Doctor Says...

Misty is still doing well! She went in for another check-up with Veterinary Oncologist and...

1. Xrays show her lungs to be clear
2. Blood work looks good
3. No more lump/bump/mass on her tongue
4. She the best dog ever!

Okay, #4 was an editorial comment....


So we'll go back in two more months and hope for the same!

Love, Kathleen

Spoiler Alert

Really? Do we really need spoilers? Why would anyone want to do this to their car? Is it a guy thing? I don't understand it. This confuses me.

Not that you care Mr. Spoiler, but as I drove by, I made fun of you from inside the solitude of my car (sans spoiler). I even questioned the size of your... brain.

I mean who uses their car to draw attention to themselves? THAT is just plain ridiculous! :-)

Love,
Kathleen

Oprah, are you there? It's me, Kathleen...

The Oprah Winfrey Show - it is like "Sesame Street" for adults.

I haven't watched Oprah in years, but apparently she says you teach people how to treat you - If someone does something and you don't say anything...you have given them permission to do it again.

During dinner tonight, while discussing our boy problems (we moved on to the failing economy next), I got in trouble with an angry mob of girlfriends for being too permissive, too accommodating, too slow to anger and... too nice. Dang it - I hate it when I am too nice. Wait... I do?

Hold on - I thought being nice was a 'good thing'. Treat others how you want to be treated? To live in harmony don't we need to show consideration for others and be able to put the needs of others ahead of our own?

That got me to thinking... what is "too nice"?

Here is what I have decided and Oprah may or may not agree with me. If we live our lives in such a way that allows others to discount our needs, ignore our wants, and we don't receive the respect we deserve, we are being "too nice". If you’re nicer to a guy than you are to yourself OR if you’re nicer to him than he is to you, that’s "too nice".

Until we find our perfect partner, we’re going to walk down a lot of one-way streets; make a few lousy picks; and we’re going to kiss a lot of frogs. It isn't in vain. Each time we end up our proverbial rears, we stand up stronger.

SO, don't underestimate nice girls. We may look like pushovers, but we aren't. We hide a fierce inner strength and nice doesn't mean weak.

However, in the interest of full disclosure, I do think sometimes us nice girls ARE too permissive, too accommodating and too slow to anger... :) Not always, but with this particular boy, I definitely was. I get that NOW - with the clarity of hindsight :)

Oprah and the angry mob of girlfriends had a point - People choose how to treat me - I just need to be more aware of what I allow. Ah-ha!

I think the biggest (scariest) risk involved in teaching people how to treat you better is the risk that some of them might go away. Sometimes you just have to let them.


Love,
Kathleen

Raise your Glasses!

Alright already! Stop nagging me - here is my MOH speech. Although, I hope your expectations are very low - not my best moment. I got a bit emotional at the end. But she is my baby sister :-)

I am Woman, Hear Me Roar!

Helen Reddy is singing to me while I am getting ready for a date. Don't laugh. Don't judge. It is a great song!

But as I listen to this "Girl Power" song, it has made me wonder... what happened to MY roar?

Craaaaaap... I need to work on reclaiming my roar.

I better listen to the song, again... Wait, this might call for more drastic measures... I might need to listen to a little P!nk... I AM a rockstar and I got my rock moves :-)

Love,
Kathleen

My Stalker

He knows where I live. He knows what car I drive. He has followed me when I take Misty out for a walk. He is usually there waiting for me to get back from a run. He seems to always be sitting at the curb at the corner of my street....

He is 8 years-old :)

Tommy lives around the corner from me. Cute, little boy. Always waves when I drive by; says "hi" when I run by. After a time, he worked up the courage to stop me with "Excuse me, Miss. Cool car." So I stopped to chat, seemed rude not to.

A little while later, when we were talking after one of my runs, he worked up the courage to ask if he could look inside my car? I said of course! If his mom wanted to bring him down to my house, then I'd even let him sit in the car :) Five minutes later, he was dragging his poor mom up the walkway to my front door.

A few days later, his mom said he wouldn't stop talking about the car... would I mind driving him around the block? Of course! I put down the top and we drove around our little neighborhood - he was laughing the whole way. You know that laugh - that great, little kid laugh...such pure joy that makes your heart smile and your soul shine.

He brought his friends to my driveway to 'look' at my car, but he warned them not to touch because only certain people could touch... and then he proceeded to touch it in a display of his importance :)

When he sees me go out for a run, he waits for me to finish and then runs the last block with me - he thinks it is fun to beat me to my own driveway..show-off! :) (In my defense...he didn't just run 10 miles ...)

Today, Tommy told me he wants to marry me when he grows up. I asked him why? He said because I am "cool." From the mouths of babes... :)

Love,
Kathleen

Hugs not Drugs

My friends often tease me that I am always thinking and that I do the often-committed offense and "over-think" everything.

Guilty as charged...

As a result, I haven't been sleeping well recently. I know.... I just need to realize there are going to be some questions I'll never get answers to.

But no matter what I tried, I'd wake up and start "thinking"... and then I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep! And, with the exception of Gilligan Island re-runs, there is absolutely NOTHING to do at 2AM! Grrrrrr!

I went for LONG, hard runs trying to wear myself out. I tried watching movies, reading books, journaling, blogging, not even Misty wanted to go for a walk at that hour of the morning (...or is that night?) The fail-safe Tylenol PM wasn't even doing the trick. Nope... heartache won and I just couldn't sleep more than a few hours each night.

But ... I had lunch with my best friend. I haven't seen her in awhile and it was just the two of us in this tiny restaurant in San Clemente. She listened, she made me laugh, she let me cry, but most importantly ... she hugged me.

I slept that night for 8 hours...straight.


Love,
Kathleen

All Good Things Must Come To An End?

Do they? Do all good things have to come to an end? Or do things come to an end because they weren't good? Nah... sometimes things just weren't meant to be :)

He wanted to see other people. I made him choose. He just didn't choose me.

I am still confused. Maybe a bit dazed. I mean, really, how could any man NOT want me? That just defies ALL logic. (At least that is what my sister says and I've always thought her to be quite smart :)

I am not bashing, not hating, not mad, not bitter, not name calling. I am not angry, vengeful or remorseful. I am hurt. I am sad. I'll miss him. I still think he is special... he just didn't think I was special... enough :)

I do have some great memories and it was good while it lasted - at least until the end with the tears and the sleepless nights :) That part kinda' sucked....

BUT what I decided earlier today... today is the day I get my head out of my arse and stop feeling sorry for myself :)


Love,
Kathleen

Pretty Witch

Not everyone likes me. What!??! A lot of people do like me but there are some that don't. I think if I had to tally it up - more people like me than don't like me. I am pretty sure the "likes" outweigh the "dislikes," so all in all, I can be okay with that.

Recently, my sister has been teasing me about running into people I don't WANT to run into...everywhere! People I would really prefer not to see/talk to have been at a breakfast cafe, at the hair salon, at the gym and now... at the Chevron station around the corner from my house.

I pulled in to the gas station to put in $5000 worth of gas this morning. Okay, it was more like $50.... but I am prone to exaggeration :)

Anyway, I was fighting tears and I really HATE for people to see me cry. It had just been a long night, I was tired, my "heart" hurt, I couldn't get my hair to stay up, my run hadn't gone well, I felt fat, I was tired, kids are starving in Africa AND the song on the radio was Garth's "The Dance" - the world was trying to make me cry! Seriously!

So this "person" at the Chevron station said hello to me AND as he walked away he muttered under his breath AND I CLEARLY heard him say... "So the Pretty Witch does have a heart..."

Seriously? Wow. Really? Kick me while I am obviously down? NOW I feel perfectly justified for sidestepping his advances a few years ago...

But there is always a silver-lining...he called me "pretty" :)

Love,
Kathleen

Here Comes the Bride...

Nope, not me :) My little sister married Joseph on June 13th. Over a year of planning and the big day finally arrived. Now, in hindsight, it is hard to believe that the big day has already come and gone!

But I think all things considered, it was a great celebration of the love two people have for each other. The slideshow below is a gathering of pictures from a whole bunch of different people - my sister is the star of most of them, but I managed to sneak into one or two :)

Rumor has it that there is video out there of me making my MOH speech. IF, after screening rumored video, I deem it appropriate (meaning not embarassing to me in any way) then I'll post a link to that as well. :)



Love,
Kathleen