Monday, November 19, 2012

No Offense But..........

People who know me might find it hard to imagine, but growing up I was painfully shy. Content to stay in the background, not offer any opinions, not make eye contact, not easily making new friends. Well, all that's changed now and thankfully I grew out of being shy. As a matter of fact, there are times when I probably speak more than I should. It's a fine line between holding back and letting it all come out. Well tonight I'm letting it all hang out...maybe not all, but definitely some of it hang.

HOLIDAY DECORATIONS: Holiday decorations seem to run the gamut from nothing to lights on every conceivable surface and the front lawn covered.  No offense to anyone, but I absolutely....strongly dislike, the inflatables. Today I saw my first Thanksgiving turkey, inflatable, on someone's lawn. I had an irresistable urge to get a BB gun and shoot it. In my opinion, Thanksgiving/Autumn decorations are pumpkins, gourds, wreaths in oranges, browns, yellows, NOT big inflatable turkeys in your yard.

Same thing with Christmas decorations. I once saw a yard, a small front yard, with inflatable Santas, reindeer, a snowman, a Grinch and the Grinch's dog all in the same yard, bunched together. Tacky, tacky, tacky.....in my opinion. Inflatable decorations seem to be all the rage the past couple of years, and while I don't care for any of them, if you have to have them, have one or two and call it a day. If you like them, then by all means go right ahead, I'll smile and nod, all the while scoping out my targets for my BB gun.

THANKFULNESS:  For the month of November there is a trend on Facebook for some people to list, everyday, something that they are thankful for. People are very sincere and put a lot of thought into what they are thankful for and some of the things are very touching and emotional. I even participated in it several years back, when I first joined the "Facebook Nation".

Maybe because I am a Capricorn, maybe it's my Swiss/German  ancestry (and probably a little British thrown in for good measure) I tend to me more reserved about public displays of affection, spilling my emotions. So, and I mean no offense to anyone, but I would love to post on the last day that I am thankful that I don't have to read what everyone is thankful for anymore. Does that sound mean, probably but I really don't mean it to be, but that is just how I feel.

Now I do have a facebook friend who is posting what she is thankful for and I actually love it. One day she is thankful for her seat warmers in her car, another day she is thankful for pierced earrings because no matter if she gains a few pounds or is bloated, they will always fit. She is also thankful for the PAC 10, which has 14 teams, which just goes to show that she is not the only one who is bad at math. Now THAT is the kind of thankfulness I can get behind. I tend to be drawn to the snarky and sarcastic, I love it.

JUSTIN BIEBER: Entertainer of the Year.....really.......really??? He's just a kid, a talented one yes, but a kid. What has he done to be Entertainer of the Year. There are numerous other musicians who have paid their dues, struggled, worked their way up and have tremendous talent. As a friend of my commented, it's all about the money, with all his "tween" followers, he has probably raked in the money, but is that the basis of being Entertainer of the Year? I hope not, but, in my opinion, he may better deserve that honor after he has a few more years under his belt. Please!!

Well, I'm done offending people for now but I just had to get it off my chest.  Ahhhhh, now I feel better. Just remember people, do whatever you want, it's a free country. If it makes you feel good that's all that matters, but you might think twice before you ask me my opinion.


Kathy

















Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Crazily, Hopelessly, Head Over Heels In....

in love. My new love makes me feel cozy, makes me feel warm. I met my love at the JCPenny Outlet store a couple of months ago. Now, we've had a previous relationship, but I had felt smothered and constricted, but somehow this time was different. This time I felt strong and in charge, more confident.....or maybe it's because I'm turning into my mother!

You see, I am in love with "the turtleneck sweater". I've always had one or two in my winter wardrobe every year, but usually I've only liked a cowl-neck, nothing tight. If I wore one with a tighter neck, I was constantly pulling on it, it made me feel like I was choking. But all of a sudden this year I've had a change of heart. I'm likin' the tighter neck.

My Mom always says her neck gets cold in the winter and she wears a scarf around her neck a lot of times. She was always asking me if my neck was cold whenever I wore a just V-neck sweater or a collared blouse. Well, even though I am cold natured, having my neck exposed didn't seem to affect me that much, until this year. All of a sudden, if my neck is cold I am cold all over. And I've been kind of doing an informal survey of women at work and apparently "cold neck" syndrome seems to be quite common. Some wear turtlenecks while some just wear scarves around their necks, silky or knitted scarves that go with their outfits. All very stylish.

When I went shopping a few weeks ago, I bought turtlenecks, turtlenecks and more turtlenecks. Different colors, different styles, some heavy for when winter really hits and some lightweight, better for Fall weather.  A few had a more relaxed neck, while the others a more fitted neck. I probably have about a dozen right now, not that I'm obsessed or anything. Even now as I'm sitting here typing this, my neck is cold, even though I keep pulling up the collar of my robe around it. Do they make turtleneck pajamas?

Oh, did I mention that I also bought a couple of scarves, apparently I'm easily influenced. I'm not obsessed with the scarves......yet. I just want a few, you know, maybe as a change of pace from the turtleneck every now and then. I want options.


Kathy







Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Election 2012

I have deliberately not weighed in on the Presidential election on any social media sights. It seems the vehemence with which people discuss the candidates they disagree with has reached an all time low. Yes, I'm glad people are passionate about what they believe in, but the name calling and personal attacks coming from each side is both distasteful and childish. Plus the fact that anyone who has professed to be undecided must be an idiot, brainless, a fool or have no love of their country.

Well, guess what, I have been one of those demonized "undecided" voters......until last weekend. I take my right to vote very seriously and while I am a member of a particular party, I always vote for the person NOT the party. I have no qualms about voting for the other side if I believe in the other candidate and in what their plans are for the country. I took a long time to decide because I wanted to make sure I was comfortable with my choice no matter who wins.

Do I think that Mitt Romney is an evil capitalist who plans on sending all our jobs our of the country? No, I don't. Do I think he wants to destroy Social Security and Medicare? No, I don't. 

Do I think Barack Obama is trying to destroy this country? No, I don't. Do I think he wants to destroy the healthcare industry? No, I don't.

Of course if you vote for one man, you're labeled a racist and if you vote for the other man, you're not a Christian. COME ON NOW......really.......really?

Call me naive, but I do believe both men just have different visions of what they want this country to be and achieve. I also believe that any candidate can have plans for what they want to accomplish and depending on the make-up of the Congress and what I like to call "that big book of secrests" that each President hands off to the next, they may have to alter their vision.  There is a lot more going on that they don't know about until they are behind that desk.

I studied the issues that both men believed in. There are issues on the right that I believe in and about the same number of issues on the left that I agree with.  So it came down to three issues that stood out and even two of them I could go either way. So now I'm down to one issue and it's one that I am passionate about and that is how I will be placing my vote. Do I have doubts, sure, but feel I have made my decision based on issues and not by party or popularity.  So remember, just because someone is "undecided" doesn't mean they aren't carefully weighing the issues and coming to an informed decision.

Tomorrow morning, no matter the winner, I will respect our President, even though I may not agree with everything he does.  I will also pray that he does the job to the best of his ability and for the good the country. And remember, if you don't agree, the beauty of our way of government is we can work towards finding and electing a different man/woman in four more years.


Kathy



Saturday, November 3, 2012

A "Hairy" Situation

My hair and I have a love/hate relationship, or maybe I should say a tolerate/hate relationship. I want long, thick, naturally curly hair. A wild mane that would be uncontrollable and hard to tame. Hair that people all over would envy and covet. But........alas, I have fine, straight, short hair. Nothing that anyone would covet.

I usally keep my hair short, I feel like it is more flattering to me, but mostly because I'm lazy. I hate to mess with my hair and I don't have time before work in the morning to do anything special to it. This way I can wash my hair at night when I take a shower and in the morning I just have to run a comb or my fingers through it....and I'm done.

But every once in a while I get a hankering to grow it out, not particularly long, maybe just to the collar and all one length. Of course if I did that it would then involve "fixing" everyday. And everytime I try to grow it out, it gets to that certain length where it drives you crazy. Hair is hanging in my eyes, not laying right or just plain looking like a big mess. I have a fantastic hairdresser, Tim, who has tried to help me when I have decided at times to grow my hair out by keeping it trimmed up and giving me different products to use, but then it gets to that certain point and I go in and tell him to cut it all off!!

Everytime I start thinking about changing my hair, I become a "hair stalker". I start looking at everyone's hair, trying to find a style that I like or that looks easy to take care of.  I've even, in the past, asked several people if I could take a picture of just their hair to use as a reference. But I think my biggest problem is I'm not really sure what hairstyle looks best on me. I like my short hairstyle, but I'm always afraid it's not feminine enough and I feel the need to always wear earrings when my hair is short. But if I grow it out I don't want to look like a hot mess either.

So here I am, contemplating a change again and unsure which way to go.  I really envy the African American women who can wear their hair practically shaved off and look fantastic. Maybe I should just shave my head and wear a wig. Maybe I should just keep my hair short and use products to "poof" it up, although I'm not really a "poofy" kinda gal. Is there a better way to style my hair than the ol' let it fall where it may system?

I know there are bigger things in the world to concern myself with, the aftermath of epic storms, important elections, terrorists running amok across the globe. But really, think about it, if a woman is not happy with her hair then no one is going to be happy. 

Kathy