Soup, anyone?

Yeah....I know that in this photo it looks pretty darn UN-appetizing, doesn't it? (I apologize for the poor photo quality...gotta love cell phones!)

And oddly enough it is the very thing that I look forward most to every Friday morning....to get me through three hours of the most boring class that the University offers......boring, boring, poke-my-eyes-out-with-a-dull-pencil boring. But I take heart in knowing that 1/2 way through we will be given a 10 minute break in which I will treat myself to this $3.25 bowl of deliciousness. Clam chowder from the coffee stand at the college.....oh yeah, we've hit the big time!

In fact this past Friday my fellow soup-loving classmate & I even joked about how pathetic it is that the most exciting thing in our lives on Fridays is some meger looking clam chowder served in a styrofoam cup. Talk about bad attitudes...........

So I come home and I read Jody's blog & find the link to Angie Smith's blog. Angie & her husband are facing a trial unilke anything I can even begin to imagine.....their story has touch me beyond words....you just have to read it for yourself.............. This woman is such a pillar of strength in such a dark time.

And then I finished writing my paper on Elie Wiesel's Night. The book chronicles Wiesel's time spent in Auschwitz during WWII. If you haven't read it, run...don't walk....run out & buy it! Powerful beyond words. And as I was proof reading my paper, I realized that God was silently showing me something like this "Hello? Stacy? Do you hear me? I know you are bogged down with all the little 'things' in life & that you are tired.....but don't forget you are also very blessed."

Yep.....I am tired...more tired than I have ever been.....between commuting to Anchorage for school 4 days a week, all my school work and then running a family & household and all my countless projects and commitees at the kids' school plus doing the parent thing alone 50% of the year....I am beat! But really what do I have to complain about?

So I guess The Big Guy was trying to give me an attitude adjustment in a kind and gentle way. My Friday morning bowl of soup isn't pathetic at all.......and I have to be grateful for all of these little blessings.....each & every one.

Do you ever have those times that you find these little lessons are all around you when you least expect it ?

Okay...back to my school work! Have a great week:)

Move over Wedding Crashers......Mommy Crashers Are in the house....

So Saturday we had little R's 6th birthday party at Bouncin' Bears, the new 'cool' place to have a party around here, especially for the 12 & under crowd. Well we had a huge turnout (29 kids...that is including the siblings of all the kids we invited......seriously this place is popular) & the kids had a BLAST! However, the attendent told me to let her know if "anyone comes in with a present" that we don't know?

Huh?

To make a long story short, she tells me there is a 'ring' of moms who are trying to crash parties........yep, crashing the parties of 6 year olds. Why you might ask? Well, it is like $7.00 a kid to go to Bouncin' Bears for "Open Jump"that is held throughout the week (& on weekends if no parties are scheduled). Well for the convience of people who might want to attend Open Jumps on the weekends the management has posted a schedule on their website to let them know when parties are scheduled.

So..................instead of forking over say $21.oo if a family has three kids & waiting (like decent folk) for an Open Jump opportunity, these schmoes are showing up to some unsuspecting kid's party with a $5.00 present in hand, hoping to save themselves 16-or-so dollars......and hey they might even score their kids a cupcake, juice box & goodie bag in the process...................uhm, can you say L-O-S-E-R-S! And I guess this hasn't just happened one time....it has become a regular problem! Good grief!

And an update since my last post......I lived through last week's Lit. midterm, but now I am prepping for NE Asia in the 21st Century midterm tomorrow night & Western Religion for Wednesday! Ugh....................such is life................

The waiting game.....

Right now I am sitting here:

In the Alaska Consortium Library waiting for my Canadian Lit Professor to post our midterm on Blackboard. We can take the test anywhere we want....we just have to print it out & present her w/ a hard copy by 11:30am AST. So needless to say, I can't do it from home considering we live 47 miles from campus! Wish me luck! (actually this shouldn't be too bad...this is my favorite class this semester. It is the Northeast Asia Midterm that I have next Tuesday that's gonna kill me!

Later gators!

By the way...if any of you are Shelfari Members (see my bookshelf at the right) let me know so I can add you to my friends list!

Chic Flicks & Research Papers........

It is still ridiculously cold here........we've spent weeks in the negative temperatures now! Blech! I am counting the seconds until Spring....I want to drive on dry roads, my kids want to play outside, I WANT my kids to play outside, I want to be able to walk across campus with out risk of life or limb......most of all I want to open up my windows & let fresh air fill my house. Yep.....cabin fever has officially set in :)

So as a means to cope with the 'winter blues', My friend Jen & I spent the entire morning curled up on her sofas, watching chic flicks & eating homemade beniets. OMG! There were oh-so-yummy! And I am confident (*cough-cough*) that they were totally fat-free! :) And if they weren't, I don't wanna know....... (buries head in sand)

Although it was uber cold & windy, it was a perfect, lazy morning! First we watched, one of my personal favs, Calendar Girls.

Jen & I are certain when we get old we are going to be exactly like Kris & Annie...well, with our clothes on. But the whole laughing hysterically at inappropriate times & getting into mischief.....yeah that will be us. Who am I kidding? It already is us! After we laughed & cried through the entire flick, we washed it down with copius amounts of diet Coke & Love Actually.Another personal fav!! I mean what isn't there to love about this movie!!! It is brilliant. So in addition to growing old & mischievious together, Jen & I have decided that we most definitley need to move to Britian together. I lived in Suffolk county, England for several years & loved it. But Jen & I have decided we need to live there together...ya know, for the experience. Now we just need to convince our husbands of this.

So, in case you are wondering.....I totally slacked on my school work for this cinema experience. Yep.....total slacker college student...that is me! I have a huge persentation tomorrow, a test & another presentation due on Monday, a paper for Tuesday, an exam on Wednesday, and a huge paper for next Friday. Oh I can't forget the 2 novels I also have to finish by the end of next week. Yep....I'm just a bit overloaded. So I'm not sure if today's 'free time' was a erroneous move or a sanity saver. Only time will tell..........