Karen’s Place

I remember some time ago, maybe a year or so I complained on my blog about how much I spent filling my gas tank. I think back then I spent $36 to fill my little Ford Focus. Tonight I spent $47 to filling up my tank. Yes that’s right $47!!! When is this going to stop? Yeah, that was a rhetorical question. I almost got a knot in my stomach while paying for it. Unbelievable! Have I heard anything about the price of oil in the election campaigns? Nope. Nothing. Zilch. I have been getting a little better gas mileage lately though; I’ve been trying that trick I read about in one of those chain emails. It said not to hold the gas nozzle all the way down while pumping the gas, I can’t remember the physics involved in the reasoning but it actually seems to be working. I’ve been getting about 20 miles more per tank. It’s not much, but it’s something…

Speaking of saving gas. When I took this new job at work, one of the perks was the ability to work from home one day a week. I knew it would be a while before I’d be able to do that, but I’m working on a project now and I’m pretty settled in so, starting tomorrow I’ll be working every Thursday from home. It will be SO nice. It will not only save me gas, but already in the new job I get to wear casual clothes every Friday, but now with not being in the office on Thursdays I only have to come up with work clothes three days a week. That will be really nice! Oh yeah, and the extra hour of sleep will be great too. I worked from home for a while several years ago and it was so nice! Get up, make my coffee and wonder into the office for the day. Maybe get dressed, maybe not until lunch. I am looking forward to this. The others in my department don’t come in on their work at home days for anything. They even call in for meetings. I’m really looking forward to this. Oh, yeah and of course I’ll be much more productive.

Let’s see what else is going on…Oh, so Saturday I’ve been invited to a divorce party. Really? A divorce party? I suppose if this guy were that terrible of a person the gal would be pretty happy to be rid of him, but celebrating the end of something you thought would last forever? I really don’t get that. However, my friend has asked me as a favor to come out because this young lady doesn’t have that many friends. So I will. I hope it doesn’t turn in to a night of man bashing. As disappointed as I’ve been in men in the past and even recently, you can’t blame an entire gender for the acts of a few (or maybe even many).

Ahh yes, and then there’s my brother…He ended a conversation on the phone with me yesterday stating “so there’s something for your blog!” So here it is:

We were at dinner Saturday and they got his order wrong (my brother and sister are extremely picky eaters and special order everything). He told the waiter and returned his plate to the kitchen. A few minutes later the manager came over, apologized for the mistake and comped his meal. What the heck? I never get anything comped EVER! He always gets stuff for free, or he wins stuff. Whatever! So yesterday he calls me and asks me if I had been to Jose Peppers earlier. Nope, I came home right after work and vegged. He seemed skeptical and asked again. I assured him I’d been nowhere near Jose Peppers. He said he and his family had just had dinner there and when they asked for the bill the waiter said it had already been taken care of. What?? Already taken care of? He said yes, when they walked in a lady had noticed them and told the staff she wanted to take care of their bill. Holy Cow! This would be why my brother was so sure I’d been there. Are you kidding me? I have better things to do than stake out Jose Peppers and secretly pay my brothers $200 food bill! Still, it was an awesome thing for this person to do and a really great opportunity for my brother and family to pay it forward.

Here I go watching movies again…

This time it was The Bucket List. Two of my favorite men were in this one, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Here is the quote I came away with thinking about this time.

“The ancient Egyptians had a beautiful belief about death. When their souls got to the entrance of heaven, the gods asked them two questions. Their answers determined whether they were admitted or not.

Have you found joy in your life?

Has your life brought joy to others?“

For me, the first question is easy. Have I found joy in my life? Yes, I believe I have. I find it most of all every single time I hear my niece and my God children laugh, there is no better sound in the entire world. It may sound corny, but I find joy in an unexpected beautiful sunrise (like this morning). I find joy watching my dog run carefree and happy, and I find joy when I can laugh so hard my gut hurts and tears are streaming down my face. When was the last time you did that? I don’t do it nearly enough, and it is one of the best feelings in the world.

The second question, however…Has my life brought joy to others? I honestly don’t know…I would like to hope so, but it depends on each person’s definition of the word ‘joy’. All I can do is be myself and be the best person I know how to be…

Here is the video from the movie. People either love John Mayer or dislike him, I’m on the love side. As if you can’t tell from the song, it’s reminding you to tell people what you need to while you have the opportunity. You don’t know when the opportunities will no longer be there. We hear this advice a lot, but how many of us actually take it? Here’s an example. My former boss that I love dearly was having a conversation with me Thursday morning where we were laughing and joking. Then returned to her office to find out her father was in cardiac arrest…he didn’t make it. This was completely unexpected. We can’t take life for granted.

Check this out-It made me laugh so hard!  If you have a cat, you’ll understand!

I watched a movie this afternoon called Madea’s Family Reunion. I expected a normal comedy, similar to Eddie Murphy’s comedies where he plays multiple characters, instead though it was Tyler Perry. What I got was a really great movie, with some pretty deep issues. One quote in particular spoke to me. I was lucky enough find it on line. It goes like this:

“We had a love so strong, that it just seemed like we were one. I mean, I would get ready to tell him something and he would open his mouth and say the very thing that I was fixin’ to tell him. Do you know how frustratin’ that was sometimes? Oh, Lord I couldn’t stand it! And then…there were those moments when I would just lay my head on his chest just to listen to his heartbeat; and then one night, I realized his heartbeat matched mine. Lord have mercy…The rhythm is off now, he’s gone. Don’t fret for me; I have had opportunity that few people ever get on this earth. God has blessed me to share time and space with the man that He designed Himself, just for me. I’ve not only been blessed, I have been divinely favored.”

Here are my thoughts-

A week ago I was able to spend some wonderful quiet time with my army man here at my house. It was very very late one night (or very very early in the morning) and we were sitting on my porch swing on my deck. It was so beautiful out it was almost storybook (as it has seemed to be each time we’ve been together). The breeze was blowing, the stars were out, and the bugs weren’t even biting. He was so tired he was almost slap happy, so at this point not really responsible for what he was saying. He says to me ‘you are so sweet, so smart, such a deep thinker –like me, but above everything you have been such a wonderful friend to me these past few months and I consider it truly a blessing to of met you.’ Needless to say I was blown away by those words. No one in my entire life had ever said such things to me. I knew he meant them.

I chose this time to tell him that I’d given it a lot of thought and even though we hadn’t known each other very long, I didn’t think I wanted to see other people while he was in Afghanistan. Well, that woke him up! That was totally the wrong thing to say! He hit the ceiling! He told me under no circumstances was I to wait for him. If I had the opportunity to date someone while he was gone, I was to absolutely date someone else. He was not to hold me back. What if the person I turned down was ‘the one’? I couldn’t believe what he was saying to me. I was heartbroken and although I was able to move this conversation to the back of my mind to somewhat enjoy the rest of my weekend, I remained heartbroken for the remainder of the following week.

This past Friday my army man finally received his transfer orders…

He’s on a much smaller post here than in North Carolina. He would be leaving in eight business days. Yes that’s correct eight business days. I haven’t double checked with him since, but by my calculations that makes it Wednesday the 25^th. Talk about adding to my heartache! He had business out of town this weekend so we couldn’t see each other, and with as fast as he has to move and the distance we live from one another, I’m not all that sure we’ll see one another before he moves (although he insists we will).

Needless to say, Friday I was a complete wreck. I called a good friend of mine who dropped everything to emotionally take care of me…I’ll admit it, she took care of me through liquid libations. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do…Anyway, we also did a lot of talking. I reminded myself of one crucial thing: I knew going into this it was just going to be for a few months, nothing more! It seems, ever since Friday when I reminded myself of this, I’ve been at peace with it. Of course I will miss him. I will miss him like crazy!

Then I saw this movie today and heard the quote:

“We had a love so strong, that it just seemed like we were one. I mean, I would get ready to tell him something and he would open his mouth and say the very thing that I was fixin’ to tell him. Do you know how frustratin’ that was sometimes? Oh, Lord I couldn’t stand it! And then…there were those moments when I would just lay my head on his chest just to listen to his heartbeat; and then one night, I realized his heartbeat matched mine. Lord have mercy…The rhythm is off now, he’s gone. Don’t fret for me; I have had opportunity that few people ever get on this earth. God has blessed me to share time and space with the man that He designed Himself, just for me. I’ve not only been blessed, I have been divinely favored.”

These are some strong words.  This is what I’m looking for in my life.  I know myself, I will settle for nothing less.  My army guy is right.  I like him so much, but I don’t love him (and I told him that), and he doesn’t love me.  Neither of us can expect me to wait over a year for him.  If an opportunity comes up while he’s gone, who’s to say it won’t be the one designed just for me?  If an opportunity comes up for him while he’s gone, how can I stop him from finding the one designed for him?  That would be terribly selfish of me, right?  If we are meant for each other, and I hope we are, it will happen for us in 18 mos.  I feel confident about that. Until then, we will remain friends. Good friends. If invited, of course I will visit him in North Carolina and I will write and send care packages to him in Afghanistan as originally planned.

Wow, how grown up of me, huh? Yeah, let’s see if I still feel that way on the 25^th!

I finally had to do that photo job.  Ugh!  The day of reckoning was here.  Last Saturday I met my friend and her kids at a local park and we spent the next two hours taking pictures.  Wouldn’t you know it, it had to be at least 95 degrees outside!  Or at least it felt like it!  Actually, it was a lot of fun.  She’s a good friend, and I would do it again for her in a minute.  Her daughter is going off to college in a couple of weeks, so that made these all the more special.

Here’s how they turned out:

You can also see them here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/harmmonyphoto/Adrienne?authkey=luR6YDV69Yk

Still not professional quality by any means, and I’ll never claim to be.  However, I’m still happy with how they turned out for the most part.

I have a new obsession…Anyone ever heard of Celtic Thunder?  I hadn’t until I caught them on PBS the other night.  Now I can’t get enough of them!  As luck (no pun intended) would have it, they will be here in KC in November.  Tickets are going on sale in a couple weeks.  I think I may of even found a friend to go with me.  She’s never heard of them, but based on my recommendation and the youtube clips I’ve been sending her, she’s willing to go.  How’s that for blind faith?

Take a look and listen:

You’ll have to forgive me; I’ve had a really bad couple of days. I’ll be using this forum to vent a little. After all, this is my blog and my prerogative.

Why is it that people have no problem using you as a sounding board-over and over and over again, but the first opportunity you need for a shoulder and all of a sudden they are unavailable? Is this selfishness? Is it uncomforableness? Is it merely not realizing a shoulder is needed? I don’t know…

I’ve been told multiple times how good of a listener I am. Okay, I am. I admit it. I’m interested in what people have to say. However, there are times when I really need to talk, or vent or have a problem and I need to talk to someone. I’ve found it increasingly difficult to find someone to open up to. Someone who returns the amount of interest I show in them. Someone who allows me to talk for longer than 5 minutes about myself without interrupting and pulling the conversation back to them. Oh sure, if I weren’t discussing a deep issue and just having friendly conversation I’d be allowed to talk all night, but as soon as it turns toward the negative and suddenly the person either has to go, or the discussion gets turned back to them. How did this happen? Is it my own fault for internalizing my problems for most of my life? Is it my fault for not speaking up sooner? Is it my fault for surrounding myself with these types of people? Do these people even realize they’re doing it?

Of course these are rhetorical questions. Just please, if you recognize yourself as one of those that leans on someone around you as a sounding board. Take the time to ask them how they’re doing. Then when they answer, actually listen to their answer! Let them know you’re listening. You’re friendship will be stronger for it.

We lost another great comedian Thursday with the passing of Harvey Korman.  I’ve been all over youtube looking at old clips of his work.  I can’t believe I’d never seen this one.  I think I laughed harder at this then at anything I’ve seen recently on current television…check it out-

Rest in peace Harvey, you will be missed!!

I’ve been asked by someone at work to do portraits of her and her kids before her daughter goes off to college. Using my Goddaughter as a guinea pig I set out today to get some practice.

When I asked for her help it was fairly cool and even somewhat rainy out. Not so much today! It was sunny, hot and extremely humid. I think it may have come close or even surpassed 90 degrees. She was a trouper though. I think they turned out pretty good for the most part. Her Mom and I compromised on which ones should be posted-take a look.

Oh yeah, the blue tongue?  Blame it on ‘Ocean Water’ from Sonic.

Friday I was to have a date with my new guy. We were supposed to go to dinner at a fairly new entertainment area between his house and mine. When I got off work I received a text message from him asking me how I would feel about going camping at an area lake instead. I sent back a message asking if he was kidding, I would LOVE to go camping! It was a beautiful day and due to be a gorgeous weekend. I threw some clothes in a bag (he told me he would supply everything else) and after dropping my dog off at a friend’s house, I headed to his place and together on to the lake.

Mother Nature did not disappoint us-

This was our view when we were all settled in:

Here are some more pictures from the weekend:

It doesn’t get any better than this!!!