Thursday, March 31, 2011

These Boots Were Made For Wearing


The other day I googled “can I wear boots in March”. With the worlds knowledge available at my fingertips it seems like a waste that this is what I wanted to research. Plus I didn’t really like the answers I got anyway. There were suggestions like “don’t wear boots if it’s warm weather like over 50 degrees”. Well I live in Florida and I consider 50 degrees to be quite chilly.

So I decided to make my own rules. I like my boots and I’m wearing them to a concert this week even though it’s near the end of March in Florida and probably going to be a balmy 70 degrees. I don’t care if the fashion police give me a ticket and I end up in a fashion mag with a big black block covering my face. This is what I want to wear so I am going to do it. Plus it’s fun to be a little quirky, not worry about all the rules and march to your own beat anyway!

On a side fashion note, I remember going to the mall near downtown Orlando when overalls were ‘in style’. Almost half of the women were wearing overalls. This just seemed ludicrous to me, after all there aren’t many farmers in Orlando. Now that overalls are no longer ‘hip’ you’d be lucky to see one woman wearing them. (By the way if you do see one it will probably be me so say ‘hi’)

My opinion is we waste too much time worrying about fashion anyway. Sure it’s fun to wear a new outfit and feel cute and sexy. But to worry that you are not quite in style when fashion changes quicker than I can change my underwear is just not worth it to me. I just feel there are more important things to put my time and energy into. Plus I have a theory that men don’t really know or care what is in style anyway. They will notice a cute girl in overalls, boots or a moo moo all the same.

Cat “Polka Dots and Stripes” Cathy

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Not Your Average Everyday Run of the Mill Tuesday Biking


(Note this was written many months ago before my non biking injury but I wanted to post it anyway)

I did what I often do on a Tuesday; I went on an urban assault. What’s an urban assault you may ask? It’s a bike ride on your mountain bike in an urban setting. I guess it’s a way to justify having a $2,000 mountain bike that hardly sees any off-road time, but at least it sees a lot of stairs and parking garages.

As part of my effort to redefine myself and make new memories as a newly single person I decided to ride with a different urban group. I’ve rode with my urban group for around 8 years now and I just wanted to check out something new. My bike group does a lot of miles at a good speed and just does a few tricks along the way. The ‘alternative’ urban group is a bit younger, does a lot less miles but a lot more way cool tricks. So it was a nice change of pace. And amazingly fun watching wheelies, endos, bunny hops, manuals and big air. As you can see I learned a few new terms along the way too.

The big news of the night is I learned how to wheelie! I’ve wanted to learn this for many years but never tried since I have clip in pedals and can’t part from my bike easily. The clips are great for riding fast but not so much for wheelies which may require a quick dismount. Before the ride I switched to regular pedals and with less than 2 minutes of instruction I was wheeling!!! My wheelies only last for a few seconds so I still have a lot of progress to make but it was a great start and I was really proud of myself. It may seem stupid since not many 40-something women have ‘learning to wheelie’ on their must do list. But it works for me.

It was a fun night and a nice change of pace. I plan to ride with the ‘alternative’ urban group on occasion but I think I will mostly stick to my group. Speaking of which I couldn’t wait to show off my new mad skill so I biked past my group’s dinner spot on one wheel saying ‘what’s up bitches’. My wheelie only lasted long enough for ‘what’s’ but my friends were still impressed and happy for me. It was a great end to a great night!

Cat ‘Unicycle’ Cathy

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Free Hugs


I think by now everyone has seen the free hugs videos on YouTube. I remember getting teary eyed when I saw it. There’re so many bad things in the world so it was nice to see a heartwarming video of strangers being nice to each other and realizing we are all in this together. When I was on vacation in Virginia Beach and I saw Free Hugs t-shirts and I bought 8 of them! This is a big purchase for someone as frugal and minimalistic as me. But it was a great way to get gifts for my friends and spread the happy message.

After I got home and starting handing out the t-shirts to all my BFF’s I wondered what kind of reaction they would get in the real world. In the YouTube video it’s a very heartwarming feeling with everyone acting kindly towards others. But with Free Hugs written in huge letters across the t-shirt I could only imagine creepy guys coming up to us and saying rude things like ‘what else do you do for free. ha ha’. Yes unfortunately there are many creepy guys like that in this world.

But so far the reaction I’ve had has been all positive. One very handsome young man came up and hugged me at a bar. It was a definite ‘score’ for the t-shirt. Some young kids joked one day that the other one wanted a hug but they were just both being shy and trying to pick on each other. Still it was cute. And a few friends have seen my t-shirt and said well of course I want that. The surprising part is the majority of people don’t even seem to notice it or comment on it at all. I guess there are too many distractions in our modern society and they are too busy or maybe shy to say anything.

It was a fun experiment and I hope to continue with it by wearing the t-shirt on occasion in different settings. I’m extroverted and very friendly so it is nice to have people initiate conversations with me. It kinda makes me feel like a super star actress when they do.

Cat “huggy huggy” Cathy

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I Think I Can, I Think I Can


My friend recently read The Lost Symbol which I blogged about previously when I was on a kick about book reviews. She was quite taken with the idea of positive thought and the power of group thought that was presented in the book. So she decided every day at 1:00 PM she would picture her mom, sister and herself each with one million dollars in the bank. Her sister and he mom were supposed to do the same thing in order to generate the group thought idea. When she told me about the idea I decided I wanted in. After all I’m always up for trying something new and who wouldn’t want a million bucks!

I set a reminder on my phone and every day at 1:00 PM I think of my friend and her family and myself each with $1,000,000 in the bank. I mostly picture my friend and I skating down the trail with no stress or worries since we have enough money to live comfortably. I really enjoy the feeling when I take those few minutes out every day to think about what it would be like having enough money that I don’t have to work. The feeling it gives me is almost worth the million dollars all by itself.

So far none of us has found our magical million dollars but the experience was worth it to me. I feel good at 1 pm everyday taking time out to picture a fun and stress free life. I also just enjoy knowing that someone else is thinking of me at that same time. I’ve decided if I ever have a boyfriend again I would like to have a reminder time where we think about each other. That just sounds so romantic to me and like something out of a movie.

Cat “Show Me The Money” Cathy

Monday, March 7, 2011

Life Is Difficult


From my title you may expect this to be very negative blog but it’s not. My latest new year’s challenge was to try Buddhism. One of the major principles of Buddhism is that life is difficult but you can still be content or dare I say happy even when there are bad things going on in your life.

To do this challenge I checked out two books from the library. One was very basic and good for a beginner such as myself. The other was right from the Dalai Lama and was just a wee bit too intense for me. I'll spare you any more details on Buddhism but I recommend reading your own book sometime if you are interested in some enlightenment.

The first thing I had to learn about being a Buddhist is how to spell it. I kept leaving the ‘h’ out of Budda, Buddist, Budissim. Thankfully my friend told me this before I wrote this blog. I told him I guess I wasn’t a very good Cristian either. To which he explained maybe Towist would work best for me.

After reading my two books I went to a Buddhist temple with a friend who already practices Buddhism. Unfortunately the service is in Chinese so I probably wouldn’t have gotten much from it. Just sitting in the temple was a relaxing experience though. And the temple offers an English speaking discussion group so we attended that. I found this class to be very rewarding and informative. It was much different from the engineering classes I'm used to. After class there was a free vegetarian pot luck which was a nice bonus. I ate so much I had my own little Buddha belly. I also attended a tea ceremony. Everyone at the temple was so nice and seemed so happy. It was a good experience and I even made a few new friends.

I like Buddhism and would like to learn more. Unfortunately with limited free time and many other resolution challenges, I’m not sure how much more I will pursue of this.

Cat “Buddha Belly” Cathy

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Older Women Role Models



I used to worry that getting old would stink since I wouldn’t be able to mountain bike, jet ski, do aerial silk or other cool sports that have not yet even been invented. Now after seeing a video of an 80-something woman who still competes in track and field and another woman around 91 years old who still runs I realize I will be able to pursue my sports for many more years.

These ladies are great role models and have really given me hope. I don’t recall having these role models when I was younger. In fact I remember being in my teens and wanting a dirt bike after my parents sold the family one. I figured by the time I got out of college and could afford one I would be too old and not into that kind of stuff any more. Since I had no role models of women who did anything active or fun like that I thought some day I would magically wake up and become a ‘woman’ and not like those crazy sporty things. Thankfully this never happened. It’s been many years since college graduation and I still like dirt biking and still want to buy one!

Sure there will come a time when I can’t do my sports quite as aggressively but it will still be fun to be out jet skiing when I’m in my 60’s and beyond. I’ve already enjoyed jet skiing for the past 23 years but knowing I have at least another 23 years to enjoy it is definitely good. Who knows, perhaps someday they will do a story on me?

Cat “What’s My Age Again? “Cathy