New Tattoo!

Yesterday while driving around a impulse tattoo idea came to me. Oddly I was thinking about Lady Gaga's peace tattoo near her wrist and It had me thinking of what I could do in the same kind of location and for whatever reason a symbol came to mind. So when I got back to the hotel I looked the symbol up and saved it to my phone.

The symbol I had picked was the symbol for The Deathly Hallows from the final Harry Potter book. The symbol for those of you that don't follow the series stands for three items referred to as the deathly hallows or relics of death! They are The Elder Wand (represented by the vertical line), The Resurrection Stone (represented by the circle), and The Cloak Of Invisibility (represented by the triangle).






Later that evening I met my coworkers for dine and on the way home I stopped into a tattoo parlor recommended by one of the employees at the project I've been working on. The guy working the shop at first thought it was for some album and said he had done one prior for someone and I explained what it really was. I was given a semi decent price and given a business card and said they usually have a two day wait. So I headed back to the hotel with the thought of checking other places in the morning.

The next morning I used the printer in the hotel lobby to print the graphic and then headed out to check other shops. I headed back over near the shop I stopped at the night before as I saw another shop near there. I went into a the first shop of choice and was nicely greeted enough. Unfortunately I was told my symbol would cost twice as much as what I was quoted the night before at the other shop.

I left a little disappointed and decided to do a search on my gps for other tattoo shops and found one called Loyalty Ink. I walked in was given a much better price and they were able to take me right away.

My artist name was Shawn and he was very cool. He had been doing tattoos for four years and just got into it be chance. If I understand right he is now a owner of the shop. He had gone to college for animation and was doing panels for Disney and Nickelodeon!

When all was said and done he took a pic to send to his cousin who is a Harry Potter Fanatic!




So here's the finished Tattoo, what do you think?



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Vet trips, reunions, Gaga, and jury duty OH MY! (Part 02)

Me with Jodi

Saturday was a day of catching up with a dear friend.  My friend Jodi moved away to GA about a few years ago and then recently moved back to NC with her mother.  Jodi came over with her son Kirian and we spent the whole day just catching up with each other.  I wanted to get a few things together for her as she had lost a good deal of her belongings in January in an apartment fire.  So Jodi sat on a chair in my dining room as I proceeded to organize and clean every drawer and cabinet in my pulling out random items that I could do without and that she would be able to use.

Sirius with Kirian

After filing a box with goodies for her we headed into the living room to relax and catch up while Kirian explored the area.  Sirius was so good and patient with him.  We've always had a crafty/cooking/baking side with each other so we decided to watch Matha's Halloween Ideas and Martha's Thanksgiving Favorites.  Jodi stuck around long enough for Paul to get home so she could say hi to him and so he could meet Kirian and then she headed back to her moms.

Sunday was by far the best day of my down time.  Paul and I went with our friends Aaron and Chester as well as Chester's Niece and a friend of her's to see Lady Gaga!  We had to be at RBC center in Raleigh at 8PM so we made our way there a little early.  The traffic to get into the parking lot was ridiculous as well as the line to enter the center. However the costumes of fans in the line was amazing, spooky, and down right scary.  We got to our seats with plenty of time to spare.

The concert started with an opening act by Precious Little Weapons.  Sadly they're a group that I could do without seeing ever again.  The lead singer was a strange, supposedly bisexual, guy who came on stage wearing a wife beater, women's tight pants, and a pair of glittery high heeled boots.  Just about every other word was just a little too profane, even for my taste, and at in the middle of the act he stripped down completely on stage and changed outfits, bending away from the crowd as to hide his junk.  At the end of the performance the lead singer invited the fans to come to their section of the stadium where they would be selling their CD, signing it, taking pictures and performing sexual favors.

After a brief intermission the real show began.  Lady gaga put on an amazing show starting with "Dance in the dark" and changing her outfit just as much as Cher use to!  Throughout the show she had new outfit after new outfit.  Sometimes her outfit changes were nothing more then removing her headdress but it was still amazing.  One outfit that really stuck out was one that had moving aspects on the head and chest of the dress to look as if it were breathing itself.  She paused a few times and spoke with the audience which showed a very personal side of her.  She joked with one fan near the stage when she loved a mask he had made and said that she would love to steal it and how she could go to jail for that.  She jokingly said "This just in, Lady Gaga attacks little monster for fashion item"!

Lady Gaga also spoke of a speech she would be giving the next day for a repeal against "don't ask don't tell" in Maine.  She continued with just bout every song in her two current albums as well as a new song called "You and I" from her forthcoming album "Born this way".  At the end of the concert she id a encore performance of "Bad romance" which was as wonderful as any of the other songs.

Lady Gaga giving her speech to repeal
"Don't Ask Don't Tell"

The next day I got a chance to see her speech online.  As amazing as her concert was I found this speech just as breath taking.  I think a person on twitter said it best when he said something along the lines of how it was amazing how a pop star can take a stand and fight for our rights when someone who fought for our votes wont.  If you'd like to see the speech, titled "The prime rib of America", which is a tongue in cheek nod to her meet dress she wore at the VMAs a week prior you can click here to see the speech which was posted on CNN.

Vet trips, reunions, Gaga, and jury duty OH MY! (Part 01)

Well its time for a Blog update.

How to survive a 9hr car ride!

Went home this past week/weekend for my down time.  My work period was over Thursday morning at midnight.  I had the option to go to the hotel and rest but I decided to drive straight through the night to NC so I could avoid traffic and essentially have an extra day off from work.  I spent most of the drive listening to the audiobook version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows so that when the first part of the two part movie comes out in November im prepared for what will have to be left out of the movie for time and content lol!

New Halloween Costume: Mummy by Martha Stewart

When I got home of course I was greeted by an overly excited beagle.  After going through the mail I learned Sirius was due for a checkup at the vet.  I decided to get it out of the way and made the call and set up an appointment for the early afternoon.  Paul wanted to go with too since I had just arrived home so we pilled into his car and headed to the vet.  While Sirius was in the back we walked through the store and picked out numerous "I'm sorry I put you through that so soon after getting you excited that I was back" presents.  We found a new collar and ID tag for him.  The halloween goodies were out so I couldnt resist myself.  We got him a Halloween bobo (remeber the petsmart commercial with the little dog that caries the loofa squeeky dog everywhere and then his owner has to throw it out and take him to petsmart for a new one and the worker, who I think was Zach from the first Power Rangers show, says hey where's bobo.  So everyone in my family calls them bobos), a bandana, a set of pjs and a new costume by Martha Stewart.  This year he will be going as a Mummy.

The Halloween PJs

Sirius' exam came back great and hes lost a few pounds which is good and he got his needed shots and what not as well as his normal flea prevention treatment.  We go to Banfield, which is connected to petsmart, and have pet health care for Sirius through them and Im glad we do because his exam and the treatment would have normaly been over $300 but we only payed $29.

Does all this shit in my hair make me look gay?

All Better!

The next day we had planed to have a few friends over for dinner.  But before that I had to run to get my hair cut as It was long overdo.  I must love my stylist as I continually return to her and every time I let her experiment with a new way to do my hair.  It usually turns out about the same style just varying colors and textures.  She slathers my hair in junk and as I sat there I took pictures of myself all gooped up and sent it out asking if all this stuff in my hair made me look gay LOL.

Oven Baked "Fried" Chicken

When that was all said and done I headed home and made a great meal including oven baked fried chicken, mashed bake (kinda of a mashed potato casserole), biscuits, green beans, and a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting for desert.  The chicken is the best part because it came from a weight watchers cook book and its one I make as often as I can.  Its baked instead of fried and uses frosted flakes to give it the crunch of fried chicken.  Most of my friends love it.  In fact my friend Tina I work with was jealous when she learned I was making it while home and she wasn't going to have it!

Sadly my transition from overnights to ays got the best of me by this point and no sooner had everyone finished eating had i stepped over to the couch and passed out as our friends played Taboo with Paul.

New Diet Journal!

Ok so ive tried the lazy aproach and tried to use a diet journal app on a ipod touch and have found myself slacking so today I went out on a hunt for a new diet journal to try and motivate me back on track with my weight loss needs.  My goal is to loose about 100 pounds total.  What helped me the most to loose the first 100 pounds was to keep a diet journal because you just become more aware of what you are eating when you have to record it and the numbers are right there in your face.

~Diet Minder~

     The journal I picked up is called "Diet Minder Personal Food & Fitness Journal A Deluxe Food Diary by MemoryMinder Journals"!  I like this one because it has some great setups that line up perfectly with my diet.  I'm still following the Alli diet guidelines but ill go over them as I show the other pages for the journal.

~Personal Goals~

     This page allows me to outline my goals, plan daily food targets (calories fat carbs etc.) as well as my statistics like weights and measures and my goals for them as well.  I'm going to continue my guidelines for the Alli program due to its simplicity.  I will allow myself 1800 calories a day and a total of 60 grams of fat which breaks down further to 19 grams of fat per meal.  I know it doesn't sound like much but when you get into it it really is.

~Daily Food & Fitness Records~

     This page allows me to record my meals according to what i ate as well as total calories, fat grams, carbs, fiber, and protein.  Its broken down to allow for three meals and three snack periods.  There are also spots to record the daily weight, water consumption, physical activity as well as grand totals for the day.  One thing I also like is how it allows me to track my dietary supplements as well as multi-vitamins.

~Graph Records~

     There is a graph records page that is designed on a weekly basis that allows you to track whatever you wish (exercise times, weight progress, caloric intake).  I'm going to use it to graph my weight loss.

~Weekly Progress~

     The weekly progress page allows you to create a weekly progress report for yourself based on weight, cholesterol, blood pressure as well as body measurements.  I haven't quite decided what body measurements I would consider tracking besides weight and waist size.




     So there you have it.  I'm not sure yet but I think I may have a weekly blog update that discusses my progress with this journal!  Wish me luck because I have to make this happen!

Weekend with family!

     So I decided to go down to MD for the weekend for some much needed rest and I'm glad I did.  

     I got to my parents early Friday morning after a long week of night shift and went out for some much needed retail therapy with my mom.  Paul got me a PSP for our anniversary and after reading what I had on a few games I thought I didn't want it.  We returned it.

  

     Well recently the newest Kingdom Hearts game came out and its exclusive for the PSP.  I had thought about going ahead and buying the PSP when I learned my information on the graphics was misleading so I made my way to gamestop and picked up a special bundle they were selling which included the new kingdom hearts game, a memory stick, and the PSP 3000 in a special silver color!  Ive barely set the game down this weekend LOL.

     We ran around to another few stores and mom picked me up a bunch of Hallmark ornaments as well as Martha Stewart's Halloween magazine which has given me quite a few inspiring ideas.  I hope to start my fall decorating when I go home this upcoming week.

     The next day was my cousins birthday party for her son who just turned one so its a good thing I was in town.  Before we headed out I wanted to go out to pick up a few things and the parents surprised me by letting me take out their 40th anniversary mustang they obtained after my uncle's (mom's brother) passing last year.  Oh my god I now know what my next car will be.

     Later that day I headed to Baldwin MD with my family to see my cousins and more and it was a great evening.  I got to see all of my cousins kids which up to this point I had only seen via facebook.  It was great to spend an evening with aunts uncles and cousins for a much needed evening.  Everyone was excited to see me as they were not expecting me at all.  Unfortunately the downside to the few times I get with my family it depressed me to leave.  I really hate that Ive been distant from them since I moved to NC.

Counting my blessings!

So I found myself in one of those reflective moods this morning as I was rushing to finish work for the morning.

It was the last hour of a very very long night and everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I was trying to give some simple direction to a group of workers that were helping me from a local staffing agency and no matter what I said they just could not grasp the simplistic task of putting something together and turning another thing upside down! One of my regular workers understood and took over the assignment for me so I could go continue elsewhere.

As I walked away my usual mental thought would have been something along the lines of "what a bunch of idiots" but instead I found myself in a reflective and thankful state.

I started to feel very sad for these people because I really started to realize that although I'm here in a well payed career with a nice roof over my head and I consider myself a well educated person here are people older then myself that can't read or write and struggle each day to just get to the next day!

I find myself very thankful for the life, education, and direction I was brought up with and count my blessings for how things are for me. But how did we become the type of society where we allowed things like this to happen to people? Granted yes there are people who self destructed there lives but then there are those that just quite honestly were dealt a unfair hand!

Yes I enjoy the things I have because I work hard to get them but on the other hand I think now I have a little more thankfulness for the ability to do so!!


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