Master Bathroom
Finally! Last night, I actually used our new shower! David fixed the water pressure on the massager and will fix the water pressure on the main shower head soon, but the shower works! It's wonderful! Just a couple minor things that need to be fixed in the cabinets, but nothing major. We can move in completely to the master shower and closet this weekend and leave the guest bedroom/temporary closet and guest bathroom behind! So exciting!

Just saw Inside Man last night and I highly recommend it. My Kat Views review blog will have my review.

The book Lifescripts for Family and Friends... is really interesting. It seems to cover almost every awkward situation that can come up in relationships and I found it interesting to skim. Of course, I've faced some of these already and it was interesting seeing how it said I should handle them. Not a bad idea as a reference book for when you have kids, it seems, too. Just might have to buy this one someday.

I'm really excited about moving into our beautiful new bathroom and closet with all of our stuff this weekend. It'll be nice not to have to walk to the other side of the house to get ready in the morning and to be in such beautiful rooms as I get ready!

Labels: books, life, reading

Posted by Kat @ 9:04 AM | 0 meows

Crazy weekends...
What a weekend! Taking the red eye to Harrisburg, then driving to Danville for your mother's 60th anniversary party and having to leave Danville just 28 hours later to return to Harrisburg to catch the flights back is TIRING! It would have been tiring without the huge delays in my return flight last night, but landing at LAX after 12:30 in the morning is a bit amusing. There was no one in the terminal who didn't work there other than the passengers on my flight and yet they were assigned a gate at the very end of the terminal. Wonderful...

Had I known I'd get in so late, I probably would have taken a cab home to at least spare my husband from having to wait. The funniest thing is that initially, it was saying that our flight would be early when he checked online. Then, it said on time, then it just kept getting later and later. Apparently, landing after midnight in LAX adds an extra 25 minutes to your flight time, since the pilot has to fly you out over the ocean for your approach, so they don't wake up everyone in LA. Just what you need when you're already going to be a lot later than scheduled.

Fortunately, the trip was well worth it. My mom, sister, and everyone else there (other than Tricia, who was my accomplice and got me all the info I needed) was shocked to see me. Mom even called again today to thank me for flying out for the party.

I finally got to meet my cousin Amy (and her husband Paul)'s adorable children. It's sad how long it's been since I saw that group of my mom's family. The kids are always the favorites, and even with meeting Kally, Ethan, Nicholas, and PJ, I still haven't met 5 of the other kids in that generation.

We had a great time hanging out with everyone and at the party on Saturday and taking the kids to Knoebels on Sunday. The party was supposed to be at Knoebels, but unfortunately the cabin was very badly damaged in the recent PA floods.

I almost finished the book I'm reading on the trip, but got too tired for reading during part of the last flight and tried to sleep through the flights on the way there. The funny thing about the book I'm reading is that my cousin Amy was telling me (and my sister Lisa) about this really good book she's reading and she had to go get it, since she couldn't remember what it was called. It was Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. I laughed and told her what I was reading. She's already read Good in Bed and I can see why she really identified with part of what the main character in it went through now that I'm almost done reading it.

I also met a guy across the aisle from me on my first flight yesterday who went to UCI, where I work, and now works at Hershey Medical Center with my cousin's husband (Jeff). I saw Jeff's father when I was at my mom's party, but unfortunately Jeff, Kathy, and the kids couldn't make it (but I hear all the kids did well in their all star games & swim meet). Sometimes it really is a small world.

Hope your day is going well. I'm counting down to after working out with my trainer when I can shower and just relax.

Labels: books, life, party, reading

Posted by Kat @ 2:11 PM | 0 meows

Interesting site
I'm reading a book called Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking right now and finding it very interesting. One of the things discussed are the snap judgements people make and the tests that demonstrate this. When I saw that Harvard had IATs (Implicit Association Tests) online, I just had to check them out. If you're interested, check out the IATs. The author of the book I'm reading (Malcolm Gladwell) said he was always a little disturbed when he did the race IAT. So, being the person I am, I had to log on and try them out. I was pleasantly surprised by my results to the race test and the sexuality test. I haven't gone through to do them all yet, but it's very interesting. Perhaps it's the psychologist in me - who knows? I found it very interesting, though.

Labels: books, reading, websites

Posted by Kat @ 8:20 PM | 0 meows

Take the Lead
Anyone who enjoys dance should see Take the Lead. I highly recommend it. The true story is wonderful and it's amazing how many lives have been touched by one man who wanted to make a difference. (If you're interested in my full review, check out my Kat Views blog.)

Loving the NHL playoffs so far! If Detroit had lost instead of won in the 2OT game yesterday, it'd be perfect so far. Of course, the fact that they just barely beat a team that squeaked into the playoffs is enough to give me confidence that they won't win the cup again and that's good. If my teams can't get into the playoffs, I have to enjoy them somehow.

I just finished reading The Gilded Chamber. I highly recommend that, too.

Today, David and I drove around after lunch looking at some of the new housing neighborhoods and we've chosen the basic color scheme for re-painting our house. This might not sound like much, but unlike most of southern California, we're lucky enough not to be in an association that limits our color scheme choices. Sometime, look at the whole Dunn Edwards color book and you'll get an idea of why this was so difficult. Narrowing down the colors is a huge step and I'm very happy we've been able to do that much! The rest will have to wait till after our trip next weekend, but since we haven't set a date for painting yet, it's all good.

Labels: books, life, movies, reading

Posted by Kat @ 10:15 PM | 0 meows

Orange County Public Libraries
On the way home today, I stopped by one of the Orange County Public Libraries and learned a few things about how they work (and that the books I most wanted weren't in any of them). Then, I noticed the time and rushed home without getting anything (not even a library card), since I realized I was already late to our meeting with the contractor doing our master bath. I should have known better than to try to squeeze in a visit to a new fun book location. I can't get in and out of a Borders that quickly...

Anyway, when I got home, I checked out the Orange County Public Libraries website. I'm in book heaven right now. I can look up everything that I can look up at the library online at home. Yippee!! Definitely going to be spending a bit less money on books. Also, I found out that there is a library even closer to work (still on my way home) that has most of the books I'm interested in! And, the best part is that once I get a library card and can have a pin number, etc. you can even renew your books online! This is so cool. It's like I found book nerd heaven.

The last time I went to a library for a book that I wanted to read was in high school sometime. It was very convenient (right across the street from my high school), and it's one of those places I knew from the time we moved to Upper St. Clair. But, I hadn't been to one since then for anything other than required reading materials in college and that's so wrong.

Although I still definitely love BookCrossing, and will still use it from time to time, I am very happy to have found a way to read so many of the books that I want to read, but don't need to own. If I decide I want to own them later, I can always buy them then.

I'm so excited! After I read the book I'll start tomorrow, I definitely have to check out the closest library to me!

Labels: books, life, reading

Posted by Kat @ 8:51 PM | 0 meows

Gilmore Girls returns!!
Gilmore Girls returned last night! For those of you who haven't seen it, Gilmore Girls is the story of a girl (Rory) with the mom (Lorelei) we all wish we had growing up. They have one of those great relationships where they can talk about anything and their fast-paced banter always makes me laugh. I'm so glad to have them back, even though we'll be gone for a week and away from all TV starting Friday. There is so much more to do in NYC than spend time with a TV. There will be friends & family to hang out with, musicals and plays to see, Yankees games (okay, just one) to attend, ...

I've been playing with downloads for my new phone a lot, too. I know, some people think they're just for making phone calls, but that's so boring! There are so many ringers available now that even have the words. So cool!

I'm releasing my first book into the wild with BookCrossing later today. I have a few prepared to take with me to realease in NYC, too. It's such a fun idea to track books you let go to see where they travel later in life. If you read a lot, you should definitely check out BookCrossing in addition to Page Turner's Anonymous, which I recommended in an earlier post. So many fun ways to amuse ourselves without spending a lot of money. Definitely a good thing.

Labels: baseball, books, life, reading, TV, Yankees

Posted by Kat @ 1:51 PM | 0 meows

Page Turner's Anonymous
Page Turner's Anonymous is an online book club that Mel and Chris put together. I loved the idea as soon as Mel first mentioned it. If you like to read, check it out. Right now, we're voting on October's book. It's surprising when I think about how much I read and the fact that I've never been a part of an actual book club before outside of school. It's very good to have something that interests me today. I have this massive headache that does not seem like it's going away any time soon.

But, tonight I'm getting my hair done - finally! I know that it'll make my headache worse, but I've needed a trim/highlight for so long now. I did want to time the hair cut perfectly, though. I get to enjoy it a bit this weekend when we go out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And next week is our annual NYC trip (with a stop in Philly on the way)!! So exciting - Rent (for my 10th time) on Saturday and a vacation just a week after that!

Labels: books, life, reading

Posted by Kat @ 9:44 AM | 0 meows