June 23, 2022

Candidly Katie #30 (formerly 'Reader Questions')


I had planned to post pictures of Noah's bedroom makeover today, but his comforter hasn't arrived yet. It's *supposed* to be here tomorrow, so if it is, I'll take some quick pictures and post all about the makeover. I know I'm turning it into a big deal, but it was a really fun project to work on and Noah was SO happy with it!

So, I will get those posted on Saturday (hopefully!) because I don't want to skip my Friday Night Photos again. My camera roll has quite a few pictures, if I remember correctly. Instead, I thought it would be fun to do another installment of reader questions, or as I'm not going to rename it "Candidly Katie".

I feel so vain calling it that, but that's essentially what it is! And it has a better ring to it. Actually, knowing what I know now, I would have for sure made my blog name 'Candidly Katie' instead of 'Runs for Cookies'. I even bought the domain!

These posts are where I answer readers' questions--anything from my favorite way to spend a Saturday to which way the toilet paper should hang on the roll (haha!) to dealing with anxiety. So, if you have a silly or serious question, please feel free to email it to me!

Just write it to: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com and I'll save it for a future "Candidly Katie" post. 

So here goes...

Q. Did you ever watch all of the Tom Hanks movies?  I recall a long time ago you mentioned that on your blog.

Katie: It's true, I did make a goal to watch all of Tom's movies (can we be on a first-name basis? I think so!). I'd made a goal that I called 40x40--a list of items to accomplish by the time I turned 40. I was doing fairly well with the list until the pandemic hit and ruined quite a bit of the plans. It actually would have been a perfect time to watch all of his movies! However, I did not.

I probably watched half of them in total. I hadn't thought about the fact that several of the movies weren't streaming or if they were, they were expensive. So, I hate to say I gave up on that goal, but in all honesty, that's what I did.

My rule was that I had to watch them all--even the ones I already saw. The ones colored in are the ones I saw after I made the goal to watch all of them.


Q. How did you get into wood working?  (you are so good at taking things apart and building things!)

Katie: This happened when I was making over my entire house from top to bottom. It's kind of funny--when I was working on the baseboards (the boards against the wall at the floor), I didn't have a miter saw, which would have made it 10,000 times easier. I had a coping saw, which looks like this:


I had to hand-miter each and every piece of the corners of the floor boards! I had to do some of the window casings, too. Needless to say it took forever. Eventually, I found a miter saw on Marketplace and it was a total game changer for me. I loved that thing! I couldn't believe how much easier it was (not to mention faster). It was then that I fell in love with tools.

I also borrowed my brother's Paslode nail gun to use for attaching the trim at the floor and around the windows and all that. I was in awe of how cool it was! Each new tool I tried, my mind was blown. I couldn't believe all that you could make with a few tools. I even borrowed my dad's jigsaw to make this cool "pet feeding station". (This was one of my first projects, actually.) I bought a solid handmade bookshelf at a resale shop.

Cat food on top, dog food on bottom. Treats in the middle. The hole on top was for the cats to climb up. They didn't use it the hole, so I covered it over and put carpet on top.


After that, I started looking on Marketplace for used tools. I got an awesome deal on a Paslode for myself! Remember when I drove four hours round-trip to buy it? I also got a great deal on a jointer.

For Christmas a few years ago, my father-in-law (very generously!) bought me a Dewalt contractor table saw (the contractor just means that it's kind-of portable). A table saw can do just about everything! By making jigs, you can use the table saw in ways you never would have thought possible.

Anyway, I could talk about woodworking and tools for days (I actually have a huge post in my drafts folder about my favorite tools, but I haven't published it because who really cares?! Hahaha.) I can't remember the first thing I made, but I'm sure it was totally cringe-worthy now ;)

However, my #1 most popular post happens to be 'How to Build a Squirrel Picnic Table'. I'm pretty proud of that one :)



Q. Have you considered studying psychology?  (I think you would be excellent... you seem to be very good at observing and analyzing human behavior and figuring out what works and what doesn't work).

Katie: It's funny you asked, because psychology was my major at Easter Michigan University! I absolutely LOVE psychology--from mental health to the forensics of why we do the things we do. My ultimate dream was to be a therapist, but after two years of studying psychology, my guidance counselor told me that I really can't do anything with a psych degree; I would have to get a masters in social work in order to be a therapist. *queue shock and what-the-hell-do-I-do-now feelings*

Well, after spending two years studying the wrong courses (even though I found them fascinating!), I just couldn't imagine starting over. So, I gave up on that. I went on to study a couple of other things at the community college that didn't pan out. I couldn't figure out what I was interested in doing. Like you suggested, though, people tell me all the time that I should be a therapist. It's interesting, because I have bipolar disorder, but I am very good at thinking logically and being unbiased. I also have good analogies.

People say that I am good at giving advice; even my own therapist told me several times that I should go back to school to get my masters in social work! I'm very good at validating others' feelings (literally the most important thing I learned in therapy). It changed my life. That post, The Most Important Tool I Learned In Psychotherapy, remains one of my most popular posts. I highly recommend reading it! I just read it again myself and it reminded me just how important it is. (Also, you can read some of my analogies.)




 And there you have it! Some candid questions and answers about me. If you have a question for me, just send me an email at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. I'll keep it anonymous.

Now a question for you... What did you want to be when you "grew up"? Are you currently doing your dream job?

4 comments:

  1. I would LOVE to read the post about your favorite tools. And I don't think "Candidly Katie" is vain at all. And yes, you would make a great therapist, but would you really want to do that all day? You're a therapist of sorts here in this blog. You answer questions and help us with things we might not have even known we needed help with!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have to agree, I think you would make a great therapist! Gosh I do not remember what I wanted to be. I never really had big dreams and ambitions (as sad as that may seem lol). I think I used to say I wanted to be a teacher but only because all my friends wanted to be teachers. I know now that I would not make a great teacher. My patience level is not high ;) Now I think my dream would be working in dog rescue or at a shelter

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wanted to be a doctor, but I am waaay too squeamish. I really want to learn to be a butcher now!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wanted to be a forensic scientist, and still very much love everything about forensics. The reason that I ultimately decided not to was that I dated a policeman (should mention that I'm from Australia), and I decided ultimately it wasn't for me. I take my work very personally, and I knew that from what he dealt with on a day-to-day basis I was just headed immediately for a mental break down. So I parked that dream, still enjoy everything about true crime and forensics, and instead work in the software industry as a writer (and love it).

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive