Category Archives: Whimsy

Being Crafty

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craft itemsA couple of weeks ago I went to a well-known craft store (the mecca of crafters in the Louisville area).  I am not a crafter, but I recognize the value of this store.  We needed a piece of black photo matting and spray adhesive for a project my son was working on.

As I walked in a whoosh of the aroma of glue sticks, paint and artificial flowers overcame me.  Having shopped in this store I knew the direct path to the photo/framing area.   A sales lady greeted me and wanted to help me quickly (20 minutes to closing).  There was little chit-chat.  She understood what I was looking for, but kept trying to sell me far more of the mat board than I wanted.  This would have saved her from having to custom cut a piece.  Nonetheless, she finally relented and understood that for my purposes, a custom piece was the best buy.  She went to make the cuts.

Prior to her exit, I asked where I could find spray adhesive.  Remember I’m a stranger in this land of craft supplies.  Her answer taught me just how much I didn’t know about where I was.   She said, “Follow this aisle at the back of the store past the craft items; it will be down the aisle on the left.”   While I listened to all of the directions, when I turned to follow the back aisle, it occurred to me that in my inexperienced mind, ALL of the aisles were craft items.  I didn’t realize there were sub-categories of craft items.  I had to wonder, are there other things I needed to know, like the language and crafting etiquette? Watch your manners…

Having only five minutes left in store hours according to the overhead speaker, I began the journey looking down EVERY aisle.  Before I got too far off the one aisle I knew would lead me back to my custom cut board, a friendly clerk asked to help and led me directly to adhesive spray and even made a suggestion.craft items 2

True confession:  going to a craft supply store makes me want to buy, take up a craft and create something.

Store was closing – whew – bought only what I needed and left.  No new hobbies.  To my friends who are crafters, you have my admiration and appreciation for your talents.

What are your hobbies?

All the best,

KK

Tis the Season

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For the last eight years February was the beginning, March was the get ready and April was GO! The ritual hasn’t changed come rain, sleet, snow and sunshine, THIS is the start of the big season. Over the years the prep time has grown to the point of not really feeling like the season ever ends. Are we finishing that one or getting ready for this one? And over the years, while still full of hustle and bustle, the season has become more enjoyable; so much so that even I am looking forward to getting things going.

We’ve made our annual pilgrimage that feels (and costs) a lot like buying school supplies, to the sporting goods store. We’ve checked the list and made sure the supplies are ready…

Pants, check. Socks and belt, check. Cup, check. Water bottle, check. Stadium seats, check. Sunflower seeds, check. Camera, check. Clothing for any and all kinds of weather, check. Hand warmers, check.

The season of which I’m referring and currently planning for is none other than youth baseball season! You were thinking that, right?

This will be the first year for metal cleats. That’s my boy behind the plate, don’t you slide into home and into his pretty face with those spikes! Thinking it, not saying it…I learned several years ago the best position for me to play during the game; number one fan! I’m at just about every game in the stands and cheering our team on. Win or lose, good game or bad, I’m proud of my player and his team for preparing and showing up to play their best on the field.

Little league and now collegiate baseball is amazing. We watch our kids grow from picking flowers in the outfield when they are five years old to being young men who play their position with skill and precision. They stand tall and are proud of the team they represent. Win or lose they show the character of the men they are becoming when they encourage the opposing team.

The coaches, us parents don’t always understand their game strategy, but we trust them with our boys not only because of baseball 1their knowledge of the game, but because they will help us show our sons what it is to be a man with values and integrity. Our boys need good coaches and we have been so blessed to have many. Some of the parents get a little weird and a little over the top when the umpire is having a bad day. But within minutes after the final run is scored, it’s the boys who are bugging around talking highlights, tossing a ball around having already forgotten the bad calls.

I do love all the things that make youth baseball great: the game strategies, being outside on a sunny day watching our boys play with absolutely nothing electronic but the scoreboard, the crack of the bat or the whap when the ball hits the catcher’s mitt and the excitement when the perfect play is made.

With the final flakes of snow melting away, our team will take the field this weekend having shaken the dust off their bats, grown in maturity, taller in stature, and better in skill. I can’t wait to see what happens! Win or lose, it will be a good season.

All the best,
KK

There is Hope

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There were several ideas I worked on for this week but nothing that excited me. Today, January 29th, it was a windy, cloudy, humid, balmy 67 degrees and so I strolled the yard to see how th20130129-220506.jpge garden was wintering.

There among the dead remnants of last summer’s colorful splendor, I found hope for the coming spring. It seems the tulips have peeked out to check out the situation for further growth. The site brought immediate encouragement that in spite of the crazy weather — up and down temperatures — the renewal of spring will come.

So, my friend, take a deep breath and relax, the gray blustery, non-snowy winter will serve it’s purpose and move on at the insistence of spring’s arrival.

All the best,
KK

Password Protected

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Passwords, UUUGGGHHH! Having had accounts hacked, I completely understand their necessity, but it’s getting a little out of hand now that we have to have an application on our phones to keep all of our passwords under one password. Do you remember the security questions that protect your passwords? Do you try to be cleaver with passwords and security questions only to outsmart yourself? You can’t remember the password or the answer to the question because you aren’t in the same snarky mood you wereM in the day you set up the account.
Well,  I won’t tell you the secret to my password creation, but I will confess to having my application that holds all of my passwords implode when I failed to enter my password correctly. Is it the dog’s birthday, or my cousin’s best friend’s address, or was it my favorite color when I was in the second grade. I can’t remember and these buttons are so close together, I even put the wrong password in wrong. It got me so flustered that I kept getting it wrong and then I got THE MESSAGE. All of your passwords have been ERASED, please start over. Oh, doody! Fine, so I begin again with the most commonly used passwords. Ironically, I remember these without having to look them up, why are they in the password keeper? Nonetheless, I begin again determined that the keeper of my passwords isn’t going to get the best of me.
Your thoughts on passwords.
All the best,
KK

Gardening in the spiritual sense

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Many times on Sunday afternoon after church and our family lunch, Jay will retire to a nap, Cole to the couch for relaxing with some TV and I head for the yard.  Some might call what I do, “yard work”, but for someone like me who works in a professional setting, climate controlled office 40+ hours a week, it’s much, much more than that; even though I end up hot, sweaty and very dirty.

I like plants and flowers and have garden areas in the front and back of our home.  It’s still absolutely amazing to me to plant a seed or small flower and watch it grow.  Isn’t that amazing?  Most of the time while pulling weeds or trimming I think about the sermon from that morning, our Creator and this earth He gave us that we so readily consume without a second thought.  Sometimes I think about all my questions for God, like “are weeds that bloom really weeds or just misplaced flowers?”  Today, I planted mums (.88 cents at Home Depot) and my trees from the Arbor Foundation (www.arborday.org).   Today I thought about the legacy of gardening I’ve inherited.  Family legend has it that my MaMaw Bray could poke a hole in the ground with her finger, put a stick in it and grow a tree.  My mother is a gardener and gave me something close to a stick with roots last spring assuring me if I put it in the ground I will have a Butterfly bush.  I did what I was told and sure enough there grew a Butterfly bush that was very busy this afternoon.

Being outside trimming and cleaning up the garden reminds me of how we should constantly be aware of how God nips and prunes us to become the beautiful person He sees when He looks at us.  At the end of my time outside I usually turn on the hose and give all the flowers a drink, hose down the sidewalk and my feet.  What a wonderful site and fresh smell; completely natural.

Ok, so to top it off, I like to mow also.  In fact, I’m a little sad that my son is getting old enough and motivated (by the pay) to want to mow.  It’s like getting a haircut.  You start out a little unkempt and in an hour you have a clean, well-manicured look and feel.  The same holds true for your lawn.  Within a short time (and even when you don’t edge) you have a tidy looking yard.  To make mowing really appealing in today’s vernacular; it’s pretty much instant gratification.  There, I said it.

Coming in from the garden I am sticky, dirty, and if I’ve worn a cap it’s pretty much sweat-plastered to my head until I’m safely in the bathroom where no one can see the mess of my hair.  I always feel my cleanest after a post-gardening shower.  From a dirty mess to clean and fresh, huh, pretty much the point the pastor was trying to make.

Think about it,

KK

Gray Thursday

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It has been a long-standing tradition in families across America that on Thanksgiving Thursday after over-stuffing on the turkey and fixings the football fans retire to take their naps in front of a bowl game.  Meanwhile the shoppers in the family spread the newspaper ads out on the table and create their strategy for black Friday shopping.

In recent years the internet entered the scene as the shoppers made their plans for black Friday referencing the difference in pricing online and those in the stores.  When there is less than a month and a list of gifts, all resources must be utilized.  But that is where the line should be drawn.

Last week several retailers announced that their black Friday deals would begin at 10 p.m. the night before.  The night before…that would be Thanksgiving night; grant it, shopping for Christmas can sometimes be hard to complete when it’s an important time to go to parties with friends and take the spiritual journey of the season, but is it necessary to squeeze out Thanksgiving Day?

Is it not worth a full 24 hours of life to slow down long enough to be thankful, stuff ourselves and enjoy time with family?  Now those 24 hours are being encroached on by retailers trying to create frenzy, and have their day in the media.

The family tradition at the beginning of the piece many times ends with family playing cards or watching a movie together, not charging the door of Wal-Mart to save little, and stand in line all night.  Where are our priorities?  Are they on the people we are shopping for and the important times we spend with them? Retailers would have you believe that to show your love to that special someone, you absolutely MUST leave them at the Thanksgiving table, and go buy them stuff.

If we are not careful, Thanksgiving Thursday is going to become, Gray Thursday – another historical holiday lost in commercialism.

Think about it.

All the best,

KK

Prom Night for the Adults

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Each spring in high schools across America the guys are nervous that she will say “no” and the girls are scared that they won’t get asked.  That probably isn’t so much the case for adults, but all of the other elements of prom go into preparing for the black-tie galas on Derby eve in Louisville.  It’s all about the dress, shoes, hair and make-up for the ladies and the men it’s about the tux and having a pretty girl on their arm.  Many of the Derby eve balls have celebrities in attendance.  In my opinion, celebrities are about as exciting as the high school football star or the head cheerleader at the prom.

We attended a ball this year.  For us, it was a night to get dressed up and enjoy an evening out. We danced a slow dance gazing into each other’s eyes and it didn’t matter that Grammy winner, Linda Davis, was the one singing to us.  It was just us.

Attending the ball made for some fun people watching; especially seeing those who were star-struck by the celebrities; following close behind them to catch them for a quick photo or autograph.  We did get one celebrity photo, primarily because she had been here before and was a favorite of my brothers.

The other people-watching joy was watching those not accustomed to being in a tux or an evening gown and high heels. Like the young ladies going to the prom in their first pair of strappy shoes, these women walked awkwardly on their toes (instead of relaxing and walking heel toe heel toe) and too early in the evening some thought it would be cute to take their shoes off.  But what struck me as saddest was what women consider to be appropriate attire for a black-tie evening.  There was opportunity for footage for Clinton and Stacey to review (What Not To Wear hosts).  Dresses were not right for their frame, or cut ridiculously too low (in the front or back).  Some were short colorful dresses and others were long.  An evening gown should have a classic style and not be too flashy.  Oh, and some women chose to wear hats. Seriously, a hat to a ball?

I realize that for most of us, going to a black-tie event may only come once a year if that often.  But let me encourage you that when the opportunity comes, please take a trip to the internet or the public library and brush up on appropriate attire.  Then check in with Clinton and Stacey on the TLC site for tips on proper fitting. Guys, sorry, but there is only so much you can do with a tux that who knows how many others have worn.

Not every woman is going to be (or needs to be) the Scarlett O’Hara at the ball.  The most important part is that you are dressed appropriately, feel pretty and have your very own Rhett (or love of your life) on your arm.

Just a thought, what do you think?

KK

The Turkey’s Last Stand

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a whimsical story to start your Thanksgiving…

You should have seen the farmer’s face when with his sweat-beaded brow and the axe over his head, he heard me say, “stop!”  He looked at me like I had three heads and not just the one he was about to chop off.  Guess he was going to aim for the one in the middle, when I stood up from the wooden chopping block to continue my plea.

I stood up as brave and strong as I could, knowing that ultimately my fate was in his hands.  “Please, kind sir, you have fed me well and for that I am grateful.  Our coop was cleaned every day and in the winter you made sure we did not freeze.  But you see in spite of your generous care giving, I have not plumped up like others.  You would make more on me at market if you gave me just a few more months.  It’s just a thought.”  I started to walk away thinking I had made my point and given him a practical and prudent reason to not chop my head off and sell me at market in the morning.  Thanksgiving was just a few days away and the townspeople were shopping for fresh turkeys.

Before I took my second step, he swooped in with his free hand and grabbed me by the neck; kkkaaahhh!  “Sir, sir,” I choked.  “Please you are not crazy, I am talking with you.”  With a strike of fear in his eyes, he dropped me.  Landing near his foot, I stood up, flipped my feathers clean of dirt.  He dropped his axe and began to back away shaking his head.  I still had a case to plea.  So, I began to walk toward him.

“Let’s talk about this.  I know the missus is expecting you to get good money for your flock at market, I just wish to wait and allow for some fattening up.”

Shaking his head and backing up, “no, this isn’t happening.  I’ve heard others talk about being out in the sun too long and hearing their animals talk.  I need some water.”

I still had not spoken my piece.  I couldn’t rest until I knew I would see Thanksgiving from my nice warm coop.  I walked up beside Farmer.

“You are not going crazy, you know.  We talk all the time in the many hours we are left alone.  It was time for me to speak out.”

Farmer looked down at me with a double take. “Would you please quit talking?  The missus is going to think I’ve finally spent too much time with you chickens.”

With great pride in my voice, “fine sir, I am an American Gobbler, not a chicken.  I take great offense to being called a chicken – to the point that I would rather be headless than hear that again.

Farmer sighed shaking his head and continued toward the farm house; I followed close behind pleading my case.  On the first step, he kicked his boot against the post to knock the dust off just as a robust gray-haired woman came out of the front door with a tall glass of lemon-aid.

“What is that banging?  How many times do I have to tell you to kick the dust off by that tree, there, not on my porch?  I just finished sweeping it off.”  Farmer’s wife nagged as she handed him the glass.  “And why is there a turkey following you?”

“This turkey is talking to me, woman.”  Farmer groused.

“You’ve been in that sun too long, that bird doesn’t talk.”

I fluffed my feathers and extended my neck just a little taller, “excuse me,” I said pointing my wing in her direction, “I do talk and I’ve been having a delightful exchange with your husband,” turkey said with pride and a small gobble.

Farmer looked at turkey, “we haven’t been having any conversation.  You are a turkey and we are going to eat you for Thanksgiving! And don’t point your wing at my wife, it’s not polite.”

“Looks like you are talking to a turkey,” the farmer’s wife said in a matter of fact way.

“No, I’m not.” Farmer exclaimed.

“I believe you are, sir.  And for what it’s worth, I am grateful to have the opportunity to finally talk with you.  Do you know how difficult it has been to keep quiet all this time?”

Farmer shook his head looking from his wife to the bird, “I’m not debating with you both about this.  Turkey, get back over there.  Honey, go pick another turkey for Thanksgiving and which you want taken to market with this blabber beaked one.”

Wiping her hands on her quilted apron, the farmer’s wife shook her head. “Take whichever ones you want to market, we will have ham for Thanksgiving.”  She turned to go back inside and stopped, “except that one.  Never heard a turkey talk before, might help pass the time in the cold of winter.”

On his way back to the barn, the farmer looked at the turkey and exclaimed, “what is this world coming to, turkeys talking and HAM for Thanksgiving?”

An Invitation to talk manners

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Over the years, I have planned birthday parties, work events and community-wide galas, and it never fails that RSVP’s are late to come in or non-existent.  It’s easy to get busy and fail to RSVP, but in this day of email, text messaging, voicemail, instant messaging and even wall to wall on facebook, there really is little reason to not send a host a yes or no in a timely manner.

From a planning perspective, knowing how many guests are coming helps when ordering food, center pieces or the all important goodie bags.  Party planning is fun and it gets very exciting when guests call and say they are planning to attend.  I am all about the more the merrier.

So, why don’t people commit to attend parties they are invited to?  Are they waiting to see if something better comes along?  Are they waiting to see if other “fun” people are planning to attend?

Even if you RSVP “no” and change your mind or your schedule clears you can call the host back.  A gracious host will be glad to hear you can come. 

 Give me your thoughts.

All the best,
KK

Social Media and Birthday Greetings

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Social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin changed the way I celebrated my birthday this year.  First of all, you need to know that I like having a birthday.  If it didn’t mean getting older, I’d do it more often.  But anyway, whether you like having a birthday or not, it is fun when others remember it (especially when you don’t remind them to remember it).  To me, a birthday is a day to remember that in God’s plan for my parents’ life he put that day and that time in place for me to be born.  The God of the universe knew my birthday before anyone else.  Pretty cool; and He knew yours too.  How much more special can you feel?  That’s why I like my birthday, because it reminds me of how important I am to my heavenly father.

Something else struck me this year though.  I was surprised and blessed by the number of Facebook and Linkedin greetings I received on my birthday.  People I don’t hear from on a regular basis or haven’t had the opportunity to speak to in years sent me birthday wishes.  How kind of them!  I was so touched that I responded to every one of them.  If they were going to be kind enough to take time out of their day to wish me well, I could take time to show them appreciation.

For all the cold, impersonal or weird status remarks we see in our various social mediums, on my birthday there were a lot of warm, kind wishes and thoughts sent.  Think about what this shows us, with the stroke of a few keys and two minutes out of our day we can encourage others.  Why wait for a birthday?  Choose a friend you haven’t heard from in a while and drop them a word to see how they are doing.

All the best,

KK