June 09, 2022

Reader Questions #29


I must have been half asleep yesterday morning when I wrote my blog post; looking at it now, I'm a little embarrassed for the overshare, haha. But I'm thrilled with the bra suggestions, so thank you! 

I was reading through email yesterday when I noticed a folder I'd created a couple of months ago for "Ask Katie" emails. I completely forgot about it! They are questions that readers have for me to reply to on my blog. Years ago, I used to do a Q&A once a week and it was fun to answer questions--everything from what's my favorite movie to the best way to train for a half-marathon. (That's why this is #29; I left off with #28 in 2016.)

I have a few other folders for blog post ideas, too. If I don't keep things in my inbox, I tend to forget about them; so, if you sent me something like that and haven't heard back from me, I'm not ignoring it--I promise.

I thought I'd answer some fun questions today...

Q. I want to know if you were given a free international trip, where would you go, what would you do, how would you travel there and who would you bring?  -Lauren

A. This one is tough because I have travel anxiety (along with everything-else anxiety) and the thought of flying overseas scares the bejeezus out of me! So let's just pretend that my anxiety doesn't exist ;)  The only place I've ever had a burning desire to go is to Alaska; but since that's not international, I think I'd probably pick Africa.

My parents went to Nairobi in 2004 as volunteers to work with a medical staff providing a make-shift clinic for citizens to see a doctor. If I remember correctly, I think my dad worked as a "handyman", fixing things that needed it. And my mom helped fit people for prescription glasses (that had been donated) after they saw an optometrist. She said she loved seeing the disbelief and happiness on their faces when they could see clearly for the first time.


If I didn't have anxiety, I'd love to go there and do something similar! My parents got so much out of that experience and felt great about helping people. They said people walked there from great distances to see a doctor and everybody who was seen/treated was SO grateful.

Sorry, this is a much longer answer than I'm sure you were looking for! Haha. I'd bring Jerry with me--he's my best friend and we have so much fun together. I think he'd really like working on a mission like that, too.


Q. I really enjoy Jerry’s posts; he seems like a great guy.  I have a question for both you and Jerry.  What is the most embarrassing thing that one of your kids did, that you secretly found funny?  You know, when you were totally humiliated as a parent but just couldn’t stop laughing about it?  -Kathy

A. Ohmygosh, there are so many! What a fun question. Jerry doesn't embarrass easily, but as soon as I read your question, the answer popped into my mind immediately. And Jerry agreed that this is the best answer to your question...

When Noah was in preschool, the kids had to line up just inside the entrance to the school until the teacher came and walked them all to the classroom. The parents would sit on the benches in the hallway while the kids lined up and waited for the teacher. Naturally, the kids talked to each other while they were in line.


Noah was having an animated four-year-old-boy conversation with the boy behind him. The teacher appeared and like always, she would wait until the kids were quiet and then she'd walk them down the hall. At the exact same time that it fell silent, Noah yelled to the kid he was talking to, "Shut up, you retard!" (being four years old, his speech wasn't perfect and it sounded like "wee-todd").

Now, you KNOW that I don't use that word--spending so much time with Mark before he died, it broke my heart to see how some people treated him for his intellectual disability--so I have no idea where Noah heard it.

I was mortified and I pulled Noah aside to talk to him about 1) not yelling at people like that; and 2) how it's not okay to say that word. If I'm being honest, though, I was trying hard not to laugh. It was the perfect timing of the whole thing--yelling it right as it got super quiet, and his speech ("wee-todd") made it funny. I told Jerry about it later and we got a good laugh about it. Jerry and I still bring up that moment in conversation once in a while!



Thank you, Kathy and Lauren, for the fun questions! I enjoyed answering them. If anyone else has a question for me, please ask! You can email it to me at: katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com. Make sure you say somewhere in the email that it's okay to post on my blog; I don't want to accidentally post something that was meant just for me. Depending on how many questions I get, I'll answer them periodically when I'm not sure what to write about.



And now a question for all of YOU... what is the most unexpected and kind thing that someone has done for you?
(I know that trying to comment on my blog is a pain--sometimes *I* can't even do it--so I apologize. I have no idea how to fix it!)

3 comments:

  1. I volunteered as the adoption coordinator for a retired racing greyhound group for 14 years. I've had 13 of my own retired racers, five currently. Twice now, when I've lost one of mine, artists from the group have painted pictures of my dogs for me. One is a watercolor of my boy Jit (Jits Black Bear) after we lost him to osteosarcoma and the other a large oil painting of our first group of five waiting at the door for me to come home. I've also had someone send me two beautiful knitted greyhounds. These gifts were so special and the sentiment so touching.

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  2. Oh my gosh that story about Noah has me dying! I can't even imagine! Lol! What a cool trip for your parents! I'm sure that was an amazing experience!

    Hmm that's a tough question. My sister, parents and husband all threw me a 30th surprise birthday party 3 years ago. That was completely unexpected! I had no idea, I never saw it coming. We walked to the back of the bar where I was told we were "meeting my sister for dinner" and there was a huge group of people and my first thought was "Oh no, we're interrupting a surprise party, we need to leave!" And then I realized, wait I know these faces hahaha. I hate attention so in the moment I wanted to die but looking back on it, it was so incredible that all these people came out to celebrate me and that my whole family wanted to throw this party in the first place. It was very touching!

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  3. Your parents mission trip to Africa reminds me; my sister went on a mission trip to Africa during the summer while she was in college. She had braces at this time, and the kids in the village were terrified of her because of her braces.
    They would point to their mouths and be wide eyed. I can imagine they'd never seen anything like that.

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