CKC-Mesa

Well, I had a *FAB*U*LOUS* time at CKC in Mesa, AZ!!!!

What a great group of ladies we met at the Creating Keepsakes Convention! And I taught my 3rd - 7th National Classes at this convention! So, that's exciting for me!! I thought it would be easier this time, but it turns out....it was harder, due to a few technical difficulties. ACK!
(stay tuned for the delightful recollections of these experiences below....)
But, I still think I rose to the challenge and it all turned out just great in the end!!!

So, this convention, I flew in on Thursday morning from Las Vegas. Then, Aly and Suzi had to pick me up at the airport in Phoenix and we had to cruise quickly back to Mesa to get right to work! This is the first time I've done it that way. Usually, I fly in on Wednesday and I'm already there and organized for Thursday. And me (the girl who doesn't like change) struggled with the change. It was much harder for me....as I felt like I was just "off" all day. But, we worked hard, as usual and got stuff done! And work, we did! I had been running electric on the floor and zip-tying grid wall to the table, wallering on the floor to get the job done.

And before we knew it, it was 45 minutes before my Thursday night class and I was filthy!! Seriously! I even had black across my boobage! But, guess what?! Even though the hotel was just next door, my suitcases were still in the rental car on the other side of the resort! And I didn't have enough time to get the suitcase, get clothes and go change and STILL get back to the classroom in time to set up and be ready to go on time. So, I had no choice but to move on.

No biggie, I decide. I'll just go in the restroom and try to scrub the black off.

Well, that's a good idea, but in reality, a waste of time, energy and water!

And all I ended up with was black on my hot pink shirt, now wet, too!!!
ACK!!!!

This was not part of my plan. My plan was to be a cute and trendy looking teacher, who
was completely put together and not a girl with black steaks and water on her boob!

Oh well, there was nothing I could do, but just DO IT! So, I DID!!
(and the dirty cleavage became a joke!!)

So, I get to the classroom to set up and I have NO TA's. (teacher's assistants)
For a class this size...I should have 2, rather than the 1 TA we normally get.
But, I had none! Thank goodness my boss recommended I bring Aly and Suzi with me,
because they handed out the class packets and all the papers!

A Taste of Scraptique went well. Everyone absolutely loved the layouts and had a great class. Well, almost everyone. When you teach to a large group of women (nearly 60 in this class) you can almost always count on the fact that someone will not be happy. Well, as with any other class....I had an unhappy student. And she was very vocal with her objections. And about half-way thru the class...it began to get to me. Realllllly get to me.

If you know me at all, you'll know I am a people pleaser. And I hate it when people are unhappy or upset with me. I can't stand it and it cuts me right to the heart! And that's exactly what was happening to me here. All I wanted to do, was make her happy. And no matter what I said or did, she was still not completely happy. And it really upset me.

So, about half-way thru the class, my stomach was really churning upset.
And I was just trying to survive the next 45 minutes without bursting into tears.

And for those who were there, they can tell you...the 2nd layout is beautiful, but it is a doozy.
(meaning, the level is truly advanced....) And when I held the layout up for the girls to see... I literally saw some of their eyes glaze over and I even heard a verbal, "$h!t" come from the mouth of a dark-haired beauty. So, I commence to go thru the layout, step by step. And I am plagued by the "comments" from the unhappy student. It was non-stop. But, that's the thing about these classes....you only have 30 minutes for each layout. And that's not much time. And then you have to move on to the next layout! Because that's what the time allows. So, that's what I did, because I have no choice and that's what I have to do.

And as the time was running out, my stomach was seriously unhappy. The stress was getting to me. And I just wanted to cry. I needed to cry. Really cry. The pressure of this is immense. I don't want to let anyone down and I was upset that I had let this one girl down.

So, as soon as class was over, I thanked everyone for coming. Urged them sign up for Scraptique and excused myself to the restroom, where I immediately got sick.

When I came back a few minutes later, I found a group of about 15 girls waiting on me.
There were 2 teachers who hugged me and told me how great of a job I did and to ignore "that girl." These women were older than me and I respected their opinion. And I thank them for that hug. It realllllly meant a lot.

Then, there were others that were so sweet....telling me how much they enjoyed the class and how they thought the behavior of some people was ridiculous. How nice is that?!

And lastly, there was a group of 4 girls, who probably made my year!
They took pictures of me with them and asked me to sign their Autograph Books!

I could not believe it!

Me.....sign an AUTOGRAPH?!?!?!

Seriously?

Yep, they wanted my autograph so they could put the picture next to it!

CAN YOU SAY FLATTERED AND OVERWHELMED....all at the same time?!?!?

Then, I seriously did want to cry!!!!!!

Happy tears, though. Because they actually liked me!
(and they spent much time discussing the "mean girl"........
which made me feel better that people really thought her behavior was over the top!)

And before we all parted for the night....the group of 4 asked if I would go out with them the next night. So, I gave them my phone number and figured I'd never hear from them again.

Well, I figured wrong.....
(more on this in a moment)


So, I went to the room and ordered room service. I was exhausted, physically and emotionally. (and Aly and Suzi had already eaten dinner during my class)

Suzi and Aly went to bed at like 9pm. (old ladies!! ha ha!!)

And eventually, I went to bed.


Friday....

I love Fridays at the show! The excitement of the first people coming thru. The excitement of getting to show people how the Bind-It-All works and how much I love it....really gets me going! But, I wasn't there long before I had to finish things up for class and get ready to teach!

So, I went over to the classroom and got busy!

(and I had my TA take some pics for me!!)


My Heart Belongs to Daddy! -- Friday morning class

Me....trying to show part of the album......
A student cutting out "DAD" for the front cover of the album....

see me? way up in the front.......

Some hands on help.....
(hey...don't look at my cleavage! ha ha!)

busy little bee's......

isn't she cute?! I loved her outfit! And the girl in the blue sweater was so nice!

these girls were so fun...... (and hard workers!)

Look how hard they are all working.....

This eyelet tape part freaks people out!!! It's not too hard, once you understand how it works! And it's such a cool look!! But, until then, it can be confusing......

And I'm happy to report.....they were ALL SUCCESSFULL!!!!!!!

Then, we moved on to my second class....


Always and Forever -- an acrylic circle album

Check it out....this was a SOLD OUT class!!!

And right off the bat, a woman on the front row stabbed herself with her scissors and was bleeding profusely! OMGosh! I know that hurt! I was like...."oh my! are you ok?" I felt so bad for her! I've done that before and OUCH!!

And just when we were getting into the groove....I was standing between the 2nd and 3rd row, behind the girl in the end seat. When all of a sudden, we hear a huge "pop" and a scream! The girl on the end of the 2nd row went to use her glue in a squeeze bottle and the end shot off and hit the girl in front of her on the 1st row in the back of the head! And they both screamed, one right after the other~ it was crazy!!!! SCARED ME TO DEATH!! (remember I was standing directly behind her!!)

Even worse than that....GLUE WENT EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!

A HUGE pile of glue all over her album and workspace!

On the back of the 1st row girl's hair, sweater and chair....

All over the wall......

On every person, sitting within 3 people of her....

All over the back of my shirt/pants.....

All over the floor....

PRETTY MUCH EVERYWHERE!!!!

It was a mess!

And I felt so, so sorry for the girl whose glue blew up! She was terribly embarrassed.
And the girl in front of her was quite upset (at this point, we didn't know she had been "shot" in the head with the glue nozzle top) and upset about her sweater. I immediately grabbed a wet wipe someone handed me and started washing her her...and then, her sweater.

It wasn't until later that I even knew it was on the back of me....
(and for the record...it was one of my new, most favorite shirts.....and I haven't been
able to get it out....at least, not yet. I'm so sad!)

Believe me, we don't have time for emergencies in this class....

...and so far, I've had 2!!!!

Crazy.....




Back to work.......

An action shot.....inking!

(and look at that beautiful Prima paper!!)


Me...workin' the room...helping people one-on-one...

(I love it!! See a man in that back row!!! He rocked it big time!!!)

All-in-all....a great class!!!


So.....I get back to the booth after classes and they have only sold 1 Bind-It-All!
And it's my job to sell them. (which they practically sell themselves...I just have to show people how to do use the machine!) So, I sold about half of them from 1-5pm! Yea, me! (and I knew that we'd sell the rest the next day! So, that's great!)


So, imagine my surprise when my cell rang later that night....it was the "Fantastic Four" asking me to join them out for a drink! Well, if you know me....I'm not a big drinker. It's a very social thing for me, but I thought I'd go because these girls were so sweet! So, they came to the hotel and we went to the Sports Bar next to the hotel.

As we sat down, I noticed this sign:

"I'm like....why does it say Fat Tire?!"

To which the Fantastic Four say...."you know, Fat Tire Beer!"

Well, this cracks me up! Totally!

FAT TIRE BEER?!?! Never heard of it......

And they can't believe it....so, it was decided...I had to have a...
FAT TIRE!

Now, I am really picky about beer. Most of it, I don't care for.

But, guess what?!

I LOVED FAT TIRE!!!

Good call...girls!

Cheers!!

Notice how we are all sitting.....and when Sangita saw the pics, she started joking about us looking like an Oreo!

To which I replied, "Better than a Double Stuffed Oreo, were a Triple Stuffed Oreo!!"

Ha ha ha!!!!

The other thing we talked about was In-and-Out Burger.
I've never been there.
I saw one in California, but we didn't get to go.
I saw one here in Mesa, but I wasn't sure if I'd get to go.
So...the Fab Four wanted to take me there......and we discussed going on Saturday night.
They absolutely love In-and-Out!!!

These are some crazy fun girls!!
(Mary, Bea, Roxann, Sangita and Liz)
Good Times!

And while we were taking these pics, Grizellie showed up!
Now...I met Grizellie back in August at CKC-Tulsa...the first time I worked for Kim.
She is a total blast! She was to work with us on Saturday, so she came and spent the night with me in my hotel room! It was fun catching up with her!!


On Saturday, I had 2 more classes. I didn't get any pictures, because I forgot to bring the camera. The first one was the "Daddy" class. And when I started passing out the kits I got to the bottom of the box where the Junkitz accordion albums were and.....
THERE WERE ONLY 12 ALBUMS!!!! And I needed like 35!!!!

HOLY CRAP!!!

This lead to a freak out!

I had to RUN to the booth, because I couldn't get Aly to answer the cell.
(and this was a long way....) I left the TA taking tickets and passing stuff out.

I quickly explain the dilemma to Aly and run back to class while she goes out to our pod to look for the albums. Without them....there is no class.

You can't make a "dad" album without an album!

So....in the meantime, I explain we are getting the albums and we start inking paper.

Outside, I am trying to be calm.

Inside, I am FREAKING OUT!!!!

Eventually, we get the albums and all is well........
and the rest of the class goes smoothly.

On Saturday, I got the pleasure of meeting this group of friends! They came to my class and they were really so sweet! It was their first scrapbooking class they had ever taken and they came up after class to tell me how much they loved it!!! They asked me to pose for a picture with them. And Claudia was sweet enough to email a copy of it to me.
Thanks for sending me the picture, Claudia!! And here it is...
Vero, Claudia, Roxann, Sylvia and Sonja...
(aren't these friends the cutest?!?!)

Nice to meet you girls!! It was so much fun!!!
Maybe, I'll see you at CKC-Phoenix!?!


So...the Saturday was great. The booth was empty! (which means great sales!!)
And Grizellie and I rocked it on the Bind-It-All's and we sold them all, plus had 6 pre-orders!
(and I took like 5 minutes to teach Grizellie how to do it before I went to teach class....
she did AWESOME!!!!)

After we tore down the booth....which the 4 of us did in a record 1 1/2 hours....
we went to grab dinner before Grizellie left town.

Before we were done tearing down the booth, the Fab Four had called to see if I wanted to go to In and Out Burger with them. But, I couldn't go. :( Boo Hoo!

So, they said they'd call me later.....

But, by the time they called me, I had gone to the hotel room.
Changed my clothes and I was chilling out. I was exhausted.

My initial thought was I was soooo exhausted. And I was.
But, they wanted me to come to the crop with them and they wanted to hang out with me.
How could I refuse that?!?!

So, I threw on some clothes and headed on down to the crop!

Two lovely ladies sitting with the Oreo's were sweet enough to allow everyone to scoot over to make room for me. And just as I began working on a project, I realized I needed Crystal Stickles, but I didn't have any. So, one lady, named Becky...had some and was going to let me use them. But, I knew I needed alot. So, I offered to buy them from her. She refused, of course. So, about the time I was starting my stuff, I could see she was frustrated with her layout, so I offered to help. I asked her if she was ok with me just doing whatever and she agreed that it was fine. And before I knew it...I was putting together a layout for her.


It wasn't completely finished, just the left edge and the background was done. I roughly cut papers and laid them out. Gave instruction for finishing the layout. (I did this in like 40 min. -- much of that was hand-cutting all those flowers and the hand-painted Stickles work.) So, we joked she got my services for a bottle of Stickles! Good thing I love Stickles!!! :)

And here Becky is w/ the layout. She had me sign my work on the back!And when she finishes the layout, she has said she'd email it to me, so I can show you!

So...after the Crop was over....we headed back to the sportsbar, which was basically closing up.
(and it was only Midnight!) So, we asked where to go...and we ended up at another sports bar. And they were doing kareoke at this one......and these people were actually pretty good.


Me and Sangita.....aren't we a pair?!?!

This is me with my "Sex on the Beach" drink. Girly, fruity and not too strong!


This is Bea. She seems kinda serious.....until you get to know her! She's actually quite sweet and fun!


This is Mary! She's awesome! She's so stinkin' funny! She gave us some fabulous dancing lessons!!
(just ask her about "shopping" and "fishing!")
PS....Mary...you owe me $20 for not putting those super embarrassing
dance lesson pictures up on the net!!! Ha ha ha!


Who knew?! Sangita has teeth!!! :P

This girl was the "club kid" at Kirk's Sport's Bar.
And she was AWESOME at Kareoke!!!!!
When we left Kirk's....we headed back towards the Marriott....
until we passed this chair!!!


AND I MADE SANGITA TURN AROUND!!

WHAT FUN!

It was
THE BIG PINK CHAIR!!


(and it has the plaque to prove it!)S0, of course, we took a ton of pictures on it!


And when we finally returned to the Marriott, I mentioned that I really wanted to pick
an orange off the orange tree. You see, where I come from....an orange tree is a extremely rare sight. And these were big and full of oranges!
And I could hardly resist......

And when I had mentioned this on our first day in town to Aly and Suzi....Aly told me
that I better not pick one or I'd get into trouble.....and it turns out she was right. It's illegal to pick it because it's on Private Property!

Well, Bea could see I really wanted to do it. And because she and Sangita both own hotels, they knew that if I had permission...I could do it. So she went and asked if I could! Yea, Bea! And the Marriott said I could, so I give you......

...Roxann, almost busting her rump when almost falling trying to pick an orange....

and...

ROXANN PICKS AN ORANGE!!!!

The first taste.........

.....dang, it was S-O-U-R!!!!!

And the best part of the day......
when the girls gave me THIS:

An In-N-Out Burger shirt.....signed by them!!!!!!

What's going on with me?

Busy.

Stressed.

Tired.

My in-laws will be in town on Friday. Trying to clean, organize and get ready for the scrutinization. Trying to figure out how I am gonna hide the fact that I returned the Waffle Maker she got me for my birthday that she wanted me to have.....for the air popcorn popper that I wanted to have! Trying to figure out how to ensure the kids don't repeat things we don't want her to know. (good luck with that delusional thought.....)


Rejoicing.

For a good friend who I finally talked to today after a long week of phone-tag. And I was overjoyed to learn that she's expecting a new bundle of joy by mid-Summer!! Unplanned and not the best time....but still a blessing!! Congratulations!! (you know who you are!! :) That's all your gonna get, because I have to keep this one under my hat for now!!


Brainstorming.

Trying to come up ideas for my CHA assignment!


Migraine.

Came on tonight. Really bugging me. Heading to bed with some meds!


Have a good one!!!

So, where do I begin to tell you about Savannah???


It was FABULOUS!!!!!!


I started out my “journey” on Wednesday night by driving to Olathe to my BFF Michele’s house. Since she graciously agreed to let me park the car at her house and take me to and from the airport for my trip, I decided to take the opportunity to spend the night with her and get to hang out a little.
And I’m so glad I did.


I had been meaning to go down and spend some time with her, but I guess I haven't been able to get my act together to go see her yet. (quite possibly, it’s just because I suck….) She even came and helped us move in! (but, she’s awesome!)


So, while I was at her house….her youngest daughter graciously gave up her bed to me! (Thanks for giving up your bed, A! You seriously rock!!!) But, on the bad side, it big-time stormed all night long and the lightning and thunder kept me awake most of the night…. So, I started my trip sleep-deprived.



Both flights on the way to Savannah were mostly uneventful, except one BIG THING…… I DID NOT HAVE TO HAVE A SEATBELT EXTENDER!!! This, my friends, is a MAJOR VICTORY!!!! The past few times I have flown, I have had to have one and it has been extremely humiliating!!!!
So, YAY ME!!!!


I arrived at the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (which, for the record, is a nice airport, but is certainly not international!!) to a smiling Sherry! It was great to see her and she had an adorable new haircut, too! We risked getting run over by a wayward taxi or a late passenger for a great big hug! Has it really only been 2 months since I had picked her up at the Kansas City airport?! It seems longer......
I miss her so much!


Anyway, S and D had to take their son to Meet the Teacher night, so they went to do that and I went to dinner with my good friend, Tammy. It was really great to see her again!Well, Tammy suggested we go to Houlihan’s....
mmmm...Houlihan's!

And since I love it, I quickly agreed! (Yep, I was tempted by the Crème’ Brulee! It is my favorite....) It was delicious and Tammy even enjoyed a couple of Chocolate Martini's!!
She deserves a night out!!


Tammy and I have also kept in touch since I’ve moved, so it had only been about 3 weeks or so since we last spoke, so we caught up on the latest happenings in our lives. It was good food and good company. I miss her very much. I only wish I had been able to see her house and her boys….. for so long they were almost like my own children…..and I think of them fondly.

When I came back to S’s house, we stayed up a good, long time talking and laughing!!! (read: WAY TOO LATE!!!!)



Friday, Sherry had to get her boys off to the first day of school, bright and early! And she kindly let me sleep in since I hadn’t slept much the night before! (ps…thanks for the super comfy bed, Michelle R......it slept great!!!)



For lunch, I was excited to go meet Karen and Ginger for lunch. Unfortunately, Ginger wasn’t able to come. Apparently, there are some cases of meningitis being passed around. So, if people in Sav would just stop passing around germies and leave the health dept. alone…then they wouldn’t have messed up my lunch date w/ my friend…. the Health Dept’s Public Relations Goddess!! (Someone’s gotta do it, right Ginger?!)


Despite the loss of Ginger, Karen and I enjoyed a nice lunch at Chili's Bar and Grill....
and we much enjoyed the flirting our cutie waiter gave us!! (and yes, he got a nice tip!!) Anyway, it was nice to catch up with the latest on her family and give her a great big hug! (For the record, I was good this time….I had a low-cal salmon, steamed veggies and a side salad!)



When we were thru, I dropped her off to her next interview/shoot, which was at….the health department! So, I was able to go up with her and get a big hug from Ginger! And it was really nice to see her!!



(Big Daddy misses both of these girls, very much. Along with some other previous employees including another girl who now lives elsewhere in Georgia….a certain, NV!!)



After lunch, I could wait no longer….I was off to see Savannah Scrapbooking’s * new * location! You see, they moved back in the Spring and Jamie has a rockin’ new store! So, I went to drop off my stuff for the crop and to check it out.


When I saw Jamie, she gave me a great big hug….and she’s not a hugger!! She even got tears in her eyes…and it touched me so much! She was very sweet, complimenting me and loving me up! I was so happy to see her! I’m here to tell you…this woman has a heart of gold and believe me, people like this can be hard to find in this mean ol’ world!! So, if you find one, you better hang on to them!!


So, I picked my spot or the “big dog chair”, as Jamie used to call it, and got my scrapbooking stuff settled in. And I much enjoyed looking around at the beautiful new store. Although, much had changed, it sure felt very familiar and comfortable to me. And based on all the awesome product she has....I knew I'd be going home with a little less money in my pocket!!!!


I went back to Sherry’s and we changed and got ready to go. (Normally, I wouldn’t change to go to a crop, but since the temperature w/ heat index was like 119 degrees on Friday, I felt it might be a good idea to start out afresh!!


For dinner we went to Chick-Fil-A drive-thru, which we often did on crop night. That was a splurge for me! But, within my WW points. And I much enjoyed every single bite!!

Here's me outside the new store....sheesh, now
I look like a tourist!!!!


The crop room was oversold….and I was flattered!
(although, I know not everyone even knew me....I hugged the old friends and new friends, alike!) But, it was a large percentage of all my croppers…although, a few were missing! Where oh where were Joy, Stacia, Angela M, Trish R and some others? (Deiha and Jill came to crop on Sunday...so since they live in South Carolina.....that's where they were....) I missed Beth H, but I knew she was moving this weekend, but I missed her anyway!!!


I got to see and hug….Amber, Christy, Trisha, my PEMBROKE GIRLS (except Brandi…missed ya girl!!,) Angelica, Hunter's Grandma (ha ha, couldn't resist!) Veronica, Peirinna and Amanda J. (Sherry, too, of course!!) And I met a bunch of new friends, as well! All in all, I think we ended up with a group of 18 and it was AWESOME!!!! It was the night of boob jokes....
and that was funny, too!


Of course, we went home and stayed up way too late again, laughing and talking, but it was well worth the sleep deprivation!!


Some Fantastic Friday Crop Pics:

I hope to crop again w/ you guys....soon.....


On Saturday morning, we got a late start. Or rather, we just took our time getting around. When Sherry and I finally left for the day, it was around 2pm. We decided to go get Mexican for lunch and we settled on Jalapeno’s! Yum Yum! (yep, here comes another splurge……)
Chips.
Salsa.
Chimichanga.

Need I say more?

It was delicious!!!!



Anyway, on our way into the restaurant, we notice a new business next to Jalapeno’s. The business is a Tattoo Place! I teasingly asked Sherry if she wanted to get a tattoo. She emphatically insisted that SHE DID NOT!! So, we ate our yummy lunch and continued to talk a little about the tattoo place.

I told her I’d been wanting to get another one, but had chickened out. She wanted to know if it hurt. How could I best explain this? Well….I came up with this…..well, tattoos are not licked on by kittens, so yeah, it hurts. But, it’s not as bad as labor…. She found this to be hilarious! So, I said, “ Come on, If I can do it, you can do it!” To which, Sherry replies, “Nope!”


So, we finish lunch, pay the bill and leave. As we walk by the door of the tattoo place the conversation goes like this:

Me: Hey, ya wanna get a tattoo now?

Sherry: Ummmm….NO!

Me: Ya wanna go look around at what they have?

Sherry: Ummm….ok….but I am not getting one.

Me: Ok, let just go look.

Here is the sign for the Enigmatic Tattoo Company.
The place the will permanently change us forever.


And we go in.


And within 5 minutes of looking, Sherry has picked out a design she likes and is talking to the tattoo artist about it. Then he goes to draw it out so she can see how it will look.


Here I am while we wait on the artist to draw the and talking to Amber, letting her know we will be late to the crop.


When he's finished, I am surprised how big the sketch is. The sketch is a little big for a 1st timer, so I let Sherry think about it and come to that decision on her own. (I would have told her before she was in the chair…..I just didn’t want to influence her about something that's permanent.)


Meanwhile, I pick out my own design, which Sherry likes even better when she sees it. So, she asks if I mind if she gets the same one. And of course, I don’t mind.


So, the next thing I know, Sherry is signing the waivers and getting prepped for the tattoo! She wanted to go first.


She did really great, but really suffered quite a bit of pain on one side of her back. She was biting her leg, digging her nails into the table and even said a few colorful words. (I’ll leave them to your imagination to protect the tortured!) I actually felt really bad that she was in so much pain. I kept asking her if she was ok. She's a trooper and she insisted she was just fine.....)

Sherry and Roxann, still smiling in the tattoo room!



Then, it was my turn.



So, I signed the papers and got prepped for my tattoo. I’ll admit it, I was scared. I got my last tattoo 8 years ago and I’m sure my exact memory of what it felt like is seriously lessoned.


But, I've had my last 2 kids with NO epidural...
so I can handle this, right?!?!



Once I got in the chair, I was honestly freaking out a little. You see, I have a serious phobia of needles. (I know, I know....then why would I even consider getting a tattoo ever, let alone, twice?!) Well, the short answer is….Big Daddy thinks it’s hot. I did it both times to surprise him. And honestly, I think they are cool, as long as the tattoo can be hidden when I want it to be.

First, they have to get all the ink colors ready and prep you for the tattoo. Prepping includes having your back shaved and your skin sanitized. It doesn't hurt, but it does burn a little.


Then, they place the stencil.
Yep, I turned into a human coloring book!


Here's me looking awesome before he starts tattooing me...
don't I totally look like a bad a$$ to you?!


So, as they are getting started, I am seriously freaking out. Once he touches the needles to my back, I start breathing hard. At first I was doing pretty good, but that outlining was just plain evil! And as he approached my spine, the pain was seriously horrid! In fact, because the pain is almost completely continuous with no break, I think it may actually be .....
worse than labor!!!

Sorry, Sherry!


Anyway, as he neared right on the spine with the black outlining… I was in major pain. All of a sudden, I started really trying to control my breathing….which turned into me holding my breath. Ummm….that’s a bad idea. I started feeling reallllly weird. I was dizzy, nauseated and disoriented. It seemed like everything was moving in slow motion. And then, it sounded like everyone talking was down in a bucket. I became panicked and scared. I thought something had gone wrong and
I thought I was dying.
Seriously.


(Drama Queen…of course, that’s the tattoo I wanted, but they didn’t have a crown….)


It appears what had happened was that I was trying to deal with the pain, that instead of trying to “control” my breathing to help deal with the pain…..I may have stopped breathing completely…like holding my breath because it hurt so bad.

I guess sometime during this stressful moment, I must have sorta “checked out” because I said a few things I have no memory of saying. For instance, I told him to STOP and announced I was DONE with this tattoo. Ha….I only had half of the outline of a 6 inch tattoo!!! (Sherry was freaking out when I said that!)


The guy quickly grabbed me a ginger ale and told me to drink it. Because it turns out, as a diabetic (if I actually am one) extreme stress and pain can cause large fluctuations in blood sugar, which could also be part of what happened. Who knows…. All I know, for me (and Sherry, too) it was super scary!!!!

So, thru the rest of the tattoo, I was screaming for a large part of it. It was so painful. But I kept trying to make jokes about it because that somehow made it hurt less. At one time when he was doing my spine, I screamed, “That was SO wrong in so many ways!!” And it really was!!
I mean....look at my back.........OUCH!!!!


So, here it is, in all it's *awesomeness*:

MY NEW TATTOO!



Here I am getting dressed after it was finished.
So proud of myself....

So, this whole thing has convinced me that it will probably be a while before I attempt to get another tattoo. (maybe that’s why it’s been 8 years since my last one….and my last one was a cake walk compared to this one….)

Here, Sherry and I are with our tattoo artist.... Nice chops and stretched out earlobes! That's what I'm getting next time. NOT!!


By this time we were late for my crop party. So, that sucked.



And everyone could not believe what we had done! It was hilarious!!! For the first hour we were there, I was still feeling quite strange, but it eventually went away.


The crop party was just like they always were, except instead of only store employees, we had some special guests that I had invited to be there. And it was super fun!!!!


{Tiffany and my sweetie, Michelle}


We had hilarious conversation and I have never been so happy to be with a group of women! These girls are all fantastic!! I only wish I could have invited every single person I miss from Savannah....


Have you ever watched Sex in the City? Well, in many ways this crop reminds me of the women in that show. We are good friends who feel free to discuss just about anything. And at times, it can get over the top with the conversation, but it also extremely hilarious. We laugh until we cry and from time to time, it is confessed that someone unnamed may or may not have tinkled in her pants.



I have never learned as many things as I have at these crops. Seriously, am I that naive? I guess so!
(No comments necessary from you about that, Big Daddy!)

But, we also have serious conversation, too.
And I love that!
And I love these girls!
I miss them!!!


And we cropped the night away, too! Bonus!!!


(For the record, I did not eat the pizza they ordered while we were late getting tattoos. Sherry and I went to Subway!)



Here are the supplies we had to get during the crop for "tattoo care." And believe me....we take this very seriously.

We followed their written instructions to a tee! We didn't want our backs to rot and fall off......that would be bad! So, Sherry and I had to cleanse and rebandage our tattoos while at the crop. And of course, we could count on our friends to give us a hard time while we were doing it.....

Here we are laughing at some inappropriate jokes being made about our "tattoo care" by our friends. You big turds!!

Big squeezes for my Tiffany!!!

Me and my Stacy!

Stacy is hilarious! And she gets the award for funniest comment, the comment that made as laugh till we cried.

(see 2 strange pics above!!)


Then on Sunday, Sherry and I had to unbandage and “air out” our tattoos. So, that’s what we did. Well, until Doug called and told us to meet him and the boys at the new restaurant in Richmond Hill. It’s called Beef O’Brady’s. It was really good, although not so good for my diet. But, I enjoyed it nonetheless.


Then, we hung out Sunday afternoon until Kristine’s wedding shower at 6pm. It was an “Around the Clock” shower, so everyone was assigned a different time. Sherry and I had 1 o’clock and 2 o’clock. So, of course we got some “sexy” gifts, which I will leave to your imagination to protect the innocent!!!
But I will tell you….
they were gooooood!!!!

Hilarious!!!!

***I have more pics, I'm just waiting to get them from various people......more to follow soon!***


Monday morning Sherry and I hung out. I was packing everything up to go. This made me soooo sad!!!


At about noon, I went to Amber’s house. Amber and I were catching up. She took some photos of me. Then, we scrapbooked the rest of the afternoon away. Amber is just so talented. She really inspires me….Isn't she awesome?!?!


So, about 6pm we went to the airport.


Everything was fine until I got onto the airplane, which for the record was a little late. Now, believe me, I have nothing against children. I have four. But you can bet your a$$ that on an airplane my children will be the most well-behaved children you've ever seen! You won't even know they are there!


But, I was sitting behind of a woman who had 3 children. The boy was about 5, a girl about 3 and another baby girl about 19 months or so. And because the plane was empty, she let them move across the aisle to sit by themselves, while she sat in front of me with the baby. But these children were all acting crazy and misbehaving. They were up and down and moving all around. They would not keep their seatbelts on. They were screaming. Yes, screaming. And we haven’t even moved from the gate yet. And the mother, just looks at them and quietly says, "Stop." With a half-grin on her face.


Um....yea....like that's gonna work! NOT!!!


The next thing I know, the 3 year old girl throws up everywhere. No warning. Just everywhere, just as we were moving away from the gate. The mother doesn’t do anything, but throw a pile of wipes to the older brother and tells him to clean up the sister. (of course, you know where this is going…..) So, the boy protests, but she tells him to clean up sister anyway. Then, he announces he’s gonna puke. So, I grab a barf bag out of the seat pocket in front of me and hand it to the mother. She hands it to the boy and tells him to throw up in it. Which he immediately does. And I got the first row show to that one. Darn it! The mother did NOTHING!!!
I felt sorry for him, but gross!


Within minutes we are in the air and the barf bag is sitting next to him on the seat. (remember the mom did NOTHING to help) So, I was just waiting for him to knock it over! Anyway, within minutes these two children are kicking the chairs in front of them, unbuckled again and the little girl is now standing straight up in her seat! The boy gets tired of sitting with the vomit, so he puts the bag on the floor. It REEKS in our plane!! The bag is sitting on the floor just waiting to be kicked over. I was so angry about the behavior of these kids. Then, when the mother gave them both some crappy junk food cinnamon rolls to shut them up….that was it. I had enough. I told the girl sitting across from me to pick up her bags before he knocks over the vomit onto all her things. She was sick from smelling the vomit, too. We were in hell!


The little girl started crawling around on the floor. Yes, on the floor! And the mother thought it was funny. I had enough! I got up and I marched back to the flight attendants and insisted they do something. I felt sorry for them and I told them so. But, they had to do something. They did. They went up there. Helped clean up things. Got the kids in their chairs and buckled (not that it worked for long) and moved all of us who had been tortured for way too long! It was awful!!! I never did get that smell out of my nose!


Now, these kids were naughty, don't get me wrong, but it's not their fault. It's this mother's fault. These children have very little, if any, discipline. They don't meet the expectations of their mother, because they aren't expected to. And from what I saw, she wasn't much of a "mother." It's HER fault, not the kids. But, the kids did know better. Especially the oldest one. And they refused to listen to the flight attendents either. Perhaps if the flight attendents were sitting where I was, they would have kicked them off the flight.... Who knows? But it was certainly annoying to pay for a "getaway" without my children only to be faced w/ these kids! Oh, joy!


We were late arriving in Atlanta, so I had to run from the end of one concourse to the other, trying to keep the computer from hitting me in the back where my tattoo is. Once I make the long run and grab some “unhealthy” dinner, I find out my flight is delayed. Bummer! I hate that. They are doing a repair on the front lavatory of the plane, so I figure that better get fixed before we take off on this oversold flight! It was miserable, only because it was so full!! The kind of full where you are trying to stay out of the lap of the person sitting next to you. Uck!


We finally arrive in Kansas City about 15 minutes late. It was a pain, because Michele was driving around waiting on me.


I went to baggage claim and waited for like 25 minutes, only to have ONE of my suitcases. Thank goodness it was my scrapbook bag...otherwise I'd be seriously angered! Clothes I can replace. Pictures and my scrapbooking, I can't. My big suitcase was missing, along with the suitcases of 100 or so other people. We all ran to the Delta office to figure out what to do. I was so angry! This flight was late and they didn’t get all our luggage on the plane?! At this rate, I’d be in this line for hours. After almost 10 minutes in line, a worker comes up from the tar-mac and says they have more luggage from the Atlanta flight. Thank goodness! The luggage belt started up again and low and behold, my bag was about the 10th one up. I was so glad to not have to deal with a lost bag!!


So, Michele and I head on to her house. Then, I started to head on home. I got home at just a few minutes before 2am.
And I was/am exhausted!