My Year {in Tweets}.

Oh, Twitter. If nothing else, you provide countless hours of entertainment and procrastination. I recently looked through my past tweets (something only a person avoiding writing research papers at 4am would do) and thought it provided an interesting - and oddly accurate - look at my year.

So, here it is. A sampling of 2010. The good, the bad, the funny, the ridiculous - also known as a lot of talk about sushi, love and The Bachelor.

- Jan 6th - I honestly think I may have just met my fairy godmother and, no, I'm not kidding.

- Feb. 3rd - Rockin' a side ponytail and a smirk. It's just that kind of day.

- Feb. 16th - Suri Cruise is carrying an $850 bag?! File this under things that make me sick.

- Feb. 22nd - I just overheard myself say to my boyfriend, "Historically, 'The Women Tell All' episode is very important to the Bachelor franchise." Uh-oh.

- Feb. 28th - When I lose followers on my blog, I tell myself they must have died. Just kidding. Sort of.

- Mar 6th - It's safe to assume I'm the only person at the bar reading Michael Moore's letter to our president on my phone.

- Mar. 11th - My inner gay man is on fire! I love drag queens!

- Mar. 19th - My mother just asked me if I'm still going through a "Madonna phase." My reply? "27 years isn't a phase, it's a lifestyle."

- Mar 22nd - Life is too short to be friends with Republicans on Facebook.

- Mar. 23rd - Dear lady across from me at Coffee Bean - If I look uncomfortable, it's because you're STILL talking to yourself. Two words: volume control.

- April 2nd - Sitting outside in a straw fedora on a 67 degree day reading in the sunshine. My love of Vegas knows no end.

- April 16th - My nine year old client just said, "I wish Justin Bieber was my brother."

- May 10th - Just took my first Zumba class. Can't decide if that was the best or most demoralizing hour of my life.

- May 16th - At a karaoke contest to support my client's parents. Someone just performed "Ridin' Dirty" and dedicated it to..., wait for it..., his family.

- May 18th - Nobody puts Bailey in the corner.

- May 29th - I'm in love with Huey Lewis. Apparently it's also 1984 and I'm six years old.

- June 5th - There are some moments, small pockets of time, where everything is perfect. And in these moments, you are healed and happy and whole.

- June 11th - Filled with sushi, Seattle and joy.

- June 22nd - Well, it had to happen eventually... Today I cried at the gym. Feels less like a social and physical fail and more like a rite of passage.

- June 24th - Bonded with a stranger at the grocery store over the Jake/Vienna split.

- June 30th - Sometimes I feel like my boyfriend and I just started dating because he still gives me butterflies.

- July 6th - My mother tried to convince me this morning that lol means lots of love.

- July 11th - Sometimes I wish I could go back to my former, younger self and whisper in her ear, "Someday you will be so happy."

- July 13th - Dear Mel Gibson, No thank you. From now until forever, no f*cking thank you. Please take your violent, racist, sexist self elsewhere.

- July 21st - When Jenner came to bed last night, he said, "I like how it looks like you have a mullet right now." Thanks, baby.

- July 24th - You know you're getting older when you say, "You have to check out my cool new knee brace."

- July 27th - Major. Setback.

- August 4th - Dozing in the sunshine on a deck overlooking the bay. Feeling so at peace. Hometown happy.

- August 19th - Spencer Pratt is writing a tell-all about Heidi? Should be really riveting stuff. Um, or not.

- August 24th - Sometimes all you can do is get through.

- Sept. 2nd - Bought my first pair of Converse in fifteen years today.

- Sept. 4th - Sometimes a gal's gotta put on too high of heels and dance until 3am to remember she's not 23 anymore. My feet hurt.

- Sept. 16th - I would like to thank everyone who made this Yama Sushi mayorship possible. Oh, and I have to unbutton my jeans because of all this sushi.

- Oct. 1st - The doctor reports that as I was coming out of anesthesia, I sat up and yelled, "I LOVE TECHNOLOGY!"

- Oct. 9th - The great thing about not wearing makeup for a really long time is that when you do, you look in the mirror and think, "Damn, I look good."

- Oct. 22nd - I miss my mother so much it hurts.

- Oct. 31st - I haven't had this much glitter on my face since the 90's.

- Nov. 5th - Who decides to work the weekend graveyard shift at a psychiatric hospital?! Um, me. Seriously rethinking this right about now.

- Nov. 19th - Dear Life - You've been trying to bring me down lately, but it's not going to work. Nice effort, though. Love, Kathleen

- Nov. 22nd - I sure love this boy. My worst times are better than my best times before I knew him.

- Dec. 3rd - While my doctor was injecting me with a cortisone shot near my bum, he was loudly singing "Welcome to the Jungle." Um, I was disturbed.

- Dec. 6th - To the man holding the Viagra sign on the corner, I'm sorry. In these economic times, you're keepin' on. Also, I liked your Santa hat.

- Dec. 19th - Then I took that muscle relaxer, forgot my middle name and passed out on the couch at 8:45pm. Good night.

- Dec. 24th - Yes, I just got out of bed at 3:30am, tiptoed downstairs and ate a chocolate Santa (or two). It's Christmas Eve, cut me some slack.

- Dec. 28th - It's official: Life is looking up.

Wishing You a Magical Holiday. {And why you should never gift me underwear.}

Just in time for the holidays, my little blogging hiatus is officially over. My papers are in and I can finally, finally, finally start to relax. This is the biggest Christmas gift I could have ever given myself and, hopefully, exciting career opportunities will present themselves in the new year because of all this work.

Now enough about that... Christmas Eve is my very favorite day of the year. Every year, on this night, I wrap myself up in the love and the generosity, the magic and the possibility of it all.

This year is harder for me than previous years, however, because this is the first year ever I have been away from my family for the holiday. It is also the first year ever I have had to work - the dreaded graveyard shift - on both Christmas and Christmas Eve.

However, I am now convinced that everyone should be forced to be away from their family due to work once. Just once. (Never the graveyard shift, though. That's just cruel.) This way, you never forget how much you appreciate being with them - even if (perhaps) you once started this blog during a snowed in holiday so as not to hang yourself with Christmas tinsel from days of family overload.

I think this just might be a rite of passage the universe is throwing at me and, believe it or not, I'm embracing it.

It helps that I am surrounded by people I love, my second family - Jenner, his parents and his brother/dog, Russy. It also helps that my family just called for facetime on my phone so that I could say hello and watch my mother reenact "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" for the family talent show. She added her own take on the classic while pretending to stumble to the ground with a martini in hand. My nephews had reindeer antlers on and my sister and her husband sang the song. I laughed because it was so, so funny and I cried because I miss them so, so much. Luckily, I am flying home on the morning of the 26th and hope everyone will agree to put on a repeat performance.

What I know for sure is that if you are lucky enough to have people who love you from the bottom of their hearts and that you miss with every fiber of your being, you are among the luckiest people in the world.

What else do I know? You should never gift me underwear under any circumstance. Gather 'round folks, I've got a Christmas Eve story to tell...

Once upon a time, I think I was around seven, my family got together for our annual Christmas Eve celebration. In addition to my Mom, Dad and sister, my grandparents and a few of my cousins were there. One cousin, in particular, was present. My teenage cousin, Rick. Can you picture it? Great. Well, when it was my turn to open one of my presents from my grandma, you can probably guess that I was pretty stinkin' excited. With everyone looking at me, I tore into the wrapping paper, opened up the box and discovered..., wait for it, wait for it..., underwear staring back at me.

Do you want to know what I did next, dear reader? Well, I ran into the dining room and cried for fifteen minutes, that's what. Right about now, you may be thinking what an ungrateful, spoiled brat I was. However, the reason I was crying wasn't because I was disappointed - it was because I was mortified. I couldn't believe that everyone - and especially my older BOY cousin - had seen my underwear.

Not to worry, everyone talked me down, but no one ever forgot. To this day, over 20 years later, everyone laughs while I open presents and says, "Maybe it's underwear!"

I hope this holiday you find yourself surrounded by the ones you love with no wrapped underwear under the tree.

Love, Kathleen

{photo via}

To My Mother.

(I am taking only the briefest of breaks from my self-imposed blogging hiatus to write this little post to my mom...)

Yesterday, I was curled up on the couch eating the Chex Mix you had sent me earlier in the week and I was instantly transported to your house during the holidays. It was almost as though we were listening to the John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together record or, perhaps even better, Elvis singing "Santa, Bring My Baby Back To Me" while hanging the stockings over the hearth.

While I was decorating cookies last night, I said to Jenner, "I sure miss my mom." He smiled and said, "I know you do, baby." Thank you, Mom, for always reading "Yes, Virginia" to me and teaching me to believe in the possibility and the magic of the holidays. I still can't believe we won't be spending Christmas together this year, but I hope you know how GIDDY I am that I'll be flying home to see you the next day. You see, for me, there is no merry without my mama.

I love you.

Be Back Soon.

Do you know what I excel in almost more than anything else in this world? The art of procrastination. Due to my limitless gifts in this area, I am now left with less than two weeks to complete everything I've been putting off in order to obtain my therapy licensure in the state of Nevada. Less than two weeks to be given the world's biggest gift - the ability to work in my chosen field. I am hoping to knock this one out of the ballpark and have a running head start on living the life of my dreams in the new year. So, my friends, I will see you on the other side of my giant to do list. May you be happy, warm and merry. Xoxo!

A Redheaded Soul.

I have said this before, but I will say it again... I have a redheaded soul.

My mother is a redhead and although it kind of embarrassed me when I was a little girl (sorry, Mama), once I saw Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman in junior high, I knew - right then and there in that movie theater - that was the hair color for me. I have been every shade of red - from almost pink, to a hint of purple (my least favorite by far), to a deep reddish brown. Most of the time, I've always gone into the salon (or supermarket to buy boxed color) wanting the same thing - Lindsay Lohan's natural color, but have come out pretty disappointed. Maybe it's because there is such an array of shades in the red family, but I have come to believe it's mostly because people don't believe me when I say I want orange-ish hair.

So, I abandoned my true love of red hair and opted to explore. I have had a lot of fun being different shades of blonde and brown. Then there was the time I almost had black hair (not really a good look for me), but I think that was due to my then stylist's raging drug problem at the time. (If you're reading this, mister, and I doubt you are, sorry, but we both know it's true.)

Recently I decided (in no small part due to my huge trust for my current stylist, Megan) to return to my roots. Well, not really my roots, but you know what I mean. When she was done and unveiled the final result, I really couldn't believe my eyes. For once, it was EXACTLY what I wanted.

Since it was done last week, I've had an extra bounce in my step and twinkle in my eyes. Every time I look in the mirror, I'm delightedly surprised. Even Jenner, who is not the biggest fan of change, loves it. I think it just goes to show that something as silly as hair can start to turn things around for you.

Who would have thought that changing my hair to a color that was never mine to begin with, could make me feel more like myself?

New hair, new outlook. Bring it.

Oh, and the next time you're in Vegas, you really want to visit Globe Salon. I can guarantee they will not disappoint.

World AIDS Day.

In honor of the fact that today is World AIDS Day, I wanted to share a Dr. Suess quote from The Lorax. "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

I hope that someone like you does care a whole awful lot.

In my travels in southern Africa, I had the opportunity to volunteer weekly with children orphaned by AIDS. This experience was not only heartbreaking, but truly showed me how big of an issue lack of education is in the transmission this disease. Please go to this link for more information and to see how you can help.