December 22, 2003

It’s been a whirl wind of shopping, visiting the folks, and catching my breathe. Is that possible? This month has been extremely busy with the holidays and all. I’m enjoying myself though, I’m trying to keep my head above water because at times, I’ve been overwhelmed with balancing everything. Lets see what I’ve been up to...Well, I finished my hands on training for the zoo finally. I’m officially trained in very very basic animal handling (well, I missed the mammal handling so I’m going to need to finish that in April) but I’m trained in reptiles and birds. I must admit the snakes were a lot better than I thought they would be. I really enjoyed the Ball Python. I’ve never touched a snake before that and I had a good time. Funny thing is that I know nothing about animals. I’m one of those people who ask the stupidest questions in the training but heck, I want to know and then there are the “professional” volunteers who know everything about every animal that look at me like, “why in the heck are you asking that?” but oh well. The funny thing is the professional volunteers have an agenda...I don’t. I’m just there to do something outside of the social work field and it feels good to do that.

Okay, what else have I been up to...? Well, we got the folks together. I fixed low-fat lasagna and lasagna low-fat spinach rolls (which were a huge hit with everyone). The folks got a long with each other nicely. His parents were talkative, mine were too...there were no uncomfortable silences and it was a nice evening. Funny thing is that I really like Chris’s parents. They are really good people. So they will make nice in-laws. Okay, so I’m getting that feeling that Chris might ask me to marry me...I don’t know when but we are quite serious and it feels good. I was talking with Bonnie from work today and she asked me if I was serious about Chris and I said “Yes, extremely”. She said, “Is there passion”...and I said “Oh, there’s plenty of passion”...and funny she took it to be the extremely sexual passion and I meant all around passion. You know that feeling of warmth and glow that’s not even associated with sex but just that good warm tingly feeling in your stomach. Now that is a good feeling.

Well, for once in my life, I got my Christmas shopping done before Christmas Eve. I hooked Chris up with a Gregory Back Pack, a set of aviation playing cards, a camp pillow, and a US national parks book from Restoration Hardware. For mom, I got her some Beautiful Perfume, a compact, IKEA utensils, and a rooster picture. For dad, a rechargeable spot light, a battery recharger, and a knife set. For my sister Carrie, I got her a paint by numbers kit, some little nick knacks, and a clock from Restoration Hardware. For my brother in law Dennis, I got him a bathroom reader and some other stuff that I cannot recall right now...oops! We are going to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve Day. Chris might be able to come up before or after work. Unfortunately, he has to work, which bites but he will be back in at 7pm possibly. Unfortunately, the banks are closing at 3pm so he has to fly in to pick up the statements at either 4 or 5. He’s a pilot so this is his life. I’m sure in the future, there will be times that we will be separate during the holidays...but I’ll enjoy the time with him now. So Christmas Eve with my folks and Christmas Day with his folks. Then back home on Friday because Chris has to work and then I have to go up north because the folks are leaving on Saturday or Sunday because they want to miss the New Years traffic.

So hows the weight coming? Well, yes, I’m the same. Okay, as long as I maintain through the holidays, that’s all I want because temptation is every where. I wasn’t able to get to Curves tonight so I did a Walk Away the Pounds tape. I figured that it was better than nothing. So I’m looking to finish up this losing Journey in 2004. So it’s taken me 2+ years to meet my goal but hey, I’m healthy, I don’t deprive myself of anything, and I’ve maintained my weight for 6 months...not bad and I haven’t and won’t give up because it’s a life style change...not a diet!!

So a lot has happened this year. I healed from my relationship with Shawn, made it to Louisville and figured out that a Ph.D. was not for me, my brother in laws sister was murdered in February from a domestic violence situation, dated a creep, finally made it to IKEA this year, dumped the creep, bought a Jeep Wrangler, meet a wonderful pilot named Chris, Jeep was stolen, went to Chicago, got a big payoff from losing my stuff in the Jeep (thanks State Farm), witnessed my sister/brother in law fight with my folks over the cabin, went backpacking on Manitou Island and it was there I knew Chris is the one, maintained my weight for six months....Wow, now that is a year...next year, do we see wedding bells, buying a house, and making goal??? Maybe, keep reading and find out... Well, have a great and safe holiday and I will see you folks in the New Year and fire up to a new commitment to yourself because you can do it in 2004!!- Take care all-Kellie

December 6, 2003

Guess what? I’m the same again....ha! The scale is not moving but that’s okay. I was pretty proud of my week this week because I worked out four days in a row. Not bad, er? That’s the first time in a long time that I was able to do that.

Thanksgiving was great. Chris came with me for Thanksgiving so it was nice to have him there. Dennis my brother in law was a tad annoying but Chris put up with him. I’ve been finding recently that Dennis has been extremely annoying lately. It’s just like I want to slap him over the head and say “Boy, what are you thinking?” but that’s Dennis.

Shawn and Tammi are getting married, for all of you old timers, you know that Shawn is my ex-boyfriend of 7 years who I absolutely hated him and have no idea why I stayed in such a horrible relationship. It figured that they would get married. I just knew she always wanted him, you could just tell. The one thing that I’m so glad I did is that I dumped his ass because I would be in a pitiful state if I stayed with him. The funny thing is how life works, I dump him, he dates Tammi, and will eventually marry her. Their wedding bio states after 2 years, 7 months they began to date each other...humm, maybe they should have put after Kellie had the sense to Shawn, he jumped into the first bed available. The problem with Shawn is that the dude was always babied. I babied him, his mother babied him, and I can guarantee that Tammi is babying him. Shawn was a spoiled brat. So good luck Tammi!

Chris and I are doing great. No complaints. Things are good, life is good but busy. Zoo training is almost done. I cannot wait till the training is over because it has been almost every weekend since September, which is a total bummer. I’m not too hot on the animal handling so I’m not to sure if I’m going to pursue that part of volunteering but we’ll see. Well, I’m off, have a great weekend! Take care all-Kellie

My Vistors Since December 6, 2003