My friends love each other. A lot.

Just got back from Vegas.  If I ever talk about going there again, please advise me not to.  I’m not a gambler! 

THAT SAID…

If I do go there again, it will be for another wedding.  Of course, it won’t be for either one of my friends, because they’re going to be together forever.  This is true. 

Of course, they could decide to renew their vows.  If they do, I vote for Cancun or any location where I can find a quiet beach and a cold drink with an umbrella.  That would be great.

This awesome wedding in Vegas was fantastic and meant to be, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.  That’s the honest truth.  How I forgot my tissues and waterproof mascara, I have no idea! 

We’re so happy our friends have found “the one.”  Hence, the crying problem.  I’m sure we depleated the bride’s sisters’ tissue supply in about 10 seconds flat.  The need for tissues definitely put me in a 911 situation; meaning, it was definitely one of my favorite weddings ever.

Congrats, Vicki & Steve.  Love you both!

Published in:  on June 29, 2009 at 8:36 pm Comments (1)
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Dream: Powerball Stress, Scary Swim, Strange Turtle and The Lizard Room

(this will move to “Unopened Letters” later on)

Note: I just submitted this dream to dreamschool.org which I found through the “School of Metaphysics” website.

dreamschool.com

dreamschool.com

I first heard about this site when someone commented about my dreams here.  I checked it out, and found the dreamschool site.  If they respond with an analysis of the following dream, I will let you know what they say…even if they say they’re concerned about me :)

THE DREAM

The first part of this dream was set in various gas stations.  I had been purchasing lottery tickets at the request of my husband but kept losing them or getting the wrong ones.  The last station I purchased the tickets from was Holiday – I knew I had the right tickets this time and was bound and determined to get them to Dave.  I asked the attendant for a stapler and stapled them all together.  HA!  Problem solved.

Then the dream moved suddenly to the water.  I was in a lake with a swampy channel.  Another girl and I were in the water – our task was to pull two boats from where they were stalled (I think) to the place where they needed to be.  I was talking with the girl while we towed our boats; while I was pulling and talking, I turned around to look at her.  She suddenly asked if I had seen the dark figure that swam between the boat and my kicking legs and then ducked beneath the water.  I told her I noticed it but didn’t think about it at first.  Then, I was sort of concerned, wondering if I was safe or would be bitten or worse. 

Suddenly the dream moved indoors.  I was entering a house, talking with the owners.  I saw a creature that first reminded me of a turtle – very cute – and, because I wanted to give them a compliment, mentioned how cute it was, and “what is it?”  They told me it was a turtle, but as we walked into the room where it was, it didn’t look like a turtle at all.  It was more sloth-like, but had the head of a human, wore a pink shirt and was climbing slowly up the side of the couch.  I didn’t want to contradict the owners, so I just took it in. 

After a while, we moved to the basement.  The owners of the house then changed – they were still the owners but they looked and acted completely differently.  The woman had been blond, thin and very stuffy-proper; now she had long, thin, brown, slightly curly hair pulled back in the front,  was a bit overweight and was very down-to-earth.  The husband was previously in a gray suit and tie, with a haircut straight out of Leave it to Beaver and a clean-shaven face; now he was one of our friends (don’t want to mention his name) who has a short beard/mustache and was now wearing jeans and a flannel shirt.  The basement wasn’t finished, but had furniture and accessories like is was. 

The couple began telling the story about their “Lizard Room” which was to my right; I faced the woman who sat on the 1980s (I think??) plaid, ruffled couch in front of me and began to tell the story as her husband went to the doorway of the lizard room to check on them & make sure everything was okay.  There was no door on the room he knelt next to.  At first glance, I saw a couple of lizards (all small like geckos) fall/crawl over the threshold of the door.  The man wasn’t concerned at all, and for good reason – the lizards stopped immediately and re-entered the room.  He talked to them all like they were children, but there were literally hundreds or thousands in the room, covering the walls and ceiling in addition to the floor of what was probably an 11 x 11 bedroom. 

Back to the story – the woman was talking about how her husband wooed her even when they didn’t have money, and moved to the time when he was again professing his love for her in a unique way.  He had taken a poster with pre-printed circles and squares for featuring different bits of information, but which was a “second” because when it was printed there was a problem, and gibberish was covering the poster here and there.  She proceeded to read his notes to her, moving from how they met and when he knew he loved her, and how happy he was to be with her in good times and in bad, etc.  That moved to the “bad” times, when they didn’t know how they would pay the bills.  Then came mention of the lizards, specifically, “then I made the decision to get into lizards.”  This was his love note to her as well as a note to tell her that they would no longer need to worry about money.  She reminisced about the time he gave her this strange, life-sized love note, refolding it as she read the last lines from memory: all the numbers in the amount of money they had suddenly made because they decided to “get into lizards” – the number began with 34 and was followed with many, many other numbers that I can’t remember.  I remember there were 2s, but that’s about it.

Note about the “love note”: like I said, it was the size of a poster.  Her husband had folded it in intricate sections that, when combined, all also folded together in a sort of large “card.”  The folds reminded me of that children’s book about Papa getting the moon, but the entire poster-note was folded in this way and that and all came together perfectly.

That’s all I remember.

Published in:  on June 15, 2009 at 9:24 pm Comments (4)
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My Mom’s “Secret Glory”

It’s time I opened up.  My Mom has an addiction…to gardening!  Here is one of her recent pictures - I really like this one because dh and I had irises in our wedding:

Angel Iris

Angel Iris

On more than one occasion my mom has said, “I don’t know why I never did anything with the yard when you kids were younger…”   I, in turn, swiftly remind her that it’s probably because she was working practically 3 jobs and raising 2 children.

A no brainer!

There are so many beautiful pictures I’d like to share here, but she plans to sell them online someday soon, and I don’t want to ruin that for her.

Speaking of, if you are reading this and know something about selling a product like this, consider sharing your experience.  You can share your story right here on my site – she’s my mom and she visits often :)

Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Mom :)

Hope you’re having fun and doing all your favorite things :)   I love you SO! much :)

Love,

Stacey Marie

Published in:  on June 13, 2009 at 3:44 pm Comments (2)
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Countdown to “7″

So far, here’s our status on Rachel’s “donate a blanket to a puppy in need” birthday party:

  • 5 out of 11 girls have said they’re coming
  • 1 out of 11 girls have said they can’t make it

This means that, even if all of the girls who haven’t RSVPed are NOT coming, I will still have 7 girls overnight at my house on Friday.

Again, what was I thinking?

Oh, I’m just kidding.  I can handle it.  At least that’s what I keep telling myself :)

I have done the following:

  • Bought 70% of the groceries needed
  • Have 20% of the remaining ingredients on “the list”
  • Have forgotten 10% of the ingredients I cannot do without and will not remember them until 3:30 p.m. Friday.  I will have dh go get them, as usual :)

I have also done the following:

  • purchased the fleece for the tie fleece blankets – both the large piece to donate to the shelter for a puppy in need and the stuffed animal sleeping bags each girl will make.
  • purchased the decorations, plates, cups, etc.

I haven’t done:

Um, everything else:

  • cut all fleece and paired pieces for the choosing
  • blown up more balloons than I care to think about
  • charged the camera
  • chosen games in the event of a rainy day (can’t count on MN – does what it wants)
  • made the cake (hot fudge banana split – YUM!)
  • chosen a punch recipe
  • purchased remaining food items for the party
  • purchased pipe cleaners, tags & beads for the girls’ favorite stuffed animal “collars” (new development)
  • prepped all food items
  • prepped the basement for meals and made it convertible for sleeping beauties
  • purchased all the things I don’t realize I’ve forgotten and will send dh to buy last minute before the party
  • prepped all of the things I didn’t realize I’d forgotten and so sent dh to buy last minute before the party
  • All of the things I’m forgetting

There’s more.  Always is!  I just don’t know what those things are yet.  Story of a busy mommy’s life.  Or a mommy like ME, anyway :)

Published in:  on June 10, 2009 at 10:04 pm Comments (4)
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Animal lovers with animal-loving kiddos, check this out!

My daughter, Rachel’s 7th birthday party is this Friday.  To get ready for it, we did some research online and found a really neat idea.

She wants a puppy birthday.  She also wants a puppy FOR her birthday, but unfortunately that’s not going to happen.  We decided to have the girls work together to make a fleece tie blanket for an animal in need at the local shelter.  I’m so glad someone shared this great idea!

The woman who shared this idea went on to say that each guest was asked to bring their favorite stuffed animal.  Each of the girls then made a tiny tie blanket for that stuffed animal.  Since our party is a sleepover, we decided to make tie sleepingbags for the girls’ animals.

I cannot wait to take THAT picture!  We’ll take a picture of the girls with the blanket they created for the shelter and send a copy along with the blanket when we drop it off.  Rach will also give a copy to each of the girls in their thank you cards, along with a picture of her with each girl holding their tiny sleepingbags and one with all of the girls in their sleeping bags (half-circle) with all of their stuffed animals in their sleeping bags next to them.

I love taking cool pictures.  There’s no better gift than a quality picture, if you ask me.  If all of the girls who were invited to the party can make it, we’ll have a total of 12.

I know, what was I thinking?!

The woman who shared the party idea did say, though, that the girls were so engrossed in what they were doing that the party was very…quiet.

I’m counting on that!

But I’m no fool.  After we finish projects and picture-taking we’re moving on to a small bite of hot fudge banana split cake and then going out to the nearby park.

If the cake stays down, we’ll jump on the trampoline when we get back.  Gotta wear those sweeties out before bedtime :)

To check out many more puppy party ideas and tons of other birthday party ideas, go to:

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/

Analyze this: The Brady Bunch brings down the house!

(this will move to Unopened Letters later on)

Last night’s dream – where do I start?  I’ll skip the boring part about painting the front of a department store that suddenly turned into my family room wall.  Here’s the second part:

I was suddenly at a club with 2 rows of stadium seating complete with ample space for short tables and a half-wall that separated the risers from the dance floor.  There were openings to the dance floor that reminded me of the ones where skaters enter the rink, but wider.  We were sitting at the tables talking when I noticed that men & women were nonchalantly bringing equipment to the stage, little by little – a microphone here, stand there, amps, guitars, drums, etc.  We didn’t know who these people were, but were intrigued.  Once they had set up, a man came out and announced the arrival of the Brady Bunch boys and their band – “Minnesota, please welcome a surprise performance from the boys from the Brady Bunch!”  Once we heard this, everyone in the club cheered loudly – there were celebrities present after all, and we wanted to show our appreciation for this surprise performance, don’cha know!  As the MC introduced them, I noticed the look on two of the “boys’” faces.  Greg from the show, who was still adjusting the lights at the edge of the stage, shot a pleasantly surprised look to another brother on the stage in response to our cheers.  The brother he looked at was actually Jason Bateman – he shot back the same look.  I remember wondering if they thought Minnesotans were desperate now because everyone cheered so emphatically for the Brady Bunch has-beens.

So the band began.  There were many musicians – probably 8-10 of them.  Jason Bateman was the lead singer and didn’t play an instrument – he just flirted with the ladies.  A couple times they faked a break, even walking away from the stage.  I noticed that one of the members still held a tambourine in her hand, and looked closer at the other members.  They had small items in their hands, too.  Before they reached the edge of the dance floor they crescendoed into another song and started  really putting on a show.  It seemed like every song was better, more upbeat and louder.  The kicker happened the third time they faked a break – they knew we were onto them, so they just half-heartedly played along.  When they reached the edge of the dance floor they picked up one of the members – a studious-looking guy – and held him like he was lounging on the beach.  Everyone but the drummer held him with one hand and held some sort of noise-maker in their other, surrounding him like the petals on a flower.  The drummer – tall, sort of teddy-bear guy with curly, disheveled, honey-blond-highlighted hair, round glasses and a bright green T-shirt, rushed over and did an awesome drum solo by hitting the instruments around him, his shoes, his hat and even the noisemakers he held himself.  It was really cool!

I noticed that the solo was coming to an end, singing needed to start soon, and the drummer wasn’t going to make it back to his set in time to keep the beat.  WRONG!  He began playing the drums from the front and continued to play as he rounded the corner to take his seat.  It was all planned.  Honestly, I woke up feeling very entertained!

So – don’t know what this means, but I tell you what – I’m sure I would have had to pay a cover to see this band.  Thanks to my brain’s unique personality, I got to sneak in the back!

For those of you who read my previous post (written a short time before this one today) the Vicodin isn’t kicking my butt as much as I thought it might.  But the pain is still there…guess that means it’s not working yet?

I wonder what dreams are like on Vicodin…

Published in:  on May 27, 2009 at 3:27 pm Comments (9)
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I’m broken again.

Here’s a little post before the Vicodin kicks in.  Joey & I were at Culver’s for lunch before helping dh paint when my lower back went into spasms again.  That’s the 3rd time in 2 1/2 weeks.  This is getting old.

Thank goodness for my blackberry – I looked up the number to the doctor’s office & was able to get in in about an hour & 20.  First, the wait had me discouraged.  Then I realized I was going to need that time – everything I did took 5 times longer than normal and I was waiting for a preschooler to finish a meal.  Today, we were a perfect match :)

Then, went straight to Target for some Advil liqui-gels, hoping they would kick in more quickly than the tablets.

Next stop, doctor’s office for some “are you okays?” from the office staff and a hefty “oh-boy” from the doctor, followed by prescriptions for Prednisone and Vicodin, and an order for physical therapy.  I left to a “keep moving – lying down will only make it worse,” and  I wondered how I was going to keep moving while I was sleeping!

Maybe Vicodin doesn’t affect me that way – I can’t remember.  I’m also “in the middle” of writing a purchase agreement for a couple I’ve been working with.  Not a good time to be broken!

To Nancy – what, are you contagious?  teeheehee.

To Mom – don’t worry – I’m still coming up for our mother-daughter weekend.  Wouldn’t miss it!  Can’t wait to eat at China Garden!

Published in:  on at 2:50 pm Comments (6)
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The Do

This is for my mom.  She wanted to see this :)

Here’s something else I can do with my new (lack of) hair:

IMG00131-20090522-1411IMG00130-20090522-1411
IMG00140-20090522-1531
I like doing it this way.  It’s easy.  Easy is good, especially when you don’t have hair-bending skills :)

Free & easy way to donate – just click!

These are tough times.  That’s an understatement.

Each day I get this in my inbox: 

Dear Supporter,

This is your friendly Friday reminder from The Hunger Site:

Make a difference today!

Click on the yellow button at The Hunger Site and give a cup of food to the hungry at no cost to you.

http://www.thehungersite.com/tpc/ERH_052209_THS

 I click on this link every day, not only to donate to The Hunger Site, but also to all of the following sites as well:

Click to Donate

Click to Donate

My mom has purchased some of their merchandise, too, and everything she’s gotten has been high-quality.  My favorite is a gift she bought for both of us.  We like to have tea together…90 miles apart, with her at home “Up North” and me down in “The Cities.” Now we feel even more connected when we’re drinking from the same cup :)
"Tea Cup"

"Tea Cup"

Thanks, Mom, for the link and the cup :)