NaNoWriMo

Microsoft Clip Arts

Guess what? I decided to take the plunge this year & attempt NaNoWriMo. I have so many ideas floating around in my head, I’m going to try to get them down somewhere to see if I can make sense of them or even if they would make a good story.  I have been flirting with one main theme for quite a while & I think through some of the details almost every night as I’m trying to fall asleep.  Because I have nothing written down anywhere I think I am spending way too much time on the same thing over & over, so I want to try to flesh it out more by putting down what I know for sure at this point.

Of course, this means I won’t have as much time to spend reading blogs as I do now & it makes me very sad.   I enjoy reading about everyone’s exploits so much, it’s the best part of my day!  I am going to try scheduling my Tickle Me Tuesday posts & we’ll have to see what happens with Life with Kelvin (right now he’s driving me crazy because I told him I need to get some work done today, but he doesn’t consider blogging work so he’s laughing at me).  If he doesn’t find a job soon, I think I’ll quietly go crazy.  He’s unloading the dishwasher as I write this, banging pots around & cursing under his breath, not realizing this is disturbing to me.  I guess I should be grateful he’s unloading the dishwasher!

I have another task to take care of before I sequester myself away for a month – Princess Rosebud of http://enchantedseashells.com/2013/10/28/a-sure-fire-cure-for-the-unfreshly-pressed-blues-2/ has kindly bestowed the You Are a Winner badge on me to remind me, even though WordPress doesn’t think I’m Freshly Pressed worthy, there are other bloggers out there who think I’m pretty good.  You can see the badge on the right side of my page.  Thankfully this is one of those badges where you don’t have to do anything – you can accept it or not, pass it on or not & there are no rules!  But I would like to pass it on to a few of my buddies to let them know I am thinking of them:

Archon’s Den  http://archonsden.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/the-cats-that-own-us-part-4/

Becoming Cliche  http://becomingcliche.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/nearly-wordless-wednesday-best-friend-and-a-giveaway-is-coming/

Beth Ann Chiles at It’s Just Life  http://bethannchiles.com/2013/10/31/chrisisms-are-back/

Joe at London Survival http://london-survival.com/

Now, I have tried to pick friends who I know have not been freshly pressed, so if your name isn’t here it’s because I thought you were Freshly Pressed already.  Otherwise I would have also mentioned:

Edward Hotspur  http://edwardhotspur.wordpress.com/2013/10/30/nothing-never-mind/

Life in the Boomer Lane http://lifeintheboomerlane.com/2013/10/30/an-open-letter-to-kanye-west-on-the-day-before-valentines-day/

Linda Vernon  http://lindavernon.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/slightly-creepy-seventies-halloween-post/

Making My Mark  http://tbmarkinson.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/i-made-a-goodreads-list/

Mark My Words  http://markmywordssite.com/2013/10/29/moscow-mules-mollys-house-more-mile-high-memories/

Photos from the Loony Bin http://photosfromtheloonybin.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/winning-the-battle/

Pouring My Art Out  http://pouringmyartout.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/everybody-calm-down-i-am-not-really-planning-on-taking-over-the-world/

Rarasaur  http://rarasaur.wordpress.com/2013/10/31/manifesting-realities/

The Fur Files  http://thefurfiles.com/2013/10/30/the-system-of-love-lust-romance-and-attachment/

So now, maybe you can see, why I spend so much time reading blogs instead of writing.  Anyway, for November it’s going to change.  I hope I can do the whole NaNoWriMo challenge, so if you don’t see me around your blog as much – it’s not because I don’t care about you – it’s because I care about me & my writing a little more (for the time being).  I will try to get caught up as soon as I can.  In the meantime I hope you will wish me luck!

Shine On, Shine On Harvest Moon . . .

I have been honored by Marsha from TC History Gal with the Shine On Award! Isn’t the logo pretty?  Now to figure out how to get this onto my Awards page (these widgets will be the death of me)!

You should definitely check out Marsha’s blog (see the link above).  She writes smart & funny posts about a variety of topics & even tries to help us (dummies?) learn something new!

There are some fairly simple rules:

1. Display the award logo on your blog page.  Check
2. Link back to the awesome person who nominated you.  Check
3. Tell seven things about yourself.  Check
4. Nominate 10 other bloggers who are deserving of this award.  Check

Seven things about myself:

1. My hands are really dry right now because hubby came home early from work on Tuesday & was home sick all day yesterday with a cold.  So I spent half the last couple days washing my hands to try to avoid getting his cold!
2. My hair has grown so much in the last year or so it is now almost to my waist
3. Having hubby home sick for one & half days has reaffirmed how much I hate whining
4. I never get anything done when hubby is home, so now I have to squeeze 5 days of work into only 3 days
5. Now I have found a site on FB where I can play jigsaw puzzles for free, I am becoming addicted to these puzzles again!  Grrrrr
6. I absolutely hate it when I am talking on the phone & someone else is trying to tell me what they want me to say in my conversation (cancelled a doctor’s appointment yesterday & hubby was trying to get me to ask a certain question while I was on the phone – stop already!)
7. I was lucky enough to have six grandparents until I was aged 12 because my father’s parents divorced & each remarried.  I was in my 40’s when my last grandparent passed away.  A lot longer than most people have their grandparents.

Now – who to nominate?  Hmmmmmmm . . .

1. Art from Pouring My Art Out
2. Beth Ann from It’s Just Life
3. Edward Hotspur
4. Diatribes & Ovations
5. Rarasaur
6. Joe from Londonsurvival
7. Linda Vernon Humor
8. Zoe from Behind the Mask of Abuse
9. Becoming Cliche
10. Tilly Bud from the Laughing Housewife

Even if you don’t pass the award on, please accept it with my admiration for the great work you do & how you keep me entertained.

More Awards

I AM PART OF THE WORDPRESS FAMILY AWARD

THE RULES FOR THE AWARD ARE:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your WordPress experience and family
4. Let your 10 Family members know you have awarded them

I was nominated for this award by Edward Hotspur.

Nominations: See below

I’VE BEEN TAGGED

I was tagged by Marsha Lee from TCHistory Gal.  The idea is to answer eleven questions set by her and then ask more questions to eleven others.  My questions:

1. What book are you reading right now?  I won’t actually name the book I am reading right now because I am reading the book to review it, but I did just finish re-reading the Necroscope series by Brian Lumley.  In between book reviews I am also reading The Womens Murder Club Series by James Patterson.  I have read a number of the books in this series previously, but some new books have been added to the series so it is good to start from the beginning again.
2. What mini-vacation (0-100 miles from your home) have you particularly enjoyed within the last year?  Last December hubby had to go to a business meeting in Calgary & I went along for a quick visit with our cousins Jason & Cindy & my two fur nieces Chloe & Pepper.  It was just an overnight visit, but it was a great little get-away.  Technically, Calgary is 300 kms. away from Edmonton, but it’s the only mini-vacation we’ve taken in the last 3 years.
3. What is your favorite form of entertainment?  I would rather read than do anything else in the world, but my second favorite entertainment is TV.  I enjoy Castle, Dancing with the Stars, Bones, Rizzoli & Isles, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, The Following, Revolution, Dr. Who, Defiance, Hawaii 5-0, Deadliest Catch, NCIS, Hell’s Kitchen, Body of Proof, Elementary, Hannibal, American Idol, Supernatural, Homeland, Chicago Fire, Person of Interest, Grey’s Anatomy, Motive, Scandal, Vegas & Blue Bloods.
4. Of what accomplishments are you the most proud?  I am most proud of the mother I was to my own child, stepchildren & children of my heart.  I always tried to be a good example & treated all my children with respect while expecting them to treat me with respect also.  I tried to instill a sense of accomplishment, good work ethics & kindness in them all.
5. Who has been most influential in your life in the past year?  I would have to say most of my blogging buddies have been very influential in my life in many different ways.  The sense of acceptance was a bane for my soul when I felt so alone.
6. If you were raising money for a favorite charity, where would you direct our checks?  My charity of choice would be the Muscular Dystrophy Association since I had a friend who was afflicted with this disease while I was growing up.  My second choice would be a cancer society for the loved ones of friends who have lost their fight or are still fighting this dreadful disease.
7. If you weren’t doing the work or career you are in, what would you like to be doing?  When I was in high school I wanted to be a Flight Attendant, but the waiting list was way too long the year I graduated so I went into office work instead.  Right now I am unemployed, but I would want to be a writer.
8. If you could have named yourself, what would your name be and why?  Since I hated the name my parents gave me, I did choose my name – the one I use now.  The name my parents gave me was misspelled on my birth certificate so I endured 12 years in school of teachers mispronouncing my name on the first day of school & all the kids laughing at the funny name the teachers called me.  I have not legally changed my name because it would break my mother’s heart, but I have used my adopted name for more years now than I used my real name.
9. What would you most like to tell your children, or important young person in your life but haven’t?  Since I’ve been very open with my children, I can’t think of anything I would want to tell them I haven’t already told them except how much I love them every day.
10. How do you change your mood when you are grumpy?  I try to wear bright colors & fake it till I make it.
11. What particular skill could you teach us on your blog?  I would hope people would take away the message that even though you may have had a hard life, there is always something to laugh about.

Here are the lucky people I’m tagging.

1. Rarasaur
2. Behind the Mask of Abuse
3. Pouring My Art Out
4. Enchanted Seashells
5. Guapola
6. Mark My Words
7. Elroy Jones
8. The Fur Files
9. Becoming Cliche
10. FASAB
11. It’s Just Life
12. Diatribes & Ovations
13. Archon’s Den
14. Photos from the Loony Bin

Awards, Awards, Awards . . .

BEST MOMENT AWARD

RULES:

Winners re-post this with their acceptance speech. This could be written or video recorded.

Winners have the privilege of awarding the next awardees!  The re-post should include a NEW set of people/blogs worthy of the award and winners notify them the great news.

RESOURCES:

What makes a good acceptance speech?Get an idea from the great acceptance speeches, compiled in MomentMatters.com/Speech

• Gratitude. Thank the people who helped you along the way
• Humor. Keep us entertained and smiling
• Inspiration. Make your story touch our lives
• Display the award’s badge on your blog/website, downloadable in MomentMatters.com/Award

Acceptance Speech:  To every blog a little sunshine must fall.  My moment of sunshine came when Edward Hotspur nominated me for the Best Moment Award for which I am truly grateful.  This is the first time I have been nominated for this particular award & it means a lot to know a fellow blogger thinks I am worthy.  Too many times we are out here writing our hearts out without any idea of whether people appreciate us or not.

WINNERS:  See below

WONDERFUL TEAM MEMBER READERSHIP AWARD

The Origins of the Award:
This is quite a new award; it was founded by Managua Gunn on 29 August 2012. The initial post seems to have been taken down but I found a quote on another blog from Managua which gives an insight into why he created it. He said:

“As bloggers, we are also readers. That is a part of blogging as listening is a part of speaking.”

The Rules:
1. Display the logo on your page.
2. Finish the sentence: A great reader is…
3. Nominate 14 readers I appreciate. Nominate the readers you really value.
4. Inform the readers with either comments or pingbacks.

2.  A great reader is my reason to get up every morning.

I was nominated for this award by Edward Hotspur.

Nominations:  See below

1. Rarasaur
2. Behind the Mask of Abuse
3. Pouring My Art Out
4. Enchanted Seashells
5. Guapola
6. Mark My Words
7. Elroy Jones
8. The Fur Files
9. Becoming Cliche
10. FASAB
11. It’s Just Life
12. Diatribes & Ovations
13. Archon’s Den
14. Photos from the Loony Bin

I have 2 other awards to accept & the post will be close behind, but I didn’t want to do them all in 1 post because it was waaaaaaay too long.

They Got Me Again!

I am so far behind in accepting awards.  Edward Hotspur gave me 2 awards in January & February & I am just now getting around to doing the acceptance post.  So I’m doing them both together.  First the Versatile Blogger Award.

These are the rules for the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Display the Award Certificate on your website

2. Announce your win with a post and link to whoever presented your award

3. Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers

4. Drop them a comment to tip them off after you’ve linked them in the post

5. Post 7 interesting things about yourself

My Picks for the Awards:

Rarasaur

BuckwheatRisk

Archons Den

Photos From the Loony Bin

Serenity in the City

The Artist Formerly Known as My Right to Bitch

Enchanted Seashells

It’s Just Life!

Becoming Cliche

Life with the Top Down 

FASAB

Sips of Jen & Tonic

Fifty-four and a Half 

K8edid 

I thoroughly encourage you to go & visit each & every one of these blogs, they are truly wonderful people with a variety of different blogs & a lot of interesting things to say.

And also, I’m going to grab the Beautiful Blogger Award from Edward Hotspur as well.  He gave me the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, but I already have one, so I’m going to follow in Hotspur’s footsteps & do exactly what I want.  Since purple is my favorite color, I want this award.  These are the rules for this award:  For this one, I am to give seven random facts about myself, and then give the award to seven other people.

Seven Random or Interesting Facts About Me

OK, what to tell you about me.  I have received a number of awards as you can see by the widgets in the right hand column of my blog, so I’ve already told a bunch of things about me, but I’d like to say something different if possible.  So here goes:

1.  When I first started working, almost nothing was done by computer.  We used typewriters & calculators, old-fashioned ledger sheets, pens & pencils, erasers, carbon paper, etc.
2. When I was 10 years old, I won a transistor radio from the local radio station in Winnipeg.  This was a big deal to me because it was the first thing I ever won & it meant I could listen to the radio when I wanted to.
3. My first car was a VW Bug.  It was orange & black & I called it my Ladybug.  I loved my car & drove it until it started “two-bitting me to death.”
4. I am allergic to cats.  I am definitely a dog person & have had dogs for as long as I can remember.  I have not had a dog since I lost my beloved Bandit (see my gravatar to see what Bandit looked like) because we have moved into an apartment.  So I now lavish all my doggy love on my four-legged “nieces” Chloe & Pepper who live in Calgary.  I love them up whenever I can see them.
5. I have always had long hair except for once.  When I was 12 years old, my sister got very sick & the doctor insisted my mother cut off all her long hair.  To make my sister feel better about her haircut, my mother also got my hair cut in a pixie cut.  This was hugely embarrassing for me to have such short hair just as I was starting to develop breasts & dealing with all the teen hormones.
6. I have bi-focal eyes.  I can only see close up with my left eye (just past the end of my nose) & I can only see far away with my right eye.  This is because of the different eye surgeries I had as a child.  Different doctors have tried to “fix” this with glasses, but it throws my balance off so badly I’ve just learned to live with it.
7. When I grow up I would like to be a writer.

Award Season!

It is said that the Liebster Blog Award started in Germany (probably) and is used to highlight smaller, lesser known blogs. The Liebster is an award you accept with the intention of paying it forward. When accepting, you choose other blogs that you feel are deserving of more subscribers and pass the award on to them. You are not obligated to accept the award or to even pay it forward. This is just a way to get the word out about new blogs that your followers may not know.

There are four steps to receiving this award:

List eleven things about yourself
Answer your nominator’s eleven questions.
Choose up to eleven bloggers and ask them your own questions.
Inform your nominees of their award nomination

Although I have already received this award, I still qualify for it because I have a small readership which is quite nice because all my readers feel like my friends.  So I thought I would take the opportunity to answer the questions posed by Diatribes & Ovations who was my nominator this time.  Eleven things about me …

1. I am a Sagittarius.
2. I hate to shop.  I hate food shopping, clothes shopping, even shoe shopping!
3. I like being alone.
4. I am extremely claustrophobic.
5. I was born left-handed but was forced to write with my right hand, so I have great difficulty playing sports because my mind cannot pick which hand to catch a baseball with, etc.  This has led to sprained fingers almost every time I play baseball.
6. I have normal vertigo as well as Benign Positional Vertigo which makes stairs of any kind a nightmare.
7. Hubby is my second husband.  We have been together since 1996.
8. I have always hated housework.  No matter how often you do it, it always needs to be done again!
9. I am allergic to cats, rabbits & birds.
10. At 5’5″ I am the shortest person in my birth family.
11. I was a model at my first job.

Here are my responses to Diatribes & Ovation’s questions & the questions I would like answered by any of my nominees if they choose to participate:

1. Where was the destination of your favorite vacation?  Cuba, we won the all expenses paid vacation.  
2. What are you afraid of if anything?  Snakes & spiders
3. How do you find inspiration to write?  From things happening around me, from prompts, from dreams
4. Boxers or briefs?  Neither, I wear panties
5. Name the “earworm” that annoys you the most.  Nancy Grace or Jane Velez-Mitchell
6. What is your all-time-favorite television show, and why?  Bewitched, I thought it would be great to be able to help yourself with a little magic
7. Have you met the love of your life?  Yes, nuff said
8. Do you know any LGBT people?  Yes, I have a good friend who is gay
9. If you could travel back in time, where would you go?  I’d like to go back to Henry VIII’s time, when the Church of England was first formed & see what that looked like
10. Who was the biggest influence in your childhood?  My cousin Ross who showed me childhood didn’t have to be all rules
11. What would you order for your “last meal”?  Turkey with all the trimmings, pumpkin pie with whipped cream & an excellent cup of capuccino

I also received an award from tchistorygal which is totally new for me & I am thrilled to get it.  Thank you so much!

Here are the rules for this award:

1. Provide a link and thank the blogger who nominated you for this award.

2. Answer 10 questions.

3. Nominate 10-12 blogs that you find a joy to read.

4. Provide links to these nominated blogs and kindly let the recipients know that they have been nominated.

5. Include the award logo within your blog post.

Since I answered a lot of questions at the top of this post, they can serve as the answers for the rest of the awards too.

I got this award from Edward Hotspur who is one of the most insanely talented bloggers I know of (although I still don’t like free form poetry) & who just had a birthday!

1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person/s who nominated you.  
3. State 7 things about yourself.
4. Nominate other bloggers for this award and link to them

I would like to nominate the following blogs for these awards, they may choose to take them all if they like or any one, I think they are all terrific bloggers & deserve any & all awards:

Cheeky Diva
Hasty Words
Tilly Bud
Elyse
Margarita
John Erickson  (Sorry John you can’t grab the Sisterhood Award, but go ahead for the others, just could not leave you out of awards)

Jen

Life With the Top Down

Buckwheat (she has a new site, so this link is for the new one)

BethAnn Chiles

SandyLikeABeach

There are a lot of absolutely terrific bloggers on WordPress.  If I have missed anyone, I am truly sorry, but I was trying for mainly women in this post so they could have the freedom to accept all the awards if they chose.

I look forward to reading all the responses!

I’m Awesome!!

I’ve received another award – the Awesome at Awarding Awards Award from Hobbling Along – who else?  I have received a number of awards over the 9 months I’ve been blogging (wow, I could have produced a baby in this time – what have I been doing with myself?) & I love receiving them – I just don’t particularly like the “rules” you have to follow.  Oftentimes it’s so much work to accept an award – all the linking to other bloggers & trying to think of something witty to say about fellow bloggers (I just love this person 6 or 7 times just doesn’t cut it).

This is how Hobbles described the rules:  Rules for this are pretty simple. I’m going to list some words. Your job is to write the first thing you think of when you read that word. Then pass this on to anyone who gave you an award. Or not…I’m not a big fan of rules.

awards – too many rules
you – writer
blogging- learning to write again
don’t – least favorite word
let’s – go!
why – 3 year old
party – murder mystery
oh – wow!
try – & try again
watch – TV
life – lessons
favorite – recent post
no – smoking still
I’m – exhausted
sorry – seems to be the hardest word

I’d like to pass this along to Laughing at Everyday Life, Mark My Words…, The Narcissist’s Blog ©, & Word Play.  No pressure to accept, but I’d love to know what you would say to go along with these words.  Have fun!

Intermission

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog reading pleasure with the following announcements:

1) I have been awarded the Reader Appreciation Award

*

*

The rules are (…so simple and I truly appreciate simple lately)

List six nominations.

Guapola

Hobbling Around

It’s Just Life

Mark My Words

Running Naked with Scissors

Word Play
Link the award image back to the one who presented it to you.  This was kindly sent to me by TR Jensen from Narcissists Blog .  This is not the first award I have received from the Narcissist – I have been following her almost from the time I started my own blog.  She writes a fascinating blog about standing on her own, dating & relationships in general.  I’m sure you would enjoy it, go check her out.

2) I have been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award

*

*

*

The rules of the award are:

1. Add the award to your blog  Since I have already received this award previously, I am going to thank the person who sent it to me (see #2) & then refer you to my Blog Roll on the right side of my blog for all the people I normally follow as the people I would like to have this award (but no pressure to actually do anything)
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.  I would like to thank Pink Ninjabi for passing this award on to me.  A fellow Canadian, Pink writes a similar blog to mine except she makes great use of pictures of cats to illustrate her points.  I think you would enjoy reading her blog.
3. Mention 7 Random Things about yourself.  I am a dog person & I am allergic to cats; I am also allergic to rabbits, feathers, spring in general & mould; I am a night owl (as if you couldn’t already tell that from when I post); I wear glasses to work at the computer; I am too short for my weight; I do not like hot or spicy food & to me large bodies of water are extremely calming.
4. List the rules (check!)
5. Pass on the Award to 15 or more bloggers.  So if you choose to accept this assignment, the rules are listed here.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled blog reading. . .

In other news, I have to return to work next week.  I know, I know, it’s such short notice.  This probably means less commenting, less writing because I will have so much less time to devote to my friends in the blogosphere.  I will do my best to keep up, but don’t be alarmed if you don’t hear from me – I may be forced to only hit the Like button to let you know I’ve been there due to time constraints.

I will try to get in another post before I return to work on Monday, May 8.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Tag – I’m It?

Tag – you’re it!’ –

The rules:

1. You must post these rules.
2. Answer the question the “tagger” listed for you in their post,
3. And create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. Choose 11 people to tag and link to them in the post.
5. Let each blogger know that you have tagged them.

My tagger was Hobbling Around, who writes a fantastic blog about the ups & downs of being a mother with MS, the trials of being in a wheelchair & heart-aching commentary on the emotional roller coaster of life with lots of laughter & a few tears.

The question Hobbling Around posed for me was:

What is the best post that you have written?  I would have to say the following post is my favorite post.  I have 7 daughters & I would hate to think because of apathy on my part or their part, they might lose some of their rights.  I stood up for these rights in my youth &  I lent my voice to the cause of equality for women.   I urge all women to act to keep those who would deny women their right to birth control & control over their own bodies from getting elected in the upcoming US elections.  One of my daughters once told me she would rather I didn’t share my political views with her which is fair because I would like her to form her own opinions, but this one is FOR her & all my other girls, so I can’t be quiet.  https://benzeknees.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/international-womens-day-2012/

Now to pose questions for my taggees!  These are supposed to be individual questions for each blogger, but I’d like to change it up a bit today & ask them all the same question (& of course I hope Hobbles will answer it too!):

What are you most proud of & why?

So here’s my list:

Laughing at Everyday Life

Becoming Cliche

The Byronic Man 

Edward Hotspur

Guapola

The Idiot Speaketh

It’s Just Life

Mark My Words . . .

The Narcissist’s Blog

Running Naked with Scissors

Word Play

So go have fun & play!

It Appears My Peers Have Me in Mind

Many, many thanks to  Edward Hotspur who has honored me by passing along 2 awards:

The Creative  Chaos Award, which thankfully has no rules to follow or questions to answer.    I love the colors of this award & the edginess of the pic.  In Edward’s words: “She’s in the trees like a breeze stung by bees.”  I am very honored to be acknowledged for this.  To me it means someone, maybe someone, gets my quirky sense of humor besides me!

The Versatile Blogger Award which does have some rules to follow & questions to answer, as follows:

1.  Thank the award-giver & link back to them in your post

2.  Share 7 things about yourself

3.  Pass this award along to 15-20 of your favorite bloggers

4.  Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about their award.

#1 is taken care of above, so for #2:  I have had approximately 17 surgeries in my life; I am a Sagittarius; I have some limited skills in foreseeing the future (unfortunately nothing I can control);  my life is nothing like I thought it would be growing up;  I love hats but rarely have the courage to wear one; I was a model in my late teens; my sweet tooth would fit comfortably in the mouth of a T-Rex.

Now to pass on this award – I will never get near 15 – 20 blogs – most of the people I follow already have this award, so I’m just going to mention a few of the people I follow because I like them, there is no obligation on their part to pass this on if they don’t want to.  If they want to, yeah!

My first mention is TopiclessBar.  Just a few days after getting this award he wondered out loud if anyone actually gets this award anymore, so I was happy to let him know the award is still around & I passed it along to him.  See what you get for asking questions?  topiclessbar.  Then there is BrainRants, I love his rantiness; the Idiot at TheIdiotSpeaketh who makes me spit liquid out my nose more often than not with his antics; then there is Lisa from Woman Wielding Words Lisa Wields Words who is coming into her own & I love her spirit; I cannot forget Running Naked with Scissors lizziecracked, who is so brave my heart aches for her sometimes; I am newly following Laughing at Everyday Life tadams4u & having a hoot reading this blog; I cannot forget The Hobbler who got me really good for April Fool’s Day & has been warned I will seek revenge; another fairly new one for me is The Laughing Housewife Tilly Bud who threatens to take away my Malteasers if I’m too serious;  love sweet Beth Ann at It’s Just Life beth ann she has so much energy;  also love  Bernie at One Mixed Bag, she just says whatever comes into her mind; lots of good info on lots of topics in a humorous way at Life in the Boomer Lane; you’ll also love Mark My Words Mark Petruska who has a long distance relationship which will soon become a live-in relationship; cannot forget Chris Sheridan at WordPlay, his humor is often a little risque but always funny.  I hope I have covered most of the blogs I read & enjoy on a daily basis.

And also a big thank you to Running Naked with Scissors lizziecracked for honoring me with the Cracked Vocab Sparkly Star for using the word “erudite” correctly in a comment to her.  This week’s word is “reciprocity” if you want to give it a go.

Ok, I’m done, you can wake up now!