All Hail The Queens Of Awe-Summmness

Okay, so we are not exactly that Awe-Summm because we were graciously given this award by Stacey @ Willowjak Boys back in July and it is just now that I am finally getting the time to do this post. Thank you Stacey. We think you (and your family) are pretty Awe-Summm too.

Well, here are the rules for this most Awe-Summ award. First, the recepient must reveal 7 Awe-Summm things about them self. In this case, there are two of us. However, Amy is off catching West-Nile virus or malaria or some such nonsense according to the paranoia in her head while she camps with her daughters and mom in the great Montana outdoors. Don't worry, I will reveal some things about my good bud Amy. She might not like what I have to reveal, remember the Things That Annoy Lady Di post a while back? Well, I do and paybacks are a'comin'. Hey, she is stuck out in the forest with no cell phone service, much less a computer with internet. The blog is mine...ALL MINE (cue the Dr. Evil laugh). Ahem, okay. now. Where was I....oh yes, after I reveal all things Awe-Summm about myself and my (hee, hee) colleague I must bestow the award onto seven other Awe-Summm bloggers.

1. I am a major procrastinator, BUT its Awe-Summm because it works in my favor. I totally do my BEST work under pressure. Forget that being done with a project days before the deadline. That's for sissys. There is nothing like having to read a 1000 page biography on Theodore Roosevelt and writing a 7 page essay with references the weekend before the Monday morning class it is due. Not impressed? Well, how about writing a paper on the importance of differentiating instruction in the classroom for English Language Learners the night before the deadline, while a sick baby sleeps in your lap. My well-organized, good at time management friends think I am crazy. However, it's like my brain doesn't function unless I have the feeling that it "has" to get done. Do or die baby!! Never missed a deadline yet!!! Oh, and I got an A+ on that Teddy Roosevelt paper.

2. I lived in Germany for nine months with my sister after I graduated from high school. I learned a lot of German (which I have now mostly forgotten) and drank a lot of beer (I still know how to do that). I am so glad I had the opportunity to go out on my own and just be free before I went to college. My sister had two small children and I basically got free room and board in exchange for being a live in nanny to my niece and nephew. It is a completely different experience actually living in a foreign country. For those of you that are wondering, my sister lived in Germany because she married a German. She has since divorced the German and has remarried a Hollander and now lives near Amsterdam. She is fluent in both German and Dutch, AND is learning Spanish. Hmmm, I wonder?? Maybe in a few years she can divorce and remarry a Spaniard, then move to Spain. I've always wanted to visit the southern part of Europe.

3. I can read a book in one night. I used to be able to read a book in one day but since I have other things going on during the day like the caring and feeding of children (I know.. ridiculous), I have to resort to vampirism (minus the blood sucking thing) in order to read my favorite books. I get completely hooked and I literally can not put it down. Now that I am done with my credential program, my nights are free to blog, read, or sleep. I chose the first two usually more than the last. I kind of forgot how much I love to read for pleasure. Now, I am reading like books are being burned every night in huge bon fires. Since June I have read all nine of the Sookie Stackhouse novels (HBO's True Blood series is based on these novels) by Charlaine Harris, Shelter Me by Juliette Fay, Girls In Trucks by Katie Crouch, Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo, and Run by Ann Patchett. Then there are all the Aspergers and Autism books, but those are not so much for pleasure as for trying to figure things out. I fear a pair of reading glasses may be in my future soon.

4. I gave birth to a 9 lb. 6 oz, 23 (yes 23) in. long baby boy. Now, yes I did have an epidural because I am not out to win the "I gave birth naturally" brownie points. Some other crazy lady can have them. However COMMA that is one flippin' big baby to have passing through your uh..well...you know. Then the day we got home from the hospital the whole family came over and threw us a big party. Actually, it was the 4th of July and they just wanted to swim in my pool but anyway. The next baby I had wasn't near as big. No, no...she was only 9 lbs. 2 oz and 21 inches long. Thanks God, way to cut me some slack by shaving off a whopping 4 ounces and 2 inches. Okay, seriously God...don't get mad, I'm really grateful I had healthy babies. I'm just showing off in front of my bloggy friends.

5. My blogging partner in crime Amy and I have known each other for over 20 (cough, cough) years now and have been best friends since around high school. I remember the very first day we met....We were both in 4-H and we were showing animals at a fair. Our moms pulled a fast one on us and pulled the ol' "go over and say Hi to this girl, she needs a friend." Good move moms, so there we were looking at each other, each thinking the other was some kind of geek in need of some friends. AND, here's the best part about this memory...Amy was standing in her pig pen with boots on, pigtails, and a baby blue Denny's Restaurant T-shirt on. She looked like such a country bumpkin, not that I looked any better. I believe I was in my 4-H uniform which consisted of white pants, white shirt, a stupid green scarf, and an even more stupid looking green sailor looking hat with a big clover on it. I know I just used the word looking a lot, but it's the only way to describe that crazy get up. Yeah, we were quite the pair. I guess our moms were on to something because we have been together ever since; from college, to marriage, having babies, and now telling our crazy little life tales. I was telling someone once about my friendship with Amy and she told me, "It's good to have a friend in your life who loves you, warts and all." It's an odd little saying, but so true.

6. Amy and I are the Queens of practical jokes. Her poor hubby can atest to this. He was the target of not one, but TWO of our most famous jokes while we were in college. The first shall be known as The Affair of the Ice Cube. We were at a little get together and Amy's future hubs always fell asleep at these things. So, what would you do if you were a young, immature, slightly buzzed college kid? Let the poor guy sleep, he's been working hard...No, NO. You would put ice cubes down his pants. Well, he FINALLY woke up when about what I think was almost a dozen cubes melted in his pants. Unfortunately, not all the cubes were melted so he began throwing those at his attackers (me being one of them). One cube, sort of kind of, not really hit me in the face. Of course I made a big production out of it and he felt real bad and we all went home. My innocent friend Amy decided the next morning to use makeup to make it look like I had a huge bruised, black eye. We reported for duty at work (Amy's future hubs was the student in charge, sort of our boss). He saw my eye and of course we laid it on thick about the ice throwing incident. AND...of course he had the hots for my girl Amy so he was beside himself thinking he just made the biggest faux pau of his life injuring the best friend. We had him going all day until it got hot and I started to sweat. By noon my GI-NORMOUS black eye turned into what looked like a dirty soot mark on my cheek.

He finally caught on to us, but he didn't learn his lesson because we were able to pull another prank on him that involved bulls being on the loose (supposedly), and a late night phone call to him using a technique we like to call reverse prank psychology. This is where you say something like this, "Ha, Ha good one. You thought you would get us back for the little ice thing by having one of your buddies pretend he's a cop calling to tell us the bulls are loose on the school farm. Nice, but it's not going to work." A's future hubs silent on the line...finally speaks, "What do you mean?" Queen of Pranks: "Don't play dumb with us, we know you had some one call and tell us the bulls were out again." A's future hubs silent again..."Uh...you called me, I was asleep...oh F*#K the bulls are out!!! That was the REAL police they went down the call list, you're on the call list...Oh my God I got to go!" The Queens give each other a high five. One minute later we see headlights at the school farm. Five minutes later, Amy's future hubs is knocking on the apartment door and he is not impressed, but we were, and so was every one else the next day at school. Great success!!

7. This one is the most Awe-Summm thing about me (oh and it's about Amy too, this is the payback). I am so garsh darn funny that I can make my best friend snort when she laughs. I'm talking huge donkey ee-haw, ee-haw snorts! One time, while attending a thrilling evening Health Science class I made some comment. I can't even remember what I said but apparently it was funny because Amy started laughing. This of course egged me on to make more colorful commentary on our exciting learning endeavor and she started to suck in lots of air when she laughed, and I knew it was coming. SNORT, SNORT, before she could even help herself. The teacher had to ask the obligatory question that all teachers ask students that are f-ing off in class, "I'm sorry girls, do you have something to add?" I replied honestly, "Oh no, she just snorted, no problem were listening." I had a little bit of a bruise on my arm the next day, but what the heck? Her future husband had already given me a black eye. I can still make her snort when she laughs, but now it just happens while we talk on the phone. I have to admit it's not as much fun when its not in person. That's why I make it my personal goal to make her do it as many times as I possibly can when I do see her. Sorry Amy, you know I'm laughing with you not at you (smirk, smirk, wink, wink).

Now then, here are seven other bloggers we think or I think because I can't consult with my nature loving buddy right now (but I'm sure she would agree) are Awe-Summm:

In no particular order ( I just numbered them because I can't make a list without numbers)

1. Modern Mom @ How To Survive Life in The Suburbs
2. Jenny Mac @ Lets have a cocktail...
3. Amy @ Keeping Up With the Schultz Family
4. The Blond Duck @ A Duck in Her Pond
5. Kristin and Megan @ Bon Bon Rose
6. Erin @ My Little Miracles
7. Short Mama @ Family of Shorts

8. John Deere Mom there is a special reason I broke the rules, keep reading.

These ladies are all smart, witty, funny, talented and have become very good invisible friends. I only wish I could pick more than seven (silly rules). However, since I'm such a good girl I will stick to the rules of the award, least my Awe-Summmness be stripped from me.

But where is she??? The Queen of All Things Awe-Summm....

Now, here is the part were my "un-techy" skills hamper me. Notice I did not list "computer skills" on the seven things that are Awe-Summm about Lady Di. There is a really cute little button that is "the award". I'm sure many of you have seen her. The smiling 50's era looking lady with the crown on her head. Well, I can't figure out how to get her image on my post. Darn it! I really don't like the thought of having an incomplete post. However, I feel I must get this posted before my buddy Amy gets back from her little camping trip. That way there is no "editing" of the content of my most Awe-summm post. So, I am going to post and then have the nerve to ask my bud Amy to "fix" the Queen picture/button/award problem. She loves me warts and all, she'll do it. It won't matter that I called her a snort laughing country bumpkin, she knows I am always laughing WITH her not AT her. We will contact the seven ladies when their award is ready.I did it!! I got the Queen on to my post. Thank you JohnDeere Mom for giving me instructions and not writing the word DUH! (although I deserve it) at the end of your comment. You're the best. I am officially breaking the rules and adding a #8 click on her link and tell her she is Awe-Summm.