25 Random Things about Kat

Some of my Facebook friends have tagged me to do a "25 Random Things" list but unfortunately, Facebook will not let me onto their site from my computer. I can update my status and send notes from my Blackberry, but the computer and my Facebook account don't seem to be on speaking terms. So... what better place to post my 25 Random Things than on my Random Thoughts blog, right?

1. My first name is just "Kathy," that's not short for anything. My parents thought if they named me Kathleen or Katherine, everyone would just call me Kathy anyway. Except for my co-workers, everyone calls me Kat. I suppose if they had named me Kat, people would just call me K.

2. I've known my friend Brenda, well, I don't remember ever not knowing my friend Brenda. Literally. More than anyone else in my life, she has taught me the meaning of the word "unconditional."

3. I was miserable every single second of high school because apparently, it's fun for cool kids to pick on smart kids. If I ever ran into any of those "cool kids" again, I'd tell them my sincerest wish is that no one ever treats their kids the way they treated me.

4. As miserable as I was for all of high school, if I could rewind and do it again, I wouldn't change a thing. Every minute of my life has shaped me into the strong, confident, successful, beautiful person I am today.

5. I met my husband on Super Bowl Sunday in 1996, only 3 months after I turned 20. I knew on our first date that he was The One. Today, I still know I was right.

6. Craig and I went to the 30 year Woodstock reunion in Rome, New York in July 1999. It was amazing, but I'd never do it again.

7. Craig and I watched the ball drop in Times Square as 1999 turned into 2000. I was dressed in an evening gown and he was in a tuxedo. We were as close to the ball as the police barricades would allow. It was amazing, but I'd never do it again.

8. In 1998, the doctors told me it was "a very aggressive form of pre-cancer." In early 1999, they told me they could probably prevent the cancer with "a procedure" but I'd never carry a pregnancy to term.

9. Five years later, I gave birth to our first perfect miracle, proving that God trumps doctors. Her sister came along 3 years later in much the same way.

10. Except for pregnancy weight, I have never weighed more than 118 pounds. Today, I don't weigh enough to give blood.

11. I hate to cook. If it was up to me, I'd eat at Taco Bell every night. This is only OK because of item #10.

12. I am bi-polar about my job. I love it or I hate it, there's no in between. It's the best job ever and the worst job ever, and sometimes that varies by the minute.

13. Growing up, I wanted to be a teacher or a lawyer.

14. Today, I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.

15. I love country music, Jim Brickman (pianist), Amy Grant, Metallica and Staind. How's that for an odd assortment?

16. My favorite place to vacation is the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York.

17. I've been on at least 400 flights and slept at least 200 nights in a hotel room. Probably more, but I lost track a long time ago. I hate to travel. No really, I do!

18. My brother calls me Waffle the Hut and my sister calls me The Biggest of Bits.

19. I took Spanish for 9 years in junior high, high school and college. I can't speak a word of it now.

20. My biggest regret in life is not going to see my grandparents one more time before moving to Florida. My grandfather, my hero, passed away 7 months later.

21. I love to make quilts. I have more fabric than most fabric stores. My friends are probably going to begin smothering me with home made quilts if I don't find something new to give them for their birthdays.

22. My favorite ice cream flavors is mint chocolate chip.

23. I would love to have one more baby... if only I could make one more parent to come with it.

24. I enjoy cleaning, yet my guiltiest pleasure is paying someone else to come clean my house every other week. It makes me feel "not good enough" sometimes but on the flip side, frees up hours of my limited weekend free time to do things much more important than cleaning a toilet or mopping the floor.

25. Though textbook definitions may disagree, I think I'm borderline OCD. I have to turn the alarm on and off 3 times before I go to bed and if anyone touches my alarm clock, I can't sleep the entire night. I have to tuck Jessica in first every night, then Rachel. If I start with Rachel, I always end up getting up in the night to go tuck in Jess again, then Rachel after her. No one said I was normal...

So, what random things are you willing to share?

(Not So) Extreme Makeover: Me Edition

In my last post, I talked about a conversation with my older daughter (she's 5) where she told me I never play with her and I'm grumpy all the time. I don't believe that's true and I have no intention of becoming a playmate instead of a parent to my kids. However, it did cause me to stop and think about some things I can do differently, improve upon, to be a better me.

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I'm not so good at keeping promises I make to myself about myself, but I'm pretty good when I know other people are watching and I'm responsible to more than just myself. So, I am officially starting a new project called (drum roll, please).... (Not so) Extreme Makeover: Me Edition. If you've got something you'd like to work on, I encourage you to join me. You can do so by posting on your own blog or website, or by leaving a comment here so we can take the challenge together and encourage each other along the way. Here's how it works...

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Start by making a list of things you want to work on. I know I have a LOT to work on, so I'm going to start with 3 things and add more over time. Every Wednesday, I'll post an update here to talk about my progress (or lack thereof). Once I achieve one goal (or feel pretty solid that I'm making good, consistent progress), I'll add something new to the list. Easy enough, right?

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So here's my starting list, in no particular order....

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1. Better skin care. I know, sounds odd. How did I get that out of my kid telling me I'm too grumpy? The night she told me that, I was looking in the mirror and realized I have some unattractive "grump lines" on my forehead. (Some may call them wrinkles, but I'm too young to use the "w" word.) But, the fact of the matter is that my skin does not look my age and I want to change that. My good friend Mel has been telling me about some new skin care products and makeup she's started using recently - with good results - so yesterday, I went out and bought some creams, lotions and makeup that might get me moving in the right direction.

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2. Drink more water. I am a caffeine-a-holic. I start my day with 2 cups of coffee, drink I bottle of Propel (flavored vitamin water) in the morning and Pepsi the rest of the day. I'm not ready to reduce my caffeine intake (yet), but I will commit to equal amounts of water and caffeinated beverages. So, I need to add in 2 bottles of water per day to my repertoire. I know that's still not enough to get me even close to the "recommended daily consumption" of water, but hey, it's more than I'm drinking now! I don't like plain water at all, so I will probably drink more Propel instead of the plain stuff but hey, it's still water!

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3. Grump less. This will be a tough one for me. It's in my nature to be task-oriented and too often, I let the to-do list dictate my mood. But, I am going to be more conscious of when I'm snapping or grumping and try to check myself when I feel an unwarranted grump coming on. Better yet, when I realize I've grumped when I shouldn't have (and I usually realize right away already when this has happened), I'm going to make myself drink a glass of plain water as "punishment." I wouldn't use negative reinforcement on my kids and I know I probably shouldn't use it on myself, but I really, really don't like to drink water, so the thought of it may be enough to make me think twice. And if nothing else, it'll get me moving in the right direction on goal #2!

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Looking forward to seeing what might be on your list and would love for you to share updates with me. If you're ready now, you can post a comment here. Or, come back on Wednesday to let me know your plan.

The Truth (?) Hurts

My 5-year-old, Rachel, has recently starting making her bed every morning as soon as she wakes up. She does a pretty good job of straightening the sheets and the comforter and arranging her princess pillows. A few nights ago as I was tucking her into bed, I told her how proud I was of her doing this and how it gave Mommy more time to play and have fun with her and her sister when she helped out with the chores around the house.

"So you have too many chores to do, Mommy?" she asked.

"Well, there's a lot we have to do to keep our house running smoothly, so every time you and Sissy help me out, it saves me some time and I've got more time to have fun with you."

She thought for a moment. "So too many chores is the reason you never play with us and you're grumpy all the time?"

Ouch.

Ouch.

And did I mention, "Ouch?"

I didn't know what to say. I wanted to hug her, kiss her, cry. I know I play with them. And I know I'm not grumpy all the time. My husband is definitely the "playful, happy" one on a more regular basis, but that I never play with them and I'm grumpy all the time? Yeesh!

I've thought about it a lot. Lost sleep over it, actually. And what it comes down to is that it doesn't matter if I think I play with them and if I think I'm not grumpy too much. It matters what they think. Their perception, not mine, is the reality, at least in this case.

Don't get me wrong, I've heard more than my share of "you never give me treats" or "you always make me go to bed before I'm ready." And I can live with those. What I can't live with is that my kid believes I never play with her and I'm grumpy all the time.

So the problem, of course, is what to do about it. 'Cause she's right. I focus on the chores, my husband focuses on the fun. I get grumpy when things go wrong or the to-do list is too long, my husband makes it a game or says, "oh well, the world won't end." Certainly no way I can go from my Type A personality to his Type B (trust me, I've spent a long time trying... ain't gonna happen!) but I know I can make changes to play more and grump less. Much as it hurt, I think it just took the smack in the face from my daughter to make me realize I needed to do these things.

I have some ideas... more to come on this blog (and yes, in less time than it's been since my last post here!). I'm planning a "Kat Mini Makeover" (for this and some other things, too) and would love you to join me on perhaps, a mini makeover of your own. If you don't need a makeover (and hooray!! for you if you don't!), I'd love you to follow behind me and kick me when I need it. Stay tuned....

SOOC Saturday -- Derek again

Derek again... only this time, my nephew and not my favorite baseball player. I took this picture this August at my daughter's 5th birthday party.

Thanks to Melody over at Slurping Life for the SOOC Saturday fun!

SOOC Saturday -- Derek

SOOC = Straight Out Of Camera

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Melody over at Slurping Life started "SOOC Saturday" and I think it sounds like fun. SOOC stands for "straight out of camera," no editing or chopping or PhotoShop-ing allowed. Which is good, because I don't really know how to do any of those things to begin with. This is right up my alley!

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I took this picture at Yankee Stadium in July. I love it for 3 reasons, in spite of the fact that it's a little bit blurry:

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1. It's Derek Jeter. Really now... what's not to love?!?

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2. I had just gotten a new camera and finally figured out the super-duper zoom feature. (Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the proper name for it.) I was sitting in the back row of the left field bleachers when I took this. (For the non-baseball people, those are the seats behind the 3rd base side of the field, up above the bull pen. My husband guesses we were about 540 feet away from home plate.)

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3. Totally by coincidence (er, I mean, due to my amazing timing and expert skill?!?), there is a ball flying in from the left of the of the picture. I couldn't do that again if I tried, but hey, sure looks cool!

Exceptional Customer Service

Today I received unexpected, exceptional customer service. How often does that happen. Um, never comes to mind!!

My daughter, who started Kindergarten this year, has a dress code. Not a "uniform" per say, but guidelines on colors and styles. Being a 5-year-old girl who adores princesses, the kid will ONLY wear dresses. Not skirts, not skorts, but dresses.

I was able to find a few navy blue jumper dresses in our local stores, but none in black or khaki (her other 2 approved colors). I decided to order some online from Old Navy.

When the jumpers arrived (2 khaki, 1 black) and she tried them on, I decided that she probably needed a bigger size. I was delighted to learn that Old Navy allows you to print a return address label for return shipping, at no cost to the customer. I completed the exchange form, printed the label, and shipped it back. I wanted the exact same 3 items, just in 1 size bigger.

Yesterday I received an email that my exchange was received and my new order had shipped. However, the sale price and discount code I had used on the original order were not applied to the new items, so I owed them $22. I made a note to call today to complain, argue, and get my account credited. I planned to return the items for a full refund if my demands were not met.

The morning got away from me and I didn't call first thing as I had planned. A little after noon, my cell phone rang. It was Mark from Old Navy Online Customer Service, who was calling to tell me there had been an error with the exchange, the wrong prices were applied to the new items, and he was in the process of correcting my account to eliminate the new $22 charge. He needed my authorization to credit the original purchase price to my account, and then debit my account for the same amount, to account for the 3 new items.

Wow. I was impressed! Not only did they catch the error, but a very nice man called to apologize for the error and let me know he was correcting it right away. I felt guilty for even considering a complaint to this company.

Sometimes it's the little things that mean so much. Recognizing a mistake. Apologizing for it. Correcting it. And doing so with a pleasant tone and a positive attitude. Old Navy, you are now my preferred online retail site. Thanks for making my day!

Can we please stop calling it a game?!?

I've done my absolute, scout's best to avoid blogging about politics, even though it's something I'm very passionate about and is usually high on the "things we talk about after the kids go to bed" list in my home. I know it's controversial, and that's not what this blog is all about... but I just can't keep my mouth shut any longer.

Can we please, please stop talking about the upcoming Presidential election as if it's a game? I'm so sick of hearing about when "we" win or when "they" lose... as if we're in the locker room at halftime. And with Senator McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, I can't count the number of times I've seen or read about how that "changes the game." Makes me want to scream!!

Politics is not a sport. It is not a game. It is not a contest. It is an election. It determines the path America will take for the next four years. It charts a course for our current standard of living, our future, our children's future and their children's future. It's not about "us" or "them" or "win" or "lose." It's about issues, it's about who's best equipped to lead. It's about our lives.

Education. Economy. Environment. Health care. National security. The war in Iraq. Social Security. Abortion. Same-sex marriage. The right to bear arms.

Regardless of your party affiliation, regardless of your top issues, take the time to learn each candidate's position on them. We all get the same choices, the same vote. Decide what issues you care most about, how those issues impact your everyday life, and learn which candidate has the closest position to yours. Then go to the polls with an informed vote to cast. Not a red vote or a blue vote, an informed vote. Whatever choice you make, though, remember... this is your life. This is your future. This is your America. But this is absolutely not a game.

(Stepping down off my soapbox, at least for now....)