nomad |ˈnōˌmad

I'm thinking of becoming a nomad (minus the livestock)- it doesn't sound so bad...

nomad |ˈnōˌmadnouna member of a people having no permanent abode, and who travel from place to place to find fresh pasture for their livestock.• a person who does not stay long in the same place; a wanderer.

The Gloom is Gone!

It was nothin' but blue skies & sunshine from the moment I cracked an eyelid this morning. In fact, it was SO bright I jumped out of bed panicked that I had slept through my alarm, but when I checked it was only 6:34! My alarm hadn't even gone off yet. So I made use of the adrenaline rush and went for my run. Summer's in SoCal- better ask Mom to send the sandals.

I'll keep you posted.

Saturday Afternoon at the Track

No, my running friends, I wasn't there for a workout. Nor was I playing the ponies.

I was there for the weenie dog races.

I kid you not. It's an ACTUAL annual event, The Weinerschnitze Weiner Nationals with the Winning Weiner being crowned: "Fastest Weiner in the West".

We don't have this back East.

Holiday/Vacation

It was a mundane Friday until Mr. D called me from Happy Hour in The Jukebox Room.

The conversation started with, "Don't get mad."

Apparently, he and Mrs. D recently bumped into The Hallidays, another family "on the island". Turns out, The Hallidays' son, Ben- "31 years of age", "nice guy", "lives in Huntington Beach, has a condo" ("strapping", "runner", and "maneuvers a boat better than me!" were also offered) - "broke up with his girlfriend a while back".

Mr. D calls up Mrs. Halliday and tells her he knows a "nice woman" (ha! woman!), "attractive", "just moved out here". He's a good salesman, at work they send him in to make deals happen, Mrs. Halliday (and Ben) was defenseless against him.

He goes on to tell me, "so don't get mad, but we (Mr. D & Mrs. Halliday) thought it couldn't hurt to arrange a little lunch, so if Ben-Benjamin-Ben HALL-I-DAY calls you- you like the name "Ben", right? Its a good name, "Ben"?- so if Ben calls you, because I gave him your number so he's gonna call you- you'd go out with him, right?"

I did mothers everywhere proud with the, "Sure. It never hurts to meet new people." response.

About this time, I can hear Mrs. D in the background calling for Mr. D, he was so nervous he was gonna get busted (confirming the surreptitiousness of the call) we hung up quickly. I was laughing and just a little dumbstruck, I thought I HAVE to blog about this. As I pulled myself together and started contemplating what I would title the blog, it gets even more BIZARRE: our last names are Vakay (vacay= vacation) and Halliday (holiday) .

I found this amusing; our last names are synonyms or at least associated with words of the same/similar meaning. Ben-Benjamin-Ben hasn't even called and I'm figuring out I'd potentially be.

Kate Vakay Halliday. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I scare myself sometimes.)

Buy me a cat.

k

Also, remember that Christmas I sent the card of myself dressed as a running elf? "Everyone needs a little holiday Vakay." Maybe I'm PSYCHIC! Wait til Stacey finds out!

I'll keep you posted!

"Baywatch"

Starring David Hasselhoff.

That is going to be my new answer when Interviewers ask me why I moved here.

"Because I wanted to." gets a lukewarm reception.

This Brilliant Idea occurred to me today while walking on the beach. I was comparing this beach to going to Stone Harbor, NJ (aka "down The Shore") as a kid: I remember when the Lifeguards were older (than us) and H-O-T and it felt like we'd NEVER be old enough (Yes, Nicole & Kelly, I'm including you; and "Don't even THINK about going out on the front porch."); then we were old enough, and we didn't go to the beach anymore; NOW the Lifeguards look like they're 12 and I'm not sure HOW they might rescue some of the people who are on the beach. But anyway, it somehow all circled back to "Baywatch" in my head and I found myself laughing all the way back home.

I'll keep you posted.

love + cupcakes

My (new) motto. What else do you need?

Tan Lines

Forever my foe. I've had some NOTABLE designs in the past; remember The Triangle on my back? What summer was that? '99? '00? '04? (I can't believe I can't remember!)

Well, The Tan Line strikes again: Runners' Tan sucks. It's like Farmers' Tan for your thigh. (Just the area I wanted to draw attention to, OY!) I'm a fairly ridiculous sight in my bathing suit. I look like I'm wearing shorts. But I'm not. How does one even attempt to even this out???

I'll keep you posted.

k8