Who's afraid of commitment?

A few years ago an acquaitance joked I might be afraid of commitment (after I relayed that I had tried soccer, softball, basketball, swimming, etc. for one year each). If that were ever the case, I don't think anyone could accuse me of it now.

On December 22nd, I made a commitment that will last until I die. I had permanent eyeliner done. And I love it!

My coworkers and I had been talking about it for a while. One jumped in and had her lips lined and the other had her eyes done. I was impressed with how both turned out and called to schedule my appointment.

I walked into a spa-like room - there was calming music, a waterfall fountain and a super comfortable bed/chair/table thing set up. I settled in and the artist and I talked about what I wanted. She removed my existing eye make up and applied a numbing gel. Then she turned out the lights and left me to relax for about 30 minutes so the numbing could work. When she came back in, she made an initial slit with the tattoo gun and applied more numbing gel. The slit burned a little - like a papercut, but wasn't exactly painful. After another 20 minute wait, it was time for color.

The sound of the tattoo gun was a touch unnerving at first, but I got over it pretty quickly. She started by lining my upper right lid, then the lower lid. I felt pressure and a slight tickle, but it was not painful at all. The outside corner of my right lower lid got a little uncomfortable. I must have flinched a little because she asked me about it. I told her it hurt a little, but I could bear it. She wouldn't allow it - and instead applied more numbing gel and did my left eye.

About halfway through my left eye, she commented I was the easiest client she'd ever had. I told her I was afraid of being the biggest wuss, so I had retreated to my happy place. In my mind, I was on a white sandy beach in Mexico with a cabana boy supplying bottomless strawberry daiquiris. She laughed at that.

She finished up my left eye and wiped the excess ink off my lids. I was surprised it was over so quickly and told her I would have to cancel my second daiquiri. She finished my right lower eyelid and that was that. My eyes felt a little heavy as I drove home - puffy more than tired.

I applied a cold eyemask to help with swelling. It had holes for my eyes, so I could continue with plans - helping with Christmas decorations, wrapping gifts, etc. By the time my mom saw me that afternoon, I had minimal swelling, but had developed some bruising. The next morning, they were more swollen (probably from sitting up and doing too much the day prior), so I reapplied the chilled mask. By Christmas eve night, I was back to normal and wore a light coating of mascara. I did the same for church on Sunday.

By Tuesday, I wore my regular make up. It took me less than 10 minutes to put my face on - a huge improvement over my 20+ minute routine. I know that sounds like a ridiculous difference - but I would apply eyeliner, then clean it up, then mascara, then clean up any smudges, then apply eyeliner again most mornings. I'm so much lower maintenance now, haha!