Hi! This is Ann, taking over Kathie’s blog while she visits family in Chicago. My assignment is to entertain y’all during her absence. So….here is the story of my afternoon:
Today I got a new tattoo at my and Kathie’s personal tattoo studio, Freaks and Geeks Tattoo Sideshow. Yes, we have one, much like one would have a lawyer on retainer. We have our priorities in order….thank you very much! It is a memorial tattoo, dedicated to my parents. A hammer and nails (my father was a carpenter) and a cluster of flowers (my mother loved to garden). Over 2 years ago I talked with Tiffany, our PERSONAL TATTOOIST, and a good friend of ours (did I mention she is a saint?) about what I wanted and she worked up a sketch for me. It took me a long time to work up to the emotional level I needed to be to have it done. Well, today was the day!
Did I happen to mention that my pain tolerance level, on a scale of 1-10, is 0. And, when I recently had surgery on my leg my doctor said he had never seen nerves so close to the surface of the skin. So, he was kind enough to give me a vial of “skin numbing salve” for my full calf, multi-color tattoo.
It didn’t work not a damn bit!
I cried…..and that was just for the outline. I twisted, moaned, cursed, cried, groaned, cursed, twisted some more, cried some more, groaned some more….well you get the point. I was soaked in sweat, much like a GITMO detainee after an afternoon of torture. Wait, I forgot….the USA doesn’t torture…..right??? The entire afternoon was full of my unimaginable pain, drowned out by Tiffany and Gabe laughing their butts off and Tiffany telling me to suck it up, shut up, stop being a baby, more laughter, more mocking…..just like GITMO!
At one point I told Tiffany that I could not stand it any more, that the pain was too much and I needed her to stop. She just held onto my leg, told me to shut the ____ up and kept dragging a pulsating needle through my tender, thin skinned, nerve-endings exposed calf. All the while she is laughing herself silly.
Well…..when the afternoon of torture was ended, and I saw the result, I cried like a baby. It wasn’t from the pain that still surged through my body. It was because it is truly the most beautiful tattoo I have ever seen and it means all the world to me! It really stands for something….it is not just a folly of ink or a cute design. I already have those. This is in honor and in remembrance.
I know 2 things for sure:
1. I wouldn’t trade the pain of getting that tattoo for anything.
2. Tiffany is a brilliant, gifted, tattooist saint. A foul-mouthed sadist saint but one none-the-less.
OK….here it is…it will look different in a month when the swelling and BLOOD goes away and the color settles in. I am so proud:
THANKS TIFFANY….FOR EVERYTHING!
June 15th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Ann, I am so excited you are blogging…..YEAH!!! and good for you for going for the tattoo….it is a BEAUTIFUL one and the fact that it means so much to you makes it even more special and beautiful….again, good for you for enduring the pain and yes please keep us entertained by blogging while kathie is away!
June 15th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
I KNEW she should let you hold the camera (or in this case the keyboard) now and then! You’re right, i was entertained…and hope to be even more entertained for as long as Kathie is gone…
I DO have a single question…did you intentionally wait until Kathie was traveling to get the tattoo done so she wouldn’t take pics of you whining and whimpering? (I would have.)
Anyway, it’s an awesome tattoo (and a good thing they made you get it finished) and a great post…but i wouldn’t have expected less from you in either case.
June 15th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
I thought I heard screaming this afternoon while walking down Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Seems it was Ann…lol…I am rather glad I was not there. I am sure she is at home now diet coke in hand, pain killer in blood stream!
I think it is an amazing tattoo, and I cannot wait to see it in person. It will look even better when the bruising goes away. I will post a new photo in a week or so.
Keep blogging Ann!
June 16th, 2009 at 12:04 am
I absolutely love the tattoo Ann! It is beautiful.
You have a wonderful way with words and I hope you will post way more often!
I have wanted to do something similar but I just want to incorporate symbols of Grandma and Grandpa into a larger motif. I know that Grandma’s symbol will be a crochet hook. Actually it will be 2 crochet hooks, one larger than the other (larger one for Grandma and the smaller one for me…since we were that last 2 in the family that crocheted…now I am the last) . I haven’t chosen Grandpa’s symbol yet.
June 16th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Thanks so much for the words of encouragement….along with the mocking laughter. I appreciate them equally.
I think I am now in the throes of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, much like the GITMO detainees are surely going through now and in the future. I heard a lawnmower on TV and thought it was the tattoo machine. I began to shake and sweat….just a little.
Don’t worry, with the proper therapy and medication I will be fine… eventually.
Ann
June 16th, 2009 at 7:00 am
Kathie here again. I must check the time settings of the blog, as I am sure Ann was not up at 4:30AM to answer the comments. In fact, I am sure she is still in bed, having called home health care to come in and take care of her during her ordeal. I am sure the crutches arrived by early evening, and the physical therapist will be there later today.
Becky, a skein of yarn in back of the hooks would be nice too.
June 16th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Wow!! That is really something! Incredible design and execution
(sorry!!) I’m glad Tiffany didn’t have to waterboard you to keep you in check.
See you soon I hope.
Tena
June 16th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Just a gentle reminder here that we NEED a pain update.
You are supposed to keep us entertained, you know? And although my personal fantasies of you whimpering at each step throughout the day and each whine as a dog brushes against you are very entertaining in themselves, i really NEED more!
I want to read about the crutches and vicodin.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:26 am
LOL Pam! Well, the pain has eased quite a bit. But you hit the nail on the head concerning “a dog brushes against you”. RD, who is 15 years old, almost blind, and pretty much deaf, chooses to live out his days within 10 inches of me or Kathie. I have done some fancy foot work to avoid him brushing against “THE WORLD GREATEST TATTOO”!
I am doing fine, just a bit swollen and a wee bit tender but otherwise I am back to my old self.
Whether that is a good or bad thing I don’t know.
Ohhhhh….and yes, the time stamp on this post is correct. It is almost 3:30 A.M. and I heading off to work soon.
Bye y’all…..Kathie is home tonight!!!
Ann
June 17th, 2009 at 5:38 am
youza, that is an amazing tatoo, which is good since you experienced a pain level that is beyond my comprehension.
I have not heard of someone getting a tatoo to honor their parents, as opposed to a lover/GF/partner. Those are always interesting since often the people have a new lover/GF/partner and the tatoo remains. You however are not getting new parents who will ask you to remove the previous pareental tatoo!
Thanks for the blogging and the photo.
June 19th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
WAY TO G!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I knew you were tough that soft side is such a cover LOL!
That is the most wonderful tat ever. You have given me a
great ideal to honor my Father who was a purple heart recpt.
of the Korean conflict. Now while you are remembering the
pain just remember PurpleHaze and White with a touch. LOL
Anyway I love you, Your the best!!!!!!! THATS FUNNY RIGHT
THAR GIT R DONE!!!!!!!!!!!! ROGER……