Blog Love!

I wish to thank my dear blogging friend over at Three Cats and My Coffee Cup bestowed upon me this wonderful Blog Award a couple weeks ago. Thank you my dear friend for passing it on to me.

And, of course, the usual routine that comes with such an honor. Here are some questions that come with this award, and of course those questions need answering.
 
1) My favorite color:   I have to say purple. It's also my birthstone color.

2) My favorite animal:  Horses. Dogs. Cats.

3) My favorite non-alcoholic drink:   Diet Pepsi

4) Facebook or Twitter:   Facebook. I don't get Twitter. lol

5) Do you prefer getting or giving presents?  Both!

6) Favorite day of the week:   Any day where I can sleep in. lol 

7) My favorite flower:   Not a clue, really. Is that bad? I'd say roses but that's "so cliche". 

8) My passion:  Jane Austen. Oh, wait, maybe that's obsession I'm thinking about. I get so confused sometimes. . .  lol

Now to pass this along…these 3 other bloggers I enjoy:

My dear friend Miss H - I have been a loyal follower of hers for a long time now, and will always be.

One Odd Duck - Inevitably I wind up laughing when reading her stuff. Sometimes uncontrollably.

According to Jewels - The girl is pretty amazing, I mean, she did do the Polar Bear Plunge, after all, among many other things!

Award, Construction Update, and Doctor Down.

Before I go any further, I must thank my good bloggy friend Hazel over at Pablo's Angel for the award (of her very own) she dished out last week. She said many sweet things (and no I did not bribe her. Or blackmail her.).

And she had this to say:

J.Day/The Ramblings of Charlie Brown - "BraveHeart"

I called you this because you were brave enough to follow your heart and move to the back end of nowhere to work with your grandparents. I found this so inspiring! And I'm glad that it's worked out well for you as it's so nice to see you happy. You're also the brains behind the "Postcard Campaign" which is cheering up so many bloggers on dreary mornings with pretty postcards! Overall J.Day, you're very inspiring! Plus, I have fun saying J.Day over and over again too...

I have yet to understand why everyone I know loves to say my name over and over and over. People at my last job did that to me all the time. It drove me nuts. LOL Evidently my name is just fun and no one cares a snit about my poor sanity.  ;o)

 

Construction has officially begun at my parent's house! Hopefully the weather will hold out out so that there are no delays in getting everything completed. In case you're late to the party, my parents  are remodeling their house for my Granny who moved in officially a couple months ago, shortly after my Granddad's passing. She has taken my room and my bathroom and I am therefore relegated to sleep in the 5th wheel. My (old) bedroom is being remodeled into a suite where everything will be ADA compliant. They are taking one wall out 10 feet further and another wall 12 feet further. My parents had to cut down at least two trees in by the front porch and also tear out the front porch they had just put in last year. But here's how things are going so far:

 

This is the front of the house, in front of my room.

That little window is the window to my bathroom.

Back around to the front, the concrete is poured! My parents tell me it was pretty thick to match up with the house's original foundation.

And more concrete . . .

In other news, one of the vet's at the clinic I work for had a nasty accident while riding quads with some friends on vacation. He took a spill off an embankment of about 40 feet. It happened about a week and a half ago. He's pretty banged up, but he should recover well. He will, however, be out of work for a good couple months. He broke his collar bone and a shoulder blade. Last week one of the retired vets covered him over here in Sticksville. But now he's gone for about a month. I get the new vet for the next two weeks - should be interesting as I haven't work with her yet. I've met her, though. And the other retired vet is helping cover some stuff as well. It's another busy season as ranchers need their cattle preg checked, vaccinated, or need health certificates. And we're not talking just a few cows here and there. I'm talking herds of a few hundred head of cattle each.

 

Yeah. Fortunately most of our clients have been understanding about some schedule and/or doctor shuffling that's been required. And everyone wants to know how the guy is doing. I am, unfortunately, completely out of the loop as I'm only around other clinic employees two days a week.

 

I will do what I can to keep y'all posted.

 

Awards Galore!

In the past week  Um, yeah, it's been much longer than a week. I apologize to the two bloggers have passed on awards to me, as I haven't had the time to post regularly in the past two or three weeks. So now I'm going to attempt these with their random facts and whatnot.

First up is the super-wonderful Frisky Virgin. I believe the only posts I don't really read are the ones about True Blood because it's a vampire thing and I don't do vampires. But I won't hold the fact that she likes vampires against her - everyone has to make their own mistakes. (wink wink) In truth, I love her blog as she makes me laugh out loud at the hilarious stories and anecdotes about her life. Her blog is a must-read.

The rules for these are to thank the blogger who gave it to you (see above) and reveal 7 random facts about yourself.

Okay, here goes.

1. The one thing I miss about living in the city is Target. I don't necessarily need to buy anything, but it can be fun to wander the store and make fun of items or think how great something else would be in your home, if only you had the space for it.

2. Surprisingly, what I don't miss about city living is all the fast food. The thought of McDonald's is no longer appealing.

3. I can't stand coffee, in any form. Walking into a Starbucks is like an assault on my poor innocent nostrils. The only thing I am willing to drink from there is hot chocolate.

4. There is a town in my county named after my family, who helped settle it in the late 1800s. I wrote up a history of the community for Papa D's paper, and it will be printed in the October issue. Once it's officially printed next week, I will post my article here on my blog.

5. I have this horrible habit of taking forever to get out of the house in the morning for any of my jobs. There are mornings I have to go from inside of car back inside the house 5 times to get something I forgot, then get to work at the vet's and realize I still forgot something. It's really sad. And exhausting.

6. I once took a spoonful of sugar to get rid of hiccups. My (good) college roommate said that's how she got rid of her hiccups. Normally I just drink 10 sips of water, and I can get them to go away. That time they didn't. I finally agreed to the spoonful of sugar, and it's disgusting. I gagged it down thinking she's totally messing with me. It totally worked. However, I keep it as a last resort.

7. My work station has to be kept clean. I can't stand a cluttered work area. My home, however, is not kept to the same standards. While I keep it picked up and clean it, I have far too much crap. But I'm totally anal-retentive about a work station. And that was why I hated rotating benches throughout the night at my old lab job - too many hands touching any given work station so I couldn't keep it set up how I liked it. If I'm working at a certain bench, you bet your sweet little tushy it will be set up my way.

OMG, that took forever. I'm not sure why, but it's so hard for me to come up with random facts. Sheesh.

The other award I received came from chocolateangel over at The Cat and the Coffee Cup. She is obviously a cat lover, and writes about her adorable kitties as well as her every day life - the good and the bad. Plus she has cute kitty pictures that will cheer you up on her blog.



I seriously hope that I can find everything that fits with the criteria for this award! Evidently I'm supposed to troll through my blogger stats to find my series of "most" posts. This could get interesting.

"Most Beautiful": My Granddad -  My post telling all of you about the wonderful, courageous man that was my Granddad, who passed away just four months ago.

"Most Helpful": It's Official - I'm Crazy! - It was very hard to admit how unhappy I was, living in Sacramento. But it was also very therapeutic getting it out there. Thank you all for "listening" to me and being supportive of my crazy decision!

"Most Controversial": It's Debatable - I got my very first (and only) Anonymous comment.

"Most Popular": For the life of me, I cannot understand why, according to blogger stats, this is my most viewed post. It was a "half-ass" post . . . Another Weekend, Another Half-Assed Post.

"Most Underrated": The first several posts regarding my old psycho college roommate, the Psycho Suzi series.

"Most Surprisingly Successful": The Postcard Campaign - I'm so happy and shocked that there are quite a few people participating!

"Most Pride-worthy": Where I explain my nickname, and the title of my blog.

Okay, seriously, this took FOREVER.

And I'm not going to sit here and agonize over who gets these awards. Seriously, because it is agonizing trying to choose. So, if you follow my blog and have a blog of your own, then these awards are for each and everyone of you! Take them and run away with them!

Next post will be the published story in our publication about the town my ancestors helped settle!

I got my first postcard!



You may have noticed that my "button" for the Postcard Campaign has changed. A wee bit more appropriate considering my blog name and the mail box theme. ;o) Not to mention I stole it from Average Girl, as she so totally hit it right on the nose. So, thanks miss, I tip my (proverbial) cowgirl hat to ya!

I have received my very first postcard! If you recall, I sent them out last month, and this time around, it was Average Girl's turn to send them out. I started jumping up and down in the post office, pretty much looking like an idiot to all the poor souls who were forced to witness it. I know she was near a panic attack, having to send postcards to total strangers, but seeing as how she's blogged since they've been mailed, I'm pretty sure she survived! So, thanks Average Girl, for a beautiful post card!

By the by, if you haven't checked out her blog, you really should. All those little linky-poos are a hint.

A Native Indian Princess gazes towards Her Majesty's ship "Reindeer" as she drops anchor in Horse Shoe Bay. (Mural painted in British Columbia)

If you're looking for something other than bills or junk mail in your mailbox, join us in the Campaign for Mailbox Happiness. Just shoot me an email (listed above, left) with your name and address. You can also visit the Postcard Campaign's page (link above). There is still time to join up before it's the next person's turn for October - last day to sign up in time for an October postcard is the last day of September.

Speaking of which, I guess I can announce the next person's turn for October!

Next up is Mynx! (I will send you the addresses on October first)

An Award For Me? Awww, Shucks.

Before I get to the awards, I would first like to welcome some new followers! A couple of them are also joining up for the Postcard Campaign, which is awesome! Just means more mailbox love! So thank you for following, hope you enjoy!

A little while ago, Jewels named me one of her Gems, in her post thanking those that helped to pimp out her new blog location. How could anyone not want to pimp out her blog? It's pretty awesome. Plus, she pimped out the Postcard Campaign, so that makes her even more awesome.

And the other day, Hazel gifted me the I Dig Your Blog Award. I'm just ecstatic that Hazel is blogging again as I missed her posts.

I know that there were no rules for Jewels' award, and Hazel didn't really mention too much about rules. So I will just mention three random facts about myself and then pass it on to three blogs.

I love Ansel Adams photography.

I once had a dream that Jennifer Love Hewitt made out with a guy I was dating, and the poor guy had no idea why I was mad at him for a week. I despised her for years.

I'm addicted to popcorn. It runs in the family. ;o)

And now for the blogs I will pass on the I Dig Your Blog Award to! Canadian Blogger Girl, The Adventures of Cinderita, and The Frisky Virgin.

The Great Postcard Campaign: Mailbox Happiness

Thus starts the first month of the Great Postcard Campaign. Right now I have a total of 5 wonderful bloggy friends who have been so kind as to join me on my quest for some mailbox happiness.

I will go ahead and kick start the who shebang for the month of August. If you wish to join up, all you have to do is shoot me an email and provide a mailing address. I will not do anything with your mailing address except send you a postcard. When it's the next person's turn, I will provide them with your address to send a postcard. This is on the honor system and therefore, anyone who abuses this will be cut out of the "circle". You are only asked to send one postcard to each blogger on the list. You can spread them out, or send the postcards at once. When you receive a postcard, you can share it on your blog and if possible, link to the blogger who sent you the postcard. I do ask that you link back to me, and hopefully we can get more to participate in the campaign for mailbox happiness. Just grab the button and link to me.

If you wish to be a part of this, please email me! We'd love to have more join us!

Blog Pimpin'

Alright folks, I have some serious blog pimpin' to do here. Move aside, move aside.

Thank you.

My dear friend Jewels, who used to write the great blog Jewels Turning 30 has created a new blog. I insist that you follow the link to her new blog and follow her.

http://accordingtojewels.com/

To follow her new blog over at WordPress, click on ADD at the bottom of your blog roll, paste her URL in, and click follow!

Whew. I'm beat.  Now if you'll move aside again so I can get some rest, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

;o)

Awards, Turn-On's, and a Music Video

I really hate to say this, but many times there just needs to be more hours in a day! For the last couple of days I've been wanting to blog, but there just doesn't always seem time. Maybe too many addictions? Too many jobs? Well, I can't necessarily say I have too many jobs, because the average person in this county has at least two jobs to make ends meet. Too many addictions . . . well, that's feasible. Reading, movies, Facebook (Farmville, Frontierville, etc.), blogging, Scrabble via email, harassing my cat . . . yeah, I'm screwed.

And today's post really won't even be what it was originally going to be. Partly because I've already forgotten what I was going to write about (and I'm not smart enough to blog in advance so that I have something to fall back on). But mostly it's because I was bestowed not one, but two awards!! Plus I have a few new followers to welcome.

So, first off, I'd like to welcome three new followers to my little corner of the blogosphere. I'd like to welcome (back) Hazel, who used to follow me under her old blog and has finally come to her senses to blog again! Next is Elliot MacLeod-Michael, and Deirdra Eden-Coppel, who not only followed but also bestowed an award! Actually, I'm twice blessed as she gave me a different blog award awhile back as well.

A huge thank you to Deirdra Eden-Coppel!

And to the wonderful Frisky Virgin, a huge thank you for the next award - The Blog on Fire Award! If you haven't checked Ms. Frisky yet, then I'm not quite sure what you're waiting for. That was a hint to, like, go. So, this award (like so many) have a few rules to follow.

1. Thank the blogger who bestowed the award - See above.

2. Reveal 5 things about yourself. (If you want, how about making said revelations a little hot? After all, this is an on fire award!)

• Listening to anything, and I mean anything, by Josh Turner makes me melt. If I could marry his voice alone, believe me I'd so be there. It doesn't hurt that he has the good looks to go with said woman-melting voice.
• I love me a good Wrangler-butt. I was taught by the best, my mother, to spot a really good Wrangler-butt. Anytime she and I are at a country concert, our eyes are on the prowl.
• Certain colognes - Lord help me. Obsession and Stetson are just two of them. Pair that with a Wrangler-Butt who has Josh Turner's voice, there will only be a puddle of JDay left.
• Accents - I love accents. Well, as long as I can still understand the words that are coming of their mouths. British, Irish, and Australian are my favorites. *swoon*
• But most of all, what will do the trick is a guy who likes me for me. Quirks and all.

Now I get to pass this on to 7 fellow bloggers.

Canadian Blogger Girl

Alfred Lives Here

Drake's Doomsday Corner

Dribble . . .

It's An Average Life

Talkative Taurus

Pablo's Angel

And to leave off, I am posting a video of a new release by Toby Keith that makes me tear up every time I hear it. I know America is having some issues on Capitol Hill and we would all love to tell them where to stuff their political bullshit and storm congress with pitchforks. I know our country looks like a fool to the rest of the world. Whatever happens next won't be pretty, I'm sure. But even with all this going on, I'm still proud to be an American, and wouldn't dream of living anywhere else.

It's my 200th Post!!

I have reached another milestone in the blogosphere, my 200th post! And in a couple weeks, I'll be celebrating my one year blogoversary. Another milestone I reached not too long ago, was my 1000th comment - which I believe was the Queen of all Snarkiness, Empress over at The Ranter's Box.

But, this is my 200th post and I'm taking it easy. So, first off, I'm throwing a big ol' party and blog  pimpin', and foolishness. I've got us a DJ, some finger foods (the only rule is no double dipping in the dips!), and I even splurged for some good old fashioned liquor for us all. I'm making some mean margaritas, who wants?

So, here's a few videos about partying.

So what are y'all waiting for?! Y'all come on over, shake your ghetto booty, pop a top, pimp out your blog, and have a good time.

Just don't mess with the bull.

All Must Bow To The Overlord

Before I get to the Award portion of this blog, I would just like to wish  my Granddad a Happy Birthday. Today would have been his 86th birthday. My parents are taking Granny to a nice steak house in Redding (where Granny and Granddad always liked to go for birthdays or anniversaries), to celebrate Granddad's birthday.

So, I kind of took awhile to pay homage to this award that I received from the Frisky Virgin. I loved her post regarding this award, as she definitely put her own twist on it and definitely brought a smile to my face. Anyway, life got a bit crazy for a few weeks, and I had a moment where I vaguely remembered an award . . . so here I am.

As with most blog awards, there are a few rules to follow. They are as follows:

1. Thank the blogger who bestowed you the award.
2. Three changes must be made to our lives.
3. Bestow this award on 10 bloggers worthy of world domination.

So, first off, I wish to thank the wonderfully kind Frisky Virgin for bestowing this award on me. I adore the fact that she, too, is a huge Harry Potter fan and therefore, I shall overlook the fact that she likes vampires (example - True Blood, or possibly Twilight *shudders*). I shall also overlook the fact that she is a Dallas Cowboys fan, as she has grown up in Texas and does not know any other way than the wrong way. *wink* If you haven't checked out her blog, it's a must do on your list.

Second off Ahem . . . Secondly, I get to make three changes to our lives. You poor innocent suckers. However, I am Overlord, so put on your big girl panties and deal with it.

Change No. 1:

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. I'm serious here, folks. So many from the younger generations simply have no respect for anyone - not their peers nor their elders. I know that every generation goes through their teen years where the kids apparently know everything (hey I was a culprit, too), and the parents know squat. However, there's a fine line between that and the crap kids pull nowadays. From here on out, if you scream at your parent/guardian in public, refuse to take out those stupid little head phones from your iPod, throw a tantrum of any kind, refuse to do your chores yet still expect a raise in your allowance - anything that means anything to you will be taken away. Being sent to your room will not mean that you have the whole day to play your Wii or spend all day on Facebook or texting your friends. Any and all toys and electronics (especially the fun ones) shall be taken away so that you may learn from your lesson. If having refused to do chores, extra chores shall be added with no pay until you fully comprehend how disrespectful you have been. If you have thrown a tantrum in a store, and therefore embarrassing your parents/guardians, you must apologize to your parents (sincerely). Of course, this can only work if the child is old enough to speak, therefore understand they have done something wrong. If you tease your peers, you shall make a public apology to them.  If you think things will always be handed to you, that you don't have to do chores to earn an allowance, and can mouth off anytime you want, you have lessons to learn. If you want respect, you must first give it. It is not a right, it is a privilege.

Change No. 2:

To all those in the public eye;

Politics. Oh yes, I'm going there. If you have ever been convicted of a crime, you can no longer run for political office. If, while serving any term, you are convicted of a crime, you must immediately step down and admit to your stupidity - by wearing a Dunce Cap. If you take part in inappropriate behavior (such as texting pictures of your naughty bits, having secret affairs, etc.), you will immediately step down from office. If any of these politicians are lucky, they will be the next generation of fast food servers. Also, for legislature or congress that cannot pass a budget on time, will cease being paid. For ever day there is no budget, you do not get a single dime. That's why there are deadlines. DUH. Also, you will not be allowed to slash monies from the budget that are for health care, schools, or public safety officials (police, firemen, etc.). In fact, if you're past the deadline, what you would be paid will now go towards one of those three. I also declare that all politicians take a massive pay cut - you are a public servant, voted in - so why are you being paid so much?! If you can afford a house, a vacation home in the Hamptons, can afford European vacations, and a limo, you are being over-paid. From here on out, you will take yourself to work - limos will not be allowed (okay, the President gets one). If the working man/woman must struggle to pay their bills so that you can have your mansion and vacation homes and $200k sports cars, then you must struggle, too. As of now, all politicians who have a vehicle that cost in excess of $50k, must sell it and give all proceeds to the budget. All second homes, same thing, we'll put that money towards the national debt. Cough it up.

I hereby declare that in addition to the politicians getting their pays slashed, that all corporate CEO's are to adhere to said rules, as well. Each of your 5 homes can house families that were affected by natural disaster tragedies.

And you know what, this also goes for famosity. This is yet another privilege, not a right. If you abuse your famosity, you will no longer be deemed famous and be sent to work washing cars or flipping burgers. There will be no MTV or VH1 show looking for you 20 years later, either. If you have a "wardrobe malfunction", your famosity will be on probation. Your stalkers (this includes the paparazzi) will help the authorities keep tabs on you during your probation period (unless they actually pose a physical threat; and as for the paparazzi, they will  be used only to keep tabs on problem stars, they will no longer be allowed to chase down stars and cause accidents). Famosity shall not be granted if you take part in some stupid reality TV show like the Jersey Shore, Real Housewives of Whatever, Jackass, Ice Loves Coco, 16 and Pregnant, and any show dealing with tattoo parlors or nail and hair salons. In fact, all reality TV must be approved by me and other Overlords (my hand picked panel).

Change No. 3:

Everyone will learn that farmers and ranchers feed the world. They will no longer be encroached upon or complained about. If those ranches or farms were there before you moved in, you have no right to complain about smell or animal or tractor noise. You will no longer whine about the amount of water agriculture uses. That water is making crops grow that feed you, or that feed the animals that eventually feed you. You will no longer whine about how much land they take up, because it takes land to feed the world. These people bust their chops and get no thanks from anyone. So therefore, I declare a new National Holiday - Rancher & Farmer Appreciation Day. No, you know what? They get a week. Also, all schools - especially city schools where agriculture is not in their backyard - will be educated about where their food comes from, including field trips.

And now, to pass this award onto 10 bloggers that I deem worthy:

Canadian Blogger Girl

It's An Average Life

The Adventures of Cinderita

On My Soapbox

Happy Dying Sun

Drake's Doomsday Corner

Dribble

Simple Dude in a Complex World

Are You Serious

The Life and Times of A. Nighbert

I Survived . . . But Just Barely.

After blogging for six days a week for a month to complete the A-Z April Blogging Challenge, I found myself crawling on all fours begging for April to be over with.

Okay, no not really. But it was still tough. That's a lot of blogging and a lot of ideas to come up with. And with three jobs I still managed to blog my brains out. Elizabeth Mueller was totally awesome and made an award for all of the blogs that participated in this blogging challenge. I think in the end, well over 1000 blogs participated in this challenge. That's some serious blogging power, my friends.

Now I can get back to telling y'all about my exciting ranch life. And my exciting life in publishing. And my exciting life at a vet's office. It may sound exciting, but really, I'm so busy I barely know what to do with myself. I wind up in bed well before 10pm anymore. I'm exhausted by 4pm. My cat has decided to hate me most days and she has shown it. Several times in April I found that she peed on articles of clothing. Yeah, she was pissed. I'd get home from being gone all day (either at my grandparents house or at the vet's office), be home for a short bit, and go to my grandparents house for dinner. I'd come back and check up on my emails, play the 11 Scrabble games (online), check on my Facebook, and write the next day's blog for the challenge. Then it would be off to bed. My poor cat basically didn't get much lap time unless I was given the day off. So I've had to do some extra laundry thanks to her being all mad at me. You'd think laying next to me or sleeping next to me all the time would be the same as laying on me. Guess not.

I did manage to find my USB cord for my cell phone, so now I can work on getting that video of that calf I recorded over a month ago up on my blog. By the way, that calf is still doing good, and has been reunited with the herd.

I actually did watch the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday. I had no intention, but I wound up with the day off due to my grandparents having to drive to Reno for a doctor appointment. I got home after feeding and turned on the boob tube, and channel surfed and came across the wedding.  Since nothing else was on, I spent my morning watching it. I really had no idea that William was already bald up top - poor kid. He's, what, 30 and has a huge bald spot on his head. You'd think with all his money he could do something about that. Whatever. I thought Kate looked elegant. I thought the majority of the hats worn by the guests were hideous - especially the one that seemed to get it's own Facebook page. Seriously? A Facebook page for one of the ugliest hats ever? I don't understand the hat thing. Some of the hats were fine. But most of them were plain ugly and worn on the side of the head or on the forehead and that would just annoy the hell out of me. Why would they voluntarily wear such hideous things?

Saturday was a massively crazy day at the vet's office. I got in and saw that we weren't booked solid and hoped it would be a decent day. Nope. I was wrong. At 9:30, a gal came in with a dog that needed a C-Section. She'd pushed out three puppies but hadn't pushed out anymore since 2am and there were still puppies in her. The vet had me call our other morning appointments to see about rescheduling them, but none of them were home. The appointments showed up and luckily they were very understanding and I rescheduled them for later in the week. We never caught back up. The afternoon was busy mostly because we were all behind. Fortunately for us, our clients were understanding. I didn't get cussed out because someone wasn't seen at their scheduled time. By the time 4pm rolled around, we hadn't even had time to do the regular cleaning. We had to leave notes for the Sunday crew to do it for us. As it was, we didn't leave until at least 4:30. Oy ve.

Okay, I've rambled on long enough. Go rest your eyes now.

The LOL Award

Well, Happy Monday to me! I was blessed with another award! A huge thank you goes out to Pencil Girl at Conquering the World to passing this on to me. She is one of my newer followers. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I know these awards are kinda silly, but it really means so much that folks I've never met like my ramblings enough to pass awards on to me. Really. And before I get all sappy emotional, I'll stop now.

This award comes with a couple rules:

1. Link back to the person who gave you the award.

2. Pass this award onto 7 other blogs who post about even slightly amusing things . . . and let them know.

3. Share 7 things about yourself.

Since I've already done the first one, here are the blogs I shall pass this onto (and in no particular order):

Simple Dude in a Complex World

The Frisky Virgin

Milk...Two Sugars

Turning 30: A Journey of Self Exploration

The Ranter's Box

Are You Serious

Ramblings of an Emotional Idiot

Just so y'all know, I hate choosing between all of you. Seriously. Oh and one more thing. Hazel over at Pablo's Angel . . . I was going to include her in the seven blogs, but her link said her blog no long existed. Picture a sad face.  Hazel, if you see this, you still get the award.  :o)  It's my blog and if I see fit to shell this out to 8 blogs versus 7, so be it.

Now, 7 things about me:

1. I am in love the TV show Psych.

2. My favorite blanket is the afghan my mom made me.

3. I have 3 weeks left at my job.

4. In winter I sleep with the electric blanket on, and two fans blowing on me.

5. I have never used the so-called fireplace in my apartment.

6. I despise touching other people's laundry. Even when I know it's clean.

7. I was in New York for 36 hours . . . way before 9/11 . . . and managed to get only one shot of the skyline from the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.

I'm Stylin'

Several days ago, I was blessed with another award - thanks to On My Soapbox. She is new to the blogging world - well, to the actual blogging portion of it anyway. If you haven't checked her out yet, you should stop by and do so. Luckily for me, there isn't a long survey associated with this one! lol  There are just two simple rules:

1. Thank and link back to the blogger who gave you the award.

2. Share 5 things about yourself.

I've already done the thanking, here's to the sharing.

~ I've been a bridesmaid twice.

~ I have a weak spot for popcorn and M&Ms. A major one.

~ I will never eat sushi again. Once was one time too many.

~ My aunt is totally kicking my ass in online scrabble. With two and three letter words. It's embarrassing. lol

~ I despise coffee in all forms. It's gross.

There is no rule about how many blogs to pass it onto. I know that several blogs I follow, this award has already hit them, so I shall try to go outside our "usual circle".

I will pass this onto Milk..Two Sugars and Eccentric Lights and Nonsense Shadows. I'm fairly new to both blogs and thoroughly enjoy both.

Life Is Good!

Good News: Thanks to my wonderful blogging friend, Hazel, I have received a new award! Such wonderful news! Even though I knew about this award for a day or two, I'm finally getting around to posting about it. Thank you, Hazel, for being so kind as to bestow this award on my humble little blog.

As with many awards, there are rules to follow. I don't mind the rules, unlike some others who won't be named (*cough*Simple Dude*cough*). Sorry about all the coughing, I'm still getting over that nasty head cold that caught me off guard this week. Anyway, the rules are as follows:

#1 Firstly thank and link back to the blogger that gave you the award

#2 Answer the 10 survey questions

#3 Pass the award onto other bloggers you think are fantastic

#4 Contact the bloggers you've chosen to let them know about the award

I've already done the first one, so off to number two we go!

Q1.  If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing this? If you aren't anonymous, do you wish you started out anonymously so that you could be anonymous now?

I'm not anonymous, and I doubt I will ever be. There are some days I wish I was, but more often than not, I'm happy that my family and friends can come to me and say, "Hey I read your latest blog, and I really liked it". While I do understand why some folks keep their blogs anonymous, mine won't ever be so. I will, however, sometimes try to keep others anonymous that I talk about. Either because I'm complaining about them or I'm trying to protect them. Or myself.

Q2.  Describe an incident that shows your inner stubborn side.

Any day I work with my boss. For those that know me, my inner stubborn side is actually far more exterior. I am stubborn and proud of it. Lets take last night for instance. We have on loan or for use to see if we want to purchase this thing called an "Uncapper". It does exactly what it says in it's name: it uncaps serum tubes for us. Now, this is great. In theory. Here's reality: I am on the Chem bench - I pick up my samples from all the different processing stations and take them to our "drop off table" and place them in the racks for our chem machine. I then take those racks to my station, and uncap them one by one. While I'm touching each sample, I'm evaluating it to see if it's short in volume, if it's needs to be centrifuged because it looks like a freaking milkshake, or if there are clots in the sample. This takes a split second as I'm uncapping the sample. Once the racks are uncapped, I stick them on the analyzer and hit start. Now, if we use the "uncapper", I have to pick up my samples from all the processing stations, and at the drop off table, I then load them in racks with special holding tubes - align everything for the uncapper - then wait while the machine uncaps my stuff - then I have to take all these open samples to my station (the likelihood of me spilling stuff more often this way is huge) and then reload them in my analyzers racks and still have to check them for all the other stuff. It doesn't help and it's just one more step I have to take. It's a pain in my ass. I told my boss so and that I wouldn't be using it. At all. She kept insisting that I use it. I told her, "It's nice in theory, but it's more work than it's worth. I'm not using it. Ever." (Besides, what are they going to do? Fire me?) Long story short. But my work takes some explaining. My fingers are tired now.

Q3. What do you really see when you look at yourself in the mirror?

 A good person. Sometimes I'm pretty. Sometimes I'm not quite so pretty. But I know that I'm looking at a person with a good heart and soul. And that's always beautiful.

Q4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?

Um. I have no idea. I drink water and soda throughout the year. Sometimes I'll drink lemonade in the summer. I love a good sno-cone though. And those aren't exactly winter items.

Q5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?

Couch time with the kitty. My cat is a serious lap-lover, and she has a tendency to not see my lap much during the week as I have my laptop on my lap . . . or I'm sleeping the day away. I'll curl up on the couch and she's on me all day. She loves it. And I love hearing her purr in my ears. But I love to catch up on my reading, too. Or find a way to hang out with my BFF.

Q6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life?

I would love to travel more - however, that requires one of two things: money or a sugar-daddy. Since I have neither, traveling much isn't much of an option. Otherwise, I want a marriage and a family of my own. Simple.

Q7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the shy person, or always ditching?

The thing to understand about my high school was that there was nowhere to ditch. Literally. We were plopped in the middle of cattle pasture. I'm so not kidding. I was the shy person in high school. When it came to college, I was still mostly the shy person. I was never really an overachiever - I had goals, but I never let them get out of reach. And I may be funny, but not enough to be the class clown.

Q8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what would you see?

The passing of my Great-Grandma. I was 26 years old when she passed away. I was blessed with so many years with her. Not many people get to know their great-grandparents; some don't even get to know their grandparents. She was in the hospital for a month before she passed, and it was a long haul. At one point the doctors were almost forced to send her home unless she consented to surgery to make her feel comfortable. The way she would have died at home bothered me to no end. I was so angry. I could not understand how God could let people die like that; no one should ever have to go through that. She finally consented to surgery, and she was able to stay in the hospital. When I was finally able to go see her, she wasn't lucid. She had no idea who I was; I couldn't even hug her good-bye. She was clutching her hairbrush, claiming she "wasn't going to let go because it was her sanity". That was Father's Day weekend. A week later she passed away in her sleep, just as everyone should.  Her funeral was held on my Granddad's birthday.

Q9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog, or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?

Depends on the topic or situation. Some things I will probably never share. Some things I will divulge only so much. It was hard for me to write the answer to the last question, because I always cry when I talk about my last visit with Grandma - and it's been 4 years.

Q10. If you had the choice to sit down and read a book or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

I love doing both! I immensely enjoy reading, and finding time to just read for the day is relaxing to me. I love camping because often as a kid I would just sit and read and read and read. Now I'm old and need mini-breaks to keep from being stiff the next day, but I still love it. And I enjoy talking on the phone. It's wonderful to hear from an old friend or even a current one when you're separated by long distances. Emails are good, too, but listening to their voice as they describe what's happening with their lives is so much better! If I can't be sitting at a table with you, the next best thing is hearing your voice. And sometimes, that's all you need - to hear someone's voice.

And now to pass on the award to other blogs I find fantastic!

Are You Serious

The Ramblings of an Emotional Idiot

The Frisky Virgin

Simple Dude in a Complex World

Content Unrelated

The Adventures of Cinderita

Deviled Megs

The Ranter's Box

Tis the Season for the Blog Lovin'

I truly love when I check up on my blogs in the morning after work and find that someone was generous enough to pass around an award. Especially when someone played Oprah and gave all of her followers the award. Canadian Blogger Girl was generous to give this award to everyone. 

This award has one condition: to pimp CBG's blog. So here's my plug: go check out her blog, you won't be sorry! 

 And now it's my turn to play Oprah (yes, I'm stealing CBG's idea). I never do like having to choose which blogs to pass awards on to, because then I feel like a git for not passing it on to everyone. I enjoy all of your blogs, and I appreciate you taking the time out to read my rambles. And I will keep the rule that CBG had, just pimp my blog and pass on the blog love to whomever you wish.