My cup of joy runneth over.

The big 5-0 turned out to be one of the 5 best days of my life. I have an AWESOME sister. And AWESOME family and friends. In short, God gave me a PERFECT day. And I am so thankful. I think I can live off the splendor of this day for the rest of my life.

Because now I am in the habit of blogging, I will probably...keep on blogging...because, you know...I am in the habit now.

The sheer giddiness of an exhaustion born of joy, I'm steeping in it.

Okay, I don't think the last two sentences qualify as real literature. I WILL have sweet dreams tonight, though.

50, but who's counting? KEM

One year later...

Almost met my goal of blogging every day for a year. What an odd feeling to come to the end of a long project. Vacation got the best of me and so I think I fell 11 days short of my goal.

So...I may just have to post 11 more blog entries, as an appendage of sorts.

Today my sister gave me an early birthday present, especially after my mother kept spilling the beans about this present that couldn't be topped. Laura made me a book and a DVD. They are composed of pictures of my life, and a beautiful song accompanies the DVD by the Annie Moses Band. It's the most beautiful gift in the world, because my sister made it, and I love it to pieces. It's so weird to see your life flash before your face. It seems like someone else's life. When all things settle down next week, I will take my time watching and absorbing these great memories, and making real again, my half-century life. It's easy to lose your context as life accelerates and piles up, isn't it?

Thank you for going with me on this writing experiment. I enjoyed it. I hope you did, too.

Love Always,
KEM

Robby has learned to operate the copier...just great. The copier only went down under the computer desk last night, so that didn't take long, did it? The old copier, which broke, had the buttons on the side, but this copier as the buttons on the top. Robby really likes what he sees and hears, the paper rolling through, the gears sounds, etc. He peers in the front slot, and paws it out, then he studies the rear of the machine. Then, he sits on the buttons and makes another copy. And another. Swell.

Well, once again, I do not remember what I had in mind to blog. But I was at the Vinoy Hotel tonight, visiting with my guests, and we were standing in the lobby near the recessed entrance to the ball room, out of everyone's way. Or so we thought. A security guard steps up to us and brusquely orders us to step aside, out of the way. WELL! REALLY!

So, taken aback, we followed the command. Then we see a man walk through the ballroom doors. A little while later, another. And then the stream picked up. AHA! It was the Royal Boston Red Sox. EVERYONE STAND BACK and practically bow, show proper obeisance.

REALLY!, KEM says, with an air of pure disgust.

Well, my brother-in-law, you don't mess with him like that. He headed straight away to the reception desk and was talking to the night manager in no time. And not only that, he will be speaking to the general manager in the morning. His perspective is that a world class hotel shouldn't be treating it's paying customers in such a manner, and he's sure the general manager feels the same way.

I, my dears, am not staying in the world class hotel. I said, My friend Miss Orcas, from Orcas Island, SHE trumps the Red Sox any day. She didn't even know who they were. Well, the Rays had best sweep them after this, although maybe it wasn't exactly their fault this happened. I don't know what kind of "terms" they have with their hotels on the road. I guess I should find out. My BIL will.

Oh, non-coffee drinkers should maybe not do what I did today. In an effort to clear the kitchen counter clutter, I drank it. Literally. A single serve packet of Starbucks instant coffee has been cluttering the counter for many a week. Mike brought it home one day. So, the only way to get rid of it permanently, was to stir it up and drink it. The end result of this is a solid case of the jitters for the next 12 hours. I mean, that coffee was BLACK. Maybe it was quadruple espresso or something. Every time I succumb to the enticement of a cup of coffee, I live to dearly regret it.

And, I am sorry and humbled to report that when I told my hairdresser that I wanted brown hair (instead of the blond she insisted on last couple of times) without stipulating, Not TOO dark brown, well, my hair is nearly as black as the coffee I drank. POOH, RATS and DOUBLE RATS!

Well, so, I look hideous for my big birthday, it kinda takes the pressure off. Happy day, anyway you slice it. Maybe if I wash my hair 20 times tomorrow, the color will fade?

Just dug out the Starbucks little packet...from the garbage. It's called VIA Ready Brew. It's Italian Roast and it's extra bold coffee anywhere. Instant and microground. Rich, intense flavor any time, any place, any how, no doubt. Ugh.

Am supposed to be vacuuming the lamp shade. Who can sleep with VIA running through one's veins? Ha, ha, I remember in one of my early blogs that I had quite a problem with spelling the word vein with the correct usage, there are so many ways to spell it. Probably still have it wrong. There are 3 ways to spell it, but I can only think of 2. How sad is that?

THE END of this post,
KEM

It's fun to watch Robby give himself a sponge bath. His tongue is the sponge, of course.

Now, how was that for a fabulous blog? I've been doing that thing I don't do very often...housework. Yes, condensing A LOT of housework into a very small time capsule. More to follow tomorrow...housework, that is. I give up tonight. But let it be said, the computer desk is unrecognizable (cleaned up and completely devoid of anything interesting to a cat), and Robby is saying, What, may I ask, are you doing? He is in for a rude awakening, Where are all my play things? Jazzi knows company is coming, she stuck to me like glue all night. When the frenzied cleaning starts, Jazzi knows something's cookin', and it ain't meatloaf.

Cheers,
KEM

Are you like this? Whenever I actually DO housework, I think it's high time to get rid of everything. Seriously, I can't think of anything less I'd rather do than take care of stuff I don't want, use, need or like. Shuffle and dust, dust and shuffle. Really, what a wonder to find ourselves with all this JUNK but still can't find ways to part with it. How is it that the human mind works like this? Prone to wander, prone to stray...

Having said that, I browsed Borders tonight, they wiggled their little finger with an online coupon, and I, like Robby, crouched, approached cautiously and then, feeling safe, fully examined the offering. And then I said, I wonder if they have additional seasons of Leave It to Beaver for sale now. For quite some time (and I haven't checked in some time) they have only had seasons one and two. When I get a Borders gift card, sometimes I like to get the old TV shows on DVD. Well, lo and behold, they now have the complete set. Such temptation. BUT, if I do acquire The Beave, it is NOT junk, it is priceless fun, because I only like to watch OLD movies and OLD television shows. I guess 'cause I'm old and will be even older come Saturday. Well, everyone will be older come Saturday, but I will officially and especially be older.

Okay, I wiped out when I took Jazzi out back, or rather, when we came back inside. It's been raining for two solid days and when I stepped on the tile with wet feet, WHAMO!, the feet flew out from under me and down I went...Splat...HARD. Ugh, hope I can move in the morning. Always sumpin'!

BTW, my toes are beautiful pale pink. Toenails, that is. All ladies out there, really, what is more gratifying than a fresh pedicure? Especially when the pedicurist is delightful company? And all the other ladies giving and getting pedicures are friendly and fun? It makes the whole world seem like a happy place.

I really had something to blog about tonight, just a snippet. But I wonder what it was. Meanwhile, Robby just grabbed my ear and one of his sharp little claws hooked into my hole, where the pierced earring goes, that hole. New idea, Live Cat Dangly Earrings. When he's not busy being an earring, he enjoys flicking pens from the desk to the floor.

Starving.

Wondering KEM

Hello, the old mind is numb with big birthday jitters. That doesn't even make sense. Sorry, I have absolutely nothing to offer these days. Except I have a cat who eats dog food and a dog who eats cat food.

And, these days, my constant comment to Robby is, May I ask what you are doing? Like just now when he did the following. Well, I had moved a file box from a nook in the laundry room so I could put the kitty litter pan there and get it out of the bathroom where we were crunching around on stray litter, which is not jolly. So, the filing box had a recipe box sitting atop it. Robby hopped up onto the little recipe box and from there, OH GLORY!, he found he could spring to the counter, which he has never been on yet. The counter is like a mini garage. It has all sorts of things piled high, you can't actually see the counter. Boxes, shopping bags, packing bubbles, stuff waiting to go to Goodwill and miscellaneous stuff that I have no clue what to do with -- all ADAP (As Disorganized As Possible). Great kitty fodder. Or whatever I mean. So there he was, prowling about, finding nooks and crooks, no telling what trouble is next, like knocking junk to the floor and scaring himself half silly. Therefore the question is posed to Robby, And what, may I ask, are you doing?

Oh, and the amazing hamster story I want to tell you, well, that poor little hamster was laid to rest today. VERY sad. But I'll still tell the story some day.

The other night I heard a snarl of some kind. So I hopped out of bed and there was Robby, curled up next to Jazzi in Jazzi's bed at the top of the stairs. Jazzi was looking like she'd scooted away as best she could, she looked tight, like, What is this foreign unwanted object in my bed? Like Robby had the cooties.

And also last week, I heard skirmishing outside of the house. We have a neighbor who is prone to outbursts, so I thought maybe he was the source. But then the scuffling and yelling intensified, and I looked out the bedroom window down below to the alley and there were four young men (hoodlums) taking off their shirts and going at it, well, two of them had their dukes up. I had to call 911. Boy, I wouldn't do well in a war zone. But sometimes I feel I live in one. Time to move. Although I will say the capacity of the human nervous system is nothing short of amazing. For instance, I was reading about those 33 miners trapped in a mine in Chile, WAAAAY below the surface. I read where they will be rescued four months from now, once a 27" tunnel is drilled.

NO THANK, YOU. KEM would have to perish in the depths of the mine. NO WAY would she be drawn up over 250 feet in a teensy confining cylinder-like opening. It's like an MRI. Or the sewer cleaners, scrunching along a sewer pipe with absolutely no free space, no wiggle room. One such man said, It's just a job. JUST A JOB?? Are you KIDDING me?? I am a textbook claustrophobic. I positively LOSE MY MIND when I'm tightly confined and can't get out it I wanted to. Which I would want to in the worst way.

Okay, that's my drift. Give me wide open spaces and please don't box me in, boxes, in my mind, are for coffins. You know, I think I've blogged on this before. This is where a year of blogs takes you...to a lost track.

Okay, gotta go, Robby has the scotch tape dispenser stuck on his hind paw. He was kitten in a bowl again. And when he woke up, apparently he explored the scotch tape. I heard a strange noise. My life might be trying, but it ain't boring.

KEM

It's either blog or wash the dog.

Wash the dog has won out.

I have some out of town friends coming in. So I either clean the house (and kill myself in the process) or they see the real me. It's pretension vs. authenticity.

Authenticity will win out.

How 'bout you? Are you EXCEPTIONALLY tired, like I am? Sudsy dog followed by beddy-bye, coming right up.

Have a bright and beautiful week ahead.

KEM, who loves you