My wordless Thursday.....

The branding...or paint my numbers on my ankle!

Guest bloggist Judy. My commentary in red.

The day began like any other day…..well, maybe not…..

Friday morning, a day off from folding t-shirts and sweatshirts, yippee!!

Apparently there was an email from Vanessa offering to fill in for the tattoo guy because she watched LA Ink in honor of the big event! Vanessa said that it’s just like paint by numbers and easy to color within the lines, so how hard could it really be?? I’m thinking that wasn’t the kind of support that was needed, and left a small hint of doubt in the mind of the one to be “inked”. That would be the day where either of these two Bozo's came near my ankle with whatever torture tool the guy used to paint on my ankle.

I arrived bearing gifts…..breakfast of steak and eggs! A last meal so-to-speak. Even the condemned are allowed their last meal so I thought, what the heck?? I knew that her favorites were the steak tips from Roche Bros. so I stopped off and picked up some knowing that I could get a lot of mileage out of the “last meal” idea. What I didn’t think of is what happened if nerves got the better of her, and the yummy breakfast didn’t sit well?? I have an iron clad stomach, as proof being my Pooh Sized figure...Yummy breakfast, even if it was my last as a non branded woman!

The morning passed fairly quickly, and the closer we got to “ink time” the more I could see the nerves coming to the surface. In an effort to keep her mind off of what was to come, we took Wrigley for a really long walk. He seemed to enjoy himself, but the more we talked I could hear the nerves creeping in. Nerves? You mean terror!!!

We were supposed to be at the Tattoo Parlor at noon for the “inking” or “branding” as it had been called. I did the driving because I honestly don’t think she could have done it, the closer we got the more the nervous “knee bouncing” became pronounced. Vanessa was supposed to meet us there for additional moral support, or as I like to refer to it, Comic Relief!!

We met with Taylor, the “artist” and discussed size and placement of the design. Much to Glo’s dismay, the design she chose couldn’t be as small as she had hoped. I could see panic setting in because she worried about just how it would look on her ankle. I heard these questions in rapid fire.. “Now what do I do?? Where do I put it?? I don’t want to change designs!” Taylor wanted it to be 3 inches!! Was he crazy? I have little stubby legs, lets not forget how tall I am!!!!

Well, ok…there’s options….shoulder blade (but keep in mind, formal dresses….it will show). You could do the small of your back (Ahem, I think they call those “Tramp Stamps”) and besides, YOU can’t see it back there!! Isn’t the purpose of having this so YOU can see it??

Ok, so ankle it is, just grin and bear it. Taylor said it shouldn’t take more than an hour, how bad could it be?? I'll tell you how bad %#*#*&^*#&^)#(#&#&%#!!!!!

Vanessa said we should have a leather strap for her to bite down on when it got bad, unfortunately none of us had a leather strap handy, so Vanessa offered her leather boat shoe and I offered my Mickey Mouse keychain ‘cause it has about an inch of leather attaching the charm to the keyring. I don’t understand why Glo didn’t take us up on either of those options!!With friends like you two who needs enemies!!!

the template

Now for the paint by numbers, coloring within the lines. Taylor made a template of the design and applied it to the area to be “inked”. It left an outline on the skin so we knew where it would be, but the fun would be seeing the colors go on. Glo was a real trouper through it all. She had a few moments of pretty decent pain and asked for a short break between colors. Taylor said that it would be better to just work through the pain, and so she agreed. There were a couple of times where Glo came to an almost sitting position in reaction to an area that he was working on, but for the most part, I have to say she was GREAT! He is lucky I had my other leg wrapped around the thing I was lying on and didn't kick his head off a couple of times... Boy that hurt!

It was really interesting to see all the colors take shape, and in just about an hour, it was done!! All in all, not a bad hour spent, Glo has a great tattoo, Vanessa served as comic relief, and I rewarded the “inkee” with a treat of a Dairy Queen Blizzard for being so well behaved and not kicking poor Taylor with her free foot when he hit a spot that hurt! Ice cream..Yummy!! Kicking Taylor in the head....well could have been satisfying at times but would have resulted in a not so nice tattoo.

Just like any other day off….a paint by numbers design on an ankle, many good laughs with friends, AND Dairy Queen to boot….who could ask for more?? J

The final product!

Yes, it is 100% real!!!!!