Reading

Last night I finished reading Barry Black's autobiography From the Hood to the Hill. For those who are unaware, Mr. Black, a graduate of Oakwood College, is the current chaplain of the US Senate. I once heard him speak at AUC. It was a good book, but not what I was expecting. I thought I would be getting a story. Instead the book used autobiographical sketches to demonstrate leadership lessons learned. I do think that this is a good book for anyone who has gone through the Adventist education system and for those to aspire to do more with their careers. Tonight I start on Kathleen Norris' "Amazing Grace." unbelievably, this was the only book that I got for Christmas (technically "From the Hood to the Hill" doesn't count because although it was on my wish list, I borrowed it from Poppy when I was up for Gramps' service. What books did you get or give this year?

Ducks, Christmas, Ethiopia

Another Christmas has come and gone. I experienced my first Memphis Christmas this week. (Last year was my first Tennessee Christmas in Nashville.) My parents flew in last Friday and flew out this morning for The Holidays Part II – the Maryland Edition. I think that they had a good time and can actually say that they had a vacation. We went to church, Zoo Lights, The Peabody Hotel for Christmas brunch, the Zoo again in the daylight, and of course Graceland. I made sure that they got to sleep in this week while I was at work (I worked mornings only Tues & Wed) before heading out to do the tourist-y stuff. We even lounged around all day Sunday. It was a good visit for everyone. O’Malley warmed up to Mom and Dad right away. Dad was very happy to have the privilege of playing with his grand-cat, but slight jealous of the fact that O’Malley would only sit on her momma’s lap. Speaking of my selective lap-cat, I am very excited to have my queen bed back (twin sized pull-out, bed hogging cat, and me: you do the math) and spend some one-on-one time with my Malley-Girl tonight. PS. If you ever find yourself in Collierville you must check out the Blue Nile Ethiopian restaurant. I highly recommend the cabbage and potato dishes. I never knew an Irish girl could eat so well in Ethiopia.

Closest Thing to a Christmas photo card

Happy Holidays from me and O'Malley

Home Again

It has been a busy several days. Thursday I worked until 2:30 AM trying to hit a deadline that no one else bothered to. Unfortunately I was only able to hit it on 2 of the 3 new stations. I finished up this afternoon and am very happy to get that off of my plate. Friday evening was spent in airplanes and airports. I had quite a breakdown Friday night in Atlanta when AirTran caused me to miss my connection--the last flight they had going to Boston--and didn't seem to care. I think I actually scared some other fliers. The airline in question wouldn't put me up for the night and refused to check other airlines for flights to Boston. They gave me lots of "We don't do that"s and "We can't do anything for you"s. I ended up buying a first class ticket on Delta as it was all that was available. At this point I feel the need to offer so advice: Do not buy a last minute first class flight if at all possible. If there is any way that you might not make a connection on a discount airline, just buck up and buy the more expensive ticket to begin with. Peace of mind is invaluable. First class is expensive! The rest of the weekend was good. I was able to spend Saturday morning with friends and got some awesome presents. The memorial service was very upbeat and full of memories and family. Thankfully my flights back on Monday were uneventful and I once again remember why I don't like driving into Boston on the Expressway South (93) during rush hour.

Bye Gramps

Franklin Edward Hodson, Sr born January 7, 1922. Died December 11, 2006. You'll be missed Gramps. UPDATE: below is the obit that my uncle David wrote up. Franklin E. Hodson, age 84, or Wakefield, MA, died on Monday, December 11, 2006, at the Bear Hill Nursing Center in Stoneham, MA. Frank was born in Medford, MA on January 8, 1922, to John and Jane (Gallagher) Hodson. A long-time resident of Stoneham, he graduated from Stoneham High School in 1941. He enlisted in the United States Navy in September, 1942 and served in the Pacific Theater until 1946 as a ship’s cook, Second Class. He was employed as a shipper for H.P. Hood and Sons from 1941 until 1984, retiring at age 62. He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Eleanor (Ruggles) Hodson. He is also survived by a daughter and four sons: Jacqui Evans, and her husband Edward; Franklin Hodson, Jr., and his wife Winnie; John Hodson, and his wife Maureen; Randall Hodson, and his wife Ann; and David Hodson, and his wife Jennifer. He leaves behind ten grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. Frank also leaves a sister, Ruby Fraser, and her husband John, of Reading, MA. He was preceded in death by another sister, Ruth Wellwood, and two brothers, John and Donald. He was a member of the Stoneham Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church. A Freemason for more than fifty years, Frank belonged to the King Cyrus Lodge in Reading, MA. At one time, he raised homing and fantail pigeons, as well as tumblers. Frank was a devoted gardener as well, spending hours in caring for his beloved plants. He enjoyed spending time with his family. Donations may be made in memory of Frank to Adventist Development & Relief Agency International at http://www.adra.org or to a charity of your choice. ******* Frank’s family would like to express their appreciation for the love and sympathy extended to them during this time of bereavement.

New Old Phone

I had a great time with friends in AR this weekend. I went to my first Madrigal Feast at the local Baptist church Saturday night. The choir did a great job. I really loved their version of "Carol of the Bells". I always come home relaxed after visiting R&R (no pun intended). Funny thing happened on the way home though. As I was loading my car I dropped my purse. I picked it up and put it in the car, no worries. Then just past the town line I reached in to get my phone to call my mom, but I couldn't find it. I turned around and headed back. Sure enough, it was sitting in the driveway. I picked it up and realized that I had actually ran over my phone with my car. The phone is dead. It wouldn't turn on and it bends at a strange angle. Thankfully, I still had my old phone at my house and was able to re-active that one. No harm, no foul. I've just lost a couple of numbers and pictures.

Morning Moonlight

This has been a very long day. I got to work just before 6:15 this morning. Did you know that the moon is still out at that hour? It just isn’t right. I’m fairly certain that I freaked out quite a few of the office early birds. I am updating our advertiser database at work and was hoping to spend a good 10 hours on it Sunday. But two trips into the office later, the network was down. This meant that I got nothing done (except laundry and the dishes); O’Malley didn’t mind. :) So, in order to make up some lost time, I set my alarm for 4:30 and after hitting snooze for an hour, I finally made it to work. Those first 3 hours were the most productive out of the whole day. I put a few new CDs onto my work iTunes and have been jamming out to the Party Shuffle for the last 14+ hours. The new Blue October song, “Into the Ocean” is quite hypnotic. I think I may be in love. I still have a few more hours of work on the database, but should be finished by 10 tomorrow. (If I’m gonna be at work before the sun again, I need to be in bed by 9. I’m a wild one, I know.) I spend several hours today knocking out the revenue entries for all six stations. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the new stations and the old stations’ new billing system, but it was all good. If only the corporate software would stop hiccupping on me. This has got to be the 7th or 8th month of non-refreshing hiccups on the day revenue is due. Oh well. At least I was able to get it done. I’m off to work a little bit longer on Wide Orbit before heading home.

Home Again

I experienced the most wonderful thing on Sunday. I arrived at Logan airport at 2pm for my supposed 4pm flight. Little did I expect to have no line at the check-in kiosk. Even more amazing--NO LINE at security! That's right. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, there was no line for security at terminal C at Boston's Logan airport. Good thing too, as my 4pm flight was actually at 3:30. Overall Thanksgiving was good. I spend most of the morning Thursday cooking. My mom ended up being sick all weekend so I was glad to be able to help out. Even though I had to have the obligatory "It's ok to be over 20 and single and not internet date due to the constant matching with uber-religious guys who would freak at my eight tattoos" discussion with Nanny, being able to hang out the Dean and Lukie made it worth while. I hope that they miss Aunt Kristy as much as I miss them.

Travels

Tonight I start my long holiday weekend. I fly to Boston on Wednesday morning and spend most of the day either in a plane or in Chicago's O'Hare airport. Lucky me! I'm actually looking forward to some forced down time. I purchased a new book, "The Town That Forgot to Breathe" and that will be my company. I've already lined up my regular pet sitter, a ride to and from the airport, and have my boarding passes printed out. Now all I need to do is pack. I'm hoping to be able to pack lite and not check anything. I even went out and bought quart size baggies. Last year my luggage never left my layover for my return flight, which is something I want to avoid. Work has been very yucky. I find myself constantly picking up the pieces when decisions that affect my department--by which I mean that I have to do the majority of the leg work--are made but I'm left out of the loop. I've also had it up to here (envision hand over my head) with people lack of original thought or lack of thought period. I don't understand how some adults actually function in daily life. All I know is that the timing of Thanksgiving vacation is perfect. I'm starting to understand why people go on rampages at work or become disgruntled postage workers. :) I would like to wish everyone safe and uneventful travels this week.

Outlet

I think that I need to find some kind of an outlet for my new stress load. I find myself easily irritated and impatient with others. I am also having issues with slowing down my brain at night. Last night I was wide awake at 3:20 AM thinking about a payroll issue. I know that drinking and smoking are not options for obvious reasons. While I’m always up for a new tattoo, ink is not a long term solution. As I’ve mentioned before exercise is not on the top of my list either. Watching TV and movies is fun, but it just postpones thinking and does nothing really for distressing. Massages are always welcome but are expensive. What do you do to decompress?

Best Weekend Ever

I had the best weekend ever in Arkansas. It was full of lounging on the sofa, college football, shopping, sleeping, and snuggling with A--the most precious blond blue-eyed two-year old girl. Something about having her curled up in my lap brought out some mommy in me. I think that I would love to have a little girl of my own some day. I had such a good time that I've already planned on heading back in early December for their church's Madrigal Feast. During my drive out on Friday, I hit the worst rain storm that I've ever been in. Thankfully a semi was heading my way and led me through the 20 miles of blinding rain on the dark AR highway. Without the truck to follow, I would've had to pull over and sit out the storm. I am quite certain that God sent the truck to be my guide as it appeared with the first several rain drops. So, I've been playing around with some templates and think I've finally found one which suits me. If only it was a scratch-n-sniff template:)

Where Do the Days Go?

I can hardly believe that it is Thursday already. I have been up early or out late all week. I did my civic duty on Tuesday morning and had dinner with my boss and a visiting VP last night at Amerigo's. Oh how I love the garlic and leek mashed potatoes. Tonight I'm going to see a showing of the new Will Ferrell movie, Stranger than Fiction. It will be nice to just de-stress. The only hiccup is that I will have to do a quick load of laundry when I get home. I'm finally making good on the invite to visit my friends in Little Rock this weekend. I'll be leaving after work Friday and plan on just hanging out with no real plans for the entire time. I am very much looking forward to the drive and the fact that I cannot be anywhere near the office this weekend. I've spent a good part of today (and most of tomorrow will be the same) filing. I hate paper and have a bad habit of not putting it in it's proper place until I am overwhelmed by the stacks. Why the sudden change of heart? Easy. We are up for our bi-yearly audit. Sometime in November PWC will be here to check out our IT configurations and the Public File. Then next month they will find time to come back to do the financial and SOX audit before Christmas while we are in the middle of yet another traffic conversion and have most of the managers away for training and meetings at corporate. Oh happy day!

November Rain

Today's rain gives off the appearance of perpetual dusk. I am very glad that I don't have to be out driving in this mess today as I may be coming down with a cold. Sneezing and driving don't mix. Last night I did something that I've never done before. I wrote a letter to the editor of my church's publication, the Adventist Review. I tend to be a rather easy going person and have never before felt the need to voice my objections or opinions in such a potentially public way. But I just could not let this go. I read an article on Friday night which showcased particular entries from a young woman's blog. The overwhelming theme of these entries was the author's lack of a husband. The impression that there was a hole in her life and that she may never have "the most wonderful privilege to be awarded to a woman" disturbed me greatly. You can have a complete life as a single person. You don't have to be married to have an adopted or biological child. This topic is very important to me. Currently, I am the only unmarried member of my family over the age of 18 with the exception of my 19 year old college freshman cousin. I have had church members offer to pray for me because I am unwed. It is important to me that I went to college for an education and not Wife-Making 101. Don't get me wrong, there are times that I wish I had a help-mate in my life. I would love to wake up to a family each day. But that does not mean that the lack of one should overwhelm my life. The more I thought about the article, the more worked up I became. I went to the young woman's blog so that I could see for myself if it was actually a tribute to self pity. It was not. While she did have several entries about her lack of a husband, she also spent time dealing with work, friends and her relationship with God. I found her to be misrepresented in the Review article. I'm sure I would have been harsher in my letter if the blog was a complete pity party and focused on the fact that a woman needs a husband to be complete or of value. I ended up writing the following: Although I am pleased that you are open to new writing mediums such as blogging, I am disappointed in your selections from An Empty Shell in your October 19, 2006 issue. The entries that you chose to highlight focused on this young woman's desire for a husband and family, or in her own words "the most wonderful privilege to be awarded to a woman". As a single woman in her late twenties who has worked hard to successfully establish her career, I find distasteful the idea that a woman without a husband or children cannot be a complete person. In my frustration, I went to the source of your article and was relieved to find that the bogger has been misrepresented. Your selections gave the impression that her sole preoccupation in life is to be a wife. Thankfully her blog showed a much more dynamic person dealing with the pressures of work, friends and maintaining a relationship with God in today's complicated society. In the future, please take into consideration the entire blog and not a lone theme which may be considered antiquated to today's young adults. That is the end of my soap box rant for today. Don't forget to vote tomorrow.

The Longest Week Ever

I've been very remiss in posting this week. Unfortunately that is do in part to the fact that I've had to go into work for each of the last 12 days. I also have become rather short tempered this week. At one point yesterday I found it necessary to go to Borders for coffee and a 30 minute book buying session. It was either that or become the cause of workplace violence. :)Thankfully, I will be able to spend some quality time with O'Malley this weekend catching up on the 20+ shows in my DVR. Starting on the first of November, my work load doubled. We are officially running 6 radio stations in Memphis. This is a good thing. I've rather excited about our new cluster and all of the opportunities it will provide. Once I can find the time to recoup from the format flip, traffic system conversion, and month end, then I can figure out the structure of my two building department. I can honestly say that I am excited that Sabbath is here. I can use the time for reflection and just quietness. I'm reading some Psalms in my daily devotions (when I can remember to do them) and they are uplifting. I also am looking forward to EverPraise tomorrow night. I went last week for the first time in goodness knows how long. I forgot how much I enjoy praise services. Well, I'm off to study up confessing to God so that I can teach the youth Sabbath School tomorrow.

Mondays Schmondays

I'll start off with some good news. Last Friday's weigh in resulted in another 3 lbs lost and 2% in BMI reduction. All of that without any much needed exercise. Today I am cranky. I had to be in the office on Saturday night and the majority of Sunday. I had planned on doing laundry and playing around with the layout in the living room but it wasn't meant to be. I'm bordering on overwhelmed, too. I have a lot to accomplish this week and not a lot of direction. So, to make myself feel productive I'm organizing the monthly workpapers and cleaning up my office. The mounds of paper to be filed are sure to be contributing to my mood. I tried to uplift my spirits with some Taco Bell for lunch, but it didn't really hit the spot. I'm hoping to sneak out of work early today so that I can pick up the package that's been waiting for the last week at the Rental Office and start on that whole exercise thing.

Happy Sabbath

The last couple of days have been all kinds of hectic at work and I was so happy to have Sabbath this week. We are in the middle of three major changes at work that all must be finished in the next couple of days. As a result of a lack of attention to detail, I got called in today around 5:30 pm to help out. Overall today has been a good day. I was up at 8 and took my time getting ready. I skipped out on Sabbath School because I visited First Church and had no other obligations. I was able to enjoy a nice breakfast and even got in a daily Bible reading with my HMS Richards reading the Bible chronologically in a year book. (I got the book for Christmas two years ago, but am very bad about actually using it daily. I finished 2 Samuel this morning.) I took the back way to church and was able to enjoy the changing foliage along the way. Some of these back roads give off a small town Vermont vibe. I got to church just as the praise team was filling time between services. My reason for visiting First Church this week was to see a friend play the piano for special music and I was not disappointed. I have not been to First Church since my mom came to visit in September 2005. The few times I visited I became overwhelmed by a sense of coldness and loneliness. I am probably one of the least outgoing and most shy people in a new situation so I am sure that contributed to my lack of welcome at First Church. I actually ran into a couple from my church this week and felt pretty welcome. I ended up sitting in a full row of fellow young adults who invited me to take part in their monthly potluck. I couldn't bring myself to make that step just yet, but maybe if I visit First Church on weeks that I don't have to do announcements at Raleigh I will feel more comfortable and accept the invitation next time.

'Tis the Season

As I sit at my desk and look out the office window at the orange leafed tree across the way I can't help but think of how much I love the fall. The burning heat of summer is gone. Sweaters are just begging to be worn. The biting cold of Winter is still several weeks away, and snow is never in the forecast. Last night I curled up on the new couch with O'Malley and her blanket. I was tempted to start up the gas fireplace but, remembering last years gas bills, decided to wait a little longer. I finished up my popsicle and started in on the hot tea wishing to fall asleep in that perfect little comfort zone. While the Memphis fall can in no way compare to the beauty of New England's, it's still a welcome occurrence.

My Pretty

So here is my pretty new queen sized bed sitting next to my non-matching childhood dresser. Please don't mind the box spring as the bed skirt is in the dryer. I would give anything to be tucked in and asleep right now. I was up until 12:30 last night cleaning and organizing for the delivery guys and awake by 6:45 because the delivery window was 7a-10a. They came at 9. On the plus side, the only non-organized spaces in my apartment are the dining room and my closet--which I promise isn't really that bad. My new matching dresser is 5' long and about 2" too long for it's current location next to the closet. I'll be rethinking the layout of my bedroom over the next couple of days. Once that is set then I can put my focus on the living room.

All in a Sunday's Work

I spent the majority of yesterday not doing much of anything. I waited until after 6 PM before I started working on the living room. I had to rearrange the whole room and try to make space for the furniture that is coming tomorrow morning. I didn't even touch my bedroom, so that is where I'll be working tonight. Once I finished moving things around I sat down to catch my breath and turned on TLC's new show "The Monastery." The premise of the show is to put some former addicts and for the most part faithless men in a St. Benedict monastery for 40 days and see what happens. This intrigued me because I read and enjoyed Kathleen Norris' "The Cloister Walk" in college. Since reading that book, I've wondered how I would change if I didn't have life's daily distractions and was put in an uber-religious and stripped down environment such as a cloister. Would I become a better Christian? Would I finally be able to have the type of relationship with God that I know I need? Would I be able to actively live a faithful life? Currently I have faith, but it is the same faith that I have that my parents care for me. For me, God and Jesus's life and sacrifice are a given. I just need to constantly work on personalizing that relationship. Considering the fact that I am a Seventh-day Adventist and there are many doctrinal differences in my beliefs than those of Catholics, I wonder how life in a cloister or monastery would work for me. The 3:30 AM wake up calls would be a huge obstacle. I was blown away by the response of a monk on the show when asked by one of the visiting men about Mary's perpetual virginhood. The visitor couldn't see how a married woman would remain a virgin. The monk's response was that to ask such a question was blasphemy. I don't see how asking about the church's doctrines to gain a better understanding of the teaching and those who follow it are a bad thing. Aren't we supposed to study scripture and ask questions? I also don't understand the idea of putting Mary on the same level as God. She was a human that was used by God to bring about the birth of Jesus. That does not make her an immortal or someone to be worshipped and prayed to. It does not put her on the same level as our Creator and Savior. How can you blaspheme someone who is not God?

Going Good

Today was the official scale day. Although I am currently in 4th place, I managed to lose 1.5 pounds and reduce my BMI by 1.2%. This is pretty good if you ask me. I did not exercise at all this week and even splurged on some cheese fritters (if you've had them, then you know that I had no real choice in the matter). Adding flavored water to my diet and staying away from the candy/snack office has helped. If I can be really good about working out next week, I may be able to move up a spot. I refuse to starve myself. I joke that I have the binge part down, but I never was on board with the whole purging part. My real goal is to have a lifestyle change and add exercise as a habit. I just want to be healthy and toned. On a side note, please know that I do not consider myself to be obese, or even overweight. I'm just flabby and not in shape. I want to make sure that I take care of myself and remind my muscles what they are there for. Adding exercise to my daily life is all I really need to do in order to have the body I want. In a perfect world, I would have better time management skills and a trainer to keep my butt in gear :)

Grownup Shopping

I did it. Last night I drove to Value City Furniture and bought a sofa, loveseat, mission style bed and mirrored dresser. It has been almost 4 years since I added real furniture to my home. The last purchases, a beautiful red chair-and-a-half sleeper, matching ottoman, and a bobinizer (the best thing ever invented, check it out at mybobs.com) were part of my attempt to distance myself from college living. Now that I am roommate-less, I have a lot of catching up to do. I have been roommate-less for about 18 months now, but have not had a need for a furniture upgrade. When E & J come to visit I give them my bed and I take the twin sleeper. But they only stay for a night or two. This Christmas my parents are coming. If you've ever seen daddy you know there is no way all 3 of us can sit on the big red chair to watch some TV! Assuming that I don't have the same delivery problems that I had with my movers--3 weeks of promised delivery when my stuff wasn't even on the truck!--I get my grownup furniture on Tuesday. The only problem is that I now have to spend Saturday night and Sunday doing some much needed cleaning in my apartment. There is very little out there that I dislike more than housework.

Water

So far today I am over halfway to my water consumption goal. The trick is adding flavored powder to the water. It kinda makes me a little thirsty and I drink even more. The drawback is that I now have to pee every hour or so. When you only drink 1-2 cups of fluid a day, you only pee once or twice a day :) I'm going to go furniture shopping tonight--and yes this is an excuse to not exercise. I found a bedroom set and a living room set that I like. I only have a big red chair and dorm bookcases in my living room now. Since my parents are visiting for Christmas I figured that I should have a place for them to sit. I'm committed to getting grownup furniture and am going to try to not piecemeal anymore. This is why I'm going for the sets. Once they are delivered and set up, I'll post a photo. Also, with proper furniture maybe I'll be a better housekeeper. Then again, like my mom said, "You are like me -you don't clean anything daily except your body." Nice to know I'm in good company.

Rain, Rain Go Away

It has been raining all day. Thankfully I was able to get a friend to pick up my dry cleaning so I can stay nice and dry; at least until I have to leave to go home. So, I did absolutely nothing productive this weekend. No working out, no cooking, no cleaning, no shopping. I did come up with a plan for the Weigh Off. First of all, I need to go back to drinking 8 glasses of water a day (4 1 pint bottles) and only allow myself 1 cup of coffee a day. I will start packing a lunch, hopefully homemade, and make sure I eat breakfast. I'm stocking my office with snacks: nuts, yogurt and the like for those mid-day cravings. I read somewhere that you should eat 5-6 small meals instead of 3 big meals. I know that the food part won't be too hard. As it is I eat fairly well and practice portion control. The hard part: exercise! Since it is getting darker earlier, I'll probably forgo walking outside. It is time to go back to my BeachBody DVDs. Tonight I'm going to do the practice one from Slim In 6. Depending on how I do with that, I'll either get back into that routine or switch it up with the Power Half-Hours. We'll see. Today I've done good food-wise, but have only drank 16 oz of water. I'm off to go chug some more!

Motivation

I think I may have found my motivation for working out: a Office Weigh Off. That's right, nothing motivates like money. There are five of us who put $50 in a kitty. The one who loses the highest percentage BMI by Nov 17 gets 75%, the one who loses the most pounds by the 17th gets the other 25%. Keep in mind that it is me against 4 guys. The weigh in today was pretty awful; NEVER put your scale on carpet. NEVER. It adds almost 10 lbs. We will have weigh-ins on Friday mornings and then someone will update the spreadsheet. That's right, excel will keep us on track. While I refuse to record the most recent scale reading (bad carpet, bad), my BMI is 25.7. I will update the weekly pounds lost and my BMI on Fridays. Keep your fingers crossed: Momma loves new shoes!

Happy Endings

Last night I finished Amy Tan's book Saving Fish From Drowning. The final chapter wrapped up all of the loose ends and provided a happy ending for most, if not all, of the 11+ main characters. For some reason this does not sit well with me. I know that it is a novel and people, including me, appreciate the escapism provided by novels. I took my job as a reader seriously and was able to suspend my disbelief throughout--the narrator is a dead socialite. But this happy ending stuff... Maybe I've just read too many happy ending books latelysuch as The Devil Wears Prada and Deception Point. When I finish reading a happy ending I am reminded that the guy rarely gets the girl, people don't always go into remission, people aren't innocent, and more people are walking around depressed and forgotten than are truly happy. Happy endings reinforce that my own happy ending is lacking. And yes, that makes me bitter more often than not. I realize that hoping for a happy ending is not a bad thing. But I also don't want to be so caught up in "what ifs" and hopes that I forget to live what little life I am given. For mine own happy ending, I am content at present to forgo the whole package of family, 2.5 kids, and dream house (with housekeeper) and consider a happy ending one where I wake up each morning to the special coo-purr of O'Malley and know that I can pay my bills and keep a roof over my head.

Creative?

I am a Gemini, the ultimate split personality. With this in mind, it may help to explain why an Accounting major chose an English minor. If I had more time or effort to expend, I may have done a double major. Instead, I decided to finish college in 4 years and settle for a minor in English and didn't have to do a thesis! The topic would've probably been myth related if I did do one. I do consider myself a decent writer. However, I never had the ambition to write a novel. I give kudos to those of my friends who are seriously taking the plunge. I don't think I'm creative enough to write much more than a semi-autobiographical short-short story. Imagination is not one of my strong points; too much logic and left brain thought (I am a controller after all). I am much happier in the realm of essays and poetry. I understand that I probably consider myself a better poet than I actually am. That doesn't mean I shouldn't keep at it and allow you the misfortune of reading it :) It has been about 18 months since I've written anything of substance. I always bring a journal with me on trips, but never write. I recently found a binder of half finished poems that I am going to try to finish. When I see a poem, or anything else for that matter, that one of my friends has written I feel a pang of guilt for not keeping up with writing. So with that in mind here is the last poem I wrote. (Yes it has been on myspace for awhile.) It was April 2005 and I was at a women's retreat with my mom in NH. If I am in a sharing mood, I'll post more as they come to fruition. Orange-black tongues lick the air drinking in the hard coldness, a soft contented warmth in its wake. Gentle crackling breaks the silence speaking to those who do not hear. Comfort seeps in, wrapping all in cloaks of sleep. Dreaming of battles lost and won and lost again. -klh 4/2005

Sick Day

For the past month or so I have been experiencing killer headaches. They come on like clockwork on Sunday afternoons. I was never one who had migraine, although my brother was plagued by them as a kid. During high school tylenol resistant tension headaches ruled my off hours. I'm normally able to put a headache out of my mind until I have some down time. Apparently, the days of tension headaches are back. The fact that I usually spend my Sundays locked in my house catching up on the week's TV probably doesn't help. But this weekend's headache stuck around and I stayed home yesterday. I slept in until 1 PM and just kinda vegged out for the rest of the day. I was back in bed at 9 last night. Even O'Malley took a sick day and spent the whole day in bed or on my lap. Because I know my tendency for tension headaches I need to come up with an idea to curb them. I'm thinking this would mean that I need to get off my Big Red Chair and start walking. I'm sure the fresh air will do wonders, not to mention the fact that I know I am in need of some serious exercise. My main problem is motivation. I did good when I had the goal of being in a wedding. Now I am goal-less. I don't have a certain anyone to impress and don't even have that on my radar at the moment (that is another post for another day). Maybe ending these tension headaches will be a motivation. Only time will tell.

O'Malley is the best birthday present I ever got from my brother. I wasn't even in the market for a cat, but I couldn't live without her now.

Virgin Post

So yes, I'm a virgin blogger. I have friends who blog regularly and I read blogs daily. This is me putting my toe in the water. If anyone does read this, comments and suggestions are welcome. I hope the dots are too annoying. I have limited web skills and don't see myself creating a template anytime soon. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll have my first picture be that of my O'Malley Girl.