Is she Friendly or Flirting? An 11yr old's perspective.

A couple of days ago, while driving the boys to school, the Morning Dude on my favourite radio station asked a question to his listeners.

"How do you know if a woman is being friendly, or if she's actually flirting?"

I just couldn't resist ... I HAD to turn around and ask the boys "Well, what do you think?"

A bunch of their answers were pretty hilarious, but the one that almost made me spit my mouthful of coffee into my windshield, was when Alec (11) said "She sticks her leg out!"

Alrighty then!

Once I managed to swallow the coffee, (which is NO easy task when you're trying not to laugh or choke!) I asked "What do you mean 'sticks her leg out'?"

He said "you know ... they lift their leg and stick it out!!!"

Um. Ok. I'm still not quite sure what he meant ... I'm thinking he meant like when a couple are kissing, and the girl, if she's really into it, will sometimes bend the knee back, sort of lifting the leg up.

Like this …

Or maybe I'm totally wrong ... and what he really meant was like this …

or this

GOD I hope not …otherwise I’ve been doing it all WRONG!!!!

The reason I almost lost the coffee, was because when he said it, I immediately had a mental image of a woman walking up to a guy, lifting her leg up and sticking it straight out in the air and yelling 'DATE ME! I'M FLIRTING!’... you know ... like a dog lifts his leg when leaving his scent everywhere...

That's why my coffee almost met my windshield.

He's thinking Scarlet O’Hara; I'm thinking pissin' in the wind LOL. Which I guess is sometimes what flirting/dating feels like these days anyway ;-)

It was the running joke around the house all night. One of the boys would walk up to me unexpectedly, stick their leg out in the air and say 'DATE ME!!! DATE ME!!!'

Ok ... I'm finding humor in the small things ... I definitely gotta get out more! Now where’d I leave that copy of Flirting for Dummies …?

K.

I've Quit Selling ... and Quitting

Clear? Good! ;-)

Hey Everyone!

There are two questions I have been asked repeatedly over the last couple of months. 1) How's the house selling going?" Accident Update, Basketball, Moving and Belle and 2) "How's the quitting smoking going?" I saw a Hypnotist yesterday and I hit a Deer today...

I've decided to answer those questions here. I've quit both. Selling, and Quitting.

Quitting is not a characteristic I generally encourage, in either myself or my kids, but we've talked about it, and they know the selling is simply postponed for a couple of years (which they're actually happy about lol), and the quitting smoking ... well ... yeah, I've gotta work on that one (which they're not as happy about).

The house just needs too much work right now to try and sell it for what I want it sold for.

We had many showings. Which was good and bad. Good because there was lots of traffic through the house, which means people were definitely interested in the location. Bad because they all pretty much said the same thing. "Too much work in the basement". Which didn't come as a surprise to me. Some day, I'll fill you in on the Renovation/Demolition Project story ;-)

The other bad thing about it, is that I find it really creepy knowing strangers are going through my house. And it certainly didn't help that I started reading John Saul's Perfect Nightmare the same time the For Sale sign went up! "If you open your house to strangers, who knows who might come in? And what they might be after? Or who?" Yeah ... K ... way to creep yourself out even MORE Kim!

So, instead of trying to sink alot of money I don't have into the basement right now in order to sell it, or take a loss on the sale, I've decided we'll stay here another couple of years. I'll tackle the (w)rec(ked) - room a bit at a time, and try again when it's in a more 'sell-able' state. What I REALLY need, is to be a participant on Trading Spaces! Pick ME Paige Pick ME! Have I got a challenge for you!!!

The non-smoking lasted a few weeks. What can I say. Smoking and coffee ... they're the two vices that get me through the day. Have I cut down. Yup. Can I say I've quit? Not so much. I'll try again. But not today. And most likely not tomorrow.

Nite all, I've got a (w)rec(ked) - room that needs cleaning ... sigh ... again.

Have a great March/Spring Break!

K.

I (could have) put my kids in danger the other night

... well, not really .... but ....

Hey everyone!

No, I didn't leave my kids locked in a scorching hot car with the windows rolled up for hours. I didn't give them the latest set of Ginsu knives, a couple of blindfolds and say 'here ya go boys ... HAVE FUN!'. And no, I didn't take them with me to visit the busiest crack house in Metro.

I did however do something pretty stupid the other night, that COULD have put all of us in danger, and didn't even realize the seriousness of what I had done until after the fact.

6:30pm. Dinnertime. The boys and I are sitting at the table having dinner. Yes, we do that. All sit together at the table every night, have dinner and play "what's the best and worst thing that happened today?" Well, almost every night ... I enjoy dinner in front of the TV watching Hannah Montana every now and then too ya know!!

*** And as a side note, I have to thank author James Patterson for that Best/Worst game. I got the idea a long time ago from his Alex Cross character, who plays it with his own kids lol. Thanks Mr Patterson! *****

Suddenly, I see a man walking up our driveway. As he got closer to the house, I knew right away I didn't recognize or 'know' him.

He knocked.

I answered the door, still trying to swallow a mouthful of steak. Curious as always, Alec was right behind me, and Adam, as always, was a couple of steps behind him.

The man was looking for his missing dog. Apparently he is a new neighbour, and his dog had run away that afternoon. He turned up on my doorstep because he heard Belle barking in our yard earlier in the afternoon, so he was checking to see if her barking had anything to do with his dog. Or maybe Belle's bark sounded like his dog's bark, and he was checking to see if we'd stolen his dog lol. Who knows.

Belle decided to make her appearance at that moment, so he was definitely able to see we had one of our own :-) I told him we hadn't seen his dog, but would keep an eye out for her, closed the door and went back to the table and sat down ... that's when it hit me. Although I hadn't actually let him in, I had just opened my front door, with my kids standing behind me, to a complete stranger. Some guy who had just walked up my driveway and knocked on my door. A man who was bigger than me, and who could have walked into my house with one quick shove of the door. Game over.

Oh I know! I can't think every stranger is a 'bad person', and I certainly don't want my kids being overly paranoid of every new person they meet. I have no reason to fear a stranger coming to my door in my neighbourhood. Despite the fact there were two home invasions last week. Two different areas of HRM. Two different issues. But it happens. One was less than 10 min away from me.

I'll also be the first to admit I read far too many 'thriller' novels, am a Law & Order (original and SVU) and CSI junkie and love a good scary movie that'll mess with your mind as well as make you go Ewwwww!!!! as you're peeking through your fingers. So I could simply have an overactive imagination when it comes to 'stuff' like this.

Having said that, as a single mom, living alone with two kids, you HAVE to think of the 'what ifs' sometimes, even if only to put your mind through a mental drill of sorts ... 'what would I do if ....' Cause ya know what my friends, although those shows/movies go to the extreme for the shock factor, alot of that scary sh*t happens ... where you least expect .... when you least expect.

About 10yrs ago, the ex and I were sitting in the downstairs rec room one night, watching TV, chillin'. It's around 10pm-ish. Front door opens and two good sized guys walked into our house. They stood in the entry way for a minute talking in low voices. When my ex started up the stairs and they saw him, they said they had walked into the wrong house. Mumbled a few other words and then left. Now, they didn't do anything wrong. And neither did Buddy with the lost dog. But THAT'S how fast it happens.

Call me overly paranoid in my own way, but it's easy for the 'OMIGOD! He could have just shoved the door and been in the house in a heartbeat. There'd be nothing I could do, he'd be in.' feelings to set in when you're settled back at the table, looking at your kids and your dinner and thinking wow ... what if .....

I really don't worry about it though. Not on an every day basis anyway. Only when strangers show up at my door ;-) I'm glad I live in a neighbourhood where I trust my neighbours, and really am not afraid to open the door to a stranger without a second thought.

Maybe I should be.

Maybe it's just another 'stranger danger' I'm over analyzing. Who knows.

Gotta go, someone's knocking at the door ...

If you don't hear from me next month, call 911 .... ask them to send Grissom!!!!

Nite all!
K.