“it’ll be ok. we can go get a milkshake after!”

“it’ll be ok. we can go get a milkshake after!”

So now for the reveal of a big surprise and our BLR Saturday Team Building excursion:

A tattoo.

Long about the end of July when I left Madison Wisconsin and started blazing a fast trail through Canada, somewhere in the silence of my many hours alone driving, popped in my head from out of nowhere: I’m going to get a tattoo, yep, a blue lollipop and it’s going to be on my left arm on the inside of my wrist. I’ll do it when I finish this trip. Perfect.

And I never questioned my thought on the subject again. I also didn’t tell anyone for a couple months. Going into it, only 4 people total knew- including Intern Sarah who actually accompanied me to get branded for life and document it all. 5 months of me keeping a secret when I am excited about something is near monumental. Me getting a tattoo is really monumental. My response to the “Do you have any tattoos” in the past has been. “No way! They day I find something I want to have on my body for the rest of my life is the day I will get a tattoo. I doubt that’s ever going to happen.

Funny how things change eh?

So, after months of waiting, drawings made by a very special and significant person to the Blue Lollipop Road, 2 previous visits to scope the tattoo spot and chat with the artist, feeling like a preppy adolescent geek among older cool talented kids, lots of nausea when thinking about it, and a sleepless Friday night last week being totally freaked out and nervous about the whole thing- Sarah and I had our little field trip on Saturday. Us driving to my appointment feeling scared shitless:

Here’s my pure virgin wrist “before”:

Here’s me off in la la land because, um- yeah, it kinda hurts:

Here’s Sarah having fun filming me again and teasing me laughing: “Yeah- that’s blood Diane.” (Did I mention my head was in the clouds? It was all a bit surreal. I clearly wasn’t thinking straight, but yes- I was 110% sober!)

This is the final product. Whoa:

Naturally we had to get a milkshake after. Sarah had told me a few weeks ago when I was having a chicken moment: “It’ll be Ok, we can go get a milkshake after!” Who am I to argue that?

Chocolate milkshakes make me very, very happy. Of course Sarah had to get a treat too, but was grabbing the camera when I turned it back around on her:

As I stare at my wrist now, with my cool looking wound healing, I still can’t wrap my brain around it. I have had some freak-out moments, thoughts that it would come off in the water and feelings that an alien is tied to my body. Weird and odd are the two words that come to mind from these past 4 days. Not bad, just WHOA: like as in- forever? This was as far planned as it could’ve ever been, and I wanted it. You just never know how you’ll feel until it’s actually yours. I am risking moms out there rolling their eyes here, but the only thing I can think to compare the simultaneous feelings of permanence, pride, joy and fear when you finally “see” something that is so close to you, is what I would imagine having a baby would be like. A complete flood of emotions, then when the moment calms you say to yourself: “Ok, so now what the heck am I supposed to do with this thing?” When the roller coaster stops, you ease into normalcy and routine and it suddenly fits perfectly leaving you wondering what your life ever was without it before.

I didn’t need to get this tattoo to remind myself why I do what I do, or to remember anyone. Those things will always stick with me and be in my soul. I wanted to get this tattoo, because this particular blue lollipop has become part of my being, and now I’ll always be able to take one with me wherever I go. My weird/odd initial feelings have fast turned into giddy excitement- to a certain extent that is: I’m not planning my “next” one that’s for sure. Those already regular comments: “This is your first! Just wait, you will get addicted and want more!” – you must be kidding me. I’m laughing…

…or I could just punch myself in the face 100 times and call it a day right? That might hurt less. I think my one single tattoo and I are going to skip happily off into the sunset alone thankyouverymuch 🙂

WAHOO! I GOT MY BLUE LOLLIPOP TATTOO!!!