Isn't She Lovely?

Sara awarded me with this award earlier in the week. In keeping with complete disclosure, I just saw it today. My apologies again, Sara.



The rules in receiving such a great honor are as follows:

A) Thank the person who gave it to you.
2) List 7 random things about yourself.
III) Pass it along to another 7 people.*


I would like to thank Sara for bestowing this award to me. ::sniff-sniff:: It is for good people like her that I have the courage to log on every so often and attempt to write something that isn't totally lame or sounds like fiction. Sara may be 1,786,834 miles away, but it feels like she is just next door. Secondly---

:::music starts to play:::

Listing seven random things about myself? Why, this is hard. I never talk about myself...

1) My athletic career consisted of exactly one season of softball the summer before sixth grade. Not that I didn't want to do other things but that is another entry for another day. Anyway, I usually played catcher or outfield because I could throw so far. But, at the awards ceremony, I totally embarrassed my parents. When it was my turn to receive my trophy, I was to state my name and position. When the coach politely gave me the smile to leave the podium, I insisted on listing all four positions I played that season.

2) I have no tattoos. And although I REALLY want one, I probably never will due to my irrational fear of needles.

3) We saw Ralphie May at Zanies a couple of years ago. I was able to get his autograph at the end of the night. He handed me my stuff back and said, "Thanks, Beautiful." And even though he probably says that to every other chick that he talks to including his wife, I like to pretend he meant it.
(And no. I have no dreams of hooking up with Ralphie.)

4) I do not like eating at pot luck dinners. Especially if it's a mix of people I don't know. It just grosses me out not knowing if these people are clean, the condition of the their kitchens, or if the food was cooked properly. Unfortunately, as hard as I've tried to hide my quirk, it seems to have been passed on to my middle child who informed me last night, at a pot luck dinner, "I am not going to eat much. I don't like to eat other people's food. I'll eat something when we get home." Ironically, he did not eat any of the food I brought. Hmmm.....

Oops. Mommy fail.

5) In similar fashion, I won't take any samples at the grocery store. You know, those trays where you can just serve yourself? ICK. I swear, I can just see the E.Coli, Hepatitis, and salmonella crawling around in there.

6) You know the saying, "There are no stupid questions?" I disagree.

7) This is my bio page on Associated Content. Feel free to become a fan. ;)



It seems I am to pass this along to seven other people. Seven?!?! Yikes, an uneven number...oh well. Here we go:

Jen
Danelle
Gillian
Kelly
Rachel
Brandi
Beachy Mimi

** I went to copy and paste the rules from Sara's entry and noticed how she numbered them. This just proves why we are so in sync. I would have totally done it the same way.

It's all good

I've got a confession to make.

I don't like Saturdays. Well, let me re-phrase that. I do like Saturdays in the fact that we get to sleep in, and the first one of every month is 50% off everything at Goodwill even though I rarely go. You know, the crowds and all.

But really, other than those two minor items, I don't like Saturdays at all.

Mostly, the reason is that Big Daddy almost always closes at his store. Which means he has to leave here around 12:30. Right smack dab in the middle of the day. The whole morning I feel like I am in limbo. I don't want to get into any projects because I don't want him to think I am ignoring him when I have the whole rest of the day. We can't really go anywhere or do anything. Then, once he is gone, I feel so out of sorts that I don't feel like doing anything anyway.

Wah. I know. Life could be so much worse.

Today was especially yucky. I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all and found that I needed to pick up some gifts left by my dogs which is a rarity for them. Then, I had approximately six minutes to myself before everyone came down asked, "What's for breakfast?" and proceeded to bother me further by breathing, walking, and giving off electrons. By 10:30, Big Daddy went into the kitchen and discovered that most of my problem could be attributed that I had missed the last two days of my meds (four doses) plus two of my evening doses in the last six days. So, in short, I was missing half of what I should have taken. When he pointed this out, I may or may not have bared my teeth, called him a poo-poo head, and burst into tears in the same breath.

I am sure he was thankful he had to work today.

However, finally the sun came out and the angels sang. Because, late this afternoon, I found out that I was the recipient of an award:


Kelly @ Mommy's Kicking Cancer's Ass just got this award herself. And in picking five other bloggers to receive such kudos, she picked me! I was beyond tickled (still am!) and it totally turned my day around.

In keeping with the fun and honor, I need to share seven things about myself:

1. I am probably the biggest fan of Diet Coke you have ever met. However, I have paid the price for such devotion, and due to pain and suffering in my stomach, I've decided to give it up. I am not doing well with this process. It is an addiction. I'll finally decide I can't take anymore and drink one only to suffer the consequence. Eventually, I get through it and will be cola free. RIP Diet Coke.
2. Sometimes I get emotionally involved with the books I am reading. So much so, that after finishing one, I actually feel a loss. Today, I am having such a day (and don't you dare say it's because my meds are off) after finishing Me & Emma by Elizabeth Flock. I wish I knew this author personally because I would love to talk to her about this book. I HIGHLY recommend it. (I'll do a book review--new feature!-- in a day or so.)
3. I didn't like the book, The Lovely Bones. Or the movie. In a twist of unusual events, I watched the movie first and ended up being disappointed after looking forward to it for so long. The next day was finally able to get my hands on a copy of the book, read a big chunk of it but never finished. Just couldn't.
   
4. I was contacted to audition for "Wheel of Fortune" back in 2006. Went to the auditions, played some games, but didn't make the second cut. I did walk away with some lovely parting gifts. If the Wheel Mobile ever comes back to Middle Tennessee, I'll try again.
   
5. Even though I have lived in Tennessee for seventeen years, the only attractions I have seen are Gatlinburg and Chattanooga (once and twice, respectfully). I don't know how I can truly call myself a Southern, Tennessee woman and haven't laid shadows in Memphis or Knoxville. Or any other great and/or historical places of significance for that matter.
   
6. I hate, hate, hate watermelon. The smell of it, the taste, the texture...it makes me gag. Doesn't matter if it's the real thing or candy. However, I recently have started loving watermelon decor for summer time. Makes no sense, really.
   
7. One of my OCD quirks is odd numbers. I can't handle it. However, because I shared my love/hate relationship with Saturdays above, I'll be able to manage.
   

Now, I am to pass this lovely award to 5 other bloggers:

Sara @ Life With The Two

Fiona @ Hurst Street

Jen @ Land Of Lovings

Brandi @ Excess Baggage

The Queen B

Thanks again, Kelly for totally making my day!

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

For more than half my life, I have taken everything that happens--good or bad-- as a sign.

Maybe that is an immature way to look at life, but sometimes it's the only thing that gets me through. I guess it mostly started when I began dating Big Daddy back in the 1800s, because our whole relationship has been a series of, "It was totally meant to be."

(That's another story for another day.)

As you all know, I fancy myself as a writer. Just like the other 1,946,321 people in the world trying to break their way into an already flooded literary market. (Speaking only of fiction.) At any rate, back last fall I went through what I shall always refer to as my "Grey Period" and decided without much cause or reason that I was essentially wasting my time.

Last academic year, I was fortunate enough to have one piece "published" and was asked to be an adviser on the campus anthology.

This year, I totally let time get away with me. I was all about the procrastination. I felt bad about missing out on something I claimed to "love" and took it as a sign that perhaps I wasn't supposed to be or even good enough to be a writer of any sort.

To make my long and whiny story short, one of the deadlines opened up again. The same avenue that I had won last year. I took it as a sign and planned on writing a little something that had been cooking in my brain...

The deadline was a week away--plenty of time, right? Well, as procrastination would have it, I waited until the NIGHT OF THE DEADLINE to even get started. So, I took the lazy way out, and pulled up this little gem:

Repeat (orginally posted on July 22, 2009)

I made a few modifications, corrected some grammatical errors and added a bit more just before the end, but essentially it is exactly the same. *

I won second place.

So, there again, I took my win as a sign. I need to write as if nothing more than to tell my grandchildren that Ninny/MawMaw/Granny did something besides level up on various farm-type games on Facebook** and graduate from college. Of course, I have that whole guilt story started, "Well, when your Mommy/Daddy was just a little girl/boy, I went to college, kept the house clean, cooked supper for PawPaw, held down two jobs and still had time to find the treasures on Treasure Isle and harvest my crops on THREE farms, drove uphill both ways and still remember the Great Flood of '10. You kids don't know what a 'hard life' is."

Plus I can't crochet or knit and don't care for cross-stitch or quilting.



I hope you'll bear with me as I embark on this great journey. I have set a goal for myself, and I know you all will keep me on task. More details to come....


*I would reprint the revised edition, but it died on the other computer a couple of months ago. I don't have another copy saved on my hard drive yet.

**Will Facebook ever go out of style? Will people ever say (or do they now), " I can't believe you did that?" Either way, I'd defend my games and my neighbors to the end.

We are family... I got all my sisters with me

Amy, my sister from another mister, bestowed upon me The Sisterhood Award.



Ironically, while Amy was writing her entry last night, I was writing my entry about Easter. She left a comment that said, "Come get your award." I thought she meant Mother of the Year...there were some laughs. She gets me.
Amy's sense of humor is remarkable, which is exactly how I found her, through someone else's comments.

Here are the rules:
*Put the logo on your blog or post.
*Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude!
*Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
*Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
*Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award

Without further ado, the award(s) goes to (in no particular order):

Sarah. Sarah is one of the first people I met on Blogger. She is the sweetest, most genuine ladies I have ever had the pleasure to call my friend. Already an awesome mom to Princess Evie, she is expecting another baby in November.

Rachel. Rachel is Sarah's sister so it would only make sense we'd be sisters together. Rachel is so funny and an amazing writer. I can't wait until we go on our book tour.

Fiona. Fiona is everything I want to be when I grow up. She makes teaching cool and hip, and is willing to help me when I need it. (read: at least once a week.) Her little boy is the sweetest, cheekiest, cutest hunk of baby I have ever seen.

Jenn. Jenn is probably one of my oldest "internet" friends. As a mother to the cutest kids in California, and the wife to a police officer, she is totally my hero. She knows how I am feeling just by what I write. There aren't too many days that pass that we don't talk.

Bridgett. Bridgett is also one of my oldest friends. She also aspires to write, so be sure to look for her name. She has more talent than I, that is for sure. B Boo calls it like she sees it and doesn't mind letting anyone know. We should all strive to be more like her.

Courtney She is the only person I know in real life-we went to Jr. and Sr High School together. Of course, I moved away, but through the magic of blogs, I found her again. She has the tenderest of hearts but I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. She is about to be a mom, and she is totally going to rock it.

Beachy Mimi There are no words. This woman is just totally awesome. She is also in search of a nice Christian, BALD man to spend time with. Spread the word.

Sara. I haven't known her very long, but there is just a neat vibe I get from her. She teaches preschool (thank goodness for people like her!) and raises two funny, sweet girls.

Tricia Tricia is the girl that would go out of her way to do something if you needed it. She is about to have another baby, and I couldn't be more tickled for her. Pink, of course. :)

Hollie She hasn't posted in FOREVER ::cough-cough:: but that can only mean that she is so busy juggling Hazel, work, and being so darn cool. She is seriously hilarious-

Honestly, this was the hardest thing to only choose 10. If I am reading a blog, there is some sort of connection there.

Check my sisters out. Thanks again, Amy!