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

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

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

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

I’m not sure how many people outside of California have heard of Prop 8, which will ban the ability of same sex couples to marry.

According to Ballot Pedia.org the verbiage goes as such:

Proposition 8 is a proposed amendment to the California constitution which if passed into law would be known as the California Marriage Protection Act. This California ballot proposition will appear on the November 4, 2008 ballot along with eleven other statewide propositions. Proposition 8 is one of four ballot measures which propose to amend the California state constitution and appears on the ballot titled as Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.

If it passes, it will add a new constitutional amendment to the California Constitution that will say “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California” and it will be known in law as the California Marriage Protection Act^[1]

The electoral contest over Prop. 8 has attracted passionate interest, attention and dollars from around the county. Through October 20, supporters of Prop. 8 had raised about $27 million ($21.3 from Californians), while its opponents had raised $24.3 million ($15.5 from Californians). In mid-October, there have been significantly more donors of $1,000 and above to the “No on 8″ side.^[2],^[3]

Checks in the $1 million range have been written to both campaigns from wealthy backers, and the campaigns also each have tens of thousands of small donors–62,000 donors for the “Yes on 8″ campaign and over 30,000 for the “No on 8″.^[4],^[5],^[6],^[7]

While I’m a single, heterosexual female, I fully believe who are we to put into law who can marry whom.

My feeling is this if two people love each other and wish to marry, fine by me. I think that if you love someone and they are of legal age; allow them to marry if that is their wish. Allow them the same rights that any heterosexual couples are allowed. Who are we to discriminate based upon people’s personal feelings of religion. This is no different than saying that if your Christian you should NOT marry someone who is a non believer. Take the following passages from the bible.

The Bible does not forbid interracial marriages. It does, however, forbid a Christian from marrying an unbeliever: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14).
In Numbers 12:1-8 is an account of Moses marrying an Ethiopian woman. ^“And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman” (Num. 12:1).
Other Bible verses translate this as “Cush.” Cush is the ancient location of Ethiopia. Miriam and Aaron were upset with Moses because he married a Cushite woman. Cush has also been considered to be the northern part of Egypt. Either way, it is very possible that Cushite woman was of a different race.  God defended Moses for marrying this woman.  If race were an issue, this would have been a great place to set the matter straight.
Also, people of different races were not mentioned as being among those forbidden by God for Jews to marry, see Exodus 34:11. (As taken from the CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS & RESEARCH MINISTRY website)

So what makes these types of marriages, heterosexual people of different faiths, different, from those who would seek a same sex union? These kinds of marriages happen daily and yet we aren’t busy making laws against them. The bible clearly states that both are forbidden and yet we are accepting of mixed belief marriages, so before you go tossing your bible verses at why we should deny same sex marriages; remember there is an entire bible to read not just the one or two passages that make those who are against prop 8 feel justified in their beliefs. Let’s make sure that everyone is treated equally under the law.

If we are not going to allow people of the same sex to marry, then let’s not allow heterosexual couples who do not prove they are both Christian to marry?  Ridiculous you say so do I! Where does it end?

I for one am going to vote NO on this prop.

~Kat

My sisters and I are taking Andrew, who turns five this month, for his first visit to Disneyland. While at work, when I am not listening to cnn.com live, I listen to a local radio station kost1035.com. I recently heard about a big party at Disney’s California Adventures, called Mickey’s Trick or Treat Party. After finally sorting out who was going to buy the tickets, my little sister logged on to Disney.com site and found out that the party tickets for Halloween night were sold out. Well being the internet savvy person she is, she logged onto eBay, seeing that tickets were selling for $100+ per, she checked Craigslist in Seattle, Los Angeles and Orange County.

I was at work when I received a phone call from her saying can you call this person NOW!!!! Sure I replied, she had stumbled upon a young couple, who where unable to use the tickets they had purchased. I confirmed that we were looking for 4 tickets and set up a meeting for that evening.

Upon meeting this young couple and talking to them for a bit, the wife told me that after she received my sisters’ email and my phone call confirming that we wanted them, she had an additional thirteen emails, requesting the tickets. She asked me what I had planned for these tickets, so I told her about Andrews’s upcoming trip. She was so pleased that we were using them for his visit.

So when you think that things just aren’t going your way, remember to believe and if it’s meant to happen it will work itself out.

Have a wonderful day!

Kat and the kids.

Every morning I receive an email from my boss. It’s our daily dose of motivation. He subscribes to a website called walkthetalk.com.

Today’s motivational saying is as follows: To become a courageous leader, you must realize that accepting responsibility is not optional – it’s mandatory. — David Cottrell

This little gem of wisdom is right on point and can be applied to all aspects of our lives. When you accept responsibility and stop blaming others for your short comings it opens you up to growing into the type of person who people respect and admire.

Take a look at where we are with this entire bail out of companies. If people had taken responsibility in the beginning would we really be in the position of needing such a massive bail out of our financial system?

As a people, we need to stand up and take responsibility for our actions, by doing so we’ll enable and empower ourselves.

Just food for thought!

Have a fabulous Thursday!

Kat & the kids