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

First Date

It has been quite a while since I sat down to write. I know, I promised to try to blog weekly but I haven't quite managed it (not at all!!). I get plenty of ideas but it's always when I don't have the time or energy to do it. I know that it's a matter of forming good habits but I've never been known for good habits (lol). I suppose that I haven't had the right motivation to write up until recently, that is.

I had a rather nice "first date" last weekend. Woo hoo! Trust me, this is a momentous occasion. It's not that I never have a date, although they are kind of few-and-far-between, it's the quality of date that was nice. It's amazing how many guys out there literally only have one thing on their mind. These guys want to hop in the sack on the first date! Never mind getting to know me or forming a friendship or anything like that - let's have a drink then get "down to business". Yeesh!

I met this guy online. I've enjoyed meeting a few nice people that way since I don't hang out in bars too much and, besides, who wants to pick someone up in a bar when they're compromised by booze. Trust me, I am not a good girl when corrupted by vodka! We corresponded for a couple of weeks before meeting and liked what we heard so decided to meet for coffee (tea in my case). This is all we did; we talked, got a look at each other and walked away with a smile.

The best part is that we are still talking and he is definitely interested! I always worry about meeting a new person, you see, because I'm not exactly a classic beauty. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ugly but I am overweight and it takes a special guy to see my beauty and appreciate it. It seems that he is that kind of special guy.

We're going to take it one day at a time, starting out as friends (with benefits) and dating and see where it goes. We both have kids (his are older) and he is working six days a week right now so we're going to keep it light and fun for now.

That's more than enough for me right now and has me walking around with a goofy grin on my face. Hell, he's even motivated me to get back to my blog. It's a miracle!

Kat

So We're Not Perfect!

The following text was sent to me in an email today. You know, those emails that get passed from friend to friend to friend and so on.... I don't know the origin of it so, unfortunately, I can't credit the original author but I thought that it was worth repeating.

"As expected, the 2010 Olympics have been subject to much criticism by some countries (the UK in particular) and by some of our own media and others - as if something this large could ever be perfect. The following commentary says it all so well.


We never claimed to be perfect
That means we've learned to be humble
We say excuse me and I'm sorry...as well as please and thanks
Even when it's not our fault WE apologize

Sure, one arm of the torch didn't rise
But when the earthquake struck Haiti, Canadians raised
their hands to say...."we'll help"

And yeah, there is a fence around the torch
But you can walk right up and shake hands with our prime
minister and most famous Canadians

We put Gretzky in the back of a pick-up, in the rain, not
surrounded by police....and he was okay
And by the way...The Great One is Canadian....
and HE wasn't complaining!

We do have security at the games, of course, but most
people don't even HAVE a gun they have to leave at home

The medals ARE under lock and key but our doors and
our hearts are open to the world

It has been pointed out that some buses broke down last
week....but let's not overlook the fact that our banking
system didn't

We didn't get the "green ice maker" right this time....but
we will, eventually

Just like we did when WE invented the zamboni

Citius altius fortius

If you don't reach higher how do you get faster and
stronger

Was the first quad jump perfect?
Should we not have given snowboarding to the world "in
case" it didn't take off?

So big deal...one out of four torch arms didn't rise. Good
thing we had 3 more! It's called contingency planning!

But remember...the Canadarm works every time...in
outerspace....and insulin turned out to be okay

We couldn't change the weather but maybe we can help
stop to stop global warming

We don't have the tax base of the US or the power of the
Chinese but, per capita, we ponied up for some pretty
kick-ass venues in the worst global recession ever

Sure, some folks couldn't afford tickets but our health care
is universal

We have shown the world that we can raise our voices in
celebration and song but moments later stand in silence to
respect a tragic event...together...spontaneously...and
unrehearsed.

What's more, we don't need permission from anyone to
have a slam poet, fiddlers with piercings and a lesbian
singer tell our story to the world while our multilingual
female Haitian-born, black head of state (Governor General) shares
a box with her first nations equals

We've shown the world that it doesn't always rain in
Vancouver, that you can strive for excellence but not get
hung up on perfection
And we've learned what it feels like to be picked on by
some no-name newspaper guy and we don't have to take
it lying down!

So the point is not the snow or the hydraulics or a couple
of guys being five minutes late to a ceremony

We know we're lucky that these are the biggest problems
we had to deal with in the last couple of weeks

Se take your cheap shots...Guardian newspaper and
cynics of the world

We're bigger and better than that.

What's more, we're finally starting to believe it!

Do you believe?
I Do!!!"

Kat