A Major Award!

So, well -- the last thing I would ever call myself is stylish.  And my blog, being a pretty good reflection of what I am, might be quirky or eclectic, but stylish?  When pigs fly maybe.  But, in the goodness of her heart, dear Cathy from A Bit of the Blarney, one of my oldest blogging friends, has honored me with this Stylish Blog award. Oh, my stars!   I feel like Sally Field with her Academy Award.  Thank-you, Cathy!  Right when I'm on the verge of quitting the blog, something like this perks me back up again... and helps me remember that this blogging thing really is fun; you meet the most wonderful people -- and sometimes you get prizes! But, anyway, enough blabbing -- here are the rules of the award: I have to share seven things about myself if I want to post the coveted award button  -- then I get to honor five other bloggers. I think I can do this!  :)

And, since it happens to be a Friday, and there just happen to be seven points required, I hope the awards panel doesn't mind if I also make this a Seven Quick Takes post!  Run over to Jennifer's at Conversion Diaries for lots of Quick Take links!

So, sharing now.  Here goes:

1.  I was invited to take a family trip to Denver this weekend, and I said, "No stinkin' way!"  I've traveled enough over the last five months to last me for quite some time. So, Dan and children numbers six, seven, eight, and nine (Theresa, Cathy, Anna, and Gabe) are heading down to Denver without me and William this weekend.  Dan's company, Ameribotics, is hosting an educational camp over on that side of the mountains -- and so the kiddos old enough to go are getting to participate.  They'll be interacting with a world-renowned roboticist, Jacky Baltes, learning about the basics of robot-building and programming.  But mostly they'll be having fun -- getting to make the robots dance to music and stuff like that.  But, William and I. . .  William and I are going to have our own kind of fun all by our own selves this weekend.  Fun having to do with things like chocolate and Pixar movies and playdough. . .  At home.  Beautiful, wonderful home.

2.  I love Jack Johnson's music.   I have a Jack Johnson station on Pandora, that mixes beautifully with Ingrid Michaelson and Matt Kearney and artists of that ilk.   I listen to my "Jack" station when I need something upbeat to wake me up.  Then, when we need something more calming around here, I tune in my Rachel Portman Pandora station, which lilts with the talented Ms. Portman's gorgeous soundtracks, mixed with light-hearted classical music.  Sometimes we have to flip back and forth:  The Curious George song with the little boys' dancing around, bouncing off the walls, followed by Rachel Portman's Chocolate, and the theme from Fairytale, which puts us to sleep, so we change stations to Matt Kearney singing "Oh Mama!"...  Etc.  And then Theresa gets on the piano and plays Enya.  You get the picture.

3.   I have bifocals but I never wear them.  I know I should because they were not inexpensive, and I loved my first pair -- but my second pair (a stronger prescription now) has a weird curve in them that goofs up my peripheral vision.  I cannot get used to them.  But, I love my bright red reading glasses.  I can live without seeing the eye of the deer that's crossing the road a mile ahead -- but I Icannot live without reading.  And threading needles.  And shading in tiny things with colored pencils.  I'm not shy about my reading glasses.  I am a grandmother, so I have every right to wear them, right?  But here's the question:  Is it over the top in dorkiness to get a set of beaded glasses cords to wear around my neck, so my readers will be nice and handy?

4.  I lost thirty pounds about two years ago, finally shedding most of my last-baby weight. (Huzzah!)   But in the last year and a half  I've gained it all back.  (Booo....)  So, I've signed on to two programs that I know can be successful.  I hate going to Weight Watchers meetings, but know their sensible program works, so I just today signed on to their online weightloss center.  We'll see how that goes.  And, a trusted fellow mom-of-many, Wendy Cukierski, of the Cukierski Family Apostolate, has lost an amazing amount of weight (You have to see her before-and-after pictures; she looks fabulous!) using some natural remedies.  You bet I'm going to try that.  I also have a gym membership now -- which would be great if I ever actually got over there.  After Dan and the kids get back Monday, I'm going to try to get into that habit.  So, anyway....  Here's to the effort!  Pray for me!

5.  Because, when she heard I was dieting, Cathy said, "Oh, NO!"  I looked up some funny quotes to prove to her that I'm not going to be grumpy.  At least I'm going to try not to be grumpy.  And when I feel like I'm about to be grumpy, I'll grab a Twinky read some of these quotes instead: 

I tried every diet in the book. I tried some that weren’t in the book. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets. ~ Dolly Parton (My Life and Other Unfinished Business)


I tried the Scarsdale diet and the Stillman water diet (you remember that one, where you run weight off trying to get to the bathroom). ~ Dolly Parton (My Life and Other Unfinished Business)

Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart. ~ Erma Bombeck


Obesity is really widespread. ~ Joseph O. Kern II
Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. ~ Mark Twain


Never eat more than you can lift. ~ Miss Piggy


Thank you for calling the Weight Loss Hotline. If you'd like to lose a half pound right now, press 1 eighteen thousand times. ~ Randy Glasbergen


I was a vegetarian until I started leaning toward the sunlight. ~ Rita Rudner


Eat as much as you like--just don't swallow it. ~ Steve Burns
A waist is a terrible thing to mind. ~ Tom Wilson

6. Next year is Dan's and my 25th wedding anniversary and we've decided what we want to do to celebrate.  If the start-up business is booming, we'll go to Ireland; if it's doing so-so, we'll go tour some more Civil War sites; if it's busting, we'll go to Taco Bell.

7. Lastly, I've been pondering this quote from G.K.Chesterton: "There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect."  There are many applications for these typically observant and wise words of Chesterton's.  This fact of the human condition accounts for some of the most beautiful truths and dumbest decisions of our nature:  it causes some people to build their homes in insane places, like on fire-prone mountainsides or beside flood-prone rivers:  it explains why people sometimes make the stupidest choices in mates; it explains why we don't throw the Terrible Two or the Teens out with the bathwater; it's why people on foodstamps own big screen TVs; it's the reason why I will stay up all hours of the night monkeying around with my vacation photos, then wait for decades hours ever while they download onto my blog...  And it's why, since I did that last night I'm not going to do it tonight.  And so, in a departure from my usual habit, I'm going to resist adding any pictures to this blog post.

I can do it.  I can leave this post picture-free.

Sure I  can.

Yep.



Except for the flying pig up there -- and this one...

Gabe and William
They were playing Bad Guys -- hence the "mustaches" and dark glasses...

And I tag:

Ann at Perelandra

Sarah at My Wonderful Life

Edel at The Dreamer's Day

Therese at Aussie Coffee Shop

Bia at La Dolce Vita

All classy ladies with stylish blogs, indeed!

PS:  I have a hard time being brief; it's an illness. Other award recipients needn't blather on like I've done here with their seven points, OK?