Hi, my name is Kathy and I am (sometimes) judgy.

I am a pretty honest person.   I never knowingly lie.  I don’t cheat on my taxes and don’t like buying something “under the table”.  I am one of the few people in this city that notoriously loves jaywalking who actually crosses at the light and I won’t buy pirated movies or music because that’s stealing – which I also don’t do.

I’ve been told that I am a person with a very well defined sense of right and wrong – practically black and white – and I suppose that there is a lot of truth in that.  As long as I’m being honest with myself, which is where my honesty tends to falter sometimes, it’s not always a good trait. 

While I am generally a patient, laid back person who, most of the time, tries to see the “other side”, this trait can sometimes make me a bit “judgy” of others which is not attractive.  It’s not something that I like about myself so I’m working on that, I promise!

“How could he do that?!” or “I would never do that!” pop into my head more than I like to admit.  How can I possibly understand someone else’s actions (or lack thereof) or know what I would do if I’m not in that person’s shoes?

I recently told my SIL that I “would have been honest” about the situation she found herself in rather than evasive or less than truthful.  I like to think that I would have been.  Later, though, I thought about that conversation and wondered.   It’s easy to say what I would have done but, quite frankly, I had never been in this situation she found herself in so who was I to say what I would do.  The old saying, easier said than done, probably fit very well in this instance. 

What I really need to work on is seeing the grey zone a bit more.  Sometimes things just aren’t black or white and what I think I would do may not turn out exactly as I thought if I was actually dropped into the situation being discussed.

Being a parent certainly teaches that lesson in a big way.  We’ve all been there; before we have kids, we have a long list of what we would and wouldn’t do as parents – the foods that we would NEVER give our kids, the video games that they would NEVER play, the television limits, acceptable behaviors, acceptable grades, the list goes on………  We believed that there is a RIGHT way and a WRONG way and we would do it the RIGHT way.  Then the little rugrats actually enter our lives and teach us a big lesson.  They teach us the meaning of compromise.  They teach us – as we bribe them with candy - that just maybe some of those rules we had set out for ourselves were the wishful thinking of somebody who had never actually been a parent before.   Aside from the extremes of obviously good (like feeding them) or obviously bad (like abuse), there is no right way of parenting; there is only the way that works for your family. 

Kids…… they wreck our bodies, drain our bank accounts and teach us important life lessons.  Versatile creatures!

I’m a work in progress, as most of us are, and will hopefully continue to improve with age.

Kat

A Rather Blustery Time of Year

I am down with a nasty cold right now and trying not to think too hard so, of course, I'm playing around on the internet when I'm not napping.

I thought that this video was very fitting for the time of year - it's colourful, blustery and cloudy.  Also, I have always loved Pooh!

I'm going to spend the weekend trying to beat this cold.  Hopefully yours will be better  ;)

Kat

What are you afraid of?

One of Mama Kat’s Writing Prompts this week is “something that scared you when you were young….are you still afraid?”  This one was SO easy! 

One thing that has always scared me is realistic dolls.  I had one when I was small that scared the crap out of me!  I would dream that she’d come to life and stalk me and, if I let so much as a hand out of the covers, she would get me.  I’m not sure what happened to her.  I think that I buried her in the back of my closet at some point and my mother got rid of her when we moved since I wasn’t playing with her.  There aren’t a lot of things that I genuinely thank my mother for but that’s one of them. 

There is something about dolls that often leaves me feeling totally creeped out.  The more life-like they are the more “fun” my imagination has with them.  I can actually feel goose bumps on my arms as I think about it. 

Some people love them though.  I was watching a program once about collectibles and somebody had a doll collection.  You know, the ones in the fancy old fashioned dresses and the porcelain heads.  I tell you, I couldn’t change that channel fast enough!  I had to find a comedy to be able to forget that room full of eyes looking out of the screen at me. 

This fear is also connects (in my mind anyway) to another one…….. 

I was reminded of it last week when I was watching the new comedy The Goldbergs.  This is a show about a family in the 80’s; go ahead and Google it if you haven’t heard of it yet and are interested; I’ll still be here when you get back……..  Anyway, in this episode, the youngest child got it into his head that he absolutely had to see Poltergeist.  Those of you who are about my age and saw this in their teen/preteen years know exactly where I am heading with this one.   

Yep, the clown. 

Good old Pennywise

I have never looked at clowns the same way since.  That was some scary shit!  Needless to say, the kid on the sitcom was terrified too and his mother, who enjoyed the snuggles she was getting out of this fear, took full advantage.   

Of course, since I’m such a masochist, about six years later I just had to read Stephen King’s IT.  Naw, that didn’t freak me out at all  (I wish somebody would invent a sarcastic font). 

So, dolls and clowns.  How about you? 

Kat 

Observations

I love the fall colours!

Sometimes, I have trouble thinking of things to write about here.  Writer’s block and I are buddies so I’ve decided to help myself out by keeping notes on things that I see and hear that perhaps wouldn’t make a whole blog post by themselves but, thrown together, will make a mishmash post of daily observations.

--I sometimes stop in the morning at the McDonalds near my work for a quick breakfast.   Nothing like a bacon and egg McMuffin and hash brown to start the day!  Anyway, this observation isn’t about my bad breakfast habits but about a man that I see there almost every time I go there.  He sits by himself with a notebook and pen and a tray with five extra-large coffees.  Yes, FIVE extra-large coffees!   He sits there doing whatever he does in his notebook drinking all of those coffees like it’s the most normal thing in the world.  By the time he leaves, he must be as jittery as the Joker on crack!

--Seen at the grocery store…… two kids in a double stroller, one a toddler and the other maybe four.  The four year old was crying and screaming her heart out in a full-blown tantrum that went on and on and on while the mother pushed the stroller around the store.  Now, I have little patience for tantrums and never put up with it with my kids but I understand that everybody’s situation is different.  Perhaps the child has a medical or mental condition that is not readily apparent or maybe the kid was just plain overtired so I can’t judge.  If this was a single parent needing to stock her fridge and forced to bring the kids (in the evening when they are obviously tired) I would have had all the sympathy in the world for her but this wasn’t the case.  There were two adults in this situation, a mother and grandmother (or aunt perhaps).  Why didn’t one of them take the kid outside to scream where the other customers wouldn’t have to have their eardrums assaulted?   Maybe they had reasons that I just can’t see but it would have been the respectful thing to do.

--My co-worker came back from lunch with Timbits and cookies from Tim Horton’s for everyone much to our delight.  We’ve got a great bunch of people here who are not adverse to yummy treats.  You can often find doughnuts, homemade cupcakes and other goodies sitting on the filing cabinet waiting to be enjoyed.

--A certain thirteen year old girl has been slipping into my bed lately citing things like “bad dreams” and “can’t sleep in my own bed”.  It seems to me that there is probably a deeper reason but I am patient enough to let her tell me in her own time.  She’s been known to get stubborn and clam up when pushed too hard.  Luckily, I have a queen sized bed and love her enough to tolerate all that body heat – the kid is like a darned furnace!

--At this time of year, the grocery store shelves are weighted down with a bounty of squash in every variety.  I know that they are nutritious and versatile and that I should be exploiting this bounty but I just can’t make myself like it.  I tried again this past week, roasting a pepper squash using a simple recipe I found online.  The Boy gamely ate his portion (15 year old boys will eat ANYTHING!) but I’m ashamed to admit that I just couldn’t do it.  I have tried pumpkin soup before and kind of liked it so I think that I might give some sort of squash soup a try.  Once I’ve blended the crap out of that sucker and added some spices, I may be able to get into it.  Maybe I’ll crumble some bacon over the top too.  You know what they say – bacon makes everything better!

--I got my kids new cel phones last weekend and got the Good Mom award.  Their contracts were up and their old phones were obsolete and starting to act wonky so it was time.  Now that they are a bit older and (hopefully) more responsible, I have upgraded them to proper smart phones as birthday gifts (both have September birthdays).  They spent the whole weekend playing with them and I got plenty of “thank you”’s and “I love you”’s so we were all winners.

 

Kat

Heavenly fall food

I know I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks.  Shame on me!  Every time I thought about posting, I just drew a blank.  That happens sometimes which is why I’m an amateur and will never make any money from this blog gig.  I definitely won’t give up my day job……. unless I win the 6/49; then I’ll definitely give it up! 

Anyhoo…. 

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how much I love the fall.  One of the things I mentioned was the food that comes with it.  The slow cooker is out!  This week I did one of the easiest things that I know how to do and loved it.  There is nothing like a pork roast done in the slow cooker.  The smell when you get home after a long day at work is absolutely divine. 

Here’s what I do: 

-Take two cans of whatever condensed soup you like:  tomato, cream of mushroom, cream of broccoli, etc. and empty them into your slow cooker (you may want to use the reduced sodium ones since the regular canned soups tend to be heavy on the salt).  Then add only ONE can of water and whisk until combined.  This creates more of a sauce than a soup. 

-Take off the string that is holding the boneless roast together and rub it with a bit of olive oil, garlic, pepper and whatever herbs you like.  I tend to like thyme on my pork but you could go with oregano, basil or whatever tickles your fancy.  I usually do this the night before and stick it in the fridge overnight.  This gives it a chance to marinate and removes a bit of work in the morning when you’re in a hurry. 

-Put your meat in the slow cooker with the soup/water mix and surround with peeled and cut up onion and potatoes.   

-Turn on your slow cooker to the low setting for about eight hours and walk away.  My slow cooker goes down the “warm” setting after the cooking time so I don’t have to worry about overcooking.  It pays to invest in a good slow cooker!! 

-When I get home I put on a veggie to cook and, while that is happening, I open up the slow cooker and take a knife and fork to the meat.  It literally falls apart, almost like a pulled pork, and the whole thing becomes sort of a stew. 

This is before I added the carrots that I cooked up when I got home

Add in those veggies and you’ve got a meal from heaven without slaving over the stove after a long day.  (Of course, forgot to take a pic once the veggies were added because we were all starving!)  This is so versatile that you can get a different flavour every time you make it by just changing up the herbs/spices and the soups that you use.  I guess that this is more of a cooking method than an actual recipe. 

Working full time and having two teens with their own activities on the calendar, there are many nights when I am grateful for my slow cooker.   It’s probably the best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten (at least in the top five anyway).   

Kat