singing

Most of you know that I LOVE blog awards!

So, I’m very flattered and happy to accept the nomination for the Versatile Blogger Award from two of my fellow bloggers.

The first nomination for this award was given to me by Tastehitch. Andy’s blog is brilliant, and he happens to be the author of Being A Dad Is Brilliant. He writes a lot about fatherhood and parenting…you know, the glamorous life. Check him out, or better yet, buy his book, and I promise you will not be disappointed!

The second nomination was given to me by Rob over at the V-Pub. V-Pub is short for Virtual Pub, and Rob’s blog has a little bit of something for everyone. He blogs about music, life and the occasional (or frequent) embarrassments that make the best happy hour stories. Go check him out!

Thank you, to both Andy and Rob for the nominations!

Here is a list of rules to accept this award:

Show the award on your blog.

Thank the person who nominated you.

Share seven facts about yourself.

Nominate 15 blogs.

Link your nominees’ blogs, and let them know.

Seven Facts About Me:

1. I’m a HUGE Star Wars fan. I grew up wanting to be Princess Leia. Soooo, one of the most memorable moments of my life happened like this…..I was sitting in an aisle seat at the Coliseum, watching a USC football game with my husband. Dan is a Trojan. George Lucas was at the game as alumni and to promote his latest film project. As he was exiting the stadium, George Lucas walked right past me. That man was five feet away from me, and for about ten seconds, as I watched him approach, I swear everything went into slow motion and I heard the Star Wars theme song in my head. It was epic, and I will never forget it. (And yes, his hair is incredible!)

2. I’ve mentioned this before in my very first Wanda post ever, but I have a strict policy of only naming my pets after historical figures or literary characters. Since my teen years I’ve had beloved pets who bore the names of Napoleon, Ulysses (S. Grant), Thor (Norse mythology’s god of thunder), Cain (biblical son of Adam & Eve), Psyche (Greek mythology’s goddess of the soul and wife of Eros), Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird), and Oliver (Oliver Twist). Currently, my two cats are named Lucy and Linus, from of course, The Peanuts Gang.

3. There are a handful of movies that I am unable to pass over if I come across them on television. They become a mandatory time suck and I am helpless to change the channel or be productive in any way until the movie is over. Some of these movies include Stand By Me, The Goonies, Rocky, The Breakfast Club, Alien (and any of the sequels in this franchise), Star Wars, and any Tom Hanks movie, ever made. I’m a huge Tom Hanks fan. That’s a lot of time sucking.

Goonies Never Say Die!

4. I can sing. Or, I’ve been told that I can sing by others, but I choose not to sing in front of anyone other than my kids and our pets. I get embarrassed and self-conscious and that just doesn’t feel good. My husband says that if I wasn’t so self-conscious I could be a karaoke super star. Isn’t that sweet? Also, the only instrument I can play is an air guitar. I totally rock that shit. Particularly when playing anything AC/DC.

5. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education and I spent twenty years of my career prior to becoming a stay home parent working with children and adults with special needs. Over the course of those twenty years I’ve had jobs ranging from providing direct care, managing group homes, providing advocacy services, licensing and program coordination, to being an assistant director of a private family services agency. I’ve cared for individuals with special needs in every capacity imaginable, and it is not work that just anybody can do. I’m very proud of the people I was able to help over the course of my career, and I have days where I miss it terribly.

6. One of my biggest regrets so far in life is not going back to school to pursue a Master’s Degree. At this point in my life, it may still be an option, but since I feel I’ve moved on from my previous career and would like to embark on something new, I have no idea what I would go back to school for. I’m still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up. Any suggestions?

7. I’m a good baker. I make a mean chocolate chip cookie. Ask anyone who knows me. I used to make cookies for my friend’s as their birthday presents, and they were thrilled to get them as their annual gift. At one point my husband suggested I open a bakery business based on his love of my chocolate chip cookies. No, I won’t share the recipe. I spent about five years tweaking the recipe to get it juuuuuust right. If I ever do open a bakery, I’ll call it “You’re Not the Boss of Me Bakery.” Yeah, that name suits me well.

Now, I would like to nominate a few blogs in order to pass on the honor of this award. I know it says I have to nominate fifteen blogs, but I won’t just nominate for the sake of meeting a number requirement. The blogs I nominate are…

1. Carrie On, Y’all (Carrie is hilarious! I’ve actually snorted a beverage out of my nose while reading her blog. She’s that good!)

2. Kimboxin (Kim is totally badass, and I love her writing and her perspective on life. Her blog is honest, funny, and I find myself scrolling her blog to make sure I don’t miss anything she writes.)

3. Peaches & Poppycock (Kristin’s blog is funny, full of southern charm (she says y’all a lot) and she enjoys wine flavored ice cream! How cool is that?!)

4. The UnsimpleLife (Ray’s blog is amazing, but he’s currently not posting new material right now due to some recent life changes. However, you should head over and read some of his stuff because he’s funny and insightful.)

5. Floordeboor (I love this blog because the brilliant woman behind it is sharing her personal journey with health and wellness. She’s smart, gives good, solid advice and shares her recipes and tips for weight loss, workouts and just living healthy. Check her out!)

If any of the blogs I nominated choose not to participate, it’s totally cool. And perhaps you will enjoy some new traffic and followers based on the good things I said about you!

Have a great weekend, everyone, and thanks again for the award!

I have very little sympathy for my kids when I embarrass them, especially when the embarrassment takes place in the privacy of our own home over silliness and varied shenanigans. I also feel that occasionally embarrassing my children is a necessary action of parenting. It’s a public service really, because I am preparing them to deal with the insanity of the real world.

Last night, my husband and I had a date, and I was in my room getting ready. I was listening to the Journey station on Pandora and Bryce was laying on my bed talking to me. And then it happened.

Pandora began to play one of my favorite jams…Jukebox Hero by Foreigner.

I am not physically capable of restraining myself during that song. Every Midwestern, rock star wannabe cell in my body rises to the occasion and becomes the music. I ran to the remote and cranked up the volume. I did not care that Bryce had a slightly alarmed look on his face.

I sang. Loudly. I danced. I threw my hair around. (I grew up on 70’s and 80’s rock music, so my hair banging skills are exceptional). I rocked the air guitar and I embraced the moment. My guitar solo was totally badass. Or, I imagined it was as I rocked that shit all over my bedroom.

At one point I saw that Bryce had his hands over his ears with his face scrunched up and he seemed to be shouting something to me. His eyes were wide and his face was red with the tell-tale signs of mortification and agitation over my less than mature behavior.

I kept singing to him and playing my air guitar.

Then I heard Bryce shout to me, “Mommy, what are you doing? Stop it!”

He was embarrassed of his mother. It’s more likely that he was embarrassed for me, but regardless, he was clearly not appreciative of my sweet dance moves, less than perfect rocker voice, or my expert hair thrashing.

So I turned up the music and sang louder. 🙂