I’ve been honored with TWO awards this week!  I am rather awestruck since never in my life have I felt so popular then when I rebooted my blog :)  The first award I received this week is the Shine On award given to me by the truly inspiring Running To Her Dreams blogger.  If you haven’t visited her blog yet, then go now!  You can always find your way back to me later ;)

As with all awards, there are a few rules (which I may or may not follow ;))

1. Display the award logo on your blog. ‘Tis done.

2. Link back to the person who nominated you. Yup, did that, too :)

3. State 7 things about yourself.  Anything?  OK, here’s to my boring self:

1. It’s Friday and I’m taking the day off because
2. My kitchen is being “demolished” because
3. We’re getting new kitchen cabinets!
4. Because the old ones were original (32 years and counting) and I tend to be slow to start home improvement projects
5. I picked out the new cabinets which are white and double-wrapped with polymer to protect from water damage
6. To my chagrin, the new cabinets are from the Martha Stewart line because
7. I don’t like Martha Stewart the person, but I know I will love my new cabinets ;)

4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
This is always the biggest challenge for me because I haven’t yet figured out a seamless way to copy and paste these links without having multiple windows open :(  But I’ve got time on my hands today so here goes:

1. Bastet and Sekhmet
2. Teri Polen
3. Readful Things Blog
4. Busy Mind Thinking
5. Running Father
6. Jade Reyner
7. The D/A Dialogues
8. Julian Froment’s Blog
9. The Write Place
10. Pat Bean’s Blog
11. Aging Abundantly
12. Saunved
13. Green Embers
14. Year ‘Round Thanksgiving Project
15. Talking Experience

I will now proceed to the second award, the Liebster Award, bestowed upon me by the ever erudite John W. Howell at http://johnwhowell.com/.  Do not hesitate to visit his blog!  I’ll still be here when you get back ;)

In accordance with the Liebster rules:

A.  List eleven random facts about yourself

1. My birthday is tomorrow (for those of you in a different time zone, tomorrow could be yesterday, it could be today or it could still be tomorrow ;))
2. I will be six years shy of eligibility for Social Security, but something tells me I’ll keep working
3. I don’t have kids so I have no sense of time passing which means I have no sense of myself aging …
4. Until I take a look in the mirror and do not immediately recognize myself
5. Even though my hair is gray, in my mind it’s still dark brown
6. I think I’m more physically fit than I was in my 20s
7. But I also have more aches and pains than I did in my 20s
8. To celebrate the arrival of our new kitchen cabinets, we had a beer before dinner and then wine with dinner
9. We both woke up the next morning remembering why we shouldn’t do that
10. I’m looking forward to getting my house back in order after our kitchen is done
11. I would like someone else to get my house back in order after our kitchen is done

B.  Nominate eleven other bloggers for the Liebster Award (why not … I’m on a roll!)

1. Running for Her Dreams
2. Robynn Gabel’s Common Sense Experience
3. Eric John Baker
4. Amber Skye Forbes
5. mybrandofgenius
6. Jill Weatherholt
7. The Crossover
8. 30 Days of Self Discovery
9. Word Savant
10. kiralynblue
11. lindaghill

C.  Notify these bloggers:  In due time, I have to finish this post first …

D.  Ask eleven questions that the bloggers must answer upon accepting the Liebster Award.

1. What would be your perfect meal (if calories and expense were of no concern)?
2. What is your favorite footwear?
3. What is your favorite automobile (if any)?
4. How do we achieve world peace?
5. Who or what is your muse?
6. What is your favorite time of day?
7. Do you see dead people?  (If yes, explain.  If no, then I am relieved.)
8. What is your favorite form of exercise?
9. When is your favorite time to work on your blog?
10. What is your top pet peeve?
11. What makes you the most happy?

E.  Answer the eleven questions that you were asked when you were nominated

1. Do you want to be rich and famous?  Rich but not famous (I don’t want no stinkn’ paparazzi following me around)
2. If yes why and if no why? I answered Yes and No because why wouldn’t I want to be rich and why would I want to be famous if I could just be rich?
3. What is the most important day of the week for you? Saturday
4. What is your favorite dessert?  Ben and Jerry’s Americone ice cream
5. How long did it take you to feel good about writing?  About 40 years
6. What is your favorite time of day?  Whenever my cat Luisa has finally fallen asleep
7. Who do you depend upon? My husband
8. Has anyone ever let you down?  Of course, but it was usually my fault.
9. Where on Earth do you think is closest to heaven? Atop Black Point at Mono Lake, California
10. What was the most valuable advice anyone ever gave you?  Trust your intuition
11. What is the most indulgent gift you ever received or given?  I don’t know if I would call it an indulgence, but the most $$ gift was when I gave a family member $1,000 to help him go to Costa Rica for experimental treatment of MS.  We can’t say the treatments actually helped, but I’ve never regretted helping him get the chance to try.

I end this post, with both hands patting myself on the back :)  Cheers, everyone!