Motivational Monday #48 - It Is Good To Be Recognized!

It is very motivational to be recognized for what you do, and even better when someone takes the time to let you know.  Today I was given the "Stylish Blogger Award."  Who knew I was stylish?  I sure didn't!  Many thanks to Karen!

Part of accepting the award is that I share 7 things about myself.  I will do my best to come up with 7 random and completely unexpected items. hmmm..... Okay, here we go:

1. The first activity I remember from Girl Scouts was when we used shoe laces, brown vinyl and newspaper to create 'sit upons.' I think the theory was to sit on these creations instead of the ground when we were camping, however since they always made us sit in chairs or on rocks because they didn't want us muddy, I don't remember getting a lot of use out of my sit upon.  I do remember wondering what one did if the newspaper padding in the middle got wet (and what doesn't get wet when camping?) because sitting upon a wet soppy mess did not seem like fun.
2. As a child I was crowned 'queen of the slide' not because I was amazing at sliding down the rickety metal death trap, but because I had formed an alliance with a boy (the king) and he brought all his friends into our tribe.  It was like survivor, but waaaaaay ahead of its time.  In fact, there was eventually backlash and the slide was forcibly taken by revolt.  I was an ousted leader by second grade.  And yes, if you were wondering, I lived in exile on the playground for a full school year.
3. I have a weakness for Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. I do not believe an explanation is required.
4. As a teenager I only sneaked out of the house once...and it was lame!  One night my dad made corned beef for dinner.  This was a very rare treat, and the leftovers were carefully divided and labeled so that no one ate more than their fair share the next day.  Later that evening I found out a dear friend (yes, he was a boy) loved corned beef as well.  I waited until my dad was in bed, creeped into the kitchen, took my share, let myself out the front door, ran the mile to his house, knocked on the door, handed the shocked boy the baggie of meat and ran home. That was it.  I climbed into bed, read a book, and went to sleep.  I can't even sneak out right...oh well.
5. I once threw an L.M. Montgomery book in the pool.  L.M. Montgomery is one of my favorite authors.  (She wrote the Anne of Green Gables series, if you don't recognize her name.) When I was in college I had taken one of her books to the pool where I was spending time floating in a recliner.  I was blissfully floating around when I felt something tickle my arm.  I didn't think much about it when I brushed at my arm and continued reading.  The tickle remained, so I brushed again.  This time I felt something, so I glanced at my shoulder and a HUGE black hairy spider was sitting on the back side of my upper arm.  I screamed, threw my book, and jumped into the pool.  I realized what I had done, saved the book and then killed the spider with prejudice.  It took weeks of TLC to dry out the book and get it flat again, but the book still sits on my shelf to this day...just with no spider!
6. My hair was accidentally died orange two days before I got married.  Thinking I was being so intelligent, I had my hair highlighted a month or so before I got married to make sure I liked it.  Well, I loved it, so I made an appointment with the same lady to touch it up the week I got married. Unfortunately, after she put me in the dryer she got sidetracked with another client and forgot about me.  What should have been light brown hair with blonde highlights turned into OSHA orange with neon orange highlights.  I thought it looked a little odd, but thought I was probably just tired, stressed and a little too picky.  So I paid her (yes, you read that right) and went home.  My fiance looked at it, and even being color blind, he knew something was wrong.  After lots of strange looks at work the next day I went back and talked to the owner of the shop.  She took one look at me and gasped.  The only way to fix it was to dye my hair dark brown with a temporary dye.  So the only week of my life I have been a brunette was the week I was married. (Now it is red, I know, that little thumbnail makes it hard to tell.)
7. As a child I always won the game "two truths and a lie."  My real life was so very odd that no one ever guessed what I was lying about. My favorite set of statements was, 1) I have been to Paris, 2) My grandfather is 34 and 3) I have 3 aunts.  Which was false? (Remember I was about 9 or 10 at the time...)  You guessed it!  #3.  I only had 2 aunts.  Now, in all fairness, I was referring to Paris, Texas, and my grandfather was really my step grandfather...but true none the less.

So now it is time to pass this award along.  I think I am going to hand it off to Esther at Laugh With Us Blog.  Her posts are funny, she has a great way of looking at things.  So here you go Esther!