It Gets Better

I’ve been on-line dating for over a month now… and it does get better!

Okay, when I say “it gets better”, I don’t mean that all of the sudden I’ve found the secret formula to attract the right guy, but I say “it gets better” in that I have so much more to share with y’all!

What’s your number babe

For real?

And the transition right to “well, let’s hang out then”.

I sent back a page of my schedule that ended with basically, it’s a month before I’ll have any free time.  And I fully expected that to be the end of him.

It wasn’t.

The guy went on to ask me 5,000,000,000 questions.

I’m not even exaggerating!

But, it gets better!

A few days later he messages me again… and very obviously isn’t paying a bit of attention.

Good to know?  Good to know?  What part of I was sick was good to know?  I don’t even have an answer for that one!

Yeah, no.  I just can’t even.

But wait – it gets better.

Enter a new beau.  And he falls under the category of “Did you just say that?”  I mean, I can’t tell you how long I stared at his message in disbelief.  It’s not so much whether or not you have religious beliefs, it was just the disrespect he has towards those that do.  Take a look. 

I sent back to him that I found that comment out of line and didn’t want that attitude in my life.  To which he responded “Ok”.

See – I told you it got better!!! I don’t think you can top these!  But, rest assured, my fingers are in top form for taking screen shots just in case someone comes along who can top these!!

Speaking of top form – I do have a race this weekend.  A 5k for the college my son attends, the alumni put it on every year, and I’m happy to be able to participate! I am not racing this one, I’m just having fun with it, so I hope to take lots of pictures – the school had a poster making day – and I can’t wait to see what they came up with! I’ve been staying at my parents house this week, and they say that hills make you stronger – but I swear the hills in my parents neighborhood are out to kill me.

 

World’s Fastest Courtship

I’m navigating the waters of the on-line dating pool. It’s been a few weeks now and I’ve perfected the art of  my Invisibility Cloak – and how to pop that sucker on and off in a heartbeat!

What I’m not doing is getting  frustrated at the messages – they are supposed to be a good thing! They aren’t driving me nuts at all!

*Insert eye roll*

Okay, you know they are driving me crazy, but they aren’t supposed to! I am supposed to be happy that they have reached out to get to know me – I mean – that’s the entire point!!!

Except this guy, I think this guy missed the “getting to know you memo”:

He went from “Hi” to “Let’s go out” in about 3.5 seconds! It was quite amazing and I have to wonder what his success rate is!

Because I’m me, I did mention that none of his profile was filled out, so that was another reason I was hesitant, a message with a blank profile is usually a fishing expedition and I’m not fond of that bait.

To which he replied:

Have you even answered any questions on here?

Okay Mr. ‘Tude, I got your number!  I explained that I answered a ton of them, because it helps the algorithm out, and the more I answer the better results I get – Like the rest of life you get out what you put in! And since I put in a lot of effort, I was wondering what about my profile he liked  best and what made him decide to contact me?

I figured that was the last of him, please kid, you don’t know who you’re dealing with! You can’t cop an attitude that I can’t beat – I deserve a crown for my attitude some days!  Good OR Bad! 😀

Imagine my surprise when 10 minutes later he replied!  I literally had to set the phone down cause I was laughing so hard – the kid went and read my profile (obviously for the first time) and came back and typed in a part of it back to me and told me that was what he liked about me and that’s why he contacted me.

Yeah, no.  But nice try though!  I’d give him points for the effort he took,  but sadly, there was no amount of points to get him out of the hole he was in!!!

So, mostly I’m being amused – trying not to be frustrated – and… I may have found one, or two, that are worth getting to know!! Stay tuned!!

Running news: I’m  actually looking for a 10k race to sign up for, I’d like to see where I stand.  I’m also adjusting my food. I’ve had to increase my protein and iron (not surprising at all) and I’m playing with fueling for the long runs vs. just going out like normal.  It’s been interesting and challenging, and I may or may not have walked around for a few days with an ice pack tied to my ankle every couple of hours… but you know – I’m a runner – we’re weird like that!

 

Save

Rule #1

It’s been a week since I started on-line dating.

It feels like it’s been forever.

I went back and looked at the calendar just to make sure.

Only a week.

I did get an email that you could get the “paid” option for 20% off.  I paid for one month and set up a reminder to cancel it!  The paid option just gives me a bit more information about who is looking at me, and allows me to look at others in “incognito” mode – meaning I can stalk research and the guys won’t know I’ve visited their profile.

We shall see if either of those options come in handy!

So far, the BEST opening line (with original punctuation):

Roses are red violets are blue.  Do you want a fun date or a Starbucks date for two?

Now, how do you resist that?

I responded and we’ve had some good conversations… he is 20 years younger than I am.

RULE #1: You have to be closer to my age than either my son or my parents age.

So far, the worst opening line (with original punctuation):

Good morning will you morning my beautiful city of Fort Worth Texas? You look very wonderful.  I would like to be a friend of yours with the potential of being more. I am a fun, loving down to earth type of Guyd. Contact me when you get a chance?

Okay, I am not at all sure what he was trying to say in the beginning, and was that last line really supposed to be a question?

I didn’t respond to that one.  There are some that I just haven’t responded to, because just like the one above, it didn’t look like a real person was sending it – call it spam, catfishing, or just fishing, it takes more than that to make me bite!

So far I’ve had several great message conversations, I’ve let a couple know that I didn’t feel we were compatible, and even more that are just sitting there never to be answered!  (But I’ll leave them there so I can see if they contact me again!) (Not that I have issues or anything!) (Maybe a few!)

All in all, I feel it’s not bad for for the first week; but wow, it wears me out!! 🙂

Running is better.  I switched to a more organic training program.  Lots of tips are about “schedule” and I’ve found that I work better if I know what I want to do, and leave some flexibility about when I actually do it!  Running a 5k this weekend… can’t wait to see my time!

 

 

A Break & Break-up

(I apologize for the email(s) you may have received yesterday that lead to a dead link, the button I wanted was right next to the “publish” button, and I totally hit the wrong button.  Twice!)

One of my favorite people told me the other day “I’m so sorry, I haven’t had time to read your blog” and I was all “That’s okay, I stopped writing it!”

And I did, and I needed the break.  I was serious when I told y’all that I wanted to live my life and not keep mental notes in my head of “Oh, I need to blog about this!”

The break did me good! But now, oh my gosh, I have stuff that has to be shared!! I mean, I would be doing every single one of you a disservice if I didn’t share it!

Last  we spoke, Mr. T had started his freshman year in college, a friend of his was borrowing our guest room and I was dating Adam.  You can catch up here if you are so inclined, but you aren’t missing anything if you don’t!

Humm… I can’t remember if I used his real name or not in my last post – but he isn’t active in social medial, so I can’t imagine it matters to him! He has social media, but he doesn’t even follow my Instagram account! Dude, we’ve been dating almost a year!

But let’s move on!

Mr. T is in his 2nd semester of first year and it is just awesome! He seems to be doing so well, and he really enjoys it – and he is still cheering!  In fact, if you follow me on aforementioned IG account, you’d be over-run with pictures from the last two competitions we attended!

It’s pretty awesome.  Both events were out of state, and I got to stay with one of my best friends in the world – it was worth the extra drive to get back and forth!

Mr. T’s friend who was borrowing the guest room moved out.

And moved back in 2 weeks later.  He is paying rent now.  We are working on getting him moving forward in his life.  He talks about all these grand plans, and I’m a task master helping to keep him on track!

Adam and I have been together almost a year – and guys, it was awesome.  It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it was a great relationship.  We were open with each other, we laughed, we adjusted and adapted.  I learned some good lessons about myself during this time.

Have you noticed that I am using the past tense?

He is moving away.  Just a few weeks shy of our 1 year anniversary, he is moving.

I’m not even upset – it’s for family, and it is the right move for him to make.  We’ve spent the last couple of weeks letting those in our life know, and now I’m sharing it with you! I will miss him terribly, and he  feels the same.  In fact, we both  decided that his mourning period should last about 6 month. We feel that is how long it should  take to get over me.

Okay, I feel that is how long it should take.  He just humors me by agreeing!

But, you know what this means?

That’s right.

Online dating is coming!! And you’re coming along for the ride!

You’re welcome. 🙂

For those runners out there – I’ve complete two races, one virtual and one in real life – both 5k’s.  And now I’m training for a 10k.  I’ve been working on increasing my mileage and I’ve hit week 11 of my training program, after having to take a week off, and then a recovery week – apparently I was pushing myself a bit too hard and my body rebelled!  I’m feeling better, I’m dealing with a medial ankle pain, trying to determine if it’s fallen arch or a nerve – it’s kinda in between the two symptom wise – but RICE is my friend, I’m doing ice compression at least once a day, and twice if I’ve done a run that is 5 or 6 miles long.

Love and missed you guys!

Kate

February 2016

Guys, nothing funny is happening in my life.

I’m not having many “Did That Just Happen” moments right now.

And, (with a worried sigh), I’m afraid I might not have many more.

You see, Mr. T has picked a college.

It is all becoming very real that the little boy I JUST HAD is growing up.

I made him stop and take a picture with me at a college visit the other day.

“Mom, we don’t need to now, there will be time later.”

“Get your butt over here and take a picture with me! Don’t make me go all mom on you!”

And you know what – there wasn’t time later!

Time is not linear for me, when I say it happened the other day, I could mean yesterday, or 6 months ago.  I don’t waste space in my brain for things like “time”; however, there is a pressure in my chest that tells me – either I’m having a heart attack – or that time is currently paying very close attention to me!

Here is the super-duper good news, though.  My son is bound and determined to expedite his college time and leave with the least amount of debt as possible.  He has saved up to take classes at the community college during the summer, and he is filling out every scholarship form there is… and… he is applying for the housing waiver.  He will live close enough to the school he wants to attend that he can commute.

He won’t be moving into the dorm (fingers crossed) in the Spring.  He’ll be staying at home.  And, while he is never here now, and will probably be here less in the future, it still gives me some peace that I’ll have a little bit longer to yell at him to not leave dirty dishes in the sink or to pick up his shoes from the living room floor because I tripped over them and almost broke my neck!

I look forward to that.

OH! But wait!  The other day I bought a new washing machine!  And Mr. T had exactly 1 hour in between Job #1 and Job #2, so he met me at Lowe’s to load up the machine (it wouldn’t fit in my car) and drive it home – and he unloaded it and set it in place for me before taking off to head back into town for work.

So, I made him some homemade donuts! 

Double chocolate donuts with a plain glaze.

Yeah, that just happened!

(and if you follow me on Pinterest, you’ll find the inspiration for that recipe, which of course, I modified.  Almond milk instead of regular, greek yogurt instead of sour cream and truvia instead of sugar… and they still turned out divine!)

Oh! One last thing – one of my SMART goals is to hit 50 miles per month with my running.  

Not only did I meet my goal, I increased my mileage from January, so #DoubleWin.  This month also included a longer run, added in an extra half mile towards the end of the month – and it was scary but it went really well!  I think I’ll work in a few more long runs now and work on increasing my stamina.  It’s been feeling good, and I haven’t always been able to say that about running!

Maybe I have a few more moments left in me yet!

January Recap

I can’t think of a catchy title for this blog… and since it will be a smorgasbord, I figured that “recap” is fine.  Okay, disclaimer over with it! Let’s get started!

One of my SMART goals this years, under “Personal Betterment” is

I welcome January 2017 in as a sharp-dressed woman, as I have made an effort to be more presentable, and accountable in my attire and stepped outside the house always dressed for success.

Honestly, I really thought this was a good idea.

And I’m not ready to abandon it yet… but…

Yeah, that happened.

This month, we celebrated my mom’s birthday with a family gathering.  Mr. T had to work, so he spent time with her and dad earlier in the day and had a pleasant lunch with his grandparents, but since I was busy, I wasn’t there and don’t have any pictures – so we’ll start with a picture I snapped of the two of them a few days prior!

They were having an intense discussion! Cassius, Lee’s boxer, came over for a visit, and if you look closely, even Shorty was taking part!

It was a fun gathering, and at the end of the night, it was time to take some pictures!

The best part was when Grammy wanted some pictures with her grand-kids.  This is what we posted:

This is the behind the scenes of what all we have to go through in order to get just a few good shots! I am sure this is something most of y’all can relate to!!

Notice how we were all jumping in to help.

Yeah.  Not so much.  We are more of a sit-back-and-laugh family!!

Remember that I mentioned being busy that morning so I couldn’t join Mr. T during his visit with his grandparents?

Boom! First 5k of the year done! *happy dance* Heroes for Hope run benefiting St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

BA ran with me, and after we had cooled down, grabbed some food and water, I checked, and they didn’t have a computer set up for us to check our official times, but they gave me the site I could log onto later – and then pointed me in the direction of the guy that had the print out!

I did not medal.

Well, if I’m not getting a medal, then we could go.  Not going to lie, there were 30 more minutes to go until the ceremony, and I couldn’t hang!

The next day I got on and checked the official time.

I did not medal, BUT…

I knocked 3 minutes off my race time!! 3 minutes y’all!!  It was insane!  I did start way too fast, and it came up and bit me in the butt at the 2.5ish mark, but again, I’m just amazed at the love of runners, I was struggling, and another runner came up beside me and slowed down, told me I could do it – and then stayed to run with me for a bit!  She and I kept together for a good bit, and it felt good.  I love the sense of community that has come with running, I really do!

As long as I was checking my time, I pulled up BA’s time.

And then I called him and asked “When I was checking the time sheet for me – did you happen to check it for you?  I think you medaled.”

No, he hadn’t checked the sheet, so I contacted the race coordinator, and sure enough, BA came in 3rd place in his group!  They are mailing his medal – it took several hours for it to really sink in with him, but all of the sudden, I think I can convince him to run with me again!

 

 

 

 

Tense

First, let me apologize.

I am not a niche blogger.

If you came here because I once wrote a funny post,

a running post

or maybe a cooking post

– and you wanted more of that, on a consistent basis, this might not be the place for you!

And, I truly feel badly over this!  I’d love to write about running. Or cooking.  And heavens knows I’d actually love to be funny!  But alas, I’m a storyteller.  I spin a good yarn.

But that is neither here nor there – I just felt the need to get that out!

Plus Eye of the Tiger is totally my Power Song and when I saw that e-card, well, it had to be utilized!

But today I want to talk about tense.  And this doesn’t fall into any category listed above!

noun

1.

(grammar) a category of the verb or verbal inflections, such as present, past, and future, that expresses the temporal relations between what is reported in a sentence and the time of its utterance

I was talking to a colleague the other day and said “It’s okay, I can say that, my brother was Korean”

He WAS Korean. Like overnight he all of the sudden wasn’t anymore.

I was trying to say that my brother is no longer with us… but he is still Korean, dead or alive – and y’all I have let this twirl and twist around my head for days… I am not sure how to relate that my brother is Korean, but no longer with us, without going into a massively long explanation!

Am I the only one that runs across stuff like this and then freaks when they can’t figure it out? Or, fingers crossed, has someone figured this out for me already?!? Is there an answer? A cheat sheet? Anything? Cause the tense makes me a bit tense!!

Happy Tuesday everyone! 🙂

I am a Runner

Happy Pre-Friday everyone! The other night I clicked a link on Twitter, read this blog  and then shed some tears. Several of you have been here for the last several years and know my journey to get healthier, and how I’ve started running and stopped, started and stopped more times than I can count.

It took some time to for me to actually start “running”. I worked up to it. I walked. A lot. I did the elliptical. I tried outside. And came right back in. It’s hard. And there are people out there. People that could see every jiggle and bounce my body took with each stride.

It has been almost a year since I started “running”. And up until a few weeks ago, I still wouldn’t have called myself a runner. Y’all remember my first 5k from a few weeks ago? Remember those two girls talking and I distanced myself from the conversation because I thought they were friends – but come to find out, they were strangers too – they just had allowed themselves to embrace the running community, where as I hadn’t yet. I was standing there waiting for someone to tell me that I didn’t look like a runner. That I shouldn’t even be there.

That’s the little voice in my head that I live with. That I think most of us live with. That voice that can come up with 1,000 reasons why you shouldn’t do it. Why you shouldn’t run that race, why you shouldn’t take the new job, why you shouldn’t move across the country. Or even why you shouldn’t say yes to that invitation that your friend issued.

But you know what? Not once has that voice been right. I always have fun when I say Yes to the invitation. Taking the new job led to an amazing life, one I couldn’t have imagined that allowed me to be there more for my son. And you know what, not a single person at that race told me I wasn’t supposed to be there. Not a single one even gave me a sideways glance. Everyone I encountered smiled, and spoke, and invited me in.

And now I can say that I’m a runner and not put the quotation marks around it.  Now I can share with all of you what, up until this point, was pretty much only known if you follow me on Instagram! I was afraid to put it out there.  I was afraid to declare my intentions.  The little voice was telling me that I wouldn’t find acceptance.  Fortunately, I am stronger, WE are all stronger, than that little voice.

So, go run.  Go paint.  Go capture a soul through your photography.  Go step outside your comfort zone and take the new job.  Move.  Explore.  Do.

And go read Ashley at Rather be Runnin’: 

Rather Be Runnin’

P.S. I linked to some old posts of mine, which was weird, because (1) they were old and apparently my writing style has change (hopefully for the better) and (2) they were not even telling the story the way I thought they were!  So, you don’t have to bother to go back and read them!

Apparently My Profile Picture Sucks

And thank goodness for that! We were hanging out in the concession stand Saturday night, working a very slow playoff game, and I’m not sure exactly how it happened, all I know is all of the sudden one of the teenagers was going through my photos to pick a new profile picture.  Because mine wasn’t very flattering.

So I’m looking around at everyone – what do you mean? I love that picture! It’s an awesome picture!!

And I got “you know, kudos to you for using natural light.”

All I know is that more people should speak up when a profile picture isn’t good!

But, do it in a nice way! And that teenager really was so sweet!  Later that night I tagged her on Instagram and asked if the one I picked was better – she agreed, so whew, I have a replacement! I’ve been trying to figure out where all I have the old picture so I can replace it! 🙂

Okay, I have two replacements.  I’m pretty much afraid to make any decisions on my own at this point!

Oh! You want to know what is not my profile picture? 

That is me at the start line of my very first 5k run!  It was a last minute decision… like 3 days before the race I decided to do it!  I’ve never run that far before, it is 3.1 miles and I run about 2.7 most mornings.  I had no clue what I was doing.  At all.

And, I am so shy that I was in line and these two girls were talking and included me in the conversation, and I ended up scooting a bit out of it, cause nerves and insecurity!

At the end of their conversation, they introduced themselves.  To each other!  They didn’t know each other, they were just there in a shared experience!

AGH! I have got to learn how to do that!!

But that’s not the point!  Spoiler alert, I lived to tell about my race!

I finished!

Not only that, I finished in the top 5 of my group!  I was pretty darn proud of myself and now I think I’ll have to do another one!

Of course, if you follow any runners at all, it’s all about the meals.  The meals leading up to the race, and naturally the post race meal.  And boy was I thinking about a post race meal!

And then I remembered that I didn’t run but less than 1/2 a mile more than usual – LOL, it’s not like I burned an extra 1,000 calories that day!

So, I compromised.

I Bought a Fanny Pack

I bought a fanny pack.

I wish I could say I was joking.

I even have to admit that I don’t regret the purchase!

Let me back up a bit.

You know I’ve been on a journey to better health and recently I’ve started running.  I can’t say I love it, but I can’t say I hate it either!  It’s not easy, but I miss it on my rest days.  I found an arm band and have been using that to hold my phone, and while it’s not my favorite, I was fine with it.

Until I noticed that it is starting to rub against my workout shirts.

So I started my search.

And by that I mean, I sorted by lowest price on Amazon!

I really wanted a Flip Belt, but they don’t come in my size.

Nothing against Flip Belt, it’s just not easy at all to find fitness gear for a “plus” sized woman.  It involves a lot of measuring and guessing and then a quick prayer that it will actually fit and work!

I found a belt, it was nice and compact, and if my measurements were correct, it would span my waist.  And, it would hold my iPhone.

The belt looks good, right? Not obtrusive at all.  But, I still can’t figure out what the model is storing in hers.  I mean, if you are going to show a picture of the product being used, shouldn’t it actually be in use? I mean, would it be a shame to show products doing what they are supposed to, but whatevs!

The picture shows that it holds the phone and keys… and it claims to be able to hold more – but my phone is all that really mattered, as my running shorts have a pocket for my keys, I just need to be able to have my headphones in while I’m pounding the pavement – and for the low price of $9.99, I clicked “order”.

I’ve used it twice and pretty much love it. It is an elastic band attached to the yellow banana pack, but it is able to be tightened up as the elastic stretches… or as my waist shrinks!

But every morning, when I’ve snapped this on, I’ve giggled, cause, really, it’s nothing more than an elastic fanny pack.

And I’m rocking it better than anyone!  Well, anyone except…

The Rock.  He is totally rocking the fanny pack.