Honest Scrap Award

honest_scrap_award

I’m tickled pink (an expression I very rarely use, VERY rarely) to receive this award from the lovely and overworked Chrissy, a lovely woman living on a little island up in Ontario, on a farm with her husband and her beautiful baby.  Anyone who thinks farm life is easy has never read any good farm books (Like the Little House books, for me), and doesn’t read any farm blogs.  Chrissy’s is a good one.  She is also a champion blogger…last year, during NaBloPoMo, she honored that commitment, blogging every day that month, even though she was sent to the hospital in the hopes of keeping her baby inside of her a bit longer, and blogged the day she gave birth to her baby (I think her husband may have helped out on that one), and from the Neonatal unit where her extremely premature baby had to stay until she was strong enough to come home.  Don’t fret, come home she did, and she’s a healthy, happy, beautiful baby, soon to be 1.   Chrissy writes her blog with absolute honesty and truth, so I can see how she earned this award.  To read her blog, I suspect, is to know her in person.  I admire that in a blogger.

OK, the rules of this award are that I now have to say 10 honest things about myself, and then tag 7 bloggy friends who I think are honest and true with what they have to say.  Sigh.  The hard part.  OK, first things first.  10 honest things.  This might be difficult, because I think you all know everything already.  I mean, isn’t that what the award is about, being honest and spilling my guts?

  1. I have recently given up Diet Coke.  Again.  Know what?  I miss it.  But I keep hearing how bad all of those chemicals are for you, and I do get tired of having that monkey on my back.  Wondering, ‘do I need to go buy diet coke?’  I know, get a real problem, lady.
  2. So I’m switching to tea in the mornings.  I’m not ready to decide whether to give up caffeine or not.  I don’t really like tea that much.  Guess I need to start trying different kinds and find one that I like.
  3. Drinking tea in the morning does make me stop and remember when Ted and I were dating…I used to have to work early in the mornings, and he would get up early and make me tea and toast for breakfast before driving me to my 6am shift.  Took me awhile to confess to him that food that early kind of grossed me out, because it was such a generous and sweet gesture.
  4. Everyone is in love with True Blood, but I haven’t gotten sucked in yet.  I think it’s just that much too violent for me.  Though the scene on right now is hilarious.
  5. I get sinus headaches when the weather changes, mostly when the barometric pressure quickly drops.  Not always, but much more often than I would like.  Blech.
  6. I don’t consider myself to be superstitious, but: I won’t walk under a ladder.  I don’t like to see an umbrella open in the house.  I wish on white horses.  But I’ll say whatever I want about things, and not worry about jinxing myself.
  7. I think Carter is right, and that Joe Wilson wouldn’t have yelled out like that to a white President.  The underlying fear in white America of a black President is disturbing.  Yes, we all have the right to disagree with our leaders.  But the hatred and fear mongering going on lately (for the last year, really) is pure ugly.
  8. A lot of my posts are time stamped 4:23.  That’s my small way of letting my mom know that I’m thinking of her, since her birthday was April 23rd.
  9. My favorite color is green, because I love trees and grass and all of the growing things.  Second favorite would probably be blue, for the beautiful ocean and sky.
  10. OK, last one.  Something meaningful now, huh?  Sorry, I got nothing.  I’ve done too many memes in my day, and I’ve told you everything.  I will tell you that I’m drooling over the remastered Beatles albums.  But you know what?  I really liked their greatest hits compilations…the red and blue albums, as they were called.  I wish they had remastered those.

OK, that’s 10 honest things, though I don’t know that they’re the least bit interesting.  Now, 7 bloggers I would like to give this award to. (To whom I would like to bestow this award…that’s a lame rule of grammar, isn’t it?  We’re not speaking Latin here, who cares if my infinitives are split?)

  1. Tracy, from The Starshine Report.  Because I’ve met her a few times in real life, consider her a friend, but got to know her here first.  And the Tracy she presents in her blog is the Tracy you meet in real life.   She is just who she says she is.
  2. Karen Meg, from A Day in the Life.  Because even though I haven’t met her in real life, I feel like I have.  She’s so honest and true to herself in her writing.
  3. Dana, from Katie, Bar the Door.  She’s been through a hell of a lot this past year, and she has put as much of it as is safe and possible out on her blog.  She is the epitome of truth in advertising.  With her, what you see is what you get, in spades.
  4. Dad, from Dad Who Writes.  The honesty this guy puts on a page is raw and right at the surface.  That honesty is what brings me back, again and again.
  5. CK, from Curiosity Killer.  I love reading her tales of making a life in Hong Kong as a mucho talented musician.
  6. Michelle, from Scribbit.  I met Michelle when I was in Anchorage last year, when my mom was in the hospital there.  She took me to lunch one day, I think the day before my mom’s surgery.  One of the last ‘normal’ days for me.  She is who she writes herself to be, if that makes sense.  A kind and giving person, devoted to her family.  She has wonderful recipes, and if you’re crafty, she has a lot of wonderful crafts.  I’m not crafty, but they look fun.  She also tells stories of life in Alaska, and having lived there, though far from Anchorage and long ago, they still resonate with me.
  7. Amurin, from Stop and Wander.  Because she’s a wonderful writer, really knows how to turn a phrase.  And again, honest as can be.  We haven’t met, but I’d like to.  I think she’d be a great person to sit down and have a cup of tea or a glass of wine with.

15 Comments

  • Starshine

    Thank you so much, Jules!

    You definitely deserve this award, and I would say about you what you just said about me–the Julie I first encountered on your blog very much corresponded to the Julie I met in person. 🙂 I still remember being so happily amazed that the first time I met you and Cherry (at my bridal shower!), it really wasn’t awkward at all because, in truth, we had been getting to know each other for a year already on our blogs!

  • JMc

    Sinus headaches with the weather change for me too…maybe we are related?

    Maybe try out the natural cola to ease your transition? Hansens has a cola….Good luck with your Monkey.

  • Jimmy

    NUMBER 7 ……???????
    Please tell me you’re joking?????????
    Jimmy Carter is the worst president this country has ever had?

    He’s just repeating the smear being echoed by left-wingers across America that whoever opposes the Obama agenda must be racist.

    Rush Limbaugh said it first, and that it would surely be like this. ” If you disagree with Obama, you must be a racist”!!!!!

    At least Obama has the sense enough to distant himself form Jimmy Carter, by insisting that it wasn’t based on racisim!

    Jimmy Carter is a dumbass southern redneck un-American piece of garbage. I’ll be glad when he takes a dirt nap!!!!!

    aaaarrrghghhh….I had to delete the rest…..sorry

    I’m sorry for my honest venting!!!!!LOL

  • J

    Jimmy, I knew you’d get a kick out of that one!

    I like Jimmy Carter. I think he is a man of integrity, and I don’t think that about a lot of politicians. I admire what he has made of his failed presidency. From that, he went on to work very hard for the disenfranchised among us. Moreso than any other former president, I think. I can think of worse presidents in my life time. Everyone loves Reagan, but he put many policies into place that contributed to our worsening economy. Left wingers (some) love Clinton, but he was middle of the road at best, and in some ways more right than left. He also contributed to our economic mess.

    I don’t LOVE Obama, love love love him. I am much happier with him thus far than I was with Bush, but I’d be happier with a crap covered brick than I was with Bush. Bush made me sort of understand that pathological hatred of Clinton, because I felt almost pathological at times.

    I don’t think it’s racist to disagree with Obama’s policies. I think we’re all entitled to our opinions and views, and personally, I’m not thrilled with his health care ‘reform’ or what I’ve seen of his education ‘reform’ so far, either.

    But I do think there’s a large undercurrent of racism in this country, of people who are afraid that he is going to take from White America and give to Black, that we will become Socialist, that we will become Muslim, that he’s in cahoots with terrorists, and the roots of this fear are racist. He has done nothing whatsoever to deserve the comparisons to Hitler, or the cries of Socialism. He’s middle of the road, like Clinton was. Far too middle of the road for me. Not that I want Socialism, but I would be all for a single payer health care system. Which I’m trying to learn to accept is never going to happen. Or not until the system we have fails so completely that we have no other choice.

    Wilson’s outburst smacked so much of the same kind of hatred that has been shown in the town hall meetings (and I suspect ramped up by the press). It smacked of disrespect in a large degree. It smacked of the hatred drummed up by Palin’s false accusation of ‘death panels’, and the ugly racism of some of the pre-election rallies last year. Ugh. So yeah, I’m gonna call it like I see it, and say he’s racist. Because I genuinely believe he doesn’t have the same level of respect for Obama that he would have for a white man. Say Edwards. Edwards is far more left wing than Obama, but I’d bet that Wilson would never have acted with such pathetically poor manners to Mr. Edwards.

    This guy said it better than I can: http://blog.sojo.net/2009/09/17/what-racism-still-in-america/

  • OmbudsBen

    I’m with you on Barack and Dubya, J. We are far better off as a nation than we were with the guy who lied about WMD.

    As far as morning beverage goes–I can identify. I had to give up coffee. I’ve taken Constant Comment, Lemon Lift, and a white tea in to work. My morning ritual now is to microwave water to make tea in my thermos.

    I find that, once I’m working, I don’t think about what I’m drinking, because I’m focused. So it’s okay. But I do notice that I don’t drink it down as fast as I did coffee, and sometimes I wish I could have a nice lovely mug of joe again.

    Ah, well. Life has new satisfactions now.

  • amuirin

    I also never noticed the time stamp thing. What a neat little tribute. Thanks so much for your mention up above, I’d be up for the tea thing. Unless you’re drinking diet coke again by then. 😉

    Curious to take a peek at the other ‘tagees’. I have similar feelings about Carter, and the same favorite colors, but throw purple in there, too.

  • Jimmy

    J, I’m sorry for venting on JC, but you know how “she who shall not be named” get’s your panties in a wad??????
    Well….JC does that for me!!!!!!LOL!!!!arrrrgggghhhhhh
    Where’s my Billy Beer??????

  • J

    Jimmy, thanks so much for not naming her! You rock for remembering that. 😉 And while I like JC, he’s got a lot of folks’ panties in a wad, and not just Republicans. So you’re not alone. Enjoy that Billy Beer!

  • Chrissy

    Awwww! J, I was so surprised to see this! You are the best! Thank you! Gah! Can you believe it was almost a year ago that I was blogging from hospital bed rest!?! Crazy how time just flew by! I remember hoping to keep that baby in me for “Just one more day! One more day!”. But, alas! She wanted out…pronto!

    You know, I am sooooooo excited that you are going to try drinking tea! Sound weird? Well, let me tell you that I am HOOKED on Masala Chai Tea!! I can drink it every day and never get sick of it. The neat thing is that there are sooo many varieties of tea. You can explore and experiment. I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll love! Do you like fruity teas? Not sure how I feel about overly floral teas, but fruity teas I like. Well, some of them. One that you may like (not a fruity tea, but more of a creamy, milky tea) is from Japan. It’s called Royal Milk Tea. When I was teaching abroad, I had Royal Milk Tea every day!! Green tea is also a fave of mine…done right, of course.

    As for the Honest Scrap Award and blogging with honesty, you are right. To read my blog is to know me in person. My friends who read it say it’s almost like hearing me tell them a story. I often wonder if I should scrap the blog and start anew…and be completely anonymous and not get into any of my personal life. Then I think of how lazy I am and don’t have it in me to start a new blog! LOL!

  • Chrissy

    One more thing: I also suffer from sinus headaches when the weather changes. In fact, it gets so bad at times, it’s debilitating! One thing that helps a bit is the Neti Pot. Ms.Mamma sent me one a few Christmases ago.

    • J

      Chrissy, I tried the neti pot, but that helps more when I’m suffering allergies than when the pressure drops around here. But sometimes it does help.

      Regarding the tea, I don’t really like sweet teas, or milky teas, but I do like citrus teas. So I guess I need to look around and see what my tea options are. At this point I’m drinking it, but not really enjoying it.