Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in kara's LiveJournal:

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Thursday, April 12th, 2007
3:22 am	I'm terribly sad... http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/12/arts/web-0412obit.php I'm really glad I got to see him speak in person, but it makes it harder now that he's dead. --Kara Current Mood: melancholy (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 4th, 2007
12:57 am	Ahhh, the joys of pet ownership Tonight, Jared and I have cleaned up 1- pile of cat turd in the dining room 2- litter box changes 5- cat pukes, plus a bonus puke ON THE BED Jared has cleaned up one HUGE puddle of cat piss, and I, after having JUST changed the litter, had to go and clean up Little Miss Litter-Toss U.S.A.'s "talent" portion of her competition that I'm sure MUST have won in both height, distance, and amount accumulated from the covering of one turd. Seriously. She tossed out a full dust pan of litter all over the floor. And, Little Miss Bulimia Cat is apparently trying to defend her title this evening as well. i love being a cat owner tonight... Current Music: Beauty in the Breakdown (Comment on this)
Friday, December 22nd, 2006
3:11 pm	So, Jared and I have decided on a date-- December 27th. Don't worry, it's (almost only) immediate family only so don't feel left out. We're getting married on the 27th, but will have a big party to celebrate with our friends sometime in the late spring/early summer so we can be outside. So far, everything seems to be moving ahead smoothly. I think we're about done with all the prep stuff, with the exception of getting Jared shoes and a new shirt. Oh, and I need a necklace. Crap, thought I was done. hehe. It's going to be a small family affair at his mom's house. My dress is non-traditional (who could've guessed?), but the ceremony will have fairly traditional vows. We've asked a friend of ours to marry us and he got ordained online to be able to make it all legal. I'll update with pics and an account of the wedding afterwards. MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! Love, Kara (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
5:11 pm	Birthdays and Babies I've started my new job after walking out on Crappy Campers. I really like my new job (Early Head Start Teacher), but the differences in the two places I've worked with children are staggering. At Crappy Campers, they gave us ZERO training. Everything I did, I did because I felt it was for the benefit of the kids just from my own experience. Now, I have TONS of training and lots of paperwork to go with all of the kids (which I never had before) and it's an ongoing learning process. I'm trying, but it's a bit more difficult that I thought it would be at first. I really like it, though. On another front, my sister Reagan felt the baby move around on Sept. 11th, Jared's birthday. Jared was a little non-excited about his birthday, but I feel birthdays are important days and should be celebrated heartily. The baby made it an especially wonderful day for deciding to roll around in her mom's belly for the first feel-able time on a date I can remember well. What made me laugh the most about all of this, was that Rea said when she first felt it, she thought, "Am I going to have diarrhea?" When she realized that, no, her intestinal tract was not in an uproar, she understood what had happened and was excited about it. It's neat that I get to experience this stuff with her first before having to go through it myself. The more I hear about pregnancy and all it can do to a woman's body, the less I want to do it. I won't give up having kids, but maybe we could adopt. Love, Kara P.S.-- Oh, and Jared and I moved back in together. So far, so good. We still need to decide how we're going to get married and then just go do it to make it official. :) Current Music: the hum of the computers (Comment on this)
Monday, July 31st, 2006
2:31 pm	Excitement I am so excited! Today, I got schedule for the TWO WEEK training course I will be going through for my new job!!! I never thought I'd be this excited about training, but then again, I thought I was working in the wrong field due to my terrible experience with my last employer. What excites me most about the courses I will be taking are that they are really going to be worth the while. I've wanted so badly to have some kind of training to figure out what the best methods are for teaching little bitty guys, what warning signs I need to look out for, how to best meet the needs of each child in my room, and how to think about these things in a more intellectual instead of emotional way. I'm going to have some sort of starting point to work with now instead of how I FEEL about things. YAY! Thus far, all of my experience with the kids I've worked with has been from luck due to knowledge I've acquired on my own. I seem to understand them fairly well and know how to work with them because of my personality. It's had nothing to do with any sort of education, training, or help from my employers for the most part. I'm so excited to be able to get the information I need to work with my kids the best way possible for their enrichment. YAYAYAAYAYAAYYAYAAAAAAY! I'm going to be like a sponge for two weeks and am more than happy to be able to do so. Hooooray! Love, Kara P.S.-- For those who didn't know, my sister, Reagan, had to have emergency surgery to remove her gallbladder last week. She was about 10 and a half weeks pregnant at the time, so surgery was a big issue. They removed the stone-laden gallbladder (the dr. said, "Congratulations-- I've never seen that many stones in someone in my life. Literally hundreds of them."), she's feeling much better, and a visit to her OBGYN showed that the baby is doing really well, has a strong heartbeat and was moving around like crazy. Double YAY! She's right at 12 weeks now and we went to lunch together today. After eating a TON, she had to unbutton her pants because her stomach got really huge. It actually looked like she was preggers and it was hilarious! Go, baby niece/nephew, GO!!!! Current Mood: excited (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 19th, 2006
6:42 pm	I'm done Well, I did something today I never thought I'd do-- I walked out on a job. I've been with them for over a year and a half now, gave them 3 weeks notice that I was leaving, and they decided to start some shit. I finally had enough when I realized how much stress I was under and how it was affecting my body. Today when they pulled me aside for another "talk" I tried to tell them that I was only going to be there for a week and a half more and that I was tired of talking about things, that none of it would matter in a week and a half anyway. They didn't want to stop, I was very stressed out and sick of having to listen to the same crap and having to defend myself over pointless accusations, so I walked out. The worst part? All of my kids were sleeping and I didn't have the chance to tell them goodbye. This was all at 1:00. I received a text message from the "boss" at around 5 pm that said "Talk to any parents and we will begin litigation". What did I send back? "If I do not receive my check tomorrow I will begin litigation". Tomorrow is the day we are supposed to receive our checks. She said it's in the mail and I swear that if I do not receive it, I WILL take them to court somehow. What jerks. I'm so glad to be gone, but I'm going to miss my babies so much. They're wonderful and I have loved working with them. Love, Kara P.S.-- I start my new job on August 7th! VACATION!!! Current Mood: determined (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 9th, 2006
5:32 pm	Giggles I have to share this since Jared's been cracking me up all day. The latest bit of his was a few minutes ago when he told me, "Well, I just put in my new lightbulb," (that he JUST bought at the hardware store) "and it's about as bright as a moonbeam..." I don't know why it made me laugh so much, but I got a serious case of the giggles. I guess it's all in the delivery. Love, Kara Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Sunday, June 18th, 2006
10:33 pm	Freakin' WOOOOOOOT!!!! Jared and I just got back from seeing TOM JONES in concert at the Brady. It was awesome! He lived up to every one of my expectations of a Tom Jones concert. We were laughing our asses off most of the time. The funniest thing is that Tom knows he's cheesy and he knows that it's one of the reasons why people go to see his concerts. He relishes that fact and plays off the audience with it. :) He played: What's New Pussycat It's Not Unusual Kiss Delilah Momma Told Me Not To Come Sexbomb And lots more that I can't remember. It kicked ass... Tomorrow night, we see Beck at the Cain's. Love, Kara Current Music: Kiss-- I think I better Dance now.... (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 15th, 2006
10:41 pm	I had a really wonderful interview tonight for another teaching position, but this time with HeadStart. :) YAY!!! The ladies who interviewed me said they would both recommend I be hired for the position, and they both seemed really excited about me, my enthusiasm and experience. Near the end of the interview, they asked me what computer skills I had and I mentioned I can use Microsoft Word and a few others, but then they asked me if I could operate a laminator.... I almost cried. I told them it felt like I was in heaven because all the things they were saying they had at their facilities were things that I only dreamed about having at my present job. DOUBLE YAY!!! This seems to me to be an organization that is truly there for the betterment and benefit of the children and their families. I'm so excited about it! I really hope I get it, but I'm not going to get too terribly excited about it until they call me with an offer. Something has to go through HR and then they'll get back to me. I'll actually be trained, I'll not have nearly as many kids as I do now AND I'll have an assistant teacher, I believe. I'll be able to TEACH!!! At the end of the interview when the ladies were kind of giggling giddily, I thanked them and then started to tear up a bit. I told them that I love my job, I love what I do, but that due to the situation I am in I was really starting to wonder if this job was for me. I was ready to give it up and try a totally different field. I'm so glad I got off my ass and tried to get this job. I'll let you know if I've got it or not when I hear from them. *crosses fingers* Love, Kara Current Mood: ecstatic Current Music: The The's _Mind Bomb_ (what a great album) (Comment on this)
Monday, June 12th, 2006
10:26 pm	Wow. Work stinkin' sucks right now... Suffice to say that I work for people who I feel have the ethics of Enron Executives. They own a preschool, yet it's plainly obvious to anyone who has their eyes open that they're only in it for the money. I don't know what made their minds think "PREEEEEschool-- must be where the BIG BUCKS are!!! $$$$" I swear to you, that is not where the money is located in the vast area of business. They don't care about the kids, they don't care about the teachers, they only care about their pockets getting fatter. I've heard of mystical places in Tulsa where the teachers have a ROOM FULL of educational activities, construction paper, any little artsy-bobble you can think of, paint, etc. where teachers actually get a BREAK!!! Some actually get 2 breaks!!! Amazing. Surely these places only exist in some idealistic teacher's mind, but I've heard they DO actually exist in reality. Sorry. I just very disgruntled at this point and now somehow it's gotten out that I'm quitting. I don't know when, since I don't have a job lined up just yet, but soon. Very soon. I'm getting my resume out there and am going to try my damnedest to leave that place as soon as possible. I did tell them that when I do leave I will give them 2 weeks notice, but all that means to them is: "OOooooooh... We won't have to pay her anymore. Kick her out sooooooner and we can hire someone with less skill and know-how for a lot less! $$$$$$" I probably shouldn't post this, but I'm gonna. I will miss my kids more than any of you know. That's actually been the hardest part about all of this. I've been wanting to quit for a long time, but as it turns out, those little guys make me want to stay. They're so adoreable and loving, and I hate the thought of someone else having them in their class and not teaching them everything they are so capable of learning. I love to see it when they finally get something and they think it's neat! Right now, I've got kids from the age of 23 months to about 27 months who know what cubes and cylinders are and they love it. I'll really miss the kids... Current Mood: anxious (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 13th, 2006
3:07 pm	Life is going QUICKLY!!! There has been so much going on that I need to write it all down before I forget it! Went to London Went to Denver to see Massive Attack in concert and to see friends from college Am going to see Tom Jones on June 18th Am going to see Beck on June 19th There are lots of other things that I just can't think of right now. I'm in a rush to get to a party for two friends who are getting married. It starts at 4 o'clock and I JUST put laundry in the washer... Gotta go and lots of love, Kara Current Mood: bouncy Current Music: Runaround Sue (it was on the radio) (Comment on this)
Saturday, February 18th, 2006
9:03 pm	I think I just might stop using Friendster... I realize it's a place where most everyone is going to write about only the great things that are going on in their lives, but it depresses me. lol. Here I am thinking that I've got a pretty darn good life going on, no it's not what I've imagined nor am I at a great plateau in my existence, but for cryin' out loud! arrrrrrrgh. Here I am, on a Saturday night, playing WoW and thinking about taking a shower... I'm acting old and married with kids and I'm not married, nor do I have children. I really need more excitement in my life! HELP! :) love, Kara Current Mood: cranky Current Music: Save the Last Dance For Me... Michael Bluble (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 17th, 2005
9:11 pm	Babysitting for Hannah I'm sitting on the couch at the house of one of my former students, half-heartedly watching _Clueless_ and now updating my journal, as you might have guessed. I love Hannah's parents! They're both doctors, she an internist, he a cardiology fellow, and from the pictures they have around the house, they really know how to live. They're not just surviving, they're LIVING. They're living the kind of life I want to eventually have for myself. It's really nice to see! Their little girl, Hannah, is wonderful. She's so intelligent, funny, has a wonderful personality, and is one of the easiest children I've had in my class thus far to get along with and teach. This is what I want to have when I finally decide to be an adult. The problem is deciding to grow up. love, Kara (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 14th, 2005
12:01 am	Well, hello hello! I've been away from the "journaling" for a long time now, and it seems that I need to get my butt back on the wagon. So many things have been happening lately, but I don't know where to start. Oooh-- let's see.... I got an apartment on Brookside and am really enjoying living there. I live in a place that's mostly old(er) people that own their "townhomes" so it's pretty quiet, which is good since I'm really not down with the raucousness of places that have younger-- just left mom and dad's house for the first time-- type of neighbors. I think that means I am officially old. bleh. You'd feel that way too if you had to wake up at 6 am every stinking day. Waking up early actually suits me fairly well. I like the fact that I get off work at 3:30 and then have the rest of the afternoon to go do stuff... in theory. Normally, I get home, pet the cat, turn on the tv and then fall asleep for about an hour or two. The toddlers I work with completely wear me out every day. I'm getting ready to get a whole new gaggle of toddlers on the 22nd, with the exception of three of those I have already. One of the little guys that's staying in my class I really hoped would be old enough to move to the next class, but he's not ready yet. I love the little guy, don't get me wrong, but he's decided he REALLY loves Ms. Kara and he's the jealous type. He's getting much better (thankfully), and I think he's great, but he's gonna have issues if he keeps this up. Hopefully it's just a stage he's going through and it'll pass soon enough. I've really been thinking about going back to school. I've been thinking about going for Speech Pathology almost 6 months now, and the urge to go back isn't abating. The thought of more school loans dims the dream a bit, but what's another $20,000 in debt? *shudders* I need to get a few courses out of the way before I go back, but finding that money is even hard right now. Being a preschool teacher is not the pathway to copious amounts of money. Oh, so I cut all my hair off. Well, not literally, but I do have a new sassy 'do. When I first had it cut, I noticed more people looking at me when I was driving in my car. It upset me a bit because I couldn't decide if they were trying to figure out if I was a chick or a dude, or if I just had a sassy haircut. I've decided it's sassy since my boobs tend to be a dead giveaway as to my gender. At least I should hope so... I'll try to put a picture up sometime soon, but I need to get my hair cut again. It's already grown out about an inch and it's starting to look scruffy. Okay, it's raining and my car windows are cracked. shit. Love, Kara (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 28th, 2005
2:43 am	In LA Here I am in "sunny" LA, sitting in my friend Abby's apartment playing Monopoly online with her and she's kicking my ever-loving ass. :) hehehe I just started to get sunny about 20 minutes ago, but it's been cloudy all day. Last night we got exceedingly drunk and I am now the proud owner of my first hangover in years. Oooops. It's been so wonderful getting to see Abby and meet her boyfriend Justin. He's really awesome and I'm glad Abby found someone so great for her finally! (hehehe) We're getting up to nothing today and it's fantastic. It's so nice to just chill out and be in another city. I've not been to LA in about 5 years and it's still as crazy as ever. Oooh, got to get back to monopoly. back in a bit... love, Kara (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 15th, 2005
12:57 am	In Norman, OK I'm in Norman at my friends Tony and Emilie's house this weekend so I could see Cathy, Ethan, and her family. I've not seen her parents in over 2 years and I've missed them horribly. Her mom, Susan, is the mother I've always wanted and needed in my life and I forgot that until today. She's always given me the best motherly advice that my mother was either inable or incapable of giving me for my entire life. It's really hard for me to take advice from my mother when I'm more emotionally mature at 26 than she'll probably ever be in her life, and that's not saying that I'm some guru of emotional maturity. It was really wonderful to get to see all of them, and all of them together, again. I've really missed that family and the love and support they've always given me throughout my friendship with Cathy. :) They're my adoptive family. Tony and Emilie's house is really neat-o! It's the first time I've seen it and it makes me feel old that my friends are so adult and grown up to own a house and tend a really cool garden. :) They're so much fun and wonderful. I really should come down here more often. It feels really good to be in Norman where I've always felt more sure of myself and more in control of my life. I need that at this time in my life when almost everything in my life is in a tizzy and I'm trying to sort it all out. It's starting to come together for me now and I'm enjoying it. For instance, I just got an apartment of my own in Tulsa at 45th and Peoria. I'm very excited about it and I need some decorating advice because I'm horrible at that aspect of being a girl. :) hehehe Emilie had me take this online test about beliefs called "The Belief-O-Matic" on belief.com and apparently I'm either a Reformed Jew, Liberal Quaker, or midline to liberal protestant. I'm thinking that I really think I should try out the United Church of Christ. It should be interesting, nonetheless. :) Okay, it's late and I'm getting sleepy due to the interesting and sort of yummy tea Emilie has made me. :) Lots of love and fun, Kara p.s. follow your bliss... I need to remind myself of that daily and am not doing such a good job of taking it to heart. Love and kisses to all. G'night. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Sunday, March 6th, 2005
2:08 am	Fighting fire with fire.... BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE! It's once again been a while since I've written. ooops. Pardon the subject line, but I've had a really weird, but awesome, cover of _Burning Down the House_ stuck in my head for days now. It's Tom Jones singing with the singer from The Cardigans and it's fantastic. I love Tom Jones for some ungodly reason. Tonight I've been reading various livejournals here and there, and a common thread running through them of late has been that the writers feel as if they never have anything interesting to write, or that others always seem to have more interesting things to say. I completely understand that feeling since I've had the same thoughts since I've started this thing. Ever been jealous of another's writing style? Yeah, that's been me over numerous things I've read today. I know that I *could* be a good writer again, but I feel as if I have nothing to write about and therefore nothing interesting for others to read. I'm trying not to bore anyone who's made their way to this site and have taken the time to read the drivel I write. What can I say in my defense? Seriously, people-- I hang around with toddlers all day at work. It's hard to keep one's writing and speaking skills going well when the most interesting thing I say all day is "UP! DOWN!!!" while pointing in the appropriate directions. That seems to get the attention of all the babies in the room. I think it's because I'm teaching them not only the signs and words for those concepts, but that they understand somehow that I'm teaching them something they can use. I know that somewhere deep inside them, they're able to talk to each other in their little babblings and they're saying, "This woman is crazy, but she sure does make me laugh." I've had a pretty wonderful day! It's been spent in the company of my fella, doing couple-ish things such as lounging around the house and playing footsie while he reads and I do crosswords. I've decided I'm completely addicted to those stupid book of crossword puzzles you can get in the airport. The last time I flew, I picked one of those books up. It's so much fun to me to sit around on a Saturday and work one of the little suckers. I need to get another one, though. I'm almost finished with this one and it's had the cover torn off thanks to one of the kids at work (who shall remain nameless-- EVAN!!!). I hate it when the covers are torn off of publications. Coverless books bother me, but it's worse than that. Even half naked magazines or crossword puzzle books drive me crazy. It's just one of my little quirks, I guess. :) I got to talk with my best friend Cathy tonight. Gosh, that woman cracks me up! She's hilarious in only ways that your best friend is funny to you. She and her husband are buying a house and apparently it's going to need some work after they move in. He's forbidden her from working on the yard (which, knowing Cathy, is one of the first things she's going to want to tackle) until the house has started to come together, remodeling-wise. I think it's going to be pretty interesting to see how long it takes her to start sneaking plants in the ground when he's not looking. :) GO SITA!!! I can't wait to make it to Louisville again after they've moved to see their house. It's apparently in/very close to (I can't remember) "The Highlands" which is a really awesome part of Louisville that's sort of like Brookside and Cherry Street (in Tulsa) combined and cooler. I shall get them a housewarming gift. I'm thinking about a plant that would nicely transplant into the yard. hehehe. I'll have to call her and see what types of plants are on her already-started list. I love that woman. --Kara Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Tom Jones, baby! (I think I'd better DANCE now) (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 20th, 2005
10:45 pm	Hunter S. Thompson Sad, sad day. He was fucked up, but he was a cutural icon. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7005168/ Current Mood: sad (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 15th, 2005
8:09 pm	Bwahahahah Jared's making our Valentine's dinner tonight since we were both starving last night and had Taco Bueno instead of grilling like we wanted. :) Ah, the romantic Valentine's Dinner at Bueno. We were both cracking up about it. heheh Anywho, the reason for this is just to say one thing: Fuzzy Cat just took a lick of the Canola Oil Jared had set out on the counter for the grill. hehehe. I don't believe he liked it. What was that old saying about curiosity and the cat? Good thing it didn't have anything toxic to kitties in it like onions. What a weirdo! I think the stuff smells so weird that there's no way I'd just try it sometime. This is the same cat who used to bury Southwest Chicken Pasta when given the container to lick clean. hehehe. Ah, cats crack me up. :) Kara Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 1st, 2005
7:07 pm	Cutest thing ever Just a quick update. First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my best friends! Abby, whose birthday was yesterday, and Cathy-Sita whose birthday is today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADIES!!! Okay, enough with the capitalization. Today was a tough day at work since my co-teacher was sick and the kids, who have been sick for about 2 weeks now, are now getting well enough to come back to school. I ended up with 10 toddlers ranging in age from 9 months to 21 months by myself. TEN! It was a lot to handle until another teacher took pity on me and came in to help me until she left at one in the afternoon. I could not have done it without her. She helped me get my sanity back so I could actually work with the kids again. They still didn't get taught anything today, but I was working on sign language with them. They're really starting to use it now and it makes me so excited! It's amazing to see them communicate when they don't have the verbal skills to say what they want/need. Something terribly cute happened today, which is the reason for this little entry. There's this little guy named Levi in my class that is the sweetest baby ever. One of my girls was sick today with some sort of really bad cough and a fever. Every time she would cough, she'd cough her pacifier right out of her mouth which just made her feel even more miserable. I looked at her one time during a pretty bad coughing fit to see the Binky fly out of her mouth. Levi, being the sweet little person he is, was right over by the coughing girl to see how she was doing. When he saw the Binky fly out of her mouth, he picked it up and was trying to hand it back to her because he knew it'd make her feel better. What a cutie! The only problem was that he was holding it by the "nipple" part and it just frustrated her even more that she couldn't put it in her mouth. I turned it around and handed it to her, and then gave Levi the biggest hug and kissed him on the cheek repeatedly for being such a nice guy. It really does give me hope for the future, to be honest. Here's this little kid, less than 2 years old, who has enough empathy for his classmates to really worry about them when they're not feeling well. This is the same little guy who loves to dote on the little babies when they come into the room. I think he'd make a great big brother and I told his mom as much this evening. :) Okay, lots of cuteness out of the way now. Love to all and good night-- Kara Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)