The last one for 2008

First thing's first: Two blog entries ago, I mentioned that I got a really short haircut. This picture is about 3 weeks old, so it has grown just a bit. I hope you enjoy my new Dutch Boy-esque coiffure.

Best thing about a short 'do? -- Badass chicken hair in the morning.

If I were truly brave, I would leave the house like this.

Just like the rest of you out there, Sean and I are wrapping up the holiday season and preparing for 2009. Can you believe yet another year has passed? Where does time go so quickly? Sometimes the seasons seem to drag on and on, but in other ways they feel like they're gone in a flash. As I walked out of the grocery store tonight, the cold weather hit me like a block of ice. (Ok, so it was probably only 40 degrees...but I'm a wimp.) My immediate reaction was a shiver and I thought, "I can't wait until the warm weather arrives!" But I had to remind myself to let it soak in...to embrace the season and all that comes with it. I took a deep breath of chilly air and it stung just a bit, but that was ok. Warm weather will come soon enough.

It looks like the last week of 2008 will be dedicated to cleaning. Sean and I accumulated quite a bit of junk (boxes, trash, wrapping paper, ect.) between all the gift giving & receiving, and it's still lingering around our house. Plus, we have so many new gifts that will require new spaces in our "cozy" home. And the biggest chore of all still has yet to be completed - taking down the Christmas tree and putting away the decorations. *cringe*

Oh...and because Sean and I are really organized people, we decided to use Christmas money from my dad to buy brand new living room furniture...and we brought it all home today! Our poor little living room is now at maximum capacity. With TWO couches (old & new) a new chair, the existing tables and cabinets, and the Christmas tree there is absolutely no room left in which to move. It's a total freakin disaster! But oh well...such is life. Things will get moved some way, somehow.

I think it's pretty swanky, don't you? And I'm so thrilled that we aren't Boring Beige people anymore. We have color in our lives! It may be hard to tell from the pictures, but it's a gray-ish blue color.

Thankfully, I'm going to California in one week to visit Jolene (if my vacation is approved by my boss...I still haven't heard back from him. argh.) So, if things at home don't get organized by the time I leave, I figure Sean will just take care of it while I'm away. What else will he have to do? In fact, he should consider the junky house a favor since it will keep him plenty busy. Love you, honey!

Happy new year to you all!!!! I'll be back in 2009.

Becoming Gene Simmons

Halloween is my favorite holiday, and each year I find myself obsessing over a costume months in advance. This year I went with the most natural choice - Gene Simmons. With a tongue as long as mine, the transition is quite easy. I've used this costume in the past, but it had been a few years since anyone saw me in the paint. This year I added some metal flair to my all-black clothing, and I was quite pleased with the outcome.

Step #1: Tease Hair

I like to call this picture "There's Something about Stacey"

Step #2: Begin outlining The Demon face

Outlining is the most difficult step because you have to draw to scale. See, Gene has a tremendously large forehead, so when I draw on my face I have to adjust the scale quite a bit.

Step #3: Fill in the outlines with black and white paint. This is a very tedious process. The whole thing combined takes about an hour.

Sean rigged up a Lego Man costume the night before. His procrastination sometimes stresses me out. In the end, the costume came together and it was a big hit.

We took our costume show on the road and went to a Halloween party at The Greenhouse bar in Nashville. It was really poorly put together, but we had a good time with Sherri and Keith.

Sherri and Keith went as Skeleton Sweatshirt Man and Daphne from Scooby Doo.

Sean's costume came with many challenges. He had limited visibility, and no one could hear him talking. Needless to say, he felt isolated most of the night. This costume could also be called "The Yellow Helen Keller." Thank goodness he added a built in drink holder to his Lego hand.

One of my favorite costumes of the night was the Oompa Loompa. P.S. he didn't bring any chocolate with him.

My Whereabouts

Dear fellow readers,

After a long month (and 2 weeks) of no word from me, I figured I owed you some sort of explanation. Up until this point, I've been pretty good about keeping my real emotions out of this blog. The blog was created as a fun place for family and friends to check up on me, my husband and our life in the little yellow house. But tonight will be dedicated to some raw emotion. It's not meant to become a regular thing, so just bear with me this once...

My days have been mentally and emotionally draining, which means I don't have the desire to spend time on blog entries. I don't have the desire to do a lot of things right now. It's not that I don't think about you out there -- I do! I have new updates to share and lots of new pictures for you. It's just hard for me to focus on those things right now. So please be patient, and don't think I gave up on the blog altogether. I'm just taking a break.

I've been feeling a lot of daily frustration...which somehow, for me, turns into self-doubt...which is, of course, mixed with a healthy dose of anger. And there you have it -- I'm a big boiling pot of unhappiness! It's safe to say, I'm not a very fun person to be around these days. Maybe on the surface I could pass for normal, but I know what's going on inside me and it's not been very pretty. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's the truth. I don't like the current version of me. I know it's getting bad when I lose my appetite...because Lord knows how much I love to eat!!!

Anyway, if you feel that I've been ignoring you recently, or haven't been kind to you, I'd like to extend my apologies. I'm here...and I'm thinking about all you friends & family out there, and sending my love your way tonight from my Blogging in Bed session.

Now, don't go thinking that anything is wrong with me and my wonderful husband! He is the absolute best. He's the only thing that holds me together sometimes. Sure, he might be the world's LOUDEST BREATHER at night, but I love him to pieces. In fact, I think I'm going to go hug him right now because just thinking about him made me smile.

And P.S. -- I got a really short haircut and I look like a boy.