Thanks for the love!

Lisa, of bibliophiac, and Donna at A Novel Review, have given me The Versatile Blogger award. I'm terrible these days at passing awards along but I do love to introduce you to the terrific bloggers that took the time to pass them along to me with the hope that you'll visit their blogs!

Lisa is a high school English teacher who would love to see grade be done away with--just the kind of teacher my soon-to-be sophomore would love to have! She has also studied art--a subject we're quite fond of around here, what with a kid heading off to college this year to study Studio Art. I find it very interesting that Lisa's favorite sport is boxing--it's not often that you hear a woman say that.

Donna is new to blogging; she just started her blog in April but is already light years ahead of me on layout! I guess that history of learning HTML before it was even HTML helps! Donna says she looks just like her mother, something we can relate to in this house. When I was growing up people used to tell me all of the time that I looked just like my mother and now they tell my daughter the same thing. Donna used to be a big league bowler--and by "big league" I don't mean a professional but that she was, at one point, involved in three leagues in one season. Clearly she has an average well above my highest score ever of 127!

Please stop by these ladies' blogs and give them some love and, while you're there, check out the other blogs that they also nominated. There were a lot of great blogs that were new to me.

The Versatile Blogger Award

Reagan, of Miss Remmer's Review, kindly passed along The Versatile Blogger award to me. Thanks, Reagan! Have you got any great ideas for books high school freshmen should read? Reagan is going to be a freshman teacher this fall. It's great to see how passionate she is about what she's going to be doing!

This award requires me to tell you seven things about myself. Hmm...are there even seven things about myself that I haven't already told you? Let's give this a shot:

1. In 1976 my parents invited a few neighbors over for breakfast on the Fourth of July to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States. Tomorrow we'll be joining a much larger group of their neighbors as they celebrate not only the Fourth of July but the 35th year of the breakfast.

2. I have extremely eclectic musical tastes--my two favorite stations on the radio are the classical music station and the alternative rock station.

3. I love old children's books.

4. I'm a control freak. It's why none of my kids know how to do the laundry yet.

5. I refuse to answer the phone if I don't know who's calling. Thank you caller i.d.!

6. My boys used to have toads for pets. I had to drive 8 miles to buy them crickets to eat after it got too cold for crickets to be in my yard. Is that when you know you might be spoiling your kids?

7. I used to work for Hallmark but I'm terrible about remembering to send cards on special occasions.

I'm passing this along to

Veens of Giving...Reading A -Chance!!!

Deb at Book Magic

Aths at Reading On A Rainy Day

Awards--And Two Bloggers You May Not Have Checked Out Yet

The Happy 101 award was given to me by Book Sync of Books In The City. Book Sync is a member of several book clubs but her day job is in Pharma research and development. Talk about working both sides of your brain! This award asks that you list ten things that make you happy. Here's my list:

1. My family--the hubby, my kids, my parents and siblings and all of the inlaws--I am blessed!
2. Chocolate--my favorite food group
3. A beach on the ocean
4. A great book--of course!
5. My bed--oh how I love to crawl in to it at the end of a long day
6. White wine -- especially when I'm drinking it at the winery in Rocheport Missouri
7. My friends
8. Having my kids' friends in the house
9. Watching my kids swim or in plays
10. Football

I'm passing this one along to:
Jane at Reading, Writing, Working, Playing
Angie at By Book or By Crook
Ash at English Major's Junk Food

Thanks to Jane from Reading, Writing, Working, Playing for this one! A Prolific Blogger is one who is intellectually productive… keeping up an active blog that is filled with enjoyable content. I recently passed this one along so I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about Jane. The first thing you need to know is that Jane is the author of Intimations of Austen, a collection of nine short stories that give backstories, sequels and what-ifs for your favorite Jane Austen stories. Jane is first-generation to this country, a mom to three teenagers, including a set of twins, and the PR manager for a high-tech company in Colorado.

Over The Top Award

Thanks to Dana, of Rantings of a Bookworm Couch Potato, for awarding me the Over The Top Award. I discovered Dana's blog when she signed up for The Gilmore Girls Challenge--it turns out that Dana loves t.v. as much as she loves books.

For this award, I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and then pass the award on to 5 more deserving bloggers.

Here are my answers:

(1) Your Cell Phone? red

(2) Your Hair? greying :-(

(3) Your Mother? Loving

(4) Your Father? Wise

(5) Your Favorite Food? Chocolate

(6) Your Dream Last Night? none

(7) Your Favorite Drink? cola

(8) Your Dream/Goal? writer

(9) What Room Are You In? family

(10) Your Hobby? reading

(11) Your Fear? Loss

(12) Where Do You Want To Be In Six Years? writing

(13) Where Were You Last Night? home

(14) Something That You Aren't? Confident

(15) Muffins? cinnamon

(16) Wish List Item? desk

(17) Where Did You Grow Up? Nebraska

(18) Last Thing You Did? laundry

(19) What Are You Wearing? sweater

(20) Your TV? on

(21) Your Pets? None

(22) Friends? indispensable

(23) Your Life? happy

(24) Your Mood? calm

(25) Missing Someone? grandparents

(26) Vehicle? Odyssey

(27) Something You Aren't Wearing? Glasses

(28) Your Favorite Store? One?

(29) Your Favorite Color? Blue

(30) When Was The Last Time You Laughed? tonight

(31) Last Time You Cried? morning

(32) Your Best Friend? hubby

(33) One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? Rocheport

(34) Facebook? okay

(35) Favorite Place To Eat? out

Do you know how hard it is to answer some of these with only one word??? Okay, the other part of this award is that I'm supposed to pass it on. But it's my bedtime so I'm going to do this -- if you're reading this, consider yourself awarded and play along!

Thanks, Ladies!

Thanks to Missy of Missy's Book Nook for this award. The rules of this one say that I have to tell you 10 things about myself, but let's be honest, you're all tired of hearing about me. Instead I'm going to tell you a little bit about Missy. Missy has a big thing for pajamas, New York style pizza, peppermint ice cream and books about dysfunctional families. Her own family includes a husband, two dogs and three cats. I wonder which causes her more trouble?!

The Honest Scrap and Prolific Blogger Awards are from both from Reagan at Miss Remmer's Review. For those of you who don't know Reagan yet, she's a future English teacher (just what I want to be when I grow up!); she'll graduate this May. Since she grew up in Minnesota, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that she played hockey for 13 years. If those students of hers are smart, they won't mess around with her!

Receiving this award means:

A Prolific Blogger is one who is intellectually productive… keeping up an active blog that is filled with enjoyable content.

1. Every winner of the Prolific Blogger Award has to pass on this award to at least seven other deserving prolific bloggers. Spread some love!

2. Each Prolific Blogger must link to the blog from which he/she has received the award.

3. Every Prolific Blogger must link back to This Post, which explains the origins and motivation for the award.

4. Every Prolific Blogger must visit this post and add his/her name in the Mr. Linky, so that we all can get to know the other winners. (Click here for the Mr. Linky page.)

I'm passing this one along to:

Amanda from A Bookshelf Monstrosity

Gaby at Starting Fresh

Bonnie at Redlady's Reading Room

Missy at Missy's Book Nook

Diane at Bibliophile By The Sea

Deb at Book Magic

Mari at Bookworm With A View

Playing Catch up (Again!) With Awards!

I received this award from Sheila, at One Person's Journey Through The World of Books.

It signifies all the bloggers out there who constantly work hard to keep an updated and insightful website. They aren’t afraid to take a bite with their honest reviews and enjoyable content. You amaze me, you inspire me so I call you a blog monster.

This is a new one for me so I've got to pass it along. This one goes to:

1. Michelle at The True Book Addict.
2. Kath at [insert suitably snappy title here...].
3. Heather from Gofita's Pages.
4. Michelle from Michelle's Masterful Musings.



I got this one from Kath, at [insert suitably snappy title here...].

Since I've gotten this one before, I thought it would fun to take this chance to introduce you to Kath if you haven't already met her. Kath lives in Taiwan (she followed a cute guy, don't you know!). She's a caffeine addict working on a Master's degree in literature. Kath's favorite book is "Wuthering Heights" and she's joining us in The Gilmore Girls Challenge partly because she wishes she was like Lorelai Gilmore. Be sure to check out her blog!

I got this one from Michelle at The True Book Addict. Michelle calls herself a non-traditional college student because she's back in school in her early 40's and majoring in history and English. Which goes a long was to explaining why she's recently decided to focus her blog on historical fiction. Besides being a book addict, Michelle is also a challenge addict so it should come as no surprise that she is also hosting a challenge, The Michener Challenge. Over the holidays, Michelle also hosted a blog called The Christmas Spirit.

From Michelle: The Christmas Spirit blog is still going on. Stop by every month on the 25th (including tomorrow) and all of July (Christmas in July) for some year-round Christmas spirit!
Be sure to keep on eye on all of her blogs!
(I have no idea why this post has decided to use multiple fonts!)

Heartfelt Award

Thanks to Milka of Read, Read, Read for bestowing this award on me! Milka is a young lady from Finland, the same age as Mini-Me, and I really enjoy seeing the variety of books she reads. Plus she teaches me things about life in Finland. Just as I love to read books that expose me to new cultures, one of the expected delights of blogging for me has been to learn more about different cultures from so many of you! The description of this award is:

Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea when your relaxing, seeking comfort, sharing a plate of cookies with family and friends? You know the feeling you get when you drink a yummy cup of cocoa, tea, or a hot toddy? That is what the Heartfelt Award is all about, feeling warm inside.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all of the awards I have gotten this year and how much I have enjoyed the chance to get to know other bloggers that they have given me. I'm supposed to be passing this along to nine other bloggers, but, to be honest, I have such a hard time narrowing these down. So I'm just going to say that I would bestow this to all of the bloggers I follow--getting to read all of your blogs always gives me a warm feeling inside. Unless I have let my Google reader reach new posts in excess of 300. Then I get a little panicked inside!

Honest Scrap Award

I got this award from Milka at Read. Read. Read. I've gotten this award previously and passed it along but I missed the part, apparently, were there were strings attached. So I'm going to answer the questions I should have answered the last time!

10 honest facts:

1. My hair hasn't been it's natural color in 15 years.

2. I hate to talk on the phone.

3. I'm kind of a control freak (my family would say I'm more than "kind of" a control freak!).

4. I love musicals.

5. Chocolate is my favorite food group.

6. Just like Milka, I love to sing but don't have a good voice. Just ask my daughter!

7. I hate my job.

8. I'm a procrastinator.

9. I like to dance around the kitchen while I'm cooking. My daughter would tell you I'm not good at that either!

10. I only wear socks if it snows.

Wow, that was a lot harder to do than I thought it would be and probably much more than you could ever want to know!

Thanks for the award, Milka!

"Over The Top" Award

Thanks to Al, of Publish or Perish, for this award. Al is an aspiring author, wonderful photographer, and makes his livelihood taking care of his fellow man. How's that for an all-around great guy?!

And here are the rules for this award:
1.) Thank and post URL to the blog that gave the award.
2.) Pass the award along to 6 brilliantly over the top blogs (blogs you love!) Alert them so they know to receive the award.
3.) Copy and paste this quiz... Change the answers, ONE word only...feel free to fudge here!

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Your hair? Greying
3. Your mother? Friend
4. Your father? Loving
5. Your favorite food? Lobster
6. Your dream last night? Episodic
7. Your favorite drink? Chocolate martini
8. Your dream/goal? Write
9. What room are you in? Family room
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
13. Where were you last night? Lincoln
14. Something that you aren't? Thin
15. Muffins? Cinnamon
16. Wish list item? Laptop
17. Where did you grow up? Nebraska
18. Last thing you did? Eat
19. What are you wearing? Jammies
20. Your TV? Everchanging
21. Your pets? Gone
22. Friends? Cherished
23. Your life? Happy
24. Your mood? Content
25. Missing someone? Grandmother
26. Vehicle? Honda
27. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
28. Your favorite store? Antique
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? Morning
31. Last time you cried? Thursday
32. Your best friend? Spouse
33. One place that I go to over and over? Lincoln
34. One person who emails me regularly? Dad
35. Favorite place to eat? Upstream

Okay, the hardest part of getting any of these awards is choosing the people to pass it along to! This one does to:

Nicole at Linus's Blanket who includes a wide variety of things on her blog including hosting a new challenge for 2010 and she is also the host on BlogTalk Radio of "That's How I Blog."

Jennifer at The Literate Housewife Review. I just love her header and she reads a wide variety of books.

Florinda at The 3 R's Blog. Florinda and I have read a lot of the same books so I know when I find something on her blog that I haven't read, I'll probably agree with her opinion.

Deb at Bookmagic. Deb's blog is beautiful, she participates in a lot of memes and reads great books.

Care at Care's Online Book Club. Care is witty and she rates books by pies. What more could you want?!

Missy at Missy's Book Nook. In addition to book reviews, Missy does reviews of years and reminds us of the books, movies and events for each year as well as letting us in on what was going on in her life.

Please be sure to take some time to check out these great blogs!

An Award From A Chick

This award comes to me from my friend, Teri, who I "met" on Goodreads in wonderful group called Chicks On Lit. Chicks was the first place I found where I realized you could actually make friends on the internet. Which was a real revelation to a mom who has spent years telling my kids that people you have contact with over the internet are not really friends. It turns out I don't really know everything after all--but don't tell my kids I said that!

Teri, who has a wonderfully creative blog called Quinceberry, passed this along to three blogs and I'm going to do the same. This one goes to:

Mari at Bookworm With A View. Mari's the person responsible for me believing that I could start a blog and for making it look like so much fun! Mari's blog is particularly great if you're part of a book club. She really looks at books with an eye toward whether or not they're discussion worthy.

Care at Care's Online Book Club. Care reads such a wonderful variety of books, again with an eye toward things that are discussion worthy. And she rates her books by slices of pie so you know she has a great sense of humor!

And, Laura at Laura's Reviews. I always find books I love or have to add on Laura's blog and she's hosting a challenge beginning January 1st that is called All About The Brontes. I've got to love any blogger that hosts a Bronte challenge!

Awards

These are the posts my husband laughs at. He asks, "do you guys just sit around giving each other awards?" Well, yes, yes we do. Because that's just how awesome we are out here in the bloggie world!

Michelle, from The True Book Addict, kindly awarded me with the Superior Scribbler Award. This rules for the award say that now I must:

• Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
• Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
• Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
• Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

I'm passing this one along to:

Laura at Laura's Reviews
Heather at Gofita's Pages
Amy at The House of the Seven Tails
Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea
Deb at Book Magic


The Great Look Award was given to me by Heather at Gofita's Pages. She oughta know--her blog has a great Halloween theme right now but has also had a pirate theme. This award is meant to pat on the back the ones paying particular attention to their blog presentation. And the rules here are:

1. Post the award on your blog, with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2. Pass the award to 5 other blogs that your particularly like. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Mari at Bookworm With A View
Jennifer at The Literate Housewife
Lizzie at Life According To Lizzie
Missy at Missy's Book Nook
Dar at Peeking Between The Pages



Laura, of Laura's Reviews, bestowed this one on me. Can't help but think of Telly Savalas, as Kojak and sucking on a Tootsie Pop, whenever I see this award. The Who Loves You Baby! Award is given to those bloggers whom you love and who have awarded you in the past.

Al at Publish or Perish

I'd add more of you here, but it's getting late and I need to get another post done before I go to bed so I can get up bright and early for the read-a-thon. If you've awarded me in the past, this one's for you!

Where I Am Playing Catch Up!

This is so very embarrassing! One day I got an award, but I had a review to get posted, so I put off posting about the award. Then it happened again...and again. Then it got overwhelming. And I do not respond well to overwhelming...obviously! So here's what I'm going to do. I'm posting all of the awards I've gotten with an enormous thank you to everyone who bestowed them on me! And please go visit these wonderful blogs!









I've received the Superior Scribbler and Splash Awards from Al at Publish or Perish (Al is working on a book and is one of the wonderful people that works with the homeless). Michelle at The True Book Addict awards me with the Romance Award and Top Blog Commentator Award. From Jane at Reading, Writing, Working and Playing, I received the Let's Be Friends Award (Jane is the author of Intimations of Austen, a book she was kind enough to send me and which you will be able to read of review of soon). Deb at Book Magic also gave me the Top Blog Commentators Award. Heather at Gofita's Pages and Missy at Missy's Book Nook both gave me the Honest Scrap Award; Heather also gave me the Proximidade Award and Missy also gave me the Why Friends Are Like Books Award and the Dragon's Loyalty Award. Amy, at The House of Seven Tails, gave me the Let's Be Friends Award (Amy is also one of my new football loving friends of which I have found several recently!). Laura, from Laura's Reviews, also awarded me the Let's Be Friends award as did Lisa from Book Blab. Finally, Michelle from Red Headed Book Child also awarded me with the Dragon's Loyalty Award.

Thank you, thank you one and all! I promise to do a better job keeping up in the future and I'm hoping to find time this week to get out and pass these awards along.

BBAW #5 Where I'm At And Where I'm Going

So today BBAW is asking that we write about what we like about our blog in 50 words or less and where we want our blogs to be by next BBAW, also in 50 words or less. Normally, this sort of brevity doesn't work well for me, but I seem to be working much better at that this week.

I feel like I'm really starting to find my voice with my blog after four months. I love putting the quotes in and have worked to make the blog less cluttered while including all of the things I want to include.

For the coming year, I'm hoping to move to a 3-column format, put the awards into a slide show, and get a real header. I'm constantly working on ways to make the blog look better. I'm also working on putting together a challenge.

Whew--I did it. Now I just need to get back to reading because next week it's going to have to be back to have book reviews to post.

Ahh--I'm Blushing!

Thanks to Natalie, from The Book Inn, for the Proximity award.

Being a recipient of this award affirms that this blog invests and believes in the Proximity – nearness in space, time and relationships.

This blog receives this great award as a further way to re iterate that it is exceedingly charming, and aims to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!

I'm sending this to:
Devourer of Books
Susan at Win A Book: West of Mars
Nadia at A Bookish Way of Life
Gwendolyn at A Sea of Books
Kim at I Smell Books

Deb, from Book Magic, was kind enough to award me the Super Comments Award. This one gets passed on to the following people who always leave such nice comments:
Jill at Rhapsody In Books
Cindy at Thoughts and Reflections
Kathy at Bermuda Onion
Mari at Bookworm With A View
Mari at MariReads

I got the Humane Award from Heather at Gofita's Pages. This award is to honor certain bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. Rule: Nominate 10 bloggers you feel deserve the Humane Award. This way is going out to:
Jo at Diggin' Around
Lori at The Coffee Girl
Sarah at Enjoy The Little Things
Sandra at Fresh Ink Books
Molly at My Cozy Book Nook
Milka at Read, Read, ReadBonnie at Redlady's Reading Room
Thauna at Silly Fluff n Stuff
JessiKay at Tangled Up In Blue
Holly at Three Wishes
Dar at Peeking Between The Pages

And last but not least is the Beautiful Blog BINGO award, given to me by Michelle at The Book Addict. This award means that this blog is:

B: Beautiful
I: Informative
N: Neighborly
G: Gorgeous
O: Outstanding

This one is getting passed on to:

Diane at Bibliophile By The Sea
Heidenkind's Hideaway
Trish at Trish's Reading NookJay at The Quickie Book ReviewKelly at The Novel Bookworm
Again, thanks to all of the bloggers who gave me the awards. It's such a wonderful community to be a part of! Please be sure to take some time to check out all of these great blogs!

Zombie Chicken Award

Thanks to Al at Publish or Perish for bestowing me with the Zombie Chicken Award! Al is an aspiring author and and Aussie--what's not to love about that?!

The Details:

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken – excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all.

I definitely do not want to risk the wrath of the zombie chickens so I'm passing this award along to:


Heather at Age 30+...A Lifetime of Books

Book Psmith at Book Psmith

Care at Care's Online Book Club

Mandy at Literary Life

Rebecca at Lost In Books

And may the tao be with you!

Heartfelt Award

Thanks to Mari at Bookworm With A View for my first ever award, the Heartfelt Award.

Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea when your relaxing, seeking comfort, sharing a plate of cookies with family and friends? You know the feeling you get when you drink a yummy cup of cocoa, tea, or a hot toddy? That is what the Heartfelt Award is all about, feeling warm inside.

The Rules for the Heartfelt Award are:
1) Put the logo on your blog/post.
2) Nominate up to 9 blogs which make you feel comfy or warm inside.
3) Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let them know that they have been nominated by commenting on their blog.
5) Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

I'm passing this award on to:
1. A Comfy Chair and A Good Book
2. A Reader's Respite
3. At Home With Books
4. Gypsy Tree
5.Laura's Reviews
6. Book Chatter and Other Stuff

My Chicks would get the rest of the spaces (and then some!) because their blogs always brighten my day. But I'm keeping them to myself since they are largely personal blogs.