From the Desk of Stephanie

Are realtors slashing their prices, too?

fromthedeskofstephanie — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:08:57 +0000

Since we might be selling our home this year, I’m wondering if real estate agents are still asking for a 6 percent commission.

Since our home’s value has dropped, 6 percent of what we get is a big deal. We might go wih a “help-you” sell agency to save money.

I understand being a real estate agent is costly, like office rental, materials, car expenses, licensing, but 6 percent is too much for us. One to 2 percent would be our max.

And the Oscar for cinematography doesn’t go to … Oscar!

fromthedeskofstephanie — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 04:24:17 +0000

The only part of the Oscar telecast I watch is the tribute to the people who died during the past year. This year, the producers killed them all over again.

If I had bad eyesight I would not know who they were showing. The video with the deceased in it kept moving around and it never filled the whole screen. Why did they think I wanted to see their ugly corrugated metal set over video of the people?

The song was nice that accompanied the video but I didn’t enjoy the segment’s “cinematography”.

“Focusing On The Past Just Clutters The Future”

fromthedeskofstephanie — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:20:52 +0000

Stacy Dutton said that on “Clean Sweep” this morning. How true!

After I quit my job this summer I did a lot of pondering, mostly about things that happened to me as a teenager. Some of the things were good, some weren’t. After thinking about those things and getting the best rest of my life (I slept most of December) I’m ready to move on.

I’ve learned from the mean things people said and the mean things I said; the stupid things they did and the stupid things I did. No one was perfect; no one was a saint in school. I lied, I cheated, I stole, I gossipped, I was lazy, I was overly dramatic, I was even a little slutty. But I was also kind, smart, funny, helpful and charitable.

I’m done thinking I don’t deserve things because of my size or because of the mistakes I made in my youth. Although I realize there will be people who believe I don’t deserve things because of that.

I’m going to learn from my past, but focus on my future.

Dress mess – again

fromthedeskofstephanie — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:11:37 +0000

What the hell was Michelle Obama wearing today? That looked like an old Italian mother-of-the bride outfit. Those gloves didn’t coordinate and that limp bow in the front – no.

I don’t care who’s president but damn it first lady is who little girls look up to for style. Where would I be without Nancy or Barbara. I might not own pearls if it wasn’t for Barbara or that cute peek-a-boo blue cardigan with the swirly lining that I get so many compliments on.

Guitar Godess

fromthedeskofstephanie — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:02:45 +0000

I learned how to play Guitar Hero last night and I’m better than my husband. Rock on!

***Oh, and I talked to my mom yesterday and she was like “Did you see some girl dancing around on TV today wearing two pom-poms on her hips? She looked horrible.” OMG, that was Shawn Johnson. Seriously, fire that costume designer.***

Not Quite

fromthedeskofstephanie — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:27:12 +0000

My husband put a kabash on the sectional bed idea in the basement. I’m OK with it because it saves us money and space. The basement space was intended to be a workout area for me so it’s best not cluttered with furniture.

Did anyone watch the Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular today? Why does that costume designer hate Shawn Johnson? The “Dirty Pop” outfit was horrible! And she’s such a pretty girl it totally detracted from her face. (I hope she didn’t pick it out.)

And I was so excited to check out Self.com’s “Eat Like Me” blog, a blog I thought was just what a registered dietitian eats each day – like that magazine’s celebrity “What I Ate Today” feature. Turns out what she eats isn’t the only thing on the blog and she babbles on and on about her kid.

I would like to see a blog with three columns and in each column is a list of what three different dietitians ate that day. Just what thay ate.

Build a Bed

fromthedeskofstephanie — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:08:45 +0000

We have this great basement space but we don’t have any comforatable seating in it. I have our two plastic outdoor Adirondack chairs in there now and it’s embarrassing.

I would love to buy a couch but 1. We don’t have spare money and 2. We don’t want to want to own another couch.

My idea is to get two twin bed mattresses and build an L-shaped platform for them to create our own sectional. I think it could be an easy project if I can get my husband on board. He has a three day weekend so it would be a good time to get it done.

Clean Sweep

fromthedeskofstephanie — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:35:09 +0000

For the yard sale.

: Skinny clothes await.

Since Christmas day my husband and I have been going through our stuff and making a yard sale pile. It’s more like a mountain. (Surprising since we don’t have a cluttered home.)

First we sorted the Christmas closet. We’re letting go of three 6-foot lighted Christmas trees. (We had seven.) Some cheesy snowman statues. And a lot of ornaments.

Then we sorted the kitchen. We had like 20 water bottles. We’re keeping four.

Then I sorted my skinny clothes. I used this criteria: If I like it, even if it doesn’t fit, I keep it. If it still doesn’t fit when we move next year then I have to give them away. I have really nice clothes in those boxes so I hope I lose the weight!

Adam Richman Bites …

fromthedeskofstephanie — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:37:19 +0000

… But not enough.

Richman is the “Man v. Food” host who I’ve never seen defeat food.

I probably haven’t seen every episode but come on, he should be winning every time.

The show is entertaining, so I’ll continue to watch it, but if they want someone to defeat food then Richman should have me co-host.

Howdy Neighbor

fromthedeskofstephanie — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:26:52 +0000

What is wrong some people? Particularly the people who live next door to me. There have been three different sets of tenants in this house in three years and all of them have sucked.

The first group, yeah group, there were like nine people in this family living in this four bedroom house, worked on cars all night, constantly blocked the alley and did not mow their lawn often enough.

The next group (no one in the neighborhood could ever get an accurate count on how many people lived there) also liked to work on cars late at night. They also put an air conditioning unit 2 feet from my property line which took me a year of wrangling with the city to get moved. And their kid was a nightmare. Besides just being a loud annoying violent young boy (we saw him hit his little friend in the head with a hammer), he would poorly play the trumpet outside around the neighborhood. I still have nightmares about this kid.

The current group has at least five people, a man, woman and three young boys and at least six junky cars. So far they’ve been quiet but they’ve definitely made their presence known. First off, their garbage has blown all over the alley. Second, they put this huge satellite dish outside their front door. And the one that pushed me over the edge is all the laundry detergents they put on their widow sil that faces my house.

Why do they want people to know their clothes are so dirty they need Tide and Purex?