Getting my mark

Well, i finally did it. Only took me 32 years, but here it is. My first tattoo. I've always said i would get one, but deciding on which one to get was my problem. I wanted something that looked like me, but not something i would regret when i'm sixty. Not that i'm too sure how i'll feel about this in thirty years, but i think i'll still like it as much.

I didnt plan on getting one yesterday. We started out the day car shopping. My durango is starting to act it's age (it's a 98), and after several pings, clanks, and a new idler pully thingy, i wanted something new. Plus something that gets better gas millage. I swear that thing only gets like 11 mpg, and last week i went thru $150 in gas. Uh, no. So we went to vinnie's uncles car lot. He's actually the guy who sold me the durango, but that was at a different car lot. So we went down there (i had called friday and gave him all the numbers so he could have an idea of what to have waiting for me). They had a 01 bug that was just too cute, but the payments would have been more than i want to pay. I want to keep them at or below what i'm paying now. But they did have a 96 cadillac fleetwood. It was gorgeous. My sister was worried i'd be driving a pimpmobile, but this thing looks like something your grandma would drive. There even isnt a cd player (thank god for sirus). But it only has 80,000 miles on it and the only flaw in the entire thing is a tiny dent on the drivers door by the handle. Seriously, i think it sat in someones garage for ten years and when grandma died they just sold the thing. It's sooo nice. I never thought i would own a classy vehicle like that, even if it is 10 years old.

I have to wait til monday to find out for sure if the finance company says yes, but seeing as how they're going thru the same one that i finaced my durango thru i dont see there being a problem. So we left, and headed to Iron Horse tattoo. Vinnie wanted a new set of earrings in a bigger gage. So we went in and i had the bright idea of paying for them as an early valentines present. (i have no idea what else to get him). He wasnt going for it (cuz i said i would put it on a credit card), but it gave him the idea of me getting a tattoo and he would pay for it as an early valentines present for me. Um.... lemme think. I wandered around and studied just about every picture in the place, finally decided on the fairy. She just looked classy and cute. I already knew where i was gonna put it. The typical tramp stamp spot. That way the only people who see it are the people who want. I didnt want it on my shoulder or ankle because in the summer i live in tanks and skirts and i just thought that might be tacky at work. (never mind the girl who has them on her breast bones and wears low cut blouses).

This kid Chris did it, and he was just great. Kind of goofy, i couldnt tell if he was gay or high, or just a little off, but he was a total sweetheart and real patient. And he did an excellent job. Since Vinnie was there and it was at his friends shop i made a huge effort NOT to be a big baby about it. There was a guy there who was getting one at the same time and he was about to cry the entire time, so i was like i am not going to be like him. I just closed my eyes and breathed. It wasnt too bad, just a few bad lines. The worst part was the last half hour (the whole thing took 3 hours) where he was doing the detail and color. That part just about killed me. Plus i had been sitting on a chair backwards for three hours by that point and every time i flinched my hips felt like they were going to pop out. When i finally got out of the chair i practically crawled to the car. The rest of the evening i wasnt feeling too good. But i think that was more of the stomach bug that i've been batteling than the tattoo.

Over all, the morning after, i dont regret it. Yet. Ask me tomorrow after sitting at my desk all day.

I dont like cheap.......

I have rediscovered my love for clinique products.

I used to be dead set against them. I was convinced that they were the same products that i could get at any store, just over priced. And being the incredible penny pincher that i am, i wasnt going to pay $12 for some lip gloss that i could get at walmart for $3. But then i started working at the club, and being in a smoke filled room for 8 hours a day really took it's toll on my skin. I was even using cocoa butter twice a day as body lotion. So after some persuasion from my bf Tiff, i bought my first 'real' beauty products. It was just the makeup at first. Totally loved them. My skin looked healthier and clearer. I have HUGE ass pores, and i hadnt been able to find a base that would make them look smaller, but clinique has this base for active wear that worked wonderfully. Then my boyfriend at the time decided to indulge me and bought me all the skin care products. I was hooked.

Flash forward to 2 years later, one car wreck, and a major paycut, and i was back to dove soap and oil of olay. Not that i find anything wrong with it. The thrift meiser in me still says it's better. So i used that for 3 years. Then this christmas i got a gift card to Dillards and thought what the heck. I bought the level 4 soap, and the level 4 gel. I have now been using them for a week and a half and like a dozen people have commented on how great my skin looks. Did i get a tan? Why do i look so happy? Did i loose weight? (my favorite question) Just from switching soap and lotion. Okay, i conceed. $40 every 3-4 months, i think i can do that. Just hard to do since that's my lunch budget for one month. Pretty soon i'm going to be using a whole dryer fabric sheet instead of cutting it in half.

Because i'm a blond(e)

Sometimes i feel like a 5 year old. I hate being told what to do. And it's not that i dont understand my place. I am the employee, the wife, the stepmother, the sister, the aunt, the girl with the tits standing in the corner who couldnt make a peanut butter sandwich by herself if someone didnt tell how HOW to do it. No, not bitter. But if it's something that i've been doing, oh lets say 3 years or more, and i havent screwed it up too terribly, then why oh why does everyone feel the need to instruct me on how to do something. I know how to fill the gas tank on the durango, i know how use a fax machine, i know how a drive thru window works, and yes, i know how to use the voice mail on my cell phone. Blonde does not mean stupid.

Car trouble

Today was a typical wednesday. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about. I had to take Tony to work at 5 this morning and my durango started making this sound like a flat tire, a thump thump thump sound. I knew i wasnt hearing things in my half awake/asleep state cuz Tony heard it too. So i got off the interstate and he checked everything out. Vinnie had said a few days ago that the idler (sp??) cable was wearing out and needed to be replaced, so i just had visions of that snapping and taking out half of my engine as i'm going 75 mph down the interstate. But it was still intact, so i got back on the freeway, dropped Tony off, and headed home for 1 more hour of sleep.
When i was leaving for work I told Vinnie about it and he said he'd call our mechanic, Travis. So about 10 am he swung by the office to pick up the durango and take it to the shop. Only thing was it took them til 3pm to get the part in, so Vinnie had to drive around in my car all day. Wouldnt have minded except it eats gas like there's no tomorrow. I cant wait til i can get a new car. I guess Vinnie talked to his friend Joe (i swear he knows like 15 joes) who works at the car lot and he ran my numbers and i owe like 2 grand less than i thought i did, which is cool. So hopefully tomorrow we can go by the lot and see if there is something more economical. I am going thur about $100 a week in gas right now, and that's just going back and forth to work, lunch every day, and out with Emily once a week. That's just nuts. Almost makes me want to just ride a bike to work. My thighs and butt might thank me for that....

I'm a blond(e)

Okay so i just read the title and realized that blonde is spelled with a 'e'. I actually looked up the word on google and it's about 50-50 on how it's spelled. So i guess it just depends on who's doing the spelling. And man oh man have i been a blonde lately. My boss has been out of town for the past two days, which meant that i could work from home. Which i totally loved. Oh the freedom! I could definately get used to this. It worked out great too cuz on monday Tony moved in with us. We knew it was going to happen eventually, just not as quick and panicked as it did. It's nice to have him here, altho it feels wierd to have a 19 yr old step son. I mean, i'm only 13 years older than him. In fact we were out for lunch today, just the two of us, and several people thought he was my boyfriend! Either i'm a dirty ole woman or he looks older than 19. Wait, that means i look younger than 32. Okay, i can deal with that. But he doesnt have a car which means that i have to drive him all the way across town to work at 5 in the morning. He actually bought a car, thinking it just needed a clutch cable, but as soon as they installed it the motor froze. Total junk. So hopefully we'll get something soon. But while he was installing his clutch cable i took my car to get the oil changed. We left tony and my car there and Vinnie and I went out for lunch with one of his bosses (another advantage of working from home, I can go out for lunch!). When we got back to the shop, my car was done. I left Vinnie and Tony inside discussing what to do with his p.o.s and went out the front door. I started the car, started fine, put it in reverse and hit the gas. Nothing. Wouldnt budge. Okay what the heck. So I floored it and got it to roll a tad bit down the drive. I put it in drive and floored it. Nothing. I could hardly turn the steering wheel. Okay like this is what i need. So i turn the engine off and go get Travis, Vinnie's friend who does all of my car stuff (oil change cost me $2 and two batches of cookies.) He was like what did you do now? Okay so why does it have to be my fault. I follow him out to the car and it hit me. The dumbass mechanic put the emergency brake on. DUH! I NEVER put the emergency brake on so i didnt even THINK to check that. Travis leaned under and pulled the lever and low and behold i could move! Okay, blonde moment for the week, check. And i only got teased about it for about 2 hours, which considering how truly blonde it was, isnt bad.

Birthdays Suck

It's 5 oclock in the morning, 3days after the fact, and all i can think about is my birthday. It's not the getting older part, i'm actually okay with that for the most part. Other than the biological clock that keeps ticking away. It's the lack of fanfare. The big whooplah is gone. There is nothing. I awoke on my birthday, in a state of ongoing semi-depression, ready for the busiest day of the month at work. Vinnie wished me happy birthday, sweet and half asleep. Okay so it's not going to be such a bad day. On the way to work my step son called to wish me a happy birthday. Made my day. Unexpected and meant alot to me. The rest of the day went drudgingly. Work was work, altho my boss and his wife did have flowers DELIVERED to me, beautiful, altho i cant remember what they are called. They're like a cross between sunflowers and daisys. Very sweet and unexpected. Vinnie asks where i would like to go for dinner. By this time in the day the stress has built up so that the knots in my left shoulder were the size of golf balls and i couldnt feel my fingers so i was like fast food and let me go to bed. Okay no biggy. So we went and grabbed mexican, i fixed me a hot bubble bath, after wards he put hot stones on my back to try to relax me and i went to bed. That was my day. Oh and my best friend Tiff and her daughter called to wish me happy birthday. Acutally sing like goofs on my voicemail, but i saved it. But that was my day. End. Nothing more. So last night i jokingly asked where my birthday present was. OF course i didnt ask until after Vinnie comes home with a new recliner for him. He said i'll get it feb 5, meaning the new coffee tables he ordered to replace the ones that we have that he doesnt like. Okay so i'm not above getting furniture for a present. Actually like it. But i LIKE the coffee tables that we have, didnt need to be replaced, no biggy. So i was like so seriously that was my present? His response? "What did i get for my birthday?" I was poor on his birthday. I got him 3 cards (one in his car, one by his meds, and one under his pillow) a goofy tshirt from walmart, i made pasta for dinner, and instead of a cake i bought his favorite pumpkin pie and put a candle in it. After pointing this out he was like "So i have to get you a tshirt and a pie". Whatever. NOT the point. What is my point. The fanfare is gone. Birthdays suck. Screw everyone else. If they care less than you do, and you're in a state of depression anywyas, then it must really suck. I know i'll eventually get over it and forget about it. But it's been bugging me. Actually hurt my feelings, especially since when i commented that no one from my family or my best friend Em even called he jumped on that band wagon. So he said happy birthday. Okay. Then that should be enough. Days over. Move on. This getting old shit sucks.

There's snow in the desert

It snowed today in sunny las vegas. Well, there were a few small flurries, which to those of us who see snow maybe once every 10 years was a pretty big deal. We're supposed to get a 'hard freeze' tonight, which i learned means that it will get below 28'. Needless to say i'm all bundled up in jammies, robe, and blanket. I'll admit to being a total weenie when it comes to the cold.