Tim’s been having a hard time of it lately. He’s been running around like crazy to take care of two sick women, instead of just lil ole me.

It starts pretty much from the minute he gets up: he makes his mom a cup of decaf coffee and helps her put on her shoes. The rest of the day is generally spent running errands of one kind or another. When he hasn’t been taking the car to the mechanic or the cat to the vet, he’s been picking up prescriptions, since they’ve been running out left and right. Or he’s driving one of us to the grocery store, or taking his mom to the drug store to pick up a supplement or some other item she usually has at home. Or getting one of us to the doctor’s office.

His mom has been nice enough to make some dishes for him, since I’m on Nutrisystem, and he’s been cooking with her to learn how to make them himself. And when none of us feels well enough to cook, he has been the one going to pick up the fast food.

All that on top of his regular chores. The trash has been full about every two days. Towels have run out even faster with a third person, which has increased laundry to a weekly event (about five loads each time). And with three people who suck down water, he’s having to refill the water jug a lot, which includes lugging the full, 5-gallon jug halfway across the complex in 100+ degree heat.

Let’s not forget that, twice in 5 days, he took me to the beauty school twice. Each way, it’s a 30-minute drive, and each time, he waited out the five-hour appointment.

In short, he’s been working his tail off.

So I was thrilled to see a Groupon special today for $39 Swedish massage (plus shampoo and style). I doubt he’ll care one way or the other about the hair styling, though it’s always soothing to have someone wash your hair. But I feel certain that his back/shoulders/neck will be very happy to get some attention from a masseuse.

It’s a great deal, to be sure — but I couldn’t possibly just accept it at face value. I had to dig around to make the deal a little bit better.

Tim’s mom needed to get herself an email account anyway. (The old one was deactivated due to inactivity.) So I set up a new account, and then referred her to Groupon. I then bought one of the certificates through that account, giving it as a gift.

That referral should net me a $10 credit in the next 24 hours. Since I already have a credit from referring Tim, I’ll have a $20 credit. That means we’ll pay only $19 for a second GC. I’ve been pretty busy/stressed myself lately.

There is a chance that the referral won’t credit in time, so we’d pay $29 for the second certificate. Even so, that would mean a total price of $68 for two, 60-minute massages.

And so I say hooray for Groupon! And for referrals! If you’re not already a member, sign up — and start referring people for extra-sweet deals of your own.

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