Kattitude

Hi to anyone who reads this. I have a new journal at New site. C-ya there! Kat

Well I hate writing or should I say I hate opening up on paper or online and letting people see the real me. There are a handful of people that get me and still love me thankfully. I just don't disclose the whole me to all of them. Why? Well remember I'm a psychology major. I'm figuring that out. I keed! I know why. Just choose not to talk about it. Now back to my original thought. Writing. I'm taking a informal essay class this semester which means exposure in a round table setting. Oh my! I get sick thinking about it.

PS A lot has happened this past month. My grandmother died, I quit my job and PC was so sick we ended up in the ER.

Looking forward to September. Suzie's Birthday is tomorrow and that makes me smile!

Happy Birthday Suzanne!

Well? I guess so. It all started four weeks ago when I was bored and thought; hmmm I need to go back to work. Seemed like a great idea at the time and could prove to be just that. Time will tell. I began looking for a part time job on careerbuilders.com and monsters.com, with no luck. Then my Mother suggested I check out craigslist.com. I have been familiar with Craigslist, it is a site I look at every once and a while for items for sale, but never thought too look for a job there. However, now I know this site is more than that, because I found a part time job with perfect hours for a non-profit organization. I am an administrative assistant at my new job and since this is my first week, I don’t have much to report but will let you know how things work out. No pun intended.

Things that are in my head right now:

I want Lisa Loeb’s glasses. Where can I find these??? Help!

Yesterday was a day of exploring. Matt and I decided to have a photo competition using our camera phones. The idea was that throughout the day we would take random pictures. No real rules, just plain old fun. After looking at the photos. Oh and I forgot to mention that at the end of the evening, my child decided to take pictures with our camera in the car. Thus, her photos were added to the mix. So, as I was saying, after looking at ALL the photos taken, we believe our three year old kid won. Here are the eleven photos.(NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

Making a living in Wine sales seems to me, an ideal job. The only problem with me ever becoming a Wine sales representative is…..I know little about wine. So I started looking into ways to become a connoisseur of wine without becoming a lush. This prompted me to join Corkd.com, a website that allows ordinary people to review and share different types of wines. You have a profile listing your favorite wines, cost and what they taste like to you. Through this site I have learned a lot about wine from my peers or fellow juiced equals. I also decided I should become versed in how to store wine since I don’t have a huge wine cellar. Apparently, us common folk drink our Red wine too warm and our White wine too cold. Shoot, I’ve been known to put an ice cube in my White wine to make it tasty to me. Oh and Red wine can never be too warm. Shows you what I know. Anyway, turns out most people purchase a bottle of Red wine and store it on their kitchen countertops. This is fine, if you remember it should be consumed at around 68-70 degrees. How do you make that happen you ask? Well, let it sit on the counter and then chill the bottle in a ice bucket so it can reach 70 degrees. You will taste the difference! Now with White wine it is the opposite. Store it in the refrigerator and when you are ready to indulge, pour the wine into a wine decanter and let it warm up giving it oxygen. Or if you store White wine at room temperature, you should ice the bottle and let it reach 55 degrees and always let it breath. Actually, that goes for both types of wine. Now if you have the extra funds a small wine cellar can simplify everything. Here is one that I really like for $179 by Cuisinart. It stores eleven bottles of wine with eight preset storage temperatures for both Red and White wine. Whatever way you decide to enjoy your wine, keep in mind that storing wine properly and manipulating the temperature correctly before you drink it makes a profound difference. Simply, make sure Reds are cold enough and that Whites are warm enough. Well, with all that said, Do you think I could sell wine?

Things that are in my head right now:

The actor/comedian, Eddie Izzard will be on Carson Daly Friday night, July 28th.
The band, Rock Kills Kid's new CD is out.
The dark comedy, Always Sunny in Philadelphia is warped humor and I can't stop watching.

Okay, Okay! All has returned to normal since the a/c debacle. The a/c repair guy came at 4pm instead of 10am and we survived. Oddly, three other people have told me that they also had busted a/c units that day. Fluke? Who knows. I did however, come across an article in the St Pete Times about air conditioning. The article is interesting because there are people out there, living in Florida without a/c by choice. Truth be known, I could live without it, but WHY? Looking back, I remember when I was in ninth grade. My friend, Lisa Blackmon lived in a quaint three bedroom home without air conditioning. A family of five didn't think anything about being HOT. When I spent the night, I recall she and I sleeping in t-shirts and panties without covers. We were so busy telling stories and laughing, we didn't care about being uncomfortable. As a matter of fact, we spent a lot of time together outside of her home doing cartwheels and cheers.

My family last night without notice had to rough it. The unthinkable happened around 7pm yesterday. Our air condition stopped working. Sigh. Now I knew that the a/c repair person wouldn't look at the a/c unit until the next morning and I could have called one of my friends for a cool place to stay for the night. But, I couldn't leave my pets. Broke my heart several years ago when after Hurricane Charley I had to leave my guys at the house while we retreated to material comforts. So with ceiling fans running at high and windows open, we slept in 80 degrees and surprisingly slept well. The a/c person should be here at 10am. So lets hope they do get here at 10am. It's 9am now. Fingers crossed.

Lately I have had several notions running around in my head. Somehow, Summer time always gets my blood running and creates all this energy within me. For as long as I can remember summer has been the time of year that the Sagittarius in me comes out. That folksy part of me that finds happiness doing anything outside, unless it is during the hours of 10am and 4pm. remember, I do live in Central Florida. Examples of things I want to do this summer, take sailboat lessons, learn how to tap dance, attend drum circles on new/full moons, fly a kite, go to the beach as much as possible and balance/ride a unicycle. Like I said these are things I want to try, oh I forgot to mention learn Spanish so I can go to Mexico. With all these wonderful ideas said. What did I do last weekend? I became a tourist at Sea World. Yep and as awful as this sounds compared to the other things mentioned, it turned out to be a ton of fun. PC, Matt and I saw the dolphins, penguins, turtles, sharks, fish aquarium, Clydesdale horses, hospitality house, children's play area, shamu and the sea lion show. We each had favorites that day. Me the Clydesdale’s, Matt the hospitality house, PC the penquins. So there you go....there is nothing like spending time at a man made amusement park to get me in touch with nature. ;0

About four years ago I watched fireworks from my yard with my new puppy, Bishop. I didn't realize he wouldn't like the sound of pops and sight of colorful lights. He literally ran into traffic, thank goodness the cars were moving slowly. Today, Bishop is a sweetheart of a dog that still hides at my feet when the fireworks go off. Even the ones that neighbors set off and it seems like they set them off until midnight. Poor Bishie. It's safe to report that tonight we watched the downtown orlando fireworks at the fountain from our home with the animals inside and they are fine.

Recap of today's events:

Phoebe really enjoyed seeing the pink fireworks most of all and loved pointing out the purple ones to me since she knows purple is my favorite color. It was super special. The whole day was busy and fun. We started out at the Winter Park 4th of July celebration and then headed to Angie's for a family BBQ. After that we went over to Joe and Christine's, our annual destination. Joe and Kevin really get into cooking on the grill and the food is always good. It was great seeing everyone. While hanging out Joe pointed out a plane flying above that had a banner that read something about LakeEola Place, condos that will replace our old apartments on Mariposa Street. I couldn't help but get sad because the street that brought me so much, will be changed forever. No more vortex, no more strangers meeting strangers and embracing each other as family just because they share a city block, no more long walks home late at night singing and yelling "WAKE UP" and no more block parties. Mariposa Street has a very special place in my heart, I mean my kid was concieved there. With that said, good bye Mariposa Manor and hello LakeEolaplace.


PS SuzyQ, Thanks for stopping by tonight. Love ya!

Today was a special day because my daughter participated in her first 4th of July parade held at her preschool. All the children marched including the one year old kids, well they rode in wagons. They played drums and sang, U S A. It was adorable. Later, I picked PC up from school and we headed to the YMCA. Every Monday and Wednesday, she takes an exercise class while I work out. Today, I wasn't feeling the need to kill myself working out like I did on Friday. As a matter of fact, on Friday I worked out in the morning and then returned that afternoon with my friends Julia and Susan to take my first Spinning Class. It was the quickest 45 minute workout and I'm totally hooked. Just not today. Go figure?

Packed up the family and headed for the west coast for the day, early before it rained. Destination, Maderia Beach. Imagine gorgeous white sandy beaches with warm water that isn't as active as the East coast. Heaven, simply heaven. We swam, played in the sand, looked for shells and had lunch with Tracy and Todd outside by the water. Totally worth the drive!

Hanging upside down in my living room on my exercise ball is a refreshing way to meditate. Today while doing just that I couldn't help but think about the night before. A night of catching up with friends, making new friends, drinking and dancing. The evening started out at Peacock Room, the music was pure house, which could have been good if everyone was into it. But by the time the second of five DJ's started spinning, our group decided to head downtown. One of my favorite places to go downtown is Eye Spy. This bar has no roof and the music is a mix of 80's and 90's with some current stuff too. There was around eight of us that went, not to mention meeting up with my friend ShaNaNa and her new boyfriend. The more the merrier. Anyway, as soon as we got there ShaNaNa bought me a drink and we all know what that was....a Shot of Jager. Yummy! Just warms my soul. So back in my living room,while on my exercise ball, I start to think about the first time I had Jager and I remember it clear as day. I was nineteen years old and had been in Germany all of three months. It was around 1pm on an unusually bright clear day in December. I was sitting at a picnic table with some new friends who encouraged me to have a shot of Jager thinking I would gag and they would get a good laugh. But, to everyones surprise including me...I liked it. Now, since I wasn't a drinker back then nor am I really one now, Jager took awhile to become the drink that it is to me now. And to be honest, mixing jager doesn't do it for me, cause mixing creates a hangover the next day. Don't need that. Back to my original story, To the best of my knowledge no one got sick or lost anything last night. We all had a good time and we closed the place then headed over to the hot dog vendor. That's right!! Nothing like a hot dog after a night of drinking!!

I try hard throughout the day to take in my surroundings. Especially since Matt has a knack for doing just that. He always points out the sky making shapes or a rainbow after it storms. I suppose his love for photography helped enhance his moxie. Anywho, today I found myself sitting under a tree watching the wind shake the foliage in the trees. The leaves started falling, like dollar bills from the sky. Most of the leaves were bright green and they twisted and turned in the wind. I was in pure wonderment.

PS No flight to San Antonio, Tx for now.

There is nothing like walkie-talkies to seal the nickname deal. Many moons ago Radio Shack had this deal on walkie-talkies, something like $40 for two of them. There were four of us living across the street from each other and the idea of having a device that would keep us connected at all times seemed too good too be true. So we did it. Bought walkie-talkies and let me tell you….we used them. We found ourselves using CB Radio lingo, stuff like…Roger That and Over. We realized quickly that we needed alias. After an evening of watching TV together, we came up with nicknames. Missy became Super- TY, Matthew became Snuffy, I became BigBird, pre Kattitude days, and Tracy became Princess.

This is one of several stories that came rushing into my thoughts today when I got an email from Matt in regard to reduced airline fares. Southwest Airlines is offering a one way flight out of Tampa to San Antonio, Tx for only $44 dollars if purchased today. The reason this deal hit home for me is because Tracy aka Princess is pregnant and her baby shower is July 22nd. It would be the best ever if I surprised her at her baby shower. It is sad to admit, but I haven’t seen Tracy for over 2 years. Recently Tracy was telling Missy during a phone conversation how much she missed all of us. I talked with Missy today about the possibility of her flying with me to see Tracy but she is reluctant because her twin sister, Jenny is due with her baby on the vary day that Tracy is having her baby shower. So now I have to decide if I want to fly by myself or not. I have made this trip before and it is only a 2 hour direct flight. But I have only flown by myself twice and that was when Matt’s Mother, Kathy was dying. I flew to Indiana with Matt and then returned home to Orlando by myself then later returned again to Indiana by myself for her funeral. I did fine traveling back then, even with emotions running wild. So I think I would be fine. I mean I've flown a lot but usually with someone. What should I do? I have till midnight to decide….help?

Super-TY,BigBird (Kattitude) and Princess. Snuffy took the picture.

A desire to make people laugh has been burning in my heart for a long time now. The problem is…..I don’t feel comfortable telling jokes in front of strangers. You see, whenever I am hanging out with my friends, I make them laugh and it makes me feel good. So the idea of doing stand up puts a bug in my skirt. But, I think doing stand up would be difficult and because of that I can’t seem to get up enough courage to do it. I have threatened to have a Kattitude (my alter ego) stand up night complete with a stage and one drink minimum in my home, but still haven’t made that happen.

Well, the reason this dream has been rekindled is because a good friend of mine did her first stand up last night. She has had success in the entertainment industry already, just never any stand up. So, I went to support her and she killed it. She has this insane laugh that is infectious with some really good material that everyone can relate too. She plans on doing this stand up thing every Monday night, so maybe I will finally work up the nerve to put the spot light on myself. Whoop, yawp! Sorry, that was Kattitude?

Ang in Action:
Angela Ramos Website

Cold and wishing, wishing to be anywhere but on the third floor window sill of this six story building with no elevator. Literally sitting on the edge of the window sill with no desire to jump, just wanting to feel a live. All alone in a foreign country the year is 1987. Living in Germany for two years prior had been an adjustment. Yeah, it takes me a bit to recalibrate to my surroundings. I had become a young woman who missed her hometown of Marianna, Florida. A very small town that, to me, seems a lot like Stars Hollow on the Gilmore Girls without the snow. Everyone knew everyone and there was always something to do. I suppose I missed my innocent youth. Realizing what I had left behind and wondering what the future held. My music choices had even changed since then. Probably why to this day, I truly love all music. In the early eighties I loved funk and R&B and even began to enjoy rock. But when I moved overseas things changed. While working for the government as a dental assistant I befriend a private first class soldier who was my age. He had just been assigned to
Harvey Barracks and had several mix tapes of music I had never heard before. His kind of music was hard to come by and this guy was kind enough to share and I was hooked. The Cure, The Smith’s, U2 and REM to name a few. Needless to say, I was listening to one of these mix tapes the night I was looking out my third floor window dreaming about my previous life in Marianna, Florida. If you’re wondering, I was inspired to write this entry after a friend of mind sent me a link to the 100 Awesome Music Videos featured on youtube.com and I came across The Smiths song "Stop me." Here are some of the lyrics to give you some insight on me during this time in my life.

Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've
Heard this one before
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before

Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
...Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love


I was delayed, I was way-laid
An emergency stop
I smelt the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
Who said I'd lied to her ?

Germany

Has it really been almost three months since I have posted. Gosh, tons of things have happened since then. Let's see...my daughter turned three in March complete with a bouncy house party. Then I managed to fail Stats this past semester, which really set me back mentally. Matthew started a new job in April and seems to enjoy it. Then in May we went to the beach house at Madeira Beach with two other families that we are really close too. It was relaxing, refreshing and tiring too because we stayed up late almost every night.

After taking Phoebe to school this morning I attended mass at St James. Nothing like walking around with a ashed cross on your forehead. Thank goodness during circle time today at Phoebe's school they discussed what Ash Wednesday is about, cause if they didn't she would have really thought I was hurt or something.

Yeah, yeah....I know. I am a stay at home mother that hates to cook. Well, to be honest, Matthew enjoys it and really creates some wonderful dishes which makes me feel inadequate. Thus, I had to find a way to prevent him from coming home from work to cook. The remedy isLet's Eat! Not only does this help us eat good food at home, it gives me and my girlfriends time together preparing the food. FUN for all!

Through the years I have always had close relationships. I have been lucky to truly know so many people. Just knowing when someones birthday is or there favorite color can tell you so much about them. Maybe I am a good judge of character, who knows, its all relative. Cause all people deserve a chance.