit that he wasn't doing JUST FINE and I should just shut up about it that isn't how he put it, but it IS what he meant.....so I just shut up. Anyway, when he was in the rehab place, the aides trimmed his toenails and they were looking pretty good. So I mentioned this to his favorite aide, and she suggested that I take him to Le Nails from then on and get him pedicures once a month. I said I wasn't sure he'd let me, so she said she'd talk to him. She said "Roy, I think you should have someone do your toenails for you from now on, and I have this place that would be good. Why don't you ask Cheri to take you there?" So when we got home, HE suggested it to ME! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!
So I started taking him there, and he loved it. The ladies there loved him, and they spoiled him. They not only did his nails, they made a fuss over him and rubbed his legs with lotion and told him he was the best "darling grandfather" I didn't understand what they called him, so I asked what they were saying and that is what they said that they were honored to serve. They are Korean. Anyway, he loved going there and I took him once a month. I had him take my sister there for his May appointment for her Mother's Day present and she loved it too.
Dad had an appointment the Friday after he died (on Wednesday.) I called to cancel his appointment, and the lady who owns the salon said (after expressing sorrow and sympathy) "Why you not come? You never have nails done, just read magazine. You send sister, you send (darling grandfather) but you not come. You come." *** And then she hung up. Well, I was nonplussed. I mean, what do you do when a person will not ALLOW you to cancel an appointment? I thought about having my office assistant call and cancel. But at that point I was pretty demoralized in general, and I figured....what could it hurt? I had never had a pedicure. I had never had a manicure. (Still haven't had one of those)and so....I went. I felt like death warmed over, but....I went.
I walked in the door and all of the ladies who had worked on dad over the months came over to me, one by one, to tell me how much they had loved (darling grandfather) and how sorry they were that he was gone. They bundled me into a chair, shoved my jeans up to my knees and stuck my feet into a hot soak bath. They argued over which one would "get to do" my pedicure or that is what it looked like, they were speaking Korean and the one who won the argument got high-fived by the others. How they figured it out? I have no idea. All I know is that the one who GOT high-fived is the one who actually DID my pedicure. So I think she won, not lost. :) 'course, it could have been because I always tipped well when I paid for dad, but I choose to not believe that. So sue me. :)
Anyway, so during all of that I was sitting in this chair with my feet in this hot water soak with some kind of wonderful smelling stuff in it.....dissolved into tears. so much kindness overwhelmed me, and besides which I was pretty close to tears ALL the time at that point...much better now, but still prone, you know? The lady who "got to do" my pedicure came over and literally CLUCKED over me, I kid you not. She did some stuff with the chair and...it started doing this rolling Shiatsu kind of massage on my back. She adjusted the chair to my short height. She showed me magazines. I said no thank you. She said "Yes, keep your mind off"***....and showed me more until finally I just chose one to make her happy. She smiled. I smiled through the tears. She was so very sweet.
She indicated that I should choose a nail color. I said "no thank you, no nail polish." She clucked again, this time disapprovingly. She went and conferred with the phone lady, who looked like she said "for today, humor her. She's in grief. Here....use this, maybe?" Again, I have no idea and handed her a bottle of clear nail polish...and my lady came back and started the pedicure. It was very relaxing, and at the end she said...."Okay clear?"*** and held up clear nail polish. I was jello by that point, and jello doesn't have an opinion so I shrugged. Her face lit up like the sun and she finished me off. Then she put my thongs (shoes, people, SHOES! :D) back on and led me over to some kind of black light thing. I assume to dry the nails or something. You sit there and put your feet under this desk with a place for your feet. After awhile, my lady came back over and told me I could go, so I did.
Well, I paid and left.
A few weeks later, I noticed that it was time to trim my toenails and I thought to myself "You know, maybe this time I should have some actual COLORED nail polish...." and an addiction was born.
And...it was.
It is ALL DAD'S FAULT! :D :)
***Just to be clear, these are actual quotes more or less and I don't want to perpetrate any stereotypes as to the way people who immigrate to this country converse. I couldn't care less how they express themselves, so long as they can make themselves understood. As these people do. Very well. And they are so very kind that even if they couldn't make themselves understood with words, they'd have done it with love.
Why, you might reasonably ask, am I going on and on about this tonight? other than the fact that I have possibly lost my mind, which is a good question. One I choose not to address. I'll think about that some other day, okay? Well, I have apparently become the prisoner of my addiction, and I thought I should bare my soul to you, my friends. Because...I had a pedicure two weeks ago, and my toes have been a beautiful thing to behold ever since. Once I got beyond the "why should I have COLOR on my TOENAILS" thing, I settled on a shade called "Hippie Chic" by China Glaze as...MY shade. not that I think no one else should be allowed to use it, I'm not THAT nuts.... and every month since my second pedicure I have had toes that brought me joy every time I looked at them. But tonight? I chipped the nail on the big toe on my left foot. I was moving boxes around as you know I am trying to get my father's house cleaned out and MY house cleaned out and sorting and moving stuff in and stuff out.....as I move into dad's house, the house I grew up in.....and I stubbed my big toe on something and.....I CHIPPED MY TOENAIL POLISH! Reallllly bad. AND I CAN'T JUSTIFY ANOTHER PEDICURE UNTIL TWO MORE WEEKS HAVE GONE BY!
Just thought I'd share.
Other than that, things are going well. I jacked up my back really bad a couple of weeks ago but I am finally better and the way I look at it?
Well, any day you can move around without feeling like someone is sticking knives in your back is a good day.
Unless you have a badly chipped nail polish situation on your big toe.
:D
So I started taking him there, and he loved it. The ladies there loved him, and they spoiled him. They not only did his nails, they made a fuss over him and rubbed his legs with lotion and told him he was the best "darling grandfather" I didn't understand what they called him, so I asked what they were saying and that is what they said that they were honored to serve. They are Korean. Anyway, he loved going there and I took him once a month. I had him take my sister there for his May appointment for her Mother's Day present and she loved it too.
Dad had an appointment the Friday after he died (on Wednesday.) I called to cancel his appointment, and the lady who owns the salon said (after expressing sorrow and sympathy) "Why you not come? You never have nails done, just read magazine. You send sister, you send (darling grandfather) but you not come. You come." *** And then she hung up. Well, I was nonplussed. I mean, what do you do when a person will not ALLOW you to cancel an appointment? I thought about having my office assistant call and cancel. But at that point I was pretty demoralized in general, and I figured....what could it hurt? I had never had a pedicure. I had never had a manicure. (Still haven't had one of those)and so....I went. I felt like death warmed over, but....I went.
I walked in the door and all of the ladies who had worked on dad over the months came over to me, one by one, to tell me how much they had loved (darling grandfather) and how sorry they were that he was gone. They bundled me into a chair, shoved my jeans up to my knees and stuck my feet into a hot soak bath. They argued over which one would "get to do" my pedicure or that is what it looked like, they were speaking Korean and the one who won the argument got high-fived by the others. How they figured it out? I have no idea. All I know is that the one who GOT high-fived is the one who actually DID my pedicure. So I think she won, not lost. :) 'course, it could have been because I always tipped well when I paid for dad, but I choose to not believe that. So sue me. :)
Anyway, so during all of that I was sitting in this chair with my feet in this hot water soak with some kind of wonderful smelling stuff in it.....dissolved into tears. so much kindness overwhelmed me, and besides which I was pretty close to tears ALL the time at that point...much better now, but still prone, you know? The lady who "got to do" my pedicure came over and literally CLUCKED over me, I kid you not. She did some stuff with the chair and...it started doing this rolling Shiatsu kind of massage on my back. She adjusted the chair to my short height. She showed me magazines. I said no thank you. She said "Yes, keep your mind off"***....and showed me more until finally I just chose one to make her happy. She smiled. I smiled through the tears. She was so very sweet.
She indicated that I should choose a nail color. I said "no thank you, no nail polish." She clucked again, this time disapprovingly. She went and conferred with the phone lady, who looked like she said "for today, humor her. She's in grief. Here....use this, maybe?" Again, I have no idea and handed her a bottle of clear nail polish...and my lady came back and started the pedicure. It was very relaxing, and at the end she said...."Okay clear?"*** and held up clear nail polish. I was jello by that point, and jello doesn't have an opinion so I shrugged. Her face lit up like the sun and she finished me off. Then she put my thongs (shoes, people, SHOES! :D) back on and led me over to some kind of black light thing. I assume to dry the nails or something. You sit there and put your feet under this desk with a place for your feet. After awhile, my lady came back over and told me I could go, so I did.
Well, I paid and left.
A few weeks later, I noticed that it was time to trim my toenails and I thought to myself "You know, maybe this time I should have some actual COLORED nail polish...." and an addiction was born.
And...it was.
It is ALL DAD'S FAULT! :D :)
***Just to be clear, these are actual quotes more or less and I don't want to perpetrate any stereotypes as to the way people who immigrate to this country converse. I couldn't care less how they express themselves, so long as they can make themselves understood. As these people do. Very well. And they are so very kind that even if they couldn't make themselves understood with words, they'd have done it with love.
Why, you might reasonably ask, am I going on and on about this tonight? other than the fact that I have possibly lost my mind, which is a good question. One I choose not to address. I'll think about that some other day, okay? Well, I have apparently become the prisoner of my addiction, and I thought I should bare my soul to you, my friends. Because...I had a pedicure two weeks ago, and my toes have been a beautiful thing to behold ever since. Once I got beyond the "why should I have COLOR on my TOENAILS" thing, I settled on a shade called "Hippie Chic" by China Glaze as...MY shade. not that I think no one else should be allowed to use it, I'm not THAT nuts.... and every month since my second pedicure I have had toes that brought me joy every time I looked at them. But tonight? I chipped the nail on the big toe on my left foot. I was moving boxes around as you know I am trying to get my father's house cleaned out and MY house cleaned out and sorting and moving stuff in and stuff out.....as I move into dad's house, the house I grew up in.....and I stubbed my big toe on something and.....I CHIPPED MY TOENAIL POLISH! Reallllly bad. AND I CAN'T JUSTIFY ANOTHER PEDICURE UNTIL TWO MORE WEEKS HAVE GONE BY!
Just thought I'd share.
Other than that, things are going well. I jacked up my back really bad a couple of weeks ago but I am finally better and the way I look at it?
Well, any day you can move around without feeling like someone is sticking knives in your back is a good day.
Unless you have a badly chipped nail polish situation on your big toe.
:D