Tattoos, Hair Do's and Big Girl Shoes

     These past few months, I have taken some pretty big leaps. A friend of mine jokingly suggested that I might be going through a mid-life kind of thing.  Even though I’m nearing 50, (in 4 months), I’m certain that it’s not my age that’s prompting my quest for adventure. I kinda have a bucket list. I say ‘kinda’ because a ‘bucket list’ is usually a list of things you want to accomplish before you kick the bucket. But, my list is all about living the richest life possible without any regrets. I’m not in denial…I know that I will one day die, but I have a bunch of things I want to experience and enjoy while I’m still alive. So, I have a list although it’s not written down. It’s an open ended list, stored up in my head that is made up as I go along. Another cool thing is that my twin sis, Neecy is pursuing an adventure list of her own; which means I’m not alone in the craziness of it all.

     It all began with my desire to have a tattoo. I’d always said that I wanted one; nothing raunchy or crazy…something small, tasteful; a tribute to my sweetie of almost 29 years. Apparently, my hubby got tired of hearing me talk about getting a tattoo because when we traveled to Las Vegas several months ago, he decided to call my bluff. He took me for a drive which ended at the parking lot of Voodoo Tattoo. When I asked why we were stopping there. He answered casually, “You said you wanted a tattoo.” I quickly thought up a few excuses. “I’m not sure what I want. We don’t have time to wait. It might be too expensive.” He ignored me and led me to the front counter. I knew I couldn’t chicken out. So, I acted like I was totally fine with it.

     After I described what I wanted, (a simple Plumeria flower with my hubby’s name on it); the artist sketched it up and then led me to a lounge chair. I glanced around at the pictures covering the walls. There were skulls of every kind, butterflies, hearts, flowers and lightning bolts, colorful and very lifelike. Then I really got nervous.  The tat artist told me to let him know if it was too painful or if I needed a break. I took a deep breath and sunk into the lounge chair with my eyes closed while he slowly etched (more like scraped) a design on my ankle. I’m not gonna lie, it did hurt…just a little but I sucked it up and kept a grin on my face. When he was finished, I was totally thrilled, not only did it look awesome but, I’d survived. It was such a rush! I had accomplished the very first thing on my list. My hubby was amazed that I went through with it. I was so proud of myself for sticking it out. These days, my mantra is, ‘Just suck it up and do it!’ Or, translated another way, “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”

 

 

     I was on such a high after getting my tattoo that I felt almost invincible. I was ready to zip line, or do something really daring. Fortunately for me, my cousin, Tricia is a wonderful hairstylist in Las Vegas. I met up with her and told her I wanted to do something different; something totally out of character. So, she worked her magic and created a look that made me do a double take when I saw myself. My hubby loved it!  I’d changed my hair color and my look. I looked, well…sassy. That night, when we went out with hubby’s bowling buds, they were patting him on the back and one commented, “Man, I’m going to tell your wife that you’re cheating on her.”  I felt flattered to have gained the approval of his guy friends.

 

     Later that night, I started noticing how so many women in Las Vegas were walking around in these beautiful, high heeled, stiletto type of shoes. I was in awe because as high as the shoes were, (3 – 5 inches) they didn’t appear to be in pain. They walked around with confidence. It was then that I decided that the next item on my list was going to be to learn how to wear “big girl” shoes. (When my sis and I were little we called shoes with any type of heel, “big girl” shoes.) So, I announced to Hubby that I was going to master the art of wearing heels. Of course he got this big grin on his face because like most guys, he seems to think it’s sexy for a woman to wear high heeled shoes. Thus began my next quest…big girl shoes. Next time, I will tell you about my adventures in shoe shopping and my next goal of walking around with high heeled shoes. Until then...

Syrone~