Just A Few Extra Wedding Photos

I was able to track down a few of the photobooth photos from Cuz K. and A.'s wedding.

So, also, in early November I finally got the tattoo I had been thinking about for quite a few years. It took almost four hours and by the end it was painful (the first hour lulls you into a false sense of low pain security), but the tattoo artist I chose after much due diligence, did an excellent job. It's got two main meanings to me. First, I am trying to push myself to be more optimistic in life, and so now I have a blue bird on my shoulder, which I associate with such optimism (zippadeedooda etc). Also, along the branch I asked the artist to include a sort of 'etched' set of my mother's initials. When my parents moved to Tennessee she got really into having a few blue bird houses around the house, and while I can't say that they were her favorite bird, hearing her talk about the progress of the birds is something I remember about many of our phone calls during the Tennessee years. The craziest part was that the artist, who travels between a number of different studios in very different parts of the company, could only schedule the actual work during a very small window. While I asked for a weekend, he only had a Monday...and that was actually the same day that my mother actually died. Coincidence probably, but still and interesting turn. I would never assume that Mom would actually be on board for this, and I imagine she probably wouldn't have wanted me to do it, but I do think she would probably have understood the sentiment and I really did think about it for years before committing. Now I just wish it was easier to see one's own back.

I'm still in need of getting a better photo of the tattoo in order, there really is some nice detail and coloring worth seeing, but I did take the photobooth opportunity to at least get a basic shot. Also, look at that braid (and ignore the jowls)!