Creative Blogger

My sweet friend Alicia at Gavin's Voice has passed along a creative blogger award. Thanks, Alicia! If I had gotten it first, I would have sent it to you. And if you haven't checked out Gavin's Voice, get ready for cuteness. Gavin is an adorable two-year-old with gorgeous red hair. His two years of life have not been easy ones; Gavin was born with Down Syndrome and has all kinds of serious health problems and surgeries. Alicia shares the ups and downs of her experience on her blog.

But the terms of the award are these:

1. I must pass the award along to my favorite blogs.
2. I must share six things about myself that people don't know.

And so here are those six riveting details that have you on the edge of your seat:

1. I have an unhealthy need to make the bed before I leave the house in the morning. I don't even want to think about what my day would be like if I left the house with the bed unmade. I'm trying to imagine even now what circumstance might occur that would make me leave the house, bed unmade. Maybe if Henry had a really high fever and just couldn't get up. But I could always just help him move to the couch . . .

2. My first trip by air was to New Orleans probably about 1985 or 1986 when I was a graduate student at the University of Dayton. The English Department sent me to a conference on teaching English. It was quite a heady experience for this small-town Ohio girl.

3. The greatest tragedy of my grade school career occurred in third grade, when we were required to tear a piece of black construction paper into the shape of a tree. An overachiever, I hated art in elementary school because I just plain wasn't good at it. And scissors were not allowed for this particular project. I cried through recess when everyone else who was finished was allowed to go outside, and I was not because my stupid tree wasn't done. I still think it was a silly assignment. Never in my adult life have I needed to rip a shape out of a piece of paper.

4. I fantasize about being Scarlett O'Hara (mainly for the dresses). In my fantasy, the Civil War never happens, and Tara stays as it is at the beginning of Gone with the Wind pretty much as long as I want it to.

5. I'm really tired of hearing people say, "Even though I'm disappointed in the election, I'm really proud of America for voting in an African American president." The Thirsty Theologian blogger finally said out loud what I've been thinking all along in response to this:

I am not the least bit excited that Obama is black. I couldn’t care less. I don’t think this is a wonderful day in American history because we have elected a black President. This in no way indicates any improvement in “race” relations. The very fact that people are making a big deal about it proves that. The fact that vast numbers of people, by their own admission, voted for Obama because of his color, and that others who could not vote for him wish that they could have because of his color tells me that color holds a place of significance that it should not. When the day comes when people no longer speak of “race” at all, especially as a factor in making choices between individuals, then I will recognize that something important has happened. I do not think of Obama as a black man. I think of him as an extraordinarily evil man. There’s nothing exciting about that.


It probably doesn't come as a great surprise to those who know me that I'm not an Obama fan, but since you didn't know I was thinking this particular thought, I think it qualifies here.

6. And, to go out on more of a lighthearted note, my favorite local restaurant is
Rose's . . . or maybe it's Great Lakes Shipping Company . . . and I really like Mangiamo.

7. Henry and I first kissed . . . Oops! I already gave you six. Never mind!

And my creative blog awards go out to:

Julia at Kingdom Jewels for her stunning photography, witty takes on family life, her cat Leo, and because she, like me, is from Ohio

Leah at Rondo Street for her intelligent, artsy, quirky--and often humorous--ability to create interesting blog posts about things as basic as an F key that doesn't work. And because, like me, she reads theology. (It's not just for guys!)

Congratulations, girlfriends! I'm looking forward to learning six new things about each of you!