Kim’s Comments (group member since Sep 17, 2008)

Kim’s comments from the Runs with scissors group.

Thank you. The funeral was yesterday and I hope now the family may find peace.

O.K. we need to start thinking about our April group read genre. Anyone have any ideas?

Well, here we are again, one year later and I am another year older, yet I do not feel any wiser. I guess that now I am 37, and 3 years from (ulp!) 40 (yes, yes I know there are those here who have cleared that and will say "Big Whoop!"). I had a hard time with 30. I am not looking forward to 40.


Maybe I'll go for the pink hair by then.........

Kelley's dad passed yesterday.

You are welcome. I wish to add that Pierce has also written 2 quartets set in this world and uses Alanna in both and well as a duet about her daughter. I fell in love with these thanks to a summer child care job I had a few years ago. The oldest girl (12) loved them and kept taking them out of the library but not wanting to return them. I bought them for her for her 13th b-day that year and I like to think that she is still re-reading them now as an adult.

The entire world is very "go girl" type of message, but all the women have to go through very hard trials and nothing is easy. That is what I love about them, nothing is handed to them. They have to work for it, and they come out better for it in the long run.

Last Wed. I swam a 1/2 mile, but could not get out of my house due to a 6 1/2 foot snow drift on Fri.

Yesterday, I did a 1/2 mile + 6 more lengths for a total of 50. I am trying to get my body used to that so the 3/4 mile becomes natural.

Tip: Do not sneak up on people in a pool while they are on their back. This happened to me yesterday as one of the regulars I swim with came over to give me a compliment. After scaring the bajoopies out of me, she wanted to tell me that I am no longer making "waves" when I swim.

That is cool to know. It means that 1) I have lost weight so my displacement is less and 2) I am getting stronger as a swimmer, therefore more efficient.

Cool!

I read this because Susan G. Komen Foundation is one of the charities I support when I am working. I have known almost as many survivors of breast cancer (and other cancers) as I have known those whom I've lost. This is the story of the foundation and how it came into being. Her sister Nancy gives a little insight into the life of service their mother lived and encouraged her daughters to live as well.

Nancy is also a survivor of this horrible disease and has stated that the idea of the foundation is to not be needed in the future. Pink is my favorite color, and this disease is close to every woman and man's heart. Men can and do get this horrible disease and not much is said about it.

If Susan had survived, I believe that this charity would still exist and possibly be stronger. Nancy is a strong woman all on her own as well, having served as a U.S. Ambassador and getting countries to allow Pink Spotlights to be put on such well known land marks as the Great Pyramids and the White House.

I was teasing about the "forgot thing". (sorry):(

I am proud of myself too. I think what it was for me was having an accurate weight now that they have the digital scale and not the slide balance ones. (I would like to add that the original scale that was replaced was proven to be broken.) I am not letting this be a set back like it would have been for me in the past. I now know a base line and I can now follow muscle mass and what not better than before. I know I have made progress as some of my clothes are fitting better and I can walk farther that I could before I start to hurt, and things of that nature.

I am not defined by my weight, I define who I am. Right now, I would define myself as a person who is trying and succeeding at what I am trying to do. Yesterday, I did my 1/2 mile and I will (weather permitting) would like to do 1/2-3/4 mile tomorrow.

For that, I am very proud of myself.

I did not swim last week due a mysterious rash that does not hurt or itch.

Well, yesterday was my normal visit to the doctor (meaning I have to go around every 3-4 months for them to monitor my thyroid). Some the whoo has been taken out of my hoo. Remember back in July when I was so excited that the scale moved? Well, I found out yesterday that that was a fluke. The scale I was on, has been replaced by a digital scale that goes up to 500lbs. instead of the slide scales that only go up to 350lbs. I now have a accurate base line on my weight, and yes, I know since we didn't have one to begin with, that this is not necessarily the end all or be all, but I came in at 358 lbs. which is a lot more that what I thought I was back in July. I am very disappointed right now and in tears. I thought I was further along than I was and yes, as it was pointed out just now by the boyfriend, now I have a base line, and I have been improving.

So, I guess I just need to forget about the numbers and just concentrate on what I am doing in the pool and focus on those numbers. That way, I will be able to measure my progress much better.

As for the rash, it is contact dermatitis most likely from the soap at the Y that they provide in the dispenser in the shower room. So, I just have to not use that when I rinse off and it will go away on it's own.

Today, I swim.

I am going to post since it appears that Narzain has forgotten about this and is not going to get this started although I know that he finished this a while ago. Gypsy Rose Lee is the subject of a new biography (which I am waiting for) so when Narzain said that he was going to read this after watching the movie musical "Gypsy", I thought I would like this too.

Louise (Gypsy's real name), played second fiddle to her little sister,June for years. The story is told in first person, so we never really get a good picture of her mother (for whom the term "Stage Mother" was invented") as we see the world through the eyes of a child who grew up in the trooping environment of Vaudeville. As changes in entertainment happened, shifting to Burlesque, her mother refused to accept it,and kept trying to push the show she had built around June.

A fluke puts Louise at the fore-front and launches the career of Gypsy Rose Lee as we have come to know her. There is a lot left out of this as we only hear what the author wishes to tell. Afterward by her son is not too revealing either, but she does cover the "Strong Woman" too. She was ahead of her time in many ways and every inch a survivor.

I am frequently enraged by laws that are so far flung different regarding the same crime. Until a few years ago, it wasn't considered rape if it was between a husband and wife. It amazes me what stays on the books even though it is no longer what is socially accepted.

I was reading my March 2011 issue of "Parents" magazine the other day and I read an article that I feel is a stupid thing that has become a massive problem. Distracted drivers. The article focused on the high number of parents who drive while on their cell phones, deal with the kids, and or both all the while driving the car. 27% of adults admit to texting and driving, while 26% of teens admit to it. Regardless of hands-free laws and what not, people are still chatting,emailing,watching DVD's etc, while hurtling around in a 2 ton weapon on wheels.

Now, as most of you know, I am a nanny. I have kids in the car all the time taking them to school, activities, etc. I do have cell phone. I do not use it much, and it is off most of the time, but when I am driving, it is most assuredly off. (Yes, I have talked on it a few times while driving, but not with the kids in the car, and I told whomever it was I was driving and/or pulled over. I am not proud of this.) I cannot understand how, if you are a parent, why you would want to risk the lives of your children to a stupid cell phone! There is no call that is worth your life. One person in the article was backing out of his driveway. He glanced down at an incoming text and ran over his neighbors 9 year old. Another person, who lost a cousin to distracted driving, knowingly drives distracted all the time due to their own kids.

Turing to correct them, hand them food, toys, etc or fiddling with your GPS while driving are all equivalents of drunk driving. What has me mystified is that now there are at least 3 new apps and services to help you on your phone while driving. One is free the others cost per month, but it all adds up to, USING THE BLEEPING OFF BUTTON! Why pay for these things when you can simply turn it off?

I guess if you are that addicted to your phone you need these things:

For android/iPhone/Blackberry/Windows Mobile the app is DriveSafe.ly/download.

ZoomSafer for Blackberry and Windows $2.95/month

iZup $49.95 / year or $4/95/ month for Blackberry or Android This one send all incoming calls to voicemail and holds text messages. (It's called turning it off!)



I have a no-eating policy in my car, for myself and others while I am driving, and the kids know the rules. I explain that if they distract me, we could get hurt. They understand that. Why can't adults?

I did watch L.H.O.T.P. but I was not a do or die fan. We stopped watching around the time Mary went blind since as my mom put it "it's just one tragedy after another!". I do remember Nellie Olsen though, and I always thought that she was over the top compared to the books, of which I am a huge fan.

That aside, I agree with with the fact that she went through so much in her life and is now voice for AIDS activism and an advocate for sexually abused children. She did not let her past hold her back or turn her into a cowering pile of jello. She qualifies for not only this months choice,but for next months as well. Talk about a strong woman!

I read this too and I will keep quiet until Paul posts.

I've decided that all of our future group reads are going to be choose your own book in the selected genre. This came about because we seem to be doing better with this idea than trying to agree on one book. If we all want to read the same book, that's fine and if one or more of us wants to read the same book as another, that's fine too.

So, keep your ideas coming!

This is supposed to be Narzain's discussion, but I read this too. I will let him start before I chime in.

I have some pretty neat news. I have been interviewed by the YMCA for a testimonial regarding my experiences there. I will be in the newsletter and on the website. It will also appear in the new literature for the Strong Kids program.

Cool, huh?

I was laughing more than I was mad. I really cannot see what anyone would want with them, unless they were sailing a boat and needed a new sail.

O.K. I have a "no sh*t there I was story today. I went swimming on Thursday this week since Wednesday's weather made it difficult to get out of my driveway (snow plow junk at the foot of it from the side street that is catty-corner to mine). So, no big deal. I did my 1/2 mile and went again yesterday. Here in lies the story. I do 50 lengths. Cool.

I go back to back to the shower room bathroom stall to pee and get ready to go to the shower to rinse off. Upon coming out of the stall, I see that my underwear is missing! I put it on the drying room bench like I have for months and it is gone. I went to my locker to see if I had accidentally put it in there, but I hadn't. I even went back to the pool area to see if it had stuck to my towel or something. Nope. Somebody took my panties.

I checked with lost and found but no one turned them in as of yesterday. I know I have found things like lotion and brushes and that that I have turned in, but not clothing in the drying room. Now, for those of you who don't know, I have to go through the drying room, then the showers to get to the pool. The stated policy is to dry off in this area before going into the carpeted locker room. Well, from now on, I am going to keep my things locked up and take them back into the room to change.

Sheesh! If somebody needed my size 14's that badly, all they had to do was ask!