acrostic

Last week, my friend Diana (in California) said the nicest thing, and she said it in a creative way. She posted an acrostic about me on ScrapShare!

Stacy is

Super
Talented
Awesome
Caring and
Youthful.

See? Wasn't that nice of her?

I'll give her super. I'm super-sized. I'm super loud. I'm super klutzy. I'm super silly. I'm... SOPORIFIC?? Darren just gave me that little gem. "Oh. You said SUper, not SOpor," he quipped. "Ian, you and me better head up to bed, and fast," he stammered. Yah. HURRY, you punk, before I knock you OUT!

I'll even give her talented. I make a good living using my talent, and I give a lot of my talent away for free, which makes me feel pretty darn

Awesome. I must tell you that it's true. I get more out of the scrapbooking ministry I coordinate than from anything else in my life, save, of course, my children. I love to see the pride in the ladies' eyes when they show off a new layout. Tonight, when I called them all to remind them that tomorrow is Scrapbooking Day at Fortress, I loved hearing the enthusiasm in their voices. I loved hearing Tanya say, "Oooooh. I have some cuuuuute pictures of JoJo that I'm bringing. I can't wait to show you!" Sharing the importance of scrapbooking, and teaching people how to do it, and being there as they start to believe that they're good at it, well, that's always given me a high. Makes me feel awesome.

Caring? The truth is, I can be selfish and ugly. It's true. But my real nature is to be caring. I think of other people in all kinds of situations. I love to give gifts, and I'm a clever gift-giver. But I gotta admit - being married to Darren has taught me much about caregiving. Early in our marriage, we made a commitment to give selflessly to each other on a daily basis. It might mean something as simple as me rubbing his back when I reallllly don't want to, or him bringing me a Diet Coke when I didn't even ask... or it might be as big as letting him design the backyard however he wants when I really envisioned something completely different, or him letting me paint the family room red when he thought it would be a huge mistake. Learning to be caring WHEN WE DIDN'T WANT TO BE CARING was a marriage-saver for us. Now it comes naturally. We don't have to think of selfless things to do anymore - we just do them. It's carried over to my other life, too. This week, Cara needed a babysitter. I had plans that afternoon, but I didn't hesitate to say yes. Because I love Cara, I love Michael, and I love their boys. My plans waited, and I wasn't sorry. :)

Youthful. Well, now. I'd love to fly to Callyfornya and hug Diana's neck for that one, 'cause the fine lines and wrinkles around my eyes and mouth aren't so fine anymore. Things are sagging that ought not to sag. When a song comes on the radio that Dani likes, she cranks the volume immediately, and half a beat behind her, I'm turning it back down. I'm getting old.

And yet... AND YET...

I can still fall into the deep end of a swimming pool, fully-clothed, holding someone else's camera, and come out laughing. I can still chase Darren around the house, with a towel, trying to pop his hiney. I can still sword-fight in the front yard without embarrassment, blow loud, obnoxious farts because they're funny, kick my shoes off during the symphony because they're hurting my feet, talk trash to my homeys because they deserve it, and stay up waaaay past my bedtime, reading. Because I'm youthful.

Thanks, Diana! I printed what you posted, and it resides happily in my Smile File.

Now. Your turn. Write an acrostic about yourself. Or have someone ELSE write it, and then comment on it. Go on. Brag about yourself. It's good for the soul. :)