Thank You. Thank You Very Much.

My friend Gal over at One Gal’s Musings has generously bestowed the Lovely Blog Award upon my humble and oft-neglected blog.

I’ve been following Gal for many blog-years – since 2007, if I recall correctly. She’s a compelling and interesting writer, and covers all kinds of topics. I’d even say she’s my favorite blogger. 🙂 She’s fun in person – my mom, the kids, and I all had brunch with her once when we were in Chicago. What a nice treat!

How this “One Lovely Blog Award” works:

1. Add the “One Lovely Blog Award” image to your post

2. Share seven things about you

3. Pass the award on to seven nominees (sorry, I’m not doing this because I don’t know that I even have seven blog “buddies” these days)

4. Thank the person who nominated you and add a short blurb about them.

5. Inform the nominees by posting on their blogs

Seven things about me

1. I love to swim, or at least play in the water. I’m not a particularly strong swimmer, and I don’t swim laps or anything like that, but nothing pleases me more than an afternoon at the beach or the pool with the kids. My folks live close to a small lake, and their neighborhood has a beach. As teenagers, my sisters and I spent most of every day at the beach. (It didn’t hurt that at least two of the lifeguards were quite crush-worthy.) Nowadays I don’t get much opportunity to swim, but I enjoy it when I do.

2. The only makeup I wear is tinted lip gloss. I do have some blush and lipstick somewhere, and I were them once in a great while (like, every couple of years) but mostly makeup is just not for me. Maybe it’s because I never learned how to apply makeup well when I was a teenager (or at any other age), but mostly I just think it’s a pain.

3. My employer is a Major University in the midwest. My alma mater is the competing Major University in our state. This can make for some uncomfortable situations at work when I hear someone trashing my alma mater. (I tell people I went there when it comes up, but it’s not as though I advertise it.)

4. I’ve written more than 800 blog posts. I’m going to remind my mom of that every time she bugs me about when I’m going to blog again.

5. I’m a writer/editor/content manager by trade (with a dash of photographer and video producer thrown in).

6. Friday Night Lights is just about my all-time favorite TV show. (It’s not really about football, I swear.) And it’s a Netflix streamer, so if you have Netflix, check it out.

7. I have a BA, with a dual major in journalism and American history. (Sounds so not useful, but I’ve actually been working in a related field for more than 10 years.) And I have NO desire to ever return to school for any sort of advanced degree. The odd car seat class here and there, sure, but I’m done with formal education.