Sometimes, I get so wrapped up in what I am doing that I don’t stop to ask for help for a plethora of reasons… such as I don’t want to sit there and explain something that would take me longer to explain than do myself, the idea that I might have is taken over by someone else and after they add their spin on it it’s not longer the idea I had in the first place…

My mom told me a story once. She had this vision about how she wanted her kitchen remodeled. She researched it, she designed it. When she sat down and showed my father the kitchen plan she wanted, he proceeded to tell her no you don’t want that you want this. As she said to him, “How do you know I want that, I’m showing you what I want, good, bad or ugly this is what I want. What you are stating is this is what YOU want. In the end she gave up her vision of her perfect kitchen. The remodel was done and she likes it ok, but in the end it’s still not what she wanted in the first place.

I’ve always felt that if you have a vision, while you might inspire someone to follow you with that vision, but while most people might come along for the ride and help out, at the end of the day, the one who wants to make a vision reality is the person whose vision it is.

Perhaps I have a little bit of a control issue…

Food for thought…

Have a happy Monday!

Kat & the Kids

I’ve decided this is the year that I’m going to open myself up to new things, new relationships, new experiences and new people, being willing to explore and accept myself I’m open to accept others into my life.

Now that 2010 is in full swing, it’s time to grab the brass ring and ride called life!

So, hop on and give it a whirl you might surprise yourself!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Kat and the kids

Just recently, I had headed down to my local grocery store to buy feminine hygiene products, as I was out and the “auntie” came to visit. I moseyed over to the correct isle and while I was checking out the various products available to us women, I noticed a gaggle of sales clerks. So, the assistant manager, so his tag said…asked “Can I help you find anything?” I responded with a polite “No, thank you, I think I have this one covered” he then asked “Are you sure, we don’t mind helping you” I smiled and replied “I’m quite sure, but thank you for the offer.”

As he and his group of clerks walked away, I heard one of the girls say to him, “I can’t believe you did that to that poor lady” I started to laugh as I heard him respond, “What, I have three daughters, I know about those products”

While it’s not exactly what one would expect, need or desire, the fact is he reached out to make sure my needs were met. This folks is customer service at it’s finest.

Have a fabulous day!

Kat and the kids

In the spirit of trying to keep my new years resolutions up and going, I’ve knuckled down and re-logged into a site I’ve known about for years. Fitday.com, is a free food tracking site and I must say it’s wonderful. I first discovered it way back in 2001 and have used it off and on over the past 8 years, now the only kicker is to actually LOG in and USE IT.

I tried doing the no caffeine thing, but I’m finding that being a coffee drinker, you take my caffeine away and I’m difficult at best to live with… ask the kids! So today I broke down and had a cuppa joe, only to find out what the caloric count was. So… I’m going to learn to make due with one cup a day.

Last night I actually took a night off to sleep, which for most would be nothing but to me, that’s a huge accomplishment. I couldn’t focus on the screen, so I took my happy self to bed at 11pm and lasted until 5am when I woke up thinking I had over slept. I will get this sleep thing down soon!

Outside of that… this New Year is shaping up slowly. I have various trips planned to see friends and family over the next 6 months. I’ll keep you posted!

Now, I’m going to finish savoring this cuppa joe and get back to work!

Happy Hump Day Y’all

Kat and the Kids!

It’s that time of year where we, take a couple of moments to toss about ideas for resolutions. So… here I go.

I resolve to do the following:

1. Shed 30 pounds
2. Post to the blog, at least once a week
3. Take time off to smell the proverbial roses
4. Meet up with my various friends who are all over the country for a long weekend here and there.
5. Enjoy the ones I love.

This year it’s only five little items, but sometimes making our resolutions obtainable means, results in them actually coming to fruition.

Here is wishing each and every one of you an incredible New Years! Take time to enjoy 2010!!!

Love,

Kat and the Kids

Norad Santa Tracker

Its that time of year again… Norad has been using the Santa Tracker system to follow his progress across the globe.   Now you too can follow his journey across the globe as he drops off presents for good boys and girls all over the globe.

So click on the above link and see how soon Santa will visit you!

Merry Christmas to one and all!!!

Love,

Kat and the Kids!

I’m pleased to announce the birth of my newest nephew, Benjamin David. Weighing in at 8 pounds 3 ounces, measuring 21 inches long, he’s a pretty darn big boy. From all reports my Sister and the lil man are doing wonderfully.

What a way to ring in the holiday!

Here is sending all my love.

Auntie Kat

You know it’s funny. When we take a job as a ‘worker bee’ for a large company there are certain expectations, that we as workers are afforded;

1. That we will be allowed do to our job without interference from supervisors who feel they should share their personal lives with us.

2. That our decisions, be it good or bad, will be reviewed by the company.

3. That we have the right to go to the proverbial bat for our policy holders.

4. That we won’t be singled out by a supervisor because we chose not to share our personal life with them.

Now, before you wonder if this is in regards to me, I have to say no its not. This would be a little blog about how a certain Geico Supervisor on the East Coast, has the ability and wear with all to harass, harangue and in general make life miserable at work for a certain male, yes I said MALE employee.

It seems that she feels it’s ok to corner him at work to discuss her sons issues with his penis, her mother in laws incontinent issues and more. Now when this male employee doesn’t chose to share his personal life with said supervisor, she feels well within her power to make his work life a living hell.

Now let me ask you. Is this considered sexual harassment in Geico’s book? Apparently not, as he was pulled into a room with two other supervisors to be told that he is considered a substandard employee for NOT being willing to discuss his personal life.

Why the blog you might ask? Because this employee feels that if he escalates his issue with this supervisor, he will be put in a situation that he doesn’t wish to be in… i.e. moved to another department or another job or worse yet fired.

Lets think about this. Over the years, women are conditioned to register a complaint with the human resource department, when they feel they are being harassed at their work place. We are also conditioned to submit complaints when we feel we are working in a hostile work environment, however let a male do this and what happens… his issues are swept under the rug because he’s a guy and we all know men shouldn’t have this issue.

Honestly, I feel this is quite unfair for the employee who is just doing his job. He gets up every morning, goes to work, healthy or sick, not to mention he was so sick recently and while his boss took a mental health day, he was encouraged to not leave work to deal with this virus and proceeded to spread it through the office, thereby costing the company several employees, who were allowed to take legitimate days off for being ill.

Sad to say that this supervisor is akin to an office Hitler and that doesn’t bode well for Geicos bottom line. It leaves them open for a potential lawsuit, this employee open for continual harassment and at the end of the day a bad taste in the mouths of those who feel that Geico is a company that does not support it’s employees.

Is this really the type of company who we’d want to insure our vehicles, homes and other items?

I wish this ‘worker bee’ the best of luck with his situation, as we all can attest that one bad supervisor can spoil the working environment for all.

Here is to hoping that Geico will actually step up and sort this issue out for this gentleman.

Have a wonderful friday!

~Kat and the Kids

Earlier this week, I got a wild hair to cook up a big thing of collard greens. Now in order to do this right you need some tasty smoked ham hocks. So while shopping about in my local markets, asking the meat counter guys for them, do you think a ham hock is to be found anywhere. Let me answer that for you, with a resounding NO! The ham hocks are hiding, but the big questions is WHERE!

I can’t quite figure it out. I can find just about anything in these stores from pigs snouts to sow ears and feet, tripe, and even fried pork skins but ham hocks seem to be the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the collard green rainbow.

Finally, with my frustration being at an all time high, I went home defeated, until I remembered in my freezer is a ham bone from a ham I cooked last month. This is why I save these things; you just never know when you might need them at some future date.

So this week success will be mine in making some tasty collard greens!!!

For those of you who have never made them, I’ve included a recipe from the food network. Enjoy!

Gina’s Best Collard Greens Recipe

Happy Cookin’!

Kat and the Kids

It’s funny how small the internet has made this big world of ours. Thirty years ago we were just hearing bout the Atari game system for our televisions. Man did we think we were cool with our space invaders and asteroids, the kids today look at the classic game and scoff at the simplistic nature of the games. Our first ‘personal’ computer was a commodore 64, coupled with a black and white t.v. and a huge phone modem we could log onto bulletin boards. Yes, little ones even back then we had some cool points.

Now we have super computers encased in little boxes, we surf the electronic wave known as the world wide web (www) and frequent sites such as Facebook, MySpace and chat sites. On occasion we run into people that we actually know or whom know someone who knows someone who went to school with someone we knew or know.

Friends and family move half a world away and shoot off an email to give you their new email address so we can ‘keep in touch” our best friend no longer is the next door neighbor, but now might be 3,000 miles away in another state or even country.

When we catch up we do so in a quick fashion, glossing over the trails and tribulations of life to share our glory moments, from marriages and births to the passing of friends and family.

Sometimes I miss the relative anonymity that came with moving and not being found unless we chose to relate where we have run off to, the excitement of writing a note to a friend and receiving a letter in return.

So to all of you who have found my slice of internet heaven… Hiyas! I hope you are doing well … leave a comment to let me know you have found my slice of the net pie!

Kat and the kids