Xmas in NC

I'm back in the DR and thawing out. It is nice to bundle up in fleece every once and a while, but it is a lot nicer to hang around in shorts and a t-shirt. My skin is starting to plump up since it's not so dry, how did I live so long in Colorado, I guess that's where my lotion addiction really began.

I had a great break. I stayed mostly at my sister's house and it was really nice hanging out with her. I know I'm a bit biased, but she really is an amazing person. I can't wait to do another trip with her. One of the hard things about being home was being around dogs... I have been missing having a dog lately and being with Nala and Payton made it worse. Mary was dog sitting for Payton, a male lab mix, who is one of the most affectionate dogs I've ever met. If I were staying in the U.S., I would have pretended he ran away and stolen him for my new dog. I realized that even though I had my own place in Denver, I was never living alone, I always had Winnie. Here, I am in an apartment, by myself. No wonder it can get hard.

I ended up spending a freaking ton of money while I was home. One hundred dollars is the new five dollars. Every time you go to any store it seems that you spend $100. I did stock up on some comfort items, like candles and body splashes. I thought a lot about the environment while I was away, and reflected on the fact that no one else seems to be spending much time thinking about it at all. It felt a little hopeless at times, I just kept spending and contributing to the cycle.

I did decide to add some more art to my body while I was home. When I came back from Burma, I brought a book of Burmese designs with me and I ear marked a page of designs. Those designs have been in the back of my head for a few years now... One night my family was sitting on the couch watching TV, and Tosh.O was doing stand up and he did a bit on people asking a tattooed person if they were worried about what their bodies would look like when they were 90, and his joke was basically that no one that gets all tatted up can ever imagine being 90, and it got me thinking of my fear of 40, and it;s not a fear so much, but a fact that I never thought I'd make it this far... So, I decided that I should add the burmese design and looked up a place in Raleigh and broke my idea about going below my elbows. Heck, I'd love full sleeves.

Don't worry if you don't think it looks "done", that is kind of the point, a work in progress. Now that I've ventured into the forbidden forearm zone, I can continue with my DR tat there. 

I am so glad I splurged on the NYC trip. It really was a great time. Here are two of my favorite photos from the trip...