Awards

Well, here they are, the awards I've been hoarding, because I'm just too lazy, busy, link-phobic, to have posted when I received them. There's a lot of linkage so I hope you'll find some new friends to follow.

First up is the Beautiful Blogger award I received from Sherrie Peterson.




The rules for this award are list 7 pet peeves I have --

1) Hearing people chew food.
2) Chained dogs in yards with a fence.
3) Never ending dirty dishes.
4) Blogger being stupid.
5) Revisions.
6) My mother's kitchen reno project.
7) The school system where Monster Baby is enrolled.

This award go to --

E.Elle at The Writer's Funhouse
Christine at The Writer's Hole
Donna at Donna Hole
Lyndsey at Dangerous With a Pen
Jessica at My Thoughts Exactly
Laura Pauling at Laura Pauling
Liza at Middle Passages
Elle at Elle Strauss


The next award is the Stylish Blogger Award I received from Anne R. Allen.




With this award I'm supposed to list 7 things about me. I don't know what you want to know so I'll go with the easiest.

1) Favorite color -- green.
2) Favorite animal -- dog.
3) Favorite food -- Chinese.
4) Favorite book -- Illusions by Richard Bach.
5) Favorite holiday -- Earth Day (my birthday).
6) Favorite age -- 33. (I was so hot back then.)
7) Favorite album -- Heart Like a Wheel by Linda Ronsdat.

This award goes to --

Betty at Bossy Betty
Linda at Visiting Reality
Laurel at Laurel's Leaves
Christine at Christine's Journey
Tracy at Forever Endeavor
Stacy at Stacy's Rantings
Hannah at Musings from a Palindrome


And lastly, I received the Friends for the Journey award from the lovely Donna Hole. I'm supposed to tell you this award started at Michelle Gregory's blog. (Take a peek over there if you don't know her already. It's a lot of fun.)





This award goes to --

Bru at Pitch Slapped Bru is one of those people who I instantly connected with upon meeting her. She was also the person who gave me my very first interview and I was extremely flattered with all the work she put it into it.

Sarah at Falen Formulates Fiction Sarah has been one of my friends since almost the very beginning of my blogging experience. She's always been helpful with even my stupidest questions and is one of the coolest bloggers I know.

Christi at Torch in the Tempest
Christi is a talented quirky writer who has been my friend on another level and even though we've never met, I think we'd be fast friends in real life.

Bish at Random Thoughts If you don't know Bish, you should. Bish has a wide range of interests, writes the most incredible thought provoking posts, and is an environmentalist. And might love Henry David almost as much as I do.

Bridget at JB Chicoine Literary Works in Progress Bridget has the most amazing talent as a painter and writer and I am just blown away by the amount of creativity she has in her little body.

Terry at A Writer of Wrongs Terry is the other half of my angst driven self. We share our anxieties about publishing at such a ripe "old" age. But I've read his work and by God, you can't be that good without all that life experience.

Ann Best at The Long Journey Home Ann's debut novel In the Mirror, a memoir, will be released April 25. The advance reviews she has garnered, make this a must-read for everyone. Her kindness to everyone she meets on the blogs is so refreshing. I hope we'll remain friends for a long time.


Congratulations to everyone, thank you to the bestowers, and although the linkage has given me carpal tunnel, I hope you all go to the links and make some new friends.

To Borrow From Hannah

I know I said I was going to pass along all the awards I've been given over the last so-many-months, and I had every intention of it, but guess what. My molly has been flogged. (I don't pretend to know what that actually means, but it sounds right. Thanks Hannah.)

I apologize to all of you who came here for the awards I promised. My life does not belong to me since my mother has decided to re-do her kitchen. I spent the entire weekend at her house going over checklists, perusing floor samples, counter top samples, taking a ride to the big-box-hardware-stores for light fixtures, draw pulls, and whatever else she wanted to look at.

My father built all of our houses and always put in whatever he wanted. My father can't do it this time, however he did build several cabinets so they will be incorporated into the new kitchen. It is an entire gut, floor to ceiling, electric and plumbing. And moving appliances from one side of the room to the other.

My mother is clueless and so I am helping her decide what she wants. I am giving her the benefit of my experience in the house make over department. My mother cannot even paint her own fingernails. Oy.

The two lovely ladies who offered to read my Ellis and Violet book gave me thumbs up on the project so I will not be tearing any walls down there. But because my mother needs me, I haven't been able to work on it as much as I'd like to. An hour here or there which disrupts my flow and ability to think it all through.

I also have several other things going on this week so I don't even think I will be posting on Wednesday. Oy.

My apologies again. I think this disruption in my writing schedule has something to do with the crazy moon. I have to blame it on something, right? I can't blame it on my mother can I? Can I?

Holiday Mishmash and an Award

Good morning. I have to report, Christmas shopping went exceedingly well. There was no traffic, I was in and out of the stores well within the half hour each I had allotted myself. I spent less than I anticipated, and got everything on my list. I was on time for the holiday festivities at Monster Baby's school, and the day went relatively well. I even bought a Christmas tree. I know, that's big for me. Three feet tall and fake, it sits on the dining room table with MB's hand-made-from-school ornaments. It's beautiful.

I must say, the research is going well. Really well, as a matter of fact. I found the plot line for the last of my 'men' for the Regency series. Well, the inkling of a plotline -- spy, natch. I have a sailor, a horseman, and a politician. Now I have a spy. Who I might even put in America. Right before the war. Intrigue, gotta love it.

I received an award last week, both from Donna and Rula. Thank you ladies. It means a lot. If you don't know either of these Fair Dinkum women, stroll through their blogs, you won't be disappointed.



Now, Fair Dinkum was an award created by L'Aussie, Denise, who lives down under. She posed the question on her blog, "What does Fair Dinkum mean to you" and was met with all kinds of answers. I've personally always thought that phrase, geared specifically more to men, than women. But as always, mine is a subjective opinion. (Kind of like in French, le and la, masculine and feminine.)

Anyhoo -- the term fair dinkum is a compliment. A high one. Which got me thinking about the highest compliment I've ever received.

When my friend Mary Rose needed to enclose her porch, we had to hang sheetrock. We needed a man. I could do most of the work but we needed some brawn. She called her friend John, who drove over 300 miles to help. He was a big, bad, bear of a man, who barely spoke to me as we worked. "Hold this, nail that, get out of the way," kind of thing. We worked all day, John and I, hanging sheetrock, finally finishing with the ceiling. (Which the board gave way and hit me on top of the head while I was standing on the ladder. I saw stars.)

After John left, Mary Rose told me that John had been very impressed with my effort. "She works like a man," he said. And I thought that was pretty cool. (If you knew John, you would think this high praise indeed.)

So my Fair Dinkum Award is passed on to the men who I think are Fair Dinkum enough to hang sheetrock with...

DL Hammonds @ Cruising Altitude.
Roland Yeomans @ Writing in the Crosshairs
Matthew Rush @ The QQQE
Terry Towery @ A Writer of Wrongs
Stephen Tremp @ Breakthrough Blogs
R. Mac Wheeler
Ted Cross
Alex Cavanaugh
Butch Edgerton>
Elliot Grace
Al Russell


Happy Wednesday everyone, I hope you have a Fair Dinkum day!

Awards!

I've received some awards these last few weeks and have been hoarding again. Shame on me. I even received some while I was away so that was very nice to come home to.
I'll dispense with the flummery and get started right away.




I received this lovely award from Lydia Kang The Word is my Oyster. I would like to bestow this upon :

Stina Lindenblatt
Shelley Sly
Dominique
Sarah Ahiers
Bish Denham
Elana Johnson
Susan Fields
Crystal Cook
Jennifer Daiker
Portia Sisco

I also received this beauty from Nicole. I thought it appropriate I pass this on to some "freshman" writers I know. (I really loathe the term 'newbie' so I'm going to refrain from using it and call them freshman instead.) And I'm calling them freshman because they have less than 50 followers.



Becoming a Writer
Chocolate Sedations in Writing
I Am An Authoress
Major Musings
R.Mac Wheeler
The Rainy Day Wanderer
Ariel Swan
Stacy's Rantings
My Writing and Research Notebook
Ducks out of a Row
Digging out of Distraction
Empty Refrigerator


And lastly, I received the Versatile Blogger award from (get ready) 4 different people - Samuel, Cynthia, Christine, and Dominique.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.




Now the rules are pretty simple, link back and thank the people who gave you this award, (which I've got some heavy duty linkage going on) and share 7 things about yourself.

Here goes...

1) I can tie a cherry stem with my teeth.

2) I still cry during most of Monster Baby's movies, even though I've seen them eight thousand times.

3) I've had to dye my hair since I've been 17. Premature gray is not fun on a high school graduate. I've always tried to be a red-head to go along with #7.

4) I don't kill bugs, I try to get them to stick to toilet paper and throw them outside. Well, except for the ones who look like they might be dangerous.

5) I don't travel well. As much as I like to go to new places, I have jet leg for days afterward. Even if I don't fly, even if I'm in the same time zone.

6) I wear bi-focals now.

7) I'm a Taurus, a Tiger and Irish so my stubborn streak is immediately recognizable. I'm not as versatile as I'd like.

Okay, I'd like to recognize these fine bloggers as being "Versatile".

Stephanie Thornton
Gina Maxwell
Lovely Lola
VR Barkowski
Summer
Hannah
E.Elle
Laurel

Now please, if you don't know any of these wonderful friends, please go and introduce yourself, especially to the freshman writers.

Life is Good

Julie Dao has presented me with the Life is Good Award. I was going to hang onto it but then I figured I'd pass it on right now because if I don't, well it could be months. So here goes.





1) What's your favorite genre to read? Why?

Of course it's Regency romance. I grew up on the stuff and it's only gotten better. I like the time period and I have a soft spot for the Regent. He was so lonely.

2) If you couldn't write in the genre you do, what genre would you write in?

Hmmm, that's an interesting question. I think I would have to say mystery, or perhaps cozy mystery. The books I write all have that mystery element in them.

3) Pepsi or Coke?

Coke. Regular, no diet, no non-caffeine.

4) How do you spend Sundays?

Cleaning the house, laundry, kitchen, and then reading on the couch. Sunday is the only day I don't write.

5) Penguin or Giraffe?

Have you seen the Madagascar movies? Melman is endearing as a hypochondriac, The Skipper is hysterical, Rico is just too smart, Private is sweet, and Kowalski is, well Kowalski is my favorite.

6) What type of vehicle do you drive?

My mother's old Hyundai. What type of vehicle do I WANT to drive? 1997 Chevy regular cab, long bed, manual transmission truck.

7) Would you lick a battery if your life depended on it?

I guess if I were doing MacGiverish kind of things then yes I would. For fun, no.

8) When do you write -- morning, afternoon, evening?

Right now with this last partial requested I can't write a bloody thing. I hate querying. But normally, I write in the morning. My creative flow tends to dissipate around noon.

9) Which do you like more -- FaceBook or Twitter?

I don't do either so I have no opinion.

10) If you get hurt, (like a scraped knee or arm) do you ask for a band-aid?

Depends on the boo-boo, but I always ask for a kiss from Monster Baby.


I would like to pass this on to:

Amie

L'Aussie

Lynn

Lisa

Jayne

I hope you'll go check out these incredible ladies. Happy Tuesday!

Awards

Good Saturday Morning everyone! As promised, here are the awards I promised to bestow upon you all. These are such an honor to receive and I appreciate each and every one of them. Here we go.

First up is the Journey Support Award given from the lovely Summer And Christine.



There are so many of you that have given me support on my journey, I would like to bestow this award to all of you. I know this is the cheesy way to get out of all the link love but it's true that whenever I'm down and out, you all come rallying around to lift me up. (Don't worry I won't break into song.) So I want you all to take this one.

Next is the Blogger Buddy Award which for the life of me, I searched my Google Reader for close to an half hour and could not find the giver. So whoever gave me this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I totally love the hummingbirds. This award goes to...



I tried, I really did try to bestow this on a few deserving souls who are my buddies but you know what, I couldn't do it. I couldn't pick any 5 names off my list because you guys are totally awesomesauce and I love each and every one of you, so I want each and every one of you to take this one as well.

Next is the One Lovely Blog Award and I also don't remember who gave this to me. I'm praying it wasn't so long ago, but I went all the way back to March to try and see who it was.




This I would like to bestow upon T.H. Mafi, otherwise known to us as Tahereh because she's zany and funny and has these incredible blogsposts that just make tears fall from your eyes. She's also smart, witty and incredibly gracious, kind, and supportive. Underneath all that craziness lies a true lady worth more than her weight in gold. Love you bestie!

And lastly we have the Sure Fire Winner Award given to me by the lovely E.Elle who has demonstrated her love and affection to me when the world was just caving in.




Now this award comes with rules, and the first one is you can only bestow it upon one other person. I'm sorry E. my darling, but with so many others in the query trenches with me, I have to break that rule.

Querying is the hardest thing there is to do in this writing business. So many times the rejections come pouring in like water into a bathtub and it's overwhelming that you may not be able to find a home for your baby. Rejections make you want to give up the good fight and just go back to being 'normal' but we know, deep in our deepest heart of hearts we can't do that. Writing is just too important to us. So to that I say, "Pox on you, agents of the universe, we are talented, creative people who have given our sweat, blood and tears to this almighty thing called publishing. You will not break us from our quest. We WILL be published in some way shape or form."

So to that end I bestow this award to:

Christi Goddard

Terry Towery

Donna Hole

Ted Cross

Elaine Smith

and

Matthew Rush

Here are the rules for this award, which I've just broken the first. But I would appreciate if the recipients followed them as E. has written them.


1) You can only bestow this honor on one fellow writer at a time.

2) You can only pass it on to someone who has shown signs of recent struggle.

3) You do not have to have received it to pass it on.

4) When you pass it on, you must provide a word or two of encouragement to the receiver.

5) As awesome as this award is, you can't write a post with the intention or hope of getting this award. I mean, we struggle, yes, but we aren't needy.

6) When you receive this award, you have to state one positive thing about your writing ability. After all, the best kind of encouragement is the kind that comes from within ourselves.


Rule Number 4 -- To all my fellow queriers -- We are all in this boat together and the one thing I've learned in this crazy writing life is -- NEVER GIVE UP! No matter how many rejections, no matter what happens, never give up. Keep writing, keep querying, keep chasing your dream because as we've all seen, dreams really do come true.

Rule Number 6 -- The one positive thing about my writing ability is -- I have come a LONG way. My query has garnered partials, my beta thinks my book is spotless, my attitude about writing has evolved. I'm no longer a hack but a true writer who can stand with her head held high and say, "I'm proud of what I've written."

Okay, so there we are. Happy Weekend everyone. Keep writing and I'll see you all on Monday.

Saturday Sunshine

Good Morning gentle readers. I'm taking time this weekend to pass out all the lovely awards I received last week. Hopefully by Monday I will be back to my regular posting schedule.

I'd like to say Thank You and Welcome to some new 'friends'. Catt, Bossy Betty, Lisa, Valerie, Damyanti, Jamie and Tessa. The buffet has changed its menu for the summer months, so there's a lot more fruit, and I put the blender out for smoothies. Pool opens around 1pm, bring a suit. I've got extra towels.

Onto the Awards.

First up is the Blogger Buddy given from the lovely E.Elle.
I would like to pass this on to:

Angie Paxton

Amy Jo

Ann Best

Jayne

VR Barkowski

My dearest Nicole has bestowed on me the Blogger BFF award. Arent' these little girls just so damn cute!!!
I'd like to pass this on to:

Cynthia Reese

Talli

E.Elle

Crystal Cook

B. Miller

Lola

Wendy

And now for the piece de resistance, Susan Fields, I know, crazy Suzy, right, bestowed the "Creative Writer Award" on me. And so, I believe
I am charged with coming up with 6 lies and one truth. I decided I'm going to come up with 6 truths and one lie. You tell me, which is the lie.

1) In my catering career I once did parties for: an attorney for the Clinton administration, an oil Tycoon from Texas, the president of Vassar College, the brother of the famous Hilton clan, Jasper White, and Todd English. (Jasper White and Todd English are famous food guys. Or they used to be.)

2) I have moved 38 times in my adult lifetime. By myself, no moving men involved.

3) I was once caught in the middle of a real live standoff between a crazy lady with a sawed off shotgun and the local sheriff's department. I was meeting a friend for BREAKFAST at the local cantina walking through the parking lot minding my own business when a hand reached out from between parked cars and smashed me down to the pavement. Before I could get the verbal abuse out of my mouth he jammed his knee on my chest and fired a shot. They fired back. I peed my pants. When all was said and done, they had arrested a drunk woman who was having a fight with her boyfriend and she decided that if he wasn't going to buy her another beer, she was going to kill him. Needless to say, I missed breakfast.

4) I am a descendant from the Native Americans (Wampanoag) who met the Pilgrims at Plymouth. I am also a descendant of the Pilgrims who met the Wampanoag at Plymouth.

5) I once had to set my fractured ribs back in place, by myself, just me and my friend Jack Daniels. Do you have any idea how hard it is to bind your ribs with one hand? With boobs in the way?

6) I once took care of a woman who had been in the Blitz during WWI in England. Whenever it would thunder and lightening, she ran around the house screaming, "There's a Duchess among us, stand tall, there's a Duchess among us."

7) My grandmother was always the biggest Red Sox fan. She left me her love of the game when she died and I took it to heart. Every summer it was one of anguish and heartbreak, but still I perservered. I never gave up hope. The year they won the pennant I was pregnant with Monster Baby. I always said, that she was the reason, "The Curse of the Bambino" was broken.


So, there they are, lies / truths, you decide.

This award gets passed on to:

Carolina Valdez-Miller

Lyndsey at Dangerous with a Pen

Summer at And this Time Concentrate

Donna Hole

Andrew Rosenburg at The Write Runner

Tara

I'd also like to apologize to the lovely and brilliant Talli Roland for spelling her name wrong. Sorry Dearest, in all the excitment, I lost my mind.

Friday's at the Piedmont Grille

Good Morning gentle readers. Today is just a short post and not all that well put together, but I need to get back into the blog world and I can't just sit around and mope all day.

I recieved a few awards last week and I'd like to share them. I received the A is for Awesome Award from VR Barkowski.
I would like to pass this on to some new buddies of mine.

Terry Towery at A Writer of Wrongs

Bish Denham at Random Thoughts.

Roland Yeomans at Writing in the Crosshairs

Amy at She Writes

Christi at a Torch in the Tempest

So congratulations to everyone.

And hey, did you hear Talli Rowland is going to be published. She signed with a company over in the UK the day before yesterday! So a big round of applause for Talli!!! **applause applause** I can't wait for her book THE HATING GAME to come out.

I'll be posting more awards over the weekend so keep a look out. Have a great Friday!

Fridays at the Piedmont Grille

Today, gentle readers, is full of fun, frivolity and awards.

First off I'd like to say Welcome and Thank You to all my new "friends". Julie, Lola (who was here but not), Hilary and Kelly. Grab something to drink and eat off the buffet, it's in the dining room, as soon as the pool is up I'm having a party. Don't be shy about commenting, we're all friends.

Second, I'd like to share with you this crazy post I found the other day. It's by a new blogger, Tahereh Mafi and I think it's totally hysterical. Go check out her blog. Really, it's really funny. Go look and come right back.

Third, I've gotten a new award which I will pass on. I received the Prolific
Blogger Award from not only E.Elle at The Writer's Funhouse but Laurel at Laurel's Leaves. I'm honored that two people would think I'm prolific on my blog. Mostly I think I'm just nonsensical, I mean I haven't really shared any of the rules or guidelines on how to write proper english because I usually fly by the seat of my pants. I haven't handed out any secrets to getting an agent that anyone else doesn't know. I don't think of myself as prolific in any way. I'm just me. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the award. I freakin' LOVE it.

There are rules to this award.
1) I have to pass this on to seven others. (I am.)

2) I must link to the blog from which I received it. (I did.)

3) I must link back to this postfrom where it originated. (I did.)

4) And who ever receives this award must visit the above post and sign their name to the Mr. Linky. (I did.) Which is pretty impressive.

Okay, and the awards go to:

Sarah at Falen Formulates Fiction because she shows pictures of the cool stuff she knows how to do and lets me copy her.

Nicole at One Significant Moment in Timebecause her writing is totally awesome and if you haven't read it yet, go now.

Elana at Elana Johnson Authorbecause she's smart and funny, and did I mention she also runs the Query Tracker blog, so she's really smart.

Shelley Sly at Stories in the Ordinary because her stories are far from ordinary.

DL Hammond at Cruising Altitude because #1) he's a boy and I'd like to think I'm an EO Award giver, and #2) he writes some really amazing stuff, and #3) he remembers that toes are important. Go check him out.

Carolina at Caroline's Prints because she is awesome and brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

And last but not least Roxy at A Woman's Write because not only is she funny, articulate, and smart, she has Daniel Craig as her muse.

If you haven't checked out any of these prolific writers do so now. They are fantastic and well worth checking out.


Ryan at The Life of an Aspiring Writer also gave me the Honest Scrap Award because I gave it to him.

I now have to list ten things about me but because I've done this before, I'll list them about my Monster Baby instead.

1) She won the award for Politest Child at school 3 years in a row.

2) She can climb a tree faster than I can say, "Get down from there before you break your neck."

3) She won't sleep in her own bed because she says she'll be lonely without me. (Yeah, and whose fault was that it started in the first place?)

4) She is absolutely the most beautiful child you ever did see.

5) She's smart, sometimes too smart for her own good.

6) She can tell you all the animals in the world, what they eat, where they live, and how they talk, including narwhals. (True, I had to look them up.)

7) She's just turned 5 (December 2) and thinks the whole month is her birthday not just the day. Her birthday is at the beginning and Santa comes at the end and the aunts and uncles send presents in between. Next year, I'm changing it to July.

8) She loves mac and cheese, hot dogs, and chocolate milk and if she could, she'd eat that for every meal including breakfast.

9) She talks nonstop from the time she gets up in the morning until she goes to bed at night. I kid you not. If she's not talking she makes up songs. Some days I want to put in ear plugs.

10) She doesn't whine. Not ever. Oh sure, she may throw a tantrum, but she doesn't whine. (Thank the Good Lord.)

Okay, I'm passing this on to:

Tara at Feel of Something New.
Lola at Sharp Pen Dull Sword.
Steena at Chocolate Reality.
and Christi at A Torch in the Tempest.

And if you have received this award in the past, I apologize for not checking your blog to make sure. But please pass it on, everyone deserves an award.

So, that's my post for today, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. I'll either be digging post holes or working on my story. I already cleaned the house.

Another Award & Welcome

Simon at Constant Revision has given me an award to celebrate my 3rd partial request. It is called the Sunshine Award and his title for the post that day was "I've got Sunshine on a Cloudy DAYYYYYYYY" and I've been singing that song ever since. This award is handed to the people who make my life have just a bit more sunshine in them.

Sarah Jayne at Writing in the Wilderness whose writing is so slap-you-in-the-face-awesome it is not to be missed.

Nicole Ducleroir at One Significant Moment in Time because she has talent, is an excellent cheerleader and is married to a French man. Oui Oui!

Shelley Sly at Stories in the Ordinary because she's one of the kindest people I know, helping little old ladies, talking to strangers on the bus, and listening to a lonely lady tell the sad story about her deceased son.

Tara at Feel of Something New
Guenivere at Some of its Tragic, Some of its Magic
Steena Holmes at Chocolate Diva
and Jessica at Coffeelovnmon
because they are all in query mode right now and a little sunshine might warm the cockles in their hearts.

I also want to say Welcome and Thank You to E. Elle and Natalie Murphy who joined in the chaos here. I've got a buffet set up in the dining room so feel free to munch and grab a coffee (or tea or hot choccy), browse around, and please feel free to jump on in and comment. I'm a little crazy but we have a good time.

Have a great weekend everybody!!!

They Always Say

Awards come in threes. Here is my third one in as many days. (Now if I could get partials to come in threes as well...)
Thanks to Kristi at Random Acts of Writing. There didn't seem to be any rules for this award so I'm going to pass it on to:

Tara @ Feel of Something New
Dominique @ En Violet
Shelley @ Stories in the Ordinary
Hannah @ Musings of a Palindrome
Sarah A @ Falen Formulates Fiction
Simon @ Constant Revision because he needs a little kitty on his blog

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

Another Award

I have to say I've been secretly coveting this award for many months now. I don't know what it means but it's just so flippin' cool. My Uncle Howard used to own a scrap yard. My Uncle Jake has always collected scrap cars, and my father is a carpenter and has so much scrap wood you could build a brand new house. So I guess, in a kind of weird way, I deserve it. Hopefully that doesn't mean that my books are scrap. But I won't think about that.

First let me thank Roxy over at A Woman's Write for giving this to me. She says she has the same mental block about computerly things that I do so it's no wonder we're friends. With this award I believe I'm supposed to tell you 10 things that make me happy and except for the first one, they are in no particular order.

Here goes:
1) My daughter -- even though since before Christmas she's been trying out her new found independance and I'm wondering where my "precious child" has gone.

2) Masterpiece Theatre -- especially when they're running a Jane Austen marathon which they're doing this month.

3) My writing -- I think it's progressing nicely and I feel I have a grip on what it takes to bring a story together.

4) My amzing blog friends -- you guys totally rock my world. It's great to know I have someone to talk to each and every day.

5) Sunrise -- now that we're out of the blue funk of the holidays I love getting up with the dawn. It's peaceful and calm and for an hour or so I feel like it's just me and God hanging out for a little while.

6) Bedtime -- as much as I love waking with the birds, I'm pretty dang tired by the end of the day and I just bought some new sheets and a beautiful down comforter so snuggling into them has been an especially nice treat these last few weeks.

7) Being Outside -- I love being outside and working in the yard and in the next few weeks the weather will definitely be improving here in the Piedmont so I can start re-doing my gardens and working on my fence.

8) Reading -- I haven't really had the chance to indulge these last few years so I've been playing catch up. Nothing like curling up with the cat and a good book.

9) The Beach -- any time, any season, any beach, for any reason or no reason. Some day I will go back.

10) Earth Day -- cuz it's my birthday. And my dad's too.


Without further ado, I need to pass this on to: (and I'm trying to figure out who I haven't given out an award to at all)

Ryan at The Life of an Aspiring Writer
Jesica at coffeelvnmom
Lisa at Why A?
The other Kristi at Random Daily Thoughts
Sarah Jayne at Writing in the Wilderness because her writing is mind-blowing and if you don't follow her you should.

Happy Weekend.

Award

Nicole over at One Significant Moment in Time has bestowed an award on me. Over the Top. And if you knew me in real life, that's what you'd say about me. I AM over the top.

I have to try and come up with one word answers which I think is damn near impossible but I shall try. Here goes:

Your cell phone: emergencies only
Your hair: dyed
Your mother: Suzanne Pleshette
Your father: James Dean
Your favorite food: comfort
Your dream last night: sexy
Your favorite drink: Coca-cola
Your dream goal: owning a beach house
What room you are in: playroom/office
Your hobby: landscaping
Your fear: being mediocre
Where you see yourself in six years: almost famous
Where you were last night: home recuperating
Something you aren't: shy
Muffins: eh
Wish list item: 4-wheel drive truck
Where did you grow up: beach in RI
Last thing you did: make tea
What are you wearing: you don't want to know
Your tv: non-cable
Your pets: 3 dogs, 1 cat
Friends: real 2, online 18
Your life: a bad B-movie
Your mood: hopeful
Missing someone: the man I haven't yet met
Vehicle: Hynudai
Something you aren't wearing: you don't want to know
Your favorite store: Ikea
Your favorite color: green
When was the last time you laughed: long time ago
Last time you cried: yesterday
Your best friend: real life - "G", online - Michelle
One place you go over and over: fantasy land
Facebooking: NO!
Favorite place to eat: my mother's house

And there you have it. My list. I have to pass this on so here we go:
(And please remember I can't link.)

Lady Glamis -- The Innocent Flower
Sarah Jayne -- Writing in the Wilderness
Dominique -- En Violet
Sarah A -- Falen Formulates Fiction

I wish I could send this out to everyone but I'm sure you'll all get your own at one point or another.