YA GOTTA BELIEVE....

So here's my current Facebook status - 
"Almost drove to West Chester for the weekend. To visit friends, watch the game at the Stone, eat some wings, hug my kid... BUT- then the grown up kicked in & w/ no money and 2 dogs to uproot, the damn grown up won out. So home I stay but I am making wings tonight. And some of my friends, you may find some sappy notes on your facebook pages. Deal with it! LOL"


I think it's because of a number of reasons that I am missing everyone and West Chester today. I have a few free days - at least until I get my license in the mail. PLUS the Phillies are playing the 5th and deciding game tonight for NLDS. 

I'm used to watching these big games with friends at the Blarney. Such a different mood and experience when you are rooting with friends who love the team like you do.

 That said - I'm not sad or bummed or anything - just yearning for some common ground I guess.


Since I haven't been able to find the perfect Blarney Wings down here at the beach, I decided today- when i knew i couldn't go to West Chester- that I would make my own.

. God knows I made enough of them at the Stone and it's a basic recipe (which is what makes them so friggin good) that I think I will do them proud. And FYI my mouth is watering reading this - i know some of you reading may understand cause you've been there and love them - Jewels, Shelley, My boo BOB. 


Oh and yeah THE PHILLIES HAVE TO WIN TONIGHT!!! I can't imagine an October where they don't play thru... Like Tugger used to say YA GOTTA BELIEVE! 

I know I believe!!  


I went out to watch the game on Wednesday - went to the Greene Turtle in Lewes and had a great time. While I was there I met 2 guys - one who decided (when he was sober fyi) he wanted to hang out with me - walked me to my car, tried to mac on me. Been a while - he was good looking, irish and a little older than me. But I wasn't feeling it. He didn't set off my "stranger danger" alarm which is a plus. I think because I am not feeling too good about myself lately - not looking for  compliments - just being truthful. I was supposed to meet him there tonight for the game but...I think I have to get back my dating mojo. Or maybe I just need to get a job and feel like I am a productive member of Lower Slower Delaware.


Which brings me to the other guy I met. He was married so it was simply chatting and friendly banter about the Phils which was great... PLUS he works for a bank and told me he wanted me to apply there for a job. Thought I would be a great fit - It's full time and the money I want, so we exchanged info and I heard from him today. I applied on line and he's talking to HR about me. Which is EXCELLENT!!! 


And after the last disaster of me going out alone, (see Fresh New Hell to refresh your memory)...it was quite a fun time. I realized I can go out alone, talk up some fun folks, have a good time, not spend a lot of money and generally feel good about the whole experience. So I may have made 2 connections that will change things for me down here. We shall see. 


Now it's time to relax and regroup before the game. I have wings to make and Miller Lite to drink! I should probably shut my windows since I plan on yelling at the game big time - but what the hell, might as well let the neighbors know I am Philly Proud. 


I'll leave you with this - 

Dear Harry, Tug & Whitey - We're not saying we need some divine intervention, we're just saying it couldn't hurt! We Believe!!! Thanks Guys!
all our love~The Phillies Fans

PS: WOOHOO only 6 days til ma birfday...

Randomly ramblin...

I spent the whole weekend and most of Monday behind the sewing machine doing those Eagles numbers and as always my mind wanders down the garden path.

 Here are some of the things that I found as I wandered and some life updates as well...


~Only 8 more days until my birthday! 48 this year... GAH!

I did not think I would be where I am at this age. I think that is a good thing. I own a house at the beach. I will be working a job I can leave at the job place and not take home with me. I am happy and content and thank God every day when I wake up.

~I will be celebrating my birthday alone for the first time this year. No friends or family to party at the Blarney.

I will miss each and every one of them too. But i refuse to let that get me down - see above...I am a lucky girl!


~Chewy, the new dog, or as I like to call him "Special Ed" is adapting well. He is now a full fledged member of the family for both me and Jack.

He's crazy, but in a good way, and really, how else would a pet I own behave? Plus he's a stone cold love bug who likes to snuggle so it's a win/win.




~Fall has arrived and down here at the beach it's been 60's during the day and 40's at night. It energizes me, this beautiful weather does.

I decorated for Halloween and sometimes just stand in my living room and full out grin from ear to ear at my beautiful house. Well probably more than sometimes...


~That said - it is supposed to be in the high 70's and full out sunny this weekend. One of the benefits (and there are many) of living at the beach is

I can go to the beach on a warm October day when every one else thinks beach season is done.


~I found out today, that I can't officially start working until I get my license in the mail. So now my start date will be next Wednesday instead of today. 

I am looking at it as a kind of spontaneous vacation. A week to do what I want before I start working every night and weekend. So today I am vegging (still trying to catch up after an all night sewing session I pulled), and cleaning. Then the rest of the week will be outside work, painting and reading and writing. Sounds like a damn good week to me.


My Phillies are trying to win the games that will get them to the World Series. October ball, it doesn't get much more exciting if you're a fan. And God knows I am a fan.

It probably goes without saying, that I Believe!Phil's are going all the way this year and I can't wait to see it!


Well thanks for joining me as I ramble along again... remember to count your blessings, hug those you love and appreciate everything life offers you - the good and the bad- because it's what makes us who we are! Wishing you smiles and peace~Stacey

Play Ball

"Don't tell me about the world.  Not today.  It's springtime and they're knocking baseball around fields where the grass is damp and green in the morning and the kids are trying to hit the curve ball."  ~Pete Hamill


April 1st , opening day of Major League Baseball!! The day that die hards, including me, have waited for all fall & winter. If you read the blog regularly, or know me personally, then you know I am a Phillies fan. Have been since I was old enough to understand the game...6 years old or so. 


But I am not only a Phillies fan, I am a baseball fan as well. I know it, I understand it, I can keep the books if I need to, or want to... But I would rather just watch the plays unfold. 

The Phil's don't play until Friday at 1:05 and I will be front and center, barring any bitchiness from mother nature(they were calling for snow... I KNOW!). I won't be at the actual game but I will be on my favorite barstool, eating a dollar dog and drinking a miller lite when the first pitch is thrown. Sooo excited!


With everything going on in the world right now; the horribleness that is Japan getting worse every day, Libya, Afghanistan, scariness here at home ... baseball is needed right now more than ever.   

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

So like a little kid on Christmas Eve, I  wait for those final two words of the Star Spangled Banner, or at least the final two that I always remember..." PLAY BALL!"

"There are three things in my life which I really love:  God, my family, and baseball.  The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit."  ~Al Gallagher, 1971

The Phanatic and Harry Kalas

and PS: I still miss Harry ... way too much!

and a Merry Cliffmas it is...

As most know, or will know after reading my blogs, I am a sports fan. HUGE sports fan actually but then living in the philly burbs usually goes hand in hand with a love of all sports philly style. It also should lead to an all consuming love of cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, cheezwhiz, Rocky and the Mummers but that's another blog topic. Being a philly sports fan means loving The Eagles, The Phillies, The Flyers and the Sixers. (tho personally i hate basketball... sorry). It also means a hatred of all New York teams (and New Jersey teams that say they are new york teams) Like the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Rangers and UGH The DEVILS!!! Oh and Dallas Sucks! Please ...we are born saying that in this city LOL.

Just to clarify tho, I am not one of those people who love the latest hot player**(see bottom note). I think sometimes, because I am a girl, guys will think less of my sports opinions. But rest assured, I know my shit. I may not be able to spout statistics like a guy (an enviable trait btw) but I can sure as hell hold my own in a conversation and may even offer up a new insight or two. I also admit and ask about something I don't understand (mostly weird new stuff in football LOL). I love the sport, the give and take, the symmetry and symphony that goes into playing it. I want to know the stat's and the odds and figure out what makes a team tick.

As a Philly sports fan, this past week has been probably one of the best in a while. First off, one of my favorite baseball pitchers, Cliff Lee, says NO to the Yankees and for less money comes back to play for the Phillies. HAH! in your face Spankees...see money can't always buy your perfect team. Oh the joy that is involved in watching Cliff Lee pitch. He is truly amazing. Poetry in motion! And fast too, 1,2,3, bam back in the dugout. no fooling around with him. And he makes it look so effortless. I was sad to lose Jayson Werth to the Nationals, or as I used to call him... ma huzzzzzband. It seems when I follow a player they get traded. But having Cliff come home to philly to pitch with Hamels, Halladay and Oswalt gives my Phillies one of the best pitching line ups in the league...perhaps in the history of the league. And if you know baseball you know- you can't win without good pitching!

Secondly, the flyers are kicking some major ass! I love to see them winning! I admit I don't follow them as closely as I should until after the Superbowl though. My brain can only handle so much. I enjoy seeing my facebook friends get Flyered up about the games and i keep tabs on how The Flyers are doing. I think hockey is an amazing sport! Complex but simple at the same time.And the fights?? Woohoo! Ya gotta love a good hockey fight. (and yes I know they lost... I wrote part of this before the game, but they are still doing great! #1!


And third...you know what it is don't ya? THE MIRACLE IN THE NEW MEADOWLANDS!! 

The Eagles scored 28 points in a little under 8 minutes, the last 8 of the 4th quarter i might add, to win the game and become 1st in the division. The adjectives don't describe it - fantastic, miraculous, historical, impossible,
magical...i could go on but i won't. i was helping out a friend so i had to listen to the first 3 quarters on the radio. When I left to come home we were losing 24 to 3 and even Merrill Reese said he knew we couldn't perform the impossible so that meant we were gonna lose. But then, it happened. I don't know what IT was, but something changed. And as if on script we performed, the Giants didn't and BAM! We were walking away with a 38-31 score. The idea that every thing has to be done exactly right, timed perfectly in the universe, for this to happen amazes me. Down to the fumble by DeSean on the kick-off return. if he hadn't fumbled, he would have been tackeled. Then we would have had to hail mary it for a field goal attempt...you get what I am saying. Everything just clicks and the magic happens!


SO all in all it's a pretty damn good week to be a philly sports fan! Merry Christmas to us!! Or should i say...

**ok so i picked Jayson Werth to cheer for because he is friggin hot AND he shakes his junk over the plate before he swings. just clarifying here...