Happy birthday to me!

I've had some really really great birthdays in my short lifetime. Number 17 was spent with my entire family and some really great friends in Maui. My 21st birthday was on a cruise in the Caribbean with a lobster dinner and pristine beaches on a private island. I celebrated my 24th birthday in Puerto Vallarta by bungee jumping over the ocean with my lil bro. Good stuff. Now, don't think I'm that special (I am that special, though) that my parents would plan all these events because of my birthday.. It just happens that our awesome vacations fall around Thanksgiving, which in turn means my birthday. You will definitely never hear me complain about it.

This year, for my 27th birthday (um.. is it weird that I still feel 19?), I was on an island called Koh Samui, off the eastern coast of Thailand. Wait, it gets better. Hbf upgraded our lodging to a place on the beach, with a pool and air conditioning! It MUST be my birthday.. We enjoyed our delicious breakfast buffet and decided to rent jet skis for 30 minutes. Even if I tried, I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face while riding the jet ski. I felt like I was full throttle the whole time and desperately hanging on with my arms and legs. Sometimes I felt like I would catch 10 feet of air off a wave, but I'm sure I didn't even make it entirely out of the water. I need to get me one of those..

Later, after we had eaten a birthday lunch at what we affectionately called 'cheap street', massages were in order to ease our stiffness from hanging on to the jet skis for dear life. Since there are massage parlors on every corner, we had to have some criterion do decide which one to go to. At every place, the masseuses hang around outside their door and taunt you by saying 'maassaaaaaaage?' The longer they hold their aaaaaaaage, the better you know they are. So, we waited for one of the ladies to really draw it out and we were not disappointed. 'Maassaaaaaaaaaaaage?' Yes, please.

Hbf swears by the Thai massage, so I decided to try it (as opposed to the oil massage). Two little thai girls led us upstairs to beds where we laid on our stomachs next to each other. Hbf immediately closed his eyes and relaxed, but I was a bit tense, not knowing what was going on. For such a lil lady, she had VERY strong hands. But it's not like she only used her hands.. she used her elbows, arms, knees and even her feet. At one point she was standing on the back of my thighs with my calves intertwined with hers, working her elbows in my back. It felt good though.. I had to learn to relax and not fight it. Otherwise I think I would have broken something.. Or rather, she would have broken something of mine. As she wrapped my legs around her and worked on my hips and thighs, I thought (and not for the first time) that maybe I shouldn't have worn a skirt. She has prolly seen a lot worse though, so I didn't let it bother me too much. My eyes were closed most of the time so I didn't get to see what treatment Hbf was getting. At one point both the girls got behind us at the same time and pushed us over to touch our toes, which I haven't done in quite a while. I think a whimper may have escaped my lips, which only made the thai girls giggle. After it was all done, I actually felt pretty good. It was the roughest massage I had ever gotten, but it also may have been one of the best. Happy birthday to me!