June 2009

Since it’s barely been 24 hours since the work was done, I was hesitant to post any pictures of my new tattoos. They’re scabby and the eyes of the ravens are not yet popping out (because they’re scabby) and did I mention that they’re, well, scabby?

But I can’t resist. The bandages came off and I admired them a whole lot and Coffee took pictures for me this evening. So now I’m shaaaaaring. :)

Ramona Quimby - upper right bicep, about 7 inches tall.

Ramona has long been my (literary) hero. She’s quirky and opinionated and funny and, as a kid, I wanted to be like her. I even swore that if I had a daughter I’d name her Ramona. To have her tattooed on my arm makes me crazy-happy.

Every time I look at her yelling face I smile.

3 Ravens to symbolize 3 Boys.

I chose ravens to represent the boys because of their intelligence and mischievous nature (both the boys AND ravens). Each boy picked out an eye colour and I let Borden, the tattoo artist, determine which bird was given which eye colour (so no one could claim I was favouring one kid by putting his eye colour on top!). They chose red, purple and blue for the eyes.

It will take some time before the eye colours are really vivid – the tattoos are (did I already mention this?) scabby and so it’s hard to get a good non-shiny-scabby picture.

For some reason, I’m really compelled to get black ink tattoos with very little (or no) colour. I may change that in the future and decide to colour in Ramona’s sweater or shoes or something. For now, though, I like the simplicity of the black lines.

I am insanely pleased with how both of these tattoos turned out and I’m grateful to Borden at Stigmata for doing the work. I can’t wait to get in there for the next one in July!

I’ll post more photos when I’m fully healed and you can see the end result, of course.

I seriously can’t wait to show you my new tattoos. If it weren’t for the fact that I’d like them to heal up and be gorgeous, I’d have ripped off the bandages and tape, scrubbed off the blood, and started snapping pictures already.

We got through 2 of the 3 planned – my Ramona and the ravens for the boys – in about 2 to 2.5 hours’ worth of time. In truth, I could have sat in that chair for another four hours without flinching, but I needed to keep one of my arms clear so I’d be able to sleep somewhat comfortably and Borden had another client after me.

I’ve got my final tattoo, Tank Girl, scheduled for the evening of my birthday.

We took Middle One and Maymo to the shop with us so they could watch the process. We also brought along a laptop with movies, some paper and markers, snacks, water bottles, and all the other crap we haul along with us when we go somewhere with the kids.

They pretty much watched the entire process. We didn’t have to bust out the laptop.

Maymo was perturbed by the blood – and was shocked to learn that the tattoo was really permanent. Forever. Never going away. WOW! He thought it was SO COOL when it was done and particularly liked the Ramona tattoo since we’re reading the books at bedtime these days.

Middle One was enthusiastic and promptly began drawing all over his arms and legs to simulate the tattoos he’s going to get when he’s older. He liked looking at the books of flash in the reception area – many skulls…

They both thanked me for letting them come and watch. I suspect they’re going to want to go with Coffee on Friday, too, to see his work getting done.

Stigmata, which is where I went, has a really good reputation. It’s woman-owned (huzzah!) and has won all the “Reader’s Choice” awards for seemingly the last million years. Well-worth the accolades, as far as I’m concerned. The shop was clean, everyone was friendly, it was comfortable.. all the things that are important.

I’ll post pictures as soon as I can!

1. Two of my three tattoos were started and finished last night. I am pleased with how they turned out (but right now they’re bandaged ’til tonight so I can’t show you any scabby pictures!)
2. My next appointment is on my birthday! Awesome birthday present, no?
3. Oldest One is still at his friend’s house.. presumably still having fun and working on his “why we really need to buy a PS3″ speech.
4. Tomorrow is Canada Day which means a day off from work for Coffee!
5. Weiner dogs.

1. My tuition cheque has been mailed. (Donations are still being accepted over there on the right!)
2. I had a totally wonderful time at Lena’s place yesterday.
3. Tonight I get my tattoo work started. Not sure which one we’re going with first…
4. I love my husband very, very much. He’s my all-time favouritest person on earth.
5. The library. Seriously. All-you-can-read books! FREE!

There are too many things that ‘need doing’ lately – from cleaning up my bedroom to clearing out the wilderness that’s our backyard to putting away laundry to vacuuming to.. oh, god, the list is endless.

If I had a secret stash of cash (ha!) I’d go away for a week, on vacation to someplace cool and relaxing, and in my absence I’d hire someone to get absolutely everything back in line, back in order, tidied up and neat, and then I’d return and go back to living normally.

This isn’t likely to happen, is it?

It seems that all I’m capable of doing is making a small dent in each task. Some of it is just due to the “heavy lifting” factor – with my shoulder/neck randomly causing problems, I’m trying to avoid tempting fate. Some of it is due to the time/interruption factor (I get started, the kids appear, I re-start, the kids appear, I re-start my re-start and the kids appear).

Where the hell are my magical elves?

1. Oldest One is sleeping over at his best friend’s place tonight.
2. The rest of us are going to visit Aunt Lena for the afternoon – and my glee that Coffee is driving!
3. The stubbornness of a small child who has eaten nothing but junk food and is now refusing to eat anything healthy (and is thus really mad that we won’t let him eat anything else until he eats a bowl of pasta+veggie salad).
4. Tomorrow is my tattoo date and I am super-duper excited!
5. I’ve been having wickedly vivid dreams lately and it’s lovely to have them back!

1. Air conditioning.
2. A fridge and cupboards filled with groceries.
3. Talking to the kids about money and finding out how totally warped their perceptions are with regard to how much things cost, how much money Coffee makes, and where our money goes each month.
4. Laughter.
5. Oldest One finished book 2 of Twilight.

1. Oldest One shut up immediately about “nothing to do” when I handed him the 2nd book in the Twilight series that I, somehow, had the foresight to request a few weeks ago and which arrived yesterday.
2. Middle One and Maymo are at a neighbour’s house, swimming.
3. I cleaned the kitchen. It is less icky now. (I’m not quite finished).
4. Sleeping like a rock last night. Awesome.
5. Have I mentioned my love for air conditioning?

I am somewhat astounded by the 400+ hits I got *on one post* yesterday – - the picture of Oldest One at his graduation. It caused me to temporarily password protect the post, which has only a few comments in contrast to the hits, because.. well, that’s WEIRD.

Anyway, it’s back up but I’m still weirded out.

I cropped out his friends since I don’t know how their parent(s) would feel about having them on the internet, but this is what Oldest One looked like yesterday after his graduation ceremony. Could he possibly BE any more gorgeous? No, no he could not.

Grade 6 Graduation for Oldest One!