Kiki’s Korner

I was patient. I did my research. I saved my pennies. And yes, I went against my husband’s wishes (ha!) when this weekend, while said husband was in Europe on business, I bought an outdoor sectional for our deck.

And man, WE (as in he and me) are so glad I did.

It is not exactly the set I wanted, BUT it looks pretty darn close, is $2k less and special bonus actually way more comfortable than the Pottery Barn set I had been staking out for three years. Woot!

The only negative about the collection is I felt I was in Ikea-hell having to put it all together. Even came with those stupid key thingies you have to use to screw the bolts in. WTF? Is this how everyone does furniture now?

Oh well. They are all together now. It was worth it. My fingers will heal. The sectional is fantastic.

I have always loved our flat, and having a deck that gets a lot of afternoon sunshine. When our dining table got rusty, my deck time went away as I hated the white chairs we put in their place (temporary measure that lasted two years).

It is like we have our deck back. And it feels good.

Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, CA

On May 13, 2008 I started a little project called ‘365 days of me‘ where you take a photo of yourself, everyday for one year, all in an effort to capture your mood, your actions, your life.

My vanity project came to an end yesterday.

It is kind of cool to scan back through your photos and see where you were, what you were feeling and who you spent time with. Looking back, the last 365 days has me: Losing a job. Gaining a job. Also gaining another 10 pounds. Traveling. Spending more time than I should with our cat Ele. Being sick. A lot.

And one of the days found me in the bathroom, finally removing my belly button ring. Seems silly I know, but I had kept it as a reminder of my youth and my desire to get back in shape so I could wear it proudly. Realizing I had just turned 40, and I had not been to the gym in over a month…it had to come out.

I enjoyed the project, but will admit it started to get hard around month nine as you try to figure out creative ways to capture yourself without repeating shots. There are way too many shots of me staring into the webcam, but it was easy and, hopefully, each one was different enough to tell the story of that day.

I am glad I stuck with it for all 365 days and am now looking for my next project. Thinking something centered on food. Maybe one meal from everyday. Might just help me figure out where all these calories are coming from…

Not sure what possessed me to torture myself like this, but I went out and bought myself a Wii Fit*.

I set the bugger up. I step onto the balance board. It lets out a little sigh. It proceeds to tell me I am a fat ass and turns my svelte avatar into the fatty that you see on this screen. Nice.

I am fat. 50 pounds overweight to be exact. My scale tells me that every day…for free!

I sit here contemplating why I just spent $100 on this contraption (included the sleeve that protects it from your stinky and sweaty feet), when I decide to go through the menu to see what else it can beat me down on before I package it up and ship it back to Amazon. For giggles, I decide to try out their yoga. 45 minutes later, I have blown through the yoga, did some strength training and played a couple of balance games.

I am hooked.

Best part of it, I woke up the next day feeling these things…I think some people call them ‘muscles’…in my sides that were a bit sore from the ‘workout’ the day before.

What do you know, Nintendo might be on to something. ‘Playing’ a video game has the potential to help me shed a few pounds off this fat ass and might just possibly turn me into a phat ass. ::fingers crossed::

*DISCLAIMER: The Wii Fit link above does go to my Amazon referral page. If you click on it and choose to order the system, I think I will make something like $1.

Heuer and I were treated to a private concert from new Sony artist, Chris Mann, in the Berkeley Hills thanks to our pal VDog.

I had not heard of Chris before Victoria’s invite, and was pleasantly surprised to find this guy can really belt it out. He reminds me of a good mixture of Jason Mraz and Adam Levine, the lead singer from Maroon 5. If you like either of those artists, you will love Chris Mann. His voice raw enough to pierce you at the core, mature enough to be in total control of his instrument. Could hear him sing for hours.

He was joined by his buddy, Chris Jagich, a music teacher from L.A. who strummed the guitar along side Mann. Chris (and Chris) played a handful of songs to the 20 of us in the room and the 40+ folks following along to the live stream VDog set up since they could not join us in person.

Have I said how much I love Chris Mann’s voice? I really do.

After the concert, I decided to Google him and found he remade the Kanye West song, Heartless. Love it. Even better is our girl ‘VDog’ is in the video, about half way through – holding up the ‘fool’ sign (at 2:18 in the video). Woot! You a hunny VDog!

Chris’ album is supposed to hit in September – keep an eye out for it. Sure to please.

I have wanted this set from Pottery Barn for the last three years. I go into Pottery Barn, sit on the seat, think about all the good times to be had while lounging on the set, then I look at the price tag.

Reality hits.

I then ‘cheap out’ out and buy thrift store pieces and low budget items from Target, but it never looks right and they never last. I always come back to this one.

Trying to justify the expense as it would be $3k+ to fill up our deck. Hard pill to swallow, especially in these wonky financial times…but then I think, hey – if I had bought this three years ago, I would have had three years of enjoyment already.

Then I look at the price tag. I swallow. Actually, it is more like a gulp.

Would be awesome to get the matching outdoor table and chairs too…you know, when we win the lottery as I love the look and feel of this collection.

I keep saying ‘if we pay more, it means better quality and it will last longer’, but I think my subconscious does not believe that to be true.

For now, I shall just continue to walk into the Pottery Barn show room every few weeks and drool on their floor. ‘Close enough’ has to be ‘good enough’. For now, at least.

Cremate me. Please.

This might seem like a premature request, seeing as I am a fairly healthy 41 year old woman who recently went head to head with a mammogram machine and won, but a recent visit to my grandmother’s grave site made me realize how important this little bit of info is to me.

I want to be cremated.

Burn baby burn.

Disco inferno.

It is a conversation I have had with my parents (they have expressed a wish to do the same thing). I have spoken to my husband about this. I now put this in writing to seal the deal.

It all circles around the guilt I feel for not visiting the grave sites of the loved ones gone before me. It is not the lack of caring for these loved ones, merely I do not want to remember them as they are now – locked in a casket, 6 feet underground with nothing but a tombstone to mark their place in this world.

I would rather remember them as they were. When they were alive.

Case and point, my grandma. She passed in August of 1994 after her heart decided, two surgeries later, it just did not wish to pump anymore. She was a huge part of my life, and was the center of the universe in my dad’s family. While we knew she was not doing well, her passing was unexpected and was a huge blow to our family (so much so, her lack of presence is still felt to this day).

I am typing this now, feeling like an asshole as I admit this past weekend was only the third time I had visited her grave site in 15 years. Once immediately after her passing, once in 2006 and then this past weekend. And you know what brought me there in 2006 and 2009? Woolfcamp. It just so happens the venue is about 300 feet away from the cemetery where my grandpa, grandma and cousin are buried. Had I not attended this event, I would not have gone anywhere near this place.

Even more embarrassing, both times (in 2006 and this past weekend) I spent 30+ minutes trying to find her grave site. So stupid. I knew where it should be, but had a hell of a time finding it. This drama around the location combined with the guilt of not visiting more and then the weird sensation of ‘well, what do we do now that we found it’ really solidified the fact I do not wish to be put in the ground.

I love you grandma. You helped shape who I am today. You will always be in my heart. I just can’t visit *that spot* again. I know you understand.

To my loved ones who will have to deal with my passing – cremate me and throw me to the wind. I don’t even need a special spot to be let go – ok, I want to be set free over the ocean. Just make absolutely sure I am not put in some urn and placed on a mantle or I will come back and haunt whoever does that to me.

I mean it. And trust me, I won’t be like that silly Casper ghost either.

Heuer and I spent last weekend in the Santa Cruz mountains surrounded by a handful of lovely ladies (and one gent); sipping wine, grilling filets and sharing our life stories with one another. We call this gathering ‘Woolfcamp’.

Part barcamp, part writers guild, part poetry slam, part cooking show. All awesome.

Our heartfelt thanks to our fabulous pal Grace Davis, for hosting us again this year. We will be back.

I spent this past Sunday in Fresno watching my ‘nephew’ throw down on a mat in a California State wrestling tournament.

I have seen Fos play soccer. I have caught several of his football games. This was the first time I have seen him wrestle. And you know what? My boy done good. Real good.

I didn’t know anything about wrestling before I walked into that gym, and to be honest, I can’t remember much now. I do know I did not like seeing the bodies twisted into different directions. The worry wart in me kept peeking out, and I am sure I freaked him mom (Jones) out a few times. I also did not like the waiting around for hours in between matches. What the hell is that all about? Just seems like everyone’s time could be better spent, but what do I know.

I was glad to get the chance to see Fos wrestle. he did really well and seems to enjoy being in the ring…but I will admit, I cannot wait for football season. So much more my sport.

We recently went through a little credit card theft scam fighting over 40 fraudulent transactions charged in Mexico, and worked with Citibank to reverse the charges and settle the account.

Thankfully, Citibank has made the account whole, but in the process – I think they killed their share of a few trees. First they sent out one letter for every transaction that was being declined by us to confirm they have opened a file on it. Then they sent one letter for every transaction letting us know it was being reviewed. Then, we received one letter for every transaction to confirm the charge has been credited back to our account and the file was closed.

120+ envelopes. 120+ letters. Who knows how many ink cartridges. And stamps? This is a sure fire way to keep the USPS in business.

Since all these transactions were reported at the same time, me thinks a smart(er) way to handle this going forward is to send ONE letter confirming all the charges we are declining. Then send ONE letter to confirm our account is in review. Then ONE final letter on all the charges that were being credited back to our account, and if need be, ONE more letter in case some of the charges were not credited (confirming why). Seems a much more efficient use of time. Of money. Of Mother Nature’s resources.

How about it Citibank…care to work on greening yourself?