Simply Stacy

Heidi's 4th Birthday Party

Heidi's birthday was this past week and we decided to go all out for the decorations since she is a girly girl and loves the way things look.  Also she can't have much sugar and let's face it....that's what a birthday party means to most kids...CAKE.  So we made up for the lack of sugar with some salty snacks, a little sugar, tons of decorations, a clown visit, and a cute outfit.  What more could a girl want?  Oh and a Bike. 

Enjoy the pictures below and more in the album on the sidebar.

That 70's House

I'm back but not in the same place.  That statement could refer to so many things in my life but as for now I am referring to the blog.  I am writing on a new blog (That 70's House) all about the adventures of renovating a 1976 built home.  Come check out all of the ups and downs, and ins and outs (hopefully none of which will be to the hospital) of the rebirth of a foreclosure home.

This one goes out to Pop and Tracy

Going Back to Cali

Okay so technically I am in California.  And yes I have been before but not to this area.  I am in Orange County for some training on instruments for work.  Having a great time and thought I would update with some cool pictures from the trip to Huntington Beach Last night.  Having a great time and learning a lot.  Will post more when I can.

Check out the pictures on the right>>>>>>>>

First Random Dozen MeMe of the 2010

I really love Linda's blog.  She is very funny and these MeMes really make you think.  So without further ado...

1. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a cranky-baby-hissy-fitter, how much of a complainer are you?

I would place myself around a 5.  I don't complain too often but when I do everyone hears about it.  That's my take, may not be the take of others around me  ;)

2. When someone else is talking, do you listen, or are you thinking about what you're going to say in response?
This is one of my biggest weaknesses.  I am thinking about what to say in response.  I am working on it and it gets better at times, but old habits die hard.  I haven't broken it yet.

3. I just deleted 1062 messages from my email account. Do you have any plans for a clean sweep this month--of anything?

Not really.  Most of my clean sweeping got done during the past year, with the move and the divorce etc etc.   I feel like I am on a pretty clean slate right now.

 

4. Tell us about your perfume. Was it a gift? What does it remind you of? Do you have a signature scent?

I wear Jessica McClintock.  I have for years now.  I had a good friend and coworker that wore it from time to time and when I complimented her on it once she said, "It's Jessica McClinntock.  Go get yourself some because you comment on it almost every time I wear it."  I did and my signature scent was born.

5. What is your best organizing tip for the new year?

If you haven't used it in two years it should go.  No excuses.  No bargaining.  It should go. 

 

6. What is your favorite comic strip?

Hands down...peanuts

7. Do you sleep with a fluffy or flat pillow?

Cheap pillows that are the best of both worlds, they start off fluffy and end up flat.  Obviously I'm not picky.

8. What color is your kitchen? Why did you choose that color?

White and no I didn't choose it.  I am quite okay with it though.  I am in a rental house and do not want to make too many drastic, aka expensive, changes.

9. What’s the most interesting bumper sticker you’ve seen?

I don't know if it was interesting but funny yes...I drive like a Cullen.

10. Do you prefer an expensive writing tool or whatever is lying around? (Are you a Montblanc or a Papermate?)
I love my G2 gel writers.  Cheap but good.

11. What chore doesn’t feel like a chore – you just enjoy it (at least most of the time)?

Mowing the grass.  I love the feeling of the sun and heat, the smell of the grass, and the way the yard looks afterward.  I push mow now and it is still not a chore until it reaches the 90s.  Then it becomes a bit more choresome.

 

12. If your parents often repeated themselves, what is something one of them said more than once?
Get ready for bed!  My sister and I would goof around in the bathroom or our room delaying bedtime as long as possible.

Someone move me closer to the equator!

Geeze, it's cold.  I love living in the south because it never really gets cold.  Sure we have cold snaps that consist of a few days of cold weather.  And by cold weather I mean we may, and I do mean may, see temperatures in the teens.  So not the case right now.

We have seen freezing or below temps for about a week now.  That's unheard of for this area.  I simply do not have the appropriate wardrobe for this weather.  I don't buy sweaters because I never get to used them.  I have hats but they are of the baseball cap variety because they are generally used to shield my face from the sun in the summer.  I also own a straw cowboy hat for the same reason. 

After much searching I found my gloves and a scarf.  I realize after four days of using these items that a) these must be southern gloves because they just don't cut it in this kind of cold, b) my scarf is also a southern scarf because it is just not long enough to fully cover what I need it to cover and c) I really don't know the proper way to wear winter gear.

Everyone looks so cute in the movies with their little hats, gloves and scarves on, but how do they look when they take off those hats indoors?  I wore a stocking hat the other day for about 10 minutes while I went outside and the damage it did to my hair during that 10 minutes was worse than 8 hours of tossing and turning in bed.  Is it the wrong type?  Or do I just have to wrong hairstyle?  Or is that movie magic?  Either way, I won't be wearing it to work. 

I did have to wear a hat tonight though because when I got up this afternoon, I had no water.  That's right, frozen pipes.  Frozen pipes should not happen in this neck of the woods.  And it is not supposed to get above freezing for another day or so.  I was so not meant to live like this...

So I am asking for travel mercies and maybe a partner or two to split the expenses on a trip closer to the equator till this is over.  Any takers?

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.

Snow Day

I have so much planned for this week with shopping and wrapping and cooking and and and.....

Well, I decided if I was going to get some pictures on the blog, I better just bring my computer to work.  Seems that's the only time I have free time.

So if you look to your right you will see Snow Day Pictures.  We were with Amanda and her kids going out to eat and over to Tylertown to see the lights when it started snowing.  We ate pizza and then plowed on through the snow to see the lights.  The kids were unimpressed this year.  Maybe we should find another place to go.  I think that the same display every year is getting old.  Or maybe it was the snow distracting them from the lights.  Any who, I would love some suggestions of where else to look at lights for next year or heck next week. 

 

We made it back to Amanda's house and they couldn't get out of the car fast enough.  They got to it so fast that I got a face full of snow while getting out of the car.  It was really coming down that night thus it was cold and wet.  They did really well though.  Britt made a small snowman right off the bat while Alleigh and Charlie were diligent in their efforts.  They both made snowmen about their height.  So when Britt finally decided to get serious we were all frozen.  We went in to warm up and after awhile Britt talked me into going back outside to help him make another snowman...AKA make it for him because we would still be frozen if we were to wait on him.  He finally got his made and back inside to warm up again.

Let me just pause here to say what a miracle it is that we have gotten snow in the deep south for three years in a row.  Now some may be reading this thinking that isn't even considered a snowfall.  Well, in the south when the ground is even partially covered it's a snowfall.  I am also going to add that if I had to deal with wet nasty snow for more than a week I would go insane.  I'm so glad I was born in the south!  I was so meant to be here.

Ok, so the next morning we got up early to play some more before the snow melted.  Britt and Charlie were so sweet to let Mama get some pictures.  It's such fun waking up to a winter wonderland.  They played for awhile then it was off to the Christmas parade, where they threw snowballs while waiting for the floats.  It doesn't get to be a much better weekend than that.

PS. You should be impressed that the boys had the proper gear for the occasion, even though they lost a Christmas present in the process.  Man am I glad I went ahead and bought the gloves and hats.

Christmas Random Dozen

Once again I would love to blog about the great week that we had but alas the pictures are on my laptop and I am at at work.  Do you see a pattern here?  I only have time to post at work, where technically I shouldn't have time to do anything but...work.   And being that I have a week off when I am off, one would think that I would have time to work in little things like updating the blog with pictures etc.  But I spend the time making the memories that I find so hard to get onto the blog.  The vicious cycle continues.  I could tell you about it without pictures, but what are snow days without snow day pictures?  I will try to do better.  (did you notice the try...I make no promises!)

Instead I will answer the Random Dozen Meme from Linda.

1. Which physical trait do you now accept--maybe not love, but accept--and no longer feel extremely self-conscious about?

My flabby belly.  I don't like it but after having kids, I have grown to accept it.  I am happy with my weight in proportion to how much I have to cut back to keep it there, and yet the belly is still flabby.  I guess I could do sit ups, but accepting it is much more my style.

2. This week Meredith Baxter Birney, best known as the mom on the favorite 80s sitcom "Family Ties" came out of the closet, which led me to formulate this question: Who do you think is/was the best TV mom?

Wow.  That's a hard one.  After some googling I found a quiz that tells you which sitcom you're most like.  Mine?  Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) from The Cosby Show.  Honestly she was in my top three before I googled it.  I like that she worked and was a good mom.  That she always called them on BS but still allowed them to have fun.  Pretty good mom even if it is just make believe.   

3. Do you speak any foreign languages? Are there any you'd like to learn?

I did take French in High School and the only thing I remember is "Je ne sais pas" which means I don't know.  I only learned that because we had to answer in French, so that was my answer to everything.  Oh, and I remember "Merde!"  You are on your own to figure that one out.

4. Who is your personal hero?

Barbara Herring.  I think she would be surprised to hear that but that is part of what makes her one of my heros.  She is blessed in so many ways and appreciates it.  Loves God, loves her family, loves her friends and is beyond willing to share anything she has with you.  She has beaten cancer twice...yes I said twice.  And in the midst of her fights found ways to help others. She never even acknowledged that she would be defeated and came out victorious.  She is wonderfully talented in so many ways.  Most of which is that she loves life.  When I grow up I want to be like Mrs Barbara...pink house and all.  And I didn't know she was my hero until today, but she was the first person who came to mind.  Thank you Linda for that realization.

5. What is one holiday food that you find extremely difficult to resist over- indulging in?

Peanut butter balls.   I started the tradition a few years back of making them for my boys and for gifts every Christmas.  The recipe makes a lot and I say I'm gonna cut it back every year but I never do.  It's only once a year right?  Besides I've gotten over my flabby belly (see #1)

6. Tell me about a Christmas decoration that has special meaning or sentimental value.

My mom gave me a Christmas ball with Janie's Pastry Shop on it a few years ago.  I love it.  It was the bakery that I went to when I went to my Grandmother's house.  They are still open and only 20 minutes away.  Every now and then I go by and get their sugar cookies.  They still taste the same and the shop still looks just the same.  Good to know some things don't change.

7. How do you feel about snow?

I love it once a year which is a rarity in south Mississippi.  We have managed to work it in the past three years in a row though.  I would hate to have to deal with it daily.

8. On average, how many hours of sleep do you get each night? Not that I'm jealous of any number over three or anything.

It depends on whether it is my work week or off week.  Work weeks, I sleep during the day and get an average of 5 hours.  Off weeks, sleep at night and get closer to 6 or 7.

9. Tell me about your first crush.

My very first crush was in kindergarten and all I remember about him was that his name was Stuart, he had blue eyes and curly black hair and he ate the erasers off his pencils metal and all. 

10. You're stuck in a room for 2 hours with only a chalkboard and chalk. What will you write/draw?

I will not talk in class.  I will not talk in class.  I will not talk in class.  Oh, you meant IF you were stuck in a room for 2 hours not WHEN you were stuck in a room for what seemed like 2 hours.

11. Do you dress for the current temp or for the day's forecast?

Current temp because I don't have time to watch the weather.  I keep a jacket in the car just in case. 

12. Favorite Christmas movie is?

A Christmas Story - so many good lines.  However, TBS has run it in the ground.  I also like Christmas Vacation, It's a Wonderful Life and The Sound of Music.

But I Thought He Knew Me

So, my new address....not so far removed from my old address.  Actually on the same road.  I moved about seven miles north of my old house, that I have lived in for roughly 15 years.  It is a fairly large road and long for a country road.  I mean it actually has stripes.  And having said that you can live on the same road but move communities. 

I was known in the old community.  Not the bad kind of known, as in there "she" goes again, but known as in that's where Stacy lives.  But of all people who were in and out of that community...the UPS man knew me.

I have always been an online shopper.   It comes from living in the middle of nowhere.  There is no Target or Old Navy in sight, much less Polo or anything of the sorts.  So mail order becomes your friend.  I am by no means UPS's biggest residental customer, but the UPS man knew me.

I have ordered five different packages since being in my new location and for some unGodly reason the brown truck cannot find that house.  It is on the same road.  It is marked on the road.  I have called and given detailed instructions.  Still, it takes them a few extra days each time to actually find it...even though the UPS man knew me.

So this time, the package was stuff for Charlie's birthday party and some of his gifts.  I was expecting it a week early.  (I'm thinking that's plenty of time for their extra two days of searching for the obvious)  It never came.  I called and gave directions.  It still didn't come.  Then I track the package and it says delivered.  What?  I look everywhere.  No package.  But I thought they were on the right track this time...after all, I thought the UPS man knew me.

I called back to the local UPS center and talk with the man who patiently waits for me to locate the tracking number and he looks into it. 

UPS guy:  "Your package was delivered mam."

Me: "Well, It's not here."

UPS guy:  "It says front door."

Me:  "I'm standing on the front porch and I got nothing."

UPS guy:  "Hmmm..."

Me:  "Is that a good Hmmm or a bad Hmmm?"

UPS guy:  "Oh, wait they address corrected your package."

Me:  "Address corrected?  It had the right address on it.  I am standing at the right address and I got nothing!"

UPS guy:   "Says here it was delivered to 7115."

Me:  "That's my old address.  How did this happen?"

UPS guy:  "Apparently the driver knew you."

Ah, I knew the UPS man knew me!  Just gotta train the new driver.  I expect by Christmas he will know me too.

Got the package and all is good. And a little sticky note lives in the truck that delivers to my house....please don't address correct 4023 that's her ex's house now.