Number 13

As I'm sure 99.9% of you know, I have quite a few tattoos. Currently, I am sitting at 12. I have always said that I want 13. As far as what I want as my last one.. I keep going round and round on that subject. It's like I'll see something that is fucking awesome and would make a killer tattoo, but then I see something else and think that might be better.

This isn't how I normally am with tattoos. In the past, once I've decided.. it's done and over. No other image or flash or design is going to sway me from it. Maybe it's because I'm telling myself that number 13 is the last one. Master keeps calling bullshit on that. He knows I not only love the ink I have, but I love the whole experience of getting ink. I really do think I'll stop at 13 though.

I have always wanted some kind of skull or reaper type tattoo though. I have a morbid side to me. But part of the problem I have with finding a good design is that I don't want it to be too masculine. I know.. how is a skull or reaper tattoo not going to be masculine?

But I'll find something. The icon I'm using on this post crossed my mind as a nice small, not too masculine, type of tattoo I could get. Obviously it would be a finished heart. But I do like to splatter around it. But then I stop and think about it and wonder how faded the actually skull part would be. It would have to be just so it wouldn't take over the heart portion, ya know? So that's a no go.. I like bright, vibrant tattoos. I don't like that faded look, at least not on myself.

Master already has one on His arm. It's a pirate skull. It's bad ass. But it would look absolutely horrible on a chick. This is what I mean when I say I don't want i to be too masculine. I don't want it to look "wrong" on me because I'm a girl.

I did promise myself though that I will the tattoo on my left leg touched up first. When it was fresh I had fallen and as a result the healing process didn't go the way it should have. It doesn't look all jacked up or anything, but it needs to be touched up to look right. So regardless of when I find the design I still with for number 13 I will get that tattoo touch up done first.

More Than Love

I'm not sure if some people would guess at this but I enjoy reading Edgar Allan Poe's work. He was a dark romantic, in my mind. His wording can be so beautiful and yet so cryptic at the same time. My favorite poem by him is Annabel Lee. Yes, I created a page simply for that poem. I want to be able to just read it or look at it whenever I want to. What better way than to create a page for it? Plus, some other people may enjoy it as well; or at least I hope some of you do. I'm not sure if I should type a description underneath. Like why I love the poem, what it means to me, some facts regarding the poem and Edgar Allan Poe. I'm just not sure if it would ruin the page. What do you guys think?

This is going to sound weird, but the poem actually makes me think of our marriage, our connections, our love. Master and I have so many different aspects to our relationship that are constantly flowing into one another. It's this endless dance. The friendship, the marriage, the dynamic. It all has to be able to mesh well in order for it to work and so we don't get tripped up one while role we're "supposed" to be in at one point or another. Which is why the line that says "We loved with a love that was more than love" really sticks out to me. Hell, I have one of those mouse pads at work where you can slip a picture into it and what not. What did I do? I printed off that quote and put it in there.

We aren't perfect and it's not like we're never pissed at one another; believe me it does happen. I don't know how much that comes across in my blog, but it's there. Regardless of that we are happily married. We're in it for the long haul.

I know this is going to seem off topic, but it's really not.

Master and I have been watching a lot of LA Ink lately, which has both of us really craving new tattoos. I've decided I still need to rethink exactly how I want the one I've been wanting for 8 years done. It's a very special thing and at first I thought I knew how I wanted it, but now I'm thinking it's going to be too busy, as it's an addition to the first tattoo I ever got. It's not that I'm never going to get it done, it's just that I have to rethink that layout of it.

A few nights ago Master and I were just sitting up talking about tattoos and I was telling Him how I'm rethinking this one and He agreed. Then He said something that I never thought I'd hear.

For some background, we have been talking for a few years now about how we want to get tattoos that represent one another and our commitment to each other. We don't want to just get each other's name. Master doesn't like His full name so I originally thought about just getting His initials but we couldn't figure out how it would look best. Master didn't know how He wanted to represent me either. I mean, we already kind of have matching tattoos. They mean different things but they look very similar. And I also have the word slave in enochian as an arm wrap, but we wanted something more. (Plus we're both addicted to tattoos, so why not.)

Last night He told me that He's actually thinking about getting my portrait done. *insert shocked face here* It's not that I don't find it incredibly sweet and a really big showing of His commitment to me, it's just that He has always said He doesn't really like portrait tattoos. I mean He had really thought this out. He took me over to the computer and showed me a few photos of me that He has in His collection that He had narrowed it down to. He even asked me my opinion on which picture He should use.

I don't know if it'll happen or not. This is the spot that Master has been going back and forth on as far as what He wants to put there; but I still think that the thought itself is sweet.

Well, as we were watching the show tonight a light bulb went off in my head. To represent Him and our marriage as a tattoo, and since I absolutely love that poem and have for a very long time, why not just get that line of the poem done. I just want the words themselves, in a very elegant script, wrapping around my wrist like a ribbon. No actual ribbon or banner, just the words. Like it would begin a few inches off my wrist and wrap around to end at my wrist, with the last "love" to end up on the front of my wrist. I think it's a really different idea, since when I see most tattoos that have script that wraps done they have some kind of banner. I just want the words. Nice, simple, elegant and yet it would represent so much. It would be a conversation piece as well, not only because of the positioning but because I'm sure people would ask what it meant. I could tell them about our marriage, about Him, about the poem and the poet.

I think it would be absolutely wonderful. Although with script I know I'll be super careful because the last thing I need is for something to be misspelled on my body. I'd have to go over it like five times once the stencil was made and I'd have Master look it over. Yes, I'm paranoid enough to do that.

Scratch That Itch

I'm sure most of you know how strapped for cash Master and I normally are. Finances are always extremely tight and so we don't have a lot of "free" money to spoil ourselves with. This month I get two what we call "middle of the month" paychecks. The first paycheck of the month is used to pay rent. After that we have enough for groceries, things we need for the animals and some gas in the car. That's it.

The second paycheck of the month is the one that is used to pay our other bills. Once that is done we can splurge a little bit, but honestly not all that much. Something small, but enough so that we feel a bit of breathing room before the first paycheck of the month again.

This month, as I said, we get two middle of the month paychecks due to how to pay days land. As a result I paid our bills on this one and we spoiled ourselves yesterday by getting a few things we both wanted. That was really nice and it was like a sigh of relief. We spend about $80 on just spoiling ourselves. It felt great. I know that doesn't sound like a lot of money to spoil ourselves with but for us it felt like we had won the jackpot.

And honestly we still have more "free" money to play with. Which is awesome! As a result my brain started ticking away. I'm addicted to tattoos. I have 11 currently and want two more at minimum. And they are both already planned. One is an anklet tattoo. The other is a stylized version of Master's initials. We had tried picking out the placement for the one of His initials before. We finally landed on my right wrist. I wear His cuff on my left wrist. So His initials on my right wrist makes a lot of sense. It'll only be an outline tattoo because I want it to somewhat look like a brand. (I'm not brave enough to actually get a brand done and they normally don't heal the way people hoped they would.)

So since we have more free money I started wondering if I could get it done this month. So I tried calling one tattoo parlor that we used last time. They didn't answer their phone. Since I'm an impatient bitch when it comes to ink I called another place that a lot of people rave about. I've seen their tattoo portfolios online and they do damn good work. Plus this is an extremely simple tattoo it should be great. I talked to a woman on the phone and I explained how I already knew exactly what I wanted and I had it saved on my computer but I don't have a printer. I asked her if I could e-mail it to someone and basically get an over the phone price quote. She said not a problem. So she gave me her e-mail address and I sent it to her. She said simply because it is on the wrist it'll run a little bit more. Placement does effect the price and I already knew that as I've run into it before several times. She also told me it would have to be a bit bigger than I had it so the lines wouldn't be too close together. Again I agreed with her. So she told me it would be $80. Sounded about right to me. Most tattoo parlors minimum price is $50. Since this is a bit bigger and will be on my wrist $80 sounded right to me.

So I did the math. Yes, we could afford it. No, it wouldn't strap us for cash. But they are closed tomorrow and I won't be able to get it during the work week. Next weekend is out. So I talked to Master and He said that maybe on my next paycheck we could get it. So now I'm excited. But if we can't do it I'm not about to go ahead and do it anyway. I'm not that stupid. But I know damn well if I don't get it this month it's going to be quite a while before I'll have that kind of spare cash again. You have to tip after all. So I'm really hoping that I can get it done on my next paycheck. I've wanted His initials done for quite a while now and I know Master wants it done as well. Like I said I really hope it works out this month. If not, I'll be disappointed but there isn't much I could do about it.

Longing

I had e-mailed the tattoo artist I talked to the tattoo "flash" that I wanted a couple of days ago. But I hadn't received a reply yet. I know that I'm not the center of the universe, but I was anxious. So today I called the tattoo artist again. I explained who I was and asked if he had received my e-mail or not. He said that he had, and apologized for not getting back to me sooner. He then pulled up the e-mail I had sent him and took a look at the image. He asked me again about where I wanted it placed. I also mentioned that my forearm is rather slender.

So he looked it over a minute and then said that the ballpark price is $100 to $150 dollars depending on how large it turns out to be when we actually put it on my forearm. I thanked him and told him I'd be in touch. I was honestly expecting it to be more expensive. Not because it's intricate, because it's not, but because of the placement and the very fact that it's a wrap. Any kind of wrap tattoo seems to be more expensive, no matter the placement.

So when I heard the ball park price I got very excited. That's more affordable than I thought. Master and I are getting our finances on track. His freelance job helps a lot.

So I told Master about it and He said that was a good price, etc. And of course, because I'm an ink addict, I couldn't stop talking about it or thinking about it. Still can't, obviously, since I'm doing a blog post about it.

Hell when I got home from work Master and I talked about which part of my forearm it should be placed. I think it'll look best at the thickest part of my forearm which is right below my elbow. Master had thought I would get it more in the middle, but agreed that it would look nice where I had pointed. But He did say that ultimately the final positioning of the tattoo would be discussed with the tattoo artist when we see how it would look.

Oh how I wish I didn't have to set away half of my next paycheck for rent. I would get that tattoo done tomorrow if I had the money. I am so excited about this, not only because it's new ink, but because of what it is, and what it represents to both Master and myself.

More Ink Talk

Yeah, y'all might get sick of hearing about this. But this is my blog so I get to write more about tattoos! :-D

So as I stated in my last post, I had messed around in the paint program and had designed the tattoo with Master's initials. And He loved it. But a little later on in the evening (obviously after my blog post) Master's brain starting rolling around the idea of changing it a bit. Not very much. It was just moving the pieces that were already there. He had said that if I got it on the middle of my back or on my rib cage no one would ever see it. Now while that can make a tattoo all the more personal, it would honestly sadden me to never have anyone besides Master (and people who get to see my pictures where I'm naked.. obviously). So He mentioned how it would be really nice to get it on my arm. Now the only problem with that is that both of my upper arms are filled up. But then Master said that if I got it as a forearm wrap it would look really cool, and also be like a permanent cuff with His initials on it. That right there sold me on the idea. I never really thought about forearm tattoos, but that would be really nice. And whenever I wanted to I could look at it without needing a mirror.

So I saved the new design and we're going from there.

Now the thing is that I need to get it priced out so I know how much to save up. The problem with that is two things. One, we don't have a printer. So I would have to call up the tattoo parlor, ask if I can e-mail them the image, and then go down there. The second problem is that when I go down there to price it out I won't be able to leave with it on my body. I'd just be going down there for a pricing. Which sucks. But it'll be worth it in the end.

Another problem is that now that we have that figured out I want it now. I don't want to wait! In fact what I'd love to do is get it done around our anniversary in March. But I don't think we'll have the money for it then. Who knows, I could be wrong, but still... This is the problem with me figuring out new ink that I want but can't afford right away. I obsess over it until it's done and then I marvel over it for a long time once it is on my body. Although the marveling isn't a bad thing, the obsessing is.

But first I have to call the tattoo parlor and see if they'd be willing to go through all that trouble just for me to get a ballpark pricing done on it without getting the tattoo right away. I don't think they'll have a problem with it. (We've done it before, but that was a different tattoo parlor.)

I'm going to call the tattoo parlor tomorrow and see what can be done about getting it priced out. (Yes, I have them programmed into my cell phone. So what? I'm not an addict. Honest.)

Half Day

Last night when it was around my usual bedtime during the work week Master wasn't tired. So I slept on my slave mat until He was ready to go to bed. I could have just gone to the bedroom, but I don't sleep well when He isn't near by. And apparently down the hall is just to far away.

It's a good thing I fell asleep though because when Master woke me up to let me know He was ready to go to bed, it was 1:30am. So I stumbled into the bedroom and we went to sleep.

I got up at 6:10 this morning. Master got up as well. My alarm woke Him up and then as I was getting out of bed I accidentally hit His knee. :-( He wasn't mad or anything, He was just up so He decided to stay awake.

It was nice to get to spend some time with Him before work though.

Speaking of work, the whole four hours I had to work today went by very quickly, which was nice.

Shortly after I got home Master and I decided we were hungry, so we went out to eat.

My tattoo is flaking like crazy, and it fucking itches. And yes, I know the trick of slapping it. But since it's on the back of my right shoulder, I can't do that very easily. The few times I did it stung like a mother fucker. So I'll just deal with the itching for now. Hopefully it'll be done soon.

It's only 8:00pm, which is nice. I'm kinda tired right now though. Tomorrow we are going down to visit my mom for a while. And next weekend we are visiting Master's mother. Thankfully both things are on a Saturday. I prefer staying home as much as I can on a Sunday, so I can just relax and be comfortable the day before I go back to work.

It Can Be Spring Now

Work went well today. It was more laid back than usual for me, with the change in job responsibilities. I even got praise from my trainer! Which was awesome.

Ya see my coworker and I switched job duties, per my supervisor's instructions, so that I can learn more of the department. I've been doing the same thing for 9 months, and he felt it was time for me to learn the other aspects of my job title. Well my coworker today realized just how hectic my old responsibilities can be! But she was being lazy about it. Someone walked up to her and asked her for something. Well she didn't have it done and it needed to go out in oh.. five minutes. So she was trying to push it off till tomorrow, and the person who was asking for it was not having it. So I did her a favor by going and getting something she needed to complete the task. My trainer saw this and said, "Wow! A team player! That's what I like to see. You're doing a great job, by the way." So that made me smile.

According to weather.com we're supposed to get between 6 to 10 inches of snow tomorrow. Fun. So the driver of the carpool said that she'd probably be leaving her house about 20 minutes early, so that means I have to get up earlier than usual to make sure I'm ready by the time she gets here.

This also means that the drive home will probably take forever, which will suck.

So yeah. I'm sick of the snow already and I want it to be warmer. Not like hot or anything, just above 40 degrees would be good. Just a few more months of this crap.

I'm just kind of here today. I think it is partially due to the coming weather, as well as the fact that since I don't want to sit back all the way due to my new tattoo, my shoulders are not happy with me. The things I put up with to decorate my skin. *giggles*

Both of our tattoos are healing nicely though. Master's is looking kick ass! Mine I can't see really well because of the placement, but Master assures me that it rocks. *nods* He says it is, there for it must be true. Plus the man has great taste in tattoos.

My father-in-law told me that instead of taking the carpool to work maybe I should go buy skis and get to work cross country style. I told him if I did that Master would have to find me, chisel me off the ground, and then light a fire somewhere so I could thaw out.

Body Modification

I have added a new category to my blog. *points to the ride hand side of the screen* It is called, you guessed it, Body Modification. Piercings and tattoos are body mods and since I am slightly *cough* obsessed with such, I thought it would be appropriate. I will be added the category to past posts that involve that particular subject as well.

So yeah. Last night ended amazingly, with hot slightly painful sex.

This morning it was back to work! But honestly it wasn't that bad. My morning was busy, but tolerable. My afternoon just kind of skated by. It was nice. The hardest part about work today was figuring out how to bend my arm in ways that it naturally shouldn't so that I could put lotion on my newest tattoo. Seriously, I am glad that my back is done for tattoos! Holy hell. It's not because of pain or anything like that, it's just so damn hard to take care of when you can't reach every part of it!

Thankfully a coworker of mine helped me a few times. The rest of the time I just did it myself the best that I could. And Master does it for me when I'm at home, because He loves me so much. :-D I'll be glad when the healing period is over with. I miss being able to sit back and rest against things. I also miss being able to lay on my back, for multiple reasons, although sex is among the top three. (Okay, so it's #1....)

I'm planning on one more tattoo, I just have to figure out exactly how I want it done. That'll bring me up to a nice even 12. After that it'll be touch ups I think.

So yeah. Today wasn't bad at all.

Then came the ride home. As I've said I'm in a carpool. And we always use one girl's car and the rest of us in the carpool pay her gas money. Well a couple of weeks ago, this girl brought her car in on a work day to be looked at. So I took myself and the other person in the carpool to work that day. As it turned out it was the head gasket on the car. So the car was junked.

So she has used her boyfriend's car since that point in time, because technically that is also her car and also he takes the bus everywhere anyway.

Well everything was going fine and then suddenly, on the way home, she can't turn the steering wheel. She pulls over and I called Master. He came to pick me up. When we got home we ate dinner and relaxed a bit. Then the girl called and said that this car now has to get fixed, and that her boyfriend will be taking it in.

So tomorrow I get to drive all three of us to work.

It's not a big deal really. It just means I have to get up earlier than usual so I have time to get ready for work and also warm up the car. I hope there isn't a lot of frost on the windshield! Gah. I hate scraping windshields. My arms aren't long enough to reach every single spot so then I have to sit inside the car and wait for the defroster to do it's job, which of course takes forever when it's freezing outside.

But hey. It's one day. I'm not trying to sound whiny or anything. I'm just a bit nervous about the drive tomorrow because people are utter assholes during morning rush hour.

Looking Like A Dork

Last night Master and I had incredible sex! Finally!

Last week had really kicked my tail, and so it was the first time we had sex in about a week. I'm hoping that this upcoming week I can keep more of my energy intact so that I won't be falling asleep shortly after I walk in the door.

So yeah. Yay for incredible sex!

It was interesting at first trying to figure out how to do it with both of us having brand new tattoos. But we decided on doggy style, I just reminded Master to not grab my shoulder!

The only sucky part is that normally when we sleep, I lay on my right side and then Master drapes His arm over me. But of course now I can't lay on my right side and Master can't wrap His arm around me. So yeah. That part kinda sucks. But it won't be long before we can go back to our normal habits.

Master has been washing and putting lotion on my tattoo for me. But of course since I'll be at work tomorrow, I'll have to do it myself. I am going to look like an utter dork in the bathroom at work.

I have been wearing my hair in a side ponytail since I got it done. It looks a little 80's-ish but I think it actually kind looks cute on me. I was talking to SS about how tomorrow is going to suck for us both since we'll be going back to work and she said that she had to remember to put her compact mirror in her purse so she could use that to look into the bathroom mirror. I was like "Damn! I was just at the store. I should have bought one of those."

I don't wear foundation, so I do not have a compact. I do have a small eyeshadow case that has a small mirror, so I'm going to try and use that.

But still. I'm going to look like a dork at work if anyone walks into the bathroom. I'm going to be wearing a tank top under whatever top I put on, so ya know.. I don't get sued for sexual harassment or anything.

Today has been a day at home, which I have greatly enjoyed. Master and I have been joking around a lot and flirting. I'm love the fact that we still flirt with one another.

I don't really want to go to work tomorrow. But I have to. I don't have any vacation time or personal time until the end of March, so yeah. Back to work with me. Gotta make that money!

So let's see here... tattoo talk. Check.

Sex talk. Check.

Work talk. Check.

Calling myself a dork. Check.

Yep I think that about covers everything! Now I'm off to enjoy what remains of my three day weekend.

The Addiction Has Been Fed

Before bed last night Master and I had been talking more and more about the ink we wanted. I have been wanting the Thunderbird done for over a year now on my right shoulder blade, and Master had decided that He wanted a tribal spider done on His left forearm.

Our friend SS had always wanted a dragonfly tattoo on the back of her neck as well.

So we hemmed and hawed about it and went to sleep.

This morning those thoughts just wouldn't get out of our head. So we looked at the finances. We still had most of our Christmas money left from family and friends. And we had been saving small bits of money away here and there. So we said we could get mine done at least.

So we called up SS and she said she would love to go and at least take a look.

So I called up the place where we had done my piercings. Well their tattoo artist works for a different shop and that we would have to make an appointment in about a week and a half. Um. Nah.

So I remembered that one of my coworkers had told me about a place that was very close to home, like within a 5 minute drive. She had been raving about them. So I called them up and shortly after SS showed up, we all headed over.

The shop was extremely clean and we liked the work we saw. So we decided to go for it.

SS went first. She got her dragonfly! I am so happy for her! She's been wanting that for over 10 years.

Then Master and I got ours priced out. We found out that we could afford them both! So we looked at one another and decided that it would be our early anniversary presents to one another.

Master's got started first. Shortly there after mine was started. I am stiff and sore because it was on my right shoulder blade and I had to be hunched over for about two hours.

But we are both so thrilled!

After we were all done we went to Walgreens and got the after care products. Then SS went home and so did we. SS had her cell phone with her at the time so she took pictures for us. They are located below, but we'll be posting new pics ones they are healed.

[gallery link="file" columns="2"]

Once we were home we ate a quick dinner and have been in awe of our ink ever since. Now for the part of tattoos that I hate. The healing process. I just get so worried about somehow fucking it up.

But I know it'll be fine. I am so happy right now.

Happy super early Anniversary Master, my love.