There’s no doubt about that.  Tattoos can be addictive.

But I have a beef to pick with Kelly Ripa-yes, you know…the tiny, blond talk show host.  The one that NEVER seems unhappy…yes, I find her aggravating.

Anyways, Roy and I were watching “Kelly and Michael” the morning talk show Ripa hosts with Michael Strahan.  And she mentioned she was getting her ankle tattoo removed.  Her remark was this:

“Tattoos are addictive, and you regret them 15 minutes later.”

IF she does, cool…that tells me she doesn’t think things through.  

Tattoos are permanent, or one should assume they are as it will costs you four times as much to remove them, and hurt like the dickens. 

BUT, one SHOULD think about getting a tattoo before you take the plunge.  Don’t undertake one lightly.  Don’t walk into a shop and pick a piece of generic flash art…well, if you want to cool, but understand that it should mean SOMETHING to you.

I have five tattoos, still love them all, not because they are award winning pieces of body art, but because they remind me of a specific time in my life.  Four of them have wonderful memories attached to them, one has darker memories with some hope on the horizon, but all of them speak to a part of ME.  They are a reminder of who I am, who I was, and where I was at a specific point in my life.  

I don’t regret those memories.

If you get a tattoo and a week later regret it, that says something.  In my humble opinion, it says to me that you weren’t sure about it in the first place, and you probably should have thought about things a bit more.  BUT, don’t assume that everyone thinks the way you do, that’s all on you.

So, Miss Ripa, please don’t speak for me…I don’t regret any of my ink.

My celebratory ink. They will forever reminded me that I wrote my first book

Corey just got his first tattoo.  Well, he got it a few weeks ago, and my mom can’t believe we let him get one.

But I figure, how can I say anything!  I have five!  Sure, I am older. He is only 17 (almost 18), but he came to us with an idea, and I have to say I liked it.  It meant something to him, and actually it is sort of an extension of one I want to get.

One of our favorite artists is P!nk.  She is just ‘rad’ to put it mildly.  She’s brash and ballsy, and I completely love that about her.  Her song Raise Your Glass has one quick scene in the video of two young men celebrating their marriage.  But there are also scenes of people that one might look at and see something… different.  A young girl dressed all in black, kids that skate (so, of course, they have that requisite look), gay youths, a nerd that doesn’t care what people think… and she’s telling them to just Raise Their Glass and enjoy being YOU.  I want all my boys to do that, to see the world that way.  

When the song came out, I would walk around constantly singing it, and so would Corey.  I told him that I was going to get “Raise Your Glass” possibly on my wrist, maybe on my side.  He said he wanted to get “Wrong In All The Right Ways.”  And he did.  He showed Roy some fonts he liked, Roy helped him tweak it a bit, and he brought his finished product to me and asked if I would come with him.

My parents didn’t think I should, my in laws said let him wait until he is 18, but why?  Some people put their art on the wall, and others get inked.  I told him as long as he understood that this was permanent - this wasn’t something you got for a little while and then took off when you were tired of it.  This was going to be with him forever. Did he get that?  He said yes he understood that and still wanted it.

So, Roy and I took him to the young man that did our most recent tattoos.  He was upfront, said some of the lines would be tough, so he asked if he could rework it a little bit, and when it was all said and done… it looks really great!  I know Corey, sees it and is reminded that no matter what some people say or think, he is ok just the way he is.  That the big things - being a good person, working hard, being kind… he has those covered.  When his brothers asked him about it, and he explained it to them… they got it.  Same with his friends.

I am glad to see that tattoos are becoming more acceptable.  I’m sure some would say that they are 'trendy,’ that everyone has one, and yet, doesn’t that just mean MORE people are coming to understand that being inked doesn’t make you a reprobate. It doesn’t make your weird. It simply means you choose to wear your art on your body, as opposed to hanging it on your wall.

But be careful… they can be addicting!  Corey is already planning his next one, Joe wants one eventually, and I’m always thinking about one or two…

Ok, I don’t know where that title came from, but let’s go with it.

Family Fun, yes the magazine, asked a question on the FB page.

“At what age would you let your child get a tattoo?”

There are A LOT of responses, close to 800. Most people say 18, some say 19 or 21…

First of all-at 18 they don’t NEED your permission, so what you would let them do in this case is a moot point, cause they don’t need to ask. Same goes for 19 or 21.

Some said they get to pick the design, and as long as it’s meaningful it’s ok.  Umm…if YOU pick it, isn’t it meaningful to YOU in that case?

And then we have the “OH hell no!” Tattoos are masculine. Over my dead body…etc, etc.

I wonder if people like that know how they sound? Do they come right out and tell their kids: it doesn’t matter if your are smart, successful and kind, looks are what matter?

“Anything under 18 is just irresponsible” Sooo..you are insulting many people you don’t know, in some cases entire cultures. Do they realize how ignorant they sound?

“Most people will regret it.”

Here is what I say about my ink:

I have quite a few tattoos. I love them all. A few I wouldn’t get now, I might not choose the same design, but I regret NONE of them. It’s who I was at the time, they are reminders of what I’ve done, where I’ve been and what I’ve seen. They are a part of me. When Corey wanted his, I told him that’s how I looked at mine. I viewed them as a part of me, not temporary pieces i could change when I wanted.

I have nothing against cover ups. Roy wants one, and his idea to cover up the one he doesn’t like is AWESOME! But that’s not me.

And though I have ink on my forearms and my wrist, I have it on my shoulders…it doesn’t mean I’m manly.

It doesn’t mean I do drugs.

I’m not in a gang.

I’m not a negligent mother;

It doesn’t mean we are lower class, in fact when it comes to ink you get what you pay for. You see a good piece, I guarantee you either that person is an artist and has an in. Is GOOD friends with an artist…OR they paid a pretty penny.

I don’t have any friends that tattoo, so I choose to pay and go to a guy that I like and does great work. And it isn’t cheap! 

It’s petty and yet very insightful how some people answered that question, and yet I wonder how many of them think they are liberal and/or enlightened?

I wonder how many of them tell their children, “It’s whats on the inside that counts?”

Tattoos aren’t for everyone. Some people don’t like them, they can’t take pain, they don’t know what they would get, etc, etc. And yet, how hard is it to understand that NOT everyone sees things like you do, and that you are offending those of us with tattoos when you make disparaging comments.  Would you walk up to me at the mall and say that I shouldn’t put graffiti on my body, and that I look masculine?  

I doubt it, so think about what you put out there.  After all, if my mom can accept them…I don’t see why anyone can’t!

Here are my two recent ones. Roy on my inner forearm and the lyric wrapped around my wrist. Like it or not, they mean something to me. And the stars represent my boys.

I love tattoos.  I love my tattoos.  I love Roy’s tattoos.  So anyways, last night I got my newest one.  At this point, I have five:

1) My First - I got this one at a rough time in my life.  I had just gotten my divorce, was looking for a job, and an old friend suggested we do something fun.  Something spontaneous.  We walked into the shop, and she immediately knew what she wanted - a tiny black widow spider.  I wasn’t sure, and then a small design jumped out at me.  A Treble Clef with a rose intertwined.  I LOVE music. Music has gotten me through a lot, still does.  So I went for it.  It’s on my lower back, but off to the left side.  Blue treble clef with a red rose.

2) My Second and Third - I think some might think this is silly, but I got my butterflies for two different reasons.  First, that is the stroke I swam when I competed.  That was my stroke, no one could touch me, and I felt invincible moving through the water. And second, butterflies also go through a major transformation.  They go from being a cute, fuzzy little caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly that can fly away.  I have a very large one on my lower back - yes, some people call it a tramp stamp.  I love the colors - yellow, blue, bright pink. And the colors have held up well for the last 6 years.  And I have a smaller one on my foot. It has not held up so well.  Same colors, similar butterfly (though much smaller), but because of its position, it has faded much more quickly than my other ones.  I need to get it touched up.

3) My Fourth - Roy actually designed this one for me.  This is my ‘family tat.’  I wanted something that would speak of my family, but I didn’t just want names, or portraits, so Roy designed his name - but very abstract.  It is in the shape of a heart, rather ornate, and though it spells out “ROY” most people only see a beautiful heart.  To represent the boys, I have five stars - my five shining stars.  I think I am going to color them in at some point though.  I will use the colors of their birthstones - Corey is a ruby, Joe and Dean are garnets, Addi is aquamarine, and Hayden is a diamond.

4) My Latest - Roy and I love the song Smile by Uncle Kracker.  We sort of joked around a few weeks ago that we would each get a line from the song tattooed somewhere on us.  Well, we found two lines we liked and decided to actually go for it.  The lines are from the chorus:

You make me dance like a fool

Forget how to breathe

Shine like gold

Buzz like a bee

Just the thought of your can drive me wild

You make me smile

This song has some of my favorite lines in a song - period.  I picked “Dance Like A Fool.” Roy designed it nicely and put in some stars to tie it into the other one on my arm, and some music notes and a treble clef for my love of music.  I put it low on my wrist, so that it 'hangs’ like a bracelet.  Roy is going to do “Forget How To Breathe.”  While I love all my tattoos, to this day I don’t regret any of them. My newest one is my favorite.  Not just because it is new (a fact I was reminded of at 5 am this morning, when I accidentally rubbed my wrist - OUCH!), but because it is something special (another something special) Roy and I will share.

This is a group over on Facebook.  I admit to looking at some of the tattoos, but one thing really irks me.

The declarations that “just because I have tattoos, doesn’t mean I don’t love my kids.”

Now, I’m not saying it’s never happened, but has ANYONE with a tattoo ever had their parenting skills questioned because they have a tattoo?  I mean in a overly obvious way?

Has a teacher ever said, “Well, you have a tattoo..so obviously you aren’t a good parent, I should probably call child services?”

Has a day care provider, implied that because you have ink you are probably too ignorant to properly change a diaper?

I mean, where do all these declarations come from?

Ok, Yes, I know they come from the parents, that are posting them…but WHY?  What has ever been said to you that makes you think someone finds you iffy because you have tattoos?

Someone asked where Corey got his tattoo, and I can’t figure out how to reply to a comment!  I’ll get it one day!

Corey was actually thinking of getting it across his upper back, but for it to have any real impact, it would have to be fairly large.  On the other hand, if he wanted a back piece one day, it could interfere with it.  

Because he works, he wanted it somewhere that could easily be concealed so he got it on his upper arm, on the inside - inner bicep.  Honestly, I think it looks really good there!

Ok, now I’m being totally honest here…Maroon 5’s new song “One More Night” is my new favorite song.  But Adam Levine is awfully pretty-without the tattoos he wouldn’t make my list.

The ink saves him from being a pretty man…

Sooo, I make a pact with myself to spend more time giving in to my feelings of restlessness when it comes to writing…and than I don’t write for four day?  Go figure!

It could be because our timeline got moved up.

What timeline you ask?

Well, I’ll tell ya,  Hayden is a Freshman this year, Dean is in fifth grade-so he’ll start middle school next year, and Roy works about 60 miles from home. NOT horrible, until you factor in rush hour traffic.  Sometimes, Roy gets into the office in an hour an a half, sometimes it take twice that-my goal was to move the summer before Hayden’s junior year.  That would give him two years at a new high school, Dean would have two years at the middle school before moving into HS, but my husband is beat.  With the new position he accepted, he’s going in almost daily-and I know it’s hard on him.  So, we’re looking to move in just a few months!

Ugh, I said it out loud

We’ve been here so long, I forgot why I dislike the process.  Getting the house ready, finding a new house…and than there’s THE PURGE.

I decided to start small, something no one could have any say over-my closet.  I listed items on ebay, I put aside items for a yard sale-and felt accomplished until I looked at my closet.  Pretty sure it looks no different.  When did I accumulate so much stuff?  

To be fair, Roy’s side of the closet looks similar.  I tell the man he needs to purge and he gives me two t-shirts-out of the 50 he owns-though he only wears about 10.  He has a t-shirt that he wears constantly (I wash it, he wears it-vicious cycle) that I can see through-I kid you not.  It didn’t start out like that, he just wears it constantly!  To boot-it says Grooveshark (does anyone even remember what that is?) and he got it for free!  Not that there’s anything wrong with promotional swag-I love my pens, but when it’s starting to disintegrate, maybe it’s time to move on?

Now, for my case I realized I have way to many shirts with goofy sayings.  Some I bought for the specific purpose of basketball games-I have a few with sayings, or Hayden’s number, etc.  But most say ridiculous things like, “More Tacos please.”  I’m not sure why I need three shirts that say that-especially when all are just different shades of grey.  

And you’d think when the shirts hold no real sentimental value it would be easy to let go of-apparently, it is not.  You never know when you might find yourself in desperate need of tacos and maybe you’ve lost your voice?  I don’t know…

And let’s not even get in to my legging collection.  Now, in the winter I do wear them-daily for the most part.  I wear tunics and leggings, or a sweater and leggings, etc.  They’re warm and cute-the more colorful the better!  But I’m short, so specific brands fit me best-so why do I have pair after pair that are too big? 

I think there was a time when I bought clothes to make myself happy-I was feeling out of sorts, sad-and when I worked through that-I was left with a packed closet.  And so, THE PURGE commenced.

I truly hope the kitchen isn’t like this-or you’ll find me crying in the shower…