Wordless Wednesday - Red Sox - World Series Champions

2013 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS....YOUR BOSTON RED SOX

 

Who Would You Be? The Dream Police Want To Know!

Earlier this year I was outside on a sunny yet chilly day, trudging about 50' behind my husband as part of his "New Year's resolution 1-hour walk per day" proclamation. My iPod was blasting in my ears. Had my "work-out" playlist blaring. (It usually keeps my feet moving - albeit not as fast as my 6'2" husband with mile long legs...but I digress). 

There's some great rocking tunes with screaming guitars on my playlist but I found I really got moving during certain songs.

So as I was jogging along my mind wandered (as it sometimes does at times like those) and I started thinking about when I was younger ... I heard my first female rocker. I wanted to be the next-big-thing girl rock star. Like ... Janis Joplin. Pat Benetar. Joan Jett, Lita Ford (or any one of the Runaways). Suzi Quattro. (I'd even have settled for a semblance of the feisty Dolly Parton or Tammy Wynette.) I wanted to write great songs filled with musings, romance, conflict and angst. Like Karla Bonoff and Joni Mitchell and Loretta Lynn. Ah, dreams! And impossible fantasies.

Thought about where I am today. The vast differences in the lifestyle of my mid-life self and the rocker fantasy of my youth. What twists and turns kept me from being one thing and led me to a polar opposite life.

A good life. A happy, loving one.

I went down the home and family road. Gave up my single, waif little self and morphed into pleasingly plump Wife. Mom. And now grandmother. Set up house in urban suburbia. Graduated college after I had my kids (so I was a wee bit untraditional for some things!) Went the business route. Worked 9-5. 

And gave up my childhood dreams. Well, sort of. I still love my music. Never packed away my albums and 8-track tapes. Autographed posters and signed 8x10 framed glossies of famous performers adorn my walls. You'll still find me at concerts, though I've moved to a comfy chair in the back of the room. (These old bones aren't what they used to be!) And of course, I got involved on a local level by being on the board of directors for the RI Music Hall of Fame.

How about you? What was YOUR dream? What did you want to be when you grew up? However, if you happen to not be growed up yet ... what's your goal? Come on, you can tell me ... I won't tell anyone.

Happy Anniversary - Birth of a Blog!

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." - Helen Keller

This week marks a monumental milestone for me. The anniversary of the birth of this blog.

This is my 140th post.

A lot has happened over this past year. Some really incredible, crazy, bizarre, never-saw-that-coming kind of things. And I've documented most of it right here. On Kate's Khronicles.

Along the way I've enticed some readers to come inside, sit a spell and take a look around. And those viewers left 351 awesome comments on my ramblings. It was nice to know that there was someone listening out there!

And would you believe...

Wordless Wednesday - Red Sox and the World Series

PLAY BALL !!

The Boys Are Back! Red Sox Strong!!

I'll admit it. In all honesty and full disclosure...I had written off the boys up at Fenway Park. As a lifelong diehard Red Sox fan, I was sorely disappointed with the reported shenanigans in the clubhouse. I used to be so proud of them...win or lose. It was how you played the game, right? It was how you conducted yourself and acted like part of the team...no "I" in team, right?

I just couldn't bring myself to care anymore. If they didn't, I reasoned, why should I?

Grandma - The Sweetest Name

I remember the day. The day you came into our world. The day that changed our lives forever. Eight years ago. When we went from being parents to .... duh duh duh ... GRANDPARENTS!

I'll admit. I was scared at first. And apprehensive. Me? A grandmother? I just couldn't see me fitting the mold. I'm youthful, ain't I? I'm not old, wrinkly and gray. (Well, maybe just a little white-ish ... ssshhhh! only you and my hairdresser are in on that secret!) People said I didn't even look old enough to have adult children. Now what would they say when I wear my grandparent badge?

I don't want to feel old. I want to keep my blinders on and believe I'm still young - vibrant - full of life - energetic .... oh I could go on and on....

A million thoughts and questions ran thru my mind. How will this change me? Will it alter the world's view of me? My view of the universe? Am I now ... gulp ... middle-aged? Am I ready for this new phase in my life?

I wrestled with my emotions while waiting your arrival. You represented such a big transition in my life, the structured comfortable world I was living in.

I remember the day. The day you came into my world. The day that changed my life forever. When I went from being a mom to a ... grandma. And oh, the joy that filled my heart the first time I held you in my arms, looked into your sweet blue eyes, gazed at your angelic little face. And then I knew. Everything was right in this world. Everything felt right about this new chapter in my life.

Today we celebrate your special day. But I can also celebrate my special day, too. The day I was given a very special title that I wear proudly ... GRANDMOTHER.

Happy birthday my precious grandson ... Grandma loves you!

 

Wordless Wednesday - Boston Red Sox

'nuff said

My Cinema - The Butler

Lee Daniels' The Butler.

I had been hearing a lot about this movie. A lot of good things. And since I love historical films, especially ones based on a true story, I knew I had to see this one.

I'm not sure I can truthfully say this was a fantastic movie, or one of the best I've seen. But it was good. And very, very interesting.

The premise of the film is the telling of the story of Cecil Gaines (convincingly played by Forest Whitaker). From a young black boy born as a slave in the turn of the century South to a prestigious position as a butler in the White House where he worked for 8 administrations. We watch as Cecil grows from a young sharecropper slave's son through the 1960's civil rights movement and on into the Reagan era of the 1980's. All the while, Cecil is a passive witness to history in the making from his point of view in the nation's capitol.