Published on Thursday, December 17, 2015 by Katherine I need to make this post brief. If I begin writing all the details of my last two weeks I believe my eventual meltdown will quickly ensue. And it isn’t quite time for that. On December 5 at 4:00 a.m. I was woken up in Corolla by a police officer knocking at my door. My 22-year-old healthy son had collapsed, was in the emergency room and I had to return home immed...

Published on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 by Katherine This weekend I took some photos of the flooding in our Corolla Ocean Sands neighborhood.  These pictures were taken a week after all the rain preceding Hurricane Joaquin. As I was walking I noticed broken pieces of wood at the edge of the dunes.  Then I realized they were from the sand fence I had taken pictures of just weeks before. Water from what we call "Tur...

Published on Thursday, August 20, 2015 by Katherine My title sounds a bit like something you might pick up on a street corner somewhere, doesn’t it? Fortunately it isn’t about that, but unfortunately it is about something that is just as bad. Friday morning my dog Moon woke up with three large bumps on his back. It looked like he was stung by something. I gave him Benadryl and asked my daughter to watch him while ...

Published on Thursday, June 4, 2015 by Katherine This is something I can’t do myself right now for several reasons. Not completely, at least. Between work and criticism around me I have to fit in molds that don’t quite feel right. One day I will be able to finally be who I really am. I’ll be the old woman with the pink hair, TRUST ME. This phoenix will rise from the ashes. In the meantime, I try to encourage ...

Published on Monday, May 4, 2015 by Katherine In my world, dogs go to heaven. But in others? Apparently not so much. On the way to Corolla, my daughter told me about a lesson that had upset her recently. An authority figure in our church explained that animals do not have souls and therefore do not go to heaven. If it is in the Bible it is truth. Period. “So if you think Fido is going to meet you in heaven, ...

Published on Sunday, March 22, 2015 by Katherine I have always wanted to help people. But you know how it goes. Kids. Work. Life. I assumed the time would come when all the children are out of the house. As you know, I have begun fostering dogs for an amazing local rescue.   I could write a post on its own about dog fostering and just how hard it can be. And just how rewarding. Sure, it broke my heart to say good...

Published on Monday, March 9, 2015 by Katherine As many of you know, I have been fighting a sinus, ear and chest infection. That is why I didn't make my post last night.  I just don't feel well. Today I finished my antibiotic and I am still feeling horrible. I thought I might be put on another antibiotic. Instead…. Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnn…… I got the “P” word. PREDNISONE. UGH. The last three times I took ...

Published on Thursday, February 12, 2015 by Katherine On February 6, 2015, my mother looked at me and said, “Do you know what today is?” It took me a moment to realize it was the 19th anniversary of my father’s death. I felt that familiar knot begin to form in my stomach. She continued, “So with today being what it is, imagine how I felt when I opened my mailbox and found this.” She held up a post card from...

Published on Thursday, October 23, 2014 by Katherine Where does the time go? These last few weeks have found me running in circles, finding little time to write. Not that things have been bad. Sure, there is plenty of stress. Kids overwhelmed with school and college, money worries, accident pain and everything else. But there is also good. I’ve got all three kids under the same roof again. The weather and ocean st...

Published on Thursday, September 25, 2014 by Katherine I was always an Android kind of person. Apple people were a bit hoity-toity as far as I was concerned. They had money, music and white earbuds. ISheep, they call them. But you know what else they had? Phones that held up over time. I was three Samsungs in and each died after a year and a half. So I caved and got myself a free iPhone 5 and never looked back. Sure e...

Published on Monday, August 18, 2014 by Katherine When we passed this roadside warning, I should have known it was a sign of things to come. After all, everything had been pretty hunky-dory through the summer. Weekends in Corolla. Free BBQ every Saturday. No school lunches, extra evening time and college was but a blip on the future screen. It took a simple pebble bouncing off a cliff to cause the slow moving aval...

Published on Monday, June 9, 2014 by Katherine <INSERT SIGH OF RELIEF HERE> In the last month or so, I have spent weeks on intensive spring cleaning, had guests stay at my house, lost my trusty van, rode the light rail to work, finally got my van back, was dissed by extended "family", spent countless hours helping with end of the year school projects, planned for and went to three huge graduation events,�...