Hi there! :) Now, I must confess that this morning I was feeling a bit down, because right after posting this on another blog, while we were having dinner, a hummingbird flew right into our porch screen. I won’t go into all the gory details of how my husband tried to rescue the bleeding hummingbird, whose wing had been damaged. And I sure as shit wasn’t going to suggest taking a picture to prove it. Nor was I going to update my post. Hey, I’m so happy and I love hummingbirds. Guess what? One of them is about to become someone else’s meal. Isn’t that awesome?

So … as I lay in bed this morning dreading the prospect of another day with dystonia, I thought of Barry Eisler throwing the drapes aside and saying, Wake up!

So … to make a long story short (too late for that — ha ha ha), my husband and I talked this morning. I feel much better. He made waffles for breakfast, along with cappuccino. What a guy! :)

But this is all a huge digression, because as we talked I realized that I’ve been working so hard choosing to be a happy fool, that I forgot to celebrate the third anniversary of this here blog on June 5, 2012. Duh!

So … how many times can I thank you, Kathy Griffin? Not nearly enough times, it seems. Ha ha ha …

However, I’m here to accept a blogging award. And there’s no crying in publishing. So … on with the show, right?

Nominated by Nik Nak’s Old Peculiar

There really aren’t the words to express how much this award means to me. Writers always say they want to reach readers, yet they spend so much time talking to each other. They spend so much time arguing about things, when they could be taking positive steps forward.

But this award means this blog has reached a reader. That’s the essential thing. And I’m so looking forward to meeting Paul Downie, when I travel to England. Because every writer enjoys meeting their readers and vice versa, I think. And the Internet isn’t quite the same as being there, is it?

Anyhow, on to business before my hand grows too gimpy to type.

Here’s Paul’s nomination. There you go.

And believe me, I’m happy to accept. And no one had less to do with my getting this nomination than Jesus, I assure you. So, in the immortal words of Kathy Griffin, Jesus can totally suck it! Ha ha ha …

So … here’s my acceptance speech. Again!

And thank you, Kathy Griffin! Again. How many times can I thank you? Ha ha ha …

The Awesome One

Now … onto the rules and questions:

The “One Lovely Blog Award” Rules

1. Include the award logo somewhere in your blog. Done! :)

2. Answer these 10 questions, below, for fun if you want to.

3. Nominate 10 to 12 blogs you enjoy. Or you pick the number. Will do!

4. Pay the love forward: Provide your nominee’s link in your post and comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been included and invited to participate.

5. Pay the love back with gratitude and a link to the blogger(s) who nominated you (See above).

The Questions:

1. What is your favorite colour? Blue.

2. What is your favorite animal? I loves me some cats. :)

3. What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink? Espresso. :D

4. Do you prefer Facebook or Twitter? Twitter, hands down!

5. What is your favorite pattern? Explosions! Like the scene in this movie.

6. Do you prefer giving or getting presents? No preference.

7. What is your favorite number? Five. 5 is the number of adventure.

8. What is your favorite day of the week? Saturday. I wish every day could be Saturday.

9. What is your favorite flower? Iceplant. Maybe. Or roses. Or lilacs. Or daffodils. Whatever. Ha ha ha …

10. What’s your passion? Telling stories. Reading. Traveling. Living. I have a lot of passions.

And now to link to the blogs I nominate. Let’s see how many I can come up with before I drop dead.

I’ll Have What She’s Having

Amanda Hocking’s Blog

Caren Kennedy Writes

CJ West

One Rounded Corner of the Writing World

Louise Phillips Writer

Buzz, Balls & Hype

My Boog Pages

The Happy Author on the Porch

McQuestionable Musings

Neil Gaiman

Simon Sez

Screenwriting for Hollywood

Suspense Your Disbelief

My Other Career

The British Are Coming, Y’all!

Or, actually, they’re pretending to come. Really! :)

The Bloggess

Holy shit! I think I just did it. Now, I just have to leave comments all over the place and so on, etc. Yay!

Mind you I may have to lie down and take a short nap or sit on my porch and stare at Mr. Green Jeans a while before I do that. But there’s time, right?

However, to quote the immortal words of The Bloggess:

First off, thank you.  It’s nice (and somewhat terrifying) to know how many of us are just pretending to be grown-ups.  Also, my shrink is quite awesome, and when I tell her that I’ve decided to be perpetually and happily immature forever she’ll probably give me a high-five.  Or a look of confusion.  Maybe both.  But what’s nice is that instead of feeling like a failure for falling backward into life, I woke up this morning feeling better…for choosing to dive in – albeit backward, eyes closed, chaotically, and possibly into broken glass or hyenas.  I think that’s called “growth”.  Or denial.  Hard to tell.

Also, so many of you reminded me that I needed to listen to this song again.  And you were right.  Thank you:

But, when you have dystonia and no shrink. Only a truly wonderful long-suffering husband and wonderful family that you love with all your heart. Well, falling backwards, eyes closed into god-knows-what feels more like this … so alone, yet laughing it up. Ha ha ha …

I’d embed the video, but the cosmos is fucking with me, and I’m too technically stupid to figure it out. So there you go! :)

PS: Thanks again, Helen Keller! I’m not dead yet.

Another awesome one!

UPDATE: Well, after enjoying dinner on our porch, then updating this blog and this blog, I finally collapsed in exhaustion decided to relax on the porch and stare at the remaining hummingbirds. And Mr. Green Jeans. And as we (my husband and I, that is) listened to music, it occurred to me that I had totally forgotten to mention this blog, which I so wanted to nominate:

Deidra Alexander’s Blog

There! I’m so happy, I think I’m going to die.

In fact, I’m such a happy fool, I forgot to include these awesome videos from Nik Nak’s Old Peculiar.

Yes, I remember when the future seemed like a really great place. Ha ha ha …

Awesome. Thanks, again, Paul! :)

UPDATE 2: And this is why I read Paul’s blog every night, unless I absolutely, positively feel like I’m going to fall over dead can’t.

Need I say more?