2009 Kicked this Control Freaks Gluteus Maximus

It finally happened, I give! 2009 was the year I had to let it all go.

Jan thru March started out nice and normal. Trying to get the docs to listen to symptoms, twirling my heart out and generally minding my own business.

March led the Poletential team to New York where owning a Pole Dancing studio started to take on a life of its own. I was no longer in control of our destiny, it seems to be pre-destined. Since March, we have traveled as well as having guest instructors. We had a instructor win a championship and we have inspired and been inspired. I had no control of any of it.

April and May proved that all of my worlds would collide whether I liked it or not. Long lost high school friends visit the studio, Facebook makes it impossible to contain the worlds, I add another St. Charles volunteer committee to my already long list all while trying to control family issues that would surely not cooperate.

June was the big test. Did you know that you can't control the smoothness of a lake while trying to wake board? How about hundreds of kids during a skit at Scripture Camp? Ok, the big test, an 8 year old boy being "forced" to attend Scripture Camp and stay at your house. My resolve to control was really crumbling by this point.

July was the nail in the coffin. 8 Year old came back for more "fun". I could not get a smile to save my soul. Husband lost job. To reduce the stress from losing his job, husband went for a run. Broke his leg. Docs still not listening to symptoms. Called for Jury duty.

By this point, I'm starting to listen to the path God is pointing me to follow. One of "Let Go, Let God". Huh, He doesn't really know me. Husband, while still on crutches, decides to co-chair the St. Charles Fall Festival. Husband then decides its a great time to get more hair implanted. All I want is a great cup of tea. That I can control. Hot water poured on oven controls. Need new oven.

I surely could not control the amazing demand at the studio in October. We had a record number of parties, a USPDF champion, an amazing "Twirloween" and rockin guest instructors. I also had a husband with Swine Flu. My neighbor had to mention Stella & Dot. So not in control.

Ok, I can get a handle on this for the end of the year. OOPs... it was NOT in my control that the Unit next to the studio became vacant. Poletential doubles its space in 2010. Husband gets accepted to Notre Dame to complete a teaching certificate. Kish Marketing launches its business with two new clients. Both want to launch web sites in January 2010.

I'm smart enough now to know that I've lost all control. The school built behind my house blocking my beautiful view will open in 2010. So will the 150 Townhouses. Husband will continue to throw me curve balls. Clients will demand. Family will have issues. Docs won't listen. Phoenix and Faith will still wake us up 3 times a night. There will never be enough time to twirl. I have officially given up.

But, all the surprises that happened while letting go...priceless. Join us in stripping away conformity to live outside the box in 2010. Carpe Diem.

www.kirbykish.com

Chopped Liver

My darling little cats are Daddy's girls. Phoenix has a schedule that completely revolves around Kirby. She waits for him while he is in the shower in the morning so that she can lick his legs when he gets out. Once she is done, Faith runs to the Cat Tree so they can play and they all go to breakfast. They then go to the downstairs window so they can watch him leave for work. In the late afternoon, Phoenix starts pacing downstairs. If it gets too late, she starts to talk. If it gets way too late, Faith starts chewing paper. When he finally gets home, they rub against his legs and briefcase then follow him upstairs while they patiently wait for him to change and come downstairs. They then do "treats". Nothing but fresh deli meat for the little ones. They then have to be given fresh water and more pets. Before bed, it is crazy play time that involves a fishing pole and ribbon. They take turns playing with Dad. They get more pets. Phoenix waits for him while he takes a shower. She jumps on the bath mat when he is out so that he can pull her around the entire upstairs. They get more pets. When he gets into bed, Faith snuggles next to him. In the middle of the night, Phoenix wakes me up (always jumps up on my side of the bed) and I have to wake Kirby up to lift the covers so she can snuggle too.

Kirby is out of town. Evidently, my legs can dry themselves. I eat breakfast by myself. I am not able to "be the ribbon" so playing is out. I don't see them after dinner and I found one of them sleeping on the floor next to the bed yesterday. The other was in a whole other room. I feed and water them. I clean their litter box. I give them treats. But, I'm not Daddy. I'm really bad unedible chopped liver even for a Cat.

On the Telly

I'm happy that the new Fall Television has started, but was having a great time with some fun finds on the BBC. Kirby and I now have all of these on Tivo. A lot of British humor (no worries, one comes with captions in "American English") Enjoy!


Gavin and Stacey - A truly hilarious show. You need to watch it from the beginning, so check out the episode guide on the web site. It is about a young couple who fall in love. The characters that surround them are outrageous. Very well written and acted. http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/327/index.jsp


Skins - We are addicted to this show. It is funny, dark, crazy and a lot of other things all at once. It is about a group of young kids, but it is definitely not for kids. There is a lot of explicit language and nudity. Gossip Girl and 90210 are so shallow and Hollywood especially compared to this show. Watch them in order. http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/328/index.jsp


Star Stories - Ok, this one make Kirby laugh so hard that I laugh watching him watch the show. It is British parody at its finest. They take on current stars like Madonna, Britney, Tom Cruise and parody their life. Crazy is all I can say....and they play the band ABC in the background which reminds us of when we were dating (yes, way back then). http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/326/index.jsp


OK...not on the BBC, but equally great is ZRock on the IFC channel. This is a story about a rock band (the real guys) who play for kids (like the Wiggles) but WAY NOT. The real band is playing themselves. They have funky guest stars. NOT for kids. http://www.ifc.com/zrock

One more not on the BBC, Slacker Cats on ABCFamily. There is no way that this is a kid's show. Episodes can be watched on the web site. I have no words as to how funny and nutty this show makes a cat's life. It is animated which I usually don't watch, but these characters are very funny. http://abcfamily.go.com/abcfamily/path/section_Shows+SlackerCats/page_Detail

American Girls

We celebrate Phoenix and Faith's Birthday on September 11th. They turned 7 this year.

It was on that day in 2001 when realized that we were not really living and wanted to bring more life into our home. These two little feral girls were ours the minute we saw their photo. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into by adopting them. We know they were born around date on the Stanford University Campus. They had no food and were terrorized by bullies shooting bb guns at them. Phoenix had yet learned to clean herself and did not smell very pleasant for about the first year. Faith is our stoic girl who helped her sister learn everything. They are truly the loves of our lives.

We hung our flag on 9/11. It reminds us to be grateful and humble. I only wish that I would have seen more flags that day.

As babies, their names were Mimi and Momo...

Now Faith and Phoenix are the rulers of their Queendom...

Training for Cycling in Puglia

Well, only 3 weeks until our cycling trip to Italy. We had such great training plans. We were going to start early in the year, ride two Centuries, take on the Ralston hill and of course, lose excess weight. Needless to say, life happens. Since my little water skiing accident kept me on my booty for close to eight weeks, I have not even watched a Century on TV. I have driven the car down the Ralston hill. And I probably won't have to worry about wearing padded shorts...

So, we decided last Saturday to take on some different type of training for the trip. This training consists of sitting at a sidewalk cafe with a cappuccino to people watch. We figured that we will need to do this a lot on the trip, so we should get used to the caffeine and the sights. For those of you who have not been to Pamplemousse, it is a great spot for training.

We were not disappointed. Only in Redwood City can you see a guy riding a Sequeway to coffee and of course, the Foster Farm Chickens taking the bikers to breakfast. Can't wait for next week's gruelling training session...

Change, Change, Change......

"Change is not a destination, just like hope is not a strategy".

A Clean Solution

I finally bit the bullet and hired a cleaning company. After leaving full time employment, I jumped into my housewife job seriously. The fact is.....I'm a terrible housewife. I would much rather build a business or a web site (or a funny blog) than deal with anything in the house. The company is called The Cleaning Authority and the two sisters who own the franchise on the Peninsula are really great. I love giving women small biz owners the business.


Of course, the first day was an enhanced cleaning to bring parts of the house up to a maintenance level (took them some time!). Oh, what cooperation I had from the family. Kirby came home in the middle of the day just as they were starting to work from home. So, another body for them to work around. The girls decided that they liked not only the two women, but all of their cleaning supplies. Faith had to rub up against everything and follow them around. Phoenix had to try chewing the bags and rolling in the feather duster. She smelled horrible afterward! She also found the cleaning woman's purse and fell in love (see below). Then one of them decided there was not enough cleaning, so they threw up under the dining room table as the woman began vacuuming. Kirby moved from room to room with the laptop. I seriously questioned whether any of this was causing me less or more stress. So, that night when Kirby opened my celebratory bottle of wine and spilled it all over the newly cleaned kitchen, I just closed my eyes and thought...they will be here again next week....