Life – Page 48 – Write From Karen

Where are the Cute Scrubs?

September 12, 2011September 13, 2011 Karen

I bought my scrubs today.

Even though there are some pretty cute (that may be an oxymoron because scrubs in general really aren’t “cute”) scrubs out there, I had to stick with the brand/style that my office wears.

I’m modeling the “wine” color. I also bought olive, eggplant purple (favorite), teal, and lavender (least favorite). I asked for long pants, given my height, but when I tried them on at home, they drag the floor. So I’m going to have to take two of them back tomorrow and exchange them.

They weren’t as expensive as I thought they might be. I bought one set of each color and may buy more in later weeks, but for now, this should do me for a while. I’m waiting to remove the tags until my orientation next week. Even though I’m not anticipating any hiring problems, I’d still like to play it safe until I know for sure.

I think they look pretty dorky, if you want the truth. And they’re not as comfortable as I thought they might be. In fact, they’re pretty stiff. But I haven’t washed them yet so … they’ll probably be more comfortable after I wash them.

I hope they don’t shrink.

Politics

One of the Lessons of 9-11 is That Evil is Real and So is Courage

September 10, 2011 Karen

George W. Bush Flight 93 Memorial Speech, September 10, 2011

And may I just point out … do you see how Bush ignores the teleprompters entirely and sticks to reading his speech old school style? Do you see how he looks up from his speech and looks out at the crowd with kindness and compassion? Do you hear how he speaks TO the audience and not AT the audience?

This is what makes a great public speaker.

Obama does none of these things. When he speaks, his nose is up in the air, he’s focused on the teleprompters and he rarely looks at the people he’s addressing. The rare times he looks at the audience, his demeanor is defiant and arrogant.

It’s insulting.

I just wanted to bring this to your attention. Let’s make sure our next president is FOR the people and not AGAINST the people.

Deal?

And one last thing, NEVER FORGET September 11, 2001.

NEVER FORGET that evil is real.

Home Movies

Tickle to Distract

September 7, 2011September 7, 2011 Karen

http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/110059592960065536

I know. Mush-ville. But seriously, Kevin is the best father. He has always made time for his boys. He always helps them when they need him. He always interacts with them and always tells them that he loves them.

Anyway. Here’s an example of how hands-on he was with the boys. He would routinely get on the floor with them and distract them so I could get some things done.

One thing about Kevin’s tickles (then and now), they’re HARD. He digs his fingers in so much that it goes beyond the realm of tickling and into pain. He doesn’t mean to, and he eases up whenever you say something, but I think he’s so focused on making you laugh that he tries a little too hard. ha!

Life-condensed

Ready for Hot Cocoa, Soft Music and Star Gazing

September 6, 2011 Karen

Yep. We bought our outdoor fireplace yesterday. We also found these chairs, which is exactly what Kevin had in mind when we started talking about our patio. He wanted chairs without arms so he could play his guitar. As luck would have it, they were on clearance, so we got a super deal. The only problem was, they didn’t have any more in stock, so we took their display chairs.

Works for me!

We’ll have to move the chairs away from the fireplace and the fireplace away from the post, obviously, we don’t want to catch our house on fire, but you get the idea. I can’t wait to use it!

It’ll be like camping, only without the extra work and fuss.

SCORE!

Life

A Man is Not Paid for Having a Head and Hands, But for Using Them ~ Elbert Hubbard

September 5, 2011September 5, 2011 Karen

Labor Day weekend. I have mixed feelings about Labor Day – on the one hand, COOL. A long weekend. On the other hand, NOT COOL that so many people don’t have a job to take a labor day FROM.

Myself included.

Dude included.

I know eventually we’ll find jobs, it’s just discouraging that it’s taking so long. I don’t want to brag or anything, but it has never taken me this long to find a job. I almost had a job back in March: I had three interviews and it was between me and one other woman. But because I’m an honest person and don’t believe in withholding the truth in order to advance my personal agenda, I told them that I would need a week off in July in order to take a family vacation that we had booked since January.

I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that is the reason I didn’t get the job.

(Or they didn’t like me ……….. nah, surely not. *wink*)

At any rate, it’ll happen. I just need to be patient and vigilant. I am focusing on getting my foot in the door with a certain industry with the intention of moving up the ranks over time. I like this industry, I think I would be good in this industry, but it’s hard to get into this industry. If nothing happens by the time November rolls around, I’ll likely look into banking again. (I want to keep my Saturdays free so I can attend Jazz’s band competitions which is nearly every Saturday in October). I have a lot of experience in banking and it seems they are always looking for people so … we’ll see. I like banking and wouldn’t mind working in that industry again, but I’m not crazy about having to rotate Saturdays even if it is only half a day.

What have we done all weekend?

Well.

Saturday – chores. I know – YAWN.

Kevin did take the ramp off our front porch, though.

We had a ramp because after Kevin’s motorcycle accident he had to use a wheelchair to allow his crushed pelvis time to heal. And we needed some way of getting him in and out of the house. My father-in-law and brother-in-law came over and built the ramp a few days before he was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital (he was in intensive care for two weeks, at a rehab center for three weeks).

It was a highly emotional time for our family.

So it was really satisfying to remove the ramp from our porch. Even though Kevin has been up and walking for over a year now, still, it felt good to remove the last trace of his accident from our home. (By the way, the woman who hit him? [It was a head-on collision and the woman TOOK OFF after the accident] Still hasn’t been punished. I KNOW! Our system is maddening).

Saturday night, Kevin talked me into going to his band gig and taking pictures. I don’t normally go to his gigs because it’s awkward for me to sit in the audience, solo, and get hit on. (Not bragging, just saying). Kevin’s parents usually show up, and that’s fine, it gives me someone to sit with and talk to, but still … THE IN-LAWS.

It’s still a little awkward.

Anyway. I went and took some pictures. Here is one of the better ones of the band:

They’re called “Midnite Thunder” and they play 80’s music. (You can see more pictures on Kevin’s Flickr). They played a lot of new songs Saturday night and I thought they sounded pretty good. (Course, I’m biased). If you’re in the Springfield (MO) area and you like that kind of music, you can keep track of when they play next on their website.

Sunday, we were all pretty much dead. We’re old – late nights pretty much KILL us.

But Sunday night, Kevin bought some salmon, zucchini and I boiled some potatoes for him to make steak fries with. He grilled everything.

We took advantage of the wonderfully cool weather and ate out on our pergola.

And that salmon was flaky and delicious! I swear Kevin could be a chef, he’s THAT good.

(We also had a little spider “episode” – I thought the boys were going to have a heart attack … over a little spider. I mean, yeah, creepy, but come on boys – grow a pair. Sheesh).

Today? We’ve been taking it easy. Catching up on laundry, sleep, goofing off. Kevin and I are getting ready to make a trip to Lowe’s to buy an outside fireplace to use on our pergola this fall.

I KNOW. Doesn’t that sound fun? To snuggle next to an outside fire with a cup of cocoa cradled in our palms, listening to soft music and looking at the stars?

We think so.

After that, we are going to take some pictures of a school I’m doing a website for. Then it’s back home and making either homemade pizza, or shish-ka-bobs on the grill – again. (We do a lot of grilling. Well, not WE, but KEVIN. ha!)

Tomorrow, it’s back-to-school for Jazz and back-to-the-office for me, Kevin and Dude. We’re making Dude dress up in slacks and a polo shirt to come to the office in – he has been looking pretty scruffy lately and it’s good practice for whenever he gets a job. He’s also going to get a trim this week, too, but he doesn’t know that part yet. (And he’s going solo. He’s too old for mommy to hold his hand on these things anymore).

I got a surprise call late Friday afternoon – the interview I went on last week, the one I thought I had COMPLETELY blown? Well apparently, I didn’t. Because I’m supposed to call them tomorrow and schedule a second interview. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure this is a job really want, BUT, it’ll get my foot in the door and who knows what sorts of opportunities will come up after that.

Hey. When you’re starting out, you have to take what you can get.

Wish me luck!

Work isn’t [just] to make money; you work to justify life. ~Marc Chagall

Politics

Just Because You Disagree Doesn’t Mean You’re a Bigot

September 3, 2011 Karen

I have never quite understood people who claim they are “outraged” over someone else’s beliefs or opinions.

Everyone is entitled to his/her own OPINION. Everyone has a core set of beliefs (and if you claim NOT to have beliefs well there you go, your beliefs are, you don’t have beliefs). Being outraged because someone doesn’t agree, or believe, the same as you is unrealistic, selfish and quite frankly, egotistical. In essence, people who are “outraged” over differing opinions are saying, “You don’t have a right to your opinion … unless you agree with me and then, okay.”

Hogwash.

For example…

The whole Chaz Bono appearing on “Dancing with the Stars” show drama (*rolls eyes as she types out the word drama*).

I saw a tweet from a blogger expressing her outrage over this article.

She was angry that the author of this opinion piece didn’t support Chaz’s decision to make the physical transition from a woman to a man. She called people who didn’t agree with Chaz’s decision bigoted and evil. She also didn’t agree with the author’s appeal to his audience to boycott the “Dancing with the Stars,” show this season.

Here are my thoughts on this issue:

First of all, let’s not forget that this is an opinion piece. The author of this piece has a right to his opinion. And just because the author is asking his readers to boycott the show doesn’t mean they will, or even should. I have my own thoughts about things and just because someone is telling me to boycott something doesn’t mean I will – I don’t do something just because someone tells me to. I will form my own opinion and if I choose not to watch the show, then I’m choosing not to watch the show.

It’s not any different than being “outraged” over an article published on Huffington Post that is asking people to watch this season’s “Dancing with the Stars’ to help support Chaz. So what? That writer has a right to his/her opinion, just like the writer in the above piece has a right to his opinion. Readers can agree, or disagree … I’m not exactly sure where “outrage” fits in. We can all choose to either watch the show or not watch the show. We can choose to support Chaz, or not support Chaz. It doesn’t make us bigoted; it doesn’t make us anything. We disagree. It’s OKAY to disagree with a person’s decision to do, or not to do, something.

However, it’s NOT okay to treat the person any differently just because we disagree with them.

If I saw Chaz on the street, I wouldn’t shun him or treat him badly, I don’t have the right to do that to any human being. Just because I don’t agree with his transgender decision doesn’t mean squat, really. It’s none of my business what he does with his body. As long as I treat him the same as everyone else, then there isn’t an issue.

I have a niece who chose to have a giant tree tattooed on her arm. I personally don’t care for it, but so what. It’s her arm. She can do what she wants with it. I don’t treat her differently, or love her any less – it simply is what it is. Am I disappointed with her decision? Of course, but again, I’ll get over it – it’s HER body.

And speaking of choice – Chaz has the right to choose what he does with his own body. He also has a right to go on “Dancing with the Stars” and celebrate his change. However, this does not mean that I have to celebrate with him. Just because he is feeling happy with his decision doesn’t mean I HAVE to feel happy, too. I too have a right to my own opinion and personally? I think changing one’s sex is sick and creepy. But that’s my OPINION. I can still watch “Dancing with the Stars” and NOT agree with Chaz’s decision if I want to; it doesn’t mean I’m a bigot, it means it’s his life, it’s my opinion and life really isn’t any more complicated than that.

We all judge. Sometimes it’s necessary to judge to keep ourselves in check. It’s what we do with that judgement where we start running into problems. Calling for a boycott is silly – so the writer doesn’t agree with Chaz’s personal decision on what to do with his body. GET OVER IT. So there are people out there that DO agree with Chaz’s decision and support him – GREAT.

Just because someone agrees with someone doesn’t mean he/she is a better person, it just means he/she agrees. If a person doesn’t agree with a decision someone makes, it just means he/she doesn’t agree with the decision.

WHY must we make something out of nothing?

The fact that this blogger is making a stink about the fact that people disagree with Chaz’s decision and is trying to rally the troops into feeling “outraged” because they think differently than she does, is not being helpful at all. In fact, it could be argued that she’s being bigoted against the people who disagree with Chaz’s decision.

We could all get along so much better if we just checked our self-important attitudes at the door, don’t you think?

Actually, I don’t give a rat’s ass what Chaz does with his body – honestly, whatever. But I DO feel sorry for Cher. Because speaking as a mother, whether she agrees, or disagrees with her son’s decision or not, it HAD to have been hard for her to cope with all of the conflicting emotions she must have gone through during this transition. I can only imagine the torment she must have suffered seeing her child in so much pain and wanting to help him through it. A mother’s love transcends all personal decisions and opinions.

At any rate, the moral of this story is this: we all have our opinions. We all judge. It’s who we are, it will never change. However, we CAN change how we react to these judgements and disagreements and ACCEPT the fact that not everyone will agree with everyone else and that’s OKAY. Just because someone doesn’t agree with you doesn’t make him/her a bigot, racist or anything else derogatory – it means we’ll all different and we all have to work on accepting those differences.

Diversity is a process. It’s also a two-way street. Think about it.

Funny