This morning, as I was getting dressed for work, I had on Fox11 news. Instead of seeing the usual traffic jams and hearing the news of the morning, I was forced to watch a very public apology of a man to his wife, family, friends, the general public and sponsors, for his marital infidelities.

I had to ask myself what kind of society are we need to watch something that is so personal between a man and his wife, that he feels compelled to explain himself, in such a public forum, to those who aren’t in the marriage between he and his wife.

I will agree, Tiger had an issue with keeping his pants zipped up, but what we don’t know is what went on between Tiger and his wife, nor should we care. Society has a way of putting “superstars” of sports, TV and film upon pedestals; this is a recipe for failure. When society forgets that the person they put upon the pedestal is only human like we are, they might be graced with exceptional sports, acting, writing or other abilities, but that doesn’t mean that they cease to be human as well. What makes Tiger different from the average Joe is his abilities to play golf and market himself?

I agree, he did owe his wife an apology, did he owe his sponsors one, well that would only be a yes, if he’s deliberately marketed himself to them as a man as pure as the driven snow and that he’s perfect, without any of the usual human failings. Did he owe the public at large an “I’m sorry for cheating on my wife.” in my opinion NO. Charles Barkley said it clearly and I agree with him, He’s no role model that should be the parents’ job, not the job of someone who is a “Star”

Society needs to remember that Tiger is just as human as the next person, I don’t see every cheating husband or wife hopping on the TV to apologize to the world at large for their indiscretions, if that happened, good god we’d be watching some really boring TV.

I hope that Tiger and his wife do what is best for them without consideration for anyone else but their children.

Best of luck to both!

Kat and the kids

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