This time last year

Oftentimes, I think about where I was this time last year, what I was doing, who I was hanging out with, how I felt, etc. I did that tonight. My dad is having one of his annual parties tomorrow and that triggered my walk down last year's lane...here it goes!

-I was getting paid pretty good money to be unhappy in my job. Shortly thereafter I left my career for a change of scenery. I have to say, I am happier in that aspect. I feel like I have a purpose in what I am doing. This decision was hard for me last year, but looking back, I made the right decision. Lots of people looked down on me for what I wanted to do.

-My body was in a lot better physical shape than it is now. I was training pretty hard. I am rehabbing and trying to build back my strength and confidence. This situation definitely hit me hard.

-I have learned about my inner and physical strength this past year. I have cried more and felt down more this past year than any other year in my life. I am pretty strong physically. That makes me prouder than the prior.

-I am eating better now. Not that I have ever eaten unhealthy, but now I am more aware of what I am putting in my body.

-I was a bit more social last year. Things change. I have gotten a year older and realized that is not what I want to be doing right now.

-I was living with different people then. It's for the better.

-I was hanging out with different people. Friends have left my life; some on my accord, some on theirs. It makes me sad to think of friendships lost but once again, it's for the better.

-I have developed more intimate relationships with people this year. When you aren't brought down by others, you can thrive. I realize that now.

I am a huge believer in that everything happens for a reason. Good or bad. Last year more bad things occurred than good. Lots of people think I have changed...I think it's for the better...what do you think?

This is a picture of me this time last year...

Girly Girl

While I was watching the musical "Legally Blonde" over the weekend, I realized that I really enjoy not being so girly. Don't get me wrong, it's a cute musical/movie, but the characters are extremely girly. Lots of pink. I'm not a huge fan of pink either.

It starts back to when I was born; I truly believe my mother was so excited that she had a girl and that this girl would be exactly like her! Not so much. My mom is very prissy and she knows it. She always bought me dolls and paper dolls, put me in dresses, tried to style my hair (athough with the cowlick at the front of my head and extremely straight hair, it makes it nearly impossible), and put me in LOTS of dance classes. I was always the dancer that was looking at my fellow dancers during the recital to see the next move I was supposed to do. I also had the perfect body for dancing; skinny with long legs. Too bad I couldn't capitalize on that.

My parents signed me up for a softball team when I was nine. That was the beginning of it all. I was always happier playing sports. I was more successful in sports than anything else in my life, especially academics! I came down with mononucleosis when I was in 6th grade. I cried for over 2 hourse and wasted a whole box of tissues because I couldn't participate in P.E. and had to drop off of my softball team. I continued playing team sports through middle school and high school. Ran through college, and picked up various physical activities since then.

I get along really well with guys and several guys I have dated tell me that I act like the guy in the relationship. Not sure if that is good or bad, but it is what it is.

I observe girls around me and on tv, and listen to stories I hear about girls, and realize that I act almost the complete opposite. I'm glad for that.

There are some "girly" things I enjoy; shopping, laying out at the pool, fixing my hair (sometimes), and wearing makeup. Oh yeah, I was in a sorority too.

That's it, just an observation of myself.

Prince of Wales?

Work was very busy today. My boss left early and stated that I would receive a huge bonus if sales hit X amount. Not impossible, but difficult. After he left, sales were inching towards that amount.

A guy called several times throughout the day interested in a certain high dollar bicycle. He talked to me, talked to my boss, etc. Finally at closing time, he called back and stated that if he paid over the phone for high dollar bike, could his friend pick it up? I told him that if his friend could be at the store in 10-15 minutes, I would have the bike ready for him. I explained that I needed him to hurry because I had an engagement to get to. Phone guy paid for the bike and I asked one of our mechanics to stay late to check the bike over to make sure it was ready to go. As I am collecting information from phone guy, he explained that his friend lived in town and was going to bring high dollar bike to him on his airplane next week. He gave me his phone number and address. When I typed in his zip code, it didn't bring up his city as it normally does. I asked him what city he lived in. He said "Prince of Wales." I asked him where that was. He explained that it was right off the coast. I still didn't know what he was talking about, but I continued on with the sale. I hung up the phone and pulled up the daily report. So close to X amount that I could probably talk my boss into the bonus. The phone rang 10 minutes later. Phone guy reported that his friend showed up, knocked on the door, and no one answered. I told him that we were here waiting and to make sure his friend went to the correct store. Phone guy hung up and immediately called back. Turns out that he went to the bicycle website, typed in his friend's zip code, and it brought up "Zoom Bike Store," not my store. But the key part to the story is that the phone number for "Zoom Bike Store" was OUR phone number! The guy never caught any of the signs; the area code or the fact that we say the name of our store when we answer the phone. Guess where "Zoom Bike Store" is? Petersburg, Alaska! I returned the guy's money, left the store super bummed, and arrived at my engagement late. At least I had a funny excuse!

Opposite Earth Day?

Today is Earth Day. I set up a booth at an Earth Day event. It was outdoors so I was pretty excited. Except the fact that I was in a wind tunnel! Froze for 3 hours! Anyways, the group that put this festival on realized the people working the event were freezing, so they got the management company to drag propane heaters out. Probably 10. That's weird on Earth Day. Weird occurrence #2: Heading home after the event I saw a delivery truck with this bumper sticker; "Forget the environment, it will go away soon."

I will keep my eyes open for more irony...

Facebook Patheticism

Ok, so I just made up that "patheticism" word. In my world it means something along the lines of "the art of being pathetic." Anyways, I thought it fit nicely in this situation:

I received an inbox email on my facebook account from a guy named "Dan."

Dan: Katie? Damn, haven't heard from YOU in awhile!

My Reply: How do I know you?

Dan's Reply: Actually, you probably don't. You used to date a buddy of mine that lived up in Charlotte. I had been up there a couple times to visit and I knew a few people from his area so I was just browsing Charlotte people to see if I remembered anyone and that's when I saw your name. Actually, it didn't even fully register until I saw that you had went to Alabama, then I remembered who you were. Anyhow, I'm Dan and I live in Florida and we've never met but I remembered your name so just wanted to say hey!

His Reply #2 after I didn't reply: You do remember {insert name of ex-boyfriend here}, right?

My Short but Sweet Reply: Yes

His next step that I foresee; asking to be my friend. But I won't accept only because I am actually friends with my facebook friends. Am I being too critical? Maybe he is super bored, evidenced by him searching all the people in Charlotte!!!

Celebrate Earth Day tomorrow!

kt

To Live Without

I've been without something in my life for a few weeks now. It's like one of those puzzles you do in elementary school where you receive a bunch of clues and you try to guess what it is. I save time, I travel lighter, it makes my life and other's easier, it saves money and electricity, it simplifies life. Only one other person knows what I have been living without.

This has me thinking; what else can I live without? What can you live without? Is there something that you don't really need in your life? Will it save time, money, electricity? Will it improve your health, mental health, finances? Is there someone you can live without? Is this person bringing you down, making you unhappy, or encouraging you to do things you wouldn't normally do?

I've been reading this book by Gregory Johnson, Put Your Life on a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet, where the author explains how he downsized his entire life. His house is 140 square feet, he has no electricity or running water, no car, no kitchen, no bathroom, etc. He is living without a lot! A little extreme, but it definitely makes me think what I could live without.

I know one thing I cannot live without currently. I haven't been to physical therapy in over a week, and I have had a lot of problems with my ankle over the past few days. Pain and stiffness. I walked on my tip toes the majority of today. I'm not ready for every other week appointments. I know that now.

Family, Friends, Football, & Fun!

My grandmother that I wrote about in a previous blog, "Miss Lorene," notified my family that she was selling the house, moving to Tupelo, and putting herself in a retirement community. All within the next month. I quickly corralled the family, and we headed to Mississippi to visit her one last time at the house I grew up going to.

Mom, dad, and I left on Thursday. My brother and his fiancee were to leave after work that day. We were headed to Birmingham to stay with my cousins. On the way down there, my father was craving a milkshake. He really wanted to go to the golden arches, but we couldn't find one, go figure. So we stopped at an exit to get gas. My mom noticed a place called "Pop's Chargrille" next door. She proclaimed, "they have the best milkshakes in the world according to Southern Living! You should get one there." So we drove over there. As we pulled up, the place didn't exactly look like a milkshake joint. We drove around the building looking for the drive-thru. Couldn't find it, but saw things in the window of the building such as fireworks and diapers. You would have thought we would have kept driving. My dad parked the car, and with much skepticism from my parents, I convinced them to just go inside and check it out. My mom opened my door on the way in and asked, "do you want chocolate or vanilla?" I waved her on and told her to get whatever. I knew at this point it wasn't what we thought it was. Once they walked in, they quickly turned around and headed back to the car laughing the entire way!

We arrived in Birmingham, met my cousins for dinner, and went to this hole-in-the wall bar my cousin had found. It was called "The Hangar" but I saw no signs...

We left the next morning and headed to Starkville. We had a good time visiting with my grandmother. We gave my brother's fiancee the grand tour of the house. It was nice to see all of the "junk" my grandfather collected over the years gone! We checked out the "bomb shelter" one last time. My grandfather wanted one in his house in case there ever was a nuclear war or something like that. We ate at our favorite restaurants; Oby's and Little Duey's. I ate a 3 pound bucket of crawfish that everyone complained about until they ate some! Crawfish reminds me of the Florabama, Spring Break. But more about that in another post...

Miss Lorene always checks all of the family's blood pressure, pulse, and blood sugar. It's kind of tradition. Everybody was on track. We got up the next morning to head to Tuscaloosa but not before we took some pics...

We pulled into town and headed straight to "The Houndstooth." It's our favorite sports bar that we always go to when we are in town. I pretty much lived there for several years in college. The tooth used to be a shit hole bar, but a year ago they tore it down and made it super nice. I will write about that place in another post also! I met up with several friends there and had lots of fun!

This is one of my good friends, Mary Ruth. It was a nice unexpected visit with her! We went to the game where of course Alabama won! It was rumored that 84,000 people showed up. Crazy. We drove to Birmingham after the game and took it easy.

On the way back today, I realized how hard it is to eat healthy while on the road. There are not a lot of wholesome places to eat advertised on the side of the road. I encouraged my family to eat sandwiches with me at lunch, except the restaurant only offered us "big gulp" cups to drink out of. I thought that was very unhealthy to encourage people to drink a huge cup of sugary soda! Oh well.

It was a nice trip overall. I give it an 8 out of 10. I will miss that my grandmother is no longer in Starkville though. I know she will enjoy her new place.

3 Strikes and You're Out!

I made 3 mistakes at work today. My boss was frustrated. They weren't huge mistakes, just little ones. It happens. I told my boss, "well I guess that means 3 strikes and I'm out. See ya!" I am going in early tomorrow before I leave on vacation to make up for my mistakes...

The concept of honesty has been running through my head a good bit the last few days. I consider myself a very honest person. I can't remember the last time I lied to someone. I will tell you what's on my mind if you ask. I feel that being honest in any relationship is always the best policy, even if it hurts someone's feelings or ruins that relationship. I have been brutally honest and some relationships have suffered. I like it when people are honest and I can trust them. It's hard when you don't feel 100% about someone.

I will leave you with a quote that has also been in my head; "I'm not certain that we will continue to be friends in the future."

later,

katie

Regular Shoes

I watched a movie tonight and one part reminded me of a story in my past.

When I was younger, apparently my ankles turned in and I had to wear "special shoes." From what my mom has told me, I didn't like them because they didn't look as nice as "regular shoes."

I don't know any details of how long I wore them, what they looked like, how they felt, etc. The one detail of the story my mom has told me about is that when I was finally told that I didn't need to wear them anymore, she took me to buy "regular shoes." According to her, I was so excited about them, that I slept in my shoes that night!

I still get excited about new things to this day. Whenever I get something new, I like to use it or wear it straightaway. I can't wait. I haven't slept in my shoes since then, or have I?

Last Night

Two great things happened to me last night. First, I asked a friend to create something for me. She exceeded my expectations ten fold! She has been commissioned to create another for me. Pictures to follow.

Second, I asked a doctor friend of mine to "analyze" my blog. His affirmation was as follows, "that your writing is a cool way to capture the meaning of everyday meaningful experiences." I thought that was a cool way to sum up what I have written!

I am optimistic that today will be a great day!

There's No Grey

While eating dinner/catching up with a friend over the weekend, I ran into a family friend. She has known me since I was probably 2 or 3 years old. She lived across the street. We caught up for a minute and then she told my friend her favorite story about me. And so it goes...

I was two months shy of 4 years old when my brother was born. I stayed with this neighbor when my brother was born. She explained that she cooked me breakfast and that I sat by the window waiting on my ride to preschool without saying a word the entire time. She said that all of a sudden, I asked her if the baby was born yet. She replied that she did not think so. Then I inquired, "Is the baby going to be black or white?" She did not tell me how she replied because she was laughing so hard when she told the story.

I guess this shows how innocent young children are. They don't really understand the differences in people or maybe even care. Shortly thereafter, I met my new sibling and promptly told my parents that I did not want that baby because he didn't have any eyebrows. I believe this contradicts everything I just proclaimed...

This is all I've got for ya...

I'm not feeling very inspired or creative tonight, so I will use the following as my post;

The other night, while looking at my feet, I exclaimed, "ugh, I have Walmart Feet!" My friend responded, "what's that?" I explained the definition as I learned from a friend in Alabama and mentioned that it was probably on urban dictionary. When I checked it out that night, it was not. Therefore, I published my first entry on that website. Mine is numero dos. Enjoy!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=walmart+feet