Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Eternal Optimist

While I can be somewhat cynical, I realized this weekend that deep down inside I'm still at least part optimist. I'm reminded of that line in Hitch where she's 'a realist masquerading as a cynic who is secretly an optimist'. I'd typically choose the word realist for myself, but on Sunday I rediscovered my inner optimist.

I had an impressive pile of ironing accumulating, so Sunday afternoon I settled in for some quality time with my midget-sized ironing board and Cinderella (the animated version). Twelve shirts, three skirts and four pairs of slacks later I watched Cinderella cling blissfully to the prince just after they fell in love during a single moonlit dance. (On a realistic note, I'd personally want to at least see how the guy fares in daylight before expressing the sentiment - but apparently Prince Charming was just THAT good.) The clock tolls twelve, and she completely freaks out - at which point I think WAIT! If the guy's TRULY in love with you, he won't CARE that in about thirty seconds you'll be transformed back into the scullery maid and your servants are about to undergo some horrifyingly freakish conversion! JUST STAY THERE! Spare yourself the angst of being locked in the west tower while your one chance at happiness rests in the hands of 2 mice...one of which is arguably mentally delayed!

I've only seen the movie about a zillion times, yet there I sat...unable to iron o(r move for that matter) willing Cinderella to explain herself to the Prince with everything in me. I watched and hoped she'd wise up before fleeing down those stairs. (Without tripping, by the way. In glass heels. Had this been my fairy tale I'd have lost the slipper, tumbled down 3 flights and broken a leg before hobbling home. The girl's talented.)

I guess the upside to becoming so emotionally invested in a fairy tale is that I ultimately get to witness the happy ending and celebrate all over again with her.

I'm such a dork.

The ironing still isn't complete, but the pile has been reduced to a manageable height. With that admission I'm off to check some more things off of my 'to do' list before I lose all motivation. Happy Tuesday!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Dear 2009

So far I am not a fan.

Yours Truly,
Stacie

Friday, January 2, 2009

Karma's A Bitch

The biggest I know, as a matter of fact.

I took off on Christmas Eve to travel home. Just a few days after publishing that last blog, I found myself in the security line at DIA...wishing that people traveling with children under age 8 were required to fly a designated airline. Or at least stand in their own security queue.

Anyhow, I managed to maneuver myself into a line that was blissfully child free, only to get held up behind a woman who set the metal detector off 5 times. Each time she'd lift her arms, look around, go back and try again. She finally lifted her sweater enough to reveal an ass COVERED in rhinestones. It looked like someone had taken a Bedazzler and gone to town on her pockets. Part of me stared lasers through the back of her head.....and the rest of me tried to rationalize with the violent part, reasoning that it was really my own fault. Had I not vented about that VERY thing 2 days prior, she would have worn perfectly normal jeans. Karma...

Aside from the screaming children seated in front of, behind and across the aisle from me, the flight was relatively uneventful. (I won't even get started on the kids...) Suffice it to say that our descent began just as I was considering clawing my eyes out with the swizzle stick from my bloody mary. Once we were close enough to make out the mutlicolored irrigation circles I started to get excited. Being back in West Texas is comforting in a way that is impossible to grasp unless you've spent time there. Miranda Lambert got it right when she penned the lyrics 'The Texas sky's the biggest one I've seen...' At first glance, the scattered pumpjacks on empty pastures and fields of red sand (seasonally white with cotton) don't really seem impressive. It actually earned me the nickname "Desert Wasteland Girl" from a few friends. However, there's something about the sky that makes you feel like you can breathe again. (As long as we're not having a dirt storm)

In any case, it was good to be home. It was even better to be with family and to get to see a few friends and (of course) the boy with whom I spend essentially all of my free time on the phone. :) Christmas was pleasant, and it was time to come back all too soon. Thankfully, I had a travel companion to keep me occupied on the trip. As an added bonus, I ran in to my good friend Christie in the Dallas-Love Airport while we were making our connection. I actually sort-of hijacked her plane...but that's another story, and I've already spewed way too much on here for today.

Happy New Year!