Dear Def Leppard,

I know! I know...Where have I been? You ask. How could I have possibly neglected you for this long? I know, Def, I've been a bad fan. A terrible fan. I have no excuse! But I do. And you know it. So stop with the almost threatening but really just pathetic calls already. Okay? I know it's you. And I know it seems like I don't love you anymore, but how could that ever be? We've been through so much! You think your biggest fan would just abandon you? Never. I just needed a break. So cut the "You've left me for Jared Leto's band!" crap, because you know that's not true either. There's room enough in my heart for everybody, and sharing that room with Jared is just part of the deal.

So chin up. I'll be back soon, Def, I promise, and then you can pour some sugar on me and it'll be like I had never gone.

Rockfully yours,
katy

Me & Mr. Leto

Me, Monica and Mara-- taken a few hours before I met Jared Leto....Or should I say, before Jared Leto met me.

Besides watching soccer, my family LOVES to play pool, so I inevitably get corralled into a game or two everytime I'm home- though I am hardly a Billiard Queen. This picture was taken right before I scratched. Of course.

A 3 1/2 year old named Mack confiscated my camera this evening.

Is his little foot delicious or what...

So last night at dinner, after taking a huge bite of broccoli, a category 5 sneeze came upon me without warning. With no time to grab a tissue, I just threw my face into the crook of my arm and to everyone's amusement and disbelief- including my own-, when I pulled my arm back down, it was apparent that I had sneezed broccoli (via my mouth) all over myself.

My family is still teasing me about it.

My sisters & I after many many hours of watching the World Cup with our dad

A Picture A Day

While I'm gone
I'm just going to post
a picture each day.
Thought that might be fun...

This is who was waiting for me in my shower this morning. It was quite funny.

When my dad was in town back in April, to see the show I was in, he pointed out these really cheese coffee mugs at one of the little malls on Michigan Avenue. He for some reason just thought they were so cool, and couldn't stop talking about them. To the point where I think I said something lame like, Well if you love them so much, why don't you marry them! He didn't. (Marry them or buy them.)

Anyway, that memory came to mind this morning so I've decided to hop on the train right now and go get them. I thought that would be a good father's day gift. (And with 5 siblings, you always want yours to be the best gift...I think I might actually be in the running this year.)


UPDATE: I just got back from downtown and the mugs were GONE! I couldn't believe it. I never imagined coffee mugs in the Nordstrom coffee shop to be such big sellers. I thought for sure they would be there! So I walked around and pouted for a little bit, then went back thinking maybe one was hiding somewhere, then realized I needed to just give it up and think of something else quick. Which I did. And I think my new gift still keeps me in the running. We will see...

Just wondering...

At work last week, we had a representative from Aflac come out to talk to the staff. Very boring. Very if-I-had-known-I'd-be-stuck-listening-to-this-lady-talk-for-an-hour-I-would-have-wrecked-my-car-just-to-miss-the-meeting. Anyway, as she was rambling on, I was looking through one of the (many) brochures and this section really caught my eye...

Aflac will pay the following benefit for dismemberment resulting from injuries sustained in a covered accident:

Injured/Spouse Child
Both arms and both legs $40,000 $12,500

Two eyes, feet, hands
arms, or legs $40,000 $12,500

One eye, foot, hand,
arm, or leg $10,000 $ 3,750

One or more fingers and/or
one or more toes $ 2,000 $ 625



Now is it just me or did they somehow make this seem a little bit ridiculous...I mean who exactly came up with these figures? $40,000 of you lose BOTH arms and BOTH legs?? You're a stump! How much is 40 grand really going to help? Come on...And why isn't it 80 grand? If you only lose both your legs and get to keep your arms, you get the same amount. So shouldn't it be that if you lose double the appendages (AKA: all of your appendages) you should receive double the pay?

Since nothing of any interest has happened to me today, I decided to see if anything of any interest happened on another June 13th in history and I found quite a little gem which I'd like to share. Ahem...

June 13, 1920: The US Post Office rules that children may not be sent by parcel post.

Fascinating and ridiculous all at the same time...That the Post Office had to make such a rule because obviously too many people were trying to mail off children. I love it.

I tried this new Mexican place Saturday night while my family was in town. We just happened to be walking by outside when the "Best margaritas in town!" sign caught our eye. Well, we'll just have to see about that! So, we walked in, snagged a table, and after several minutes of perusing the menu, I decided to forgo the margaritas and see about maybe getting me some sangria. The waiter came by and I ordered one glass of it and to my surprise, he didn't card me. Slightly saddened that I'm starting to look over the age of 21 more and more these days, I ate some chips and salsa and watched the new meximan in full mexi regalia take to the stage.

Ten minutes later, the waiter finally brought our drinks and set before me is not the usual wine glass filled with violet colored deliciousness with little pieces of fruit floating on top, but a HUGE, at least 10 inch tall glass filled with what looks to be Cherry Coke. Now...I've had a lot of sangria in my day, and NEVER has it looked like this. But when the waiter set it in front of me, he said Sangria, so I thought maybe this was a new version I had just not been privy to before.

I took a sip and it tasted NOTHING like sangria. It tasted like, well, Cherry Coke. Though I knew that wasn't it. I was just totally baffled wondering what in the heck he brought me when it hit me. It WAS sangria...Sangria flavored SODA that is. I couldn't believe it. It all of a sudden dawned on me that the waiter didn't think I looked over 21 at all. It was just the opposite. I guess I looked way too young to him and the thought to card me probably didn't even cross his mind! And so obviously he brought me sangria SODA! Oh, I just laughed and laughed.

By the way, sangria soda is really gross. Just FYI.

I just got home from Midsommer Fest (in Andersonville.) I had planned to go yesterday when my family was in town, but at the last second, I had to run home and wait for a delivery, so they went without me and i missed out.

So I went just now. By myself. And, wow...Festivals are just not as fun when you go alone. I mean I couldn't very well eat a funnel cake all on my own, now could I? (I mean, I probably could, but who needs a whole funnel cake? Not me. Plus, they are more fun to share.) And I figured I'd probably bump into someone I know, as I have the past 2 times I've been, but no such luck. It was just me, and a million gay guys drinking beer. (They were drinking the beer, not me. I had sangria.)

And now I'm home. With nothing to do. And it's only 5:54...

Oh Sunday night, what I am I supposed to do with you...

Last day of school!!! I think I'm more excited than the kids...

...silver fingers at the windowsill
in the full moon as they leaned out
to breathe the sweet air of the Nimes

for the last time, and the flame
burned down in a dawn agreed upon
for their heart-broken leave taking. And
for their sakes, accept in the moment,

this city with its colours of sky and day--
and which is dear to us and particular--
was not a place to them: merely
the one witty step ahead of hate which

is all that they could keep. Or stay.


e. boland

The naked cowboy and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Tuesday

I took a stroll to the nearby Starbucks this morning, which is not something I do very often- (the Starbucks part, not the strolling part.) I prefer little quaint coffee shops if I am going to spend any time in one, which was my plan, but for some reason, I had an itch for a familiar joint, so Starbucks it was.

I ordered this fabulous looking ham, egg and cheese sandwhich, and as I was waiting for it to get toasted, I took out my lap top, which proved to be quite fruitless, since I could not obtain a signal, so I put that back and pulled out a delicious book I brought along as back up, so all was not lost...A few minutes later I heard my name called, and as I walked up to the counter, I realized that the guy handing me my sandwhich was none other than one of my favorite friends from college, whom I had not seen since I was in college! It was like a moment out of a movie, and was nothing short of brilliant. He happened to be getting off work, so he came over to my table and we laughed and chatted and figured out that we lived 3 buildings down from one another...It was just great.

Later, as I was walking home, I kept thinking how lovely it is when things like that happen. How you can be having this absolutely terrible morning and then a minute later, your friend you haven't seen in 8 years is handing you a ham sandwhich. Life is good like that...

So I have 50 million things to do today. I mean a ridiculous amount, and yet, what was I trapped into doing at 9 o'clock in the morning? Looking for sod. Sod. And not just looking, but frantically hunting down and not being able to take no for an answer because I can't start on the 50 million other things until the stupid sod situation is taken of. So, after many "Sorry, we're out" phone calls, the Home Depot in Evanston finally gave me some hope. They had just received a new shipment last night and the woman on the phone knew they still had some as of early this morning...Not sure if there was any left and she couldn't leave the register to check. (And obviously, no one else could go check!) So, my only option was to hang up the phone, throw on some clothes, and drive like a maniac to Home Depot. No make-up on, heart racing, hands jittery, I felt like I had turned into one of those moms who might just be getting her hands on a coveted Tickle Me Elmo doll for her child. And no one gets between a mom and her Elmo...

So I get to the store and RUN to the garden center and snatch the first worker I see and even though he's in the middle of talking to a customer, I totally interrupt and say, "PLEASE tell me you still have sod. Please." He just points. So I run some more, and low and behold I find sod. My heart. Leaped. I was ecstatic! Ecstatic! It was ridiculous how happy I was over simple squares of grass. I couldn't find anyone to help me so I just paid for my 6 rolls and went to load them up myself, which was just stupid because picking up a roll of sod was like trying to pick up a 4-year-old child, which becomes nearly impossible when you're trying not to let the sod touch you. I moved 1 roll without it touching my clothes and then just had to suck it up and get, not just dirty, but filthy dirty. My pants and shirt and arms and hands were so caked in dirt...I looked like I had been pig wrestling at the rodeo! I wanted to shout to the world (or just to the people in the Home Depot parking lot), I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS CRAP! I AM NOT A PIG WRESTLER!

So now I'm back at home, sitting on my couch, even more dirty because I had to unload all the sod. And I just looked down and noticed that there is a dead worm stuck to my shirt...

I'm speechless. I'm just speechless...

At least they gave out free champagne before the show...

There's nothing like getting on the train after a long night of uninspiring theater, only to realize that you are headed in the wrong direction...This is what happened to me last night. And I should have known! I should have known...because as soon as I stepped on the train, I had this sneaking suspicion that something wasn't right; and sure enough, that was the case. So I got out at the next stop (Clark & Division) and luckily, just had to walk across the platform to wait for the northbound train. (Wait being the operative word in that sentence.) And as I was waiting, I realized that it was just me and this very sketchy looking guy who was beginning to meander in my direction, which instantly made me think, Is this guy going to mug me? And as he got closer, I started thinking about what was in my purse that I wouldn't mind this guy taking...My pen: yours. My new pack of Trident spearmint gum: yours again. My lip balm: not my Kiehl's so take it. My Steppenwolf program: Oh golly, I might die without that!

But my keys? And my phone? And my Driver's license?!! Now those, I was not going to be flexible on and I had every intention of telling him so. But, lucky for him, he never even got within 5 feet of me, so he was spared; spared of my maybe-I-know-Karate-and-maybe-I-don't-no nonsense demeanor. Something I am always happy to spare anyone of.