My Life of What Ifs

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Not so epic fail

Ok, so I lost 4 days of blogging.  The weekends are always hard for me and we were super busy both days. 

My girls didn't have school on Monday so I took them to see The Squeakuel and then I had other writing jobs the rest of the afternoon.

Yesterday?  Well yesterday was other work, another kind of work, and then homework with my oldest all night.

So here I am and I just found this on Post Secret.  While, it is not entirely true for me, it is a big time suck that takes me away from things I should be doing.  In fact I had better check on my crops right now...


Stacy

Friday, January 15, 2010

When it rains it pours

The last few months in our house have been a challenge.  Some would be depressed by the laundry list of things that have broken or gone amuck, but I choose to see it as a comedy of errors and try to chuckle at our obvious misfortune, because really, what else can you do?

In the last six months or so we have had our dryer stop heating, the wall in our tiled shower cave in, the microwave stop working, the garbage disposal die, the basement carpet drenched by a sump pump mishap, (yes, another one), the bearings and front brakes go out on the truck, and a pipe rust-out in our well, and that problem led to a whole series of water problems.

My husband's facebook status often showed his dispair and the straw that broke the camel's back came in the form of, well we thought anyway, our refrigerator loosing its ability to keep things cold, or frozen.

The beauty in all of this was the lack of extra money we have in our account right now.  Yes, you heard me correctly, and yes that was an echo you heard reverberating out of our account.  Because if we had the kind of money we used to have, or the unlimited credit we used to have we would have just went out and bought new appliances, or paid someone to rush right out and fix whatever problem we had occur.

But because our money situation has changed so much we have no choice but to compare shopping prices on new purchases, research the mechanical problems, and enlist the help of family and friends who don't mind digging a five foot hole in our front yard on New Years Day, because really who needs water anyway?

By looking for the best shopping deals and taking our time we were able to fix things ourselves (ok Cory fixed them) and let me tell you- a $15 used thermostat is much better than $300 - $400 for a whole new dryer.

So in the end, our new habits saved us a ton of money.  Oh, that refrigerator that supposedly wasn't running anymore?  Well, let's see... when you take the inside of the freezer door off to clear the line for your water dispenser and to make your ice cube maker produce ice that is less sandy (both caused by the sediment that rushes up into your plumbing when you have a pipe burst), you should probably realize that having the door open all that time may set off your defrost cycle.  But fear not!  As soon as you remove all your freezer items and put them elsewhere, your appliance will turn back on, which is what I told my darling hubby would happen, but how would I know that?

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.
Stacy

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Team Dave

I love Dave.  Karma's being good to him right now.  I respect Conan for his decisions.  I predict crappy ratings for Jay.  Just sayin'.


Stacy

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Simple inspiration

It doesn't take much to inspire me.  I read the Post Secret website and see a secret that I could have written or one that feels like a secret message to me and I have to right click and save it for all of eternity.  Some I share here, and others I can't share because then you would wonder "what the hell is Stacy up to?"

I also find, as you probably are keenly aware, inspiration in words.  Quotes and lyrics are my thing and that is why I subscribe to the Real Simple Daily Thought Newsletter.

Yesterday I found this gem in my inbox...

“Anything I’ve ever done that ultimately was worthwhile...initially scared me to death.” - Betty Bender

and today this one...

“Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.” - John Barrymore

I just love words.  Words that make me think.  Which is funny because my husband may tell you I think too much.  Maybe I rely on words too much to guide my path.  My path was clear for a bit and now it's fuzzy again. So do I look for more words or try to come up with my own?  It's hard to say, but I do know that words will always jump out at me, and that is a wonderful thing.
Stacy

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Random

Did I tell you the one about cleaning Jayden's room?

The one where she threw herself down and had a hissy fit because- as she put it "you can't just put my books any random place you want!"  Followed 15 minutes later by "you can just put my stuff away randomly."

She's five and 11/12ths.  Almost.  She thinks she's 15.  She also wishes tornadoes weren't in "existance".  Oh and yesterday she told her sister that something was "obvious".

Hmmm.  I'm scared.
Stacy

Monday, January 11, 2010

Ahhhh, heaven.

Roughly 140 miles.  About 3.5 hours in a board room.  Icy roads.  Exhaustion.  A last minute post.

Arriving home just before midnight, putting on flannel pajama bottoms and a too big long-sleeved t-shirt and crawling into my cozy bed.  Ahhh yes, heaven.
Stacy

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sorry Cheryl

But I don't have a good post in me tonight.  I am tired, I have a headache, I overindulged to the nth degree on food this weekend and I think I may be putting myself back into a full time job market.

So really.  I have nothing. :)
Stacy

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Secrets that aren't mine but that could be...

Posting on the weekends is hard for me because I have so little time to have a complete thought with my girlies around, so I'm sure you can imagine how hard writing a complete sentence could be.  So once again I am going to cheat a little.

By now I'm sure you all follow PostSecret as closely as I do, but for those that don't here are a few picks that I could have written myself and yet I didn't.  And here's wishin' for a meatier post tomorrow ;)





Stacy

Friday, January 8, 2010

Oh Crap!

Almost forgot to post!

***yes, I know, it shouldn't count, but it does :)
Stacy

Thursday, January 7, 2010

My latest celebrity crush

Ok, so it's a slow day for blogging.  But it's blizzarding outside, yes I said blizzarding, and I don't have much to talk about. 

So I will talk about The Ugly Truth which I just borrowed from the library.  I swear I never get to go to the movies anymore, but I borrow them from the library like a crazy woman!  That's what happens when you are on a tight budget, you go all library giddy.  But anyway...

I had wanted to see this movie and tonight seemed like a good night to pop it in, and let me tell you.  Be still my heart.  I am in love.  With Gerard Butler.  My heart is beating extra fast and I want to see every movie he's ever made.  Tonight.  Which will certainly ensure that I have some smutty dream about him, right?

I have seen some of his other movies, but come on, the elevator scene?  Eesh!!!

Well like I said, it's blizzarding, and it was a slow day here...

Stacy

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

D'oh!

Read this.  Then smack your forehead in frustration that you didn't think of it first.  That's what I did.
Stacy

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Learning through social media

It's amazing what you can learn on the internet.  It's equally as amazing what you can experience on the internet.  Sure, there is the instant gratification aspect of finding an answer when you need it, but there is also the wonder of stumbling upon something fascinating when you weren't even looking for it.

Tonight while scrolling along my Twitter home page I found an interesting Tweet from Joshua McIntire, the Internet Buzz Examiner at Examiner.com.  His job is to find buzz worthy things on the world wide web and tonight, at least as far as I am concerned, he succeeded.

Check out these photos of the Ruins of Detroit at the Marchand Meffre Photography website.  They are simply beautiful... and sad.

The Ruins of Detroit.
Stacy

Monday, January 4, 2010

Music Memory Monday

At the start of my freshman year we arrived to find a slew of new students at our Junior High school. The reason was simple. In our towns' Catholic school system you went to the high school in ninth grade and that was when many parents said "Fine, you can go to public school". It saved them headaches from listening to their kids complain and from the increased tuition at the high school.

At This MomentNinth grade at the public school meant we were the big kids on campus. It was our year to shine before becoming peons again at the high school. This was also the year that C came to our school. He wasn't your typical Catholic boy. In fact I think his parents sent him there so the Nuns would keep him in line.  But I believe it had the opposite effect and encouraged him to rebel even more.

C introduced me to Iggy Pop and seemed like he had been living in a world that I didn't even know existed. I was unbelievably infatuated with him and for a brief time we became a "couple". This existed mainly of us ignoring each other at school and talking to each other for endless hours on the phone in the evenings. But after awhile he grew bored with my innocence and moved on to someone else. I was upset, as any girl would be, and I turned to my music collection. I had loved the song "At This Moment" by Billy Vera & the Beaters since seeing it on Family Ties and for some reason it assigned itself to this significant moment in my life. I definitely had a flare for the dramatic, but to associate this song with Iggy Pop's number one fan was odd.  Choosing a song that C himself could not have stomached to listen to just proved how wrong for me he was, but I was 15 and did not see the irony in that at all.  I just had to believe that somewhere he was still pining for me, and yes, I still love that song.
Stacy

Sunday, January 3, 2010

"Don't we have any good cereal?"


If you could only hear the whining sound that comes from the mouths of my daughters when they're unhappy.  If you have children of your own I'm sure you don't want to hear my kids, because you've probably had enough of the whine and cheese that comes from your own offspring.

One of the things my girls often complain about it that there is no "good" cereal in our house.  Plain old Cheerios or Chex just doesn't make for good tastin' morning vittles in the eyes of my two little princesses.

Ok, I should probably admit I prefer breakfast cereal with a little built in sugar too, and if chocolate is the sugar source then all the better.  So I was pretty happy when General Mills announced their committment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar.  And as they continue to reduce sugar in cereals they are also increasing key nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, and providing more whole grains.  So I can buy Cinnamon Toast Crunch and feel a tad less guilty by knowing that the sugar content could be... worse.

Honestly, I know that my kids fair better when they have breakfast.  They have more energy just walking to the bus stop, so if Trix and Lucky Charms do the trick, then I am happy, and if those cereals have less sugar then that is a bonus.

General Mills has a whole webpage dedicated to the benefits of cereal, so you don't need me to go into any more detail.  Just know that there is nothing wrong with a bowl of Cocoa Puffs to get you through your morning, or my case a bedtime snack.  And God Bless the person who turned Reese's peanut butter cups into puff form and called it cereal.

General Mills provided me with free product through MyBlogSpark.com.  My opinions of their products and the benefits of breakfast are mine and mine alone.
Stacy

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Just a quickie

I have decided to participate in NaBloPoMo's January event, which requires posting every day in January.  Since it's only the 2nd it would be a shame to mess it up already.  But I accomplished many tasks today and spent the last few hours watching Angel & Demons with my husband.

Hmmmm, blog post or cuddling in front of a fire and a movie?  Yeah, that's what I picked.

So here's my quickie post, published just before midnight Eastern time.

Good Night.
Stacy

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year, I hope you've been well

Hi there.  It's been awhile.  I unknowingly, but then admittedly, took about six weeks off from blogging and chick lit examining.  I needed some time to focus, gather my thoughts, reconfigure my path and simply survive the holidays.  It hasn't been an easy time for me.  We have faced some major financial obstacles, and I have (surprise) questioned my very existence as well as the the choices I have made.  But along the way I found faith again and realized that everything is happening as it should.  That's why when I was browsing secrets on the Post Secret facebook page this one really spoke to me.



Clearly, my path has not been the one many would have taken, but that's ok because it's my path and no one elses.  Despite setbacks and overwhelming depression along the way I still remain proud of my path.

Now it's time for me to steer my path with a little more aggression.  I have had several amazing opportunities come my way lately and if I don't remove my head from my ass I am going to miss out on them.  Procrastination is a personal  tic I have, but I have to stop letting it affect my chances of moving forward in my work, and I have come close.  Sometimes I think it's an unconscious self-defense mechanism.  Self-sabotage if you will, and that has to stop.  I do deserve happiness and success, and simplicity.  I need to stop making things more complex than they need to be, that has been a bad habit of mine my whole life.




Simplicity is something I wished for in 2009 and I hope that in 2010 I come closer to it's discovery.  I have discovered that "things" are not necessary.  Actions are what count.  Awareness, living in the moment and time well spent are what make memories, not the number of presents under the tree, or the number of clearance bargains you discover (although sometimes a stocked clearance rack can make life more fun).  You can't take "things" with you, and sometimes those things just get in the way.




I know that a lot of people still wonder what I am doing.  Or maybe it's just me that wonders and everyone else is over it?  But I wonder if they know where I am really headed in life, what my dreams are, actually do I know what my dreams are?  They're big, and they will happen, as they are supposed to happen.  It would be nice if I could achieve some of them in 2010, but I will have to do my part and that will include motivation, inclination, focus and drive, things that many can't muster on New Years Day.  Luckily there are 364 days left to give it another try.  Happy 2010 everyone.  May you be blessed all year long.
Stacy