ON THE ROAD AGAIN

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

Beth and I at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Pensacola

I'll be gone for a few days. I'm driving my friend Beth to Nashville today. Beth needs back surgery and we are going to Nashville to get a second opinion from a neurosurgeon at Vanderbilt.

You might remember Beth. She's my friend who has MS...and now has two ruptured disk and is suffering terribly with back pain. Her pain management doctor is giving her a spinal injection at the surgery center this morning before we make the 8 hour trip to Nashville. I pray this treatment will give her some relief and that the neurosurgeon in Nashville will help in her decision about surgery.

If all goes well, I should be back home on Wednesday evening.

~~~~~~
Thanks for your well wishes...day 5 of antibiotics for my sinus infection and I can really tell a difference!


Hugs and kisses,
Kat

BEACH BAPTISMS

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

Our church is half a block from the beach. Today we had a short service of songs, prayer and communion and then walked over to the beach for the baptism of 9 members of our congregation.

We made our way down the steps from the street level to the beach....

and began to gather by the water....

Our minister, Ronnie speaks to all of us....

and then had a few words to those who would be baptized.

It was a privilege to watch....

The youngest today was one of Ronnie's sons. I can't imagine how Ronnie must have felt.

It was quite a way out to the deeper water so one person would start out as another came back to shore.

This couple was baptized separately, but wanted to witness each other's baptism so they went together. So sweet!

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

NOT WELCOME!

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

Doesn't my pool look inviting?


I think it does and so did a snake!!!!!!!!!

Since I've had this darn sinus infection I haven't felt like doing much, so I've spent some time by the pool this week. I've enjoyed getting in the pool to cool off and I've even done a little water aerobics. Well yesterday as I was EXITING the pool, I saw the snake on one of the steps.

Have you seen someone walk on water?

No? Well, you should have been here yesterday.

It turns out that the snake was dead, but still !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GROSS!

I must have stepped right over it when I entered the pool. Ugh!


Hugs and kisses,
Kat



(Thank for all the well wishes. I'm feeling a tad better this morning and I'm going to church.)

IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU SICK...

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

I've got a sinus infection and feel like @$%&! My head is throbbing and when I cough, it feels like it's going to implode! My teeth hurt. My ears feel itchy. But the worst part? The cost of medicine.

10 pills for $112.28!!! Give me a break!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

GARBAGE FREE

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****


I received this in an e-mail (thanks Sherry) and it's just too good not to share.

The Garbage Truck Rule of Life

"One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Garbage Truck Rule of Life.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so...

Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!"

Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

THANKS FOR THE PRAYERS

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy."

~Leo Buscaglia

Ain't it the truth! Worry did rob me yesterday. And worry never changes a thing I've heard.

But today is a day of JOY!!!!!

I had my mammogram this morning and all is good. And...best of all our new next door neighbor is a new Radiologist at our hospital and he actually read my mammogram today. And the best news...no changes!!!! Thank you Lord! And thank YOU for your prayers.

They also did ultrasound, but I don't have those results yet.

Since George is playing golf today, I decided to celebrate by spending the day sunning by our pool. And wouldn't you know it...I just got all settled in with a good book and I heard something and looked up and a couple of guys were coming into the fence. It gave me a good scare until I saw they were carrying bundles of pine straw. (Our landscape service puts in new pine straw whenever it's needed so we never really know when they're coming.) You won't believe how fast I put on my coverup and dashed inside! LOL I decided to make my lunch and do a little blogging while they work. Sure hope they finish soon. It's just too pretty to stay inside today.

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

I'M IN TRAINING TODAY....

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

I LOVE MY BOOBS!



...so I do the cold metal squeeze every year!

I hope you do too. If you haven't had your mammogram this year, please do it for me. A routine mammogram is what found my cancer and caught it early.

Tomorrow morning is my appointment and I must admit I'm getting nervous. I don't live in fear...I really don't...but when it's time for my mammogram (and ultrasound), I find myself really nervous the day before. I guess it's only natural since it's not too hard for me to pull up the memory of the day I heard those awful words.

So can I ask a favor please? When you say your prayers tonight, will you pray for me? Pray for my fear to leave and for a good report.

In the meantime...I'm in training today!

Have you had yours yet or is it scheduled? Come on...do it! Pretty please! This is a simple test that can literally save your life.


Hugs and kisses,
Kat

DARN IT!

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

Hmmmmm......I saw this sign today:

"It isn't the jeans that make your butt look fat."

Darn it!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

WOW!

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****


Bree and Jay

I know I haven't mentioned it lately, but I'm still working on our baby girl's wedding next May. I spend part of every day investigating possibilities. Wow! You can get lost looking at wedding websites and bridal magazines. There is soooooo much information out there! Which is good. And bad. My head is spinning. And I'm using lots of eye drops too. LOL

Don't forget to send me any ideas you see or hear about. I'm "all ears".


Hugs and kisses,
Kat

BLOG FRIENDS ARE THE BEST!

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

There's no doubt about it.

I have the best blog friends!

And I bet you do too.

George has never given me a hard time about blogging. He likes his TV and he knows I enjoy the computer. It works for us. I don't think he understood blogging or how much of a community we are. How we pray for each other. Look out for each other. Care for each other. Uplift each other. Teach each other. And the list could go on and on. But recently when I had a "situation" and thought about stopping, he saw it for himself. I literally received hundred of comments and e-mails, phone calls and actual notes. He read them all and now he understands. He even encourages me.

Thank you friends for being MY friend!

I received this wonderful award this morning from Heidi at Wojto Beach Cottage:

"These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers."

How sweet is that?! Thank you so much Heidi for thinking of me.

~~~~~~

I got this next award from Nancy at Bacardi Mama, Me, a queen?! No way, but thanks Nancy for thinking of me.

I'm supposed to post seven things that make me awe--summm. Hmmmm...this isn't easy. It feels funny "tooting my own horn", so I'll have to cheat just a bit:
1. I'm awe-summm because God made me and loves me.
2. I'm awe-summm because I exercise every day.
3. I'm awe-summm because of the love of my husband.
4. I'm awe-summm because I am loved by my children and grandchildren.
5. I belong to an awe-summm church.
6. I have awe-summm friends, including YOU!
7. I'm lucky to have an awe-summm dog who loves me and I love her.
~~~~~~
I recently won a giveaway from Teresa at Grammy Girlfriend. Just looks at what I got! First, the package was so pretty I hated to even open it! (I covered the addresses with post-it notes.)

Even the bottom of the package was beautiful!

And look what was inside!! Oh my! A box full of beautiful and useful cards for all occasions! And look closely...there was a gorgeous cuff bracelet too. Thank you so much Teresa!

~~~~~~

And another surprise came in the mail. One of my blog readers who doesn't have a blog herself, but always leaves the sweetest messages, mailed me a very nice note...and included a photo of herself with her beautiful family. It's always nice to put a face with a name. Thank you so much Kathy :)

~~~~~~

A few weeks ago I won another giveaway from Charlotte at At Home In Scottsdale. It doesn't matter what age you are, it's still nice to know "How Not To Look Old" and this book is wonderful! Thank you so much Charlotte!

~~~~~~

See....I told you I had great blog friends!!!!

Happy Monday everyone!

Hugs and kisses,
Kat

SUNDAY THIS AND THAT

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

Here we are with our friends Dick and Linda. We're not ready for senior living...yet! We stopped by to visit a friend's Mom who recently moved here from New York. Her place is really nice. Linda and Dick wanted a photo by the sign though to send to their kids who tease them about moving to Florida to retire. LOL

~~~~~~

I snapped this one with my cell phone as I was going into our backyard. My agapanthas are in bloom everywhere and they are gorgeous! Most of mine are purple, but I also have a few white ones. I'll try to take more photos of my flowers with my regular camera tomorrow.

~~~~~~

At our church, we have communion every Sunday. It's also called Eucharist, which literally means "good gifts". Jesus said "Do this in remembrance of me". What a privilege to be able to reflect each week on the wonderful gifts Jesus has given us...His broken body and shed blood, which secure our salvation. I love this part of the service and consider it a privilege. In our church we don't drink from the cup. We use the intinction practice which means we take the piece of bread and dip it into the cup.

George and I volunteer at least once a month to help in some way. Sometimes we bring the altar flowers, sometimes we do cleanup after the service, sometimes we bring refreshments, etc. Today was our day to do communion. I held the bread and George held the cup. Children are welcome and I love to see their faces as they take communion with their parents. George and I would bend forward to let them participate. It's a sweet moment to watch them. While they may not understand the deep theological meaning of communion, they can share and feel the blessing of being a part of God's family who love one another and who are deeply loved by Jesus Christ.

~~~~~~

We got in a good 12 mile bike ride tonight after dinner! Now I'm ready for my shower and jammies.

Night Night!


Hugs and kisses,
Kat

HAPPY SATURDAY

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****


I found this quote recently and love it. It's so true.
I hope it touches your heart and helps you as much as it did me.




"Do not ask the Lord to Guide your Footsteps if you are not willing to move your Feet"

~Author Unknown

Do you get paralyzed sometimes when things go wrong in your life? I have to admit I do. It doesn't happen often (Thank you God!), but sometimes when life throws me a curve ball I want to crawl into bed and hibernate. I want to just sleep. It's easy to escape into dreamland. Of course, I'm also praying and asking God to guide me. To show me what to do. What to say.




With God's guidance anything is possible...BUT.... we must be willing to move our feet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is everyone having a good weekend? I hope so. It's absolutely gorgeous here in the sunshine state. We have a new tradition for our Saturday mornings. We used to drive to our favorite bagel shop almost every Saturday morning. Yum...I do so love bagels. I could eat them every single day. But, we're trying hard to be better with our diet and exercise, so for the last 3 weeks we have started the new tradition of riding our bikes to breakfast with our friends Dick and Linda. They bought bikes after they saw how much we enjoy them. We're so lucky because we live in a resort area where there are so many places that we can ride to on our bikes (or golf cart) for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Anyway, we pick a different spot each week and try to get in about 5 miles before breakfast and then do more after. This morning we got in a total of 15 miles. And, we all ate healthy too. Oatmeal with fruit. The four of us love to play cards so we take along a deck and find a good spot to stop and play.
Linda, George and Dick

This morning after breakfast we rode for a bit and stopped at a picnic area for a few games... and then later we stopped for iced coffee at a new coffee shop and played more cards outside. By the time we decided to stop, it was lunch time. LOL Riding home, we ended up stopping in a nearby neighborhood and had hotdogs and hamburgers with friends.

Life is good! Hey, retirement "ain't" bad, especially when you have great friends who are lots of fun and enjoy staying active.


Hugs and kisses,
Kat

DOES LAUGHING BURN CALORIES?

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

I hope so. After my post yesterday about exercising, I get this in an e-mail:


1/ Walking 20 minutes can add to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month.

2/ My grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60... Now he's 97 years old... and we haven't a clue where the hell he is.

3/ I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

4/ The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

5/ I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I'm doing..

6/ I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound....apparently you have to actually go there.

7/ Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise', I wash my mouth out with chocolate.

8/ I do have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.

9/ The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die, they'll say, 'Well, he looks good doesn't he.'

10/ If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country

11/ I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years...... just getting over the hill was enough.

12/ We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our skulls. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

AND

13/Every time I start thinking too much about how I look, I just find a Happy Hour and by the time I leave, I look just fine.






I especially loved #5, #7 (of course) and #13






~~~~~~

Speaking of exercise...

We had quite a bit of rain yesterday and again last night, but my driveway looked pretty dry this morning so I rode my bike up to the courts for my Friday morning tennis match. No luck. The courts were too wet. I took the long way home and got in about 9 or 10 miles. I'm going now to do The Dread The Shred. It's Day 2...again. (edited to add...I did 30 minutes on the treadmill too.)


Happy Day everyone!



Hugs and kisses,
Kat

HEY CHICKS

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****

Are you exercising?

Well, if you asked me that yesterday, I would have said no. For a week now, I have been a slug. That's just not me...I'm usually in motion all day. I was in a "funk" and didn't do much of nothing. So this morning I decided to "put on my big girl panties" and got back with the program.

Many of you might remember that I started The 30 Day Shred recently. It's the exercise DVD by Jillian Michaels, the fitness guru and trainer on The Biggest Loser show. (I ordered mine on line, but I've seen them at Target.)


Well, I'm gonna be honest here. I got to Day 19 and then fell off the exercise wagon! Sad, but true. But.....ta dah! I'm happy to report that I've jumped back on the exercise wagon and I feel good this afternoon. I walked on the treadmill for 35 minutes, did The Shred (I sometimes call it The Dread), and rode my bike 10 miles. Yep, I'm an "all or nothing" kind of girl. LOL

I'm not fat, but I'm thinking of putting this sign up where I exercise! THAT might get my attention. LOL

How about you...are you exercising? If not, get up and do something. Anything. I guarantee it will make you feel better. Mentally and physically.


Hugs and kisses,
Kat

HERE'S MY SIGN

***this post was imported over from my other blog Beachkat/Starting Over****




The comedian Bill Engvall (love him) does the best "Here's Your Sign" jokes.



Speaking of signs...how cute is this???!!!
Now if only the sign said "Will Blog 4 Chocolate"...cause you know me and my LOVE for chocolate!


Hugs and kisses,
Kat

(The drawing was done by my blog friend Rick at Organized Doodles. He's amazing. He's the one who did the drawing of George and Miss Daisy on the golf cart that I gave to George last Christmas.)