Kudos

Kudos to you for reading all my K blogs, or some of them. Kudos to me for making it through the month. I've had enough K words and blogging for awhile so it's time for a break. I'm glad I managed to stick with it, though. I realize how hard it must be for those who have to write every day, especially for a job or other commitment. Although I suppose it does get easier once you get used to it. It's not hard to write, but it is hard to write something worthwhile. Happy New Year to everyone. I'll be out of touch with cyberspace while I go celebrate 2010 with my extended family. Who knows what 2010 will bring to this space?

Kittens

No list of K words could be complete without kittens. Who doesn't love kittens? They are adorable and cute and cuddly. Elizabeth is in Japan and hopes to go to a "cat cafe" - a place where you can hang out with cats. Aaron and Kim visited one when they were in Japan. Lucy wouldn't do well with a kitten around here so I have to admire them from afar. I'm glad I'm about to the end of the month, as I'm running out of k words. One more day to go!

Keurig

This is the brand name of the coffeemaker we have. It brews coffee one cup at a time by the way of little plastic cups you put in the machine. I'm not a coffee drinker but you can make hot chocolate the same way, or use it to make tea by just heating the water. It's fast and easy. We got one for Elizabeth for Christmas and she was delighted to be able to fix her own coffee in the mornings. A nice cup of hot anything sounds good right now- we got unexpected snow today and it's still hanging around. It's beautiful on the trees and bushes, since they were already frozen when it began to fall. It was supposed to be rain by now but we've still got a winter wonderland!

kaleidoscopes

I really like Kaleidoscopes. I like all the pretty designs they make and I like how you can move one just a tiny bit and get a totally different image. When the kids were little we seemed to have a lot around and I think we even learned how to make them. They can keep me entertained for hours. We had one that was a glass tube with colored water and beads in it and then an attached mirror to look in. The designs were so pretty. Sometimes life is like a kaleidoscope, it only takes one little movement to change the whole picture.

Kibble

Today Lucy was out in the garage with Jeff and left to her own devices got into a big bag of dog food kibble. Not sure how much she ate but she's been dragging around ever since, obviously stuffed. Sort of how we feel after all the Christmas goodies. It's time to hide the dog food and throw out the Christmas cookies and go back to better eating, less oversnacking. If you'd like to help out some other doggies who maybe don't have a big bag of food to sneak into, visit freekibble a site started by an Oregon girl to get food for dogs at humane societies.

Kristof, Nicholas D

Nicholas Kristof is a columnist for the New York Times. He grew up in nearby Yamhill, Oregon and went on to Harvard and Oxford and has travled and written all over the world, winning the Pulitizer Prize twice. He has a new book out, written with his wife Cheryl WuDunn, called Half the Sky. I've just started it, but it is great and definitely required reading. It's subtitled "turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide" and that sums it up well. I frequently read his column on the New York Times website and it's always compelling. For Christmas, he has a list of little known charities worth donating to. Check it out here.

Kris Kringle

He managed to make it to our house last night, even though there are really no children here anymore. We've had nice day together. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Kith and kin

Kith and kin means friends and neighbors and dates from the 1300s, kith being "one's countrymen" and kin being relatives. I am certainly blessed with wonderful kith and kin. Especially today, I am reminded of what special friends and family I have. I am lucky to have such good friends that I can chat with about anything and I know would jump to my aid in an instant. My family is truly wonderful. I have three amazing kids that I am so thankful for as well as terrific in-laws, siblings, nieces, nephews, and extended family. I cannot even begin to name you all. Just know that I feel like the luckiest person alive to have such great people in my life. Thank you, my kith and kin!

Keel

The keel is the foundation of a boat. For a sailboat, it's what provides stability and counteracts the force of the wind. It also provides ballast, for more stability. There are different kinds of keels, from full keels, that extend all along the bottom of the boat, to fin keels, to wing or bulb keels. They all have different purposes. This summer we sailed a boat with a wing keel and that meant we could sail in shallower water than a boat with a deeper fin keel. I am thinking tonight about keels and what they do for boats and how important they are. We sometimes talk about people being "even keeled", that is being balanced and centered. When you realized where that phrase comes from, it makes sense. The keel is the structural center of the boat, the spine, and the major source of strength. When people have a good source of strength and good foundations, it is easier to live a balanced and centered life. When the central foundation is missing or broken, it is easy to get off track. How important it is then, to provide our children with a good solid foundation that can help provide stability their whole life.

Another related term is keelhauled. This is what sailors would use for punishment "back in the day". They would tie a sailor to a rope that went under the boat and then throw them overboard and then pull them up on the other side. They would likely get scraped up on the keel and all the barnacles, etc. that were on the keel. If the boat had a deep keel and they pulled the rope slowly, they might drown before coming up to the other side. Pretty harsh punishment and one that was eventually abolished. When someone is not even keeled, or lacking that good foundation, it is tempting to want to have them keelhauled!

K-9

This one's for my husband, who had K words swirling around his head all night, and thought this was the best one. Our favorite K-9 is Lucy, also known as Lucy-fur the devil dog. She is now 8 1/2 years old and provides plenty of entertainment for us. She's definitely getting older with whiter paws and face all the time and seems to wear out sooner but she never turns down an opportunity to play ball. Her favorite spot is on the couch, preferably with some pillows and blankets to snuggle on. She seems a bit more neurotic these days, jumping up at any odd noise and nervous with all of us coming and going. What she'd like most for Christmas is to eat all of our food, especially the good smelling stuff. She definitely knows who is most likely to toss her a treat and who will take her for a walk and I think she knows what day it is - Thursdays mean Jeff is off and might walk her to the coffee shop, Saturday is time to play ball after morning chores are done, Tuesday is everyone out the door early and there is no need to get off the couch. She can sit, shake, lie down, and tilt her head cutely when you say certain words like walk, play ball, or squirrel. She's a good companion!

Kazoos

Kazoos are funny things. It took me a long time before I figured out you have to HUM into them to make the right sound. I spent years blowing into them and wondering why it didn't sound right. Instead, it's the vibrating of the the hum that makes the little paper vibrate and in turn make the distinctive sound. I just learned that kazoos are a type of mirliton – a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane. They can be made out of plastic, metal, wood and for twenty bucks you can even get an electic kazoo! And, you can even get them imprinted with things like "thanks for coming to our wedding" - now that's a gift you can treasure! Happy humming.

Kaput

Here's what the dictionary says about kaput:
1 : utterly finished, defeated, or destroyed
2 : unable to function
3 : hopelessly outmoded
If I don't go to bed now I will be #2 at work tomorrow! Goodnight all!

Kermit the Frog

Kermit has always been my very favorite muppet. I like his sense of humor and outlook on life. He's sensible and goofy at the same time. One of my favorite songs is "The Rainbow Connection" which he did in The Muppet Movie in 1979. Click on the title above to watch the video of the song. Do it, you won't regret it.

Kindness

Kindness cannot be overrated. I'm finding it harder to find something to write about every day but I keep coming back to Kindness. It's probably the most important K word. Here's some quotes from a "kindness quotes" website. I'll let someone else do the work today.

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato

Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree. ~Marian Wright Edelman

Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone in order to do it. ~Author Unknown

What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind. ~Cleveland Amory

kookaburra

I don't think we got to see a kookaburra when we were in Australia, but I could be mistaken in that. We do have a kookaburra on our Christmas tree. I finally got the tree up on Tuesday and it's even a live one for the first time in many years. Aaron gave us a set of Australian ornaments for Christmas last year and one is this cute kookaburra. We also have a kangaroo, a koala, and a platypus!

K is still for Kitchen

I've had my "new" kitchen for a year and a half now and I STILL love it. I love to work in it and it makes me happy just to look at it. It's easy to keep clean and I especially love the island. Sometimes it is covered up completely with all the stuff we pile on it, but it can just as quickly be cleaned up and all shiny and pretty. It's the perfect height for prep work and kneading dough. At first I thought the kitchen might be too dark but it doesn't feel dark to me now. I'm so happy we did the remodel and we can enjoy the kitchen!

KOA

Here's another thing I'm a fan of - KOAs, or Kampgrounds of America (?). I'm not a huge fan of actual camping, camping, but I love their "Kamping Cabins" - cute little log cabins with beds and not much else. They usually have a swing on the front porch and a heater inside. The really nice "Kamping Kottages" have kitchens and bathrooms but I don't think I've ever stayed in one of those. My sister and I have planned whole trips with our kids based on where there were KOAs we could stay in. We also have stayed in them when it was just my sister and I. Last year we did the bridgewalk in Astoria and stayed in one. When I took Aaron to college for the first time, we stayed in one near Eureka. It was dark when we got there and we discovered in the morning it was next to a dairy farm and the railroad tracks. The one in Cascade Locks has been visited numerous times. In this photo Aaron is pointing out the birdhouse next to our Kabin. I wish I could remember where this was but it's hard when they all look the same. I think it might be Leavenworth, WA in 1999. I have this marked as being 1998, however, which was a trip to the San Juans and I don't think we stayed at a KOA that year. Help me out, cousins, what do you think?

Kinnikinnick

Kinnikinnick is just one of those words that I like the sound of. It's really a plant, a native Oregon one, at that. It's scientific name is Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, but it's also known as 'Bear-berry' . It's a pretty little plant and we planted a bunch of it at our Mill St. house. Here's a picture of it from my brother's website: Cascade Ramblings, where you can find all sorts of information on hiking in Oregon, as well as plants and animals and fungi. Check it out! :http://www.cascaderamblings.com/

Kindergarten

I attended kindergarten at St. Martin's Episcopal Kindergarten in Lebanon. I believe (and if I'm wrong my siblings will let me know) I was the only one of my siblings to attend Kindergarten. Before that I went to preschool at Mrs. Eskeldson's preschool at the Presbyterian church. I guess my parents were quite ecumenical in their school choice. I think by the time I came along (#6) my mom was ready for some time with ALL her kids in school. I don't remember much about kindergarten. It seems like it was in a HUGE room and I remember playing "Wizard of Oz" with my friends and all of us fighting over who would be who and skipping along our pretend yellow brick road. Here's a photo of me from my graduation, complete with missing teeth and messy hair. I do seem pretty proud of my "diploma"!

Aaron went to kindergarten at Sunshine Cooperative Preschool and Kindergarten. His was the last class in Dallas to not have public kindergarten. Cooperative school was interesting but often a headache. As I recall, the teacher quit the day before school started and we had to find another one fast and the first one we found didn't work out too well. Parents ran the school and worked in the classroom. I was glad to have Elizabeth and Nate go to public kindergarten. They both went to Morrison, back in the days when all the kindergartners in town went to one building. Now they are split up into the area elementary schools. I helped in all of my kid's classes and that age was one of my favorites. My good friend who teaches kindergarten always has a good story about her kids and the funny things they say and do.

Kirksville, Missouri

We lived in Kirksville for 4 years. While not my favorite part of my life, I have many good memories. Kirksville is in the middle of nowhere, 4 hours to St. Louis, 4 to Kansas City, 4 to Des Moines. Lots of small towns nearby with weird names. Cold, cold, cold in winter and hot and very humid in the summer. I went shopping at Hy-Vee Foods and my first Wal-Mart and we walked down the street for fast food at Hardee's. I worked nights at the hospital, my first med tech job and I didn't really know what I was doing but I had to do it all and mostly by myself. When it was slow, I would nap. Jeff was busy studying but we explored the area some. I remember Thousand Hills State Park, particularly beautiful in the fall. I visited nearby Unionville, where my great-grandfather had lived. We went to Hannibal to visit Mark Twain country, and to Quincy, IL when we really wanted to go shopping at a Mall! Jeff went to school at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, which is now A. T. Still University and the local college used to Northeast Missouri State University and is now called Truman State U. Aaron and Elizabeth were both born there. I remember pushing baby Aaron around in the stroller, all bundled up for the cold- all you could see were his big eyes and people always commented. We lived in the student apartments,(on Osteopathy Drive!) across the street from the school and my job, which was very convenient. There was a small playground behind the apartments and I spent hours there swinging in the swings holding Aaron. The janitor of the apartments was named Kermit and he was very kind and would push Aaron around on his dustmop. I went to the Christian Church there and played in the bell choir. My memories of all our time there are a bit goofy due to working nights and having babies and not sleeping much at all. I remember it mostly with pride as we were both working so hard and struggling and learning and making the best of things.

Krispy Kremes

Don't really like them. I think they are overrated. That is all.

K is for Potassium??

Well, this is a bit weird, but at my job many times a day, I see K+ and I know that means potassium. The dictionary says the K is for Kali, from the arabic qily, which means alkali. It's atomic number is 19 and it's chemical symbol is K. Potassium is a necessary element in the human body. When someone's level of potassium is low in their blood, it is called hypokalemia (and not hypopotassemia, through I've seen that written as a diagnosis on lab orders!). When it's high, you have hyperkalemia. We have a big chemistry analyzer that can tell us the level of potassium in a serum sample in a few seconds. Potassium is plentiful inside of red cells, too, so when there is hemolysis of the blood sample, due to a difficult blood draw, the potassium level is falsely elevated, so that's something we are always on the watch for. Wikipedia says potassium was "discovered" in England in 1807, by Sir Humphry Davy, but I think it's been around a long time. Your body does an amazing job of keeping the correct levels of potassium in your blood all the time. Hurray for the K!

Killer Whales

I'm a fan of killer whales, but don't really like the name. I think orca sounds better. There are two times in my life that I got to see a whole bunch of them, and both were very memorable. The first time was in 1998 on one of our many "cousins trips" that my sister and I drug our kids on. We were camping in the San Juan Islands and decided to stop at Lime Kiln State Park and see if we could see any whales. When we drove up we noticed a bunch of people on the rocks, all acting excited and pointing. We jumped out and got the kids out and soon we were watching the many whales swim by. The word on the street was it was the "superpod", or several pods of orcas swimming together. We watched from the rocks as all sizes swam by, including mothers and babies. We were as close as about ten feet to some of the them, and all of us were amazed. It was one of those amazing "right place at the right time" experiences.

The second time was 2008 when I was on a women's sailing class trip. We left Roche Harbor in our boat and headed out to Haro Strait when we started to see whales. We sailed some but mostly watched in awe as whales appeared to every side of us, including one swimming under our boat. We spent close to two hours just watching the whales, constantly scanning the horizon and never knowing where one would surface. We finally reluctantly sailed on but it was a day I'll always remember. I tried to get some pictures of the whales but they are fast and always appearing in a new place, so not many pictures turned out. Here's one, just so you'll know what I'm talking about. Thanks, killer whales, for coming by to say hi!

K is for Knight in Shining Armor

Today is my knight in shining armor's birthday. He's taken very good care of me through the years and allowed me to live a comfortable life. I am most grateful for his working so hard so that I could stay home and take care of the kids when they were little, a definite gift for both them and me. He's put up with me for over 30 years and slayed a lot of dragons in the process. He had to put in an extra long day at work today and then we had a busy evening with him taking phone calls and trying to open presents. This one put a smile on his face - a bottle of cognac and a flask to put it in! Happy Birthday, Jeff!

Kraft Macraroni and Cheese

Me and mac and cheese go way back. I always loved my mom's homemade mac n' cheese but was never too good at replicating it. She made it by boiling the noodles and then melting the cheese in the same pot with them. Once I was married, I learned to make it the Humphrey way from my mother-in-law, baked in the oven with layers of cheese, noodles and crackers. My kids, however, have always preferred the Kraft variety in the famous blue box. I tried unsuccesfully through the years to serve them the generic brand and the organic kind and the healthier kind, but they swore there was a huge difference and would only dine on Kraft. I have fixed hundreds of boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Back in the 90's we even had some Kraft plastic guys we got for sending in box tops. Now, Aaron is in Australia and the macaroni and cheese there is not the same, so he had to save room in his suitcase for some of the blue boxes. Nate still loves it, too, but swears the specialty kind (Spiderman, SpongeBob, etc.) actually tastes better than the original. The only difference I can tell is the boxes are smaller (less ounces) and cost more. At least now he can fix it himself. I've finally moved on and prefer my tweeked version of the Humphrey mac n' cheese but I think Kraft will always hold a special place in my kids' hearts.

Kims

I now have two favorite Kims in my life - my dear daughter-in-law Kim and my longtime friend Kim. Here's a picture of the two of them. They both work in medicine and are very smart. Other than that, I don't think they are much alike. I'm happy to have Kimberly Humphrey in our family and happy that she and Aaron were here recently. They seem to be a good match and we are happy for them. We loved going to Australia and seeing where they live and meeting her great family. We can't wait to go back again. It is a long way but I know we'll still see them often somehow. My friend Kimberly and I take a walk almost ever Sunday and we never run out of things to talk about. Today we walked and it was so COLD, but we still went out and did it. Hurrah for my favorite Kims!

Knitting

I am not a knitter, but my sister Rachel is. I wish I could knit. I have tried numerous times but I can never get the hang of it. I once made a scarf but it was uneven and lumpy and ugly. So, I leave the knitting to my sister. She has knit me several pair of socks which I love. She makes it look so easy and quick, but for me it's not. I guess we all have different gifts.

Koalas

We got to see some awesome koalas when we were in Australia. We even got to pet them at the Cleland Wildlife Park. They are not that cute and cuddly up close and supposedly a bit cranky. The one we got to touch was old and very busy eating eucalyptus leaves. His name was Sydney. The trainer with him warned us to only touch his hindquarters and not get near his face. Koalas don't drink water, they get all their liquid from the eucalyptus. We watched one pace around his enclosure on big ploppy feet and others hanging out up in the trees. When Aaron was little he wrote comic books about koalas and platypuses. It's amazing to me that now he lives where they do!



Here's my sister Rachel with Sydney. I'm meeting Rachel in Portland this weekend to hang out and Christmas shop. Hurrah!

Kneesocks!!

How random is that? I love good socks. I often decide what to wear based on what socks I want to wear. My favorites are soft and thick and cushy. Smartwool is my favorite brand by far, but they are quite expensive. Today I am wearing a pair that Nate got me for Christmas (or possibly my birthday?)last year. They are grey smartwool and long enough to go to my knees, with yellow and green stripes at the top. They are my favorite pair of socks! I actually love socks that go above my calves, but they are hard to find. Today it is really cold and good socks are a great comfort on cold days. Hope you have great socks to keep you warm!

Kathy

Here's another K - My sister Kathy. She stopped by today after a visit to our Mom. We had a nice chat and then she was on her way. She's 14 years older than me so maybe she's more like an aunt than a sister. When I was a teenager, I lived with her for a couple of short summers in California. Now she lives an hour away and helps me a lot with our mom. At the recent reception for Kim and Aaron, she arranged all the flowers for the centerpieces and then manned the guestbook. I am certainly blessed with a great family!

K is for Kangaroos

My blog has definitely been neglected lately. I'm sure I've lost all 2 of my readers. In an attempt to get back on the bandwagon, I've decide to return to my roots and start with K again. I'm going to try to blog something each day this month about something that starts with K. So, wish me luck.

Let's begin with one of my favorite K words - Kangaroo. When we went to Australia in August we actually got to hang out with some. The Cleland Wildlife Park near Adelaide is fabulous, at least for Americans unfamiliar with Australian animals. You can wander around and see the animals and even feed them. We got to see potoroos, dingoes, wallabies, lots of birds, including huge pelicans, reptiles, Tasmanian devils, emus, and several kinds of kangaroos. It was great fun! We took lots of pictures, but here's one of my favorites- Jeff hanging out with one of his 'roo buddies!