a wonderful world of make believe

Even though I am 24, I have to say one of the best jobs ever is babysitting. Where else can you work in a land of fantasy, unless you work for the big Mouse himself? I have a pretty steady babysitting side-career currently, and the girls I keep, keep my heart. Walking into their house is always a delight. You never know what adventure awaits and what part you will play in it. I've played many different roles-- from Tinkerbell to a timid turtle. A fairy princess to a tan-skinned mermaid. Glinda the Good Witch to a crawling baby only able to communicate with goo-goo. My favorite dance partners have been found in the homes I babysit. I only hope I will always be able to dance with their same carefree attitude and just enjoy the music of the moment. (That's me and two of the beauties dancing at a Valentine's Dance).

This weekend I was able to watch 'my girls'. Instead of the usual 3, Tabitha and I tag-teamed with 5 on this particular night. It has to be understood, these children have stolen the hearts of both Tabitha and myself. Slight jealousy arises when the other gets to watch the girls (a friendly jealousy though).

The weather was so beautiful this weekend, you were drawn outside. After swinging and running for a while, one of the girls started rearranging the chairs in the backyard. I'm not quite sure where all the chairs came from, but pretty soon there was a straight line of about 9 chairs.

When asked what she was doing, she confidently responded, "I'm making a Barbie Shop."
"A Barbie Shop?"
"Yes, a Barbie Shop. Only girls can get their hair cut here."

Precious!
I just had to get my hair done. After a quick snip snip with play scissors and a few pokes in the ear, I had a blow dry with a bubble maker. Fabulous! But it didn't end there. I was then able to pick a toy on account of my good behavior. She had a blanket of toys laid out behind the row of chairs to choose from. Such imagination!

I wonder how I used to play when I was little. Sometimes its hard to remember. When did we get too big for fairy princesses and secret missions? As the distance between childhood and today grows, I am so thankful that I do have reminders in my life keeping the kid in me alive.

I am my mother's daughter... naturally

I know this is a given. Duh- Of course I'm my mother's daughter! Who else's would I be?! Over time this has become evidently true. Growing up I always thought 'I'm never going to be like my mom-- she's crazy!' (a good crazy though, not the crazy crazy you're probably thinking) I'm sure we've all had these thoughts about our parents or another influential grown-up. You pick something about them and decide that is something you will NEVER do or be like.

Well nothing like reality to hit you in the pants for thinking that! Last week was my mom's birthday. She decided to make a weekend of it. And not just any weekend, a weekend with me none the less. She came to town on Thursday, spent the night. Shopped Friday while I worked. We went to the Coast that night and saw the Blue Man Group at the Beau and came home on Saturday. During this trip she was able to see my life in Hattiesburg, and she could not get enough of it. Always asking questions-- something I am terribly guilty of almost all the time. Wanting to know more than I'm willing to open up to-- another something I'm guilty of-- I usually always want to know more then I should.

After her visit I was told that I'm a lot like my mom. To my astonishment my jaw dropped-- No, I'm not, but in reflection, yes. Yes, I am. Its a not a bad thing either. I laugh and make fun of the way she rationalizes shopping when she has plenty, knowing I do the exact thing almost daily. Guess that's where I learned it. I'm sure there are tons of little non-verbal gestures we both do that I'm unaware of. I even gain weight the same way she does. It's in my genes. I might as well accept it. I love my mom-- who wouldn't? It's funny I can talk or hang out with my sister and something will happen. We will both just look at each other and wonder aloud when we both became our mother.

tagging conformity

So, this tag thing is going around the blogspot right now.... I suppose in an effort to procrastinate a bit I will contribute. Thanks Amy.

Five things on my to-do list today...
1. Clean my apartment.
2. Do some laundry
3. Buy a gift
4. Call a gym and join
5. Catch up on some reading

Five snacks I enjoy...
1. Wheat thins
2. Hummus... is this considered a snack or meal?
3. cheese
4. CANDY! I have a slight sweet tooth
5. Combos-- the pepperoni with cracker kind

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire ...
1. Pay off any bills for me, parents and sister/brother-in-law
2. Give to different service/nonprofit organizations-- kids, cancer (things I care about)
3. Church
4. travel
5. not throw it all away

Five bad habits...
1. Can't say no
2. Push important issues to the side instead of facing them
3. Sometimes I don't share my true feelings (kinda ties in with #2)
4. Try to finish other people's sentences
5. Daydream

Five places I have lived ...
1. Brandon, MS
2. Hattiesburg, MS
3. Southern Miss Campus, this is much different than living in Hattiesburg
4. Madrid, Spain (for a summer while I studied)
5. my mom would say I lived at best friend's house for the better part of my childhood instead of my own house.

Five jobs I've had...
1. Developer for the Future (I babysit. I like kids.)
2. Provider of Higher Education (maybe not THE provider, but I help by doing my job now)
3. Soldier of Knowledge (aka- student)
4. Barista (okay, I served coffee at a medical facility, but barista sounds really cool)
5. Scrimp Scrampy Server (server at Red Lobster in Jackson for a short time)

Okay... That's all. I'm not tagging anyone. It's just too much pressure :)

i heart the office... in reality and on tv

In celebration of a new episode to FINALLY grace the airways, I will share my love of "The Office". Well not only my love, but definitely the love of the two others in my office space. Not everyone is a fan in the entire office. BUT I am convinced if they watched, they too would be hooked as I am.

In recent weeks the guy who sits next me and I have started to play innocent office pranks on one another. Nothing big really. For instance, occasionally while talking to him I will slyly push the lever up on his chair with my foot causing him to suddenly drop a bit. No matter how many times I do this, he is always caught off guard which makes it so much more enjoyable for me. I've created a small wall between our adjoining desk with popsicle sticks. I've received text messages warning me about my coffee from "the Future Staci" (him). The latest is pretty good I have to say so my self.

This past weekend I had to come to the office for a little bit to help with something. Since it is rare to be in the office outside of office time AND him not be there also, I decided this was the perfect time to strike. I hid his chair and built a much smaller chair out of tinkertoys. Yes, we have tinkertoys in the office. What office is complete without a barrel of them? I wrote a note attached to the chair talking of downsizing and everything. I think he thoroughly enjoyed the joke. Here's a photo of the finished product.

I'm anxious see his next move... I'm sure it will be good.

hi grandma

Yesterday marked the highly celebrated day of my boss's birthday. Since everyone knows that the world revolves around me (complete joke for those who know me) I got to thinking about my birthday and the year under my belt. It suddenly occurred to me that in November I will be a quarter of a century old.

Crazy!

If that weren't enough, there's more! As you may know (yes both of my readers know) I work with college students. This week we got to meet a lot of incoming freshmen for next year. Did you know that next year's freshmen will be born in 1990??!! Hello I officially am old. If you see me walking on campus and feel compelled to call me grandma, gramps, nanna, maw-maw, granny, grams, grammy, or any other grandmotherly name instead of Staci-- I understand and I will probably answer. That is if my hip doesn't break first.

nothing to show for any of it

This morning I was able to participate in this learning experience offered on campus. As a student, faculty, or staff you can sign up for sessions to learn different tools in technology. It's offered through the Learning Enhancement Center on campus. They are fabulous and I love them. I'm a dork, I know. They offer courses from Photoshop to Powerpoint to SPSS (a not so fun, but powerful research tool). And the best part-- they are FREE! (and my boss encourages us to go to them)

So I sign up for these classes to learn more and expand my excellence (the classes are called Expanding Excellence). Well this morning I attended a class and LOVED it! (again- I'm a dork- I know). In my excitement of the project I created, I emailed it to my boss. You can imagine my excitement!

The subject line went along the lines of, "Look at what I learned!!" I attached the project which happened to be a quicktime movie. The text body talked for a line or two telling how great this program is and so on. After sending the email I return back to my office for work.

I get back to the office and check my email. I have a response from boss about my project! Yay! I just know he is going to be equally excited about my ever growing knowledge. Ha! Wishful thinking! I open the reply email to read:

"Nothing came up! Glad to know you learned nothing!"

Are you kidding me?! This can only happen to me! I'm tempted to take my boss across campus to the computer I was working on earlier to show him I did in fact attend the session and learn something. Oh well... Better luck next time I suppose... I really did learn a lot... obviously I missed the "How to Save PROPERLY" section. Oops!

the last supper

This weekend marked the festive holiday of Easter. You know, that religious holiday where bunnies suddenly lay eggs of chocolate in celebration of the resurrection of Christ. I've grown up getting excited about what I will I find in my Easter basket, wondering how a bunny could ever possibly hop into my room and leave that basket of sugary goodness beside my bed. Since then, I still enjoy when the Cadbury Creme Eggs come out to play, but my wonderment has changed from how that bunny hops in to how that bunny has ANYTHING to do with Easter? but that's not really my point...

We've all seen (probably not the original) the painting of "The Last Supper" by Di Vinci, or at least heard about it. Last week I was able to see a re-enactment of it-- a "Living Last Supper". Actors sat at the table frozen in place like the painting. One at a time, the characters came to life reflecting their thoughts and life. It was so interesting to see. A great way to learn about the different persons who were able to sit at the table with Jesus. After seeing this, I got to thinking about all the different ways this famous meal has been portrayed, and then I remembered a picture taken last summer. One hot evening, 13 friends got together and took a picture-- Last Supper style. Thought I would share.... in this photo, I played Andrew (third from the left).