Happy Thanksgiving

My boss was kind enough to invite me to Thanksgiving brunch with his family. Afterward, I went sailing for the first time EVER!

It was fun, but I was a little bit green at the end. I saw a baby hammerhead shark in the water by the docks. Apparently Kaneohe Bay is a sanctuary for them. I also saw Gilligan's Island--like, THE island:
Here is a pic of me and the two sailors (my boss and his dad) that his lovely cousin took:
It has been a very nice Thanksgiving thus far. I am going to clean up a little and head over to the main house for my main meal with my landlady's family.

Love to you all.
k

Christmas is coming...

hard to believe! Especially when you don't experience winter in a traditional sense. Oh well, I'm not complaining, trust me.

I'd started a small wishlist on Amazon for those family members looking for little somethings to send--but my mom already bought everything on it, so take that up with her.

Seeing as how I have (or will have) all of the things I want and need, here is what I would love for Christmas, if you were planning on getting me a gift:

Please donate whatever you would have spent to one of the following charities (clicking on the name takes you directly to their online donation page):

• UNICEF
• Central Texas SPCA (your local SPCA is great, too--I am partial to CTSPCA because that is where Eevee is from)
• Emancipet
• Texas Hearing and Service Dogs
• Big Brothers Big Sisters
• A charity of your choice.

I not asking you to do this to sound good, hoping you'll send me a check too for being so...whatever. Seriously, if you send me a check, I will just send it to one of the above charities. So, choose a cause you like and save me a stamp.

I have a number of reasons I wanted to do this:

1. Like I said earlier, I already have everything I want and need.
2. I don't have room for any more stuff really.
3. I like all these charities, but I don't necessarily have the funds to make worthwhile contributions to all of them right now.
4. I worry that with the economy the way it is, people are going to cut back on their charitable giving.
5. I still haven't sent any of you thank you notes from my birthday...so...um...THANK YOU, by the way! No, but I really feel like I don't deserve to still be getting checks from all of you even though it is very, very sweet.
   

On a related note, I got a raise! So I am doing good right now. I don't need any more money or stuff.

Don't feel like you have to do anything for me, but if you were planning to, giving to a charity you like would make me really, very happy.

I have other stuff I've been meaning to blog about--these CrossFit classes I've been taking and pictures from the Pali lookout that I took over a week ago--but I am kind of wanting to veg out, so I don't know if I will get around to it tonight. We shall see.

Until later, best wishes.

k

Katy's first TV spot

Sort of. It's the first spot I've worked on all the way from the primary research phase all the way through to, well, it airing. I would say my input was minimal, but it was a huge learning experience nonetheless. Check it out: Kapi'olani TV Spot.

k

I have the nicest landlady EVER

She takes me to the private beaches on Bellows (her husband is retired military).

And bought me a shave ice on the way home (no picture--I'm bad about food pictures because I get excited and distracted about eating, and by the time I remember to take one, whatever it is is almost gone).
She even made me a dinner plate one night when I came home super late from work.
She is the coolest.

Family-Friendly Content

Here are a couple more Halloween pics, for those left out of the previous group shots:

April and Jeff, with two different takes on Labor Day.

Annika, Christmas.

Hm, well, maybe I spoke too soon on the family-friendly thing. We're kind of a boozy bunch...

...and it was a holiday...

...and the last Friday of the month (FIF)...
No, actually the alcohol is surprisingly well hidden in those pictures. Or maybe we'd just gone through most of it by then. Who knows?

I kid.

We are all very safe and responsible.

Unfortunately, I did give my boss my margarita recipe, which was no doubt the ultimate job security. Oh well.