Wordless Wednesday

WHO'S HOUSE? SAY WHAT?

RUN'S HOUSE.....(yes, mom. I know you don't get it.)

Stacey is back in the game. So far this week, I have already done more analyses than I usually do in a week. Awwwww yeahhhhh. I'm am so on the ball. and, and, AND!! I have a new champion back at the home office.

Remember the whole story about when I was passed up for being the client lead for the FL client? Wellllll.....the guy that got the account instead (who is the real life version of Brian from Chotchkees in the movie the 0ffice) is not doing so well. Evidently, he is not following through on a few client needs. Super for me! One of the other guys on the account called to see if I knew the reason that I was passed over for the account. Since neither of us could seem to figure it out, he thinks he might make a few inquiries into it...

Yup. Life is my box of chocolates. I know what I'm getting out of it. A big ole pot of fondue. And that bowl full of cherries? Yup. Add some pound cake and strawberries ladies. It's a fondue party!!!!!

Weekend

Okay, so this is going to be long, so pace yourselves. This last weekend my friend Brandy came in from Dallas. Her boyfriend Fungai (Yes, Fungai. He's from Zimbabwe.) had a tennis teaching thingy here in Tampa so they both came down for the weekend.

But first of all, regular updates. On Thursday night, I ran into my neighbor Greg(the nice guy). He was outside with his brother and dog. (Both are quite cute, but the dog wins by a hair.) He said that he had gotten my phone call and was not avoiding me, he was just busy. I just told him I figured he had added me to his "Crazy Neighbor" list. Anyway, he was out of town again last week, but he said he'd like to take me up on that drink. Look mom! I have friends!
I'm getting excited to come home in a few weeks. I miss my family and friends, especiallly Alaina. Fungai kept getting calls from his nieces, so I missed mine.


Here is a little slidshow of my weekend:

We started off Friday night eating ouf for Brandy's b-day at The Me1ting P0t. It was okay, but not really worth the price. Especially since they only give you about 15 things to dip in the awesome chocolate. If they would have given us spoons, we would have ended up eating the chocolate by itself. I think it would just be a better idea to buy their chocolate and do it at home. Funny story there. The waitress came by and dropped off the meat and stuff for the entree and gave us this spoon:

She said to use it so rescue any food that falls off our sticks, but when she said the name we all thought she said "rusty" spoon rather than "rescue" spoon. For the rest of the night we kept saying "Pass me the rusty spoon".

Also, I went au natural to pick up everyone at the airport since I knew that Brandy would need to change too. We got all dressed up and once we sat down at the restaurant Fungai said "you look different with mascara on". Different? He said different as in good, but really, Brandy should train him better.... :)

Saturday was a long day. We dropped Fungai off at his tennis thing at 8 am (well actually a little late, since I took the wrong highway). Brandy and I headed to the beach and stopped by the Fort De Soto state park. There is a little fort with cannons and the old powder rooms and such there. It was pretty cool. In the storage areas, you head down a hall and then back around a corner (L-shaped) and there is a little window you can look to the front of the fort through.


I told Brandy to stand there while I headed around to take a pic of her. When I got to the entrance to the other room, this lady was rushing out and grabbing her kids. She had a hand to her heart and was all pale. As I went to head in to get my pic she just grabbed my arm and pointed at the back of the room, looking all alarmed. HaHa, she thought Brandy was a ghost. (Imagine seeing this, but the room was actually dark. Brandy was just a sillohuette and there is a faint glow from behind her....)


While we were at the pier nearby, everyone was fishing. As we walked to the end, one guy at the front of the pier caught a HUGE fish. It was a snook, and people were speculating that it would indeed meet the 28-33 inch slot allowed. (Learned a little about the local fish too!)

I couldn't figure out why everyone freaked out about a fish once they caught it. They would frantically start reeling it in and yankin on the line. Once we hit the end of the pier, we figured out why:

As they would reel in the fish, the dolphins would snag them off of their lines. My first Florida dolphins!!

We headed backto the apartment and watched a movie. Then, off to pick up Fungai (I got lost....again-but we found a cool park!?) We came back home and at decided to stay in. However at about 11pm, Fungai decided we shoudl go out. So, Brandy and I got all dressed up and we headed out for the 5 leveled club in Ybor. Got back in at 1:30 am and had to get Fungai back to the tennis club at 8 am again.

This time Brandy and I stayed in the area and headed off for Hillsborough River State Park. We first hit the trails for a 6 mile hike. It was pretty fun. Lots of bridges and beautiful forests:



(And seriously. Look at how long my hair is getting already! I don't think I'm going to make it back to NE to have Jodi cut it!)
After our hike, we headed to the pool there. It was nice to just chill and read out workout and trashy magazines. Right when it started to rain, we headed back to the car and it was time to pick up Fungai. Off to home where we all showered, they packed and off to the airport. Whew! I was exhausted so off to home to take a nap. What a weekend!

What a dinner

First a question. I feel like when you ladies post questions that you might not check back to find out the answer. So, I feel like I should address them at the beginning of my blogs. Do you check back? (I never do...) Anyway, Mel, I posted an answer to your question about FSM.

So, yesterday at noon I got an email from my friend Bill at work. He was going to be in Orlando and wondered if I would like to do dinner. YES! So I got directions and headed out after my conference call ended at 6:30. Just in time to miss a call from Bill. Yeah, instead of a small dinner, we met with clients. And not just any client, but the daughter of the CEO. I waited at the bar since they ended up taking longer at the airport and received a free glass of champagne (Jean Louis something or other...)

Anyway, We headed for dinner at the hotel. It was amazing!! For appetizers we had Blue cheese, sliced fennel, calamata olives, crab cakes, calamari (which I actually liked for the first time), and filet mignon eggrolls (super awesome). For my entree I had orangewood smoked pork chops. It was so big everyone at the table was just making fun of me. It had two bones poking out of the side so they kept joking that I should just pick it up by the bone and gnaw on it.

This was followed by Chef Jean-Louis's famous bananas foster! He is often requested to do this for conventions that have 1000 attendants. He was funny, amazing and was the wonderful gentelman who gave me the champagne earlier. I have never had something so amazing. They served it with ice cream and the sugar mixture that they rolled the bananas in had created a delicious crust. With his urging, I also tried some port with it. (Not a big fan of wine, so not a big fan of port.)

It was incredible. Unfortunately, due to Bill's late call that I never received, I did not know that we were eating with clients. Lucky me, I dressed up a little with dark jeans, a nice top and killer heels. (Hey, I never get to wear my awesome shoes down here. Be prepared for a very tall Stacey attending your b-day party Mel and Nikki.)

Anyway, here are a few pics and details about the great hotel in Celebration


http://www.celebrationhotel.com/default.asp

Wordless Wednesday YEARGHHH!!!!

Did you hear that??

That was the sound of me screaming from Florida. I went to go get my car registered and as I was pulling away I realized that I forgot to get my bank's fax number. When I finally got ahold of them I discovered that they might not let me register my car in FL. There are a few states that they do not accept it in and she would get back to me. About five minutes ago, I still had not received a call, so I called them back. Well, she screwed up my new phone number, but it's okay since I can register my car here. Phew!! Wasn't sure how I was going to get that one fixed....

It's been too serious down here lately. Been avoiding calls from all ex's and making sure that The Captain stays sane. I did get to hang out with K the other day for a study date. (Good thing that Panera is acceptable to the all-organic queen.)

My friend Brandy is coming down this weekend. Her b-day is friday and she is really excited for it. Also, she has the book 1,000 places to see before you die and three things are in FL. The Everglades, Manatee Tours and shell beaches. Well, due to time constraints, it looks like we are not going to be able to swim with Manatees Sad, I know, but I could just envision myself being attacked by the "normally docile" creatures. Not to mention, I swim like a rock.

Here was my other random thought for the day. I got up, checked my email, went for a run with my ipod, SPF 15, and high tech running shoes, and while I was putting in my contacts so I can see, I realized how cool it is to live in this generation.

I don't have to wait half an hour for coffee, I can put pieces of silicone in my eyes so my vision is not blurry and live 1600 miles away from my office. Do you ever just stop and think WOW! Sometimes, it just hits me.

update

Well, thanks for your well wishes. I talked to my friend today and guess what? His wife and her lawyer skipped out on their court appointment. So, that makes the judge not so happy. This also puts them in a better position to try to make a custody agreement without the assistance of a judge (again...) Anyway. Go captain!

A request

My friend is having his temporary child custody hearing tomorrow morning at 8:30 CDT. Everyone who gets this before then please pray for him. His wife is not very nice and tends to use the boys as weapons against him. This weekend, she had the 5 year-old call his parents (the grandparents) to see if he was there so "mommy dearest" could break into the house. Yes, it is their shared marital asset, but it has been his place of residence while she stays with her parents. She bolted before the cops showed up after she set of her own alarm....twice. He got home last night to find his power shut off and rotting food in the fridge. The works.

She also pulled the boys out of school early on Thursday to make sure that my friend could not pick them up after school. (Actually, she works, so she sent her parents after them.) Then, she pulled them out at 1 pm AGAIN the following day so they could make it to a ballgame... at 8 pm.

This lack of structure is not good for growing boys. Children should never be used as weapons and that is all that she uses them for. Did I mention that she also loaded them up into the car while he was in the study at their house two months ago and refused to let him see or talk to them? Oh, and the poor little 3-year-old wet his pants on their front porch after they returned from a summer vacation (approved by the wife and lawyers) at grandma and grandpa's because she decided the house was hers and changed all of the locks.

She's not nice. Pray for those little boys.....

Can't help it

Well, I'm just not that into the bloggin right now. Why? Well, I'm in a funk. I can't get back into the swing of things for work, I'm tired all of the time and I that combo is making it impossible to catch up for work. I keep trying to get back into the swing of things, but to no avail. But the only option is to keep trying to move forward.

Anyway. I got the primer done in my bedroom before the game started. Actually, I missed the beginning of the game, including our best play. SO, I should have just finished painting. It was really frustrating. Since the ceiling, walls and trim are all the same color, they just spray everything at once. The lightswitch plates are painted to the walls and there is not actual edge to the trim. Sooooo..... I just make it up as I go. That means trying to paint an edge around the floorboards and painting over the white paint already on the plates. Oh well. At least I don't have to live with white walls and beige carpet!

Did not get in my run this morning. First of all, it rained until about 1 pm. AND, there were some guys hanging out in front of my patio and apparently throwing rocks at their buddies in the apartment above me. I got a little weirded out and figured that they were either going to a) break into my apartment and assault me after I fell asleep or b) continue to drink and be rowdy while hurting no one. Too bad for me, I have an active imagination.

Hope you are all having a good weekend!

What a day!!

I love Fridays. I had a few things I needed to do today. First, get my gym membership transferred to the brand new facility here in Tampa. Second, get new running shoes. Third, get an mp3 player. Fourth, select the final color for my decorating scheme.

So, I headed off for Anytime Fitness. Met the owner and checked out the machines. They are just putting on the finishing touches, but at least I will be able to do some weights next week. Not to mention they are ALL BRAND NEW MACHINES!!

Stopped at The Running Center since they seemed to be the only place that carries Brooks brand running shoes. I had printed off a 10% off coupon to get the same shoes that I left in NE so I would not have to ship them back and forth. I tried them on, went to checkout and prepared to chock up $95. Nope. Not today!! They were ON SALE FOR $60!!! Hooray!!
z
Back to work for a few hours, and then out to do more shopping. I have been staking out mp3 players and was just going to get an ipod shuffle. Thought about it, and decided that I wanted to control the order of songs. However, no ipods at Wal*mart, T@rget, or Best Buy......But there were some at Circuit City. I fretted and debated and asked questions and debated buying on of the ones that was returned for a discount. No....No used electronics for me. I once again prepared to cough up money, but this time it was $199.

Yes, mom. I have been thinking this over. Running gets boring. It was a nice peaceful run around the dog park at sunrise in Lincoln, but I am not driving 40 minutes for a peaceful run every morning. Therefore, I need tunes. I got the arm band with it plus the "you can do anything to it including driving over it and if you bring in the pieces in the next 30 months we will give you a new one" warranty for $45. Grand Total of $195!! HOLY SMOKES! Instead of $199, it was $129!!!

Off to bargain hunt at Target, Linens and Things and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. What do I need? Throw Pillows. To complete my bedroom motif. Thirty-Forty bucks for pillows. Seriously here. A pillow? It better have 24 karat gold threads shot through it and be laced with valium to help me sleep. Finally, I found the right color and voila! $15 a pop.

I rule. I am the bargain shopper and lucky girl of the hour. Tomorrow, I am going to get up, go for a run in my new jogging shorts, mp3 player, and wicked shoes. Then, I'm off to Home Depot for paint. Here is the color scheme I have so far for the bedroom:



Seriously, check out those awesome pillows.


And mom, here is a visual for the stripes I might paint in the front room. I'm not sure what I am actually doing yet......

Sept 11th

Woke up this morning to a news show that asked young kids if they remember where they were when the towers fell. Everytime I see the TV clips, I am transported back to that moment, sitting around the TV in the Student Union. I headed back there today. Not because of a TV clip, but because of an erie coincidence. One of our interview questions that I code asks about a time when you were successful.

The applicant talked about how she helped to pick up the pieces of her team after 9/11. Turns out she was supposed to be in Tower Two for a meeting that morning when the plane hit, but luckily the moderator for the meeting called and canceled. I can't hardly believe it. I got this specific profile today. She answered this question a week ago, right after the long weekend, and that was her answer. (Perhaps it was the proximaty to the anniversary, but it still caused me to pause and relive the horror.)

There are a few things that I have always thought would occur in my life. (SAVE YOUR WATCHES. I'M ABOUT TO GET SENTIMENTAL ON YO'SELVES) :)

1) I am going to be the girl that started out as a great friend and then becomes the love of someone's life. I do not inspire awe and mystique in men. That's okay. I am one of the gang and have always preferred it that way. (Once in Jr. High, I got all gussied up for a dance. Let my long hair down, new outfit, etc. When I got to the end of the bleachers at the basketball game occuring before the dance, my brother's two best friends were laughing hysterically. Evidently, one said to the other "Check out that hot blonde" to which the other replied "No man, that's STACEY!" That's what I inspire. LOL)

2) I am going to write something that draws people's attention. I still have yet to decide if this is a research related work that I always anticipated writing, but lately have thought about writing a memoir/comedy book.....We'll see on this one too.

3) I am going to have kids and strive to be as good of a mother to them as mine was to me. (Once again....we'll see how this turns out. Looks like being a foster/adoptive mother may be the end result here. I'm not going to give up on this just because I can't find Mr. Right. There are other kids who need love.)

4) Something was going to occur in my life and I would think "This is it for my generation. My parents remember Kennedy being shot, my grandparents remember Pearl Harbor, and I will remember _____" At first I thought it was when we first invaded Iraq. Then, I was just sure that the death of Princess Diana topped it on a global scale. But when September 11th happened, I froze in shock. I could not believe it was happening and for the first time in my life had the true sense that this must all be a dream. Sept 11th. I was in the Student Union watching the Twin Towers fall. A story to share with my grandkids, adopted or not.

(I think tomorrow I shall share a lighter musing with you, eh? Like perhaps trying not to laugh as I gave feedback to a Canadian that kept saying "Yah" and pronounced "Over" as "oah-fer". You betcha there, eh?)

all apologies

I am on a new pill. It is killing me. I messes up my moods (man, do I hate that), my appetite and my sleep habits. These next few weeks are going to be torture. I also had my first truly upsetting ordeal in awhile. My ex (Not X, but the prior one, Jeff) and I have been buddies online for awhile now. With the marriage of his roomate (a high school friend of mine), he is now living alone for the first time at the age of 28. We broke up mainly due to the fact that he was an alcoholic (my label) who only wanted to party and never really made plans. (Sound familiar?)

He has been texting me lately at night, most likely cuz he is lonely. Last night, he sent a message asking if I ever thought about what went wrong with us. Well, I pretty much avoided the question and he went on to say that he thinks that he picked his friends over his girlfriend (also true). I just didn't have the heart to tell him that his drinking and immaturity was the real reason.

So tonight he logs on again. He asks what I am doing and I tell him that I am decoding a letter for the Captain. (Captain is trying to break it off with a girl. He did not know that he is not supposed to be dating until legal proceedings begin onhis divorce, even though they have been legally separated since June. After three dates, she also starting saying things about watching their kids play high school ball and Christmas..... Little much for a newly divorced guy, eh?)

Anyway, I am trying to help him diffuse the situation and for humor's sake I am "decoding" her most recent letter. She says things like "do I not get the courtesy of even a phone call or a quick coffee" and "my last two sources of support have left me now." Which in crazy-girl language means "can't I guilt trip you into a cup of coffee?" and "I am desolate and all alone because of YOU, my brand new boyfriend that I scared off with my overwhelming attachement to him". (He already sent an email explaining that it was all too much for him at this point in his life, as he has alreay told her.....twice. Now you have the background for this all.....)

So, Jeff types "can i ask you a question without offending you?... why do you get involved in things like this?"

Jeff always thought that I was always too involved in the lives of my friends. Brandy should have been able to work things through with her boyfriend without my assistance. When W@lm@rt threatened to fire me, I should have just backed down rather than sending a letter to the district manager. And I should never have shown concern for his friends that we had been hanging with for a year when they were having troubles. I told him that Captain is dealing with a lot and I am just helping so he wrote:

(B) Jeff (B): i'm not one to involve myself in other peoples situations (especially one as private as a divorce). people have to figure some things out for themselves.
(B) Jeff (B): does he want your help?
**(more was written, but there was a lot of filler stuff in between)

I. Was. Pissed.

Needless to say, I felt that he implied I was out of line. Then he questioned whether or not Captain even wanted to break up with the girl. What, does he think that I decided this? C'mon!? Then he said that he questions the intentions of Captain. Okay, so I have heard this before. Many people who know of our friendship ask if I think he is interested. We are just friends. SERIOUSLY. Like brother/sister relationship stuff. I have said this before about my guy-friends, but it has never been more true than it has with Captain. We have been supporting each other for over two years now and his friendship has become invaluable to me.

His implications made me truly upset so I wrote that he is more of a passive supporter. He lets people know that he is there, while I always make the call to ensure that they are okay. Since he prefers to be a backstage kind of friend (I am not saying it is bad, just not what I do), he does not understand my support style and feels that I am nosey. So, I ended the conversation. Rudely. Sorry mom, I'm not very good at keeping me cool. When adjusting to a new pill. At 1:30 am. When I am not feeling well altogether. (Or perhaps I am just not good at it in any circumstance?)

NO ONE should ever try to tell me that I am out of line with my friends. They are MY FRIENDS. I understand them, hence the "friend" terminology. Do we have problems? Yes. Do I seek the advice of others? Yes. But no one else in my life has ever had the gall to tell me I am conducting my friendships poorly. (Relationships, yes. :) But I usually admit defeat in that area...)

Anyway. I'm glad that I have this blog to vent. No one else is up and I am finally calming down. Thanks for "listening".

Old School and New Flavors

Just sitting down to get some work done at Panera. They got rid of my usual salad (Bistro Steak), so I opted for a whole new experience. I always get a you pick two combo with a salad, sandwich, or soup combination and almost always get broccoli cheese soup. Today I got the Parisian Chicken soup and the Asian Sesame Chicken salad. They are both delicious (especially the salad). I almost didn't get the soup becuase the girl described it as chicken, red wine, with peas and such (really, who WOULD order that). The internet site describes it as: A bistro-style slow cooked chicken in a rich, full-bodied chicken stock with red wine, peas, pearl onions & shitake mushrooms embellished with sweet cream & thyme. Perhaps she should have just read it verbatim. Anyway, the mention of old school is a tribute to my tee. Check it out:


Mine is yellow, but I love it. I mean, really. Who under the age of 30 and over 20 does not love Saved By The Bell?! I have been trying to maintain a more "adult" wardrobe by not investing in humorous tees. (Not that I think I am TOO old, but once when watching What Not To Wear on TLC, Stacy and Clinton told a newly hired 25-yr-old professional that her money was better spent on more professional clothes and she was almost to the age where they did not convey the right message.....)

BUT, I could not resist it on sale. I always preferred AC Slater to Zack Morris (what a weasel!) Perhaps his manly ego is the reason that I now prefer jerks? He always did go a little overboard calling Jessie "Mama" and other girls "Chicks". Oh well, I love my new tee and hope to get a lot done tonight.

This is my catch-up week. No visitors, Erin is working everyday, and mama needs some new plates for her car! Next weekend I hope to have my desk finally in order, every box put away, and colors picked out for my apartment so I can paint! We shall see!

Whoops

So, as I was chatting with Nikki, I decided to book my flight home in October. Well.....needless to say, I totally screwed up. Instead of flying from Tampa to Omaha. I booked flights from Omaha to Tampa. Most of the search engines I use have the default of flying from Omaha since that's what theya are all still set to.

Anyway. Got on our conference call to research and told the story of how Blonde I am for this. And the president was there. Don't think she found it so funny. Oh well, I caught it early, so I only got charged a $7 fee. Pretty sure that they have paid more for cancelling flights, but I won't make that argument. So.....

I will be in town October 13th for Mel and Nikki's b-day celebration, with rental car in tow. I arrive in Omaha at 2:35 pm that Saturday. I will be in town until 11 am on Wednesday the 24th.

Back to work! Hope you all enjoyed those slide shows!

Slide shows

I'll try to space them out so you don't feel overwhelmed..

:)

:)

Like it?

:)

I'm sure you do, mom!

Work, Work, Work

Well, it wouldn't be so bad if I was less successful at procrastinating. Running errands, eating, talking on the phone. I am good at all of them. Anyway, one of the things that I did was go online to check out the pics from my awards night for work back in NE. Here are a few pics from Ev and the photographer from work:





Tonight, my motivator is doing a slide show. I shall not be allowed to start on it until I am finally caught up on my work. Yikes!!

Wordless Wednesday

My birthday!

First a little story. I was so sure that it was going to be a bad day, because I started off by balancing my checkbook. Yikes! Spent too much shopping. Not only that, but in my checkbook was my check for rent....which was late as of the 4th. Dangit! When I went it to see how much I owed as a late fee, she said $472. A $472 late fee!?!?! Holy cow! Nope! I did not realize that last month due to a move in special, I only owed half my rent. So, this month, I owe a TOTAL of $472, including the late fee!!! It much be April, cuz it feels like my birthday!!

What a weekend

Well, As you all know Ev was here for the weekend. We had lots of fun shopping and traveling around to do touristy things. We went to the beach: (And yes, I know it looks like I am naked in the towel pic)



Disneyworld where we found our twins:


Downtown in Ybor City where we hit the clubs. We went dancing and decided that the gay bar is by far the best place to go. (Not to mention it has the hottest guys that complement you on your shoes!) Here we are before heading out:


Even the cops were nice. This one posed for a pic with his "ride":


We also headed down to visit our friend E in Orlando. I didn't get a pic of that (though Ev did), but we took this video of a couple of Sandhill Cranes "talking" in front of her apartment. She says that they are always there. (No sound needed since they were not making noise and all you hear is wind.)"

Super day

Things are going great here. Ev made it in okay and we have been living it up. Shopping, lounging, driving, shopping, sightseeing, swimming, shopping, visiting with E in Orlando....oh, and some more shopping. Amidst this shopping I did manage to buy a futon (good thing I pulled that all nighter, cuz I sure have spent a lot of dough). I have been getting some great pics, but since it is 2 am, I am heading to bed rather than downloading them. Catch you all later.

P.S. Mom is back on the blog circuit (not blogging herself, but she is able to make comments again. Welcome back mom, I missed you!)