Spell Check

Spell Check usually saves us from looking stupid when sending emails to important business associates….and then there are the times when Spell Check is the reason why we look like morons.

Case in point, my business email signature BEFORE Spell Check :

Kate Mc2
A/R * Credit * Collections
KHBS-KHOG TV & The Arkansas CW+
Fort Smith – Rogers
Arkansas

And my business email signature AFTER Spell Check:

Kate Mc2
A/R * Credit * Collections
CHUBS – HOG TV & The Arkansas COW+
Fort Smith – Rogers
Arkansas


I know ya'll in LA are wonder'n about us down home country fried folks fix'n to go to Wal-mart!
And I fit right in! Ha Ha Ha!

River Festival

First of all, I have to say that I am in love with Little Rock! It is such a charming city! And it’s been too long since my Hero, the Princess and I have gotten to really enjoy time away from the house, work and school. Memorial Day weekend is the kick off to summer vacation for most school going Arkansans and what a better way to celebrate than a festival along the river front!

I had plans to allow the Princess to go with her BFF and another gal on Friday to her BFF’s mother’s house in Little Rock and join up with her on Saturday. Plans changed on Friday at work while I was chatting with a friend about the fact that I was going to miss Willie Nelson because my reservations were on Saturday. My friend asked why I had made those plans instead of the ones that I really wanted. I explained that Friday night I wanted to clean the house and do some grocery shopping etc…. “Ok. Let me say this out loud for you: You are missing Willie Nelson to clean your house!” she said.

I changed the reservations, called my Hero who said that he would run home and throw in some laundry (sigh, he’s so cute) and called my Princess’ BFF’s mom who we were hanging out with to tell her that I get to see Willie Nelson!!! Yay!

When we were on our way, I mentioned to my Hero that I would love to stop in Ozark at my favorite restaurant for a pulled pork sandwich. He informed me that we were pressed for time if we were going get there in time see Willie take the stage at 9:00. So, we called in and ordered out (ahhhhh yummm).

Along the river front there were three different stages filled with big named acts. I passed up the B52s to see Willie Nelson, a speck up on the stage, in between us a sea of people. The Princess trio went to see Gavin Rossdale (who?). I enjoyed Willie alright, even with the sea of ten gallon hats on the tallest men I’ve tried to see over or through.

Saturday was so laid back with the Princess trio at the pool, my Hero at his laptop and me and Ellie cracking up on the deck. The girls later designed their own River Fest 2009 shirts…that they decided to omit the letters so they can wear them again another time.

That night the concerts were Heart, Hinder and Jason Aldean. All of us went our different ways. My Hero understands and shares my love for Heart. As I started rocking out with them the heavens opened up raining on a slant just so that it was hitting the band right in the face! I felt bad for them. A few songs in Ann Wilson said that they were still gonna rock it! The crowd went nuts! They are so incredibly talented and I’m so glad that I got to see them!

Since I was still on cloud nine and not ready to go back to the hotel and to sleep, my Hero and I went out for some late night IHOP. The place was packed even though the streets were virtually empty! Most of the crowd was high school kids that graduated from area high schools that night. Three sitting across from us as we all waited to be seated were telling another friend the colleges each were accepted to. One sang out Tulane, another said University of Kentucky and the third and only boy said in a quiet voice Princeton. The girls rolled their eyes and said we can’t take you anywhere, just Princeton, I hate you! I wanted so bad to tell him congratulations, but I thought it might freak them out since it was so late in a crowded IHOP not to mention that I was eavesdropping.

Sunday we hung out for a little while as the sky poured and poured. The Princess trio decided to get dolled up and go out to eat. Their later concert events were canceled and my Hero and I said our good byes and drove home.

Monday I woke up sick most likely from standing in the rain and screaming my head off for Heart. I never think of the consequences! Ha Ha Ha!

It was worth it though! One of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time!

Momma's Day

Mother’s Day hasn’t always been my favorite holiday. While the Princess was little it was fun and cute. She would insist on breakfast in bed and flowers. Sometimes, a home drawn, darling card would be included. She would lay in my bed as I ate the breakfast that my Hero helped her cook and beg for some too…I never understood why they just didn’t make it family breakfast in our bed…oh well.

I lost my mom when I was twenty one, when I was still in the selfish, independent, not wanting to believe that 'momma knows best' stage. I lost her before I could really honor her at Mother’s Day. Not the breakfast in bed with flowers way, but the “thank you for all that you have done for me, & put up with from me, & sacrificed for me” way… I have always felt guilty for that, thus one of the reasons for my dislike of the holiday.

This year, my Hero asked me what was on the agenda for Saturday. I told him that I was having my hair done at noon with Whitney (my hair chick). I saw a fleeting deer in the head light look, but it was so quick that I thought I must have been mistaken. That night while at dinner, he said that he had to tell me something and he was happy that we were in public so that I wouldn’t yell at him (I had no idea that I have a habit of yelling at him, but that’s his story). He slowly said, “I made you a hair appointment with Whitney at one. It’s our Mother’s Day present for you.” I laughed! Oh, he’s so sweet to me! And soooo the reason why he is my Hero!

Teacher Appreciation

Let’s just face it, I’m a rebel.

I have rebelled against the whole schooling institution from preschool to graduation. The Princess however, is a really big butt kisser! When everyone else in the class prays for the teacher to get distracted, the Princess is annoyed by it. I know…FREAK!

I keep to myself that I’m not as respectful toward teachers as I should be because I would hate for her to be disappointed.

When she was in the fifth grade, I was asked to join the PTA Board. Me?!? To me, it was like joining the military! Signing over my life! The other board ladies didn’t grow up with me and my lack of educational interest. They can’t be blamed for the poor decision to beg for my involvement. The stint only lasted a few weeks, maybe a month at most. With all my flakiness, I walked in, told the ladies to give my VP Pin to the President because I wasn’t going to do this anymore. As I left, I heard one say to another, “I think she just quit!”

Well, no kidding?! Do ya think?

After that experience, I’ve avoided all PTA crap on purpose! Sure, I’ll send in my three bucks because after that they usually just go away. Until two weeks ago when KARMA sent the following email:

“The PTA Board quit in the middle of the year and is out of money. Can you please bring a gallon of orange juice and a 5lb bag of oranges for The Teacher Appreciation Breakfast?”

Teacher Appreciation!

Maybe someone is trying to tell me something….?

My Princess is everything in school that I wasn’t. She’s involved. She’s driven. She “appreciates”. And because I’m the adult with the job and consequently the money to buy the orange overload, I’m forced to appreciate too! For her sake. Because she makes me a better person. She helps me have appreciation.

Breathtaking

On the one year anniversary of the hail storm that left the pock marked complexion of my Hero’s poor car, another severe storm system rolled through our area and left destruction in its path. Some of the suburbs in Oklahoma City were destroyed by fires, and four tornadoes touched down in our area. One mile wide twister leveled a town called Mena, which is about an hour south of where we live.

In our area the sirens were blaring and we (of course like idiots) were on the front porch with our noses to the sky in awe of wind and buckets of rain. Within minutes the storm had passed and the sky turned a brilliant orange! Then my Hero sighed and said “Oh, it’s the sunset!” I ran for the camera.

Knowing that somewhere there was sadness, this is the joy. It was breathtaking. And seconds after that we learned of the loss of an entire town…

Below is a slide show from the town of Mena:
http://www.4029tv.com/slideshow/15841393/detail.html

Home for the Holiday!

I got to be home for St. Patrick's Day this year! I count that a blessing because St. Patrick's Day is a lot like Thanksgiving at my dad's house! Each year he cooks a huge Corned Beef or two, a few heads of Cabbage and bakes his famous Soda Bread! My whole family gets together and listens to Irish Folk Music and settles in for some of the best eats in town! No one dares show up without the necessary amount of green on.
This year he and my step mom made a trip to Ireland to see where his father had been born and raised. They wanted to get the real experience of the country, so they stayed in Bed and Breakfasts. Dad said that his 6 foot 3 inch frame didn't fit into some of the rooms! After about three weeks of it, he couldn't take it anymore and the last few nights they stayed in a hotel.
He told me that the roads were so narrow that sometimes they had to back up to let the on coming traffic pass! And the hedges on the sides of the roads often had rock walls right behind them. He said that his rental car was all scratched up from the branches hitting the sides of the car!
On the menu in most restaurants was fish. Dad said that his fish and chips was pretty different since the skin and bones had not been removed.
They showed us the beautiful pictures that they had taken and dad said that Ireland draws you there. He can't wait to get back there! It must be as magic as they say!
I just know that for me it was wonderful to be home for the holiday this year!!

I'm numb....

There are three of us girls in my department at work. Each of us had a loved one who was either terminally ill or in a nursing home dealing with old age.

At the beginning of March as most of you know, I lost my hero, my Grandpa. I rushed to Utah to be with my family and speak at the funeral (as I promised him that I would). I cannot express how tough this trip was for me.

The week that I returned to Arkansas, my office mate and friend lost her Granny. She was incredibly close to her. They were joking with each other a few nights before and knowing that the end was near was difficult for my friend to bear. Last Thursday she was just heartbroken.

Just four days after my friend lost her Granny, on Monday, our beloved co-worker and friend to everyone, Marilyn, passed away from cancer. Marilyn was my boss’s best friend. We knew that she was sick and she accepted her fate better than all of us could. Even knowing that time was short, we still had a hard time accepting.

Then, at lunch time today, my boss’s mother, who is sick with cancer lost her fight too! The bittersweet comments, they’re out of their pain and no longer suffering, they are with other loved ones and with God now….still hurts.

I’m numb. Loss and hurt is all around me. Every time I turn around, I feel like I’m buying a sympathy card or sending flowers or consoling a devastated friend. I wonder if this is what a disaster feels like…