Category Archives: Whimsy

It’s like wearing clean underwear

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There are habits and characteristics we take on as adults that we probably don’t realize come from our parents. How many times have you said something to your child and had the immediate thought, “I just sounded like my mother?” My mother has always believed in a spotless house. She can find dust before the dust bunnies. I’m not sure her three daughters caught the “house-cleaning” gene. Don’t get me wrong, we all like a clean house, but we generally aren’t as obsessive about it unless visitors are coming. In addition to day to day straightening, once a month our home gets a good top to bottom vacuum, dust and bathroom clean-up. For me the big house-cleaning-white-tornado comes with visitors or our leaving town. It’s like wearing clean underwear. What if something happened while we were away and somebody had to go into the house?

house-cleaning

**Not my house

There have been times that I have been known to literally vacuum our way out the door. In addition to all the preparations there are in leaving for a short weekend trip or a full vacation, I feel it necessary to clean the house. And even if we leave at five in the morning, the beds are made before our departure.

Of all the quirks I could have inherited, this is a productive one and my husband is wonderfully patient with me about it. As I see it there are two good outcomes from this habit.

First, like I said, should something happen and someone need to come into our home while we are away, they will find order and cleanliness. This can only help with the matter that has brought them there.

Secondly, when we come home, we come home to a clean house. We can ease back into reality of work or school without having to do anything around the house. It’s like extending vacation-mode a little longer.

KK

Doctor visit tune up

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tune upToday I went to the doctor. Nothing serious, just a check-up. The twenty-minute experience was like taking my car to get a quick oil change. The nurse checks my vitals. Temperature – check. Blood pressure – check. Pulse – check. The physician came into the room with a friendly greeting and inquiry about my visit. After a brief conversation, he checks my heart and lungs. Check, check. The good doctor begins to ask some questions regarding standard screenings based on my age. “Yes, doctor, I promise to get those taken care of before the end of the year.” Check.

He completes our visit by reviewing his computer screen and giving me recommendations for healthier living to doctor visitinclude exercise. Ugh. The quickie oil change guys review what you need to keep your car running and try to sell you a new air filter and wiper blades. “Yes, I know, but my husband takes care of that.”

I’m good for another three months or 6,000 calories.

KK

 

No Soda for You…

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I don’t drink Coke Cola every day.  Many of us can agree the best Cokes colacome from McDonalds. Is it the perfect mix of ice, the syrup, the straw and the way it bursts into your mouth. I don’t know it’s magic. The other day I was in the mood for that perfectly refreshing sweetness, so I pulled into the drive through. Ordered the bubbly only to be told that their soda machine wasn’t working.  Not working! How can this be? It’s McDonalds, they are known for their soda pops and French fries!

I politely told the lady I didn’t want anything else and drove away. Immediately the post about people’s favorite kind of ice came to mind,    Ice By Any Other Form. How rediculous is it that I was frustrated with McDonald’s. Again I’m faced with a first world inconvenience that I have no right to be frustrated.

Lucky think for me that McDonald’s are strategically placed within a mile of one another in Louisville. Whew…

KK

Spring Will Come Early!

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Dateline: February 2, 2016

ground-hog-day

Just as the sun beam was creeping in the hole of Phil’s family home there came an obnoxious thumping. Phil’s mother ran through the tunnels of their fourth generation sub terrain home screaming for Phil to get up and find his scarf. “Today is the day!”

Every year it was the same for Phil, whose given name was Ralph after a big family fallout, but that’s a different story. Phil was the fourth generation groundhog who the handlers of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania came calling on to tell them his vision for the end of winter. Phil heard his mother, but rolled over. “Really mom, can those humans not look at a calendar?”

Pulling the covers back and nudging him up, his mother wrapped the scarf around his thick neck. “That’s not the point Phillip. This is our family legacy, like your father, your grandfather and your…” Rubbing his eyes and shaking himself awake Phil waddled toward the thumping sound. “Yea, I know and my great grandfather who came over on some big ship, half-starved when he arrived to a better life in America.”

“Phillip, stop that. Be proud of our family and go out there and tell these humans what you see.” With a smirk. “Or don’t see.”

As Phil poked his head out of the entry, a large gloved hand reached down and swooped him high for the thousands to see. The man was wearing a funny hat. Maybe I’ll get me one of those for next year.

The crowd grew silent as they watched the rodent sniff the platform. Would he stay a while and declare a short winter? Or would he see his shadow and scurry back into his hole? Phil gave the people a few minutes of suspense and strongly considered zipping back into his warm, safe cavern. But then something caught his eye. Something no one else would have noticed.

Across the park just outside the gathering of fans, who didn’t realize cheering his name would sway him, were three of the cutest female groundhogs Phil had ever laid eyes on. They were chippering amongst themselves. True motivation to stay out for a while and enjoy the scenery. Knowing the three lady friends were watching, Phil stood up on his hind legs and sent them a view of his abs of steel that only female groundhogs could appreciate.

The crowd went crazy the man with the tall hat grabbed the microphone and announced his interpretation of Phil’s prediction that spring would in fact come early this year! The band played and the people hugged. Phil took advantage of the distraction and scurried off the platform and hid.

Will Phil stay close and meet his three fans? Will his mother ever quit rehashing the groundhog story? Will spring really come early or arrive on March 20th as always? My friend, these are questions I will leave you to ponder.

KK

Failure to Communicate

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I communicate for a living. Story telling, blogging, marketing messaging and communication strategies. Of all the people I have worked with, the most challenging are those who think they are good communicators, but aren’t. They may be fine verbalizing an idea or thought, but ask them to write it down and disaster strikes. Some gremlin crawls in and blocks the words, scrambling them from their brain to their hands. There is no helping them understand their diagnosis. Their denial of the truth screeches like fingernails on a chalkboard.

It may be my simple mind, but I can take a complicated message and break it down into succinct statements, paragraphs or bullet points. The key is to not over-communicate. To explain how to fry an egg, there is no need to explain the reproductive system of the chicken first.

Clearly, there are far more complicated topics than frying an egg. It’s been my experience that with detailed complicated issues, the best way to communicate is to break them down into smaller, more manageable pieces of information.

So we have these non-communicators who think they are great communicators and driving us real communicators nuts. I’m not naming names, but let me encourage you to please for the love of connecting with others, slow down and really think about what you want to convey before attempting to do so. This may help. Or it may not and you may see me running away from you screaming.

Thanks for listening.
KK

 

 

I bought it.

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lotto (003)Over the last week or so the lottery has been quite the thing to buzz about. I am not a regular player, and don’t understand the fun of consistently paying two dollars for a little slip of paper that more than likely will deliver nothing in return. That being said, I admit to purchasing maybe a total of five lottery tickets in the life of the lottery.

Once, I was reminded of recently by a college friend, was when the lottery first started and I bought a scratch off and actually won. That winning didn’t give me the fever though. The other times have been when the lottery potential winnings hit historical highs, like hundreds of millions or like last week over a billion dollars. Why not? I spent two dollars and bought myself and my family a few days of fun conversation surrounded by the “what if” question.

We talked of being debt free and blessing our church and missionaries we support. What I admired was that we didn’t talk of world trips or huge houses. We talked about life being a little easier because of not having to worry about our future financial state.

I enjoyed dreaming of a lifestyle that I wouldn’t have otherwise thought about. It was a fun escape. Needless to say (as you can see from the photo), they chose the wrong numbers and I didn’t win. My participation last week reminded me that dreaming is good. No, I’ll never be a billionaire at the rate I’m going, but my family will always have what we need most. There will be successful goal-achieving moments ahead. Money certainly helps in this world, but it’s not everything. It’s a resource that gives us the opportunity to make this place a little better for ourselves and those we care about.

There still may be moments of escape when I do a little dreaming of “what if”, but I don’t need a lottery ticket to do that.

All the best,

KK

Feelin’ Good Friday

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Some may feel this is better suited for Monday morning, but why not go into your weekend knowing how gorgeous you are. Check out this message from our friends Hoops and Yoyo (no, I can’t ever remember which is which, but they do make me smile).

hoopsandyoyo

Happy Weekend.

KK

 

 

 

Ice by Any Other Form is Still Cold

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nugget ice

Evidently for some people ice needs to be in nugget form. Not crushed or cubed, not even chipped. It needs to be in nuggets. This shape of ice is a little larger than a pea. A few months ago, those who are fans of nugget ice received a written apology from a convenience store manager when they had to settle for crushed ice. The posted sign over the nugget ice dispenser read: “We apologize, the nugget ice maker is out of service.”

We all have our favorite refreshments, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m not sure I would expect an apology for one form of ice when two feet away I can have another form.

Can we agree that our need for a certain shape, size or consistency of ice should be added to the list of first world problems?

All the best, 

KK

 

A Girl and Her Shoes

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There are many stereotypes about women and their shoes. To be honest, if I had a little more excess in my budget, buying shoes would be my guilty pleasure.

Admit it ladies, the right pair of shoes can finish an outfit and provide just the right amount of sass for an evening out. I’ve had these shoes for a couple of years. Over the last few months I’ve noticed my faithful black shoes are looking tired and ready to retire. I can’t do it without finding the perfect replacement guaranteed to set the tone for anyIMG_0122-0 event. They have the perfect combination of platform and heal height. This will not be an easy task.

IMG_0123The hunt will be a challenge and a little overwhelming for this non-shopper. In the meantime, I can’t wear these any longer. Part of what is holding me back is the disposal process. Shoving them in a stinky trash bag seems so drastic. Maybe I will give them their own trash bag.

Their epitaph —

Here in this bag lays a pair of fun (and comfortable) shoes, thank you for serving my wardrobe so well. Farewell friends — rest easy in shoe heaven. Kick your heals up a little.

All the best,

KK

You Can Blame Me, I’m Fine With It

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Recently I spent my post space and time begrudging our horribly oppressive gray winter days here in Kentucky. As of this past Monday, not so much gray as white has shown up. Snow!!! Close to a foot of snow fell blanketing our brown icky dead yards and wrapping the dead leaves on the trees in a beautiful shawl of white, cold, fluffy stuff.snow day

I know that for those who have to get out in it, this weather event is a hassle. For those who work outside the home and need to find snow day childcare, this snow event adds to the ‘to do list.

For me, this brutally cold spurt has provided a welcome break in the weather. I invite you to look outside and notice the textured snow drifts or the crystal frozen sparkles in the sunshine. It’s beautiful!

What now hides beneath the snow are the buds, the hope for spring — 28 days and counting…

All the best,

KK