Blogger sucks...

So, I know I have been absent for the last week, and i worte a great 'highs and lows' entry last night, filling you in on all of the stuff that has been going on. And then i hit the button to publish, and blogger ate the post and told me that there was an error. I don't have it in me to type all of that shit again, so here is one of the highs, complete witha few pics:

The construction company that Mike is working for started a job this past weekend at a Hilton in massachusetts, about an hour and ten minutes from our house. Unfortunately, he is going to be staying up there during the week, and the job is huge, so this will probably be going on until may. It does give me lots of time to get all of my work done, which is critical since this is my last semester. Also, it means mimi vacations on wednesday nights! I don't work on thursdays, so I plan on driving up tonight. I went last friday night, and it was pretty cool. The area isn't that amazing, pretty much the middle of nowhere, Massachusetts, 30 miles outside of boston. I try to just imagine that it is somewhere cooler, like chicago or dc. BUT, there is a bed with comfy down accessories, a shower with amazingly hot water (we don't get hot water at our apartment that often. usually, it's jut warm. if we're lucky...) and a nice restaurant. Tonight we are going to have a nice dinner and hang out, and then tomorrow I am going to stay for a while in the comfy bed and study for my comprehensive exam on friday. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pics:

here is the outside of the hotel...




here is the bedroom with the comfy bed...




and here is the very nice looking restaurant, where I may be having:

baby iceberg wedge salad with blue cheese and oven roasted tomatoes

tenderloin of beef with shallot sauce and mashed potatoes

or

grilled atlantic salmon with petite green lentils and wilted spinach.

yay!

Here's to hoping that i get hit with something.

So, this week has sucked dick. I should have known it would have. When I was walking into work on Monday, the wind was blowing about 30 miles an hour, and it was sprinkling. The sky was grey, there were lots of evil looking clouds. and it was monday. As I walked into my building, I could hear the branched overhead creaking in the wind. I had already passed a tree that had fallen into the road on the way to school. As I looked up into the trees, I thought "gosh, maybe one of these branched will fall formthe tree and give me a mild concussion. Nothing awful, just enough to keep me watching lifetime from my bed for the rest of today. And maybe tomorrow. But lets not be greedy now... Having thoughts like this made me think back to my first two years of high school, when i played field hockey. We used to practice at the middle school, which was about a mile away. So we would meet at the gym at the high school, change, stretch and run to the other field. It sucked so bad. I hated it. I don't mind running, but it was just a lot of pressure. we were supposed to run in a group, so the pace was a little faster than I would have liked. And there was a HUGE hill at the end. So, every day when we ran, I used to think "please, let me fall. Let my toes hit a rock, my knee give out, a bird fly into my head. Whatever. I JUST WANT TO FALL. See, I had it all planned out. If I ever DID fal, I was going to milk it for all it was worth. Scream, cry, take my time, maybe walk most of the way to the field while holding back fake tears. It would be amazing. And then, one day, I did fall. It was my only time falling during the two years that I played field hockey and ran that mile 3-4 times a week. I fell, scraped my knee, and before I realized it, I was back on my feet, running faster to catch up with the group. I FUCKING BLEW IT! MY ONE CHANCE AND i BLEW IT!

This is what goes on here.

Kyle: want a piece of gum?

stacey: sure.

k: it's spearmint, is thatokay?

s: sure, whatever.

k: some people don't like spearmint.

s: i don't like winterfresh. i mean, i like winterfresh gum, but you know when some other gum tries to be winterfresh flavored? I don't like that.

k: yeah, but spearmint is good. did you ever wonder what spearmint actually was, though?

s: um, it's a plant.

k: oh. that was mildly embarassing.

So, yeah. Friday...

This week has kind of sucked...still trying to get the research proposal toegther, but it should be in to the IRB this afternoon, after the dept. chair signs it. Really. I swear....So, while trying to get that done, I was also trying to get my resume/cover letter ready for yesterday, seeing 13 students for alcohol appointments, meeting for a group project...and yesterday was just sucktastic. I usually have thursdays off, but had to come in to get shit done. I had to drive aroud for a while to find a place to park, then I spent an hour in the office where my internship is. Then I walked up the hill to my office for a meeting. then i walked back to the internship office for what was supposed to be from 12-2, but then realized that my 2:oo appointment was actually a 1:00 appointment, so i had to walk back early....all in all, I was here, but it wasn't really productive. I am just glad tomorrow is saturday. I think drinking all day in my pajamas sounds like a good idea...

last night was great, though:

1 heart shaped box of russel stovers chocolate (the BIG box...)
1 vase of flowers (a pretty pink mix...)
1 draft of stella + about 1/2 bottle of white wine = stacey spends valentines dinner on the other side of tipsy...
1 stuffed mushrooms appetizer
2 salads
1 baked stuffed shrimp dinner (stacey)
1 delicious prime rib dinner (mike)
1 piece chocolate cake (mike)
1 strawberry shortcake (stacey)

so yeah, fun. and delicious. hejo and i are going out afterwork today and then i am taking her to the airport.and i didn't even clean my disgusting car for her. i told her she should feel honored. so far she says she does. hopefully she will still be friends with me after she sees it...

Today was fab...

Despite the title of this post, today was not fab until I got home form work. The workday sucked, mainly because I had trouble sleeping last night and took some pills, but not until modnight so I ended up sleeping until 8:30 this morning and felt groggy and hungover when I woke up. I had not time to get coffee before work, my 10:00 appointment didn't show up, the new counseling intake forms I wrote for our alcohol consulting sessions are not working, and resulting in my stumbling through sessions. I have a TON of work to finish, and things just kept getitng piled on today. I also had a mid-afternoon headache that I was afraid would turn into a migraine (it didn't)and when I called A (of C and A, the couple on the verge of breaking up) to see if she was in for the gym after work, she said probably not because she thought A might be moving out today. awesome. I also tripped in the hallway in full view of most of my office, but managed to laugh it off and save my soda. Oh, and the soda? Either they hooked up regular pepsi to the diet pepsi fountain or i was just an idiot and got the wrong soda. Either way, I drank it. More unneccesary calories! Yay!

So, as the above rant illustrates, today kind of sucked. AND THEN MIRACULOUSLY TURNED AWESOME! When I got home, mike had put laundry away, done the dished, and was in the middle of making a delicious dinner of perfectly seasoned porkchops accompanied by tomato parmesan pasta and green beans. I told him about my crappy day and he told me to go sit and relax while he finished dinner (!). Dinner was great, then there were a few CSI episodes from the DVR, AND THEN IT WAS TIME FOR AMERICAN IDOL.

Some things that made idol watching fab:
1. m spliced the cable into the bedroom. bed+ai=heaven
2. one commercial break provided plenty of time for some bedroom acrobatics...
3. sebastian joined us later at the foot of the bed and, for once, his nose wasn't thisclose to my face as he meowed for food.

Here is the only issue I had with AI tonight:

WHAT is the obsession with THIS GUY?



simon was all like "you are so lucky! you have looks! talent! charm!

um, if your idea of hot = 12
if you like talent that puts you to sleep
and if you think being charming = ass kissing.

seriously, do they really think he is better than this guy:



this guy is RIDICULOUSLY HOT , not to mention he has a great voice. i like my men to be old enough to grow facial hair.

even better than the aussie hottie, in my opinion, is this guy:



i think josiah has such an amazing, different voice. he would be an awesome punk singer. and i can't believe that they hated his version of stand by me. it gave me chills....

so now, i should try to go to bed, but i think having such a fab night has revved me up...I need to find something to do to burn off this energy...

Things I Learned Over the Weekend:

1. Tide Pens really do work: they got a red wine stain off of my brand new white button down shirt on monday night.

2. The only funny parts of "Meet the Spartans" are the ones in the preview. Unfortunately, I know this from personal experience.

3. There are lots of funny parts in "I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry".

4. If I rent an on-demand movie from cable from the "classic" section, it only costs $1.95. (Obviously, there was a lot of movie watching this weekend...)

5. I should have been working on finishing my research proposal earlier than monday morning at 6am. It brought back some horrible undergrad memories...

6. Even though I got the oil changed in my car, it is still making a funny noise. Huh.

Happy Monday!

Now Accepting Applications and Scheduling Interviews...

So everyone knows that breaking up is hard to do, but what happens when you're not the couple breaking up, but the couple breaking up is your "friend couple"? You know, the couple that is your standard for dinners, parties, and other general fun? It looks like Mike and I might be facing this problem sooner than later...

A little backstory: we met C and A when we moved into our first apartment in March of 2006. The apartment was a tiny efficiency behind a bigger house that had 3 apartments, one on each floor. C and A lived on the top floor, and we soon became good friends. We had dinner together all of the time, or just hung out to watch lots of family guy on dvd. We go canoeing in the spring and summer, and to the county fair. C and Mike go off and do guy stuff together, and A and I like to cook together, go to yard sales and fleamarkets, and we go to the gym together all of the time. Not only do we have tons of fun together, this couple is also our "gateway couple": we meet couples through them and get invited to stuff, but I don't know if that would still be the case if C and A decide to break it off.

I guess the reason why we work so well together is because Mike and I are completely different, and sometimes it is hard for us to find couples to hang out with that we both get along with. But with C and A, we were different in the same ways, so not only did we have fun together, we could understand and appreciate the nuances of each other's relationship, because we were having similar experiences.

So, as of now, I really hope they don't break up. A is pretty close to my best friend right now, and I want her to be happy, but I am going to miss C and A as a couple. and I really don't feel like looking for a replacement. The original is always better...

sorry...

just so you all think i am not a jackass, there has been something wrong with my spellchecker for the last 2 posts, i think it is because my cmputer at work is. really. slow. so, sorry if my entries have been sloppy. of course, i could go back and proofread, but who actually does that?

Finding New Ways to Make Sure I Don't See My 26th Birthday, or, Roller Derby, Anyone?

For elementary school, I went to a small catholic school. Half-days were the best, because they used to bus us down the street to the roller rink. We would skate for about three hours, until our parents came to pick us up. "Roller Skating Parties" were my favorite! I learned to skate really well (SKATE, not blade, mind you) and could even skate backwards and "shoot the duck". My 'boyfriend' Adam used to dedicate "pretty woman" for us to skate to during couples skate, and we used to eat pizza that I always thought tated weird, but I couldn't figure out why. Until I realized that the sauce tasted like warm ketchup....And you could buy those glow bracelets. My favorite skating outfit was my black stretch pants and a longish purple sweater. I even had dangle earrings that were made up of little colored hearts. And the music! All of the new kids, boyz 2 men, and c&c music factory that you could stand. Obviously, I lived for these days. And now, I have discovered that I can relive those memories. At least, in some fashion...

ROLLER DERBY! This looks like the coolest thing ever. If you have ever seen it, it looks like a bunch of women skating around a rink and slamming into each other. I have always thought that it looked like a blast, but never knew that there was a league near me. Oh, but the is one, right in providence (http://www.providencerollerderby.com/) Apparently, there are more rules than just "skate until you come close enough to someone to push them down". I think my entire athletic career thus far has been leading up to this:

1. soccer: sweeper or defense, regularly knocked the weaker kids down. and loved it.

2. Field Hockey: my first game ever, pre season, before try-outs, was indoors. smaller teams, modified rules, faster than outdoors. I somehow got my thumb pinched between my stick and another girl's stick. apparently, It sliced off a good chunk of my thunb, which I didn't notice until I showed the coach at halftime. I left drops of blood on the floor.

3. Softball: my favorite play was when I would round third base and head home and the catcher for the other team would be holding the ball, crouched down in front of home plate. Um, I have at least 50 pounds on you. which i am going to use to slam into you, whereby you will see stars and drop the ball. And they did.

4. Rugby. I don't think this needs an explanation. but, really, i have a good story. I was sent to the "sin bin" (penalty box) my very first game because I executed a high tackle. Which means I clotheslined a girl when her neck ran into my outstretched arm. Whoops....

Heroes of the fictional variety...

So, I have very few "real life" heroes that come to mind when people ask me who I look up to. sure, there are a few, like my parents, a woman that I used to babysit for...that's probably it. I don't usually go for famous people heroes, because I feel like you see a really filtered version of them, and who knows if that is actually what they are like? There are people that I wish I could meet, like Nora Roberts, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, George Strait, Dale from Top Chef, Dog the Bounty Hunter (don't ask...), Dana White, But I wouldn't necessarily say that those people have characteristics that I relate to or would aspire to develop in myself. And for me, I need to relate to the people that I look up to. So here is kind of a weird topic, but I am going to introduce you to my fictional heroes... or heroines, rather...

My first fictional heroine is Elle Woods, of Legally Blonde fame. Why, you ask? I guess it started a few years ago with an offhand comment. I was volunteering for a program at school where they needed people to review resumes and facilitate some other programs for juniors and seniors in order to prepare them for job searching. We were supposed to wear "professional dress" because all of the students were supposed to dress for interviews. As myself and the other volunteers, a handful of graduate students in my program, stood in the front of the room waiting to be introduced my eyes scanned the outfits of the other volunteers. Hunter green pants suit with a zippered jacket on a female coworker (yes. a zippered jacket.) very nice black skirt suit on another, plain suits on a couple of guys. and then there was me. i had painstakingly picked out this outfit, and I thought I was rocking it, which I was: black nylons (not the 80's see-through ones, the ones that are like tights), black stilettos, knee-length black skirt, button-down with vertical stripes of different thicknsses in black and silver (thin stripes, totally acceptable), a black, cable-knit sweater vest with a subtle silver thread running through it, and my favorite siler earrings, which happened to be dangles. As I looked over the other volunteers, I began to doubt the professional quality of my outfit, even though I was still fully committed to its stylish quality. I leaned over to my friend, the wearer of the great black skirt suit, and asked "um, is this professional enough? what I am wearing?" her answer: "Of course it is. You are like the Elle Woods of the CSP prgram". I looked at her questioningly and she said "You know, you always look professional, but you look like, you know, you."

I was thrilled by this compliment. What a nice thing to say to someone! And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Elle has some great qualities, many of which I totally identify with. For example:

1. She is comletely not afraid to be a girl, even if that means head to toe pink outfits, scented stationary, embossed thank-you notes, whatever. However, this does not mean that she lets people take advantage of her or walk all over her. She can be a hard ass and stand up for herself.

2. I love how in the movie she just up and decides that she is going to go to harvard law. she makes up her mind, and there is no looking back. Sure, she initially goes because of a boy, but she relaizes in the end that doing it for herself is more important. She never once doubts that she will apply to harvard law, get in, and become a smashing success.

3. Elle accepts her ditziness, or blondeness, but never lets it get her down. Just because she says some dumb things (ask me sometime about my story about pamela anderson and the 'scary movie' she was in...) doesn't mean she's an idiot.

4. I also love how she kills people with kindness.

So my second heroine is Brenda Lee Johnson, of TNT network's The Closer, played by Kyra Sedgwick. If you do not already watch this show and enjoy cop shows/mysteries and women, you should really check it out. I completely relate to Brenda on a ton of different levels...

1. Brenda is another one who is a strong woman and doesn't let anyone give her any shit. On the show she plays a police interrogator, well-known for "closing" cases with her interrogation skills. Despite being a hard ass, she rocks floral patterned dresses, pastel suits, big heels, big hair, and makeup. Another thing I love is that her outfits don't always looks perfect...sometimes she will have the cutest dress on with a cartigan that doesn'y quite go, like when you get to work and realize that what you thougt was a good choice an hour ago just looks, well, weird.

2. Brenda is also always getting herself into trouble, mostly because she is going to do things her way and worry about everything later.

3. She routinely hides in her office and eats junk food with a look of pure intoxication that only those of us who have love affairs with anything chocolate at 3:00 in the afternoon can uinderstand. There was even one episode when she was ready to bite into a cookie when one of her coworkers walked in. She stuffed the cookie in the desk and you could tell that it was KILLING her.

4. In one episode she got in 2 car accidents in one day and they took away her driving priveleges by insisting that one of the other detectives drive er around. Um, I am the only perosn I know that actually has gotten into 2 fender benders in one day....

So, that is enough gushing about these two, and I hope ths helps you to get to know me a little better....

Peace.

One month in: The RAGE Comes Out...

So, when I thought about starting a blog in the past, I was always like, no, everyone will get sick of me raging and complaining all of the time. So I think that now that I have started blogging, I have done a pretty good job keeping the rage in check. Which is impressive, since my co-worker Kyle, who I share an office with and is in my program, likes to tell people that, unlike what they may think of me, I DO have feelings, but my feelings include rage, hatred, and anger. But, dear readers, TODAY IS THE DAY.

I was really excited for today, because the director of residence life asked me to come to the res life hall directors meeting today to give an introductory presentation about student learning outcomes. I am super flattered that he asked me, and psyched that it could go on my resume under "on campus presentations".

So, the meeting was being held in the lounge of one of our newest buildings on campus, eddy hall. We have at least 5 new buildings on campus, and since I don't make it down to the res life area with the dorms often, I wanted to make sure I was going the right place. So I asked people in my office, and no one was positive. So I went downstairs to the information desk, where one goes to find pertinent campus information.

The info desk had a map that did not include any of the new dorms. AWESOME.

I then ask the person working at the info desk where eddy hall is. She proceeds to take the map and draw a circle around where the building is, and tell me what building it is behind. I am a little nervous, since it is all the way across campus, and not sure how my steve madden mary janes are going to handle it.

So I set off, carrying my bag and the laptop in it's case. And in about three minutes, my feet are ON FIRE. Even awesomer. I get almost to the dorm, and trip and fall as i am stepping off the curb. It's ok, no one saw me.

I approach the dorm identified by the circle on the map, and guess what? THE SIGN DOES NOT SAY EDDY HALL, IT SAYS WILEY HALL! WILEY HALL! NOT THE SAME AS EDDY HALL! WHAT THE FUCK! IF I HAD A CHOICE AND MACHETE, I WOULD CUT MY FEET OFF RIGHT NOW!

so there was a woman talking on a cellphone outside of wiley hall, who must have thought i was crazy when i frantically shouted to her "do you know where eddy hall is?"

cellphone lady: wwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll, you. need to. drive back down this street. then take a left. aaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnndddddddddddddddd, then another left....

I don't have a car! I'm on foot! What building is it next to?

Um, it's behind browning?

Oh god. Browning? My heart sank. I was supposed to be in the meeting now, 15 minutes early and setting up the laptop and projector, talking to my contact there to make sure that we were on the same page with what needed to be discussed more thoroughly and what needed to be glossed over. BROWNING IS BACK ACROSS CAMPUS. TWO BUILDINGS AWAY FORM WHERE I STARTED.

So, I walked from wiley to eddy, feet burning, sweating, bangs sticking to ym head, filled with visions of me looking like an asshole. I finally got there, made a joke in front of the directors about why I was a little late, and gave an overall very good presentation.

And now, the rage:

WHAT THE FUCK, PERSON AT THE INFORMATION DESK, WHAT THE FUCK?

JUST SO YOU KNOW, WILEY HALL AND EDDY HALL ARE NOT THE SAME THING. IN FACT, THEY ARE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE CAMPUS. AND I HAVE THE BLISTERS AND BURNED SOLES TO PROVE IT.

I love how you were confidant enought to DRAW A CIRCLE AROUND THE MAP. Do you know why they don't call it the "correct information" desk? BECAUSE the CORRECT is IMPLIED!

JESUS CHRIST!