You'll Have To Forgive Me ......

...... well, I suppose you don't really have to, but it would be nice if you would.

It is now 2:30 a.m. (Central Time, which is my time).
A realtor friend is coming over tomorrow to look over my house.  And you know what that means.
But if you don't, that means that I needed to clean up a bit.
And by a bit, I mean my third son's room (he left town this morning, which means that it was the safest time to go in there and do that, if you get my drift).
Ummmmm, yeah.

I went upstairs at 10:30.
I just now came down.
For the first time.
Since 10:30.
You do the math.

It's a good thing he's out of town or he might have been hurt.
Or maybe just yelled at.
A lot.

Anyway, since it's so very late early, I'm totally copping out and re-posting.
I know, I know ...... that's so un-classy for a blog writer.
But there you go.
Me.
Pretty much un-classy.

This is a post that I wrote on my personal blog when I was 5 months out.  It occurred on Son #1's birthday, which also happened to be the day before what should have been my 25th anniversary.

I know that many of you will be able to relate.

So here it is ...... classless and all.
:)

A Little Bit Legal ...... And a Whole Lotta Crazy



Here is the proud daddy with Son #1, eighteen years ago. Just a few hours before I got peed in the face.  Ahhhh, boys.

Well, a few momentous occasions down, a couple more to go. Tomorrow is our 25th anniversary. Words cannot express what I am feeling.

Today, Daughters #2 & #3, my mom and I celebrated Jim by doing something totally nuts. Yes, we did indeed get tattoos (Daughter #1 got hers a few weeks ago). 
Jim is up in heaven having a conniption fit. But heck, I figure it's his fault. If he were still here there's no way I'd have done this. 
But he's not, and I did.

Here's the beginning. Not so bad .... at first. And then, I tried really, really hard to not cry. I didn't, but I had to do a lot of Lamaze breathing to get through it. And squeeze all of the blood out of Daughter #1's hand.



This is the finished product. It's Jim's signature (too cool how they can replicate that) on top of a heart. Underneath the heart is the verse from our wedding, Song of Songs 8:7. 



This is Daughter #2 getting hers done. I didn't get a very good picture, but it says "Wherever they'll grow" with a picture of a forget-me-not. For those of you who were at Jim's memorial, it's what she spoke about (she wants to be like her dad -- she hopes that when she's gone it may be said of her that she plucked out thistles and planted flowers wherever they would grow).



And here's Daughter #3. She decided to break hers up and put one on each wrist. On one she has the Hebrew letters spelling Yaweh. On the other is a verse that has meant a lot to her since December: 1 Corinthians 15:19.





So there you have it --- the path to insanity caught on film. But we like them. They mean a lot to us, more than I've even written here. It's like still having Jim as a part of me, literally.
It was the most permanent thing I could think of doing that would still make him a part of me.
Difficult to explain ...... unless you're in this club no one wants to join.

Oh, and my mom got one, too! See ...... we're all crazy!! She got a daisy on her shoulder. It's cute. Three generations of tattooed women.
I wonder what's next?!


So there you go ...... a re-post.
My humblest apologies.

As for wondering what was next ...... wow.  It's been a very full (and not usually in a good way, at least in the first 2 or so) 5 years.
And I still wonder.
:)