Like most kids, I grew up taking baths, not showers. I don’t know what the magic age is in other homes for switching to showers, but for me it didn’t happen until I’d moved out of Mom’s house and after that, I was pretty much a showers-only type of girl.

I liked the idea of a nice, relaxing bath–bubble or otherwise–in theory, but in practice I just couldn’t get it right. I’d get bored just laying there in the water. My arms would get tired holding the book out of the water. The water would get tepid. I’d forget to bring something to drink into the bathroom or I’d run out. And then I’d have to shower afterwards, anyway, to wash my hair or rinse the excess bubble stuff off me, so what really was the point?

But I still keep trying to figure it out, every once and a while.

Last summer when we went to Jacksonville for Ancient City Con we also hit up St John’s Town Center, where I spent a ridiculous amount on teas from Teavana and also stopped into Lush.

Now, I’m pretty scent-sensitive (scent-sitive?) so I can’t be in places like Lush, Basin, Bath & Body Works, etc. for too long without my nose stuffing up, a headache starting, or an uncontrollable cough kicking in. It’s just too much for my sinuses to handle in those little places crammed with the competing smells. Thankfully Lush is usually a small shop and I could peruse the bath bomb selection before going into overload.

Most of the bombs were too strong to even consider, but there was one I fell in love with: Butterball, a long-time favorite of many, I’ve come to learn. So I picked one up, just to see if I liked it, and that was that.

I finally used it Thursday night since I had my Friday post all prepped and we got home from Witches Night Out earlier than expected.

Yes, more than a year after purchasing it. This is how seldom I make the time for a good long soak.

That may be changing.

I spent a good 90 minutes in the bath with my Lush Butterball. I loved the way it smelled and how good my skin felt afterwards. I watched two episodes of When Calls the Heart, and the peace of the bath was only broken by Duncan busting in when he and Todd came up to bed (should have latched the door; I normally don’t bother when I’m taking a shower).

Now, my arms still got a little tired from holding the Kindle out of the water (and I was a little antsy I was going to drop it the whole time), so I definitely think one of those racks that fit over the tub to hold a book, etc. will be needed. The towel I was using for a headrest also got more than a little wet when Duncan dashed in and I had to grab for my drink next to the tub to keep him from knocking it over. So a better solution there is needed, too.

And then there’s the issue of supply. There’s no Lush around here, and I don’t know if I want to order online and pay shipping or just do what I normally do and make some myself. A quick search shows that it’s not very difficult to make bath bombs (of course it’s not, it’s pretty simple, really) and the Butterball dupes out there are, again, on the simpler side to make. So there’s that.

Of course, the more difficult thing is making the time to pamper myself. Most evenings I have way too much to do to spare a couple hours for relaxing in the tub. Weekends are the same. I think I know, now, why planner friends have bath bomb stickers to plan their Lush bath bomb indulgences. And I just saw that they have a subscription service on their website where you can have your bath bombs delivered regularly in intervals of your choosing. Maybe that’s another way to remind myself.

So where are you on the bath question: For or against? Bubbles or bomb? Books or movies?

These are the important questions of our time.