For Me? Really?

Mood: Full (seriously, I think the hubs and I ordered all the Chinese food that exists outside of China - but it was quite yummy!)

On Tv: Toddlers and Tiaras (Don't judge me!)

<--- SQUEEE!!! Look what I've gotten!!! Some new blog bling and you all know how much I love some new blog bling!!!

I know, I know, I've been a bad blogger lately. A really bad blogger. I could say that I haven't had the time or that I've been devoting all my extra time to my writing work in progress, but that would be a lie of the biggest and fattest variety. The awful truth is that I've been sucked into the vortex that is Frontierville on Facebook. *hangs head in blogger type shame*.

Still, here I am blog folks and what better reason to be back here than to acknowledge the lovely award given me by none other than the amazingly talented and supremely kind EJ Fechenda over at EJ's Rants and Ramblings (and I swear, I would have said all of that even if she hadn't given me this award of awesomeness!).

  As always, there are rules: 


1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award. (Did I mention how awesome EJ is? Because she is!)

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who think you are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order...)

4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

Okay, so 7 things about myself. This one's a bit more difficult than you would imagine because I've already shared most things through the course of this blog. Hmmm....

1.) I love to go camping - and I'm talking about the "in the woods, in a tent, no electricty or running water" roughing it type camping.

2.) I hate bugs (I know this would seem in direct odds with #1 but what can I say? Bugs are gross!)

3.) When I was younger I wanted to be a nurse but I can't deal with blood or anything remotely medically gross - so nursing was obviously not the career choice for me.

4.) Autumn is my very favorite season. I love everything about it...the pretty leaves, the cooler days, the way the air smells. It's my absolutely favorite time of year.

5.) I'm an American History buff and completely geek out when it comes to living history events. Seriously. It's sad. I probably need some sort of help.

6.) I have an unnatural addiction to the Frosters you can only get at Circle K. Unfortunately, there are no Circle K stores in our town. It's practically a tragedy of my existence.

7.) I was born with a birth defect called Congenital Muscular Torticollis. Now they can correct most cases with intense physical therapy - back when I was diagnosed I had to have major surgery on the muscles in my neck when I was six months old and then spent the next year sporting a specially made baby sized whiplash collar.

Whew. Okay, now on to 15 bloggery type people who are so amazing that they definitely deserve this award.

1. Carol at Carol's Prints

2. Tawna Fenske over at Don't Pet Me, I'm Writing

3. Jamie at Bookmom Musings

4. Anne Riley at Anne Riley Books

5. Shannon Messenger at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe

6. Lisa and Laura at Lisa and Laura Write

7. Wendy Sparrow at Where Ladybugs Roar

8. Courtney Reese

9. Sarah McClung at Babbling Flow

Whew...okay, so I wasn't good at math but even I know that's not a full 15 but don't think I'm a lazy slacker (okay, so I'm totally a lazy slacker) because I will come back and finish this list with more amazing bloggers that you should be stalking if you're not already!

Epic Blogger Type Contest

Status: Tired (is 10:00 pm too late for a nap?)

On tv: The Simpsons (Classic!)

Guess what's going on in the interwebs? Go on, guess. Give up????

Alright then, I'll just tell you. In honor of reaching 300 bloggie type stalker people Carol over at Carol's Prints is hosting an epically epic contest. Seriously. You can even dance for more chances to win. That's right. I said dance. On the interwebs. For prizes. Kind of like Dancing With the Stars only without the stars part. The prizes are totally incredible so it might be worth the public humiliation to up your chances to win. For someone else I mean. Not necessarily me. No one needs to see me dance.

*Ahem* Anyway you should totally head over to Carol's blog and enter her contest because even if you don't win, she's a totally awesome blogger, writer and internet friend so it's a win/win!

Merrie Monday!

Mood: Tired (stupid time change)

What I'm Watching: (Operation Repo - Seriously? You know if you haven't made your car payment...no judgement, everyone has hard times, but why fuss and fight over it?)

Once again Monday has reared it's ugly head and to add to the fun? We have the beginning of Daylight Saving Time to add a certain level of annoying exhaustion to the day. However, the day has not been without it's perks....in the spirit of Merrie Monday Blogginess:

1.) I got my signed copy of "Flirting With Disaster" by the super fab Rhonda Stapleton! In addition, she slipped in a matching bookmark!! Really, it's just awesome. :)

2.) Okay, so there's really not another Merrie Monday perk in my life to report so I'll just throw this in for your general amusement:

For the record: Math always makes me feel the exact same way!

And, because I'm missing my maltese puppy who crossed the rainbow bridge many years ago:

Merrie Monday...Just Made of Awesome!!!

Mood: Excited (really, super excited!)

What I'm Watching: TMZ (have to catch up on my celeb gossip!)

Monday or not, today was just made of win. I mean like epic win!!!

First, I logged on to my Twitter account this morning to find a message from Rhonda Stapleton, super cool author of "Stupid Cupid" and all around awesome blogger, telling me I'd won her "Flirting With Disaster" contest. My prizes? A signed copy of Flirting With Disaster (which I totally wanted because I've read Stupid Cupid and can't wait to read the next installment) and, as if that weren't enough, I'm lucky enough to get a $50 gift card to the book store of my choice (Barnes and Noble in case anyone is wondering). So, I'm all totally Squeeeeeeeeee!!!!! I never win anything and this is made of nothing but amazing win!!

Then, another amazing gift in the form of my new little neice!!!! Finally, after literally a month of labor, the doctor finally conceeded and broke my sister's water. An hour later? We had a brand new addition to our family.

Happy Birthday Madelyn Sue!!! She weighed 7 lbs 2 ozs and was 18 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing well.

What's Wrong With Being a "Loser"???

Mood: Cranky (I get that way when I'm sick)

What I'm Watching: Olympics (specifically, I'm sitting through Nordic combined because the announcer guy keeps promising me figure skating. He's a freaking liar and yet I keep hoping...epic fail!)

WoooHooo!!! I got new blog bling! :) Carol over at Carol's Prints has graciously given me another sparkly blog award and we all know how much I love sparkly blog awards...so, squueeeeee!!!!

Carol is an absolutely amazingly funny, friendly and creative chickie. If you're not following her, you totally should be. Seriously. Now. (and I totally would have said that even if she hadn't given me an award...it just would have been a bit more awkward and stalker like.)

It's no secret that I've been spending most of my time over the last couple of weeks watching the Olympics. I've tweeted about it, blogged about it and shamefully neglected my writing to watch hours of skiing, skating and hockey. Okay, not hockey. I just really, really don't like hockey.*

So it's probably no surprise that I was watching the Olympics when I read that Carol had given me this latest blogging award and I was all "Sqqquuuuueeeeee!!! Carol's given me some new blog bling...how awesome am I?" But then I look up at the television screen and I see some guy getting a gold medal for skiing faster than anyone elese in the world and I was all "Wow. He's got an Olympic gold medal and I'm probably not that awesome after all."

Then I started really thinking about the Olympics and the medals and I started wondering why we don't ever see, say, the guy in 11th place celebrating like it's the time of his life? I mean, sure, he didn't win the gold but heck, he's at the Olympics and he's #11 out of all the people in his sport. In the world. When you think about it 11 is pretty kick ass! Heck, #20 is pretty amazing and #25 is no slouch either.

If I had a book on the New York Times Best Seller list at #11 I'd be out of my mind excited. There would be celebrating, there would be jumping up and down, heck, there might even be dancing! I wouldn't be fussing about not being in first place (Evgeni Plushenko? I'm totally looking at you here), I'd be too busy celebrating my success at #11.

So, maybe I don't have a gold medal, or even a silver or a bronze, but I've got a super cool awesome piece of new blog bling and that is pretty darn awesome!!! Maybe even dance worthy!

*My apologies to my Canadian friends.

Hello Universe, What Did I do To Piss You Off Today?

Mood: Excited (my sister is in labor w/ her 6th child...but she tends to labor for a long time and the baby isn't engaging the way he/she should so it's going to be a long process)

What I'm Watching: TMZ (Harvey totally rocks! *I'm a lawyer*)

This morning we slowly began to dig ourselves out after the snowpocalpyse. While things didn't get nearly as bad as the weathermen predicted they would, we got enough snow, ice and wind to make going outdoors miserable at best. Which is why this was the worst possible morning for the hubs to decide to take off to his job with my car keys in his coat pocket. I asked him to be sure that he didn't have my keys...he assured me he didn't. He was wrong. Mental note to me: don't take hubs word for it...check for yourself!

He works in a town 35 minutes away so bringing the keys to me was not an option. So, I ended up walking to work. Normally this would not be a huge deal. Annoying yes (especially since this is not the first time he's done this), but we don't live that far from my office. However. The path to work? Doesn't really have sidewalks and the grass is currently covered with snow drifts up to my knees.

The snow drifts were bad enough but they hid a layer of pure ice and made it impossible to tell where curbs and ankle twisting dips in the turf were until it was too late. By too late, of course, I mean I fell. A couple of times. Full on face first into the snow in front of God and all creation. By the time I got to work, I was exhausted, out of breath, in pain with wet socks and a purse full of snow. It was noon before I regained the feeling in my frozen feet and legs.

The hubs? Is currently in the doghouse.

In other, happier, news:

Anne over at Anne Riley and Kelly over at Rants, Observations and Other Remarks have both seen fit to award me the Honest Scrap Award! Now, I know I already have that award but there's a tiny little part of me that still goes "Squeeeeeeee!!!" when I get an award. After all, I've not gotten this award from those super bloggers before! Seriously you should totally check out their blogs. Really. Go.

According to the rules of this award, I'm to list 10 honest facts about myself. I've already done this when I accepted the award the first time but, since two more people have seen fit to give me this award, I've decided to give 10 more honest facts about me.

More things you never wanted to know about me:

1.) I suffer from road rage. Seriously. It's horrible. I get behind the wheel of a car and suddenly no one on the road knows how to drive except me. Luckily my rage is confined to yelling w/ the windows rolled up.

2.) I think that faith is far more important than religion.

3.) I'm terrified to fly. Well, it's not so much the flying as the flying and then suddenly not flying anymore that scares me.

4.) I pride myself on being a strong person and being able to take care of myself. This sometimes causes me to appear stubborn and makes it difficult for me to accept help.

5.) My dad beat feet when I was just an infant. I wouldn't know him if he walked up to me right now.

6.) Most of the rest of my family of origin recently converted to Mormonism. I'm okay with their choice but I don't think that they're okay with my choice to remain non-Mormon.

7.) I suffer from OCD. Not in the 'constantly wash your hands' or 'sparkly clean house' sense but in the "obsessive thoughts" sense. Which basically means that I have obsessive, worrisome thoughts without the bonus of having a perfectly clean house.

8.) I can crochet but not knit.

9.) I have an absolutely horrible sense of time. It drives the hubs nuts because I always say "the other day" and it could have been two days, two weeks, two months or two years ago.

10.) I prefer dark chocolate. Really, the darker the better.

Me? Over the Top?

Mood: Blah (yep, that's it alright. Have a headache and the hubs? Drilling holes for his project...blah is about as good as it gets right now)

What I'm Watching: A blank screen (My cable company? Is officially on my list!)

Look what I got!!! *insert happy dance here* Just what I needed to cheer me up on this miserable Monday...a shiny piece of blog bling from Laurel over at Laurel's Leaves!

As always, there are rules but these are easy and probably somewhat fun!!

Rules: Answer the following questions with single word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers. Sounds easy enough, right. That one word answer thing might be a bit tricky though.

Your Cell Phone? Essential
Your Hair? Brown
Your Mother? Loving
Your Father? Deadbeat
Your Favorite Food? Steak
Your Dream Last Night? House
Your Favorite Drink? Tea
Your Dream/Goal? Novelist
What Room Are You In? Livingroom
Your Hobby? Reading
Your Fear? Failure
Where Do You See Yourself In Six Years? Published
Where Were You Last Night? Home
Something That You Aren't? Patient
Muffins? Blueberry
Wish List Item? House
Where Did You Grow Up? Projects
Last Thing You Did? Talked
What Are You Wearing? Sweats
Your TV? Old
Your Pets? Gone
Friends? Loyal
Your Life? Happy
Your Mood? Blah
Missing Someone? Grandma
Vehicle? Fusion
Something You Aren't Wearing? Shoes
Your Favorite Store? B&N
Your Favorite Color? Green
When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Now
Last Time You Cried? Sunday
Your Best Friend? Hubby
One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? Interwebs
Facebook? Addicted
Favorite Place To Eat? Home
 
And now my very own fab five who are "Over the Top" in the best bloggy way possible!!!
 
1. Frankie at Frankie Writes
 
2. Carol at Carol's Prints
 
3. Mary at Writer's Butt Does Not Apply to Me
 
4. Jamie at Totally the Bomb
 
5. Shannon at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe

A Few of My Favorite Things (with pictures and shiny new blog bling!)

Mood: Lazy (It's 2:00 pm on a Saturday afternoon. The shopping is done, the house is clean and now? I'm lazy.) (Please note: it was 2:00 pm when I started this blog post...I'm so lazy that it's taken me nearly 5 hours to get around to finishing it up!)

What I'm Watching: Kind of Queens (The hubs and I? We're totally the Heffernens without the annoyingly creepy father living in the basement.)

I love awards and I love cupcakes so what's not to love about my newest piece of blog bling?!? Diana over at 'Writing Roller Coasters' was cool enough to present me with The Happy Blog Award!! Diana is a relatively new discovery for me but if you haven't checked out her blog, what the heck are you waiting for? Seriously, where else can you get references to both sculpted, hard bodied males and the genius idea of deep fried cheese dipped in cheese sauce in the same blog post?

As an aside...just how cute is this award? I mean really. Cupcakes, sprinkles, sunsets...it almost makes you smile just looking at it! Or maybe it's just me? Anyway, as always, awards have certain requirements that must be fulfilled.

Luckily the terms of acceptance for the Happy Blog award are simple. I don't have to share any deep dark childhood fears (ty-d-bol, I'm totally looking at you here), no embarrassing high school moments (all of them) or otherwise subject myself to public humilation. I simply have to list 10 things that make me happy and pass this on to 10 blogs that make me happy. The first should be relatively easy. The second? That might be a bit tricky because all the blogs I follow make me happy...or I wouldn't follow them.

Ten Things That Make Me Happy!

1.) My husband. He annoys me, loves me, makes me crazy and spoils me. He's my best friend and the only person who is always guaranteed to make me smile.

2.) My nephews and my neice. Honestly, how could you look at these little pudge faces and not have it instantly brighten your day? There's nothing better than going into my sister's house and having the whole crew attack me with hugs and kisses.

3.) Camping with the hubs. Getting out into nature, enjoying the cool evenings by the campfire, and the sunny mornings listening to the birds chirping.

4.) Ice Cream. Yes, that's right. Ice cream. Mint Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, it all makes me very, very happy!

 

5.) Christmas. I admit it. I love all things Christmas. The cooking, the smells, the songs, even the shopping.

6.) The Fourth of July. Family gatherings, cookouts, parades and fireworks coupled with a great day in American History. What's not to love?

7.) PG-13 cartoons, like King of the Hill, South Park and Family Guy. Yes, they're generally tacky and sometimes (most of the time) push the boundaries of good taste but I absolutely think they're hilarious.

8.)Vacation baby!!  I absolutely love to travel and just get away from it all. Whether it's a cruise, a trip to the beach or a fun time on a road trip. I don't care. I just love being out and away from home!

9.) My followers! Am I the only blogger who gets a little squeee when I see a new comment on a blog post or that I have a new follower on my list? I love my readers, their ideas, their feedback and the fact that they're willing to wade through my thoughts! :)

10.) Books. Really. All kinds of books. They've always been my teachers, my friends and my escape. I suspect that if reading could be an addiction, I'd have to check myself into Betty Ford for detox!

Now, for my list of 10 blogs that make me happy. Well, actually, as Diana discovered, we tend to follow the blogs that make us happy in some way so randomly choosing 10 seems to be the best way to go (I know, I'm a total copycat, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right?) *Ahem* Anyway, here they are:

1.) Carol at Carol's Prints

2.) Frankie at Frankie Writes.

3.) Jamie at Bookmom Musings

4.) Lisa and Laura at Lisa and Laura Write

5.) Lyla at Instant Human Just Add Coffee

6.) Rhonda Stapleton at Just Your Average Crazy Writer

7.) Harley May at HarleyMay.com

8.) Laurel at Laurel's Leaves

9.) Mary Campbell at Writer's Butt Does Not Apply to Me!

10.) Courtney Reese at Work in Progress

Seriously, if you're not reading these people, you totally should be. From vlog tips to diet tips to writing tips and just general all around being the shiznit, these blogs are among some of the most entertaining that I've come across!!! :)

What's That Behind the Blog Tree...

Mood: Harried and hassled (back at work after a long Christmas weekend and have a LOT of stuff to do. It's lunch time so I'm blogging and eating...look at me all multitasking and stuff)

What I'm listening to: Life in a Northern Town by Dream Academy (Viva La 80's!)

Current Word Count: Uh...I've thought about writing, does that count?

We've just come through the Christmas season in my household and, depsite our general anti-social personalities, the hubs and I are actually with it enough to reailze that the season is more about giving than receiving. This awareness keeps us from being forced to sit through those uncomfortable visits from the ghosts of Christmas. Trust me, this is an experience you want to avoid. Christmas past is an absolute downer, Christmas present is okay but a bit unsettling and Christmas future? I don't want to see anything on his radar unless it involves me, a great big pile of money and a pair of size five jeans into which I can actually squeeze more than one of my calves.

Despite doing the whole giving/charity thing, I still can't help getting a thrill everytime someone gives me a gift. I love them...all sparkly, wrapped up and full of possibilities. Sure, it might be a pair of socks but it just might be a new i-pod...who knows?

When I logged into my blog earlier and saw that Laurel over at Laurel's Leaves (seriously, how cool is her name alone?) had left me a gift for my blog I was super excited. Laurel is a YA author and an amazing blogger who manages to seamlessly combine writing tips and tricks, editing issues, general life and her need for a Gilmore Girls book (she really had me at the Gilmore Girls) into one neat and tidy blog. If you haven't checked in at her blog yet you totally should. Really. I mean it.

So, here's my shiny, sparkly new blog bling!

It's the Picasso award and accepting this award requires me to send it along to seven other bloggers and share seven things about myself.

First, the bloggers:

1.) Carol at Carol's Prints (for her unwavering support, her innovative ideas and her amazing sense of humor!)
2.) Sara Fraser at Misadventures of a Modern Mommy (because she's not only surviving motherhood with grace and humor, she's doing it as a writer...also? Because I totally get her desire to punch someone in the supermarket produce section!)
3.) Harley over at her livejournal (for her ability to blog about sarcasm, tackling PTA uber moms, lessons learned at a U2 concert and beer soaked diapers...all on the same page!! The fact that she's a writer is a total bonus here!)
4.) Anne over at Anne Riley (she spells her name with an 'e' which totally appeals to the little girl in me who was, at one time, obsessed with Anne of Green Gables. She's also into giving really good book reviews, writing tips and she's developed a highly scientific means of selecting the winners of her giveaways!)
5.) Jamie over at Bookmom Musings (for her hilarious 'word of the week' entries...which are actual words but seem totally made up; for her random pictures and cartoons that always make me giggle and because she rocked nanowrimo this year!)
6.) Shannon at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe (Blog wars, triple dog dares and the weblog debut of "Earth Had a Snack"...what's not to love here. Seriously. You need to go check her out!)
7.) Courtney at Work in Progress (For her amazing writing tips...her spreadsheet alone makes my head spin and  her amazing dedication to joining a book club that led her to trying out four or five of them to find a good fit! Also? Her blog is just super cute!)


And now for the 7 random things about me:

1.) I used to be addicted to Days of our Lives. I blame my grandmother and my aunt, but still, the addiction was mine. I haven't watched it in over a decade but I can still tell you what was going on in Salem through most of the 80's and early 90's.

2.) I've never been in an airplane. The mere thought of flying is enough to send me into a panic attack. I blame the disaster made for tv airplane crash movies of the early 80's. Also? I remember watching the news when I was little and it seemed like there was always a plane being hijacked to Cuba or something...I'm sure that didn't help matters any.

3.) I don't like bacon. There, I said it. Most people I know love the stuff and I think it tastes metallic, like blood. Gross!

4.) I work as an administrative assistant in a church. Some people think this would be an easy, stress free job. Those people would be wrong.

5.) I can't stand being around people who make obnoxious noises when they eat. Slurping, smacking your lips, guzzling down a soda like you've been in the desert for the last 40 years? Just no. If the hubs ever turns up with a fork jabbed between his eyes, you'll know why.

6.) As easily irritated as I am, I have amazing patience with people who work retail, fast food and with the public in general. I also have very little patience for customers who are rude to those people. It takes 2 seconds to say "hello" and "thank you" and don't get me started on people in the drive-thru who say "give me..."! They're not your slaves, you can say something more polite like "May I have.." or "I'd like...".

7.) Instead of the 5:30 pm news, I watch TMZ. It's shameful I know but what can I say? I like to think I'm researching the lives of the rich and famous for possible future writing reference but let's face it...I just loves me some celebrity scandal!

Look What I Found Under My Blogging Tree!

Mood: Exhausted but content. (Long holiday week/weekend has left me worn out but happy!)

What I'm Watching: Keeping Up Appearances (I've said it before and I'll say it again...British comedies rock!)

Current Word Count: UGH! (Which is a nice way of saying that the holiday season has interferred w/ my writing efforts to the point where I might have actually started leaking words from my manuscript.)

Carol over at Carol's Prints (seriously, have you checked out her blog yet? She's amazing!) has presented me with another sparkly piece of blog bling!! WoooHoooo!!! It's totally like Christmas gifts for my blog and I completely love it!

Here it is! And what's not to love? It's an award that looks like a bookshelf and acknowledges my tenuous status as a "blogging writer" (even if it does take me forever to pound out the words).

Like all awards, there are requirements...near as I can tell the requirement for this one is to pass it on! And I will, I promise, but it's been a while since I've blogged so I'm going to set aside the passing along portion of the award ceremonies for a future post. :)

In the meantime, a snapshot of what's been happening in my world:

1.) Christmas bay-beee!!!! I love all things Christmas. The shopping, the carols, the 24 hour marathon showing of A Christmas Story, the food, the gifts and even the eggnog (okay, maybe not the eggnog so much). And this year? We all got a very special gift in the form of my little younger brother who is active USAF. He hasn't been home for Christmas in years and he surprised us all by coming home this year. We're so happy to be able to share the holidays with him!

Here are a few pictures of my Christmas season:

First, the hubs and I dressed and ready for his office Christmas party.

My sister Sarah helping our nephews Max and Maddux with their Christmas gifts. Lots of fun!!!
                                                                                                                                                   

That's me. No make up, hardly any sleep, and a horrible camera angle for this picture....but I'm still posting it. Why? Because if you look closely you'll be able to see the tape overwrapping my gift. My little brother helped mom wrap it. He used one and a half rolls of tape to "secure" it. The irritated older sister side of me? Wants to bop him upside the head. The smartass side of me? Is incredibly proud that he thought to waste all that tape just to annoy me. Sigh. They grow up so fast! 
    

My niece Miley sleeping through her first Christmas with the family. She's surrounded by boxes and wrapping paper and snoozing away!

Finally, the results of Christmas dinner carb overload! He's completely crashed, half on and half off of the corner chair, complete chaos going on all around him. It's a testament to both my restraint and the fact that we've missed him so much all these years he's been off serving our country that we left him sleep and didn't succumb to any jackassery like decorating him w/ tinsel and lights or at least pulling the old shaving cream in the hand trick. He might not be so lucky next time around!!!

Okay, so I've bored you all enough with Christmas pictures. Santa hubs was  nice to me this year and I've got gift cards for clothes and, even better, for books (yay!!!) so I'm looking forward to doing some serious book shopping to feed my book addiction soon!

2.) An attempted terrorist attack on a Detroit bound airliner. What.the.hell?!? Seriously. Luckily the explosives didn't go off as the terrorist has planned and the other passengers jumped in and took the crazy ass bastard down. Gone are the days where we sit silently and wait for someone to save us. We are rising up against those who would harm us and declaring that we will not go quietly into that good night. You want to take my ass down? You're going to have to fight for it! This is also where I have to admit that I'm a bit shocked by my sadistic side because I expect that if I managed to take this guy down I probably would have thrown in a couple of extra punches just to "be sure" that he was really down...and I might have decided that his burns needed to be hosed down with copious amounts of alcohol to ensure that he really felt some serious pain his wounds didn't become infected.

3.) Crazy woman attacks the pope for the second time? On Christmas Eve? Really? I admit, I'm not Catholic. I'm Lutheran by baptism, Baptist by employment and generally a fan of sleep which means that my hiney doesn't often warm a pew on Sunday morning. But still. The Pope? On Christmas Eve? No. Just...No. He may not be my head Holy Guy but he's A head holy guy and I've got to think that attacking a head holy guy on Christmas Eve has got to be something that is going to get you on the permanent naughty list...and I'm not just talking about Santa's list. I'm talking about THE list. The big list. The one that St. Peter reads out when you're standing at the Pearly Gates. Also? This woman did the same thing last year on Christmas Eve. Maybe we need to do something about the amount of crazy being allowed near the Pope? Just saying.

I'd Like to Thank...

Mood: Awesome, seriously awesome

What I'm Watching: Ace of Cakes (I totally heart Duff and it's the Christmas episode so happiness abounds!)

Current Word Count: 9,615 (yep, totally done some writing!!!)

Carol, over at Carol's Prints totally rocks. Really, she does. She's a funny, genuinely encouraging and supportive tweeting, blogging, writer type person who has recently been hosting the 'Totally Sane Interviews Series" featuring interviews between writers and the characters that they're currently torturing writing about. And I swear, I would have said all of that even if she hadn't given me a sparkly new blog award today!! Really. I would have. Honest.

She's decided that I'm worthy of the Best Blog Award!!! Yay!! Of course, I'm totally not worthy of the award but I'm still going to shine it up and display it proudly on the mantle of my blog!

Of course, there are always terms to the acceptance of any award. So, here's what I have to do to accept this one:

1. To accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link.

2. Pass the award to other bloggers that you recently discovered and think are great! Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Hmmm...I read so many wonderful blogs that it's horribly difficult to choose. Of course, I would immediately choose Carol's blog but she's already been informed of just how completely awesome her blog is so I'll have to choose other completely awesome blogs and share the Best Blog love!!

1.) Shannon Messenger: I've only very recently discovered her blog (like within the last 24 hours) and already I'm hooked. She's got a great sense of humor, some good writing advice, peppers her blog posts with great pictures and she remembers the "dance of joy"! She's totally one of the best bloggers ever!

2.) Courtney Reese: She's an even more recent discovery but, really, her blog posts pulled me right in. Also? She's writing about vampires, loves sarcasm and has an argyle background on her blog page...what's not to love?!?

3.) Anne Riley: Another new find! (seriously, I'm going to have to carve out more time in my day to keep up with my new blog obsessions!) Anne's blog is filled with valuable writerly type musings, book reviews and the chronicals of her journey to becoming published...after yet another round of edits. :)

I know there are many more bloggers I follow who totally deserve this honor but right now I'm so sleepy I can barely remember my own name so I'd like to reserve the right to come back in a day or two and add a few more to my list!!! :)

In the meantime, thanks to everyone who stops by my little corner of the web to read the rambling thoughts that come wandering through my head and out onto the keyboard! :)

And the Winner Might Be....

Mood: Tired and Overworked (I need a vacation somewhere with sandy beaches, sunny days and little frosty drinks)

What I'm Watching: Ghost Hunters Academy (not my favorite option but it was on after Ghost Hunters...which totally rocks...and I'm too lazy to actually change the channel and find something else to watch)

Current Word Count: 5,221 (I know, same as last time around. I've been a complete writer slacker lately!)

I was wandering through the Twitterverse today because, as a self proclaimed writer, I feel duty bound to procrastinate as much as humanly possible, when I stumbled across a tweet from a twitter writing friend Sara McClung. She suggested that I (and everyone else) follow Shannon Messenger. So, I hopped right over to Shannon's Twitter page to check her out (well, not her obviously, but her tweets). Her tweets were fun and interesting so I added a follow and bounced right on over to her blog (because I was still working the procrastination angle)....which is where I realized just how super cool Shannon really is.

Not only is she fun and witty in her posts...seriously, you guys should totally go visit her blog, she's running an amazingly epic contest for a signed copy of Twilight. Of course, I had to enter the contest because, well, it's a chance to win one of my favorite books signed by the author! Since part of the extended entry process is to post a blog entry about said contest I came right over here to do just that. Crossing fingers and hoping for a very Merry Christmas to me in the form of a new, signed Twilight book!

If not, I've successfully procrastinated and found an entertaining new blogger/twitter friend to follow!

Blogs and Birthdays

Mood: Excited (was stressed but that was before Carol over at Carol's Prints posted my interview w/ my main character...now I'm totally squeeeee!!!!!)

What I'm Watching: Hoarders (It's a train wreck and I can't help it. Also? Am suddenly overcome with the need to clean out my closets)

Current Word Count: A funny thing happened on my way through my current work in progress. I realized that the environment in which I had placed her was not conducive to the story line. So...it's another re-work in progress before I can go forward.

First things first!!!

Squeeeee!!!! (and not in the Ned Beatty, "paddle faster because I hear banjos" kind of way). If I haven't already mentioned it (I totally know I have but indulge me okay?), I've contributed my very first guest blog post for Carol over at Carol's Prints!!!

Carol is a fantastic writer, a supportive blogger and twitter writing friend and all around amazing person (seriously suspect she has a shiny super hero writer type cape that she dons as she sweeps through the internet).

And now, the rest of the story...(in bullets)

My Birthday:

• I turned 36. Sigh. That's right. 36. Now when I get those stupid surveys I've aged into the next box up. Now instead of being in the 26 - 35 age group, I'm in the 36 - 50 age group. 36 - 50?!? Really?!? Now I'm lumped in with people my mother's age? What's next, hot flashes and chin hairs?

• People who wished me a happy birthday before my husband? 90% of my FB friends, many of my twitter friends, my family (even the littlest ones), Scott's sister, the delivery guy who delivered flowers from a wonderful friend, the UPS guy (who saw the flowers), the two people working at the DMV, all my co-workers and several people from the church where I work. At 3:05 pm I finally got a call from the hubs..."guess what I forgot..." No, really?

• Had to spend the lunch hour on my birthday at the DMV getting my license renewed. Note to self: do NOT chew gum when getting your license photo taken. Green gum stuck in teeth? Not an attractive look. Also? Am totally in love w/ the guy at the DMV because he totally acted like he believed me when I said "sure, that weight listed there is the same". Seriously, he didn't even crack a smile...the man deserves an Oscar!

In other news

• Am trying to prepare for the annual decking of the halls in the Cowsert household. Unfortunately this involves the hubs cleaning up his electronic "tech" area in the livingroom. Sigh. Am starting to fear that I'm just going to have to toss some tinsel over his soldering station and power supplies and call it a day.

• Also? Looking at the hubs "tech" area? I realize that he looks suspiciously like a uni-bomber type person. On the other hand? He's dead handy at fixing stuff around the house.