Sometimes I Look Forward to Saturday on Tuesday Even Though I Love My Job

Hey everybody!

I'm really tired! Like, really, really tired.

But it's completely my fault because I've been doing things like taking weekend trips to Vegas and moving into my sweet new digs.

So I can't really complain because everything I've been doing is fun. But still, I just want to make sure you know, I'm really tired.

However, I am also very happy. And, if you know me, I think you know why.

That's right, it's Fall!!! My absolute most favorite season ever!

I'll list why:

1) The wardrobe. It's a little cold so I get to wear my sweaters and my jackets and all of my scarves. (I love scarves.)

2) The colors. I'm not in Missouri, so I'm sorely missing the beauty that is the trees in the fall, but we do have aspens here in NorAZ. And they are beautiful. They're yellow and the leaves are fluttery and it's sort of magical. So I'm still happy.

3) Pumpkin-flavored food and drink. Pumpkin spice lattes! Pumpkin cookies! Pumpkin cheesecake! Pumpkin baked ziti! These are some of my favorite foods and it is perfectly acceptable to make them all the time.

4) Football. I love college football. Especially when my Tigers start the season 6-0, get a ranking of #11, and have College Game Day broadcast from CoMO.

5) The beginning of Christmas. I don't care if you hate this, I'm easing into Christmas now. I have started occasionally quoting Elf and listening to Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong album. Not all the time yet, but it's happening and I love it.

All of these things are wonderful. Add them all together and you have me looking forward to waking up on Saturday, baking some pumpkin cinnamon rolls, watching Game Day, taking a long drive in a sweater and scarf to pick up a pumpkin spice latte which I will drink on my deck while listening to Christmas music and enjoying the trees, and ending the day by watching my Tigers beat Oklahoma and hopefully playing some games with my friends.

It is going to be the best day ever. Believe it.

Song of the Day: Romeo and Juliet by Matt Nathanson (Dire Straits cover)

10 for the 10s

Remember when I used to sit around in coffee shops all day, doing nothing, and whining about how I didn't have a job and how scared I was to be settled?

Wasn't that fun?

(Side note: rereading those posts have made me realize that my blogging has been crap lately. I'm going to work on it, don't worry.)

It has been an incredibly wonderful couple of weeks off. I went home and played games and hung out with my family and old, comfortable friends.

And now I'm in Tucson. And it's warm. Yesterday I laid in a hammock reading for 3 hours. And this afternoon I'm sitting in a coffee shop blogging. Yeah, it's basically my dream life.

But tomorrow, it's back to the grind. I'm refreshed and ready. And I have snow boots. So I'm pretty much set.

On another note, I've decided that the 10s are going to be my decade. The Decade of Kate. I'm not really sure what that consists of, but I'm positive it's going to be awesome.

Here are some things that are going to happen in the Decade of Kate (aka 10 things that will happen in the 10s):

1) I'm going to turn 30. Weird!

2) The Cardinals are going to win the World Series.

3) I'm going to live somewhere for more than a year.

4) I'm going to laugh a lot. Like way more than I did in the 00s.

5) I'm going to travel to at least 4 continents.

6) I'm going to dream less and do more.

7) I'm going to love my job.

8) I'm going to love people.

9) I'm going to love my life.

10) I'm going to figure out the balance. Strength vs. Vulnerability, Adventures vs. Roots, Humility vs. Pride.

Oh, man, this is going to be a good decade. I'll keep you posted.

What are your 10?

So Close to Home

I was duped by the fabled perils of holiday travel. I got to the airport 2 hours early, something I never, repeat, never do. (Well, I never do now that I don't fly with my mom anymore.) It's unnecessary.

But people kept talking about how crazy it was going to be, so I came 2 hours early. And, people were right, it was busier than usual. But turns out the airport was prepared for that. I even checked a bag and still made it to my gate with an hour and a half to spare.

Thank goodness I have a blog that I've been neglecting and free airport wi-fi. I think I'll make a list.

Top 10 Things I'm Excited About This Christmas:

1) Nativity Challenge 2009- My brother and I have a decades old traditional nativity challenge. It consists of closing our eyes and taking turns picking nativity pieces out of the box. The person who ends up with Baby Jesus is clearly the winner.

2) Satellite TV- This is always my favorite about going home. I watch movies, ESPN, and Discovery Channel marathons (Mike Rowe- I love you).

3) Fighting with my brother- It's inevitable.

4) Christmas Eve Dinner- Another tradition including steak, shrimp from a box, pink salad, and broccoli casserole. Delicious.

5) Presents!- Come on, you're all excited for presents too. Don't pretend like you're above it.

6) Christmas Family Game Night- Always Christmas Day Eve. Very competitive, very fun.

7) Playing Charades/Scattegories/Mafia/Taboo followed by a trip to Steak n' Shake- Everyone get pumped. You know who you are.

8) Watching my grown-up family struggle to put together whatever presents my niece and nephew get- Why so many pieces?

9) Midwestern Stranger Friends- I keep telling people, it's not weird to talk to strangers. Midwesterners know this and I am excited to be back amongst them.

10) Home. Pure and simple.

I love my life and I love my adventures, but the feeling I got when I drove out of Williams reminded me that Missouri is home and there's no place like it. If only it were baseball season...

I love Craigslist

I don't know if you all know this about me, but I love craigslist.  I love it.  

Even after that dude stalked and killed some girl through craigslist, I still love it.  (And I stay away from the sex solicitations, so I feel pretty safe.)

There are several things I love to do while on craigslist:

1) Send hilarious ads for jobs in KC to my friend Lacey.  I'm just trying to make sure she realizes that there are ample job opportunities should she want to move here.  They have included a family seeking someone to make them Chinese noodle soup daily and actors for sex tapes (used for educational purposes only).  She declined both of those and several other awesome ones.

2) Look for apartments in cities that I don't live in but I want to.  For example, today I spent about an hour and a half looking at apartments in DC.  Because I enjoy DC and I think it would be fun to live there.  I make up a pretend budget for myself and figure out what neighborhood I'd want to live in.  Then I find awesome deals on great apartments.  I'm actually pretty good at this and feel confident that, should I face a move sometime, I could find myself a pretty legit place to live.  

3)  Read the missed connections.  Because they're just funny.

What did people possibly do before the internet? 

People Watching is My Fave

So last night I attempted to go to the Royals game with some friends.  And, oh yeah, it was sold out.  

Huh?  

The Royals sold out?  That doesn't really compute.  

But it was Buck Night and Zach Greinke was pitching.  (He's good.)  And the Royals are leading their division.  Kansas City is stoked.

So we didn't get to go to the game.  But we did make $20 scalping tickets and went and got ice cream.  So not a loss.

Today I actually made it into the Royals game.  It was Jersey Day so that was awesome.  And these 3 hilarious things happened:

*Preface:  My absolute favorite thing in the world is catching people doing hilarious stuff that they didn't intend for me to see.  It's the little things that crack me up.

1)  On our way to the game, we drove past a giant billboard for a gun show.  Standing in front of it was a 20-something man.  His girlfriend was taking a picture of him as he hilariously flexed.  You have to love a guy who will pull over his car to make a "gun show" joke.

2)  Walking back to our car after the game, we were walking behind a couple who were in a little bit of a tiff.  From what I could gather, girlfriend was annoyed at boyfriend but he was making funny jokes about it that were making her laugh a little and therefore pissing her off more.  I understand that this is extremely frustrating.  So, in justifiable retaliation, girlfriend (without missing a step) noticed some trash on the ground, picked it up, and threw it in boyfriend's face.  Boyfriend started cracking up and yelled, "You just hit me in the face with Jimmy John's.  You got mad and hit me with Jimmy John's!"  Girlfriend kept walking but was clearly also cracking up.  Sometimes all a relationship needs is some trash throwing to diffuse a potential argument.  Also, I like boyfriend a lot for thinking that was funny.  Because it was.

3) My friends Ben, Ryan and Pat were on the Jumbotron winning a seat upgrade.  Ashley and I started screaming, "That's Ben!  And Ryan!  And Pat!"  People all around us thought we were crazy but it was irrationally exciting.  

We finished off the night by watching the movie Once which is now one of my all-time favorites.  (See the song of the day if confused about why.)  

Oh, and my Cardinals beat the Cubs.

Life is good.

Song of the Day: Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (Seriously, watch this one.)

The Jumble

OK, I have several things to talk about today:

1) I'm trying really hard not to over-post about the Cardinals.  I know that most people don't necessarily care about them as much as I do and therefore probably don't care about how heartbroken I am that Carp is back on the DL and whether or not I think it was a good move to bring up PJ Walters.  

But just in the name of full disclosure, I love my Cardinals more than most people in my life.  It's true.  And I am very happy after a week in mid-MO because I watched every game I could and listened to the others on the radio, 2 things I can't do here in stupid KC.  Also, I'm sitting at Caribou right now, watching the Game Day pitch-by-pitch and getting excited about the fact that the Sunday Cards-Cubs game is going to be on ESPN.

2) A group of Red Hatters is meeting right next to me.  They are loud and have names like Norma.  They are wonderful and I want to be them when I grow up.

3) It is a beautiful day outside and I had an interview with an awesome new coffee shop going in in Power and Light.  I don't want to say any more about it until I hear something from them, but I'm excited.

4) I went along with my oldest brother on sales calls yesterday which meant a whole lot of time in the car together.  It was really fun.  I don't get to spend a lot of time with him, especially one on one.  It reaffirmed that I think he's cool and we both decided we feel really old when we realized that he's only a couple years younger now than my dad was when he started dating his mom.  In fact, my nephew (his son) is only a couple years younger than I was at that point.  Weird.  

We also talked about how freshmen in college make us feel ancient because we both still feel like we're college-aged until we see 19 year-olds.  They look like babies all of a sudden.  But he's 10 years older than me, so I would imagine that feeling's worse for him.

5)  I officially have health insurance!  My mom found out that I can still use her insurance through the entire year that I turn 25 even though I'm not in school.  So I'm going to have insurance for another year and a half.  Which is good because I still have a wicked cough.  I'm going to have to go to the doctor soon.  I have a serious concern that it is TB.  

6) Why is people falling down so funny?  (The ESPN highlight is way better because it shows David Wright cracking up at him.  But you get the idea.)

7)  This is a really long post.  My brother only read #1 and #6 on this.  If that's you as well, go back and read the rest.  I'm witty and entertaining and I do this for you.  (Actually, I do it so that I have a reason to be in the coffee shop for 3 hours.)

See you tomorrow.

I Like Lists

You would think with my wealth of free time I would be blogging like crazy.  However, literally nothing of note has occurred in my life in the last week and a half.  

I refuse to let this break my blogging spirit.  I will blog, no matter how little I have to say for myself.  

I'll start today with a list.

Welcome to Kate's Top 5 Fictional Characters That She Wants to Marry in Real Life:

Disclaimer: My attraction to the men on this list has nothing to do with the actors that play them in real life.  I like to think that I have a fairly good grasp on reality and can distinguish between actors and the roles they play.  These are 5 exceptions to that rule.  If I were to ever engage in conversation with these men, I would be obliged to refer to them by their characters' names, not their own, thus making me one of those crazy ladies.  I would not be able to help this.  Forgive me, Lord.

1) Jim Halpert (The Office)

He gets the number one spot for a reason.  If it is possible to be in love with a fictional character, then that is what I feel for Jim.  He's constantly sarcastic and creatively funny, but does it all within a quiet nature.  That is my favorite combo in a person.  He's loyal and sweet and tall.  And he messes with Dwight constantly.  This is all I need in a man. 

2) Josh Lyman (The West Wing)

Some would pick Sam Seaborn if they were going to choose from amongst the West Wing contenders.  I do not.  Josh is super smart but self-deprecating.  He is dependable and unfailingly loyal.  He's got enough quirks and insecurities to keep life interesting.  Also, he works in the White House and gets to give inspiring speeches sometimes.  Enough said.  

3) Matt Saracen (Friday Night Lights)

I feel a little weird putting him on the list because the character is supposed to be 17.  But, the actor's like 28, and this is my make-believe world, so I think it's fine.  Again, many people would go with Tim Riggins when sizing up the cast of FNL.  But I actually do not have an asshat complex.  I like the good guys.  Saracen is endearingly funny, sweet and unsure, but always proves he has a backbone and will step up when needed.  He has the good guy who never gets a break thing going for him.  And, oh yeah, he single-handedly cares for his dementia-riddled grandmother, pays the bills, and is QB1 of the Dillon Panthers.  My inner high school girl squeals a little every time he's on screen.

4) Jake Jigelski (One Tree Hill)

OK, now I feel officially creepy because this character is also in high school.  But again, his story line on this show involves being a single teenage father raising his daughter alone and trying to keep her away from the crazy baby-stealing baby mama.  So, not really typical teenage drama.  Much like Saracen, he is the good guy always trying to do the right thing and barely making it.  I specifically remember one episode where Jake unexpectedly comes back after a long absence and my roommates and I literally screamed out loud with excitement.  I am fully aware of the extreme dorkiness of this, but it was unavoidable.  He's that awesome of a character. And this one might actually have to do with Brian Greenberg (the actor who plays him) a little because when I see him in other things, I love him just as much.

5) Aidan Shaw (Sex and the City)

I don't even need to say anything.  Beats Mr. Big every time.

I feel like this list is super dorky, but I just spent a long time writing it so I'm going to post it anyway.  Judge away.