Unbelievable - but true

For as long as I can remember I have always said if I were to get a tattoo it would be a period because as soon as that gun hit my skin, we would be done. Which over the years has caused quite a bit of amusement when I would be going out of town (and once in a crowded restaurant) when someone would yell out, "Hey, let me know if you get your period this weekend!"

However, for the past several years, I have carried a picture of a tattoo on my phone. It seems strange but it all started at the last Olympics 4 years ago when I said to someone that the only thing I would ever think about getting a tattoo of would be the Olympic rings -- if I was a competitor.

Immediately, the thought came to me, "Shouldn't you be prouder of being a Christian than you would be of being an athlete?" and the thought has nagged at me a whole lot more than you could imagine.

I never imagined being convicted about NOT having a tattoo-- but I was. Still, I resisted. For many reasons. One, I'm a baby. Two, I wasn't sure I liked tattoos, although I have softened over the years about them. Three, I've never seen an elderly woman in a nursing home with an attractive tattoo.

But, this I've learned. You never know when your days on earth are done...and God is good--all the time--no matter what.

So Saturday, while visiting Patricia in Michigan, (who was all too happy to take pictures) I did it! Got my first, last and only tattoo. Immediately upon texting my friends back home in Indiana, the resounding response was, "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID IT WITHOUT ME!" Hmmm, seems there's some sort of "I watched you so you can watch me" tattoo etiquette I had neglected to follow.

The funny thing was I almost didn't get it at all because we went to get it Thursday night and for the first time ever, my debit card was declined!!!!! Although I had hundreds of dollars in the account, my credit union declined the card! I checked the balance of the account and told them to run it again since there was at least 20 times what I needed to pay them sitting there begging to be spent. Declined, again.

Before I could even start to figure out why -- before I even made it back to the car, I got an automated call from the credit union about suspicious fraudulent activity on my account and they had locked my card until I called them the next day to verify this transaction. Guess they didn't expect me to be getting a tattoo either!

But I did-- it's done, and I can actually say I love it! I can also say that on the pain level scale I have always ranked things in this order:

1. Kidney stones
2. Rebreaking my clavicle and letting the bones jar around for 2 weeks while waiting for the 3rd surgery, and;
3. Childbirth.

Those have ALL been knocked down one and Tattoo has jetted to the number one spot. What follows are actual un-retouched photos of the worst pain imaginable!