Tatted Up

I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for a while, but couldn't quite decide what to get or where to get it. I knew that I was getting one on my trip to Indy because it was on my To-Do list, along with skydiving.

I made an "appointment" Friday with my friend K who was supposed to tell our friend C to hook me up. Well K told C we were hanging out. Luckily C is flexible and was able to do the tat.

I just decided this afternoon to get my horoscope symbol. I'm a pretty textbook Virgo. Yep, I'm critical of myself and others, dependable, loyal, etc.

So, I took a bottle of coconut rum to K’a to mix with his Lemon Strawberry Hawaiian Punch. S met me there and we sat around for an hour looking at tat mags, drinking our libations, talking and listening to music as I bought myself some time.

I was mad nervous. I'd heard mixed messages about the amount of pain to expect. K and C said if I had a baby I could handle a tat. The problem with that is I had a C-section and didn't feel any labor pains...and when I did have pain after the surgery I was too drugged up to care.

Once I sat in the chair in K’s kitchen (yeah, we're hood like that), I spent over 10 minutes asking every question I could think of: What's that? Why do you need that? How long will the tracing stay on in case I bolt? K cracked everybody up saying I sounded like the little boy in the Kobe and LeBron commercials.

After C clarified that even if I said stop he was to keep going, we got started. The pain was very minor for the most part. I think I had scared myself so much that it was a piece of cake. There were moments where I could feel more intense levels of pain, but they were few and far between.

C said he was proud of me. S said I made her want to get one (but she won't). K said I'd get another in 6 months because they're addicting. I reminded K that I'm stubborn and would wait a year just to prove him wrong.

When I got home, I told my mother I had a rash on my neck so she could look. She let out a yelp in surprise and said she never thought I'd get a tattoo. Once she found out that the equipment was sterile and that C was experienced, she was cool.

Son asked, "MiMi, what's that tattoo say?” "What you get that tattoo for?” and the dreaded, "Can I have a tattoo?" I guess he gets his inquisitive nature from his mama.

I have no regrets about getting it. The tat is small and can be covered in a business setting. It's kind of exhilarating and freeing, considering how square I've been for most of my life.

P.S., I'm not going to hell for desecrating my body with a pagan symbol :-D