My Daughter, the DIVA!

This is my daughter, Shelby. She is a DIVA! I do not have any idea where she gets this kind of attitude !
It surely must have come from her father! Anyhoo, Shelby went to her first middle school dance this past Friday evening after school. The theme was "Hollywood" and the kids were asked to dress like celebrities if they chose. So, we chose to take a more "casual" type celebrity look, as oppposed to some of her classmates who came all glammed out. Some of the girls really went all out and as we sat there in the "uber vehicle" watching Shelby work the crowd, Tad would comment on which of the girls was the hottest. Cute! An 8 yr old checking out 13 yr old girls. Oh well, could be worse I guess? So, Shelby had fun and survived her very first middle school dance. Now, we only have the Christmas formal dance to look forward to. Oi Vey!

Weekend Fun!

Occasionally, it's nice just to get out of the house and get into nature. Now, I'm not one of those "nature nuts", you know the types I'm talking about. Those that are constantly out hiking, biking, communing with nature, eating granola, those types. But on the rare occasion, I do like getting out there and viewing things in their natural state. And, we're fortunate to live in a beautiful area of southern middle Tennessee, so I'd like to share a little of that beauty with you.

Lastly, here are some gorgeous sunset photos just taken tonight right outside our home.Enjoy!

Not a Nerd!

I took this quiz just to see what I would score and this is what it said:

94% scored higher (more nerdy), and
6% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:

Definitely not nerdy, you are probably cool.

Cool, yes! Despise nerds? Absolutely not!

Big, Hairy Creatures

There are some things that absolutely do not belong in a bank! Big, hairy tarantulas fall into this category. I'm not sure why this customer thought it was okay to bring her big, hairy tarantula into the bank where I work today, but she did. All I can say is, THANK GOD in heaven above that I didn't actually get a look at the thing. I might've had a heart attack right there in my chair. All I could see was my manager and some others holding up this terraririum type thing and looking inside while tapping on the glass. Only later did I find out that it was a big, hairy tarantula. Anyhow, moral of the story...People please do not take animals where they don't belong!

To Preach or Not to Preach

Yes, that is the question. My pastor today asked a friend of mine and I if our sunday school class would be interested in taking control of worship for Laity Sunday. Now, I should probably explain that in the United Methodist Church, we celebrate Laity Sunday on the 3rd sunday in October and that Laity Sunday is a time when members of the Laity (you regular folk who normally sit in the pews) take over for the folks who normally do different jobs in the worship service, i.e. song leader, choir director, and of course, preaching. My sunday school class just did this 2 yrs ago and my husband's sunday school class (yes, we're in different classes and maybe I'll explain in another post) did Laity Sunday last year. Now, as my friend pointed out, there's one more ss class that could do this, but our pastor looked at us as if to say "Get real", so we kind of figured that that wouldn't happen. I should mention here that the "other" ss class is the senior adult class, not that seniors aren't more than capable of song leading, or preaching, but this group is to the point where we're just glad they're able to make it out of their homes and into the church sanctuary! So, anyhoo, as all this conversating is going on, I hear a little voice. It says, "Stacie, you preach." And I'm thinking, "WHAT?!?!" Then it says, "You heard me, You preach...You can do it". Now, was this the Lord laying on my heart or what? This whole thing makes me nervous. Not that I'm nervous to get up in front of these people, anymore that is, but the topic that's on my heart is not one that I think these folks want to hear. And I have to consider the fact that most of these people are my family, close family and do I reallly want to piss them all off? Well, not really. I suppose this is something that's going to take a lot of thought and prayer!

Entertainment

This afternoon, our entertainment consisted of our nextdoor neighbor burning up his backyard. Actually, I think he was attempting to eradicate overgrown brush, however, he let it get carried away. Nevermind the fact that you're supposed to acquire a burn permit, who can get a burn permit on a Sunday afternoon? Our neighbor is prone to alcoholic libations, so I'm sure the last thing he thought about was a burn permit. Thank God he was cognizant to the fact that he couldn't fight the fire alone and called the "G.D. fire department". Mind you, this is a totally volunteer fire dept., but I'm thankful we have one. Now, as if the fire department wasn't enough entertainment, the Sherriff came on down to join the BVFD (Broadview Volunteer Fire Dept.) Well, the sherriff didn't stay long and as far as I can tell the neighbor is still home, he hasn't been dragged off to the pokey or anything like that. I assume he'll have to pay for the BVFD coming to put out his fire, I'm sure that'll cost him way more than it would have, had he done his burning legally with a permit. Final thought: if you have to call the fire department to put out a fire in your back yard, you might be a redneck!

Where were you?

September 11, 2001... where were you? what were you doing? I think everyone in America that lived through that fateful day can answer those questions in detail. It was a day just like any other day, I got up, got the kids dressed, fed them, took Shelby to school and Tad and I were starting our first day at preschool. He, as a student, and I as a preschool teacher. It was such a beautiful day, the sky was a blue like I've never seen before. How ironic, that something so tragic would happen on such a beautiful day. I did not view the towers being hit as they happened. I received word through my preschool director. She told us of the first incident, and we had a prayer for those inside and prayed that it was just a foolish mistake. Of course, when we got word the second tower had been hit and then the Pentagon, we knew. We knew that we were under attack. I cannot describe the fear I felt. I remember calling my husband to check on him and see if he had heard, he had, and the rest of our conversation was mindless chatter. I'm sure those preschool children learned absolutely nothing that first day. Alan Jackson's song "Where were you when the world stopped turning" always gets to me, there's one line... teaching a class full of innocent children"...I pray that we teach our children love and mercy and that something like this never happens again.

Other things I remember:

American Flags everywhere, Wal-Mart sold out
Church Pews packed with worshippers
Kindness shown to others
Watching TV every waking moment
Being thankful for another day with my family


LET US NEVER FORGET!

Recollections

Why is it that spouses, s/o's, etc expect us to remember events in their lives that happened before we knew them? Apparantly, Sept. 10th was an important event in my husband's life (which you can read about here) and seeing as how this event occurred before I had even met my darling husband, I do not think I should be held accountable for not remembering the exact date on which this significant event happened for my sweetie. Now, I should say that Yes, I do remember him telling me about meeting one of his guitar idols, I just didn't recollect the date that it occurred. I would also interject that I, too have personally met a celebrity, but I don't even remotely remember the exact day that it happened. I do remember it was in a mall in Nashville on a Saturday. I think. Well, I know it was on a Saturday, and it might have been in Huntsville, Al. but that's irrelevant. Anyhoo, the point is this...spouses, s/o's, etc. don't hold it against us if we can't remember incidents that happened to you before we came along. It doesn't mean that we think they're insignificant, it just means that either 1. we're forgetful or 2. we don't like to think about/remember that there was a time before we were part of your life.

A Dodge Go Cart

After my new 2005 Nissan Pathfinder was attacked by a stark-raving mad deer and I had to get the whole front fender replaced, our lovely insurance company provided me with a rental car. TADA! A new 2005 Dodge Go Cart, er, I mean Stratus. It's a really cute car on the outside, but while driving it, it feels like you're driving a go cart. My husband loves it, except for the fact that it doesn't have enough horsepower, torque, etc etc...blah blah, I don't understand that stuff under the hood. I do understand asthetics, I am proud of the fact that as a female, I can name the make and model of just about any vehicle. But I digress, this vehicle is sooo low to the ground and as a short, er vertically challenged person, I prefer riding up high where I can look down on, er..'scuse me, I mean where I can see everything. Well, the good news is that my Pathfinder is ready and I won't have to drive the go cart very much longer... so by this time tomorrow, and with many thanks to my adorable husband, the Pathfinder will be home!

Tad, the "Floyd" fan

This is my son, Tad. Cute, isn't he? Of course, he takes after his much beloved mother..ha! Actually, he's the carbon copy of his father, which isn't so bad. It is, however, his father's influence that has caused this sweet child to now become a Pink Floyd fanatic. Pink Floyd is my husband's favorite musical group of all time, aside from Black Sabbath of course. Therefore, we are forced to listen to various cd's and watch dvd's until even I, the non Floyd fan, can recite them word for word. Tad is such a fan that after rescuing a cricket from the school playground, he named it "Gerald" from an obscure Floyd song, "Bike". His teacher pleaded with him to let Gerald go because he was an endangered species. I, personally, have never heard of any species of crickets that were endangered, but I can empathize with Tad's teacher because girls don't like bugs of any kind!! But, here's the topper, as my child was in a compromising position the other night (using the toilet), I heard him with the door closed, down the hallway and around a corner singing to the top of his lungs ....
"I'll see you on the dark side of the moon".... he is truly his father's son!

Patience

Since I am THISCLOSE to being computer illiterate, I would ask for your patience as I continue updating my blog. Other folks, who are more computer savvy than I, are trying to instruct me. Pray for him, please. Thank you.

Confused

This chicken is confused...it doesn't know if it's Mexican or not. This chicken cracks me up everytime I see it. It resides in beautiful, downtown Winchester, aka my hometown. My husband has an item about this chicken on his blog as well. Originally, this place was a Mexican style restaurant, then they moved and another Mexican style restaurant was supposed to be moving into this building and then one day, the chicken appeared and shortly thereafter the sign changed. So, we're not sure if we're getting "Buen Dia" or the broaster chicken place. It's been this way over 6 months, so there's no telling what this restaurant will actually be when it finally opens for business. So, why does it amuse me? I reckon I'm just a simpleton that's easily amused.