girl at large

New Years in LA

I flew down to Los Angeles today for a visit with Tom and Mom (who came down to spend Christmas week with her boy)----it's warm and sunny and we're all free from work....so where did we go? The Grove. For those who haven't been, my only advice is to treat it as if you were an alien visiting a new planet, just observing the behavior and habitat of a strange species.

Brighter Whites Christmas

I dropped Mom off at the airport at 6am this morning, drove home through quiet dark streets...and happily went to work righting all the small wrongs in the house. Let's just say Mom and I have different domestic styles. In short order, the kitchen counter was clear of clutter, the magazines were in tidy piles, the coffee table free of debris. I finished the vacumming and the last load of laundry in time to watch the fat snowflakes fall... and melt away. It was a white Christmas afternoon. And a quiet one. Tonight, tidy is starting to look a bit like lonely.

Ah, the charmed life I do lead.

Overwhelmed with tasks, customers and staff....it started at 10am. "Kate, the women's toilet is clogged." Ok, ok, whatever. Can't you see I'm busy here? You take care of it. Of course, I didn't say that. What I said was "Ok, I'll look into it in a minute". A minute turned into three or four fire-filled hours, solving problems, taking orders, and answering phones. Then: "Kate, I think there's a dead rat in the utility room". Jesus. What do you think I can do about it? And again, not what I said out loud, which was this: "Alright, I'll look into it." All day long, time after time, staff member after staff member --"Toilet's still clogged". "Something smells dead in that back room". Someone even used the toilet a second time! When I was 18 and striking out on my own, working loser clerk jobs and dreaming of being a grown up, of 'making it', of having a career....yes, this is what I dreamed my life at 35 would be like....success, respect and ability, talent and meaningful work.... Clogged toilets and dead rats. Yep, that's me on my 35th birthday--living the dream.

You don't even want to know.

"Who ever gets f###ed first, wins."

Haven't We Discussed This Before?

Mom: I picked up your dog's doodle today. Me: "Doodle?" Mom: Yes, her, you know...doodle. A woman who rates her farts at night from the other room ("That was a TEN! Did you hear that one Kate?") has to use a euphamism for the dog's business?

Family Holiday

Stella, Peg and Mom Thanksgiving 2007, Portland

Family Time