Sunday December 27th, 1998

Here's something I notice everytime I go to be with my family... perhaps your family does this, too? We pick on each other; we tease each other. It's endless, really. Don't get me wrong, it's all quite affectionate, and is not meant in anyway to really hurt anyone's feelings, but we do it all the time. It's like when you get all of us together in a room, we want to reflect on old times and in the process, we end up teasing one of us quite persistantly. I do want to mention, though, that I try to stay away from being the instigator of this kind of "memory teasing", cuz it does get a bit old; but once everyone else starts in, I figure -- if you can't beat 'em -- join 'em.

So, what are some of the things we pick on each other for, you ask? Well, the constant "jabbing" between my brother and Dad is about their weights. I swear, a day can't go by where one of them isn't saying something light-heartedly about how much weight the other has gained. Strange. Thank God they leave me out of it. ;-D You must know that my Dad was like anorexic until he was 35 or something. He was DISGUSTINGLY skinny. I've looked at photos of him from when he was in his 20s and I just feel like yacking! He was 6'2" and 130 lbs! Anyway, once he hit 35 or so, he actually started being not so skinny, and more the weight he should be. And in the past 5 years or so, he's been actually slightly heavier than he should be. He is now 210. I still think that's a reasonable weight for someone who is 6'2" and 52 years old (sorry for giving away your age, Dad). My brother has also been very thin throughout highschool, which isn't really so odd for a teenage boy, I suppose. He was always like 5'9" and 130 lbs. In the past year, due to college and a bad diet, he's gained a good 35 pounds or so, but still looks good. He and Dad are constantly poking each other in the belly and teasing each other about how little they exercise. Guess it's a guy thing, eh? Must be. Could you imagine me and my Mom doing the same thing? HA HA HA HA! Yea, right.

OK, well that was one example of the teasing. Here's another... We'll be talking about me and my brother back in Waukesha when we were teens and stuff and all of a sudden my Dad will say... "Hey, Jon, remember that day when Katie didn't do what Mom asked and she was being rude and selfish?" Jon will smile and nod. Then my Dad will say in this over-dramatic falsetto voice: "Like father like daughter!" Supposedly that is what I said one time when I was accused of being head-strong and selfish. First of all, I'd like to state I don't remember this, but I figured it MUST have happened, because anytime the 3 of us get together, they bring it up and laugh like there's no tomorrow. I actually find it amusing, and sometimes wonder if they make this stuff up, but they seem pretty convincing. They will continue on for a while, role-playing the entire scene out. I sit back, feeling somewhere between exhasperated and entertained.

Then we'll have to tease Jon for his incessant crying as a colicky child. Jon gets very defensive about this stating over and over how it wasn't his fault. I usually let Mom and Dad do this one by themselves, cuz I don't really remember, being only 3 when he was born. I don't remember being bothered by his crying. Actually, as far as I can tell, I was the only one who'd go near him when he cried. I do like to tease him, though, about how he used to eat my flavored lipglosses. Heehee!

Then Jon and I will bring up the story of how Dad once left his expensive 35mm camera on top of the mini-van as we drove from our hotel in Orlando to Disney World. We'll laugh as we recall how, when on the freeway, the people in a car next to us were frantically honking and waving at us, signaling for us to pull over. Dad couldn't figure out what their problem was, but pulled over anyway. We all got out of the car to see Dad's camera perched precariously on top of the van. What are the odds of that? How did it not fall off? The thing couldn't have weighed more than 2 pounds. Amazing.

Then we'll tease him and Mom about the time Mom was getting into the car, and accidentally bumped her head in the doorway. It was a loud bump. Jon and I (kids then) knew it had to hurt and bad. Mom yelped and started to moan a little and then Dad said in a chastising tone: "Well, honey, why don't you rub it!" Jon and I looked at each other as our jaws dropped slightly open. Even we wouldn't have said something like that. Mom turned to look at him with daggers in her eyes. There was an unsettling pause and then she seethed: "Why don't you rub YOURSELF!" Jon and I could hardly contain our laughter. For some reason it was just so funny. Now anytime anyone gets injured, we'll just tell them to "rub it", and know matter how much pain you're in, it makes you smile a little.

Well, I know I'm droaning on a little long here. It's just that I'm so bored on this airplane and if I stop writing then I'll really be bored. The only game installed on this laptop is Solitare. Guess I could play that about 20 times or so. The plane still doesn't land for another hour.

So, what are you doing for New Years? I still don't know what I'm doing, but it's going to be something FUN, I vow it! Well, seeing as I probably won't write again until 1999, I want to wish you a very happy rest of your 1998 and a very happy New Year's celebration. 1999. Wow, pretty amazing. See ya then!

Monday Dec. 14th, 1998

This will be my last entry before Christmas as I leave for Pittsburgh on Friday. I can't wait! I haven't seen my folks since the July 4th weekend. Seems like forever, especially since I usually see them 4 times a year. But, with my trip to Norway this summer, I was just really short on vacation time and it's such a long, expensive trip to Pittsburgh for only a Sat. and Sun.

I've decided I definitely need 3 weeks of vacation. That's all there is to it. Two weeks (10 lousy days) is just not enough to do anything really fun with. One vacation, that's all. Forget about anything else. I am so jealous of European workers and I've heard they usually start with a minimum of 5 weeks of vacation. Here, one needs to be with a company for like 10 or 15 years before that would ever happen. Well, unless you own the company.

Guess I better get cracking on starting my own company. My Dad and I are going to brainstorm this Christmas on some ideas for a new internet business. Hope something comes out of it.

Let's see... what else is going on? I pretty much have the new place all unpacked and organized. It's nice to be able to find things again. I have some other interesting news to give you, but it's related to my parents Christmas gift, and I will have to wait til after Christmas to tell you since I know my parents read this.

I have a Kermit band-aid. It's really cool. I went to the doctor today and got some blood drawn for a yearly checkup. Can you tell I'm really looking for things to talk about here?

Wow, my life has actually be uneventful for one whole week!!!! Who'd of thought? Well, I shouldn't say uneventful, but rather, uninteresting. Lots of things have happened, but nothing you'd want to hear about. I'm not kidding. Don't believe me? Well, there were fridge problems, washer problems, cable problems, phone jack problems, root canal problems, garage door opener problems, and more. All come along with buying a house. Most of these issues have been fixed, and as a matter of fact the GE fridge guy was supposed to come today to fix my brand new fridge. Guess I'll find out if he's done it when I get home. I guess no call from him must be good news, right? The garage door opener still doesn't work, so I need to get that fixed. I'll have to do it after Christmas.

The root canal thing is a looong story and hopefully will be fixed in January or February. We'll see. I'm not looking forward to it. Looks as if I have to get mouth surgery to have them remove some of the bone beneath my gum before I can get a crown on my tooth which I had a root canal on. What a PAIN! For all you out there... (here comes the plea) Go to a dentist now before it's too late. It doesn't matter how much and how well you brush your teeth. I brushed my teeth faithfully with good toothpastes and tooth brushes twice a day for 5 years, figuring I'd never need to go to the dentist again. I have great teeth! Wrong, without proper cleaning by your dentist, things can go wrong! (Gosh, I sound like a public service announcement!) And to know all this pain and agony I've been through could have been avoided by going to the dentist twice a year... AHH! I'm not even scared of the dentist, I even have insurance. I have no good reason at all as to why I didn't go. Just laziness. That's all.

I must have known something was wrong subconsciously because one of my worst dreams is losing my teeth or a tooth. It's so weird. I'll be dreaming I'm eating or something and all of a sudden a tooth falls out. HORROR! I will always think to myself: "And dang! This time it isn't a dream!" But then I will wake up, and thank my lucky starts it was a dream. Well, someday, if I hadn't of gone to the dentist, my nightmare would have become a reality! Funny how weird I am about my teeth. Must have been because I had braces for over 3 years as a teenager.

Well, looks like this journal entry proved I did have something to say. So now, click your teeth together three times and say "There's no place like the Dentist!" and GO!

Monday November 30th, 1998

Friday November 13, 1998

Last Saturday night I had my friends Jim and Tina stay over at the house (Nick's house) because the heat went out in their apartment. Before we all went to sleep, I turned the security alarm on. After all, safety is a virtue (is that right?). In the morning, just after Tina finished showering, she decided to open the window in the bathroom to get some fresh air. Well, not remembering the alarm system was set, as she unlocked the window, the siren went off. And it's loud. Really LOUD. I think she nearly had a heart attack. Jim and I were sitting on the couch watching TV. I jumped off and hurried to the alarm panel to deactivate the siren. Poor Tina looked as white as a ghost standing at the top of the stairs. After I shut off the alarm, she apologized profusely. I was laughing, Jim was laughing... it was pretty funny. No big deal. Tina finished getting ready and Jim and I went to sit back down in front of the TV. The phone rang. I looked at Jim and made him a quick bet it was the monitoring company. Sure enough.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Yes, hello ma'am, your alarm was going off. Is everything OK?"

"Yes. My friend accidentally opened a window without realizing the system was activated."

"Mhmmm... and what is your name ma'am?" I told him. "Are you the owner?"

"No. The owner is out of town, I am his roommate."

"Ah and to verfiy this, what is your account number?"

"Account number???" Uh oh, I was in trouble. I never got an account number. Nick's Dad set up the system and didn't give me anything. I frantically dug around in the drawers, trying to look for a brochure or something about the alarm system. Nothing.

"Well, I don't have it." I explained to him the whole story. "But you can call Nick Druga Sr. and he can verify I live here."

"OK, I will try that." And that was it. I thought everything would be fine.

I said I thought everything would be fine.

As I was carrying some electronic equipment around (taking the Nintendo 64 upstairs), there was a knock at the door. Holding all this stuff in my arms, and dressed in black sweatpants and a black long sleeved shirt, I realized this must look pretty bad. 'Please don't be a cop... please don't be a cop...' I prayed. I looked through the glass door window and sure enough, there was a policeman looking back at me. I must have turned bright red. BRIGHT red. I set down the stuff on the stairs and opened the door.

"Hi." I said sheepishly.

"Yes, we were told to check the place out... the alarm system went off."

I shook my head, wondering how I could explain this so he would belive me. He was eyeing the electronic equipment I had set on the stairs. It was then, Thank God, that Tina jumped in, with wet hair and only a long T-shirt on.

"I'm sorry, officer." She laughed. "It was my fault. We stayed here last night and opened the window without realizing she had the alarm set."

The policeman smiled, I sighed. He turned to me. "Are you the owner, ma'am?"

"No. I'm the owner's roommate." I said, and he turned to Tina and asked her the same question.

"No." Tina answered, telling him about the heat going out in her apartment. The policeman nodded.

"Can I see your drivers license please?" He asked me.

"Sure." I went to get it and brought it back to him.

"Kathryn! You're the second Kathryn I've met today."

"Cool." I said, not really knowing what to say. After all, us Kathryn's are just a bunch of holligans anyway. He wrote down a bunch of stuff in a notepad and thanked me for his time and left. The three of us broke out into laughter after I shut the door.

"He musta thought you were a robber, all dressed in black like that!" Tina chimed. I pointed out the fact I was also carrying electronic equipment when he saw me. "I figured if he saw me just in my t-shirt, clearly out of the shower, he would know we're not robbers. After all, what kind of robbers shower and walk around in just a long t-shirt?" Good point, I thought.

Anyway, it was over; and boy was I glad. But it sure did make my morning entertaining!

Well, this story came out so long, that I guess I'll keep you in suspense and save the other run-in I had with the police last Saturday for another day. Don't worry, I won't forget. After my close calls with the law, I'm very vigilant of my responsibilities. :-D

Wednesday, November 11, 1998