Cottage Life

The kids and I spent a couple of days last weekend with my aunt, uncle and cousin at a cottage that they rented in the Eastern Townships (about nintety minutes from Montreal).  It was a lovely place with all the modern amenities you could want but still only accessed by dirt road and within sight of a lake.  I was so lazy that I barely took any pictures but I did get a few.

Much fishing and crawfish hunting was done by my Drama Queen and cousin (almost 16)

Also much lounging with books and newspapers

There was even a bonfire with s'mores.....mmmmmm

There was plenty of bickering between Scout Boy and Drama Queen - sorry no pics of that; not a pretty thing - and three lost passports for my family who were flying out to Trinidad for their next posting this weekend.  Guess what they had to run around doing this week? 

It was a beautiful, if hot, weekend and certainly a nice break from the ordinary

Kat

Haiku

Between the heat/humidity we've been having and how insanely busy I've been with work, my brain has been in constant melt-down lately.  Because of the gooey state of my brain, I haven't been spending a lot of time online and (as you know) no time on my blog. 

I did discover something recently, though, that has caught my attention.  I was reading a book recently and the subject of haiku came up.  I Googled it and learned that haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that has some reference to one of the four seasons and seventeen syllables (three lines - 5, 7, 5).  When it is done in English, it tends to be far more flexible as far as content and can be humourous, sad, thoughtful, etc.

I've been doing a bit of experementing with it.  Okay, I'm a total amateur so please don't be too harsh.

First, with a season, just to be traditional:

Grass so green and long;
  Your scent surrounds my senses
like a summer dream.

I was watching a program about sharks on National Geographic channel when this one came along (I'll take inspiration whereever I can get it!!)

Oh mighty sun shark,
  with teeth so sharp and fatal;
King of his domain.

Both of the following are quite true depending on my mood.

Facebook and Twitter,
   always hungry and greedy;
suck away my time.

Facebook and Twitter,
   fascinating and social;
I give you my time.

My cousin's cat is staying with us for a while and my cat is definitely NOT appreciating this intruder.  I think that story will definitely be another blog post.

Two cats in my home
   circle each other, unsure.
Who is this stranger?

I continued that theme when I met someone online recently.

Who is this stranger?
    I know him only slightly;
will there be a spark?

We seem to have attracted some fruit flies here that have been making me bonkers! (another post?)

Fruit flies so tiny,
   buzzing around my poor head;
such a busy bug!

Okay ladies and gentlemen, if you think I'm lame try not to hurt my feelings.  If you think that this could be fun, show me what you've got.......haiku-wise, of course.  Anything else would be kind of wierd, you know.

Kat

Yes, I'm still alive!

Yeah, I know, I've been absent from the blog for a little while - okay over a month - but life has been getting in the way.  I have been incredibly busy at work and coming home exhausted.  Just the thought of spending time on the computer or even thinking has been too much for me.  I've even had to bring work home the last few weekends which so totally sucks! 

Luckily my kids are old enough to help out around here; not that they like to but.....well......too bad. 

The great news on the work-front is that we are moving in two weeks - yay!  My boss was fed up with paying other people's bills and has taken the leap to buying a space; the first floor of a condo building.  We'll have lots of storage space, ten indoor parking spots and full access to the small gym, swimming pool and hot tub.  The accounting section even has its own little kitchenette!  Woo hoo!!

Aside from work, this is, of course, the time of year where the winter activites wrap up for the year and the summer ones start to crank up.  Two weeks ago, we had the Scouting year-end BBQ/fishing night down by the lake.  The kids had a blast while their parents, exhausted from a long day at work, sat at picnic tables freezing their buns off in the cold wind off the lake.  Brrr!

This week it was the Girl Guide/Brownies/Sparks year-end dinner.  It was BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers but at least the dinner itself took place inside the community centre.  The girls sang cute songs, some awards were handed out, yada yada.  You know the story, these dinners are the same whereever you go.  Like at the Scout dinner, though, the girls had fun so it's all good.

At the same time, soccer season is starting this week and there is some big news there.  Stinky (my ex) is coaching our daughter's team!!  He substituted once for her coach last year and got the "bug".  The girls had a lot of fun with him; probably because he's not much more than a big kid himself.  This should be an interesting summer!

My one piece of sad news is that I have finally made the decision to scrap my car.  I love that old girl (13 years old) but just can't justify the investment that she needs to keep going.  This car has chauffeured my kids everywhere, carried hundreds of loads of groceries, soccer stuff, camp gear; you name it, this car has carried it.  When I took this last picture, it was early morning and the rising sun actually made her look good, hiding the rust and scratches pretty well.  Good-bye my beautiful old Buick, I'll miss you.

Kat

Snakes and Boys

I was reading a new post by Wendy at Are You Breathing (http://www.areyoubreathing.com/2011/04/carmel-valley-california.html) about a visit to a friend of theirs who is a vet with quite a collection of reptiles.  The pictures of her boys' fascination with the snakes reminded me of a story of my own.

Yes, I am occasionally inspired by other blogs that I read.  After all, aren't we all here to connect with and inspire each other?

When Scout Boy was five he went to the birthday party of one of his kindergarten classmates.  This was one of his first parties so he was still at the stage where he wanted me to stay.  There were several other parents that stayed too so that was fine.

(Now, at twelve, he would die a million deaths if I ever stayed at a party.....sigh)

This party took place at their house with video games, a movie, plenty of goodies......you know, the usual.  The unusual part is that they had this huge snake that might as well have been twenty feet long for the chills that it sent up my spine but, in reality, was probably only about two or three feet long.  (Un)Fortunately, the birthday party happened to fall on the day that the snake was due for a feeding so this became a party activity.

The mom took a frozen mouse out and warmed it in the microwave.  Thank goodness it wasn't alive or I might have puked on my shoes!  Once it was ready, she put the snake in an aquarium on the coffee table and called the boys up from the basement.  She told them what she was doing, arranged them on the floor in a circle around the table and put the mouse in the tank.

You have never seen a dozen five/six year old boys THAT quiet for THAT long....... EVER!  They kneeled in around that tank with open-mouthed, wide-eyed fascination for the entire time that it took for the snake to take in that mouse.  Most of us parents sat far back, watching from a distance.  Our stomachs are obviously far more delicate than our offsprings'.

When it was done, my beautiful boy, grinning from ear to ear, eyes shining, came running over to me and said "Mommy, Mommy, it ate the BUM last"  followed by a fit of giggles

((SHUDDER))

Kat

So much like his dad....

I am coming to the realization that Scout Boy, as he gets older, is getting to be more and more like his father.  He has always looked like him but I'm starting to hear it coming from his mouth.  I got an excellent example of this yesterday. 

Let's back up for a second here.  Last week, he asked me if I had "a USB thing" for my computer.  Silly me, I thought he was asking me if it had USB ports so, of course, I said yes. 

So, he came over yesterday from his dad's place to pick up something and asked me for the USB key for his school project.  When I told him I don't have one, he went all red in the face, the scowl appeared and tears stood out in his eyes.  That scowl was pure Stinky.  This kid was seriously channelling his father.

Him - "Mommy, you SAID that you have one!"
Me - "If you had been a little more clear in your question, I would have given you the right answer"
Him - "But I WAS clear!"  (followed by a frustrated growl deep in his throat)

Wait, I thought that I divorced this guy.......and how did he turn himself into a twelve-year-old?  Stinky has the most terrible habit of asking unclear questions or mumbling at you as he walks away then getting all frustrated when it becomes clear that you didn't get the message.

I sent him out the door with the instruction to ask his Dad if he has one; if not, his father can buy him one.  I'm generous like that ;)

He called me a while later saying that his step-mom has one but do I have Powerpoint on my computer?  I said yes.......a pause...... (insert condescending tone) "Are you sure Mommy, we don't want a repeat of the whole USB thing".  Huh? How did my ex-husband get on the phone?

Don't get me wrong, Stinky has many fine qualities that I certainly want our kids to inherit but there are qualities and habits that we both have that I'd rather they don't pick up.  I guess that these conversations have really pointed out to me just how influential we are in our kids' lives.  After all, we are their primary role models.  Maybe it's time to improve some of our habits.......

Kat

Big Day for Drama Queen

Well, yesterday was a big day for my little Drama Queen.  She got her ears pierced.  She's been playing with the idea for about a year now but kept on backing off at the idea that it might hurt.  Her daddy didn't mind this a bit.  You see, she's ten now and the closer she gets to her teen years the more nervous Stinky gets.  The idea of his little girl growing into a young lady gives him hives.  This is no surprise since this is the man who vowed to not let her date until she turned thirty-five back on the day that she was born.

Anyway, a couple of nights ago, she approached me and said that she was ready and wanted to do it.  I could sense a certain firmness to her request that told me she wasn't backing down this time.  I emailed Stinky get his okay and told him to talk it over with his girlfriend/partner SM (I knew she'd be on our side!).  Well we got the green light and the delighted squeal that this news brought almost broke my eardrum! 

Waiting until Saturday was out of the question so we trooped over after work on Friday.  Well, what happened was probably the funniest thing that I've seen in ages!  It started out normally enough; the lady let her choose the studs that she wanted, then sat her down to mark the spots with a marker so that the holes would be straight.  Drama Queen was fine through this though she did look kind of nervous.  When the lady came towards her with the piercing tool, she reached out for my hand (damn, how can I take a picture this way!) and her face totally changed.  Her mouth turned down, she went pale and her eyes brimmed with tears.  She was totally still since we told her to be but she looked like she was about to start sobbing as the hand with the tool took aim. 

Here's the funny part; as soon as the click was heard, her whole face transformed and she busted out a HUGE smile.  It was like a light switch had been been turned on.  All that nervousness and fear of the unknown had been for nothing and that quick, relatively painless "click" had completely dispelled the clouds in half a second.  The transformation was so fast that both I and the lady doing the piercing burst out laughing at the suddenness.

She grinned through the second piercing and hasn't stopped grinning ever since.  She called her dad and step-mom and gushed the news to them when we got home.  Stinky, being a guy, didn't have too much to say about the whole thing but SM made up for it, sharing her joy and enthusiasm.

Our little girl is growing up so quickly.  We've done the training bra milestone and now the ear piercing one and there are so many more to come.  I think that I'm ready but SM and I may have to drag Stinky along by the ears.  It's worth it so see such happiness.

Kat

Don't Be Limp!

I'm always looking for something interesting to write about and I was inspired this morning while reading one of my favourite blogs.  If you don't already follow http://www.lolais40.com/ you really should.  She's one funny lady and to prove it, she's one of the Circle of Moms top twenty-five funniest bloggers.  She won that honour just this past week.  Congrats Lola!

Anyway back to my own blog.....she mentioned the ickiness that is wimpy handshakes.  This is a huge pet peeve of mine so I decided to expand on the topic here on my own blog.  Why give someone else all the good material in their comment section, right?

There are a few types of wimpy handshake.  Let's look at them:

The Finger Grasp - This is the one where they loosely hold the ends of your fingers for a split second, wiggle then drop them.  What the heck was that?!  It's called a HANDshake you dope, not a fingershake.

Limp Dish Rag - This is the one where you actually manage to get their hand in yours in the proper position but then they go limp.  They don't grasp your hand, they don't shake it, they just let you hold this limp, lifeless thing at the end of their arm until you're ready to let go.  Believe me, I let go pretty quickly!

The WET Noodle - Basically any combination of the above with enough sweat to swim in.  Like, yuck!!  A firm, confident handshake with a slightly sweaty hand, I can live with but there is something about the mix of sweat and limpness that makes my skin crawl. 

If your handshake fits into any of these categories, PLEASE, do something about it!  Your handshake gives people their first impression of you. 

(Okay, your smile does too but we'll get into good oral hygeine another time.)

It tells people whether you're confident or, well, a limp dish rag.  Believe me, your handshake when you meet me stays with me for as long as I know you and colours my opinion of you no matter how great a person you are.  I'm funny that way so, if you know that you're going to meet me, you may want to practice cuz I know that my opinion is important to you.  See how confident I am?  LOL

Kat

I'm hip, aren't I?

I went to a wedding reception last night.  Yes, I actually went out, drank, danced and enjoyed some socializing.  It shocking, I know, so I'll give you a moment to regain your composure.......

Better?  Good.  Where was I now? 

Oh yeah, my co-worker/friend JJ got married yesterday to his very pretty and oh-so-too-good-for-him girlfriend.  They are a young couple on a budget so couldn't invite everyone they've ever met to the wedding and dinner so they invited many of us to come and join them for the party after the dinner.  As is to be expected, the bride was stunning and the groom really does clean up well and they were absolutely glowing.

As mentioned before, they are fairly young - well, late twenties anyway - and their friends are in the same age range.  They had a cousin of hers doing DJ duty and I have to admit that I didn't recognize most of what he played.  The dance music beat was the same for most of the songs and  they all kind of blended together very quickly.  Oh, and the volume?  Ear-splitting.  I soon felt kind of old

This is sad since I'm only forty-one.  How do you dance to this stuff?  I like to think of myself as hip, with-it, up-to-date but those illusions took a serious beating last night.  My friend, PC, was showing some good rhythm for a white man closing in on fifty.  Why couldn't I look like that?  Okay, not the bald part but you know what I mean.  Compared to him, I looked like a dying fish flopping around in the bottom of a boat  (not a pretty picture!). 

Despite the whole twitching fish image, I did enjoy myself and was glad to be there to congratulate the happy couple.  The vodka and cranberry drinks probably helped that along  ;)

Perhaps PC can give me some dancing lessons sometime.  Maybe I'll get out more

Kat

It's Fun to Dream....

Last week the Lotto Max grand prize was fifty million dollars and my co-workers and I decided to buy a ticket together.  We don't usually do this but we figured, what the heck, why not?  So we each put in five bucks and got a mega ticket with ten sets of numbers. 

Now, we're not total fools; we knew that our chances of winning were astronomically low but we decided to be optomistic and go around with the attitude that we would win.  That's positive thinking for you.

(No...... we didn't win.  I mean, would I actually be here blogging if I had five million dollars in my bank account right now?  Gimme a break!  LOL)

(For my American readers, I'd like to point out that, here in Canada, all lottery winnings are tax-free and we get them in one whopping shot.  Woo hoo!)

I must say that this was the best five dollars that I have spent in a very long time.  My coworkers and I (nine women and one poor, hen-pecked man) had a blast All. Week. Long!  We shared our dreams - what we would buy, where we would go, etc and had fun teasing each other for the crazier ideas.

We talked about cars, houses, vacations...... We talked about the half-naked butlers we'd have.  You ladies know what I'm talking about; tight black pants, no shirt, little black bow-tie......mmmm.....(wipes the drool)....  Our Controller (hen-pecked man) fantasized about taking a cultured lady to the ballet.  Yeah, he got razzed for that one.  The ballerina picture is still taped to his door, LOL

We had some fun at the boss' expense too.  We all pretty much agreed that he'd have a stroke if we actually won.  After all, he'd lose his entire payroll/billing/accounting department!!  We joked that we'd call him down for a "meeting" Monday morning and then all walk out, leaving him to do the payroll.  Then we'd call around 4:30 and say "has the pay gone out yet?"  Those in the know will know just how funny that is (boy would he regret how many times he's uttered that question!)

All in all, the laughs, teasing and bonding made for a highly entertaining week and were well worth the $5 admission.  The boss may not have been thrilled if we had won but he can't argue with the solid team-building exercise that this turned out to be.

So when's the next big draw?

Kat

My First Book Post

Okay, I promised that I would do the occasional post about what I'm reading so consider this my first review.  I'm new at this so please don't judge me too harshly :)

One note that I should make here is that I read for purely entertainment purposes.  It is rare that I will pick up a work of non-fiction or (gasp!) anything educational.  I spend my days in the office taxing my poor brain to its limits and reading is my little escape from reality during my lunch hour and commute.  By commute, I mean by bus.  Of course I wouldn't read while driving (yeesh!).  I love mysteries, action-packed thrillers, some vampire/werewolf/supernatural fantasy among other things.

I recently picked up Andy McDermott's latest book, The Pyramid of Doom.  I had never read one of his books before and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Now, I'm one of those people who, when they find an author they enjoy, must go back and read all of their books.  I'm actually pretty anal about it which is why, within days of finishing Pyramid, I was back in the bookstore buying The Hunt for Atlantis.

This book is the first in his series featuring archaeologist Nina Wilde and ex-SAS bodyguard Eddie Chase.  The action starts almost right away and doesn't stop.  Ten years after Nina's parents die, supposedly in an avalanche, during their search for the legendary city of Atlantis, she has been continuing their work and is hot on the trail.  Unfortunately, she is not the only one and the race is on.  The chemistry between the character is great and there are enough bad guys to keep it interesting.  Of course, the lines between good and bad are not always entirely clear.  Mr. McDermott does an excellent job of combining historical facts and legends with his own story telling to make this an engaging adventure.

Now the main characters *somehow* manage to survive through enough flying bullets, bombs and physical abuse that their survival stretches the limits of believability but if you're willing to suspend your disbelief in the name of a romping good time and a bit of escapism from real life, you'll really enjoy this book.  I did.

As I'm sure you've already guessed, I'll be heading out to the bookstore again soon to get the second book in the series, The Tomb of Hercules.  This is how my little home library expands with numerous series.  Yeah, I'm using the term "little" very loosely here.  So sue me!

Kat

Post Lunch Rants

About a month ago, I returned to my desk after lunch and had a good rant about the people who ate lunch around me in the restaurant.  Just in the area that I was in, I saw several people sitting at their tables, in a nice restautant, wearing winter hats and one in a baseball cap.  Were these people raised in barns?!  This post isn't about people in hats though - as interesting as that subject is - I'm just leading you to the rant by my coworker today.

When she returned from lunch, she said that today is her turn for a rant.  She saw someone at Starbucks who got her blood boiling.  DG has worked for us since last March.  She's young (23) and this is her first "office" job.  Before this, she had a job at the mall.

Imagine, she was born a month after I graduated from high school ...... sigh......

Okay, enough of THAT tangent! 

She went to an interview a couple of days before her interview with us.  This is where she met the ass that she spotted today.  Now, she was a young person looking to get her "foot in the door", experience-wise, so I can understand how he might have felt that she wasn't experienced enough for the position he wanted to fill.  He could have explained that he was looking for someone with more experience and wish her luck in her job search - or a version of this.  This is what a nice person would do.  He was not a nice person.  He looked down on her and told her that all she was good enough for was a Walmart greeter job. 

Oh My God!!!  Can you believe that?!  This jackass took her hopes, not to mention her self-esteem, and stomped on them.  When we called a day or so later to book an interview with her, she almost didn't take it because she was so low on herself.  I'm SO glad that she didn't follow through with that thought.

We could see right away that she was eager to learn and she had a great attitude so we gave her a chance.  We have never regretted that decision.  She is an absolute dynamo with an appetite for learning new things that just doesn't quit.  I get tired just watching her.  Of course, I'm almost old enough to be her mother so that's not surprising (yeah, that tangent again!).  She absorbs everything that we teach her and takes everything in stride.  I haven't found anything yet that this great chick can't handle.  The fact that she has a great personality and wicked sense of humour totally secures her place in our hearts.

I asked her if she said anything to the jackass but just the sight of him had brought back the hurt feelings and she pretty much had to use her energy just to keep breathing.  Truthfully, he probably doesn't even remember her but his treatment of her still upsets her a year later and will stay with her for a long time.  I told her that she should shove her success up his nose if she sees him again - it may do nothing to change him but it would feel damn good!

I wish that she hadn't had to go through that hurtful experience but his loss was definititely our gain.  My coworkers are my family-away-from-home and I'm glad that we took a chance and invited her to join us.

Kat

My Love List

I recently received my February issue of More magazine*. Being the February issue it, of course, featured plenty of stories about love in all of its facets. One of the things that has stayed with me was the letter-from-the-editor, Linda Lewis.

She noted that stopping to remember the things/people we love can be a natural boost when our spirits are low. She and I are both on the same page in feeling that a "gratitude journal" can be a bit too "touchy-feely" (her words, but a good description) and just not something that I could get into. Linda shared her love-list with us and asked her readers to shared theirs with her. I realized that it would make a great blog post so I stopped to think about my loves. Here's my bit of sharing for today:

Apple crisp served warm on a cold day

Big Bang Theory - Bazinga!!

Cats, all cats

Doing crosswords

Eating with friends

Finding forgotten money in pockets (woo hoo!)

Green......well, green anything

Hot showers

Integrity

Jello

Kids - a certain pair who are 10 and 12 years old

Lord of the Rings - books and movies

Mimosas

National Geographic Channel

Ogling hot young guys on Crescent Street

Popping bubble wrap (c'mon, you never get too old for that!)

Quiet Sundays

Reading books, magazines, newspapers...... really anything with words in it.

Singing to my tunes

Tweeting

Unexpected compliments

Vodka

Warm blankets

X's and O's (xoxo)

Yogourt

Zzzzzzzz.....a good snooze

Kat

*I was not paid or otherwise induced by the magazine to write this. I do like this magazine and would recommend checking it out (http://www.more.ca/)

Dating Adventures

I received an email the other day that kind of blew my mind. Okay, not literally or else I wouldn't be sitting here but you get my drift. Anyway, this guy that I met online shortly after I decided to re-enter the dating world a number of years back decided to contact me. I have profiles on a couple of different dating sites and he had spotted one.


His note went like this - "I see that you're still looking. If you're lonely, I'd love to get together."

Now, if I thought that he just wanted to chat maybe I'd consider it but I wasn't born yesterday (make that 41 years ago!) so I know that he's single too and looking for a "hook-up" or two or three. I just can't seem to understand the thinking behind this.

We established within a couple of months or so of meeting that I am not the woman for him and he is not the man for me. He's not a bad guy but has an intense need to control every aspect of his life - including his relationships - and I intensely despise feeling like I'm being bossed around. This is not the basis for any kind of relationship and our parting wasn't particularly friendly. Basically I told him to stop being so damned bossy and stomped out. Yeah, I know, childish but boy did it feel good!

So what does he want, a f**k buddy until one of us meets somebody? What then? "Sorry, I've met somebody so I can't screw you anymore so take care and, please, don't write" Ugh!!!

Of course, I said "no thanks"

There are days when I wish that I could take a microscope and discover the secret to what makes men tick. This, of course, would make me rich beyond my wildest imagination because every woman in the world would pay for that secret and I'd have men throwing themselves at my rich feet. Ah, to dream.......

Kat

Books, one of my loves

Now that I am attempting to get back into blogging, I have been putting a lot of thought into what I want to write about. Being a single (dating), working mother of two should give me plenty of blog fodder but what about those times when life is feeling a bit boring? After all, it's those dry spells that made me fall out of the blogging habit to begin with. Okay, I admit I'm also not exactly talented in the self-discipline area either - I mean, look at my full inbox (no actually, don't do that - scary!)

The answer came to me when I was browsing through various blogs the other day. I found a few that were dedicated to reading - book reviews, author interviews, etc. Talk about a perfect fit!! I am a voracious reader. It's rare that I leave home without reading material and, when I do, I feel totally naked so I try not to do it. NOBODY wants to see me walk down the street naked (sorry for the mental picture) LOL!

My love of reading goes back to when I was sixteen. I borrowed The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub from a friend at the pool and it was like fireworks went off in my brain. I hadn't been a big reader before that but I couldn't put this book down. It was a huge, epic novel that consumed my days until I finished it but I was so totally hooked that it didn't matter.

After that, I started hitting the bookstore and consumed every other book that Stephen King had ever written. From there I branched off to other authers and, with this, a book lover was born - okay re-born. Chapters has me listed as one of their most favourite people or they should considering what I spend there, LOL.

The plan is to write some posts about what I'm reading, have read and want to read. I guess those posts will be part review and part peek at what's occupying my mind at the time - if you dare to look into that scary place, that is.

Kat

What's with these guys?!

I just don't get it. I've been divorced for a while now and I'm quite ready to invite someone new into my life. I started the whole dating process a few years ago so you would think that I'd be happily settled with Prince Charming by now, right? HA!! As if.....

It's as if commitment has become a dirty word. I hear things like "let's keep it casual" or "just looking for someone to hook up with now and then". Huh?! We're not talking about twenty year olds here. I'm forty one and looking for someone at least as mature as I am but I'm having a hard time achieving that goal. Do these men not need love in their lives?

I met one guy who was different last fall. I'm talking about a man who was actually looking for a real relationship. Hallelujah!! We got along really well, enjoyed spending time together and were REALLY compatible in the bedroom (woo hoo!). Sound great doesn't he? Of course he does.......but.....wait for it......the reason he was looking for a relationship is that he was looking for someone to make babies with! I am SO over the babymaking thing. I have two already - 10 and 12 years old - and I do not intend to add a third. Oh well, another one down the drain....

You may be wondering what started this rant. Well, I met someone this week who seemed nice and we were definitely attracted to each other but - get this - he doesn't want an actual relationship with someone who is divorced with kids. It goes against his Catholic-Italian family's values. What?!! Oh, but he wouldn't mind getting together to fool around when my children aren't around. Oh. My. F***ing. God!! Needless to say, I said "goodbye" pretty darned quickly to this schmuck. I wish him luck finding a decent woman our age who has absolutely no marriage or child bearing history.

I haven't given up on the male of our species quite yet. My libido won't let me. I'm sure that there must be one BBW loving guy out there who's looking for a loving relationship who would be honoured to join my little family. He's out there; I just have to wade through a few dozen duds to get to him and you can bet that I'll tell you about the more interesting ones!

Kat

I know that this is shocking but, yes, here I am twice in one week! I even amaze myself sometimes, lol. You see, I'm on vacation, the kids are with their dad this week and I'm feeling pretty darned well rested. This means that I've been spending oodles of time farting around on the internet; Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. - the list goes on. In keeping with my decision to get back on the blog-wagon, I have spent some of that "valuable" internet time giving my blog a new look. I've changed the background to something a little brighter (that brown was SO depressing!) and I've added a list of many of the blogs that I follow. Those that had buttons for me to grab have their button here and those that don't are listed. I hope that you'll check some of them out.

The other reason that I am feeling so chipper (please don't be jealous) is that we are having a glorious day here. It is mild, sunny and I even have windows open (heat is off, of course!). The fresh air streaming into my decidedly stale apartment is like medicine for the soul. Days like this are hard to come by in Montreal in February. Even my cat tiptoed out onto the balcony. Her days of delicately perching on the warm heater are definitely numbered! Yes, that pic above is her doing her balancing act on the heater. As small as she is, she still has to keep one foot down to keep from tumbling off; how can that be comfortable?

Anyway, I've been in a bit of a funk lately but this small whiff of spring has lifted my spirits better than anything else ever could except maybe some nice chocolaty brownies........mmmm, brownies........maybe I'll do a little baking this afternoon ;)

Kat

I'm back......at least I'm trying to be.....

I haven't written a post since last May. I don't really have a good excuse for being away. I've kind of been drifting along, not quite knowing what to write about and, perhaps, feeling a little depressed about my "normal" life. I mean, who would be interested in me? I work, take care of my kids and try to take some "me" time where I can. This is not the stuff of exciting or witty tales. If I can't be amusing, what's the point? As you can see, I haven't been feeling very "up" these days.

I have, however, been (sort of) keeping up with reading several of my favourite blogs. It is one of these that has inspired me to come back to my blog. This is the blog of @SnglMomSurvives on Twitter called Single Mom Survives. She went through a traumatic surgury recently and, when she returned to her blog, she poured her heart out to us. When I read those posts, I didn't laugh once, I wasn't excited by her exploits; instead I was touched. I could feel her emotions and my heart went out to her. I commented on her posts telling her that I adore her and gave her what encouragement I could.

This is when a lightbulb went on in my head. I realized that I don't always have to be witty or have an exciting story to tell in order to connect with people; I just have to be honest. I realized that I enjoyed writing my blog and that it made me feel good; all the benefits of therapy without the bill at the end! So here is my goal; I intend to get back on the horse (so to speak) and start writing again. I won't promise to produce something every week and I can't promise to make you laugh every time. Let's face it, I don't always feel like laughing myself. What I do promise, to myself as well as to my (few) readers, is that I will definitely keep it real. If I can make you laugh, great. If I can make you think, great. If I can do nothing but make a connection or two, that's good too. All I know is that the "little voices" in my head are telling me to try this again.

It's too late to call this a New Year's resolution (which we never stick to anyway) so let's just say that I'll try a little harder, okay?

Kat