I won an award!!

I had just crawled out of my Fergie and Jake’s leather chair where I’d parked myself after sleeping for ten hours the night before–delicious!–with what seemed like a pissant little cold, but hey, maybe it had bigger ambitions. Anyway, feeling manageable, I carried a couple of flagstones over to my “job site” ahem, a small oblong of dirt where my scruffy lawn used to be. I’m laying flagstones, but there was no puzzling out how to do it yesterday. I was definitely not up to snuff.

But then I checked Facebook and got a most delightful surprise. Instant cure for what ailed me. Nikki Frank-Hamilton, whose blog View From In Here I truly enjoy, nominated me for The Shine On Award—for blogs that shine, make you feel good and are inspiring to the reader.  How wonderful is that? I love the logo. And that’s what life is all about, isn’t it, each one of us shining forth in our own unique way?

The rules of this award are:

Link back to the person (or people) who nominated you.
Add the award logo to your blog.
Share seven things about yourself.
Nominate 10 – 15 bloggers, and link to them, and tell them about their nomination.

SEVEN things about myself….

1.  I have a hard time deciding whether or not I’m sick enough to just stop.

2. Stop me if I’ve told you this before. I worked as a waitress at Robert Burns restaurant in Fashion Island, Newport Beach. For one week. Told them I’d waitressed before. Not true. The place was pretty upscale (no longer in business) with rich snotty old-timers who expected me to deliver their food in order: drinks first then salad, etc. I knew I was really in trouble the third day when the cooks started giving me a hard time. Must’ve been the orders I had to return because I got them wrong. Anyway.  My nerves couldn’t take it. I quit.

3.  I love Fergie’s breath. She’s my three-year-old Staffie. I like Jake’s too, but Fergie’s is best.

4. I can whistle through my tongue, sounds like an owl. You’ll have to read my memoir, Loveyoubye, to find out who taught me. Gawd, that’s a bad plug. But it’s the best I have so far. Oh, forgot to add that said memoir is coming out in August. I have to do this people. That’s what one does when one has a book coming out. I’ll get better at it. Probably not.

5. I can interpret handwriting, took a graphology course with the goal of working for the courts, but didn’t quite finish. Can’t remember why.

6. According to my dad, Archie McCartney, his uncle was tutor to Woodrow Wilson’s children. Out of three Scottish brothers, this was the one who emigrated to America, my grandfather to South Africa, and the third to New Zealand. One of these days I’m going to check this out.

7. When my dad found out I intended emigrating to the States, he told me, just don’t be eating bacon with your pancakes and putting syrup on them. Funny. I wouldn’t dream of it. I eat my pancakes like I always did, folded over with butter, which I dip in the syrup. It’s best with homemade jam, however. To me they will always be “flapjacks.” In Africa our pancakes are actually crepes with cinnamon and sugar. My eldest son, Darin, makes the best.

Here are the blogs I really like. That I feel Shine On.

No preference in the order and a couple don’t even have blogs, but they’re on Facebook.

Jayne Martin

Deborah Batterman

Lyra Halprin

Cate Russell-Cole

Norine Dworkin-Mcdaniel

Becky Green-Aronson

Jessica Winters Mireles

Elizabeth Cassidy

Elisabeth Kinsey

Marcy of (Don’t Be) Too Timid and Squeamish