My Sunny Life

Some clouds are rollin in.

I turn 28 tomorrow. Some of the wonderful things about being "grown up" is the amount of freedom I have, making my own choices, getting to see the world.

But one of the worst parts is the reality that comes with it. All of a sudden I feel like my last link to childhood is diminished. My family put our family cat to sleep today. A few years ago, we lost my beloved dog, Abby. That was one of the worst things I've faced. Since then, our other old cat, Lucy, died. And tonight, the night before my twin sister and I turn 28, my sister and mom took our cat, Chloe, to the vet to put her down.

In the meantime, my young, 50 year-old uncle, a vibrant, warm, funny, kind man--had a stroke a week and a half ago. He's married--so in love with his wife, they are famous for walking around their Oregon neighborhood hand in hand. And they have two kids who they cherish. They've almost been annoyingly perfect. Until now.

I believe he'll be okay--he's been amazing the doctors. That's just how he is. But they just had a setback when they found some blood on his brain.

There is so much heartache in life. Cancer, diseases, accidents, wars, hunger. It makes no sense and is a giant game of Russian Roulette--except we are not choosing to play--we have to.

What makes us go on?

It's these times when I understand the most why children are so wonderful and important. They keep us innocent. They help remind us to look at the world with fresh eyes, to notice the wonderous.

I think I need a game of Duck, Duck, Goose.

It's a good thing my resolution wasn't weight related.

So, my resolutions so far. I'm 2 out of 3. 1) I think I'm doing well with trying to be a better person. 2) I've also been REALLY good about saving money. Evidence: I pulled out my crock pot, made a week's worth of rice pilaf, AND actually ate it for lunch every day this week. 3) Still no habla espanol.

I will write something cooler later. But working on these resolutions is taking up a lot of time!

A Fresh Start to 2008: My Resolutions

So not that anyone reads this yet. But if I know that my New Years resolutions are floating around on the Internet, potentially visible to thousands, millions of people--well, maybe I'll really stick to them!

Here goes:

1. Overall, try to be a good person, and enjoy the moments. Don't get too stressed, because really, most things will solve themselves and be fine in the end.

2. Save Money! My boyfriend wants to buy a house in the Fall. I want to contribute. So what does that mean? Make my lunch as much as possible. Sell more paintings. Less trips to CVS. And Starbucks.

3. Learn Spanish. I have the stuff downloaded. Next step: Load 'em onto my iPod and listen away.

Yes, I am getting promoted and will also be starting Grad school in January. But there's time for all this. I swear!

2008, here I come!

Did you KNOT him?

Apparently I’m not alone in my morbid curiosity.

I occasionally go to theknot.com to do some research on friends and yes, ex-boyfriends.

What is The Knot, you ask? Well, it’s a fantastic website for those who are lucky enough to be planning a wedding. It’s also an easy way to find the wedding web pages for the couples, and their registries.  And, of course, theknot.com is a great way to do those oh-so-tempting searches to discover whether or not your exes have beaten you to that wedding ring finish line.

I introduced theknot.com to my coworker. She was fascinated. And of course, hooked. She’s a little older than me and just missed the online stalking boat. Oh but I lugged her onto this fun little ship.

After doing these satisfyingly torturous searches for several years, I’ve recently learned that there are others doing the same thing. My friend CJ will once in awhile send me a link to the wedding page of one of the guys she’s dated, or a girl that we both knew to be nuts. We feel one part jealous, another part incredulous that they found someone, and (sometimes) a final, begrudging “I guess it’s good they are happy” part.

And just the other day, I was at a work networking thingy, talking to a group of gals my age. I mentioned that I recently found out that my ex is engaged. One of my pals exclaimed, “Oh, did you Knot him?”

“Why, yes I did!” I replied.

“Yeah, I do that all the time. I can’t help it!”

It’s comforting to know that this occasional hobby of mine is normal. Or, at least common.

Bored at work? Knot ‘em.

A caught moment

Let me tell YOU about it!

Who are YOU?

My friend Aim and I went to see The Nanny Diaries awhile back. Pretty cute movie. There was a section where she went in to this interview and the woman asked her, "Who IS Annie?" And she couldn't answer it.

So I tried to think if someone asked me, "Who IS Kate?" what I would say.

I'm someone who tends to put herself in others' shoes.
I'm self-aware, almost to the point of being annoying. I always know what's behind my behavior.
Little things make me so happy. Nature, animals, and kids, especially.
I'm altruistic.
I really care about what those closest to me think about me.
I'm terrified of letting people down.
A good song really inspires me to be artistic.
I hate being unhappy and tend to shove negativity to the side.
I'm more jealous than I thought.
I hate missing out.
I have good perspective on things.
I am wise.
I feel bad when I gossip. But I still do it sometimes.
I'd drop anything for the people I love. At least I think I would.
I'm constantly trying to improve myself, to grow and learn--to be myself and not apologize for it.

---

Then I asked my running gals how they would describe themselves. We all did the same thing, when we'd say a bunch of positive things, we'd then throw in a "negative" so it wouldn't seem like we were bragging too much. See above.

But, really, I think I'm fantastic. Brag, schmag.

A fun start

My co-worker, now good friend, is a blogger. She's got me hooked. And working in the consulting field with a government client...let's just say it's important to nurture my creative side.

So, let's make sure to keep my spirit alive and see where this goes!