JOIN ME IN MY WORLD

JOIN ME IN MY WORLD!!!

Ahh....sit back by the campfire and I will keep you entertained...there is nothing scary about this site....with the possible exception of the pictures that are included. The stories will be short (as possible) and sweet (as always). I have 25 years to catch you up on without boring you! I wonder if that is possible...hmm.... *wink* Here goes nothing....or everything...or at least something...

So...now that I have answered the question in your head about what I look like...I can get on with it.... =) But fear not - there are many more pics to be added....of quirky ole me, my kooky friends, my wacky family (are you picking up on the pattern here?)...etc. And now - on with the show...

After seeing other pages on the web...I have come to realize that some people are actually interested in who the author is and what they have to say...not just what they look like. So, if you are one of those people...grab a cup of Kona (yummy coffee made from beans in Hawaii) and settle in for a bit. This is how it all began...

On April 16, 1973...a week earlier than expected (this is where my impatience began), I came into this world in a hospital in New London, Connecticut. So, no, I am not a true Vermonter, but I prefer to think of myself as one. Why, you say? Well...I have lived here since my parents divorced at age 4 (that's my age - not theirs). I grew up here, went to school here...made a break for it at one point, and found myself back here again. There is no escaping the Green Mountains. Not now. Not ever. You can run but you can't hide!!!

So for you brainiacs out there, I am 25...in case you missed it the first time. I graduated from Hartford High School in 1991, and continued on to college at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida. I finished my degree in 1995...graduation night was an event in itself. You will find stories of such nights in the WHATEVER section of my page.

Sports have long played an important role in my life. In high school, I was a member of the field hockey team, tennis team, and even had a brief encounter as a cross country ski team member (if you must now, I lost a bet and was forced to join). I then went on to join the Cross Country Ski team at my school in Miami. *pausing to let that one sink in* OK, did you get it? It was a joke. I mean, c'mon peeps...skiing? in Miami? HELLO!!! Ok, so maybe that wasn't even funny. Pick up the pieces of your shattered life and move on. In actuality, I played on the Women's Tennis Team in college. It was great and I miss it. I especially miss my old tennis partner, Jin, from Malaysia...and the first time she said to me, in completely broken english, "Did you pull that shot out of your ass?". hahaha It was the beginning of a wonderful doubles team.

Now that I am back here in Vermont (or Ver-moo-nt), I play tennis from time to time but I miss playing for a team. Hiking has come back into my life and one day...God willing, I am planning on hiking the entire length of the Appalachain Trail from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mt. Katahdin, Maine. It is an endeavor that costs a lot of money and will take about 6 months to complete. Think I am crazy? Good...you are beginning to see the real me then! =)

I am currently working for Lebanon School District in New Hampshire. Actually, I am lying. My real employer is Taher, Inc., a Minneapolis based company that just recently expanded to New England. I am the Director of Child Nutrition Services for the district. That is merely a cushy title for Queen of the Lunch Ladies!!! Adam Sandler's song "Lunch Lady Land" is not as funny as it used to be! =)

Miami Dolphins Fight Song ---> it takes 2 weeks to download, but hey...it's worth the wait if you are a Dolfan! =) I even wrote the lyrics in...sorry though - I forgot the bouncing ball. *s*

SirHackolots ---> Has lots and lots of neat stuff that a blonde such as myself will never understand...hehe...but I'm an intern and I'm learning. *wink* And...I love this guy, so you better go see his site...or I will have to hurt you. *s*

OK...so this begins that section of whatever. I promise nothing, tell you something, and laugh at everything. I won't feel bad if you don't want to stay. I figure most people are only here for the pictures, anyway. But...that doesn't stop me from my psycho-babble. Very little does stop me. =)

LOL....how about the time that I moved back to Vermont from Miami. My old friends from high school decided to go camping together. We should have stayed home. Instead, we packed our clothes, the food, and the beer and headed off for Groton State Park. The first and last thing we did? Drink. After Brian convinced his brainiac girlfriend that the reason Fosters cans are so big is because they contain less alcohol, we decided to play some drinking games. The forest ranger showed up and asked for our ID's and then told us we weren't allowed to pee in the woods. Thanks for the info, but WE ARE CAMPING for crying out loud. After putting the softies to sleep, a few of us headed down to the lake. The walk there contained adult language as Jason, Brian, and Jay stumbled over twigs, mild violence when I stepped on Jay's head, and frontal nudity as Sara and I triple doggy dared each other to walk topless. *LOL* After a few rounds of "Ripple" and "Cool Change" at the lake, we headed back to camp. A warning was issued to all, that passing out first would not be wise. But alas, Brian and Jay - being twins - both fell victim at the same time. What happened next was ugly. Sara spotted a bag of marshmellows and an evil grin spread over all of our faces. Before we knew it, we were splitting them in the middle, licking them, and then applying them with care to every exposed part of their bodies. *LOL* To this day, I can still picture them...marshmellows stuck all over their short hair, to their armpits, hanging off their earlobes and noses, and stcuk to their arms. Jason even went so far as to stuff them down the back of their pants - which they didn't even realize until they were in the shower the next day. HAHAHA The morning after was not pretty. I passed Brian on the way to the bathroom and he wouldn't even speak to me. Jay came up the hill for coffee with sleeping bag fuzz stuck to his face and arms - also giving us the silent treatment. The week of silence was well worth it though. Jason, Sara and I have never laughed so hard as we did that night. And do you know? Brian and Jay still get mad when we bring it up. Hey - warnings were issued and standard party protocol was follwed. To this day, we can't tell the story without getting hysterical. Moral of the story: DO NOT PASS OUT FIRST! *LOL*

And then there was the time that Renee, myself, and a pepperoni stromboli went on a little trip to Key West. Oh, we didn't intend to go there - but it somehow worked out that way. Bathing suits and towels in hand, we took off for Boynton Beach. The sun, unfortunately, decided to take off for Key West. It only took us about an hour to decide that we should probably go in that direction too. So we did. Just the three of us. No clothes to change into, no place to stay, and almost no cash. Thanks to AMEX, we ended up at a $135 a night roach motel by the name of "el Rancho" which we so affectionately referred to as "el Raunchy". The room consisted of a double bed, a tv, a bathroom, and a mini fridge, which we quickly filled with a 12 pack of Bud and moved to a more convenient place. Yup...two days in Key West and all we had for nourishment was 12 beers, 2 drinks apiece from Fat Tuesdays, and an order of Conch Fritters from Sloppy Joe's. That stromboli survived the trip and had much less of a hangover than we did. We roamed Duval Street, "bought" matching bracelets, pretended we were Swedish, and had a great time. We even went into a gay bar. The sailors were kind when we yelled "Ahoy there Matey! Are ya in port for long?" *LOL* We stumbled back to El Raunchy that night...looking for a place to relieve ourselves. Alas! Bushes and a wall! How perfect could it be. We took cover and squatted like pros...until we heard a noise and realized someone was watching. As we yanked up our shorts and stood up to run, we turned back only long enough to read the sign we had just peed under. It read "CONVENT". oops. See ya in the Underworld, Renee. *s*

Howl at the Moon Saloon, Cocowalk, Coconut Grove, FL. <---beware of this place, it is very addicting. *lol* I can't even begin to remember the times I had in that place. Birthdays, going away parties, graduation, or just because we wanted to. On my birthday one year, Ricky had to carry Renee to the car...which would have been ok, except she was suppose to be the one driving. Instead, she passed out cold on the bathroom floor. hehe This is one place where being shy is NOT good. I remember this Knock Knock Song they used to do. IE..."Knock knock" "Who's there?" "Urinate" "Urinate who?" *points flashlight at my friend* "Urinate (yer an 8), but if you had tits like hers *points flashlight at me*, you'd be a ten!!!" LOL embarrassing, yes...but too funny to not laugh at. Then there was the Unicorn Song, the Ding-a-ling Song, Cool Change, Time Warp, and about any and every song you could imagine. On graduation night, Renee and I each paid $20 to the piano players to put our mom's up on stage. So there they were...in the bright lights of the bar, surrounded by a drunken crowd, proud of their newly graduated daughters, doing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" for all of the world to see. LOL Don't worry, they got back at us...they got us up there doing the Chicken Dance...at warp speed.=")"

My decision to move back to Vermont, though hasty, was exactly what I needed. I had this year of bad luck that I couldn't seem to shake. It all started in July when I was a counselor for a camp in Weston, FL. My group was playing another group in kickball, and as I came up to kick, their counselor began with the taunting "Kim can't kick...she's a girl" yada yada yada. Anyhoo...I thought to myself "I'll show them" and with an evil grin and all the strength I could muster...the ball came toward me. I swung back, and kicked with all my might. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIP. <----sound it made. The next thing I remember was waking up on the gym floor in A LOT of pain. I limped around the rest of the day, white as a ghost...passed out one more time when my friend Archie said "how bad could it be?" and hit me in the leg. Fast forward to that night. Anne Marie came to take me to the hospital where I was told that I had ripped my thigh muscle. Nice, eh? So...along we went to the drug store at 10:30pm to pick up my pain killers. Being a good daughter, I decided to call my mom and let her know what was going on. So I picked up the phone and dialed. My poor mom, 1700 miles away, answered the phone just in time to hear Anne-Marie and I being mugged. LOL Ok...it's not funny but all we could do was laugh. Anne Marie had held onto my prescription as she got dragged across the parking lot...now, ordinarally, I would have been ecstatic...but, I HAD JUST BEEN MUGGED. I had NO money to go buy them with. LOL We were questioned and taken to the police station for our report. Of course, we had to go to the second floor. And naturally, the elevator was out of order...so I had to climb the stairs with one leg. Try it sometime. It's fun. LOL So that started it. THEN, in October, I was on my way to go grocery shopping when a little kitty ran in front of me...so I swerved to avoid running it over. Good news="the" kitty lived. Bad news="I" totaled my car in a palm tree. In a panic, I walked back to my apartment to call someone. When I went back to the car...it was gone. The police had towed it. I wasn't hurt too bad...just a steering wheel shaped bruise on the front of me, two black and blue volleyballs for knees, and two broken ribs. LOL Ten days later, I got a new car. Seven days after that, someone stole one of my hubcaps. Seven days after that happened, someone smashed in my rear window and stole my briefcase and purse. SO...all of the cards I had just gotten replaced from the mugging were gone again. I couldn't take it anymore LOL I moved back to Vermont the following summer. Less of a crime rate here...hehe

As a freshman in high school, I went to France with a bunch of others, including my two friends, Sara and Sara. Being the only freshman on the trip, we stuck together like glue. From Mont St. Michel to Le Louvre to those little photo booths you put money in and get 4 horrible pictures out of. We did everything. Well, everything within reason. From me being deathly ill at the start, to Sara screaming "Bonsoir, Paris" out the window. From Sara sitting back, looking at Napoleon's chateau and saying "this is a kodak moment" to the other Sara having her knees grabbed by some strange man yelling "WHOA!". We saw the beaches of Normandy and went to a winery. Hey - at 14 - that's a big deal!!! We ate bread bigger than we were, and learned what a "beeg" soda means. It means that you are announcing the following: "I am an American and I'm drinking a pitcher of soda by myself because I ordered the 'beeg' one".

Ok...Tampa is Tampa...and what happens there, stays there. Until now of course. *s* Spent many a weekend in Tampa...hanging out in Ybor City and bar hopping with the best of them. I remember one night in particular that Ricky, Renee, Dante, and I were going out. Yup...took me 45 minutes to iron Ricky's silk shirt and then about 10 seconds of him standing in line at the club...in the pouring rain...for it to be wrinkled again. We were waiting to get into a club called the "Crush". Let me tell you what happens when you realize that 3 beers and 5 shots only cost about $15.00 total. You get really really drunk. *lol* So we drank, and we danced ("So I Creeeeeeeeeeep") and we danced some more (Red Light Special). Oops! Time to leave! "Hey Dante - can we borrow your cell phone to call Kelli? Thanks...oh, no...of course it isn't long distance (hehe)" So Ricky and I talked to Kelli for 20 minutes while Renee and Dante "waited" in the car. They waited so long, they steamed up the windows. I won't tell you all that happened next - but I will say a few things about it. 1) What happens in Tampa stays in Tampa. 2) It's a good thing Dante lived on the first floor. 3) Too bad his brother gets up so early to work outside. 3) Ricky's driving can be explained. 4) Renee coming back to Ricky's at 11:30am in a different shirt can't. 5) One more time for general admission....WHAT HAPPENS IN TAMPA, STAYS IN TAMPA. *lol* The world may never know... =)