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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Rite of Passage


Wow!  I am the mother of two 'adults' & a pre-teen!!  Can't believe they made it this far without me burying them in the back yard with my other 27 kids  selling them to the gypsies  going out of my mind.  It was a little more trying with Bigfoot, as he was the oldest & the first to push my buttons me to my limits.  As the Princess came along, I got a little bit better at knowing what was 'arms & legs' & what wasn't.  In other words, I knew a little bit better about picking my battles.  Her getting a tattoo?  For me & her step-dad?  Not 'arms & legs'.  For her 'real' dad (using terms loosely) - well, let's just say something is going to hit the fan when he finds out.  She had every opportunity to tell him beforehand & she chose not to.  So now she has to deal with the fallout instead of being upfront with him.  Choices.  Her choices.

So, the tattoo.... She'd decided that she wanted one more than a year ago & has been looking at tattoo flash ever since.  I have 4 tattoos & all but the little hummingbird are my own design.  She decided that she would design her own.  Her design is of two intertwined hearts with the Japanese word(s) for Friendship in the middle.

The Princess' rite of passage:

Touched for the first time - Ryan doing line work

Adding color was painful.  She was a trouper!
The finished product.

It looks even nicer now without the redness in it.  I know that tattoos aren't for everyone.  I didn't get one until I was 40 (it was my birthday present from King T).  I got Classic Pooh - stuck in Rabbit's hole on my ankle.  Pooh's head is on the outside & his butt is on the inside.  I have a vine with pink & purple flowers connecting  them.  It amazes me to look at some of the work that people have had done - some gross, ugly stuff (at least to me), stuff that was done poorly & stuff that is pretty amazing.  I saw a spider tattoo that looked 3-D with the shadowing - not necessarily the spider part... but the 3-D effect was incredible.  Anyhoot, she's very happy with it and that's what counts.

I've been slowly working on a project.  It should be finished soon & I'll post about it, including pics (come on, I know you're impressed.  'Cause I'm all cool & stuff 'cause I know how to upload pics now).  Until then, have a great rest of the week.

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!


Friday, March 16, 2012

A Mommy Meltdown & An Organizing Update

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, contrary to popular belief.  I want to say that I've been crazy busy, but it hasn't been all that bad.  Although, a week ago, I had been running around all day at school and then had meetings almost every day/evening and I kinda had a meltdown.  A 'Mommy Meltdown' and I ran away from home.  I grabbed my keys & stomped out the door hollering 'I'm outta here!!!'  I got a mile down the road, called my friend and said, 'I really, really, really, really need a 'time out'.  Can I come & veg on your couch for a little bit?'  She told me she had just put on a pot of coffee.  I got to her house, texted the Princess & said I was okay but I needed and was taking a 'time out'.  Her reply?  'Good to know.'  I made it back home a couple of hours later & felt much, much more relaxed and able to deal with crap stuff.


MOVING ON.....

So anyhoot, the organizing thing.  I have kept my desk cleared off (you can check that out here).  I have kept the herb & supplement bottles filled for just a week (you can check that out here).

I do have to say that what has inspired me most to keep things in order was a blurb from a sweet little blog called 'Clean, Smart, Simple Style'.  AlexisAnne said, "First of all, It's much easier to keep a clean house clean. Clutter attracts clutter, whereas clean shiny surfaces draw attention to the one stray item out of place and remind you to put it away."  I had heard the 'keeping a clean house clean' thing and the 'clutter attracts clutter' part too.  What I hadn't heard was the 'Clean shiny surfaces draw attention to the one stray item out of place' thing.  WOW!  What a statement!  I finally got it.  THAT has been what has kept those places picked up.  As soon as the one thing that didn't belong there appeared, I have been taking care of it right away.  With this thought process now stuck in my brain, I think that I will have even bigger successes!

MORE 'NEWS'....

We have been getting quotes for putting up our pool deck.  The weather has been so warm & beautiful here it's amazing.  I'm not sure if King Turd of Poop Mountain called the one guy & said come do it or not.  But that has been one thing that we've been working on.  Hoping to do some more organizing this weekend.

Sunday the Princess turns 18!  She's asked for a tattoo for her 18th birthday.  *sigh*  It's with mixed emotions that we said that we'd get it for her.  I mean, I have nothing against tattoos, I have 4 myself & King T has quite a few & his left arm is in the process of being 'sleeved'.  So this is our take on it.  She's 18.  She's old enough to get one without our permission.  We decided that we'd do this for her.  We want her to get something that she loves (we've discussed how it's gonna be there forever) and is beautiful.  We don't want her to get something that she can 'just' afford or that will be done badly or not an appropriate size, just because the tattooist only does an item 'this size = this $$ amount'.  So, we're taking her to a reputable place, a place that make sure the environment & equipment are clean & sterile.  To a guy that does amazing work & is not afraid to tell you that it won't look good at that size, color, area.  He's said that his work is his signature & he takes great pride in what he does.

That's what's been going on around here.  A little of nothing & lots of everything.  What have you been up to?

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Decorating Dilemma

Awhile back, I found a nice leather charging station for a couple of bucks at the Salvation Army.  I knew exactly where I wanted to put it & how I was going to use it.  I've been very, very careful when I go to a thrift store & I have put several things back because I could not think where exactly I would put them or how I would use them.

Leather Charging Station

I needed to get a surge protector so that all of our electronics didn't get zapped, however I had to find one that would be less than 12" long.  It wasn't on my priority list, but last week I remembered
while I was out, to look for one.  Since I had cleaned off the cabinet in the corner of the kitchen, I knew I wanted to put it there:

Shelving unit in the kitchen

See where I put it?  On the bottom shelf?  I was all excited. Well... It didn't work out.  The angle of the top of the charging station didn't allow room in the back (the area where you hide the cords) for the surge protector AND the charger plug-ins.  So now I'm in a quandary as to what to put there.  I've looked on Pinterest & I've Googled & I've looked on Amazon & Ebay, nothing jumps out at me at a price I'm willing to pay.  I thought about using the other basket that matches the one on the middle shelf, but it isn't weighted.  I'm afraid it will tip over if the iPad falls/leans to the front of it.

Do any of you have any ideas?  It can't be any bigger than 8" x 12" and it must be able to accommodate (not necessarily all at once) an iPad, iPod/iPhone & 2 cell phones.  More brains are better than one!

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!

 
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