Top 5

Reasons to Bathe

1. I'm very put upon. When people irritate me, I tend to soothe myself by soaking in hot water.
2. I'm very sad. On the semi-rare occasions where I cry, I tend to find myself running water shortly thereafter to prevent terrible headaches and let myself recover from whatever upset me.
3. I'm very bored. It's an activity that takes some time, and I sometimes need to kill a couple hours.
4. I'm physically unwell. Muscles are sore, arch of my foot is cramping, head hurts, feeling queasy - water soothes me and I generally feel better after getting clean.
5. I can.
   

Bathtime Activities

1. Read. I tend toward the papers I never find time for at the office, feeling rather luxurious as I lounge in the tub and let my relaxed brain soak in some knowledge.
2. Shave legs. So much easier when I'm not hurrying through a shower and can take time and not miss spots.
3. Pumice heels. When else do I take time to handle pedicure projects?
4. Stare into space. Once legs and feet are smooth, I lie back and let my thoughts drift as they may. I sometimes think about work, others lazily compose blog posts.
   
5. Use Lush products.*

Favorite Lush Products*

1. Pop in the Bath
2. Happy Pill
   
3. French Kiss
4. Fox in the Flowers (Warning: If you happen to close your eyes and open them, don't nearly drown yourself in alarm when you think there are bugs in the bathtub. They're flower petals. You're fine.)
5. Something Wicked This Way Comes

Non-Ideal Bathing Moments

1. Getting in. Said octagon window is uncovered so I tend to leave a shirt on until I can kneel in the water, out of possible view from the outdoors.
   
2. Excessive bubbles. Some of the bubble bars are hyperactive - putting them under the high pressure flow as the tub is filling and then turning on the jets means that I get buried in whispering suds. Which makes it hard to read, though I do giggle when it happens.
3. Nearly drowning myself in alarm when mistaking flower petals for bugs. That was very scary.
4. Getting out, generally. See point 1 - the window makes the whole process quite awkward, but I accomplish it with a complete lack of grace and multiple slithering movements as I stay low to the edge of the bathtub until I grab a towel.
5. Getting out, hurriedly. If the phone rings (or, you know, I think there are bugs everywhere), I sometimes fail to grab the towel quickly enough, wince and try to duck down while remaining dripping wet. Then I nearly fall on the ceramic tile. There's nothing like injuring yourself after a nice, relaxing bath to make you need another one

Lovely Pieces of Home (Springtime edition)

1. The bunnies that guard my front door.
2. Cool weather that keeps the air conditioning off and the doors open.
3. The shed tucked between the far side of the fence and the deck. I feel very grown up when I think about owning a separate structure for my yard tools.
   
4. The sun peeking through the sliding doors of the master suite - I awaken very easily lately since it gets bright so early.
5. Giant whirlpool bathtub under the octagon window so I can watch the clouds float by as I settle in the water.