I left my first OB practice when they started doing leg-waxing. I was like, uh, no. I will take my uterus elsewhere.

I tip my masseuse like crazy. But she's a friend--not a close friend, but enough I'd rather overspend than be judged.

Oh, that reminds me of an awesome tip I witnessed: my stylist has a regular customer, older gentleman, who comes in every 3 weeks for a beard trim and haircut. He's become so close to her that he is referred to as her daughter's fairy godfather. He plays Santa in the town at Xmas and is well known as sort of everyone's honorary grandpa.

Anyway, he lost track of time and was late and she had to rejigger her schedule on the fly. He felt awful. So he not only paid for the conflicting customer's cut and color for her (to the tune of $150), PLUS he insisted on paying an additional $150 "for the inconvenience, since I mighta almost lost you a customer next time" on top of his $30 fee. And then I heard him tip the shampoo girl $10, and Alison $20. For a 15 minute wash and cut.

Seriously.

I love stories like that. Which is why I fret about tipping! I want to be that guy, not the cheapskate.

Erin, Thorncrown Chapel really is that amazing. I think it's even more striking after the leaves have fallen from the surrounding trees. Well worth a visit the next time you are in that area.

Aw. I love that, sara.

Reminds me a little of the old guy who comes to the Wednesday night dinners at church, in reverse -- he's at least eighty-five, if not older, and lives in a small apartment in town his kids pay for. He's not a member of the church, but he wanders in and out all week, not usually for services, but sometimes Thursday nights, when he'll go up to the choir room to watch rehearsals.

On Wednesdays he comes through and takes a plate for dinner, and no one charges him (they break even on it, and couldn't do it without charging, but it's pretty nominal, and it's the night all the youth choirs practice and the adult Bible groups meet). He's completely harmless, never speaks to anyone, just sort of shambles around. He's always cleanly dressed, if not clean-shaven, and I wonder if he drops in at the other churches -- for a smallish, very historic town, there are about a dozen churches within a few blocks of my parents' church.

I love that winter shot, dcp, and she's wanting a wedding at about 6-7, and in October, that would be a beautifully colored dusk/night ceremony, with all the light shining through.

I'm calling for her tomorrow (to help out) and seeing if it's available next October.

I should note, the conflicting customer still had her hair done, it was just she showed up just as he did. I was the one who actually had to wait a bit (all of a whopping 10 minutes) and when he made noises about paying for mine, I told the manager to not let him. And he hugged me. He's seriously a sweet guy.

And I still fret madly about tips. I always give the shampoo girl a couple bucks and Alison 20%, more around her daughter's birthday and xmas. But luckily, we're familiar enough with each other after a decade, that I was able to ask her "am I the cheapskate?" and she says no, that would be my coworker X who tips $5 on a cut and color, and besides, she has fun doing my hair since she gets free reign and that's what she likes best (and why she likes doing tradeshows.) Hee.

There are things like getting a massage and going to a salon that I don't do because the tipping situation is so stressful and confusing to me. Honestly. I don't know how much to tip, or who exactly, or - do you just, like, hand them the money? Isn't that tacky? The one salon I went to several times in NJ, I liked because they had this little drop-box with envelopes for anonymous tips.

check out this amazing, amazing chapel I had never heard of

I've been there. There's also another one just like it at Powell Gardens here in the KC area.