The F Word | Halifax, NS, Bride-to-Be

For the last week, we have been throwing the F word around like it's going out of style.  We use it anywhere and everywhere, in person, over the phone, in email, and on facebook.  We don't care who hears us or who sees it.

Hello, Fiancé.

Welcome home, Fiancée.

What's for dinner, Fiancé?

Do you want to go out, Fiancé?

I'm going to shower, Fiancée.

Let's watch tv, Fiancé.

I love you, Fiancée.

Our favourite F word.  Don't mind us, we have a year to use it, we're going to throw it out there as often as possible.  Does it ever get old?  I like to think not.  

I love you, Fiancé.

xoxo

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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We Will | Halifax, NS, Bride-to-Be

We sat on the sofa together, our hands intertwined.  I had doubt - not mine, his.  We had been talking about it for months, and now here we were, making decisions, planning, now it was becoming real.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Sure?" he cocked his head, much like a puppy, wondering what I meant.

"Are you sure you want to marry me?" I asked as my eyes filled with tears.

"Baby, why do you doubt me?  I love you."

"It's just..." I stammered, "it's just that I never imagined that I'd find someone who loves me so much, who cherishes me, who is so perfect for me.  I just can't believe it."  The tears flowed down my face as he placed his hand on my cheek, turning my face toward him.  He looked deep into my eyes, "Oh Baby, I love you, I can't wait for you to be my wife."

Now it's real.  And I couldn't be happier.

xoxo

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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Parents Say the Darnedest Things | Halifax, NS

We are a quirky bunch, all of us.  Yes, I'm sure you have your quirks, too.  The only difference is that I am about to share one of mine.

Belly buttons give me the willies.  Yes, the willies.  Or the heebie jeebies.  However you like to phrase it, I don't like 'em.  I blame my mom.  When I was a child, she would tell me not to touch my belly button because it could come apart and I could bleed to death.  Scary, huh?   Yep, that's what she told me.  And it stuck.  What I didn't know til I was an adult was that she shared that little tidbit with my brother and sister, as well.  Of course she would have, that's what mothers do - if you're going to scare the bejesus out of one child, you might as well do it to all of them.  So we all have belly button heebie jeebies.  Don't come near it, don't touch it, don't look at it.  I'm not kidding!

I found out a few years ago that Mom wasn't the only one with belly button tales.  My friend, Tracey, was also given interesting belly button information.  Her dad told her if you unscrewed your belly button your bum would fall off.  At least he wasn't quite so menacing - no bleeding to death, just lost bums.  Tracey still has her bum, so I'm assuming she took his words to heart.

To all the parents out there, please, I beg of you, keep your belly button tales to yourself.  There are enough things in this world for your children to worry about, belly buttons shouldn't be among them.

:-)

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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Negative No More | Halifax, NS

I grabbed my notebook and sat back in my chair.  With my favourite pen in hand, I made two lists:  Likes and Dislikes.  Simple Enough.

Change can be unsettling, and lately there has been a lot of it.  Changes at work, changes at home, changes all around.  I was feeling unsettled, like I didn't know what was coming next, and I didn't like it.  It took a few weeks, maybe longer, before I realized that I needed to break my mood, to figure things out.  Time to make a list.  What do I like about things right now and what don't I like.

There I sat.  Writing, writing, writing.  Luckily, my "like" list was much longer than my "dislike" list.  My eye ran down the dislike list.  I included everything, even the things you can't change and just have to learn to deal with.  That's okay.

I stopped midway through the list.  Negativity.  It hit me -- I've let all the changes drag me down.  I'm the one being negative, repeating the bad, vocalizing things that are bugging me.  Me.  Usually so optimistic, I've been in a slump, not realizing the effect I have been having on myself and those around me.

Of all the things on the list, this is the one thing I can change.  Negative no more.  It's time to stop and smell the flowers, look on the bright side, see the light at the end of the tunnel, make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

It's time to be the person I want to be.

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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Wordless Wednesday: Love Notes | Halifax, NS

 

 

 

 

 

   

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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It's Jason's Birthday | Halifax, NS

Jason must have known I didn't have a special post written for his birthday, so he wrote one himself - and managed to make it all about me!  I am a lucky girl... K

As is usually the case, I didn’t have anything special planned to mark my birthday last year. I never consider my birthday to be a big deal and even if it falls on a weekend I rarely go out for drinks to celebrate.  When I think about it, I’m not the one who should be receiving cards and gifts on my birthday. My mother is the one who did all the work on April 5^th 1980, so she should probably get some presents and cards to mark the occasion. Do I deserve rewards for just managing to exist for another year? Probably not. But that is a discussion for another day.

I didn’t know it at the time but my 30^th birthday would be my last.  Actually, right up until the evening of April 5^th last year I was still expecting some sort of simple celebration to mark my 31^st birthday. Maybe just sharing some cake or going out for supper.  Little did I know that April 5^th would be so different last year and every year from then on.

See, last year on this day my wonderful girlfriend, Karen, found out that she didn’t have to have chemotherapy to treat her breast cancer. I got home from work around 7pm that night; Karen had met with her oncologist that afternoon - the only appointment she had that I hadn't been able to attend.  She called to tell me the wonderful news.  She was dreading having to go through chemo and knowing she didn’t have to made us ecstatic. She told me that a group of us would be going out to celebrate the news and to celebrate my birthday. But that wasn’t what we were doing. We were going out to celebrate No Chemo Day. We were going out to celebrate how amazing she had been through all the appointments and the treatments, how well she handled the surgery and how, through it all, she managed to impress us with her courage and strength.  

So, from now on April 5^th isn’t my birthday. It is No Chemo Day. Trust me, I’m in no way upset or even a tad bit disappointed that I no longer get a birthday - not only do I get to celebrate something much, much more important on this day from now on but from what I understand since I don’t have any more birthdays I will apparently stop aging. ;-)

If you are still looking for a birthday party today, I bet Colin Powell will have a nice one. Although he probably doesn’t need any more presents or money.

But if I were you I would take a minute to celebrate No Chemo Day today. And to thank Karen for making it all possible.

Happy No Chemo Day, Karen.

ILYP2,

J

You Are My Hero | Sydney, NS

Many years ago, I worked the cash at the pizza shop, Kenny's Pizza, which was just down the road from home.  There were certain perks to working there - pizza, of course.  The cooks would throw together a pizza burger for me, or if we were all hungry, they'd whip us up a pizza.  Sometimes I'd get to decide what kind we'd have (Pep and Cheese, please), sometimes I'd let them experiment and they'd throw on whatever they were in the mood for that night (hamburger, onions, salami, you name it).

On one occasion, Robbie, the cook that night, suggested I try a Hero Sandwich instead of pizza.  I scrunched up my nose and shook my head.  "I'm sure they're delicious, but nuh-uh, no thank you."   "Come on," he said, "try it, if you don't like it, I"ll make you a pizza."  *sigh* Fine.

Well...

It.was.fantastic.

What could a Hero Sandwich be, you're wondering... it is a bun with donair sauce, pepperoni, ham, salami, donair meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese all nice and toasty from the oven.

So delicious.

 

Kenny's Pizza has since expanded the business and opened shops all over Cape Breton Island.  Each and every time I head home, it is the one place I make sure I go, sometimes for pizza, sometimes for a hero sandwich.  And, yes, sometimes for both.

This last trip home was no exception.  I had a late night snack from Kenny's on my first night there.  It was so good, a few days later we stopped in Sydney River on our way out of town and picked up a treat to bring back to Halifax with us.

...Kare

email:  karenk{at}eastlink.ca

website:  http://www.karenkyte.com

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