Triumph

Little does anyone know that back in April, I actually went to the local tanning salon just up the street, and purchased 100 minutes of tanning in the tanning beds at their facility.

The goal?  Hurry up and tan prior to that trip to Florida I posted about earlier on this blog.  I wanted even-toned skin, with some color, for the trip -- a base tan, allegedly.

Well, I never actually got in there and tanned.  Never once.  I kept putting it off and dreading it, because, although I wanted to look good for Florida, I was so afraid and saddened to do that to my body.  I didn't want the skin cancer.  I didn't want to 'activate the cancerous cells' on my skin.  I didn't want any of the risks and injuries associated with tanning.  Yucky! 

Health is probably my highest priority, and here I was going to train-wreck it by falling into the clutches of the Barbie girl tanning industry?!  I just couldn't bring myself to do it, even if only for 100 minutes.

Alas, the Florida trip came upon me and I went, looking like a pastry cupcake dropped into a tub of vanilla frosting (i.e., pale skin frosted in white sunblock cream).  I did not color at all, and I got some amazing red blotch lines on my chest and shoulders.  'Amazing' is dripping with sarcasm, by the way.

Over the months, the paper receipt for those 100 minutes of tanning was burning a hole in my wallet. 

I did not like it being there; I did not like the $32.01 that I spent on that, because it was money not being used.  And really, because I still disagreed with the principle of tanning.  It makes me cringe to climb into one of those booths.  I do not want skin cancer, I do not want to be a 'fake baker.'  And yet I still went in and allowed $32.01 of my money to go towards supporting all of that!  NO!

Today, ladies and gentlemen, I marched my pale tooshie and burning wallet right back into that tanning salon and asked for my money back.  I did not use those 100 minutes, and I do not plan to.  I don't care if the purchase was made in April - I wanted to cancel it and back away from it entirely.

So, I got a full refund.  They got their 100 minutes back, and I am now +$32.01 to put towards a full tank of gas or a nice new sweater. 

Yay!  Long live natural skin!  No more close calls with tanning!

I am so proud of myself -- I have balance again and I feel like I just stood up for myself in the biggest way.  :-)