an award, a meme, a holiday

Good Morning. I have some blog business to catch up on today.

I. Award

Diane at Faith in Community gave me my first blog award this week:

Thanks, Diane. If any of you aren't familiar with her blog, I recommend checking it out. She has a wonderfully thoughtful way of seeing things . . . and a very cool dog named Scout.

I think the custom is to pass on an award when you receive it. I thought a lot about this because I read some amazing, thought-provoking blogs. I've chosen to give the award to Jeannelle. In her own words, Jeannelle is "a wife/mother/person living on a dairy farm in Iowa; . . . approaching the half-century age milestone." One of the reasons Jeannelle's blog makes my day is that she finds interest, education, and entertainment in the little details of the life around her. Stopping by her blog is usually a pick-me-up.

II. Meme

Yesterday I was tagged for a meme by dlyn.  The meme is "Seven Quirky Things About Me." Here goes:

1. I have this calendar in my office. I took the photo this morning. You can see how diligent I am about changing the month. I've done this with every office calendar I've had for the last three or four years, even though I jump on changing the ones we have in other rooms.

2. I haven't done this in a year or so, but every once in a while I get a craving for potato chips with ketchup. I use the ketchup like a dip. I've had many people tell me this is weird, but my answer to that is, Don't you eat ketchup on your french fries?

3. I keep my toenails really short because I can't stand the feeling of them rubbing on my shoes. The nails are so stubby, I never bother to polish them in summer.

4. For much of the year (except summer), I like to wear socks to bed. It makes me feel mored tucked in. I knitted the pair below fairly recently.

5. I was a can-can dancer in two different high school productions--one a school play, one a foreign language fair.

6. I have the nervous habit of stroking my eyebrows because a couple of years ago, I started noticing that I was getting rogue eyebrow hairs. (The joys of mid-life) Since I have a horror of looking like Andy Rooney, I keep checking my brows to see if they need to be plucked.

7. Speaking of fears, I'm absolutely terrified of alligators. When I was in my 20s, a friend took me rowing on a lake in Florida and once we were out there, he started looking for alligators. I was totally terrified, and I guess the fear has never left me. I will go hiking with my husband in nature areas of Florida, but it's always a great effort not to have my head on a swivel looking in every direction as we walk.

Since it's a holiday (and I'm too tired to think anymore because of working till 9:00 last night), I'm not going to tag anyone. If you want to play, consider yourself tagged.

3. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, EVERYONE!