KimberlyMichelle » kimmy

in my past life, I was a hero

Kim — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:49:20 +0000

I didn’t keep much of my “teacher” stuff after I headed back to graduate school, because I knew that it wouldn’t be appearing again. I gave it away to as many classroom friends as I could… spreading the love of manipulatives and homemade handouts and lesson plans. But I did keep some mementos… like this one…

I taught Algebra and Physics, while I had an amazing partner teacher in the room next door who taught our students English and History. One of their writing assignments was a “hero report” and obviously the class selected a gamut of people ranging from grandparents to sports figures to political leaders. One day, a student asked if she could “borrow” a picture from the photofile on my desk. It had photos from class and home in it (and one of me as a certain costumed character, so that I could prove just how super cool I was in my off-hours), so I let her borrow the one above.

A few days later, I saw this essay posted on the bulletin board between our classrooms. I’m not going to lie… I totally teared up. As a teacher, I took on many different roles in the classroom as a mentor to students, but whenever I saw evidence that what I was doing was working, I’d capture that moment. Because on that ride, there were so many tearful days that weren’t full of happy tears.

Some days it’s hard to be far removed from that personal one-on-one level working in education. I know that the work I do has the capacity to impact students on a large scale around the world, but some days I miss walking into that classroom and teaching my heart out.

At least I have this memento to remember that I succeeded in the eyes of at least one student…

are some goals just wishes?

Kim — Tue, 24 May 2011 17:29:07 +0000

I started up my C25K plan again yesterday morning. I’d done it before, but on a treadmill, so I really don’t count that as actual race training/planning/prep.

And I travelled 2.2 miles around our neighborhood from 6:00 – 6:30am. And I took a shower, took Miss L to daycare, and went to work.

Then, sometime around 9:30, my body decided it was time to pay for my exercise. Every muscle in my upper body started tightening, my spine stiffened, my legs just got painfully sore, and my head started to pound from all of the muscle tension. I stretched all day, doing yoga and deep breathing, and tried to put out the fire that was spreading throughout my body. At the end of the day, my hands were even cramping.

At about 3pm, I started cursing inside my head. I was so upset and mad that I tried to do something, and not something insane, just something, and my body decided that was too much. Some days walking is too much. Some days the stairs are too much. And other days I can walk endlessly and it just doesn’t matter.

I didn’t observe Fibromyalgia Awareness day this month. It came and went, and I honestly relieved to not be aware of it on its own day. May 12, 2011 was a normal day. But yesterday I was aware of it, and today I’m aware of it. And I hope that, by tomorrow, my memory fades away again.

I know lots of people think that my goal of running the Half Marathon is far-fetched. And they’re practical for thinking that. But sometimes I wish I could set a real fitness goal like so many other “normal” people and meet it without my body deciding to fight me at every step of the way.

I’m writing this post today to make January’s accomplishment feel that much better. Whatever, fibromyalgia. I’m running that race with or without you, I just don’t care anymore.

loving the royal wedding is in the family

Kim — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:41:16 +0000

[Jane Hornsby]

Mr. M was baffled as to why I wanted to sleep on the couch and wake up at 2am to watch this morning’s wedding festivities. I told him my British blood wouldn’t let me sleep through it.

My Grandma L was British to the core. She may have found her way from the UK to California after marriage and via British Columbia as a child, but despite the 70+ years of US residence, she was an afternoon tea observing, bad meat cooking, Royal Doulton mug collecting Brit to her bones. Additionally, my Grandmother was an extremely avid doll collector (to the tune of 10,000+ dolls). She collected what she liked, discarded their clothes for ones she sewed or crocheted herself, and kept as many on display as she could within her house. And while she didn’t like to spend lots of money on her collecting, when she did… it was for very special occasions.

So what does an extremely British doll lover do when a royal wedding approaches? Why… she collects royal wedding dolls!

She had two huge Charles and Diana dolls displayed prominently in a waist-high glass display case in their front entry. I can remember just oogling over all of the details of their fancy doll wedding attire and never being allowed to touch even the glass that they looked upon. There were other royal wedding souvenirs that shared the spotlight, and multiple other Diana dolls scattered around the house. Even after the divorce, the dolls stayed displayed with pride… because, gosh darnit, they were pretty dolls and it was a beautiful wedding. However, I do remember how Fergie’s reputation in the household wavered back and forth through the tabloid scandals, as allegiance to the Queen’s opinion was still pretty high on her list.

I woke up early early early this morning to witness a rare unifying happy event, and I made sure I made a memory like the ones my grandma cherished so deeply.

it’s my birthday–but it’s your celebration #1: winners!

Kim — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:18:15 +0000

Here are your favorite things about Spring:

Jade’s favorite thing about spring: The best thing about spring is definitely being able to enjoy the sun being out longer!

Josie’s favorite thing about spring: I love the first hints of green on trees as they wake up from winter.

Thank you to everyone who shared and entered the contest! Tomorrow will be celebration #2 so stay tuned!

my two older brothers

Kim — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000

In the meme I posted, a few people commented that they thought I was an only child and I hadn’t mentioned my brothers before. Well, I know I’ve mentioned them quite a few times, but probably not in the spotlight they deserve! So… I’d like to take this post to tell you who my brothers are to me!

Mark

Mark has always been the super cool older brother. Even when I was in preschool and he was in high school, I knew he was super cool. He’s a surfer, has always been an artist/artisan, and was always into music and playing the guitar. In fact, he was the one who bought me piano lessons for my birthday and made sure I would practice and learn to play an instrument! He was green way before it was cool, and even lived in a house that only had solar power. He would always order weird things for me when we’d visit his restaurants for my birthday dinners (where he was waiting) – like prawns that would stare at me or fancy cheeses for desserts. I’m sure I get my luxury yearning from him because he’d always work at these amazing places (hello Sierra Mar at the Post Ranch Inn!) and it’d be so normal for him. He’s an amazing Dad to my nephew Gavin (who is his carbon copy) and is always learning fascinating new things about the world! And, if it wasn’t for all of Mark’s friends, I never would have begun my fascination with all things UCLA….

Brian

Everyone knows my brother Brian. Heck, one of my current co-workers walked into Miss L’s birthday party and recognized him! He was always involved in everything and he still probably does more than one should be able to do in 24 hours. He’s the computer nerd and the one who taught me to be absolutely fearless when it comes to technology and also got me hooked on RPGs and Civilization long long ago. My parents never really know who to blame between us for “breaking the computer” but the other one is always in charge of fixing it. He made me fearless about being “the smart girl” in school and being geeky with math and having my nose in a book. I’m pretty certain I got my amazing sleeping habits from him as well… although I haven’t gotten to sleep in past 1pm in quite a long time! I can remember when he would come home on leave from his posts when he was in the Air Force and he’d give me the biggest and strongest bear hugs ever and I’d love that no one else hugs like he does! And he also taught me that there’s nothing better than devouring an entire loaf of freshly baked bread… or mud pie! And I think he taught me that it was ok to live on cookie dough too?

The one thing I didn’t learn from my brothers? The ability to speak Spanish fluently! I can’t carry on a conversation to save my life, and they can both relocate to Central America tomorrow and be just fine! *sigh*

the ABCs of kimberly michelle

Kim — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:07:00 +0000

A. Age: 30

B. Bed size: California King

C. Chore you hate: what chore do I enjoy? Um… I’m pretty bad at all of them and don’t like any of them?

D. Dogs: Boston Terrier (Memphis)

E. Essential start to your day: stretching my neck and back

F. Favorite color: blue or yellow

G. Gold or silver: silver

H. Height: 6’1

I. Instruments: barely the piano?

J. Job title: Research Coordinator

K. Kids: 1 – Miss L

L. Live: Sacramento, CA

M. Mom’s name: Donna

N. Nicknames: Tink, Kim, Kimmi, Kimber, Bugaboo, Mama

O. Overnight hospital stays: Childbirth (2 nights) 2/10, Dual mastoidectomy 05/05 (6ish nights?), start of my FMS (3ish nights?) 12/97, e. coli poisoning (4-5ish nights?) fall ‘89 … think that’s it?

P. Pet peeve: fake people

Q. Quote from a movie: “I’m going to tell you a story, I need you to tell me how it’s going to turn out.”

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: 2 older brothers (Brian & Mark)

T. Time you wake up: sometime after my alarm goes off at 6:40 AM. Hopefully never that early on weekends.

U. Underwear: GAP Body & DKNY

V. Vegetables you dislike: lettuce, cucumber…. and too many others to list without looking insane?

W. What makes you run late: a really enjoyable long shower

X. X-Rays you’ve had: left wrist, right hand, back, neck, left knee… I’m sure I’m forgetting something? I’m breakable.

Y. Yummy food you make: anything breakfast

Z. Zoo- favorite animal: (current favorite) Lemurs and the gorillas

just stay away from the color box!

Kim — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:28:00 +0000

I have no legitimate excuse for what happened on Wednesday night, only silly ones. It had been a long week at work, despite the fact that it was Spring Break for the students. I was on super-mommy duty as Mr. M was holed up in San Francisco for the week for work. And I went to try on a bunch of dresses from the Go International! collection at Target only to discover the reason why I hadn’t bought them the first time around… because they definitely weren’t built to fit anyone like me.

So instead of wandering somewhere safe, like say, the FREEZER section for ice cream, I headed to the beauty aisles. And towards the hair dye and the little “pick your perfect color” computer that was waiting for me to walk up to it. And I accepted its invitation to create magic… only to my detriment that night. You see… I wasn’t planning on yellow-orange being a color that anyone wanted on their hair…

Yup. I’m the dumb dirty blonde who tried to regain her golden locks through a box and it sooooo didn’t happen!

And despite my attempts to capture the odd beautiful mess I had made of my locks, the overcast shadows from the storm clouds just wouldn’t do it the justice that I saw in the bathroom mirror at home.

But here it was at my office on Thursday..

Around 1pm, I called my normal salon (you know, the one I visit like every 9 months when I realize my hair is embarrassing me) to see if they had any appointments for Friday. Being a state holiday, though, I was completely out of luck. I also think that the two words, color correction, scare the beejesus out of all salons. They know it’s going to be hours of work and little compensation… so I’m sure they take very few of them if any at all.

So I turned to twitter… and lo and behold… a fellow Sac-Town twitter friend recommended I try out another spot downtown. And I called… and got a 1pm appointment for the next day! SUCCESS! I admitted my failings to the receptionist, and she won points by being kind and sweet instead of mocking my futile existence.

So on Friday afternoon, I walked into that salon like all was fine… and it turns out that I did a pretty good job of dying my hair orange! It was nice and even and fully covered every strand of my hair… in orange. I bet if I had a tan it wouldn’t have looked quite as bad, but we know those days of sun bathing are long long over for this girl. So I requested a natural looking blonde, admitted I’d be ok going lighter, but just really really requested a good ashy tone to get me back towards “normal.”

And ladies and gents… this is what we got:

Think people will assume she gets her blonde hair from me now??? Well… as long as Dad is far away, maybe they will?

So it looks like I have some bright white summer locks to play with for now… and we’ll cross our fingers that I can maintain the pretty that I’ve got. I mean, dark roots are “in” right now… so who knows?

no longer a surfer girl?

Kim — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:52:11 +0000

When I finished flipping through my latest Athleta and Title Nine catalogs the other night, I showed them to Mr. M with the caveat, “I bet you’d like me to have all the clothes in these stores!” And as he flipped through, he complimented many of the items and agreed they were all clothes that would catch his eye if he were shopping with me. But then, he looked and me and said, “But these aren’t your style. You’re not a surfer chick.”

And I had to think for a moment to realize that I wasn’t. I mean, my time aboard a surf board has been short and sweet, but am I really past that moment in time. Even on weekends, I’m no longer appearing casual but athletic and sun (or fog) kissed? Really?

[source & source]

But I used to be that girl above. Complete with the UGGs and board shorts and sweat-skirt. The pre-yoga casual girl – that was me! And I’m not anymore? So what if I’m now an “inland” resident an no longer living within 10 miles of the beach… I could still have that spirit, right?

In middle school, all my classmates needed 3 things in order to even be considered a viable human being: UGGs (preferably in an exotic color like Navy Blue or Forrest Green) for the winter, Tevas (with SOCKS!) for the fall/spring, and an “On the Beach” surf shop sweatshirt. I tried to be a different kind of cool, insisting on wearing my newest Local Motion shirt from the islands.

[source & source]

I mean, a trip to Hawaii always meant a new surf shop sweatshirt just like a trip to Disneyland equaled a new stuffed animal! I think I still have a Honolua one in my closet, even though I’ve shrunk it down to Miss L size. I can pretend when I’m bundled up in my house on the weekend, can’t I?

And with uniforms in high school, weekends were super casual at home and around town. I mean, we might have really cold water, but we do have a lot of surfers on the Peninsula. And then college… well heck, SoCal surfer lifestyle just sort of invades the wardrobe quite easily, especially when you wake up 10 minutes before class!

Maybe I can’t. Maybe I just have to admit that I’m old and leave my psuedo-surfer chick days behind me. I’ll just relive them when we visit Miss L’s room with the boards on the wall, and Sharka chilling on the shelf.

Anyone else out there a recovering former surfer chick?

without the makep

Kim — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:00:42 +0000

This is me 2 minutes after a shower, including a 30-second date with my hair dryer. It’s 1 minute after I rescued a screaming baby from the throws of a bad naptime dream. And it’s midday on a lazy Sunday.

I’m a daily makeup wearer just to even my skin tone and brush away the blemishes. I’ll share my daily routine later… the 2 minutes and out the door routine.

But for now, this is makeup-less me. Thanks to all the brave bare faces that paved the way before me on this wonderful task of showing our real beauty!

47 square miles of fun in 2011 (part 3)

Kim — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:09:34 +0000

For our last vacation recap post, I’ll share a couple of fun baby videos with you! The first is the start of Baby M’s fun at the Playhouse Disney LIVE! show. (It also shows her mom, aka. me, being very silly. If you didn’t believe that I know what the backside of Goofy’s eyes look like, you might now!)

And here’s a clip showing how much fun light-up spinning things are to babies!

By request, I’ve excluded the video of my mom making verbal threats to me as we climbed the accent of Expedition Everest. The things some people do at the start of roller coasters, geesh!