Me! I never win things. Although I did win the national gold medal in the 11-12 year-old female breast stroke when I lived in Saudi Arabia. But think about how many girls are actually allowed to wear swim suits over there and you can see how hard it was to come in first.
So imagine my ecstasy when the very entertaining and HOLLYWOOD-esque Sweet Jane from Lights! Cameras! Diapers! named me as an Honest Scrap award winner. She is relatively new to blogging but already has more followers than I have. Bitch. And THEN, several days later the lovely Laura who has seven-year-old twins PLUS a toddler tagged me as a Theta mom, which has nothing to do with the greek system . Laura has one more child than me yet seems 10 times more sane. And publishes a very honest look at motherhood via Kiddie Kaleidoscope.
Receiving the Honest Scrap award requires me to provide 10 things about myself and list five bloggers who have inspired me and whose blogs I admire. It's always about me, people, so let's do the 10 things about me first.
1) I am so old that I was the oldest person in the delivery room when my twins were born. This includes my high-risk Ob-Gyn, my husband (I like 'em younger) and all the riff-raff hanging around in case something went wrong.
2) I once lost 8 pounds soley giving up the French Vanilla International Delights coffee creamer I so enjoy. I drink that much coffee. People, I have twins.
3) My college boyfriend who was up to his ears in debt once told a creditor who called that "you can't squeeze orange juice out of a turnip." His car was re-possessed shortly thereafter. It was only then he was faithful to me for three months straight (as far as I know) because he needed my car to deliver pizzas.
4) I have a long history of questionable taste in men (not you, Daniel Craig, never you!).
5) I was driving in the car recently with the girls and the Barry Manilow version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" came on the radio and I cried. With joy. I love Barry. I don't trust people who don't love Barry.
6) I believe every decision (good or bad) I've made in my life was specifically because I was supposed to have the exact children I have and if I changed one thing it may have resulted in a different outcome that doesn't result in their existence.
7) Believing that every bad decision I've ever made ultimately resulted in my girls eliminates the need for regret, an emotion I find largely a waste of time. I like to waste time in more fun ways, like looking up lyrics to John Mayer songs and making fun of them in my head.
8) Speaking of talking to yourself in your head, that Oprah Book Club book "A New Earth" by Eckart Tolle deeply upset me because he says the voice in your head constantly talking to you isn't really you. Then who the hell is it? I kind of like the person who talks to me in my head and if it's not me I'd like to meet him or her.
9) I took a conversational French course one summer, hid in the back and the only thing I recall saying in French the entire term was "Mel Gibson has a nice ass" when asked to comment on a film I recently saw. (That was in the late 80s when Mel did still in fact still have a nice ass.)
10) I have absolutely no desire to go to Paris. And it has nothing to do with my bad French.
Okay, so a few of the blogs I love and inspire me I can't pass along this award to. They are busy with book deadlines and writing projects and / or have already been nominated. Wendi Aarons is completely hilarious and I wish I'd known her in college so we could have gotten sauced at sorority barn bashes together. Stefanie Wilder-Taylor of Baby on Bored (and numerous awesome, laugh-out-loud funny books) gave me renewed confidence in my writing when she actually mentioned my blog. Alexa over at Flotsam can make you laugh and cry in the same post. That's talent, people! Buy her book coming out next year.
Okay, now here comes a confession. I don't really read tons of blogs, except a few I got hooked on a long time ago. Between my girls and freelance work and being a general indentured servant, I don't really have time. Which I know sucks given I want people to read mine.
So I'm going to cheat by combining the five blog mentions from both awards into one post (coming soon) along with the requirement I list five things that helped shape me as an "authentic mom" which is what the Theta deal is all about. Are authentic mothers allowed to get Botox? I hope that doesn't disqualify me, prompting the judges to pry the award from my very hands as I'm up on stage accepting accolades and thanking my dermatologist...
And thanks to Jane and Laura for thinking of me for these. It's very humbling in a Sally Field "you like me you really like me" sort of way.
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I think I love you! :)
ReplyDelete"Speaking of talking to yourself in your head, The Oprah Book Club book "A New Earth" by Eckart Tolle deeply upset me because he says the voice in your head constantly talking to you isn't really you. Then who the hell is it? I kind of like the person who talks to me in my head and if it's not me I'd like to meet him or her."
congrats on your awards. i didn't know you were a Fanilow. good for you. there is just something about him...i like him, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link! I am still trying to figure out if the living in Saudi Arabia is true of just for laughs... Do tell.
ReplyDeleteAnd PS- I felt the same way about the voice in your head part of that book!
ReplyDeleteI am the same for #4. Except I have regrets. And I have more of a Sliding Doors life philosophy. Also, I think I dated your college boyfriend.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you do have a Sliding Doors life philosophy? The voice in my head is confusing me. And I need more coffee.
ReplyDeleteLaura -- Yes, I really did live in Saudi Arabia!
ReplyDeleteJuli -- Does a Sliding Doors philosophy mean whatever you do you wind up with the same fate? I loved that movie by the way. Except Gwyneth's first boyfriend was horribly miscast. But I think at the end she winds up where she should be (with second guy) regardless of whether she made the train or not. Please advise.
Ha, ha..OJ out of a turnip!! Ah, good times.Thanks for making fun of John Mayer!
ReplyDeleteThere's a Barry Manilow Christmas compilation on the free christmas music on iTunes currently. (It's a 20 song mix if you are an itunes person. it's actually pretty decent, particularly for free.) but I don't care much for it. It's very jazzy, which just seems weird for Christmas music.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I love Barry Manilow.
I'm laughing at your list! Barry Manilow rocks.
ReplyDeleteI love that list. I wish I could think of ten things that interesting about me. I never heard "orange juice out of a turnip," but a college boyfriend did once tell a very persistent telemarketer that he didn't need a new credit card because "I'm a monkey! Monkeys don't need credit cards. Our only concerns are bananas and coconuts."
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the idea that everything led to your girls. I do sometimes look at my kids and realize that if I hadn't done this thing, which led to that, which made this happen, they wouldn't be here. And that would be the biggest tragedy I could imagine. Best possible reason not to regret.
Congratulations on the award! And "authentic moms" are totally allowed to get Botox. As long as they tell us all about it.
Ok If I wanted to be a follower of yours howthehell am I supposed to do that? Cause I wanna.
ReplyDelete