hey, its kathy, leave a message, i'm not here right now, i'm over at ripley's believe it or not AND i still don't believe it...

So....it's finally decided. I am moving to NORTH myrtle beach. Tim is taking a job with a newspaper in this lovely coastal area....and so we are packing up and leaving this ole' shack in Charlotte.

We visited last weekend to search for a new living space for us and the kitties. After an exhausting day of passing signs that seemingly shouted at me "BOOBS. CHEAP. TSHIRTS. FISHING. FIREWORKS. BEER. BUFFET. CRAB LEGS", I felt a little unsure about moving to the area. I started feeling like I was losing all the great things that I love about Charlotte. I feared that I wouldn't make any new friends. I feared that I wouldn't be able to find "my" places (the ones that are comparable to The Common Market or the P-Stone here). Then I realized, wait, I don't really go out anyway....what am I worried about?

On Monday, I finally made contact with a wonderful real estate agent....She had a 2 bedroom apartment in North Myrtle that is 2 blocks off the beach. And we found it....the cutest little beach apartment/bungalow. Its PINK! It has a fabulous screened in front porch. I have thousands of great ideas straight from the pages of Martha Stewart Living that involves innovative lighting and hammocks. Hell, the street essentially has the name OCEAN in it.

I realized....despite my fears...I have the opportunity to listen to the waves every single day (in person). I can wake up in the morning and walk straight to the ocean and dip my little toe in just to remember what a wonderful experience I'm having.

I think its going to be a great year. In fact, I think it'll be a beautiful year.

I have visions of all the people I love on that porch, drinking cold budweisers and listen to the sound of time passing.

"I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink..."

With yesterday being Father's Day, my beau (Tim) visited with his father. He returned home with a booklet that traces his family history. It reminded me the time 3 years ago I set out on the same journey. So I pulled out my old folder with all the names, dates, and places. Line by line connecting different families across the generations.

Now, I know...you might be thinking...genealogy is for nerds. And, you might be right.

I have traced my family back to a character named Johan Fish, who was the father of Casper Fish. To me it feels exciting to even think that my family had someone named Johan in it. Even cooler than that, I traced one line of my family back to the Lom/Stille line which originated from Roslagen, Sweden. Apparently this line settled on the Delaware side of Jersey, in what was called at the time Racoon Creek/Racocas/New Sweden. I told you it was cool...Not to mention, one of my relatives, Anna Lom, was born at sea. And, I wonder where I get my desire to explore from?

Regardless, while I sat watching the Braves (who continue to play what I will now refer to only a "Braves Ball"...only in a way that they know how) I also decided to start looking up more information about my family. I spent hours doing this. Tim seems to think I may have an addictive personality. I just couldn't stop wondering and thinking about what relatives of mine may have experienced in their life times.

I decided to calm down my fervor for information by settling down for some reading. I'm not only currently reading Tolstoy, but also Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated. If you've seen the movie or read the book, probably not the best choice for someone hot on the trail of family history. It only fed this desire to know.

I tried to sleep. I attempted it for about 3 hours. I kept tossing and turning. I seemed to be haunted by all these faces and experiences. The unknown information was making me feel crowded. So I gave in and just got the hell out of bed (Tim probably sighed in relief that I finally just gave in and got out of bed).

I started thinking about family history. Then I started thinking about history in general. It amazes me to think that family members of mine witnessed the Industrial Revolution. For sociologists, this was a pretty important revolution...so its pretty impressive to stop and realize. I started thinking about the trees in my own front yard. They were here...way before. I started wondering what my street looked like 100 years ago. Who lived on this land? Okay, okay, I've probably had way too little sleep and way too much coffee.

Its just amazing what you can find when you start looking. I'll keep you posted. The exploration doesn't stop here.

I was intimidated...

A couple of weeks ago, I attended my first Kannapolis Intimidators baseball game. I absolutely adore minor league baseball. There's something about the environment that is like nothing else in this world. Not just the aesthetics, but the community. Baseball games in general, particularly in person, provide me with a solace. When I'm experiencing any type of indecision, a ballgame will place everything in perspective. The fact that a game has no time restriction makes sense to me. If someone asks "How long is the game going to take?" Its so nice to respond, "Just as long as it takes..."

At the game, the musicial selections were particularly wonderful. It was a mixture of Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin. I was in heaven.