Mrs. Sparkly’s Ten Commandments: Tag I’m It For the Moment

Judith Baxter at growingyoungereachday.wordpress.com tagged me for Mrs. Sparkly’s Ten Commandments. Now the Commandments part is interesting as it is 10 questions to be answered by the tagee (or is it taggee?) This is probably the most fun award I have seen yet. Then I tag five other bloggers on behalf of Mrs. Sparkly.

I did a search on google for said Mrs. and came upon at least fifty posts from wordpress.com all with a similar title and more than one had the picture to the left.  So I borrowed it hoping that this indeed is Mrs. S.

Now for the Q&A!

1.  Describe yourself in seven words.  Positive Loving Growing Seeking Creative Thoughtful Gentle

2.  What keeps you up at night?  Thoughts Memories Aspirations Fears Creativity.  Sometimes I think it would be wonderful to be able to be awake 24/7 or one of those genius types who sleeps only 3 0r 4 hours but my I do enjoy a good night’s sleep.

3.  Whom would you like to be? Sometimes I feel like I am so many people I am not sure there is room for another which there would have to be if I had to include someone else I would like to be.  I can’t imagine wanting to be someone else besides what would the motivation be?  More – beauty, wealth, success?  To be rid of my problems?   I guess there is none other I would choose to be like.  Now how unimaginative is that?

4.  What are you wearing now?  Blue jeans, purple sweater, black socks.  Nuts when I first read Judith’s post and I saw this question I told myself to be sure to wear something interesting and or delightful.  Alas I seldom listen to myself and there is little use in creative false description when the fun part of all this is honesty.

5.  What scares you?  Way too much scares me.  I would have thought at this age I would have overcome fear, that I would be so comfortable in my skin and mind and so wonderously philosophical that nothing would scare me.  The biggest thing is fear of failure, fear of not being the best I can be, fear of not grasping the moment.  It is this fear which tries to prevent me from trying new things, from completing some things.  The good news is that it is a fear that grows less and less each day and some days I actually have it on the run!

6.  What are the best and worst things about blogging?  This is sort of two sides of the same coin.  The best is reading all the wonderful blogs out there and so many leave me with a feeling of awe.  The worst is realizing all the talent and fearing I may not measure up and at the same time inspiring me to reach those lofty heights of excellence.

7.  What was the last website you looked at?  Other than googling Mrs. Sparkly it would be the kitchensgarden.wordpress. com.  I feel driven, and yes that is the only word possible to describe this need to read every word Celi has written.  I started with her first post and am about half way through.  I randomly read posts past and present of all my favs but this is different and I can’t quite explain it.  Maybe I will be able to once I finish.

8.  If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?  Well I am sure if you read all of the above you will know my answer to this one.  Why I would be the bravest soul on earth!  No Fear!

9.  Slankets, yes or no?  I’ll bet this is most searched word lately and the answer is a ‘No’

10.  Tell us something about the person who tagged you.  Now that is pure pleasure.  Judith Baxter is an incredible person living in New Zealand who lives truly by her words, ‘I choose how I will spend the rest of my life.’  I don’t think Judith would even recognize the word retirement.  She is active, volunteering with Hospice, consulting, treasuring her family and learning every day.  I have told her previously I see her as the very classy Jessica J.B. Fletcher although she gives no indication of solving multiple murders on a weekly basis.

Now I must tag five others and have chosen people whose answers most interest me.

Celi at thekitchensgarden.wordpress.com      Winsomebella.wordpress.com                      Joss at crowingcrone.wordpress.com              Barbfroman.wordpress.com                     Colleen at bikecolleenbrown.wordpress.com

Oh I just thought of 5 or 50 more!

*thanks to Photobucket for images!

Genuine or Versatile Many of Us are Both

When it comes to awards I have been blessed many times.  When it comes to blogging awards I have also been blessed.

Linda Cassidy Lewis at lindacassidylewis.com has awarded me the Liebster Award..meaning loved or beloved

And how can I not love that?  Regardless of stats there are always a favorite few who are loyal in comments and sharing their own kind of wisdom.  When I get an award I always graciously pass it on to those loyal few who comment regularly.  There are so many more I regularly read and love and Lord knows there will be more..insatiable appetite I have..and I would like to share all of them with you..but then you could not possibly read them all without abandoning your own loyal following.

In addition there are a couple of new blogs I have been following with great pleasure written by twins Autumn and Gabrielle who passed on another award to me.  They can be found at http://autumnsunshineandgabrielleangel.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/genuine-blogger-award/ These gals are the coolest twins ever so please visit and enjoy.

I have to apologize to others who have passed awards on to me.  I went through a period of totally being overwhelmed so know I missed someone.  (today I cleared out almost 4,000 emails from posts and bloggers that came in in the last month or so).  Do let me know so I can credit you.

I can’t possibly give you a list of things you don’t know about me…damn my transparency but I can give you a list of folk to follow in addition to the addys above:  (Many have already received awards and may want to pass. For the others I send you blessings and thank you for making my day that much brighter!)

Both awards are passed to:

Judith Baxter at growingyoungereachday.wordpress.com who has won award on award..but I am sorry darlin you just keep deserving.

Barb who is sweet and writes a heck of a blog that will warm the cockles of your heart..passionateaboutpets.wordpress.com

Kathy who really knows and who I look forward to hearing from and reading every  day.. reinventingtheeventhorizon.wordpress.com

Colleen Brown at http://bikecolleenbrown.wordpress.com/ who has been a buddy since the beginning and who does enough exercise for the two of us..so I can take it easy.

Lois who is also a fairly new friend and who makes me wish I looked that good and who you will enjoy visiting at lroelofs.wordpress.com

Cecilia who if you haven’t met yet must do so Right Now! at thekitchensgarden.wordpress.com

Tori who you also MUST visit..I swear!! at torinelson.wordpress.com

My Bulgarian Buddy Patrecia who will make you laugh and cry probably all at the same time with her honesty at misswhiplash.wordpress.com

Also Words from Australia wordsfallfrommyeyes.wordpress.com who is a new friend I am looking forward to learning more about.

Jackie Paulson who has been near and dear to my heart for a long time now… postadaychallenge2011.wordpress.com

Darlene who is a new friend also at darlenefoster.wordpress.com

Winsome who delights me every time winsomebella.wordpress.com

Okay now the exit music is playing at the Oscars.  Meryl Streep and I are trying to get in a few last words…

This dear dear soul must be here also..souldipper.wordpress.com/

OH OH dear Georgette.. georgettesullins.wordpress.com  good grief I cannot forget Georgette!

Oh yes and Joss…if you read me you know all about Joss… my hero..or heroine… at crowingcrone.wordpress.com

Okay I know time to stop…. if I could I would send blogger love to so many…Mark are you listening..even though I don’t think you do the Award thing..how can you with millions of us…

THANK YOU!

Joss Burnell That Crowing Crone Has Done It

My friend has created a wonderful book.  How do I know it is wonderful? Why because I assisted in my own little way so I have had a preview of what is to come.  Joss doesn’t have a ‘press this’ button so I have endevoured to copy and paste it her announcement of the coming work.  Some of us talk about doing….Joss does it!

Find her at crowingcrone.wordpress.com

Now for the attempted copy..

 

..I can hardly stand it!  The final editing of my book is done. The cover is ready and I’m just bursting with pride and excitement.  All that’s left is the hours of work to upload it to the self publishing software.  They make it sound so easy but it is time consuming for sure. But that’s okay.

 

A huge thank you to Chris King over at Bridges Burning for her wondrous editing work.  Chris was oh so patient, oh so gracious, and oh so paid attention to detail.  I am thrilled with the end product.

Also must thank my friend, photographer John T. Fowler for allowing me to use his image on the cover.  Isn’t it just beautiful?

And last, but definitely not least, thank you to my BFF Christine for reading the manuscript all in one go – she who hates to read at the computer!  Christine, your support and love, as you know, mean the world to me.

So, there it is folks.  I can’t wait to hold the first real copy in my hands.

200+10,066=Amazing!

200+10,066=Amazing

It was a day of no specific consequence other than the business of daily living, laughing and just plain old surviving until it dawned that revelatory stats on WordPress.com …uh…revealed an opportunity to match 2 milestones; post number 200 coinciding with my site’s 10,000th hit.  I had control of the number of posts but none over the number of hits.

Most of you will not believe this or will at least look askance at this next bit of information but I am a pretty shy person…okay two minutes to ROFLAO but that’s it…now really it’s a well kept secret because I pretend not to be shy. I know, I know…I have been admittedly brazen and / or brash on occasion but but but….

Anyway regardless of my natural nature I just had to reach 10,000 views so I cautiously stepped out of my shy pod to send out a request to everyone I could reach so….I posted my plea on Facebook and then sent an email to as many contacts I had, which given my shy nature (remember) is not a long list but is a valuable list.

Now here is the Amazing Part:
I posted that I needed 77 hits and received 153 which by the way is an all time new one day total.

What took it from a day in November to an early Christmas or Birthday gift?  The numbers..yes and ..the comments!

The very first comment came minutes after posting from my friend Mary on Facebook.  The Delightful Divine Ms. M. has come to my rescue more than once, (once having driven to a little berg in the middle night to pick myself and belongings following the breakup with one of those kissing frogs and giving me tea and sympathy and a roof over my head!…ooo so long ago…yikes).  The point is..we may not see each other often but my friend Mary saves me and was the first to respond!

Mark, who is not, but who writes under the moniker ‘TheIdiotSpeaketh’ at redriverpak.wordpress.com  was most kind.
“Congrats Chris! I see you have raced past the 10,000 views mark….. I undoubtedly was, in fact, the 10,000th visitor, without a doubt…… what did I win? Is there a prize?….or cake? I was told there would be cake….. where’s the dang cake?…….come on now….cough up the cake Chris! ……. Seriously, congrats and wishing you continued blogging success”

This Texas gent who has my upmost respect for his work and readership actually was enthusiastic about my small achievement.(To put it in perspective he hits 100,000 or so a month..yup all those zeros are accurate…it’s sort of like some big star encouraging a protégée forward. )  NOW all you age thinkers who know our true age disparity and who would prefer to think of Mr. Pakulak helping an old lady across the road instead of protogeeing just step back.

Judith, my New Zealand blogging friend and often inspiration at “growingyoungereachday.wordpress.com” is also being kind.  We have been blogging about the same time and she is a beacon I follow.
‘Greetings lovely princess and congratulations on 10,000 hits.’

Crowing Crone Joss is my cohort and an amazing blogging and author and poet!
crowingcrone.wordpress.com 
“congrats oh magnificent princess!”

Souldipper is a west coast delight who so makes me want to move to The Island and share her experiences.
souldipper.wordpress.com
‘Congrats, Your Royal Highness. May your realm continue to grow in leaps and bounds. Or…is that what you want the frog to do? Whatever…progress, not perfection! ‘

Cecilia has an amazing site who makes me feel…yes it can be done!
thekitchensgarden.wordpress.com 
“Awesome! and so many hits, you must be doing something right, Princess! 

Katherine Gordy Levine at emotfit.wordpress.com is always informative and supportive and very complimentary although the envy is often reversed.
“Step by step, hour by hour, keep moving forward. You always turn my skin frog green with envy when I read your posts. You write girl as they would say on the streets of Harlem.”

Sister Act
What can I say?  She is my sister and my best friend! 
“You always make me pause to think Thank you”

sister act
“excellent I always enjoy your writing”

sister act
“you are so right all them frogs one must be a prince. youd think. Thank you for a nice thought”

So thank you all who read and all who commented..you sure made this one nice day!

Quick and Wonderful

Quick and Wonderful

The time is short and in my quest to perfect my procrastination I am about to embark on a feat attempted by only the bravest of fools.

I move Tuesday and have had plenty of time, emphasis on plenty here, to prepare.  Alas one of my genetic misfires that has increased with the march of time is organization.  I had it once upon a time.  Perhaps I inadvertently  packed it.  Anyway three sleeps to go and lots to do on a weekend filled with social obligations.  Go figure.

Fridays are dedicated to the garden my sisters and I have at the country home of my brother and his wife.  We toil in the soil then sit sipping while my brother barbecues and SIL serves up the results of said toil.  It takes hours to eat, drink and laugh, so no packing there.

Today is our family Christmas Party.  Uhuh.  We are a very social group and the challenges of getting multiple generations together indoors in December has become difficult.  So being the Einstein minds we are it was decided to hold the party in August where my nephew has a lovely large property and pool.  My Sis and her daughter had a big cake made with a Santa and Merry Christmas written across it.  That caused interest in the store when we picked it up!  So this day is spoken for.

I have been reading as many of my fav blogs as possible but not commenting or posting very much but come Tuesday a new era starts!!

My friend Joss Burnell at crowingcrone.wordpress.com has invited me to play The Seven Links Challenge and I am so pumped but can only do so once the move is complete. (that’s my Mommy gene making me do that me do that!)

Missing you all my delicious woodcraft friends but looking forward to catching up on all your posts next week when I can take the time to savor!  I know I will have plenty of time then – I have it in my organizer!

Versatile Blogger Award..Thanks Kieran!

The Versatile Blogger Award! Thanks to Kieran!
The VBA is an opportunity to recognize fellow bloggers who we admire and enjoy.

Kieran Hamilton has included me on his list of fifteen to pass it on. Kieran is a very talented photographer in Edinburgh Scotland, my fav city in the world.
If I had to choose one blog of his to recommend it would be: http://sumpix.wordpress.com/#!/entry/607

Now the idea in spreading the good word to others is:
Link back to the blogger that gave me the award (check!).
Tell you 7 things about myself.
Choose 15 other blogs to pass the award to.
Inform the other bloggers that I’m passing the award to them.
So

7 Things about me:
1) I started blogging to find my voice. What I found instead is a wealth of talent, humor and education which has created a tremendous hunger within me to learn more.
2) Since joining postaday2011 I cannot sleep until I post.
3) I am still trying to figure out how to use all of WordPress doojibbies to make my site more attractive..functional..fun. It comes under techie stuff, one of my many Achilles Heels.
4) I am the world’s coolest Grandma and my two wee boys are still young enough to buy that when I tell them.
5) I have two budgies I rescued from an evil witch..no she is okay, but she was sending them to certain death. Dead Birds Walking. Max and Ruby.
6) I have good friends who are family, and family who are good friends and it never ceases to amaze me that they love me in-spite of it all.
7) I love my iPad even though it is the antiquated version of the one just released.

And the Award goes to: *Note to recipients: I hope you continue to participate, but if you are unable to for any reason please send me funds in the six digit range and remember you are still special. I have tried to list a fav blog but it is difficult!

1. The Good Greatsby. He’s is so addictive you may need an intervention. http://thegoodgreatsby.com/2011/04/18/how-to-outflank-a-firing-tips-for-preventing-your-impending-dismissal/

2. Colleen’s Chatter Blog I can’t get through my day without a dose of her any more than she can without coffee. http://bikecolleenbrown.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/wobbly/

3. Merrilymarylee who takes me back to my roots in the south..well if I had any she would take me back there. http://merrilymarylee.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/sweet-nothing/

4. Mature Landscaping is a newer subscribed site and I am just getting to know her and her site but am loving it. http://www.maturelandscaping.com/2011/04/weathering-denial.html

5. Officeoddities is also a newer site for me and I am learning she has weird friends and TMI on shoe size.
http://officeoddities.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/sandwich-texts/

6. Ihaveabackbone is cool and funny and forgetful..or so she says. http://ihaveabackbone.wordpress.com/#!/entry/3251

7. Bended Spoon who has won this before I think but is too good to pass up.
http://bendedspoon.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/f-is-for-floccinaucinihilipilification/

8. Jackie Paulson with facts and wisdom. http://postadaychallenge2011.com/2011/04/21/amazing-facts-2/

9. Accidentalstepmom whose crew entertain me as much as they do her. http://accidentalstepmom.wordpress.com/#!/entry/1140

10. Joss Crowingcrone who is humor, poetry and photography and priceless.http://crowingcrone.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/ranting/

11. Penny at LifesaBeachjournal is another new find I am enjoying. http://lifesabeachjournal.com/2011/04/20/grumpy/

12). Val at Absurd Old Bird whose talents I am still discovering. http://absurdoldbird.wordpress.com/2011/04/27/writing-for-wombats-of-a-challenged-intelligence/

13) Judith at growingyoungereachday who shares her life experiences with us..and an interesting life it is.
http://growingyoungereachday.wordpress.com/

14). Elizabeth who truly is Mirth and Motivation. http://eof737.wordpress.com/

15). Fribnitsworld who challenges my beliefs and may inspire you to argument but I cannot miss a post.
http://fribnitsworld.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/wish-to-wander/

I can’t believe I have run out of numbers. My fifteen minutes is up. Nuts. So many more are worthy. Nuts.

AND THEN….

Well what happened next?

Just after I finished my previous blog on my ditziness of the day, I started to pack up my things and head home.  I had come to my fav Williams Coffee Pub to write, hoping the change in environment would reset my universal flow button.  It did not.  BUT.

As I was about to leave a young couple sat down across from me.  Probably in their twenties… both really really good looking.
Anyway I noticed as I was putting on my jacket that she was nudging his leg under the table with her foot.  I thought that was so cutesy. THEN he sits back with a cocky look on his face and says…”So we have some issues and are we going to deal with them or not deal with them?”. AND he has such a smirk on his face because he has total control.  She is trying to be loving and seductive with the old foot trick and he knows he can make her feel awful.  She is contrite and he is….”so I did some things, and I said some things..you have to decide if you can live with that.”

Oh I peeled that jacket off so fast!  I wanna see how this plays out.
I am seated so I have a full view of him and only back and side of her.  He talks, eats, moves a round in his chair but..never never looks directly at her, just very quick rare glances. gauging her reaction to each of his boastful claims.  I think he just wants to be sure he is retaining control.  He keeps looking out the windows as if he would rather be anywhere but here.

God she is so gorgeous-why is she putting up with this?

She is talking now trying to work things out.  He is now looking directly out the window while she speaks and then down at his plate. Now he is responding with short sentences and still not looking at her.

He is still ignoring her while she talks and now she is back to stroking his leg under the table with her foot!  With no favorable response from him she has returned her foot to a neutral position.

Everything in me is screaming STUPID ALERT, STUPID ALERT,  Call out the dogs!!! man the guns!!! Danger!!! danger!!!

Would I have wanted someone to intervene when that was me years ago..and it was me..  Okay he has put on his coat and she has not…should I say something to her??  Should I?

Now He has reaches out to gently touch her fingers and gaze in her eyes.  To her credit she just picked up her sandwich in both hands..nuts and is putting her coat on also now.  Phew they both left ..sigh ..that removes my tough decision on intervention.

Thank God one of my blogging heroes, Joss at crowingcrone just wrote this morning about letting others make their own decisions and it was the first blog I read.  Thank you Joss it kept me on the straight and narrow..and appropriate!