A GIVEAWAY, A TRIP AND AN UPDATE

A Giveaway:

Anthony DeStefano has a wonderful little book that just came out today called I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!  Although he's written several children's books, this book is meant to help adults who are stressed out or who are hurting.  This small book is filled with hilarious photos of children with beautifully simple words to cheer up even the most discouraged people.   To see a few sample pages click here.

This wonderful little book with a great christian message would make a great gift to someone you know who is having a rough time...a lost job, an illness, a divorce, loneliness, etc.  Times are tough.  We all know someone who is having a hard time. 

Leave a comment and I'll draw a winner on the 10th.
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A trip:

I'm leaving in the morning to go spend some time with this sweet boy!

Can.not.wait!
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An update:

No news (yet) on the house.  Keep those fingers crossed.  If it's meant to happen, it will.

I'm doing well with my fitness plan.  Down 5 pounds!

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

FINGERS CROSSED

The showing went well yesterday.  They loved the house and are now deciding between ours and one other.  Two different neighborhoods.

Here's the kicker - they need to be in by March 10th.  We leave for our annual trip to Palm Desert on March 10th.

I can do it.  I can do it.  I CAN do it!

Join me please in crossing your fingers and praying for us.

What's meant to be will happen...in God's time, not ours.  :-)

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today

I CAN MOVE FAST IF I HAVE TO

I like to take my time when I clean, but I can move fast if I have to.   And tonight I HAD to.  Truth is, I actually don't LIKE to clean at all, but I do like a clean house.

I meant to do some cleaning over the weekend, but found other important things I'd rather do.  Like reading a book with my feet propped up ;-)

Our house is on the market and we got a call right before dinner tonight letting us know that we have a showing tomorrow at 3PM.  Since George and I both have tennis in the morning, a lot had to be done tonight, but I still had to finish dinner and clean up the kitchen before I could get started.  And...there was a wonderful Hallmark movie coming on that we both wanted to watch.  Isn't it amazing how things always happen at the same time?!  I rarely watch TV, but when I look forward to seeing something, it's amazing how often something else comes up that makes it hard to sit still.  But a girl does what a girl has to do.  I watched the movie and then ran around like a crazy person until just a few minutes ago and it's almost midnight.   I think we'll be ready since we'll have a few hours after tennis.  I need to be in bed, but now I'm all keyed up!

Speaking of Hallmark movies...I cry every single time.  Even the commercials make me cry.

It's a good cry though ;-)

Wish us luck tomorrow and send up a prayer please.

Hope your weekend was good.

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

LET'S PLAY

***Saturday morning, edited to add - it's so fun reading your answers! Thanks for playing along***

It's the weekend and it's time to play.

Let's play tag!

I've been tagged by Lisa @ Lesapea Musings.  She has a great blog...always fun to visit, so drop by and say hi.

Rules:

1. Post the rules.

2. Post 11 things about you.

3. Answer the questions the tagger asked you.

4. Write 11 new questions for those you tag.

11 Things about me:

1.  I live at the beach, but I HATE (!) shopping for bathing suits.  Grrrrr 

2.  I don't watch much TV.  I'd much rather be on the computer or reading a book. 

3.  I love soaking in a warm bubble bath while sipping wine and reading a good book.

4.  Life without chocolate every.single.day would be torture for me.  Not kidding.

5.  I'm not a good photographer, but I always have my camera with me and love photos.

6.  I dreamed once I could fly.  The best dream ever ever ever.  Wish I could dream it again.

7.  I don't go anywhere without lipstick and mascara :-)

8.  I would LOVE to clear out my closet and start over if money wasn't an issue.  sigh

9.  I'm a night owl and have to force myself to go to bed most nights.
10. I love playing games.  Board games.  Card games.  Computer games. 

11. I'm working on being a better me.

11 questions for me: 

1. What do you regret most in your life? There's always something to regret, but I prefer to look forward.

2. What's your dream vacation? 3 months traveling around Italy at my leisure

3.What's your fave color?  Blue...all shades

4.What is your major achievement in life?  A good marriage and wonderful children who love us and love each other.

5. Who do you love to go shopping with? No one, if I'm honest.    I do much better when I shop alone.

6. What is your dream job?  If I could handle the blood (I can't), I would love to be a forensic scientist.  What they do is so fascinating to me.

7. What is your all time favorite movie?  The Goodbye Girl  (Love it!)

8. If you could have a dinner party, where would you have it and which famous persons would you like to invite, (whether alive or deceased)?  Along the Amalfi Coast in Italy...good Italian food and wine...with Ellen DeGeneres because she's funny and would have great stories to tell and Matthew McConaughey because....well, just because ;-)

 9. If you had one wish what would it be?  I wish...and hope and pray...a cure for cancer is found soon.

10.What is your fave dessert?  Anything chocolate, especially warm homemade chocolate chip cookies.

11. If you could exchange lives with anybody in the world for a week, whose life would you want to live?  This was actually the hardest one to answer.  I found it interesting that I had trouble thinking of anyone.  

11 Questions for YOU:

 (The rules didn't say I HAD to tag anyone in particular, so I tag YOU... play along if you can.  I'd love to know more about those who read my blog.  You can write a blog post about it or put your answers in a comment.)

 1. What is your favorite gift to receive?

 2. Where in the world do you most want to visit?

 3. Would you ever have plastic surgery?

 4. What would you do if you won the lottery?

 5. Your favorite age so far?

 6. What do you fear the most?

 7. Would you rather cook or clean?

 8. What is your favorite book and why?

 9. What food would you eat every day if calories didn't matter?

10. Beach or mountain vacation?

11. Name 3 things you love to smell.

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

TGIF

I guess most people say this because they have had a rough week.  Thankfully, mine has been really good.  I say THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY because I love weekends. It's gonna be sunny here this weekend, thank goodness.  (Yesterday afternoon was BIG time stormy.) I've got some projects around the house I want to do, books to read, a bike to ride, friends to have dinner with, church. etc....

What's your plans for the weekend?

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

MY NEW MOTTO

Two pounds lighter than this time last week!

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

DUSTING OFF MY BOTTOM

I've always been told that if you fall you need to dust yourself off and climb back on.

The holidays came and like a lot of you, I fell off the wagon....my diet/fitness routine wagon.  I must have hit my head pretty hard too because I suddenly acted like I didn't care what I ate (or how much) or what I drank or if I didn't get in some exercise in between all the hurrying and scurrying we all do during the holidays.

It was actually fun.

Until... I tried to get into some of my jeans.

We leave 8 weeks from today for our annual trip to Palm Desert.  And I know Spring and Summer is not too far away.

I'll need to pack my swimsuits for Palm Desert, so thinking of that keeps me on my toes and motivated.  Big time!

8 weeks!!!!!

I can do it!  I can do it!  I can do it!

Soooo....
This week I dusted off my bottom and I've gone back to the routine that works for me.  Eating less and healthier, exercising, tennis, bike rides, treadmill, drinking more water, etc.  I love using MyFitnessPal to keep track of it all.  It works great for me.  I'm already feeling better.

Did you fall off too?  If so, hop back on and let's do this together!

I'd love to know if you have any tips or ideas or recipes.

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

LIVE WITH NO REGRETS

Just one of my goals for 2012.

I want to be able to say "I'm glad I did."

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

HIS SMILES MAKE ME SMILE

He's getting so big.  Photo on left was taken at one month.  The one on the right was taken today.

Sorry the video is sideways.  Turn your head to enjoy some cooing!

Love those eyes!

Sure do miss him!

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

MIXED UP

Full of mixed emotions tonight.

I'm home.

I missed George and Miss Daisy.

It's always good to come home, but it sure was HARD to leave!  I'm missing my sweet boy already.

I took lots of photos and videos and will share some when I have time to download, but right now I'm looking forward to my bed ;-)

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

HAPPY GOOSE

Daven's smiles make me one happy Goose! And he smiles and coos all.the.time!

Hugs,
Kat

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

CAN'T WAIT!

Packing today since I've leaving tomorrow morning to go spend a few days with this little guy. 

Can't wait!  He's 3 months old now....so hard to believe!

Maybe his shirt should say granddaughters too, huh?

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

JANUARY BLUES

It's that time of year.

You know... when the holidays are over and the weather gets "iffy".

I feel off balanced.  A little blue.  Nothing specific.  I just feel "off".  Know what I mean?

I'm trying!

I'm snuggling in and doing things I love...eating, reading books, playing on the computer (facebook, Pinterest, blogging, computer games) and not much else.  Oh, and keeping my chocolate close at hand.  A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  LOL

How's your January going?

 
Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

MISUNDERSTOOD

"Be not disturbed at being misunderstood; be disturbed rather at not being understanding."
~Chinese proverb

I wouldn't hurt a fly if I could help it.  Honest!  So being misunderstood about something I write, stings a bit.
Yep....my skin is thin.  lol

I think a couple of you took my "no crowds" comment on my last post absolutely different than what I meant.  Gosh, two little words can throw a punch.

Honestly, all I meant was it's nice sometimes to be anywhere with no crowds.   I wasn't referring to our tourists/snowbirds/guests.

I'll be honest, when we first moved here I got frustrated with the extra traffic, crowded restaurants, etc.  But it didn't take me long to realize how very important it is to our economy to have visitors.  Because of them, our town has grown and our shops, restaurants, etc. are soooo much better.  Very quickly, I began to give our "guests" credit!  After all, all of us locals chose to live in a place where people love to visit.  Who wouldn't....we live in paradise.

Sooooooo....if you read my last post and thought differently, please know I didn't mean it in a negative way at all.

I hope YOU come here.  And, if you do, let me know because I love getting to meet my blog friends.

Hope this clear THAT up.

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING...OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY.....

BTW... Thanks for all the sweet comments about my post yesterday!

I don't know about where YOU live, but it's been REAL cold and WINDY here in paradise!  Actually, some of the "weenies" girls I play tennis with decided it was too cold to play this morning.  It was cold, but not THAT cold!  LOL

Soooooo...instead George and I bundled up (gloves and jackets and scarves around our necks) and rode over to the beach club to see what the beach looked like.

The Winter (and Fall) months are some of my favorites....no crowds!  And gorgeous weather.  I love the crisp cold air and clear blue skies.  And the beach....oh my!

Believe it or not, all of these photos and the video were taken with my iPhone.

I  HATE don't like to hear my own voice (yikes!), but here's a video I took:




What's it like where you are today?

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

IT'S THE PEOPLE

Recently I was telling some of my family members that the older I get the more I want to downsize.  EVERYTHING!  Every THING!  I want less to clean, less to worry about, less to maintain, etc.

Less is more!

What's valuable to me...let me repeat that - VALUABLE/PRECIOUS to me...at this point in my life is the people I love and care about.

I have lots of "stuff", but it's all just "stuff".  What's REALLY REALLY important is people - my family and friends.

Just one tiny example:  I don't stress out if something gets broken.  It's just a "thing".    "Stuff".  My sister recently broke a favorite wine glass of mine.  She was so upset.  She cried.  I patted the seat next to me and told her to sit down.  I told her it was only a wine glass.  A thing.  SHE was important to me...not the glass.  Her feelings were more important to me.  Not a silly glass. 

I was discussing the New Year and resolutions with George a few nights before New Year's Eve and I was telling him about my feelings.  He definitely agreed.

That's one reason we want to sell our home and move to something smaller.  We want to spend more time traveling to see family and friends.  We want to see God's world.   We want less "stuff".  We want to make more memories!

When it's all said and done....it's the people in our life that means the most.

And guess what?  Our minister's message yesterday was about the very same thing.

It was entitled  LIFE IS TERMINAL

Doesn't that sound scary and sad?  It's the truth though.

When we entered the church, we were given a pencil and 12 pieces of paper.  During the service, he  asked each of us to write these things down....one thing on each slip of paper.
 
Name 3 things/hobbies you love to do
Name 3 possessions you love
Name 3 things you like about yourself (this was the hardest for me)
Name 3 people that's important to you

I encourage you to stop right now and do this "test".  Grab some paper and a pencil.  I'll wait.  Ready?  Take your time.   Now write down your answers to the above 12 things...one on each piece of paper.  Okay, ready?

He then said (paraphrasing):

You wake up one morning and you're in pain and know something is terribly wrong.  You're in pain and it's obvious it's a serious condition.  You call the doctor, you go to the hospital and you hear him say "this doesn't look good." (Now, tear up 3 of your pieces of paper.)  The doctor calls you back to his office three days later to tell you it's cancer and he's pretty sure it's advanced, but he will run test to confirm.  (Now, tear up 3 more of your pieces of paper...your choice.)   The test confirm that you have only months to live.  (Tear up 3 more pieces of paper.) Yours days are numbered and you know your time is close.  (Now, tear up 1 more.)  He then told us to close our eyes and to shuffle the remaining two pieces of paper and to hold up one.

If you do this exercise, I guarantee your piece of paper will not say "my golf clubs" my "tennis racket", my house, my car, etc.  It will be the name of someone you love.


PEOPLE are all that's important.  Your mother.  Your father.  Your husband.  Your child.  Your grandchild.  Your God.

YOU...yes YOU...are important to me.  If you're reading this, I want you to know that.

YOU matter to me.

Thanks for being a part of my life.

Hugs from the beach,

Kat

"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."