Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Stacy's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
1:20 pm	The Fix (Comment on this)
Monday, December 1st, 2008
5:40 pm	Observation of irony I work in a church. It is the first place I've worked where when I'm putting in lots of time and effort they do not assume it was the result of miraculous intervention that a job got done but rather give me some credit. Current Mood: amused (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
2:03 pm	An update ... to Palin as President, here. Not so funny, but makes me at least as happy. Current Mood: impressed Current Music: "Yes We Can" (Comment on this)
1:22 pm	Now, we've all been to the Mountaintop ... We have elected (decisively) a man based on the content of his character. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 3rd, 2008
3:27 pm	Teaching values is tricky ... So, today, Indigo came home from school with the Scholastic magazine with the presidential candidates on the cover. He was to pick a candidate. Yay! He picked Obama. Unfortunately, he didn't just put an X through John McCain but also gave him red, demon eyes. LOL. I thought we'd been very judicious in saying, "Well, we think this way, but other people ... etc." My mom visited this weekend. I'll blame her. :) Current Mood: amused (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 25th, 2008
6:44 pm	Testing, testing Gakked from mamafrog Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test... NFPS - The Guru Nature, Foreground, Big Picture, and Shape You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on what's in front of you (the foreground) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the shapes around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can't control. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You prefer a structured environment within which to live and you like things to be predictable. The Perception Personality Types: Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
12:24 am	Question for those familiar with design ... am I entirely old-fashioned in preferring fully justified text in most instances? Is there a movement to instead make everything left-justified? Just trying to parse some comments from one of my committee members. (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
11:24 pm	An open letter to Alex Ross ... Please, please put your talents to recreating the four freedoms posters for a multicultural world. I know you are greatly influenced by Norman Rockwell and have put efforts into the Obama campaign. I'm wearing the very cool Obama shirt you created at the moment and got many compliments on it this evening. But just as Obama echoed the FDR "Four Freedoms" speech in Berlin, I'd love to see you echo those iconic posters in a modern way that reflects oursociety now. Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
Monday, August 4th, 2008
9:28 am	Happy Birthday to ... Barack Obama. I had no idea we shared a birthday until this morning. I'll bet he has meetings today he'd rather not attend, too. LOL. Current Mood: amused (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
10:59 pm	RIP Solzhenitsyn Alexander Solzhenitsyn has died at the age of 89. He did many remarkable things, wrote many remarkable books, was a more than passable mathematician and won a Nobel Prize. I personally comment on his passing to thank him for his abilitity to make at least one high school student think in an entirely different way through the experience that was "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denosovich." Current Mood: sad (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 5th, 2008
7:38 pm	More meditation and yoga for me ... Last Sunday my back started spasming. My mid-back, not where you usually expect back pain. It got better after a few days, but I was still thinking a massage was in order. So, the therapist touched my back and confirmed those were some big knots in there. She spent a lot of time on the back itself. It was when she started on other areas that it became clear that I am carrying way too much stress. Every area she touched was a huge knot. Feet, hands, legs, arms, shoulders; I could even feel it when she was relieving tension in my scalp. It's pretty clear I started to cramp in my mid back just because there weren't other muscle groups to tighten up. It's six and a half hours from when the massage ended, and the parts of my back where she focused are still noticeably radiating heat. So, yeah, renewed focus on stress relief might be in order. Current Mood: sore (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
9:50 pm	Good wishes Better late in the day than not at all. Happy Birthday to mamafrog and emturtle! And better a day early, Happy Anniversary to indigodove and ralphmelton! Current Mood: crazy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, June 13th, 2008
6:45 pm	Oh, let's have a garden ... Surely that produce will save us money. I just got the water bill. I'm not so sure. LOL. Seriously, though, the garden is an Indigo project, and he's very excited to go and visit his plants. So, despite the fact I'm not sure we will produce enough salad to justify the sprinkler costs, it's a win. The good news is that while June looks really ugly (if Origins were a week later, or the mortgage was due a day later or if the stupid water bill was due at the start of July rather than the end of June, we'd be golden), our finances appear to be on course to straighten out in July. We should be able to make real progress on things in the coming months. After a couple of months of seemingly endless car repairs, getting the kids enrolled in summer activities and the like, this is a big relief. And with the doubling of hours, I don't even have to look into retail! Huzzah! Current Mood: optimistic (Comment on this)
Monday, June 9th, 2008
2:04 pm	A little humid here ... but not so bad So, we replaced our non-working dehumidifier yesterday. Even when we were using the air conditioning, it would be sticky and/or dank down here, and it was just crazy without the air conditioning, which like so many people we're trying not to use for environmental and fiscal reasons. So, it was time to bite the bullet and replace the dehumidifier. We were doing cleaning, organizing yesterday and realized that there were books that just felt damp. Nora's boppy, which had gotten stored down here, was so musty and icky I couldn't even pack it up for charity. Just yuck. The new humidifier was not only full when I came down this morning at 7 a.m. or so; it was full again by 1 p.m. Good news is that the humidity has apparently dropped to 66 percent. Better news is that the heat wave is supposed to break tomorrow, so it will only be in the low 80s. It will seem like heaven. :) On happier summer news, I love, love, love the community center I chose for the kids' swimming lessons this year. The place we went before was crazy with its scheduling, which basically had kids attend in the mornings M-F for two weeks straight rather than one or two days once a week. Great, so long as you can take a two-week vacation just to get your kids to swimming lessons, but that was no longer an option for me. So, I explored the options and ended up at the community center. The weekly classes are much more workable, plus this aquatics center is indoors, so there is no chance of missing up to half the lessons because you get a stormy week. And I get to avoid protracted sunscreening sessions before anyone is entirely awake for the day. Every instructor was just absolutely fantastic in dealing with the kids and with me. They called Fuschia's real name (which I've never known another little girl in this era to have) for a different class, but it's the first week, so I thought I'd just messed up the times. Nope, there was another little one with the same name. So, Fuschia had a terrible time in that class, which apparently was intended for kids who were comfortable in the water. But, upon realizing the confusion, they were absolutely awesome. They not only said not a word about her having taken the wrong class and me inappropriately being in the water with her, but also planned for her to move to an even more appropriate one in the next hour. And that instructor spent the 15 or so minutes of downtime getting Fuschia comfortable. It was pretty cool to see a little girl go, within the space of two hours, from "No, no, no; I will not go more than an inch into the water" to actually laughing when her teacher doused her head. Indigo had the same instructor and did great at being a Guppy II. The other advantage to this indoor setup, of course, is that we can continue into the fall and even winter, so they won't regress summer to summer. On top of all this, these lessons cost less than the other place, and much less than the Y. As an added bonus, they will become still cheaper now that I will be working 20 hours per week for an organization within the community boundaries and therefore pay city taxes. And, as a liberal, I have to point out that I am getting great value for return on this community center just in the first week I've checked it out. I will definitely be checking out some of the other classes in the months to come. They have cheap child care, too! Current Mood: hopeful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
8:29 am	Milestones For those who haven't heard, I was promoted! From 10 hours a week as Web Editor to 20 hours a week as interim Communications Director for my church. This is most excellent, as I was thinking I would need to add a part-time job in consideration of paying down debt. Over the summer, I'm going to be spending six hours a week in the church office, which might go up during the school year if necessary. I can still do most of it from home (and should, because my computer is much better set up for design than anything they have there.) It also has the potential to lose the interim status and become full time next year. That would mean changes, but with the kids getting bigger, nothing we couldn't take on. ... Which leads to the other milestone of the early morning. We've moved my office to the basement because if I'm going to be working 20 hours a week I can't just mostly stay out in deference to guests for days at a time (I in no way mean to imply I don't love having the guests for those who have been here, just being realistic), because there is a greater chance of me enjoying WoW if I can call over to Blue to explain stuff in person and because it's cooler down here and that fits with our goal of reducing the use of air conditioning to improve the greater environment and our personal finances. So, I'm no longer across the hall from Little Miss Fuschia. Much to my surprise, just a few minutes after my last run upstairs to listen for her stirring I heard the pitter patter of a big girl who can get out of her own crib! The side has been down for months to encourage just such activity. So, yay for Fuschia! She was very proud of herself. Current Mood: cheerful Current Music: Noggin at a distance (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 1st, 2008
6:59 pm	And stay smited! So, we've lived in this house for four years. I am not a gardener/landscape person as anyone who has visited will find unsurprising. However, for the past four years, I have had a mission to kill the stupid weed bush (and it is -- or was -- a full bush) that intertwines with the pink rosebush in our front yard. The first year, I trimmed back everything I could find. It grew back. The next year, Blue helped to trim it all the way down to the base. It grew back. Last year, I just trimmed it back again. And it was back in full force right with the roses. It's *ugly*, which is bad enough, but worse, it ruined the appearance of our very pretty pink roses. This afternoon, I trimmed it back as far as I could. Then Blue got out the damned electric saw and cut it to the ground. Then I sprayed the remaining bit of trunk with plant killer. Now that we've gone biblical on the thing, I hope it takes the hint. Just DIE! It was oddly satisfying. :) Current Mood: amused (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
2:42 pm	Happy birthday to ... ralphmelton. Hope it's fantastic and you have lots of fun! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, April 18th, 2008
4:03 pm	OMG, does Mary Jane know? Teens not only use drugs, but they attempt to cover this up by using slang words for those drugs! What a frightening and surprising turn of events! http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/news.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2008-04-18-0007.html Current Mood: amused (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
1:24 pm	I'm plenty light, thanks. :) from 5eh Your Score: The Saint You scored 19% Scuzziness! Listen up. This is an extremely low scuzziness score, which suggests that you are really a little too honest for your own good. In fact, a little too honest for my own good, because you make me puke. Do you always, always, always have to tell the truth? Do you always, always, always have to do the right thing? Please lighten up. For your sake. For my sake. Just chill. Link: The How Much of a Scuzzbag Are You Test written by AJEdwardsJr on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(AJEdwardsJr) No, the surprise is not at my results but at other news that I shouldn't share. Nothing bad or anything, just a piece of work-related news that should remain private for a time. Current Mood: surprised (Comment on this)
Monday, March 10th, 2008
2:42 pm	Meme ... Yes, someday I may update again. In the meantime, please enjoy this meme stolen from matsujo9. I received 71 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you? Quiz by SheGoddess: Lose weight quickly (Comment on this)