A Treat to Myself...

The last time we were in Montana I had lunch with Sister Mary Lisa and T at our most favorite restaurant. We had salad, naughty sticks, and naughty sauce, and in the words of Rachel Ray, YUMMO!! OK, I am getting distracted here... I mentioned at the lunch or just afterwards that I was going to get a tattoo after I graduated. I decided to design the tattoo myself. Once I had the tattoo designed, I had to select a tattoo artist. Of course, I wanted the best since it would be with me for a while. Well, my honey settled this dilemma for me after talking to the guys with which he works. My man got me a gift certificate for the tattoo to the recommended tattoo artist for our anniversary. I went to the shop after my anniversary design in hand, after looking at the artist's portfolio on the web of course, a little nervous not knowing what to expect. After talking to the artist, I set an appointment to get the tattoo done, and I also had to modify my design (but only slightly). My original design was too small for what I wanted done, but the size that the artist said the tattoo would have to be was bigger than I wanted the tattoo to be. After I re-designed my tattoo, I took the new design back to the artist and was very happy to hear that it would work as I designed it, but unfortunately, I would have to wait a month before actually getting my tattoo because the artist was completely booked for a month. I thought that the day of my appointment would never come, but it finally did. Surprisingly, I was not nervous as I drove to the tattoo shop. It has now been two weeks since I got my tattoo, and it is healing nicely! I was surprised that it really did not hurt all that badly when I was getting it done. So now I want to know... what do you think of it?? I got it on my lower left calf by my ankle on the outside of my leg.


I LOVE it and yes, I would get another one.

10 Jobs I Do Not Want!

I was tagged by Cele to list 10 jobs that I do not want! I found this tag very interesting in part because I am not currently working full time and also because I left a company last December with which I had been employed for 16 and a half years. I find myself at a unique crossroads in that I am able to really search for the job of my dreams with hopefully a terrific company (with many perks of course). So...here it goes...

1) Exterminator - I don't do bugs, mice, rats, snakes, etc, etc, etc. YUCK! Creepy crawlies are not my forte!

2) Housekeeper/Maid - I would hate to clean all day at work and then have to come home and clean all night too. I take my hat off to those people who do this kind of work because I know that I could not do it. (at least I could not do it quietly!)

3) Sales - I am talking about all of the pushy salespeople out there. You know which ones I am talking about pushy and won't take "no" for an answer. Nope, I could not do that because I would feel too guilty after, not like the "guilty pleasure" guilt either.

4) Collection Agent - I have dealt with "dead beat" renters before and hated it. I like to give most people the benefit of the doubt, second chances (sometimes third and fourth chances). I eventually learned to distance myself to it, but I would not want to do this type of work on a daily basis at least again anytime soon. High stress, high guilt, little satisfaction ... no thank you.

5) Mortician - I am a HUGE sympathetic crier! I would have one of those crying headaches all day, every day if I were a mortician. Plus, my makeup would run... now that would be attractive.

6) Congresswoman/Senator - I would not be willing to compromise my morals and beliefs in order to do the job. I think it is a prerequisite.

7) Bee Keeper - love the honey, hate the bees!

8) ASPCA officer / worker in a shelter - too sad! I have a hard enough time watching shows like "Animal Precinct" on Animal Planet. I know that there is no way I could do that job in real life.

9) Daycare Provider - love kids, but running a daycare is a TOUGH job! I have helped in daycare facilities before imagine all noise all the time, a mountain of dirty diapers, never getting a break, running after other people's kids all day and your own at night. I could go on and on, but I really don't think that I have to, do you?

10) The person who removes roadkill from the side of the roads - need I say more!

Thank you Cele for tagging me. I am not tagging anyone, but if you would like to complete the list on your blog, I invite you to do so and leave the link in the comments on my blog!

A Beautiful Sight to See!!

Yesterday, we took a short drive to Crater Lake. Crater Lake is a truly amazing sight to see. The water is so blue; it really is unbelievable. The lake was formed over 7,000 years ago after the Mt Mazama erupted. The lake filled with rain water and snow. It the deepest lake in the U.S., and one of the deepest in the world. It is also one of the purest lakes. It was completely worth the drive. Pictures do not do the lake's beauty justice, but I thought that I would share a few with you anyway.

The island is called Wizard Island and is a volcano that was formed during the eruptions of Mt Mazama.

There are many features in and around the lake. The great thing is that you can drive all the way around the lake and take a boat tour of the lake.

You can see many of the volcanoes of the Cascades from Crater Lake too. We even saw Mt Shasta which was about 100 miles away from where we were and two of the Three Sisters.

These are fumaroles called the Pinnacles. There were so many of them!

All of you should make it a point to visit this beautiful place!! It was amazing! I would definitely go back again!

A New Poem...

You

You are a dream to me.
I’ve searched for you, where can you be?
I wonder if you I will see.
I wonder if you’ll ever be.

I imagine your smell.
A sweet smell that I know so well.
I want you in the place I dwell.
I will never tell you farewell.

I can see your dear smile.
Is my dream really so futile?
I don’t think I’m in denial.
I long to hold you for a while.

The sparkle in your eye.
My dream of you is slippin’ by.
I sit and wonder with a sigh,
If you will come or pass me by.

Your darling laugh brings glee.
The dream of you I cannot see.
Praying for you to be with me.
I wonder if you’ll ever be.

© J Stein 2007