Snail Tales

I guess when you're a creature of small stature, you do whatever it takes to make yourself bigger in the world.

We've had a lot of rain here in Northern California in the last two weeks. And don't get me wrong - it's a good thing! I want to be able to shower and do laundry with some regularity during the summer. But I digress...

With the rain comes the snails. Yes, my front porch has become a refuge for snails of every size during the rain storms. They're just your normal, every day average garden snails and they seem to like to hang out on my front door mat. While I do think they're gross, especially the slimy trail they leave behind, I figure they've got a job to do in the garden so I'm not gonna mess with them. And besides, I don't particularly like getting stuck out in the rain getting wet, so let the little buggers have some shelter.

Well, my little furry friend Aero feels quite differently about our porch guests. When it's time for a romp through the yard and I open the door, he ignores them on the way out -- I guess he's got more important things on his mind, like getting over to the tree to 'water' it. But on the way back in, he stops and sniff nearly every snail in his path. Then, he'll growl or bark at it! Each and every danged snail! He doesn't mess with it in any other way, but it's like he's trying to tell them something or prove that he's the bigger creature for once in his life. It cracks me up.

I guess I should be thankful that my little watchdog guards my front porch so well.

Until Next Time,

Kel

And Lent Begins....

I was raised in a very traditional, Southern Catholic family. Went to Catholic school from Kindergarten until the Class of 1980 marched out of the church, diplomas in hand. So naturally, the tradition of 'what are you giving up for Lent?' has been well beaten into my head.

Now, these days, I'm not a practicing Catholic, much to the dismay of my Mom. When I say not practicing, I don't go to church, but I do have faith and I pray and I live my life as a good Christian should. And even though I don't practice the Catholic rituals on a regular basis, I still observe Lent. I figure it's one small step I can take in my otherwise heathenous (is that a word?) life that may get me a pass through the pearly gates.

So, this year I'm going to vow to give up 2 of my favorite things for Lent: Diet Coke and fast food. The Diet Coke part is going to be the hardest for me - I love the stuff. It's my morning shot of caffeine since I'm not much of a coffee drinker. The fast food? Well, since I've been working out so hard, I've pretty much been staying away from it, but do have my moments of weakness (like last night - that Taco Bell run with Aero just before settling in to watch "The Biggest Loser" was mighty tasty) on occasion. So that should be fairly easy to do.

I'm also going to cut out as much refined sugar as I can from my diet. I shouldn't have the stuff anyway since I'm diabetic, but I do tend to indulge myself since between my diet, exercise and medications, I've had my blood sugar pretty well under control for a while. So out with the white stuff!

Beyond the usual 'give _________ up for Lent' routine, I've decided that this year, I need to do something positive in my life, so I'm going to try to get some volunteer time in somewhere. Last year, when Christian visited me for Easter, I signed the two of us up to serve lunch at one of the big soup kitchens in San Francisco. It was a real eye-opener for both of us, and it also helped me find compassion that I didn't know was buried somewhere down deep in my heart. I need to find that feeling again.

So here we go. The next 40 days are going to be interesting.

Until Next Time,

Kel

I've Been Tagged!

Thanks to my friend (and the retreat hostess with the mostest!) Cathy for this fun challenge. It seems pretty easy: The rules are to find and post the 6th photo in the 6th album on your computer. Hmmmm....

This was from my trip to Disneyworld in December of 2007. It's a Great Horned Owl outside the "Flights of Wonder" show at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park. The trainer does a pre-show talk about the owl, who just calmly sits there and observes the crowd.

From my vantage point, the owl looks like he's sitting on top of some guy's head!

Thanks again, Cathy! Maybe I'll add another entry when I get home tonight using my home computer's files (yeah, this one was on my work computer - shame on me!)

Until Next Time,

Kel

Did I Have to Graduate?

Yesterday I met with Denise, my much loved Personal Trainer. We normally meet every Friday, but both had scheduling conflicts, so we rescheduled for mid-afternoon on President's Day. That was kind of fun for me - working out in the middle of the day instead of at the end of the day.

Starting with squats, Denise proudly announced "Today, you've graduated." Huh? What? Graduated? What da' heck.... She handed me 20 pound weights. Oh, I get it. Graduating means more weight. Oh, goody.

And it wasn't just the squats that I 'graduated' to more weight. It was bent over rows - to 20 pounds AND standing, instead of sitting. And 25 pounds on the chest press machine. And 150 pounds on the leg press machine. And 10 pounds on the hammer to press. And 50 calf raises instead of 25. And a new position for wall push-ups. And crunches in a new position.

I can hardly move today. I think my triceps took the worst of it - it hurts to type. Heck, it hurts to even think!

I suppose I should be excited that Denise thinks I've progressed enough to make my workout harder. Maybe when the pain subsides I'll feel excited. But for now, it hurts too much to be excited.

Can I un-graduate this Friday?

Until next time,

Kel

An Award?! Me?! Wow!

I really need to stay current with my blog reading. I follow several blogs and some weeks, I just don't have the time to visit them all daily. That'll teach me, since my friend Sherry very kindly passed on the "Friendship Award" to me via her blog a few days ago. Here's the scoop:


“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Thanks, Sherry! I'm touched that you thought of me when picking 8 bloggers to share this award with.

Now, my problem is to find eight bloggers that I could pass this on to.... I'll start with some ladies I know and follow and will come back as I think of anyone else. Sorry that I can't start with 8 - maybe I need to make some more friends!

I hereby pass on the Friendship Award to:

1) Cathy

2) Buckeye Benita

3) Cali

4) Jodi

5) Menjiness

Okay, I'm off to make some new blogging friends so that I can pass on this cool award!

Until Next Time,

Kel

Ooooooo Girl, You Work Out?

I was having a typical Thursday - nothing real exciting going on all day, looking forward to going home after the gym and vegging out in front of the tv for 3 hours with my favorite furry friend...

All week I've been fighting with my self-esteem. It's been a nasty battle, one that I've mostly been losing. I've missed working out 6 days this month and seeing that it's only the 12th today, that's not a really good start. That didn't help me battle the 'this is why you're fat' demons I've been hearing all week.

When I left the office tonight, I decided I should stop at the running gear shop and buy a new pair of shoes. I've had this pair since August and because of the stupid orthotics, I have to wear them every day, all day and the support is breaking down. Denise has recommended to me for quite some time now that I replace them, but the pain I've had in my ankle this week was the deciding factor.

So, I sheepishly schlepped in to the store, feeling totally out of place (as always) in a store that caters to the 'beautiful people' who are runners and athletes. I was met by a most charming, totally hot young man who's greeting "hi, happy Friday! I'd like to be of assistance - what can I help you with this evening?" immediately put me at ease. When I explained I wanted a pair of the same running shoes that were on my feet, he led me to the shoe section, invited me to sit so that he could take a look at my shoes and my feet and help me make sure I was getting the right shoes for the activities I participated in. He offered me something to drink while I sat that, which totally caught me off guard - this is customer service at it's finest!

Well, as we chatted a little about why I wanted these particular shoes, he dragged over the shoe salesman's stool, sat in front of me and grabbed my calf, guiding my foot to the foot rest. At that point, he exclaimed "Oooooooo girl, you work out?!" I was caught just a little off guard and was slightly speechless and perplexed by his reaction. He immediately apologized for his behavior, saying that he didn't expect my calf to be as hard and muscular as it is.

"Don't apologize" I said, "thanks for the compliment!" Hey - I've worked hard for the last 8 months and am proud of my hard, muscular calves. We both laughed and chatted some more about my workouts. I really cracked up when he flexed his bicep and said "okay, let's see how much you really work out - let me check out your bicep..." "Bicep?" I said with a smug look on my face as I flexed. "No, baby, I've got guns." He was quite impressed with my guns.

He did check and unfortunately, the shoes I need are out of stock, but he promised to get a pair from one of the other stores for me by tomorrow or Monday. He continued being quite charming and I felt very flattered by it all. Of course, this is probably the guy's m.o. and sales tactic, but hey, it got me over my self-esteem fight very quickly. In my mind, I was being hit on by a hot guy who is half my age.

I can't wait to go back and get my new shoes. All I know is Mr. Hottie Man better be there to feel up my legs and biceps again.

Until next time,

Kel

It's After 5:00...Shouldn't I Be at a Happy Hour Somewhere?

I am very thankful for my job, especially with today's economic craziness. I shouldn't complain about it, but, Connie Complainer is in the house (er, the office) today and that's just what I'm going to do. Complain about my job.

As the lone IT person in this office, I get to do all the fun stuff that involves electricity. You know, unplug a power strip from one outlet in a conference room and plug it in to the outlet on the opposite wall... Yeah, I looked like a genius in front of a room full of attorneys this morning. I also get to set up video conference equipment, laptops, projectors and conference phones for meetings. And that's why I'm still in the office, 20 minutes after quitting time.

There's a meeting that started at 3:00 that's still going strong that's using a laptop and projector. Unfortunately, I can't just leave the equipment sitting in the conference room over night. It needs to be secured before I go home. Oh, yeah, there's another meeting starting in another conference room at 6:00 that needed projection equipment that I'm waiting on. As soon as those folks show up and I get them squared away, I can run screaming from the building.

It's nice to feel needed - up to a point. And that point was 5:00, which has come and gone. I'd much rather be at a happy hour somewhere with me being needy with my two best friends: Margaret and Rita (get it? margarita?).

Until next time,

Kel (a/k/a Connie Complainer)

Organizing... Or Not!

I haven't held a scrapbooking event at my house in over a year. My customers probably hate me by now, but I have a really, really good reason: my workshop's an absolute mess!

Yes, it's hard to admit it, but I've let my workshop (a/k/a the garage - it just sounds more professional when I call it 'the workshop') go to hell in a handbasket. It has become the dumping ground for anything and everything, and it's been piling up for over a year. And when I do get out there to work on some altered items or (gasp!) get some scrapping done, I just move the crap around to open up a space big enough for me to work in.

So, three weekends ago, I decided it was time to take the bull by the horns and get that danged room in some sort of shape - if not for my customers, at least for myself because quite honestly, it's getting on my last nerve. I did take a picture before I started, which I won't post now. I'll wait until I'm done and post the before and after together. That gives me a goal to work toward.

The thing that kills me about trying to get organized is how much of a mess you make while you're trying to do it! Sheesh! I'm trying the pile method: this pile is to keep, this pile is to send to my goddaughter Adrienne (lots of crafting supplies!), this pile is to put in the recycle bin, this pile is to be shredded.... the list of piles goes on and on. Unfortunately, the piles seem to be making things worse because it's getting harder and harder to maneuver around out there. At one point, I had 'piled' myself into a corner and had to go potty...that was a fun moment in my life!

The good part of this little project is that I've actually got some old scrapping supplies that I can send to my friend Pad in Wisconsin for her neglected teens' scrapbooking class that starts in April. At least somebody will find a good use for the stuff that I've been collecting!

Hmmm. Maybe I'll just leave it messy and unorganized for another month or so. It'll be much easier!

Until Next Time,

Kel
So, wish me well as I work on this huge project.

10 Things....

My friend Sherry always posts the best challenges. A few days ago, when catching up on her blog, she participated in a "10 Things" writing challenge. Of course, I needed to play along, so here we go: The rules of the game are simple. Once assigned a letter you are to post 10 things that you love which begin with that letter.


As luck would have it, my letter is "K" - kind of appropriate, don't you think?

1) scrapbooking Kits: Lately, I've been just crazy about buying kits of paper, ribbons, rub-ons, flowers, stickers - if they're all coordinated, I need it!


2) Hershey's Kisses: Chocolate. Need I say more?

3) My tea Kettle: It's short and stout. Just like me.

4) Kittens: I love dogs. But kittens are cute and cuddly.

5) Karaoke: After knocking back a few cocktails, I've been known to get up on stage and belt out some tunes. And no, I'm not ready for American Idol.

6) Kick Boxing: Yeah, that's right. I'm bad. I'm tough. I can kick some butt.

7) Kids: Well, I don't have any of my own. And I'm not crazy about most kids. But, there are 3 very special kids in my life: Christian, Nicholas and Adrienne!

8) Kites: With springtime just around the corner, I can't wait to see the colorful kites flying around everywhere. When I was a kid, we'd always get a kite in the springtime and go out near the river or lakefront to fly our kites (cue the music "Let's Go Fly a Kite" from Mary Poppins).


9) Kel's Korner: I've always enjoyed writing, and back in the day, would get good grades in any creative writing classes I would take. This blog has given me the opportunity to get back to doing something I love on a regular basis.


10) puppy Kisses: There's nothing like a good lick from your furry best friend!


Thanks again, Sherry, for a fun challenge!

Until Next Time,

Kel