Honest Scrap

Ann T. Hathaway has given me the Honest Scrap award. I’m quite honored because she is one of my hero bloggers. You never know what you’ll find when you go to her blog. World War II logistics, Miss Ellen the bicycle, Zombies in the basement, PTSD, training for the blue line, and books, books, books. All discussed with her special brand of compassion & humor. Consider this little gem from yesterday: “I need a Wrench. Miss Ellen's handlebars are suddenly headed West when I want to go North. It is possible to steer like this, but only to Eventual Disaster.”

So I’m pretty psyched to be one of her “chosen” even if I’m probably the fluffiest entry. She has actual Serious people and Heroes on her list. The rules are that I’m to tell 10 things about myself and then give the award to 10 people. I can’t even imagine what is left to tell you guys that you don’t already know, but I am always up for talking about myself!


1. Here is an old pet peeve that recently reared its ugly head. I hate it when people use “ya’ll” when talking to just one person. It’s a contraction of “You All” & when you use it directed to one person it makes me think of Gidget – no – Norma Rae – no – Sybil! That’s it! Unless the person really does have multiple personalities don’t call them “ya’ll.” Of course, this could just be the case in my area of the south – maybe other southerners use it differently. But they’re wrong. Heh.

2. When I was a small child I had heard of illegitimate children, but all I knew was that they didn’t have fathers. I didn’t like boys at the time, so all of my Barbies had illegitimate children.

3. I always wished for one special talent – like dancing or singing or doing the grapevine in Jazzercise without falling over. But, knowing my limitations (lack of rhythm and pitch and general klutziness) and knowing my limited attention span, I am, in lower middle age, ready to accept one thing that I can claim as my own: the ability to randomly turn a nice phrase. A nice phrase does not a poem make – but it does make reading the poem a little more palatable.

4. I have to have a reminder on my calendar to water the plants at work. And I’m not sticking my finger in that dirt to check them! They get watered every other week whether they need it or not.

5. Speaking of said aversion to dirt under my fingernails, for Father’s Day I once gave my dad a “coupon” for digging potatoes in the garden. I considered it the ultimate sacrifice.

6. I drive by an airfield on my way to work every day. They give rides. I would love to take a ride in one of those little planes! Today I thought how much my mother would have loved to take such a ride too. Random grief – it’s kind of hard to plan for.

7. I hate ending a sentence with “for.” But I’m just not going to become a contortionist to fix it. I mean, really: “Random grief – for which it’s kind of hard to plan” just doesn’t make sense.

8. I have a bad habit of using humor to deflect pain. Which is ok in its place – but not everyone is like me. They know that facing and moving through pain helps in the healing process. I find it ironic that the person who taught me to take up my humor shield is my mother. And I’m using the life skill she taught me to deal with her loss.

9. I am amazed that I’m digging into this grief today! It’s a random Friday in April. No special significance. It’s that darn airfield’s fault.

10. Let’s end this with a thanksgiving: I am so grateful to be married to my Renaissance man Dr. M. He can teach Old Testament and American History. He can attack computer viruses. He can grow almost anything and fix almost anything. He is hilarious and loves baseball like I do. And he gets me, which I’ve found is very rare. Love you Dear Heart!

OK, now I’m supposed to give this award out to ten people. And just like those emails where you’re supposed to tell folks what color of socks you’re wearing (I’m commando today!) I don’t expect everyone to actually do anything with this award. Some people don’t “do” awards and some people don’t have time and some people wonder who the heck is this chick giving them an award! Mostly I just want to talk about what their blogs mean to me.

1. Amy at All Things Ro. Amy is a great mom, recent fiancée, music teacher extraordinaire, and absolutely hilarious. Stop by her blog & check her out!

2. Katy from What A Great Place To Be A Cow. She writes thought-provoking essays about whatever is in her head. Her head is very interesting (although it seems to be a bit obsessed with Disney) – you should go see for yourself!

3. Reya at According to the Cosmology of Reya. She does NOT want this award. Well tough patooties. She may ignore it, but you should not ignore her fabulous musings about the universe & her place therein.

4. Kim at hmmm – which blog shall I use? She has three. I think I’ll use this one, Prayers for the Oft Traveled Road, She make me think hard about what God desires for my life and what I can do to facilitate the process.

5. Anne at Reverent Irreverence. Anne is an Episcopal Priest and Pampered Chef consultant who gives us a glimpse into her life every day. When Anne has a bad day she always shares what she’s doing to make it better – and that helps me to tackle my bad days too.

6. Ellen, from Stuff from Ellen’s Head. She also does not want this award. Well, Ellen, what did I say to Reya? Just accept that you’re fabulous – you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. Ellen has a view of life that just makes me stop the frenzy & relax. I don’t know why, but she calms me down all the time. And that’s not even what she’s trying to do – she’s just letting us know what’s going on in her life in a wry, laidback way.

7. Barry, from An Explorer’s View of Life. Barry is a fabulous story-teller with a lot going on in his life right now. He doesn’t need to be messing with an award like this. But you need to go visit him and learn that life really is fascinating if you tell the story the right way.

8. Jo, from A Majority of Two. Jo likes to talk about her “little blog” and I guess sometimes it might seem inconsequential to an outsider when she talks about her new chairs or mattress. But Jo likes to tackle tough controversial subjects. I don’t always agree with her, but I always find her interesting. And Jo doesn’t want this award either. Heh.

9. Jayne from Journey Through Grace. Jayne often posts excellent pictures of the birds around her home. But it’s her posts about her life that bring me back again and again. Grace is the right word to use to describe how she approaches the everyday world.

10. Argent from Delusions of Adequacy. While her blog title is fabulous (it could be talking about me!) it’s her writing that I enjoy week after week. She’s a songwriter (and singer!), poet, and short story writer with a lot of talent. Although I think Harold’s tale has moved beyond the realm of the short story!

OK, there you go. Check out all these great people & tell them the Bug sent you!

Whew! That was exhausting.