Friday, September 30, 2005

Today's post courtesy of the lovely Ali:

The Rules:

1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

Here is the fifth sentence of my 23rd post:

And really, the reason that we like those cheerleaders in their skintight bikini tops is that it looks more comfortable for them.

This was part of a post in response to the "public outrage" over Janet Jackson's boobage. Oh, the horror!

I'm not tagging anyone. Feel free to play along if you like, leave me a comment so I can go read your quote...

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

What is the difference between a "sick day" and a "mental health day"? Not much, actually, at least not from where I am currently kicking back. Yesterday was a 7 hour budget meeting w/ the Big Cheese, and I am exhausted. That was just Round 1. Round 2 is in ten days, but will likely be much shorter. I've been feeling weak and achy for a few days, so I know a cold is coming, now it's just a question of how bad it will be. Hence my day of rest - I figure that if I take it easy today, I might not be quite so sick for the rest of the week and weekend, because I have a lot to do (and some of it will actually be fun!).

So, my schedule today is a little different:

8am - dropped hubby at the Park & Ride, where he met his coworkers and headed off to the airport for a short business trip.
8:30am - sent email to work, declining to join them today
9am - released doglet into the yard - if she had two eyes, they would have been crossed from holding it for so long.
9:30am - 'net surfing and catching up on blogs
10:30am - shower - mad hair today
11am - possibly meet my mother and shop
12-4pm - hmmm - movie? ("Flight Plan" looks like a good way to kill an afternnon)
4:30pm - head to school - Unix/Linux Admin classes start tonight
7:30pm - head to airport hotel bar to meet an old friend for a drink before he flies off to the East Coast
10pm - hopefully in bed, on my way to the Land of Nod

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Lest anyone out there think that I have no skills in life, I'll have you know that I have won the office football pool each week for the PAST TWO WEEKS. That $26 pot will buy me a latte every morning for the next two weeks. Ha!

Monday, September 26, 2005

You Know You're From Boulder When...


Your diet consists largely Boca burgers, Silk Soymilk, sushi, and Celestial Seasonings tea.

You understand the utility of burning a couch in the street.

Your kids wear 'Baby Gap' clothes.

You really believe that there is a war between Boulder High and Fairview.

You shop at Whole Foods and think it's guilty eating.

You wear shorts in the winter.

Riding your bike in the middle of the street is okay.

Your hybrid car is stocked with Ani Difranco and Indigo Girls CDs.

A member of your family either works or plays for C.U.

Sandals are worn year around, regardless of temperature.

You have either been, or sent your child to an alternative school, (ie. New Vista), because the other schools didn't challenge you/them enough.

Your waiter has a PhD in philosophy, and a MA in Women's Studies.

You'd rather starve than eat something that isn't organic.

You understand that "8 glasses of water a day" is what is required before 10:00 a.m.

Your sense of direction is: toward the mountains and away from the mountains.

Your friends don't eat meat, but they guzzle microbrew and designer coffee like it's water.

In any given line you can see a white person with dreadlocks who is barefoot and the next person is wearing Prada, Chanel sunglasses, a Rolex and is dripping in diamonds.

You're invited to a Halloween party only to find out "party" means serving peanut-pumpkin soup and sitting around reading Edger Allen Poe.

A "bike ride" is at least a 4-6 hour event, a "shower" is optional.

The only women wearing makeup are over 50 years old.

You know all 4 seasons: "winter," "two day spring,""drought season," and "one day fall".

The 3 most popular bumper stickers are: "Free Tibet," "Dog Is My Co-Pilot," and any array of Democratic political candidates.

The more holes a young person has in his clothes the more zeros are in his trust fund account balance.

April showers bring May blizzards.

You tell someone you're training for a 10K and they tell you they're training for a marathon and the Ironman.

You've dressed in shorts, sandals, and a parka.

You've gone skiing in July.

You've gone sunbathing in January.

"Rio," "Pearl," and "Walnut" have nothing to do with Rio, pearls or walnuts.

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Boulder.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

I'm really enjoying being back in school again, but I have to confess that I dropped one of my classes yesterday. The database design class was a mess - there was only an assignment due every two weeks, which was disastrous for a procrastinator like me. Plus, not only did the instructor not provide any study materials or presentations, he rarely visited the discussion boards (this was an online course), which was supposed to be a major part of our classwork for the purpose of grading. Then, the pièce de résistance...he had an error in one of his test questions. I got it wrong because his answer key contained an error. I sent him an email about it, and not only did he not respond to my email, he didn't change my grade! So, I say, f*ck him, I wrote a letter to the dean and asked for a full refund on my class (I had missed the withdraw date by a week). I'll let you know what happens...

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Thanks goodness, I stumbled on a fun meme (via Ugly Green Chair) - I've been wanting to post, but am brain-dead from hell week with work/school:

47 Things(um, I know this is supposed to be 49 Things, but there were only 47 listed, and I already told you what kind of week I'm having):

1. First name? Kathryn

2. Who were you named after? My father's mother. She died when he was 12 years old.

3. Do you wish on stars? When I see them.

4. When did you last cry? In the car the other day, talking to my nephew.

5. Do you like your handwriting? Yes, I do. It's pretty neat, a cross between cursive and printing.

6. What is your favorite lunch meat? Roast turkey.

7. What is your birth date? 16th of November

8. Are you an only child? Nope - one younger sister, one younger brother.

9. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with YOU? I sure hope so.

10. Do you have a journal? Well, there's this here blog...and I do still have a paper journal, but I only use it when I'm on the road.

11. Do you use sarcasm a lot? A better question might be "do you ever NOT use sarcasm?"

12. What are your nicknames? Kate or Kat, and KC to a few of my older relatives.

13. Would you bungee jump? Oh yes.

14. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Only the ones with laces.

15. Do you think that you are strong? I know I am.

16. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? It's a tie - peanut butter & chocolate, and pralines & cream.

17. What is your shoe size? 10 (I know - Bigfoot)

18. Red or pink? RED

19. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? Physically, I'd say I have really ugly feet. In general, I wish I were more patient.

20. Who do you miss most? In general? My oldest friend, Vic.

21. What color pants and shoes are you wearing right now? Sage pants w/ a chalk pinstripe, black shoes.

23. What are you listening to right now? Someone else's (my boss) iPod in the next room, blaring out over the speakers we gave him for Christmas last year.

24. Last thing you ate? Leftover fettuccine with chicken, spinach and toasted almond slivers. Yum.

25. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Sky Blue.

26. What is the weather like right now? Sunny, but cooler than it has been - fall is nearly here.

27. Last person you talked to on the phone? My boss, dammit.

28. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Whether or not their pants are too short.

29. Favorite Drink? Beer.

31. Favorite Sport? Toss up between hockey and football.

33. Eye Color? Light brown.

34. Do you wear contacts? Nope - no glasses either. Love those good genes.

35. Favorite Food? It's hard to choose. I love peanut butter, apples, red bell peppers, nutty bread and almost any kind of cheese. My favorite style of food is Italian.

36. Last Movie You Watched? "Sahara". I'd like to say that I did it on a dare, but I can't.

37. Favorite Movie? "True Romance"

38. Favorite day of the year? The first day that I can smell fall.

39. Scary Movies or Happy Endings? Happy Endings, I guess. I don't really like either.

40. Summer or winter? TOTALLY winter.

41. Hugs or Kisses? Hugs. They're more intimate somehow.

42. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? grilled fruit with french vanilla ice cream.

43. What books are you reading? The whole Harry Potter series, plus The Time Traveler's Wife and Carpe Demon.

44. What is on Your Mouse Pad? A bunch of stones.

45. Favorite Sounds? Dogs panting, a ceiling fan, water in the creek, violins

46. Rolling Stones or the Beatles? Beatles

47. Favorite band? Big Head Todd & the Monsters

Thursday, September 15, 2005

One of my roles at work is with our Community Works Committee, which organizes everything from blood drives and Halloween parties to our annual United Way corporate sponsorship program. It's that last one that we're actively working on right now - each fall, we begin promoting the drive, where employees commit to donate an amount of money to a non-profit in 2006. It can be any non-profit (the payment process is managed by the United Way, and they keep a small percentage for overhead), and they can choose to have the funds withdrawn from their payroll or can make a lump contribution. The company matches their annual contribution at 50%. It's a great program, and I'm really proud of it and how hard we work to promote it.

One of the ways that we keep people's interest in the drive is doing a daily prize drawing for everyone who makes a commitment to donate in the coming year. Those of us on the committee spend a lot of time contacting local merchants and asking for donations of gift certificates to give away as prizes (because as we all know, it's so much easier to be generous when there's a prize giveaway). So I've been spending a lot of lunches out in the community, trying to get donated gift certificates. I've had pretty good success - a national restaurant chain, a local toy store, the homemade ice cream parlor around the corner, a coffee shop nearby - and I still have four more places to visit. It always makes me happy to see how willing people are to help.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Today's post idea swiped from Julia:

Twenty years ago this month, in 1985, I was entering my sophomore year at La Jolla High School. I was on the swim team that year.

Fifteen years ago this month, in 1990, I was in Paris, trying to get work as a model. Ha!

Ten years ago this month, in 1995, I was hard at work, doing research on scripts for film and television. What a great job.

Five years ago this month, in 2000, I got certified as a scuba diver and went on a weekend dive trip in the Channel Islands with my future husband. We moved to Colorado 4 months later.

Today, I'm happily married and I'm working toward a new role at my company. I'm trying to build a business outside work with my husband and our two partners, one that could eventually "employ" us all. I'm going to school, spending time with my family, volunteering, and hanging out with my friends. It's a great life.

Monday, September 12, 2005

It seems that I have a variation on the Midas Touch. A lot of the guys on my rescue squad are action junkies, and they staff a lot of shifts, hoping for exciting calls to come in. Some of them will staff 3 or 4 12-hour shifts a week and not see a call. I, on the other hand, go over there to sort through Hurricane Katrina donations for a couple of hours, and a call comes in! Actually, that was the first call I've gone out on in months - I took a break when I was planning the wedding this spring, and now I've got school, so I haven't been around much. It felt good to be out there again, even if it was only to direct traffic at an accident site.

Speaking of school, I'm taking 3 classes this fall - Systems Analysis and Design, Database Design & Development, and a Unix/Linux Sys Admin course. I think I may have already taken the Unix/Linux class, I have to double check my transcript. People keep asking me what degree I'm pursuing or what certificate - I'm such a dork, I'm not after anything, I just enjoy the classes and I figure that all knowledge is useful, even if it's not exactly what I'm doing for work right now. Along those lines, I am up for a promotion in the new year, which would be a lot of database and web work, so it will all come in handy eventually...

Sunday, September 11, 2005


Meet Jerry Rice, the craziest little 2lbs around. Jerry has been entertaining everyone with his antics - shadow boxing, chasing bits of fur across the floor, taking swipes at the dogs as the walk through a room.

I know that you can't replace a lost pet. One of the stories about Hurricane Katrina that continues to break my heart is hearing stories of pets that had to be left behind - of little kids who were told to set down their dogs in order to board an evacuation bus. But I think that if you're an animal person, you have to have them around you. My mother loves animals, so much so that she can't go to the Humane Society or walk near the animal display when she goes to the pet store for dog food - it breaks her heart to see them without families. This is why we got Jerry so quickly - because the best way to show how much you care for your pet is to continue to show that love, even after the pet is gone. Now they get to shower Jerry Rice with all the love that they had for Jupiter.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Losing a pet is awful. Jupiter was 16 years old - we got him the fall before my sister got married, so I was 19, and Mare & Joey hadn't been born. Jupe was awesome - mellow, beautiful, regal. He liked to curl up in my hair, and he had the loudest purr I've ever heard. He gave head-butts to the people he loved, to let you know that he considered you a member of his pack.

Mare was particularly hard hit by his death - she has never lost anyone or anything before. She felt guilty when he died that she hadn't spent more time with him. My mother too was devastated - he was her cat, her constant companion during the day, prowling around the house.

We decided that we want to get another kitty as soon as possible. Jupiter came along when we had lost our 9-year-old cat, Jose Greco. Jupe helped ease the pain of losing Jose, and I'm hopeful that getting another cat now will help everyone not hurt so much about Jupe.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005


1989-2005
RIP, Jupiter