Hello from Fort Worth!
Time to tell the tale of Tuesday! My brain woke me up at sunrise. (Yeah, that happens more often than not... welcome to my life....)
Somehow, seeing this picture now has me expecting to see British nannies flying in beneath their proper, black umbrellas. Crazy how childhood memories, though somewhat morphed, follow us around for the rest of our lives.
Aaaaanyway... I think I managed to get a little more sleep before I actually got up and dressed. Went downstairs to our training session. I know, right?? No commute! No UBERs or taxis or Metros! Just... an elevator. *placated sigh*
Took one shot of the room we were in, just to show Lena what it looked like. It was one of those quick, sneaky, snatched photos that is not composed or artistic at all... just a peek.
After training ended, I went upstairs to change and was right away out the door. I had made a decision and headed out to make that decision a reality.
For a little over $8, I got a ride on their bike sharing program. A little pricey maybe, but I got a lot of riding out of the deal. So it was okay.
Aboard said bike, I pedaled with gusto across this, the Trinity River bridge. Well I'm not sure that's specifically what it was called; I was on 7th Street, and it went over the Trinity River. Which... was actually more like the Trinity Canal... but, for Texas, having an actual flowing channel of water was pretty impressive. (Everything's bigger in Texas, eh? Come over to where I live and meet my friend... the MISSISSIPPI RIVER!!!) heh...
No but really, the bridge was really pretty AND there was a huge and beautifully green park just across the bridge, spanning from the riverbank to who knows how far... I would love to go to that park and just... BE... for several hours.
I mean, once it's not so----> H. O. T.
"How hot was it, Nicole?"
"I'll tell you how hot it was! It was so hot that... (insert punchline...)
- It was so hot, I saw a chicken lay an omelette!
- It was so hot, I saw two trees fighting over a dog!
- It was so hot, I saw a cop chasing a thief and they were both walking!
- It was so hot, my thermometer went up to, "Are you kidding me?"
- It was so hot, I saw a bird pull a worm out of the ground with an over mitt!
- It was so hot, I heard Siri ask to be dipped in a glass of ice water!
- It was so hot, I started using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit just to have a lower number!
(Wonk wonk wonk... thank you, thank you; that was my spontaneous Jay Leno impersonation...) (and no, those jokes were not original... LOL)
So I pedaled and sweated and pedaled and sweated and FINALLY arrived HERE!!:
A little backstory... for about a year, I had been back and forth over whether to get a tattoo. I wanted a line from Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" because that song swirls my emotions into stillness. Because no person on the planet has ever said - or ever WILL say to me - that they will be there for me, no matter what it takes, no matter what. I have been LOVED; I am currently VERY loved! But I have never been offered that depth of genuine, legit committment.
And I realized one day, GOD is the only one who can be that for me. Shoot, I don't really even want to offer that much of myself to anyone either! It makes me scared and sounds exhausting. I cannot be anyone's everything. And no one can be mine. God has put us on this earth with lots of wonderful people who come in and out of our lives, some for longer stays than others, who can provide for us GLIMPSES of God's love. But no one can be God.
Only GOD is sufficient to be anyone's EVERYTHING.
And I wanted that tattooed on the inside of my arm, where I could look at it and read it any time I wanted, to be reminded that God IS my everything, and that God will NEVER leave me, forsake me, forget me, or fail me. Never, never, never.
The night before, I was glancing at Instagram and saw a post by Cyndi Lauper. The post was a video showing only a spinning vinyl record playing "Time After Time." The text to her post said, "Happy Vinyl Album Day" or something similar.
And I'm not the type jump at everything and declare, "It's a SIGN!!"... but that video felt symbolic to ME. And I thought, why NOT?? Why not now, while I'm on this trip, exploring and adventurous... and why not HERE, in this city, in my favorite metroplex in the U.S.A.??
And I said to myself, "YES! I'm going to do this!!!"
(Note: I did text Lena first; not to ask permission, but to let her know. All she asked was if I was SURE, because this was permanent. I told her I was absolutely sure and she was, as always, supportive and amazing.) ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I especially liked the business name "Ink817" because 817 is the Fort Worth area code.
😁😁😁
So. A few hours after entering Ink817, I left beaming and smiling like a possum... delighted to be brandishing THIS!! --
Set me back about $100 plus a tip because the guy who did it was pretty cool and did not seem to care about how I *ahem* SMELLED... after my aforementioned bicycle trip... man, it was awesome!
Note... I did not enjoy the pain of the tattoo. I enjoyed the fresh sense of freedom I gained in knowing I had taken action to uniquely express MYself on MY body. Like, "See?? SEE??? THIS, right here?? THIS is ME!!!"
("Hey Nicole, um... felt overlooked much?")
Well, yes, actually! But I felt stronger with my new statement symbolizing "THESE ARE MY FEELINGS!!! DEAL WITH IT!!" inked beautifully into my skin.
Aaaand... that was the gist of Tuesday. I'll end here. Gotta get ready for bed and go to work in the morning and all that.
BUT... there is STILL more goodness to share!! I am so grateful for God's unconditional love. Grateful for the freedom to express myself. I thrive on self-expression, and this blog is another means of that. Everyone is welcome here but, at the end of the day, this space is MINE to in which to explore my thoughts and express myself.
There I go again, gettin' all tangential... hahaha... 'night all! Hugs hugs hugs all around!!
Nic
