Breakfast

I know what you are all thinking - Why Katharine, your breakfast is a complete and nutritious meal. Why don't you have a Milky Way for breakfast every morning? Well people, I don't know why I don't have a Milky Way for breakfast every morning. But today, oh let me tell you about today. I'm here at work, a place that I'll call *cough* ...ments.. *cough* and the proverbial shit has hit the fan. One therapist can't come in tonight and she's already booked with four clients! FOUR! I only have ONE person who could conceivably cover for her, so if this person can't come in, we're screwed. That means I have to call all these clients and reschedule them. People do NOT like to be rescheduled. Not at all. AND I apparently made an error when booking a client and she was PISSED that she didn't get the price I quoted. To be fair, it looks like a computer glitch, so I had to listen to a voicemail from her venting her displeasure. Ugh. AND.. here's the biggest whine of all - I still have surgical glue holding my neck closed, and the glue has turned this weird gray color. Basically it's like I have gray magic marker scrawled all over my neck like some sort of autopsy marking. It makes my scar look 100 times worse! I'm telling you, I don't know why I got out of bed today.

Need for a New Haircut

I need a haircut bad. Real bad. I kind of like the length of my hair - I always grow my hair out and then immediately hack it off, then start growing it again. It's a vicious cycle, but I don't really know how to break it. I'm thinking of bangs of some sort, and maybe really, really choppy layers. Oh, and I want blonde highlights again! That's a definite! I've got some various pictures of possible looks, tell me what you think!

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Send me your opinions people, I desperately need something new than the mess on my head!

Short Story Part 2

So people, here's what I've got for part two of my short story. I've got a little written after this but I'm kind of a stuck point. Suggestions are welcome!

15 stories down in the parking garage, Thomas was making his last round for the evening. He’d toured all three levels of the empty space, lone cars staggered throughout the darkness, echoes off the cement walls as he walked. The building was now officially locked for the holiday weekend and Thomas didn’t expect to see another soul until Sam, his boss, came to relieve him the day after Christmas. Opening the glass door to the Parking Garage Office, he clicked on the security cameras, making sure each one was functioning properly before falling into his chair and sliding his feet onto the desk. Reaching over he turned on the tiny portable television, flipping through channels until he came to ESPN. Stretching in his chair he grabbed the still cold bottle of beer he’d opened earlier and easily drained its contents, pausing only to make some notations in the security log. He still didn’t understand just why an empty building needed security detail, but since he was going to be making overtime pay for the entire time he was here, he figured his wasn’t going to question it. Let’s face it, he didn’t really have anything better to do over the Christmas season. He had a duffle bag filled with spare clothes and underwear, a small bathroom and shower in the back of his office, and a beat-up old sofa that folded out into a bed. Along with plenty of beer and food, he figured that his stack of books and the tiny TV would help get him through the long days. Regardless, it was going to be another long and lonely holiday.

Back upstairs, Gwendolyn pressed the elevator button for the third time and waited. It was after 8pm and minutes earlier she’d finished her data project and was now anxious to get the hell out of work. Tapping her foot impatiently she pulled her long red curls into an elastic, deftly securing her hair under her knit hat. A long cashmere scarf wrapped around her neck, and she was buttoning her black wool jacket. Still no elevator. Gwendolyn started to push the button yet again when she realized that the building has been shut down and locked hours earlier. Bastard! She cursed under her breath. Mr. Edelman’s bullshit project had kept her too long past closing and now the elevators were shut off. She’d have to walk down the fifteen flights of stairs to get to her car and pray that she could still get out. Of course she was wearing her brand new Miu Miu’s, a reward she’d gotten herself for Christmas after months of drooling over the red suede heels in the window of Nordstrom’s. Stepping into the walkway, she started downstairs.

Thirty minutes later she was at her car and throwing her purse into the backseat. Falling into the front seat she slammed the door shut behind her. Turning her key into the ignition, she was greeting by the sound of grinding gears, and then dead silence. No, she thought. Please no. She turned the key again, nothing. Not a peep. “Dammit” she screamed as she pounded on her steering wheel. Throwing open her door she slid out of her seat. Turning she slammed her door three times as she screamed wordlessly. The faint noise of a shoe scraping across concrete caused her to jump and spin around, arms outstretched for protection.

Stepping out of the darkness was Thomas, the hunky new parking garage attendant that Gwendolyn and her co-worker, Diana, drooled over on a daily basis. Thomas had black hair that hung over his ice blue eyes, broad shoulders and a muscular physique that left Gwendolyn swooning each time their paths crossed. She sagged against her car in relief, her heart still thumping in alarm.

“Sorry Ma’am, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just thought you could use a hand”.

Thomas smiled slowly at Gwendolyn, and he neglected to mention that he had dropped his beer in his haste to get to her side. The beguiling redhead had been the unknowing star of many personal fantasies since the moment he’d laid eyes on her. With her sparkling green eyes and long curls, not to mention an hourglass figure that kept him up at night, Thomas had been smitten before he even learned her name. Over the past three months he’d made it his business to find out everything about her by casually grilling Gwendolyn’s talkative co-worker, Diana. He knew that Gwendolyn was 31, single, and lived alone with not even a cat to keep her company. He also knew that she had turned down the advances of the odious Mr. Edelman, her boss, and that she was on the short list to be let go because of it. While Thomas hadn’t seen the incident in question, he had heard the play by play of the event from Diana.

Day at Work

Five more hours. I can do this, right? Five more hours until I can close up shop and head home. Home, ah sweet home, a place where I will promptly do the following:
1. Whine to Jeff that I want ice cream, lots of ice cream, and since I had a tube shoved down my throat this past weekend I *deserve* ice cream.
2. Boot up my SIMS and see if I can handle raising a SIM teenager and family without killing one of them in a freak house fire like I did last time.
3. Change into my ugly but comfortable pajamas and slide onto my sofa where I will not move for hours - unless Monty shoves his large, wet nose into my face while wagging his tail excitedly. Did I just get comfy? Good! He'd like to go outside, NOW!
4. Fantasy shop for my upcoming birthday - expensive shoes, showy jewelry *cough* sapphire and diamond band in platinum *cough*, facial and/or pedicure
5. Work on my OWN book where I have two characters brought together and I have no idea what to do next! How do I get the sparks to fly and still make it believable/realistic?

visit to Dunkin Donuts

A summer of being in and out of the hospital means that I've put on some pounds. I've also not had my haircut in WAY too long. The long and short of it - I am not looking my best. So much so that when I was complaining to my father about this very issue, he MOOED at me. Yes, my father made a MOO noise at me. Nice, huh?

Went to Dunkin Donuts this morning feeling self conscious and blah. The 15 year old boy behind the counter said "You look like that actress on tv, the pretty one".

Now HOW NICE IS THAT? That kid absolutely made my day!

Book Review of "New Moon" by Stephanie Meyer

I write this review knowing that "Twilight", a Young Adult series, about a girl in love with a vampire has a huge, fanatical base of fans of all ages. I enjoyed the first book in the series, and actually thought the love story was kind of sweet - even if it was an obsessive, stalkerish love story. But I forgive, because it's a fantasy. So I went ahead and got the second book on Amazon's Marketplace for the bargain price of $1.99 not including shipping. Read it, and HATED it. I hated it in so many ways its almost hard to start. So let's get to it.

Now, Bella (the heroine and teenage human) is in a relationship with Edward (hero and teenage vampire). Edward became a vampire at the human age of 17, but is hundreds of years old - and he is apparently GORGEOUS and SPARKLES in daylight. Bella describes herself as plain and mousy, and is thrilled to be dating Edward. Fine, right? Now because Edward is a VAMPIRE Bella is freaking out that she's going to age and he is not. So even though she has this fantastically good looking and sparkly boyfriend who ADORES her and sleeps in her room and follows her around her every breathing minute of the day, she is not happy. She wants to be made into a vampire too, because at age 17 she is VERY concerned about how old and haggard she is going to get. So Edward throws Bella a birthday party and at some point during that party she gets a paper cut. Remember, Edward is a VAMPIRE and the blood causes him and his vampire family to have a complete and utter freak out. Edward decides he and his family should leave the state, effectively dumping Bella.

Bella becomes "catatonic" with grief, and this underlined by leaving pages blank in the book. (as my father pointed out, the author is using the word "catatonic" incorrectly, which annoys me on a whole other level, but I'm going to just go with the author description here to make it easier for all of us!)

The next chunk of the story talks about how Bella is "like a zombie" (and sadly, she is not moaning and talking about eating brains), her father is worried, her friends are worried, basically she's just going through the motions of living. For MONTHS. Now, I remember being 16 and having my own lovey dovey boyfriend, Darren. I ADORED that man, my world pretty much revolved around him. When he left for college and MOVED IN WITH ANOTHER GIRL, my world was rocked. I was heart broken. I cried and cried and cried and wrote bad teenage poetry, and I eventually moved on. Because guess what? I had friends who loved and supported me and I had a life. It was crushing, the whole loss of your first love, but life does go on. I got another boyfriend and another and some years later I'm happily married to a wonderful, non-sparkly in daylight, but still incredibly handsome, man. Not that my life is a perfect, shining example - because if there was a bad relationship decision to make, God only knows I made it. But come ON!

Okay, back to the story - Bella becomes friends with Jacob (a teenage werewolf) and he's gorgeous and tall and studly and sweet and adores her. But she, by her own admission, uses him because she feels so empty with Edward leaving. Even though the boy WORSHIPS her, she just can't be with him because her feelings for Edward cannot be denied. (Let me get this straight, your boyfriend dumps you and another boy who is also mind numbingly attractive is following you around like a love struck puppy and you don't go for it??WHAT?) And Edward talks to her in her head - which in no way can be construed as a mental illness, because when your ex talks to you in your head it's true love. Bella does a lame "I kind of want to die, let me jump off the cliff and dramatically tell Edward I love him with my dying thoughts" thing and of course Edward hears about this and thinks she IS dead and tries to kill himself. This means Bella races to the rescue to reassure him she is NOT dead, she meets some vampires who are evil and is repulsed by them, and Edward and Bella are back together. All is well, and Edward ends the story with proposing to Bella.

Excuse me while I go jab a pencil through my eyeball. What I hated most about this book is that even though Bella is selfish and conceited and obsessively in love with a boy who she really knows nothing about, everyone forgives her. She uses the people around her, causes them unpardonable pain, and learns NOTHING. Remember the evil vampires? She talks about how she doesn't understand why ANYONE would want to be a vampire, and then pages later is back to nagging Edward about turning her into one. My God. Oh, and even though she wants to sell her soul for her true love by becoming a member of the blood sucking brigade, she won't marry Edward. That's too much of a commitment and his proposing to her freaks her out. GAH! GAH! can I get another? GAH! There are also literary references to Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights throughout the book, and how Bella feels that those two stories are tragically wonderful love stories. No Bella, they are NOT tragically wonderful love stories. Romeo and Juliet DIED (and frankly I always thought they were crushingly stupid), and Catherine and Heathcliffe were two irredeemably bad people whose obsessive love for each other destroyed those around them, as well as each other. These are two incredibly BAD examples of true love - and a hint to that would be neither ended well. I keep hearing that the storyline is a good one, but I just don't think I can bring myself to read the third. I do love fantasy romances, and vampires (really, who doesn't??), but this one? Ick. I give it a big thumbs down.

First Day Back at Work

Nothing shuts up a customer faster than a good look at a neck scar.