Kari's New Year's Resolutions!

Okay, I’ve read the research and I’ve tried to encompass everything I've learned into my long list of New Year’s Resolutions. With the exception of the first one, I am not expecting absolutes. I am focusing on small goals vs. the outcome of the resolutions. The outcomes for all are very positive and most of the expected outcomes I haven’t even mentioned here. What I am trying to do is commit to beginning and sustaining really good, healthy habits in 2012 until it becomes second nature! And that will be awesome.  So without further ado, here they are, in no particular order.

1)      No Gluten: This is my only absolute resolution. I need to cut out gluten completely. Why? I have a sensitivity to gluten. What will change if I eliminate it? Less gluten means less carbs so potential weight loss. Plus replacing the gluten with healthier options (think vegetables) will make my diet better overall. My asthma will improve, I'll feel better and I will be less tired. How do I know this? Because I spent a year gluten free and felt the best ever. But I let it creep back in so out it goes with 2011!

2)      Drink More Water: No measurement here. Just drink more than I do now, which is zero. I think I will start out small and drink a cup every morning when I get up and start from there! What’s in it for me? I am a Diet Pepsi  fanatic. I know it’s not good for me and I drink way too much. If I drink more alternatives like water, I may be able to cut down on my Diet Pepsi habit! Water is healthy. Water helps you lose weight! Water helps keep headaches away and clears your head. All good things!

3)      Make a Dinner Menu: Make a weekly menu at least twice a month. No, I can’t commit to making one every single week but I can try at least twice a month! What’s in it for me? My grocery bill will be lower. I’ll have a specific list instead of wandering through the store, throwing things in my cart we really don’t need but look good as I’m passing through. I’ll have a plan for every night. So instead of getting home at 5:30 and wondering what I am going to make for dinner, I’ll already have it planned out! I can probably do a lot of it the night before since it’s written down. I’ll be sure that we have gluten free options because I won’t be desperate and clueless and resort to boiling some noodles for a meal. And I am quite sure we will eat healthier too. More planning means better choices!

4)      Exercise: I will exercise at least 3 times a week. More than just a casual stroll around the block with Truman. I mean longer walks, getting on the treadmill, popping in a yoga DVD, etc. By spring I would like to be back into running. That would make me very happy! What else is in it for me? Stress relief. Feeling better about myself. Gaining strength.

5)      Drink Coffee: I am not a big coffee drinker and this probably seems like a strange resolution. But an article in my Real Simple magazine says that women who drink 3 cups of coffee a day are less likely to be depressed! And my Psychology Today magazine says coffee helps your brain. Plus, as with water, if I drink more of a different liquid, I may be able to get off my Diet Pepsi kick! My goal? Small. One cup a day. I have a little Keurig single cup maker so I’m all set.

6)      Bring My Lunch To Work: Lots of good reasons for this. It will save me about $25 dollars a week. Yeah! It will help me stick with my gluten free promise to myself. It will help me eat less and better because I will plan ahead. The trick is I need to pack my lunch at night so I’m ready to go in the morning. The reason why I don’t bring my lunch ever day now is that I don’t have anything prepared and don’t want to take the time in the morning.

7)      Use My State Park Sticker: I get a state park sticker every year for Christmas. Thank you! And I love the state parks. But this year, I only used it once, which is disappointing. There are many reasons to visit the state parks. If I visit the state parks more often, it will mean I am spending more time outside in nature, which I love. It will also mean I’m getting more exercise, hiking the trails or biking. And if I bring Truman, he will get more exercise too! And I’ll get some great pictures! So I need to put that State Park Sticker to good use this year!

8)      Volunteer Less: What? This probably sounds bad. But I spend a fair amount of time volunteering. My daughter and I spend a good deal of time volunteering for a local animal rescue organization. See “Volunteering Is Not For Sissies” in my past blogs. This year I was also asked to be on the Planning Committee for the local Walk to Defeat ALS. My friend Lola was battling the disease and of course I said yes when they asked me to volunteer. Little did I know it would be so all-consuming. My friend Lola passed away just shortly before the walk. So it was bittersweet and I was so thankful I was able to help. But the Planning Committee on top of the Animal Rescue on top of a very time-consuming job, was honestly too much for me. I was exhausted and I didn’t do as great of a job as I would have liked to for each of the groups, which was a personal disappointment. I will still volunteer and help out where I’m needed but I will be more mindful of my time so I can do a great job with my volunteer work!

9)      Better Balance Between Work and Home: This has always been a struggle for me. I summoned up a lot of courage this week and requested a flexible work arrangement. And surprisingly, it was approved. I wasn’t expecting that! Now I need to figure out how this is going to work! I will work four 10+ hour days a week and have a day off instead of working 5 days a week. So that’s a step in the right direction! The trick is going to be not spending my day off, working on stuff for work! Let’s see how I do!

10)   Spend More Time With Friends: I did not do a good job of this in 2011. Part of it is because I am an introvert. I recharge by spending quiet time along and I was so tired this year, I just didn’t have the energy to spend a lot of time with friends. Take a look at all the resolutions above to figure out why I was so tired! I have wonderful friends who love me no matter how much of a hermit I am and I really enjoy being with them. So I need to make a bigger effort to be there in 2012! Life is sometimes very short. I learned that the hard way this year. And regret is not easy to live with.

So there it is. My long list of New Year’s Resolutions! Just under the wire! I’ll check back in from time to time to evaluate my progress!!

Happy New Year to everyone! May 2012 bring you a host of excellent habits, strong friendship, love and success! And may you find humor in whatever comes your way!

Keep on smiling!

Christmas Gifts - Consumer Testing - Gift #2

Today I am reviewing Eggies!! A Christmas gift from my Mom! 

The eggs look really pretty on the cover! I wonder if mine will look like that!

Lots of pieces! And this is for making only two eggs!

It was tricky getting the eggs in here but aren't they cute?

There they are in the boiling water! 17 minutes! That's longer than a regular hard boiled egg!

I am gently removing the Eggies from the boiling water with a slotted spoon. Just as instructed!

And they're cooling (by the Christmas Eve candle).

Open Sesame!

They're flat!

Hmmm. A peculiar shape!

But they tasted great!!!

So what's the verdict? I thought they were fun and quirky!

I would make them for fun but I wouldn't switch over and start making eggs this way all the time!! And I wouldn't take pictures all the time either. Ha ha!

I'm thankful for the gift and the fun I will have with them when I have the time!! My Mom is always good at giving the unexpected gift!!

Keep on smiling!

Prepping for the New Year's Resolutions - Part II

It’s December 29th! I better get going on these New Year’s Resolutions if I am truly going to make any this year!  Here is more advice I have gleaned from my borderline obsessive Google searches!

Think About Changing Habits – Not End Goals:
New Year’s Resolutions shouldn’t be end goals, like losing 20 pounds.  They should be habit goals, like “I will go down in the basement and do 30 minutes of yoga, 3 times a week” instead of “I will get fit.” This is good advice and I was leaning this way so now I feel affirmed!

Start Small:
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Don’t promise yourself that you will exercise 5 days a week when 2 days a week is probably way more realistic. Also very good advice. I have a feeling what I put down in writing will not be what I have in my head. The print copy will be the low end but somehow I will feel disappointed if I don’t meet the higher threshold in my head. But I need to get over it!

Don’t Replace Something with Nothing:
Instead of eating less, try eating healthier. This is a good one for me too. I am a Diet Pepsi addict. So instead of trying to quit drinking Diet Pepsi cold turkey, I think my goal might be to drink more water during the day. Shouldn’t be hard. I don’t drink any now..

Plan to Fail:
Interesting. Visualize success but think about what you will do if a setback occurs. Instead of giving up, how will you get back on that horse? This one is always hard! It’s easy to get discouraged so having a plan ahead of time seems like a really good idea!

Be Kind to Yourself:
If you slip up, don’t give up. Just get back on the path and know that tomorrow is another day. This advice will come in handy on a day that I totally blow it. Instead of just continuing down that path because I blew it, I’ll need to drop my all or nothing attitude!

All right. Enough pontificating! I need to sit down and create some resolutions!

Keep on smiling!

2 days left!

The Most Thoughtful Gift -- Ever

This is a homemade gift from my daughter. It is my favorite of 2011!

At first I thought it was something she wrote about me. But when I got to the bottom, I was so surprised to find out it was a quote from none other than Audrey Hepburn!

It's perfect for me. Why? 

• I love quotes. I collect quotes. I post quotes. I find inspiration in quotes.
• I am an introvert. I am married to an introvert and we have an introverted daughter. I am passionate about introversion! Introverts are people too! We are not anti-social or shy. We simply recharge our batteries by spending some quiet time away from it all.
• I love taking long walks and everyone knows that often includes the dog! I love looking at trees, flowers, sunrises, sunsets, water, stars, clouds, the moon, etc.

So this quote pulled it all together!

That's what makes it my favorite. Not only is it homemade, there was definitely some thought put into it. Which is so sweet. The quote includes things that are so near and dear to my heart - so me! Someone actually gets me! And that's awesome.

Thank you Punkinella!

Go Forrest Go!

Forrest Gump is one of my all time favorite movie characters! I bet the writers, creators, directors, actors and crew had no idea at the time, what a big movie this would turn out to be! Because the premise is ridiculously unbelievable. Yet I never get tired of watching it!

So kudos to the people who brought this character to life!

And remember, "Stupid is as stupid does." :-)

http://news.yahoo.com/forrest-gump-preserved-us-film-registry-053423194.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — Forrest Gump's oft-imitated line, "My momma always said, 'Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get' " will be immortalized among the nation's treasures in the world's largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.

The Library of Congress on Wednesday announced that 1994's smash hit "Forrest Gump" starring Tom Hanks was one of 25 films chosen to be included this year in the National Film Registry.

Keep on smiling!

Prepping for the New Year's Resolution

I am not one to set New Year’s Resolutions. Mostly because they get such a bad rap! They are rarely successful and people ditch them before February begins. I have to believe that some of that is true! Have you ever worked out at a gym in January? It’s chaos! The regulars will tell you to hang in there because come February, most of the people you see won’t show up anymore and you can get on any machine you want. How sad!

I found some interesting tidbits about New Year’s Resolutions through my research. Did you know that New Year’s Resolutions can be traced as far back as Babylonian times? It is said that Julius Caesar started the tradition of making resolutions on January 1st as a way to honor the Roman mythical god Janus, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past year and forward to the New Year. According to history, Romans mostly made morality-based resolutions, such as seeking forgiveness from their enemies.

I’m not sure how successful the Ancient Babylonians were but the success rate of keeping resolutions in modern times is indeed dismal. I have read research that states an average overall success rate of anywhere from 8% to 25%.

Even so, there is some positive news. One expert believes, “The fact that people keep making resolutions even when they don’t always follow through ultimately means that they have hope and a certain level of belief in their ability to change and be more of who they really want to be.” Faith, hope and perhaps a little insanity, right?

Another positive reality is that there are ways to increase your chances of being successful with your New Year’s Resolutions. Let me share the expertise that I gained via my best friend, Google!

People who have kept their resolutions have followed some or all of the following best practices:

1. Break your goal into smaller steps.  Losing 50 pounds is a big deal but striving for a 4 pound weight loss in a month or replacing one meal a day with a salad, seems a lot more achievable and a lot less discouraging! Running a marathon is a big deal but walking 30 minutes a day 5 days a week seems almost manageable to get the ball rolling!
2. Reward yourself when you reach one of your smaller milestones. Something small but motivating! Eating an entire pizza might not be a good reward choice if your goal is weight loss but buying a book, getting a pedicure or a massage, or scheduling time to take a walk with a friend might be a good idea!
3. Tell your friends about your goals! There’s nothing like peer pressure to keep you on the right track. Marathon Running 101 tells you that you should commit to a race and then tell EVERYONE! So on that rainy Monday morning when you don’t feel like getting out of bed to run, you can think about all those people who are going to ask you how you are coming along with your training and you don’t want to be forced to say…. Uhhhhhh, I gave up. :)
4. Focus on the benefits of success.  Losing weight or exercising consistently is something to do but what will it get you? What’s in it for you? Clothes fitting better? Being able to walk up a flight of stairs without being winded? Sleeping better? Better stress management? A feeling of accomplishment? Whatever the goal is, take some time to write down all the positive things associated with your success! Focus on those when the going gets tough.
5. Keep a diary of your progress. This is a big one with weight loss, eating healthy or managing your spending but it can be successfully used for any goal. Trying to better balance your work and home life? Simply start tracking how many hours you are at work and how many hours you spend working on work stuff at home. It might surprise you enough to shock you into making a change!

One study found that people who planned a series of smaller goals (#1) had an average success rate of 35%, while those who followed all five of the above strategies had a 50% chance of success.

A 50/50 chance sounds a lot better than an 8% chance!

Despite the low success rates, and the risk of ridicule, I’ve really been thinking about it this year. It seems like if I don’t take the time to sit down, look around, put some thought into it and plan out what I want to change and how I’m going to change it, it simply isn’t going to happen.

In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Stay tuned for my ACTUAL New Year’s Resolutions! Coming soon to a blog near you!

Keep on smiling!

You Tell 'Em!!

Christmas Gifts - Consumer Testing - Gift #1

This year, as I do every year, I received some awesome and at times off-the-wall Christmas gifts. I’ll be conducting my own consumer tests with some of them and reporting back over the next few blogs.

First up? The All Over Moisture Gel Booties!

This was a great gift idea for me and here is why. One of my New Year’s Resolutions (yes, I’m finally going to create some) is going to be that I resolve to take better care of my feet. I have a little bubbling foot spa and have received many nice gifts such as lotions and soaking salts because I have a real and well known desire to take better care of my poor feet! Painful joints and a foot surgery should be enough motivation for me but I don’t do a very good job of it. This will change in 2012! So the All Over Moisture Gel Booties are terrific!

Tonight I settled down and slathered my feet with Ms. Pedicure Moisture-Rich Heel Cream. Smells minty!! Then I took the All Over Moisture Gel Booties out of their package. First of all, they really ARE gel booties! The inside is all squishy and it gave me a little shiver as I was pulling them on. But they feel great! So the plan is to slip them on, write a little, read a little and then take them off and drift off into pleasant dreams with perfectly moisturized feet.

I am one of those unique people who actually read the directions on the back of packages so the first order of business was to read about these booties. One sentence alarmed me. “Remove the booties at least 3-4 hours daily (within a 24 hour period) to allow skin to breathe.”  Yikes! Are there really people out there who would wear these nonstop for days at a time?? Ewwww! I mean they feel great and all but I can tell that there is no moisture wicking properties and no breathable qualities. They are made to hold the moisture in! So to keep them on for 20-21 hours in a day? Whew!! Even the minty fresh, rich moisture heel cream wouldn’t be enough to make that a pretty proposition!

You have to believe that someone out there must have tried it and developed some funky skin situation which prompted the company to put that little tidbit of advice on the back of the package. Geez.

I have had my booties on for a little over an hour. An hour is the minimum time recommended to wear the booties for best results. As I’m taking them off, I can definitely tell that my feet are more than a bit warm from the cozy, gel-filled, non-breathable environment. But the good news is they feel really, really soft!!  I can’t wait to see what they feel like in the morning. Hopefully still soft!  I’ll be ready for sandal weather in no time! Based on the climate where we live, I have PLENTY of time to get ready!

More fun to report later!

Keep on smiling!

I'd Like to Give A Shout Out to the Inventor of the Crockpot!

I'd like to give a shout out to the inventor of the Crockpot! What a truly remarkable invention! Simply throw any type of meat and veggies into it in the morning before you go to work, turn it on and when you get home from work and open that door, your kitchen smells like your own private chef has been toiling away all day preparing a wonderful meal for you!

Notice I said turn it on as part of the directions. It's an important step. Once I threw in meat and veggies early in the morning and forgot to turn it on. It does not have the same effect. I came home to a kitchen without wonderful smells and a vessel full of room temperature, raw meat and veggies. Not what I was going for...

And now they make crockpots with lid locks so you can batten down the hatches and travel with the crockpot without spilling its contents! This came in especially handy yesterday. My Mom provided the place for Christmas dinner and I brought all the food. Along for the ride came a huge crockpot with a huge roast and a big (but not huge) crockpot with a turkey breast. They were nestled in appropriately sized boxes for stability but it was nice to know that if for some reason they should tip, veggies and meat and onion soup mix and cream of mushroom soup and chicken broth would not spew forth and cover all of the Christmas gifts that were also packed strategically in the back of our car. That would NOT be a Christmas miracle!

As a side note, this would not be appropriate for air travel. Just in case you were thinking about it.

Have you seen the variety of crockpots out there? They even make multiple crockpots with three or four crockpots all in one! I was intrigued. But with the exception of very infrequent, large gatherings, I couldn't envision using four crockpots at once very often. But they look really cool. And the colors! You can get crockpots in virtually every color of the rainbow in addition to patterns and even camo! Yes, I spend some time in the crockpot aisle.

I'd also like to give a shout out the Reynolds company for inventing Slow Cooker Liners. No more messy clean up! I am trusting you, Reynolds company. Trusting that you have run exhaustive tests to determine beyond a shadow of a doubt, that your product is safe and will not taint our cooking!!

Thank you Hamilton Beech, Oster, Crockpot and all the other makers of crockpots and slow cookers for making me seem more talented than I really am when it comes to cooking! And thank you Reynolds for making the clean up a breeze!

Keep on smiling!

 

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone!

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve! It comes the same time each year so it shouldn't be a surprise. What's surprising is how fast it gets here every year! 

Looking back, it's been a roller coaster year for us. I lost two incredible friends this year and a lovable uncle. I look back on wonderful memories and wish they were still here to make more. But without question, they are in a better place. Lola has no doubt convinced everyone in heaven to be a vegan and is leading daily yoga classes. Rick is definitely improving the style in heaven, creating some beautiful artwork, finding new friends wherever he goes and making everyone smile and feel more loved than they thought possible - even in heaven. And Uncle Donny? He is quietly watching it all with a twinkle in his eye.

I am thankful for continued employment for the two of us and continued health for the three of us. We are very lucky. Our daughter is half way through her senior year (almost) and has made her decision on which university to attend. Yeah! Not too close but not too far! Now it's on to the scholarship hunt!

The next 48 hours are going to be hectic for us and most likely for many other folks out there! I'm an introvert so the extra people in close proximity will eventually drain me. But it's all good!

My advice to everyone, including myself, is to relax, breathe deeply and enjoy the little things along the way.

We're ready, Christmas!! Bring it on!!

Keep on smiling!

(Photo courtesy of my talented daughter!)

The Luckiest Parents Ever!

18 years ago today, our one and only baby girl was born. It turned out to be a very long day but it was so worth it because in the end we were blessed with a healthy, perfectly wonderful, baby girl. And so it has continued for 18 years.

You often hear the comment in jest, “Someday you’ll grow up and I hope you have a son/daughter just like you so you know what we’re going through!” 

But the truth is, someday I hope our daughter really does have a daughter or son, just like her. Because then she too will spend her days feeling like the luckiest parent in the world. And we will become the luckiest grandparents ever!!

Happy 18th Birthday Punkinella! I’m not sure how it is we deserved such a sweet, caring, intelligent, creative and wonderful child but we’ll take it and be thankful every day!

Can’t wait to start this new chapter of parenthood now that you are officially an adult! We love you to the moon and back and are so lucky to be your parents!

Keep on smiling!

Buddy the Elf and Mrs. Butterworth

It’s almost Christmas time and one of my all-time favorite movies (with the exception of Forrest Gump) is Elf. What do Buddy the Elf and Forrest Gump have in common? The purest hearts of any characters out there in the movie world and of course, the best quotes.

Thinking of Elf makes me think of a recent conversation with my daughter about maple syrup.

Why? Because of a classic Buddy the Elf, line. “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.”

Here is the syrup story.

My daughter is in an AP Environmental Science class. I am quite sure the teacher is trying to create a squad of vegans because it seems like they have learned a lot about how modern farming is very cruel to animals. 

One of their assignments was to eat a different diet for a week and write a paper about it. My daughter chose a quasi-vegan diet. To follow this diet, she could not eat meat (obviously) or dairy products but she could eat eggs.  That’s why I call it quasi-vegan.  My own term, thank you very much.

Being the excellent student that she is, she went full tilt into being a quasi-vegan. She researched vegan products, found recipes and made a grocery list to get started. And off to the store we went.

One of the items on the list was maple syrup.

Me: We can check this one off the list. We have maple syrup at home.

Her: We do?
Me: Yep. We have Mrs. Butterworth’s at home.
Her: Is that really maple syrup?
Me: Of course it is. It probably has some preservatives in it but it’s still maple syrup.

Even as I said it, somewhere deep inside me a little voice started growing louder. Maybe it’s not really maple syrup.

But hey, let me practice time travel and jump way back to my childhood. Come with me, won’t you?

My very best childhood friend, Nancy, also grew up on a farm. Not only was it a dairy farm, they also processed maple syrup. It was always fun to go on a class trip to their farm to see how they made the maple syrup. We got to trudge through the snow and look at all those trees with their pails hanging off from them and those big vats of syrup being made. It was super cool. Good times.

And on another note, do you know what the very best part of traveling back and forth to Canada is? The maple candy you can buy in the gift shops at the Toronto airport. (That was a completely random thought.)

But back to the story.  Maybe Mrs. Butterworth’s is not really maple syrup. Could it be? So I walked over to the shelf, turned over the bottle and here is what it said.

Ingredients: High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, salt, cellulose gum, molasses, potassium sorbate (preservative), sodium hexametaphosphate, citric acid, caramel color, natural and artificial flavors.

Wow. Not a speck of maple syrup to be found. Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing any hexametaphosphate at Nancy’s farm.

All these years I have been content to think that the Mrs. Butterworth’s on my toast, french toast and pancakes was maple syrup. Not even close. Had I read the label more closely, I may have noticed that Mrs. Butterworth does not try to pass herself off as pure maple syrup either. Only as syrup. Complete truth in advertising.

Somewhat reluctantly I told my daughter that she was right. Mrs. Butterworth’s was not real maple syrup. Just syrup. So I bought a tiny, costly bottle of pure maple syrup for her to use in her recipe and left the store a little deflated.

The cold hard truth has exposed the hoodwinking nature of yet another childhood hero of mine. I suppose this means the bottle doesn’t really talk either, right?

I still love you Mrs. Butterworth!! You’re syrupy sweet goodness is unmatched, even if you aren’t really maple syrup!

Keep on smiling!

A Sweet Love Story

One of my coworkers is in the process of planning a 60th wedding anniversary celebration for his parents. There are eight sons in the family and no daughters so right off the bat you have to give props to these parents, right?! In addition to being happily married for 60 years, raising eight sons can be no small feat!

But here’s the story that I find really sweet.

Every year on their wedding anniversary, this man would bring his blushing bride a rose representing every year of wedded bliss. One rose the first year, two roses the second year and so on. He did this right up until their 24th wedding anniversary. With two dozen beautiful roses gracing her dining room table, she made a simple request. Please don’t continue to buy a rose for every year. Although they are beautiful, heartfelt and much appreciated, it is too many and they fade so quickly. She would rather enjoy a smaller bouquet of flowers a couple of times a year than enjoy a huge bouquet once a year.

So started the tradition. Every single week, this man would bring this woman, one beautiful rose for her to enjoy.

This tradition has continued, every single week of every single year for the past 35 years. With one exception. A few years after the tradition started, this wonderful couple lost a son. So beginning that week, this man brought this woman two roses every single week. One for the love of his life and one that they take to the shrine at the church in memory of their son.

Men like this are very hard to find. They were probably very hard to find 60 years ago as well! Some will say they no longer exist. But the romantic in me believes that they are still out there somewhere. And they are waiting for that one wonderful woman who is going to inspire them to do great things and begin beautiful traditions.

Keep on smiling!

Truman - The Chocolate Lab Alarm Clock

There are two things you should know about my little family.

1)   We get up very early in the morning. My husband is up and on his way at 3:15AM. I follow at 3:45AM and our daughter is up before 5:30AM.  Yep, you have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch the worms that we early birds catch! Our dog, Truman gets up with each one of us in turn and then goes back to sleep and waits for the next family member to wake up.

2)   Truman is a great dog. He is not a barker unless someone is approaching the house. He prefers to communicate through tail wagging, body wiggling, very loud sighs and occasionally quiet whining. He starts off whining very quietly when he wants someone or something and he continues to get louder until someone notices.  Sort of like some alarm clocks!

And Truman is smart.

This morning, at 3:30 AM I heard a thump on the door followed momentarily by a very faint whine. Sure enough. Truman had head-butted our bedroom door open and was now standing in the doorway of our bedroom, looking intently at the bed and starting his incredibly quiet whining. Sort of like he doesn’t want to wake everyone up. Just one person.

Why? Because he thought we had overslept!  This is not the first time he has done this. It’s like his internal clock knows exactly what time it is and that something in the household is not right!! Either that or he can read the clocks. Hmmm. Never thought of that!?

What a great trick, right?  But today is SATURDAY!!  The day we can sleep in!!

So I got up and he was oh so proud of himself. Tail wagging, shaking out his body and doing his downward dog yoga moves. It would be wrong to get mad at the dog who may have just saved us from showing up late for work or school! So I let him outside, waited for him to sniff around and come back in, filled up his water dish, patted him on the head and stumbled back to the bedroom for some much needed additional sleep, making sure the door was shut securely behind me.

Note to self. On Friday nights, remember to shut the bedroom door completely!

And Truman, someday we really might just oversleep and I trust you will be there for us! Thanks in advance you incredible dog you!

Keep on smiling!

Fun At The Gas Station

Gas Station Story #1: I stopped at a gas station this weekend to buy a soda and use the restroom. I didn't need to put gas in my car so I parked in one of the parking spaces away from the pumps and the building.  As I was pulling into a parking spot, I noticed a guy sitting in a parked Ford SUV next to me. He was looking intently at his steering wheel and using sweeping and tapping motions with his right hand, sort of like he was on a smart phone but much larger. His SUV must have a really fancy steering wheel. Either that or he has an iPad resting on it. I pulled in and parked with some curiosity as to what kind of new gadget type steering wheel he had. As I got out of my car and stood up, I glanced over to see what he was working on. He was working on nothing. It was a plain old steering wheel without any controls or anything special. But he was still intently sweeping and tapping away like he was busy sending a very important message to the President. Suddenly, I was not so sure I should have parked there. As I came out of the building, I noticed he was still sitting there, tapping away on his make believe iPad that the rest of us like to call the steering wheel.  Taking a quick look at his out of state license plate and committing it to memory, just in case, I quietly slid between the vehicles, quickly jumped into my car and locked the doors. He never looked up. I was happy to drive away and happy that he found a way to entertain himself while he was waiting. Waiting for what, we'll never know.

Gas Station Story #2: I stopped at a gas station on the way home Sunday night to fill up. As I walked around the back of my car I just happened to look on the ground. And there in the crack between the two slabs of cement I saw a variety of cigarette butts. All shapes and sizes had rolled into the crack. Sooooooo......... does this mean that there are actually people who smoke while putting gas in their vehicle? Hello!!! Flammable liquids and fumes!!  Doesn't anyone read the caution signs??!!  They even warn you about talking on your cell phone if you are pumping gas for goodness sake.  But smoking or having a lit cigarette in your hand or throwing your burning ember on the ground by a gas tank sounds like a good idea to someone?!??!? Yikes! Dear Smoker, I curse you when your flaming cigarette butt comes flying at my car in the mornings as we drive to work in the dark. But I guess I'd much rather have you do that than throw it out at the GAS STATION!

Keep on smiling!

My Life As A Criminal

If you read my last post, you know I was pulled over on my way to do some awesome Black Friday shopping. No, I wasn't speeding. I had a headlight out! I mistakenly thought that it was just a courtesy stop keeping me and the public safe. But there was more to it. I was issued a warning and instructions that I had five days to get the headlight replaced. Then I needed to find an officer to verify the repair and then send the warning in to the county courthouse, all by December 10th.

The tricky part was how am I going to find an officer? Do I hope I run into one at the gas station or a donut shoppe? If there is an officer in the median checking speeds with a radar, can I drive up to him/her and ask? If a state patrol has someone pulled over, can I simply pull up behind the state patrol and wait? Should I sneak up on the one that hides in the park in our neighborhood and knock on his window? Or do I simply try driving 90 mph down Highway 41 until I get pulled over. When the officer approaches I can say, "Thank goodness you finally caught up with me Officer! I need this warning signed!"

All of these options were swimming through my head as I drove to the city with the best professional football team in the whole wide world. I thought of it while I shopped and wasted time before the Subaru dealership opened and I thought of it while I waited outside the Subaru dealership for it to open.

The dealership got me in right away and just as expected, it took 1.5 hours to replace the bulb. When I was leaving, my check engine light, brake light and traction control light all came on and started flashing so it was back in the garage for a quick fix.

On the way home I saw that a state patrol officer had someone pulled over near the exit for my home. Should I stop? No, that's probably not the best idea. Pick up speed and see if he follows me? No, probably not the best idea either.

When I got home, my daughter was awake after taking a power nap from our last shopping adventure. We went out to get one more gift on our list. While we were out, I was trying to convince my daughter to go with me to various police stations that I thought I could locate.  She said I was getting obsessed and I was!  I couldn’t have this hanging over my head any longer! I am not a criminal!! So as we drove through the city on the way home, I saw the sign for the police station and I followed it.

Once inside the police station I told the woman behind the bullet proof glass that I had received a warning because my headlight was out but it was fixed now so I needed an officer to verify and sign my warning. She seemed to know exactly what I was talking about so I slid my warning through the little slot.

She entered some information in the computer and told us to have a seat and the next available officer would help us.  So there I sat with my teenage daughter, on the naughty bench in the middle of a police station.

We didn’t wait too long before a very nice officer came out and helped us. They don’t mess around with this! He came out to the car with us and checked both the regular and high beams.  Once satisfied that all was well, he signed my warning and I was once again on the right side of the law. My life as a fugitive from justice lasted exactly 12.5 hours.  I couldn’t take it any longer!!

Now the good news was that my teenage daughter got to experience not only a traffic stop but also got to see the inside of a police station, all on Black Friday. That's what a Mom is for, right?

Keep on smiling!

Black Friday Shopping Madness!

My daughter and I have had a lot of fun shopping on Black Friday in the past. However, this year we have most of our holiday shopping done already so there really didn’t seem to be a need.  But when we heard even more stores were opening at midnight, and looked through all the flyers, we decided it might be a fun adventure.

So once the Thanksgiving festivities were over, we took a nap so we would be up and ready for our midnight rendezvous with crazed shoppers looking for deals.

Since we were in no need of any of the door buster deals, we left the house a little after midnight, believing that the rush of shoppers who had waited in line, would already be tapering off by the time we got to the mall.

We got less than two miles from our house and out of nowhere, blue and red flashing lights appeared behind us. There was a car directly in front of me and I pulled over, just hoping the police officer would drive right on by and either stop them or go to the emergency he must be dealing with. Wishful thinking. He pulled over right behind me.

Was I speeding? It didn’t seem like it. And if I was, so was the car in front of me but I decided I wouldn’t bring that up if given the chance. I'm pretty sure officers don't appreciate that.There was a long wait for the officer to finally approach the car. I was waiting for the “Do you know how fast you were going?” question and my honest answer would have been, “No.”  I really thought I was within the speed limit to be honest.

It turns out that’s not why he stopped me. He stopped me because I have a headlight out. Which sort of ticks me off because I just had a headlight replaced within the last two weeks! Not ticked off at the officer, mind you. Just ticked off in general that my headlights keep burning out!  That’s four headlight replacements in two years!! Two in the last two weeks!

And although I love my Subaru, the engineering on my Outback requires the garage to remove the entire front bumper every time they need to replace a headlight. That’s 1.5 hours every time I have to bring it in for this! Grrr!

Back to the story. I said, “Hey, thanks for letting me know. I’ll get it in to be replaced.” I was relieved and ready to be on my merry way. To which he replied, “Can I see your license, please?” Hmmm.  Okay. I thought telling me my headlight is out was just a nice public service gesture… but okay… He took my license and my insurance card, looked at it, verified the address, asked for my telephone number and asked me if there was anything he would find on my record. Of course I told him no.  And there really isn’t anything there. I am nothing if not a law-abiding, rule-following kind of girl.

So we sat and waited for what seemed like a very long time. I was amazed at the number of cars traveling on this road at this hour of the night. After the adrenaline of being pulled over started wearing off, it was sort of embarrassing to be sitting there in the bath of flashing lights!  But what can you do? We actually laughed a little bit about it. Our first stop on Black Friday wasn’t exactly what we had pictured it to be!

Eventually the officer came back….. with a warning. I have five days to get my headlight fixed. Then I have to find an officer to verify that the repair has been done and ask him/her to sign and provide his/her badge number.

I wanted to ask, but was too afraid to, "How do I find an officer to verify the repair?”  Do I just drive around and look for one stopped at a gas station? Do I drive down to the one who hides by the park in our neighborhood and walk up and knock on his window? If I see one in the median, should I pull up behind them? Do I drive around looking for a police station?  Stop at a weigh station? How do I do this?

Hey, here’s an idea! I could drive down US Highway 41 at 90 mph and when an officer finally pulls me over I could say, “Thank goodness you finally caught up with me Officer! I need you to sign this form for me.” 

Hmmmm... I guess that’s probably not the best approach. I’ll figure something out.

You may be curious if this stopped us from our Black Friday shopping.  Nope!  We continued on and in just a few hours we were back home with a few good purchases.

My daughter has had enough excitement for one night and has gone off to sleep. I’m getting ready to go back out solo to do a little more shopping. And then it’s over to the Subaru dealer to be first in line when the service department opens at 7:30 AM! 

Just another adventure in A Very Kari Life!

Keep on smiling!