Inspired

A month ago we turned off the lights and closed the store for the last time.  I came home and plopped my asterisk in my desk chair and haven't moved very far since.  First there was the Circle of Mom's Top 25 contest (tzkw came in like 126 or so.  Somewhere in the middle of the pack) that had me exploring a couple hundred new blogs.  Mostly though there just wasn't a dang thing I wanted to do.  Don't get me wrong, it's not like I've been sitting her marinating or anything, I showered every day and stuff, even managed to get myself out for a couple of job interviews and netted a new full time job.  For spending 15,000 hours parked in front of the computer doing not much more than playing mind numbing games though I haven't got any excuse...except..

Je m'ennuie.  Only I'm not bored, exactly.  It's not like I don't have a thousand things that I could (and really, should) be doing.  The truth is I've been uninspired.  I'm uninspired by the mountain of laundry that never ever goes away.  I'm uninspired to clean the house because ten seconds after I do it looks like I didn't (so I've started making the heathens daughters do it.  What the hay, it's their mess anyway.  Not to mention that at 13 and 11 the older two get off lightly compared to the chores I had to do when I was their age..and it's good for them to earn the right to those rocking cell phones they have.)  I'm uninspired to finish painting the kitchen, or repaint the dining room.  And I am so totally uninspired by the 3+ feet of snow we've gotten in the last couple of weeks.  I'm uninspired by the fact that of the new glassware I got for Christmas the fam has already managed to break four glasses.  So much for thinking they were ready to do away with plastic cups.

 So here I am playing Bubble Witch until my eyes bleed and feeling all menh, when the coolest thing evah happened.  I got nominated for an award!  Not just any award either.  This one comes from another blogger, Marcia of  Menopausal Mother who is just about the funniest and most refreshingly honest (not to mention gracious) lady.  If you haven't already visited her blog I highly recommend it.  Even the zookeeper got a few chuckles, not to mention a lesson in all the reasons why his wife isn't crazy.  Or is crazy but for really good reasons.  Anyway, this is the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, which is seriously crazy because I've been sitting here feeling uninspired and someone thought I was inspiring.  Not only did it make my whole month but it also gave me the umph to get my asters out of the desk chair and get a hair cut and...never mind.  

Just for you Miz Marcia, I got brave enough to hold one long enough for a picture, even if I think I look a lot like a smiling frog in pictures...  There are four currently...though I'm told there may be another one coming next week.  Hopefully this new animal won't be visiting my toilet...

And yes, I did get at least three inches cropped off my (no longer pink) hair today.

There are a few rules that go along with this award, namely:

1)  Link back to the person who nominated you.

2)  Post award image on your site. (As soon as I figure out how...)

3)  List seven random facts about yourself.

4)  Nominate 15 (wow!  15?) other bloggers.

5)  Notify the bloggers that have been nominated and link back to their site.

Seven random facts?  Well, let's see.

1)  When I was little and up until I was in the 5th grade and finally begged my mom to stop, at least in front of my friends, my parents called me Toad.  I think looking at the pictures we can see why.

2)  I don't have an accent.  I can, since I was born in South Carolina and have lived in or spent long periods of time in SC, NC, GA, AL, TX, CO, CA, NH, NY and WA, but I don't.  When I lived in Washington State I once had someone ask me where I was from because she couldn't place my accent.  I said New England, to which she replied, "Oh, so how do you like Americans?" o.O

3) Once when we were dating, the zookeeper was lounging pretty close to "au natural" on the couch of his apartment.  As I walked by I had an uncontrollable need to sneeze..which I did, covering him from head to toe.  He married me anyway.  Smart guy.

4)  I can't parallel park, which almost caused me to not get my WA driver's license.  My excuse?  Where in NH do you need to parallel park?  When I took the test here the instructor said, "back up, and don't hit the dumpster."  

5)  I played soccer (half back) from the 4th grade until I was a senior in high school.  Which means that I do NOT run unless I have the ball and am being chased.

6)  I don't give a good gosh dang which way the toilet paper unrolls, it would just be nice if someone else would put it on the fecking roll when it was empty.

7)  Some people meditate (I usually end up falling asleep when I try) but I think the very best way to lift your spirits is to sing.  Whether it's in the shower or the car, or onstage as an ensemble the way I am lucky enough to be able to (shout out to my Voices of Distinction friends) just sing, sing a song.  Make it happy...and you can't help but smile.

Humkay, this is the part of the program where I'm supposed to find 15 other bloggers to nominate for this award.  Except, jeez, I don't have 15.  So if you are nominated and you do, great, fabulous, you get to pass Go and collect $200.  I don't, but here's what I do have.

First, because seriously if it weren't for her I never, ever would have been brave enough to start this little blog. She threw a rock at me last spring and that was all I needed...

http://underachievingdomesticgoddess.blogspot.com/

Go wave at my friend and fellow New Hampshirite DG.  For the rest...

This blog belongs to a woman who has no idea who I am, but her husband, who has been diagnosed with ALS (the disease that claimed the life of one of my best friend's mother last March) graduated from high school with me.  Talk about inspiring...

http://walkingthroughthevalley.com/

These people I connected with via that whole Circle of Moms deal, and they are not only inspirational (and often funny, because when life hands you lemons...) but they are pretty fecking nice as people too...

http://www.myhalfassedlife.com/

http://nickieslittlebubble.blogspot.com/

http://sweetoliana.blogspot.com/

http://lisamchugh.blogspot.com//

http://www.dribblesngrits.com/

http://thingscartersays.blogspot.com/

http://mylattebringstheboys.blogspot.com//

http://mydailyjenn-ism.blogspot.com/ (yes, lady, you get this twice or so)

http://www.theinklingsoflife.com/

And lastly (yup, I know that it doesn't get me past Go when I don't have 15...gak.  I need to find more blogs to follow) my bestie and sensei...in astrology.  

http://starlightknight.wordpress.com/

Yes, yes, I can do the math.  I'm three short of 15...but for someone who was "uninspired" until Menopausal Mother handed me this nomination, I think I'm doing pretty ok.  And if you have a blog I need to read, or a suggestion, please, please, lemme know?