Awards and Other Stuff

Look! I’ve won awards! It may look like only one award, but in fact it’s the same award given to me by two different people. And it’s the Versatile Blogger award, which means these lovely people think I’m a versatile blogger, or my blogs are versatile–I’m good with either. In fact, I’m happy with the fact that they both thought me worthy of an award. So, thanks, you guys! Who are these wonderful people that have so honored me? They are:

Elodie, the CommutingGirl and Robin at The Nook

Thank you both!

As an award recipient, I need to do two things. First, I need to share seven things about me, and then pass the award on to others. Officially, it’s supposed to be 15 bloggers, but while I do follow a number of blogs, I want to pick on some that I think deserve more recognition.

First things first. Seven things about me:

1) I’m an ex-pat Brit living in the US. I was naturalized as a US citizen in 2005.

2) I have six children–five girls and a boy. My three oldest are in their teens.

3) I’m a self-taught musician. I play piano and guitar, and have been playing for nearly thirty years (I started young–really!).

4) My secondary education in the UK (age 11-18) was at a public school (i.e., private school)–a cathedral school, in fact (for those that know anything about British schools). The school I attended was established probably somewhere in the seventh or eighth century. The earliest surviving records are from 1381. We had school uniforms, school houses, and students could board there. Yes, it was a bit like Hogwarts, only we weren’t in a castle, and we didn’t have wizards–though Professor Flitwick reminds me a bit of our chemistry teacher…

5) I’m fascinated by languages, but have never been disciplined enough to become fluent in any (except British and American English). I read Greek and Hebrew (thanks to my theological education), some Latin, and I’m okay with French (though not great, despite seven years of French in school), and I know bits of a few other languages, but that’s about it at the moment. I’m really impressed with multi-linguists (i.e., most Continental Europeans–in fact, most of the world outside of the US and the UK).

6) I’m also fascinated by history, and have been since I was about eight years old. I’m particularly interested in the English monarchy, and British history as a whole.

7) I love mushy Coco Pops. Quick recipe: take 1 bowl of Coco Pops and add about half as much milk (perhaps a little more than half, but not much more). Put this in the refrigerator for at least an hour to allow the Coco Pops to soak up all the milk. Remove from the refrigerator and eat. It should have almost a pudding-like consistency. This is really refreshing during the summer. My wife and kids think it’s gross, but I love it.

And now, I would like to pass the award on to the following bloggers:

• Donelle Lacy at A Little Dversion
• Sarah at Glissades and Gabble
• Isabel Bandeira
  
• Melanie Stanford at Daydreamer to Writer
• Sarah Pearson at Empty White Pages
• Peggy Eddleman at Will Write for Cookies
• Magpie Writes
• J’aime Reading Writing Rambling (Jaime Morrow’s blog)
• Bailey Hammond at Over Yonder…
  

I know some of these bloggers have already received the Versatile Blogger award, but I want to recognize them, and make sure my blog followers know of them. These are all blogs that have interesting and varied content, which I think qualifies them as “Versatile Bloggers.” Congratulations, guys! Please check out their blogs and subscribe if you haven’t already.

While I have your attention, don’t forget my Book of the Year Giveaway closes TOMORROW at 11:59 pm Eastern Time (US). If you haven’t commented on my “Giveaway” page (see tab above) to enter, do so now!

Finally, let me leave you with this piece of wisdom from Sarah at Glissades and Gabble: “Watch yourself in the mirror too much while going across the floor and you’re going to crash into your reflection.” The context of this is dance analogies (read the article for more details), but I think there’s an important life lesson in there.