Why Do I Do It??

How annoying and Grinch-like am I?  Are you the kind of person that starts getting the blues on the day before Christmas Eve, anticipating the day after Christmas?? Or bums yourself out on the first or second day of your 10-day vacation thinking about that awful plane ride home??  Whyyyyyy!!?

I found myself today, instead of feeling anxious and excited about the impending holidays, feeling a little sad as I gazed at my cheery red Starbucks cup and thought of how depressing it is going to be when they go back to white and it's all over with.  As a matter of fact (and even more demented), I was getting stressed when I saw the first Christmas decorations going up around Halloween because I wanted them to stretch it out longer and didn't want it to be Christmas just yet.


Is there a cure for this malady?  Can I just live in the moment???  I even do yoga, which is almost impossible to do without being present and concentrating "breathe in, breathe out, breathe in.....", and find that I'm anxious like a caged animal, like "hurry up! I have errands to run after this!" or I think of ten things I need to do at the office and feel the undeniable urge to break out, find my phone, and put them all down in my calendar's to-do list.

I think it's some sort of masochism, a self-torture ritual of sorts.  Is it an ancestral Mayan instinct intrinsically knowing that we're on the final count-down?  How's that for a cheery thought?

At any rate, as I write this, I'm already getting anxious about the ticking minutes until I'll inevitably be late for work, so off I go, as I can no longer be present and concentrate on the task at hand.

I do wish you loads of Christmas, Hanukkah, etc, cheer and many many many happy minutes all year long.

Happy, healthy, prosperous holidays and blessed new year and always.

~ Kate

Gym Towels

Is it the hard water?  The cheap detergent?  The multitudes of washes!?? My towel at the gym this morning literally felt like I was drying off with a brick.

I'm not complaining that they actually launder the towels.  The very thought of the thousand upon thousands of  towels used to dry the sweaty business ends of the multitudes of gym-goers makes me want to pull a Rod Tidwell and air dry, ugh, but if you read my blog you know my feelings on nakedness in the locker rooms.  Even when I opt to go home to shower I still use the towels on my FACE when I'm sweating, eiwww.  My face!!  Their bottoms!

With that visual I will bid you adieu!

Happy workouts and clean-ups :)



~ Kate

Nothing to Rant About!! BEST Mac n Cheese EVER!

Thank you Rania, for your mac n cheese recipe! If I have anything at all to rant about, it's that I haven't wanted to eat anything else since I made it!

The best part about this recipe is that it's all eyeballed and to taste.  You can also add ruffles or Panko flakes (the flakes were Erik's idea).

It was so thick and chewy that, when it cooled enough, my friends were picking it up and eating it like a rice crispies treat! When you cut it grease squirts out!! Need I say more!!!!??

Noisy Neighbors

Noisy neighbors? Yes, of course.  We live in an APARTMENT building!!! It is the absurd policy of my building that if you hear "a noise" to call the front desk and tell them to investigate and if it persists beyond "15 minutes, call the police".  That's right....call the POLICE to respond to Fluffy the poodle who wants to be walked or ever-so-bothersome walking in shoes or talking on the balcony!!!

I can't take it anymore.  To make matters worse, the acoustics in this building are such that sounds travel quite strangely.  I live on the top floor and I can hear people walking above me or pulling a chair in and out. Sometimes in the parking garage I hear a dog that lives at least 4 floors up.  I live almost directly above the pool and tennis court and never hear a thing.

I had about 6 or 7 friends over on LABOR DAY to hang out and BBQ.  We were at the pool (no music, no beer pong, just a handful of people chatting and laughing etc) and it was noon or so and the security came down to tell us that we had to keep it down.  Yes, outside, at noon, on a holiday!!! You can't hear noise mid day coming from a swimming pool!!!????





The point is....WHO gives a S@#T!  You have neighbors! You have a living space connected to someone else's.  Makes sense you might hear a noise or two every now and then!

If you want silence, move to a prairie in Kansas, PLEASE!!!

Have a peaceful day.

~ Kate

When It Rains It Pours

I normally agree with this, most-time accurate, analogy, but when I break it down literally I don't know why it's a negative thing.

What's worse than misty, spitting, drizzly, rain?  If it's going to rain, I just assume have it pour.

On the other hand, why is it universally true that when you have a great boyfriend, you meet five others after having only met troll after troll, or no one at all, for the prior 9 - 10 months in a row?!  Or, what about getting a good job finally and then a dream opportunity comes knocking, or two, or three?  Have plans this weekend?  Now you have 15 invitations, each better than the one you just committed to after you've gotten out of the first four or five somehow.

I attribute it all to timing.  The universe has a funny way of timing things pretty badly sometimes.  Maybe it's just me.  I've always noticed a pattern of bad timing, whether it's something pretty minor like getting in the other lane the nano-second the traffic starts to move in the lane I just abandoned, or some major career move at the wrong time or geographical move and realizing I shoulda, woulda, coulda.  My dear friend pointed out, however, that I have a bad habit of assuming the grass is much greener in everyone else's yard.
I guess the key is to live in the moment and hope that everything happens for a reason, is meant to be and/or insert your favorite cliche here!

I do like a good downpour whether it's rain or snow, but I'd like, just once, to meet the right person at the right time, get the right job and stick to it, have it be sunny AND hot at the same time, and last, but not least, go outside and sing in the pouring rain!

Enjoy whichever element is your fav.

~ Kate

Why Don't We Say What We Mean?

In the era of being open, honest, and in touch with our feelings, why is it so hard to say what we mean?  Are we that worried about what people will think?  Are we so obsessed with pleasing people other than ourselves or not hurting anyone's feelings?  Uhhh, YES.

There is no simple solution to this paradox.  I truly believe honestly and communication are the best policies, but I would rather squash something that may have hurt me or made me angry in the moment, rather than be open and honest and turn it into a thing.  Conversely, while I always get hurt feelings and never ever feel quite the same once told off (even when completely warranted), I have tremendous respect the person telling me "I don't like it when you, or it pissed me off then you did this, or that shade of lipstick is hideous on you, or I know we have plans, but I'm just not feeling up to it tonight....".  I wish I were as courteous to myself as I am to others.

I am also a firm believer in treating your significant other, whether a spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, or roommate, aka those who know us THE BEST and love us anyway, better than you would treat a stranger.  I am adopting the very important philosophy that you should treat your loved one politely, lovingly and say and do the things you would to a stranger such as, "please and thank you", holding your tongue when you want to scream, asking if he or she minds if you change the channel on the television and never calling names or saying the ever popular in a relationship "f-you, or you're an a-hole!".  I mean who says that to someone they care about or respect even a little bit?!?  Really.

As for the very simple topic of this rant, I humbly offer that we don't always say what we mean, because being polite or not starting something fairly insignificant can sometimes wisely take precedent over doing exactly what we want to all of the time and/or sparing someones feelings.  In many and most cases, however, I do firmly stipulate that the truth shall indeed set you free.  NEVER lie, but don't say every little insulting thing that pops into your head.

Like my Aunt Helen says, if you don't have something nice to say, come sit by me and spill it!

I very honestly mean, have a lovely Wednesday!!

~ Kate

Time Flys

Where does the time go?  Is it me or does EVERYONE say that these days?  Whether you are religious or not, one must ponder, does God or the universe have us on fast-forward?  Has he/she/it thrown up their hands in disgust saying "..... forget it.  Let's get on with this already..."?

I remember dying to be eight years old so I could play the recorder like my sister Andi in 4th grade.  I couldn't wait.  I thought eight would be the greatest year and it felt like an eternity to reach it.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  Time ticking by so slowly.  Remember marking red X's on a calendar?  Waiting to check each day off.  What did it feel like to anticipate Christmas morning?  I can remember having butterflies, actual butterflies, when trying to go to sleep while dreaming of all of those presents that would magically appear in the living room by 5 or 6 AM.  These days the only thing even resembling that feeling is when I've had far too much coffee and have to catch a plane somewhere I actually want to go.  That's more anxiety than excitement though.

The other regrettable part of my existence lately is wishing each week for Friday, then clinging helplessly to Saturday, tick- tock, tick- tock....Sunday, oh no, overslept, it's already 10:30AM! This means I only have eight and a half hours until I should go to bed because I get up at 5:45AM on Monday.  I always end up going to bed after midnight just so that I can squeeze out a couple extra hours of my, oh so precious, weekend.  It's not that I dread work, I just dread having to do the same thing day after day and having to be somewhere, anywhere I don't want to be or being somewhere I didn't just randomly end up at.  I like having things to do, who doesn't?, but it's the having to do that's the bugger.  At any rate, I wish for Fridays all week, every week, and somehow end up 20 years later and haven't accomplished a thing or done much other than wait for Fridays.  Ugh.  I want the week to pass by quickly, but, at the same time, for time to stand still.  Quite the conundrum.

I try and will continue to try adopting the Buddhist philosophy of living in the moment.  I will try to enjoy each moment for whatever good I can find in it,  whatever fun I can derive from it.  I will not compare my life to others'.  I will appreciate waking up alive each morning.  I will appreciate little things like getting the giggles when I lie on my back, looking at the ocean, Rocco running and barking in his sleep, fresh sheets, SLEEP, coffee when I'm not drinking it to stay awake, and writing ;)

Ok World, slow down, please??

I hope you are enjoying your moment as we speak.

~ Kate

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

We had a great 2010, but looking forward to an even better 2011.

Hope yours is wonderful too!!

~ Kate