purekatherine

A good friend is someone who helps you out when you want to try new things with your blog. Peter DeWolf is a good friend. He wrote this little piece of fiction, which is, if memory serves, the first guest post on this blog! If you like it (which you totes should!) go ahead and click his name above to find more stuff by him!

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“Despite these instructions, I am doing a masterful job of assembling this vacuum,” he proclaims.

“Mmhmm,” she replies from behind a book, under covers, on the couch..

“It’s not just the quality of my work — which is, of course, very impressive — it is the speed. I know I have giant hands, but my fingers are nimble. Nimble.”

“Nimble. Sure,” she auto-pilots.

“When you chose me, did you know you were getting the entire package? I mean my rugged good looks were obvious.”

“Of course.”

“And I couldn’t keep my sharp intellect a secret for long.”

“Nope.”

“But the variety of talents and skills I bring to the party… Every day must be like Christmas morning for you.”

“Just like it. Every year I ask Santa for you playing Cheeky Bingo in your boxer shorts.”

“I feel like my talents are being wasted on such a small appliance. I need to work on something bigger. Maybe an entertainment centre. Or the International Space Station.”

“Sure.”

“All great artists require a challenge, you know? Something to test me. To make me– Hmm.”

“What?”

“This isn’t fitting together.”

“Not even with your nimble fingers?” she asks.

“No! This can’t be right,” he looks over his work so far.

“Need some help?”

“No no. I can do it. Let me look at those instructions again…”

“If the International Space Station people call, I should tell them you’re busy being bested by a vacuum then?” she asks.

“I think I’m missing a part. Maybe. It kind of looks like a Klingon Battle Cruiser.”

“Klingon Battle– I may have to leave you,” she says.

“Did I put it in the wrong place?”

“I bet I can finish it for you in thirty seconds,” she proclaims.

“I don’t need…” he replies, pouring over the instructions again.

“Are you chicken?”

“What?” He is paying attention now.

“Afraid I can do it in thirty seconds? Ten bucks.”

“You want to bet?” he asks.

“Ten bucks.”

“Ha. Ok. Fine. Thirty seconds. I am timing you.”

She yawns and stretches. She crawls out from under the blanket. She smiles at him. Then she bends over and pulls the missing part from under the couch. She puts in in place.

“Done,” she smirks.

“This is outrageous, madam!”

“Hee.”

“I am shocked. SHOCKED.”

“Sorrrrry.”

“I’m mad at you.”

“I can tell.”

“You don’t seem concerned.”

“I’m sorry, babe. What can I do to make up for it?” she asks.

“Nothing. It’s too late. I feel cheated. You’re like a different person to me now. It’s going to take a while for this wound to heal,” he replies.

“Wanna come watch me try on my new purchases from Victoria’s Secret?”

“I forgive you.”

“I thought you might,” she laughs, leaving the room.

“Did I mention my nimble fingers?,” he asks, chasing her.

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I started running again last week. I hadn’t run in a while, so it wasn’t the best run, but I did it. I realized something while I was out there. I don’t like running.

I want to like it. I really do, especially since I signed up for my first 5K last night and I’m definitely running that with Kelly in April. I mean, the girl suggested a mid-run cocktail!

I just can’t seem to get into it. It’s pretty lame of me. I live in California, where I technically have running weather all the time (right Tara?). So I shouldn’t use the excuse that I don’t like to run in the “cold” to justify that I can consistently go 3 weeks into the Couch to 5K program, but I never seem to get any further than that.

But like I said, I want to like running. I mean, Nicole always seems to be having fun with it. Nicole is talented enough that when she talks about the running, I definitely want to do it too. This evil genius has almost got me convinced to spend my birthday in Alaska this year doing just that. How do you do that Nicole? Tell me your secrets!

I ran again last night and it wasn’t so bad, but I have no idea why. It’s been more than a full week since I last ran, so I don’t think that it’s my body getting used to it. I’m not doing so well with the drinking water thing, so I’m not better hydrated (though I did stop at a park drinking fountain mid-run), I really don’t know what is making the difference.

The only thing that I know is that I liked the way it felt to walk the next day. Like I could feel my legs actually working. It wasn’t as much as a good night of Lindy Hop, but it was still there.

I would love to actually be in better shape, and for now it’s looking like this relatively free running thing is all that I can handle financially. Help me out and get me hooked before I have money to spend on something that I wouldn’t need!

So tell me, running-type people, what’s the deal? Why is it fun? Can you make it fun for me? Is it that feeling afterward? Am I going to feel that tomorrow?

Also, then join me and let’s do a Color Run together! Or maybe five!

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You know how these go. purekatherine[at]gmail will get you the password if I’m comfortable with that.

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If you’ve been reading or following me on twitter for a little while, you know that I was able to go to Bloggers in Sin City last year. Miracle of miracles, I’m able to attend this year as well!

I’m beyond ecstatic for this chance! So beyond excited that it’s taken me weeks to actually write this because I can’t focus my thoughts enough to make any sense.

Last year’s experience at Bloggers in Sin City changed me, but it’s taken me several months to really learn from what I did and saw with that amazing group of people. My first response to the awesomeness that was BiSC was a post that wasn’t actually talking about how awesome it was. Instead I talked about my experience breaking down one night there and the things that I had issue with inside my own head.

The connections that I made with people who went though lasted the much longer than that breakdown did though. A couple months after BiSC I went to VidCon with two of the 2011 BiSCuits, and then about a month after that I went to the 20something Bloggers Summit with even more of those wonderful people.

Walking up at the end of the welcome happy hour at the 20SB summit and hearing Terra yelling my name before she even saw me, something clicked in me. Talking to several people about things that we are on opposing sides of has been amazing. The amount of respect that I see between the people who went to BiSC is just so cool to me.

Those ripples from my time in Vegas last May are what changed me. This year I’ll be approaching BiSC in a different fashion. Rather than waiting for something to happen to me, I’m finding things to do. Last year I was a little shy about jumping in and talking to the groups of people who already knew each other. Even for the people who I talked to on twitter a bunch before that.

If you’re reading this and you’re going to Bloggers in Sin City 2012, be prepared for a huge hug when I see you.

Like seriously, start doing some lunges and squats now so you can appropriately brace yourself. We don’t want anyone falling down just because I’m so excited to see everyone.

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You deserve happiness.

I just wrote an email to a friend and in it I wrote that phrase. As I typed it, I realized that I was telling myself as much as I was telling that friend.

Then I thought that I might have some other friends who needed the reminder.

You deserve happiness.

Are you doing something for someone else out of an obligation that you are actually kind of imagining?

Do you work somewhere that you don’t actually like, but have some reason that you wouldn’t take another job, or flat out aren’t looking for another?

Are you still being a fantastic friend to someone who isn’t being the same for you? Should you be either dropping that friend or reevaluating the amount of effort you put into the relationship?

Are you stalling on starting something that you know you want to do because you’re afraid of it not being what you’re expecting, or you not being as amazing at it as you are in your head?

Stop all of that right now.

You deserve happiness.

Please go get it. Even if you have to take it in small little increments, please take that step every time you get the chance.

To the friend who got that email, thanks for the inspiration.

You deserve happiness.

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Tonight I got to meet a new blogging friend. Someone I’ve known on Twitter for a few months, who I really respect and admire. The topic of blogging of course came up, and it reminded me that I have something specific that I’ve wanted to share here for a while.

I don’t remember the last time that I was really able to read other people’s blogs. I really hate it, but it’s true.

San and I got to talking about how awesome it is to get comments from people on your blog, and how commenting really is a two way street.

The blogging community is a community after all, so how can any blogger really expect to be getting a lot of comments without responding to them, or commenting on other blogs? Yet here I am, not only not commenting on other blogs, but not even finding the time to READ them!

I really hope that this is something that can and will change soon. The thing that will bring that change the best would be a new job. I currently have no routine, I get scheduled around 20 hours a week for relatively random 4 hour shifts. This means that I don’t have a set schedule for when I’m waking up because I don’t have a set schedule for when I’m going to bed.

I know I just wrote about getting into a great sleep routine, but with my current job, there are some days that I will be scheduled until 11PM, so it’s hard to find a way to get to bed by 10:30 on those nights.

So let’s get me a new job. If there’s anywhere in the Sacramento area that any of you know of who needs a cute and competent receptionist*, send ‘em my way. Or better yet, let me know where I can go to wow them without them having to do anything.

Really, I’m doing this all for you, because like I said before, I can’t read blogs or comment until this kind of thing happens. So get me a job and YOU get more views and comments. Really, this isn’t for me at all.

*I’m also a great file clerk, general office technician, paper clip collector, or overall office badass!

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Just a heads up that a pair of my shoes are in a pretty awesome raffle over at a happy girl!

Tahnie is raising money for the Cystinosis Research Network. I’ll admit that I don’t know a whole lot about Cystinosis, but Tahnie is one of actually relatively few people who are living with the disease. It’s really rare and because of the specifics of it, her daughter is actually only 1 of 10 children born to people with cystinosis.

There’s a lot more information to be found on her blog, but go right on over to her post today and you’ll get to see all the goodies that are up for grabs for only a $10 raffle ticket!

I mean, you could win a pair of my shoes, which I personally think is definitely worth the ticket on its own!

I think I’m going to cheat the system a little at work for my next few shifts to get an extra $10 to be able to enter myself!

What are you waiting for? Go now!

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Back in December I told you guys about this great project that I’d be starting in the new year. I was super stoked for it then and had lots of support from twitter. I’m happy to say that, that support has stayed pretty constant and 12 Changes 12 Months is doing pretty well!

January was awesome for me.

I wanted to increase the amount of water that I drink and I did just that. I basically did it with positive reinforcement. I wasn’t allowed to have any Dr Pepper until I had a glass of water. So every time that I had a glass of water, I pretty much got stoked to be able to have my favorite drink after that. By the end of the month, even on the sleepiest of days, I started wanting water in the morning instead of my caffeine fix.

See, awesome!

At just under a week into February and my second change, things aren’t quite so good. I mean, my change was to get into a better routine/sleep schedule and here I am at 2:24 in the morning, typing up a blog because I can’t sleep.

To be fair to myself, I’ve been sick, so I’ve been sleeping a lot in the mornings and during the day, which is probably what got me onto a crazy schedule to begin with. That doesn’t mean though that I don’t wish I was doing better with this.

The other day I came up with a hopeful solution. I grabbed my awesome Life Planner and wrote 10:30 at the bottom of February 29. That is my goal bedtime by the end of the month. I then worked backwards and changed the time every 3-4 days by 15 minutes. That turned out to give me until midnight to get to bed for tonight (or last night) and the next few nights.

Tonight it didn’t happen. Obviously. I did get to catch up with a friend I’ve been missing though, so I’m ok with it. Also, there’s that whole sick and my pattern is super off from that, so I’ll just go ahead and really be 100% comfortable with missing today.

I have two more days to get this midnight thing down, and my alarm is set for 8:30 in the morning, so maybe I’ll get to make this happen. I have hope, plans tend to do that for me.

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I’ve never been one for the whole “Word for the Year” thing. I think it can be great for people who want to focus on something and have a goal, but it’s always felt to me that if I did it, it would be a little hokey.

Maybe I just don’t know how to label things before they happen, which doesn’t really make sense because I rarely start writing a blog post until I have a title to go with it. But then again, now that I’ve started to rewrite and edit my posts, I have tended to rename them afterward anyway, so I guess I was right in the first place and I don’t know how to label things before they’ve happened.

Take last year for example. At the beginning of the year I would have had no way of knowing the kind of emotional growth and learning that I would have done. I ended 2010 in a lot of pain, but without ways to process that. 2011 I held onto that pain much longer than I probably should have. (Hell, there are still some remnants of that pain here with me in 2012!) I did some processing though.

I did a lot of learning about myself and about the ways that I interact with people. Some of those things I don’t actually like. But really, I’m actually super happy that I went through that process. In the last month or so, I have done a lot of reflecting, and while 2011 held some things that I’m not so proud of, I’m really ok with leaving them there and continuing on to where I’d like to be in 2012.

I made a lot of new friends in the last 12 months. Friends who saw a lot of the pain that I was going through and have been there to lend an ear, or offer some advice, or even just distract me with silly talk about anything else. One of the things that I’m not so proud of is that I kind of took advantage of some of those friends.

This year I plan on utilizing them.

With this network of support behind me, I plan on becoming unstoppable. Seriously, I have big plans this year. Some of them I will be sharing (because someone pretty awesome explained that sharing makes me accountable for more). Some of them I’ll only be unveiling once I’ve got something to show.

I don’t know what word to put on the upcoming year, so I don’t think I’m going to. Instead I think I’m just going to say that I’ve got a new spirit for the year. A spirit of adventure, a spirit of going for things. A spirit of gratitude and thanks.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably a part of what gave me this spirit. I want to thank you for that now and I hope that you will continue with me through this year and live through the spirit as it continues to fuel me.

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