Sweet, Sweet Day

Happy Valentines-wear pink-make Hallmark happy-eat too much chocolate day!  Oh, and love me some roses-day.

These arrived late yesterday.  Love the lavender.  And the yellow.  They're my favorite, until I look at the white.  Then they're my favorite, until I glance at the pink.   Thank you, thoughtful groom.  There's just nothing more perfect than a rose.

Unless, it's a newborn.

We have a new grand-niece who just arrived on the planet Monday.  She's not impressed with the world yet...she likes to doze in trendy caps and snugly blankets.  She has an older brother who's bound to bother her before too long.  These two are going to keep their parents hopping.  Babies fresh from heaven...can't beat it.

It's been a sweet week, with flowers and newborns and no snow here in Florida.  Snow doesn't usually occur here, but you never know.  Nemo had a mind of its own.  It appears things are melting up north, so here's hoping the worst is over.

Another fun thing recently...I won a short story contest over at  Mormon Mommy Writers.  MMW is a site hosted by a group of women who write about faith, parenthood, and writing.  They are compiling a soon to be published book of short stories, essays, and poems.  They accepted a story I wrote based on dealing with my dad's stroke a few years ago.  The prize was a gift card to Amazon, with which I quickly purchased the soundtrack to Les Miserables.  Hugh Jackman has been agonizing through song from my stereo since.  I have to pause in whatever I'm doing when he sings Bring Him Home because it's so poignant and prayerful and longing and beautiful, I can't think about anything else. 

Anyhoo....MMW has since invited me to regularly post on their site, every other Friday for now.  My first post there will be Feb. 22.  I am very honored to be invited to contribute.  I'm not Mormon, but I have a good friend who is, and our doctrinal differences don't detract a thing from our sistership.

I expect to acquire some new friends over at MMW and learn as much as possible about being part of a writing team that is passionate about faith, family, and writing.  I hope I don't goof up too often.

Lent started yesterday, and with that came my 40 days of no chocolate.  Chocolate and I have been close buds for too long now, and it's time I create some space between us.  It's become too clingy and demanding.  Every time I pass the refrigerator, the chocolate chips fly out and scream "Eat me!"  They're ruling the roost.

Yesterday, I made brownies for my husband.  I didn't eat any brownies, but without thinking, I licked batter off the spatula.

Already, Easter is too far away.

An Award and a Crackerjack Prize!

A kind blogger buddy gave me an award this week.

Thank you Jerralea from Jerralea's Journey!

I love the 'sisterhood' idea, because there really is a unique friendship that evolves on Blogwarts where women share their lives and hearts.  It's a wonderful place full of estrogen and chocolate.   I try to visit at least twice a week.

The homework that comes with this award is the 7/7 assignment:  share 7 things about yourself, and then pass the award on to 7 blogging sisters.   I figure there's a lot of information about yours truly all over this blog, so, instead, I'm going to post 7 pictures - snippets of life here in the Ballpark.  There might be a quiz involved.  Update:  Quiz is now closed. 

1.  What are these?
     a.  the names of my cats
     b.  the names of my children
     c.  the names of the hurricanes that ripped through central Florida in 2004.  We had to get a new roof, which now has a leak, but I'm not bitter.  OK, maybe I am. 
     d.  the names of the sandwiches at Hurricane Grill

2.  What is this?
     a.  my favorite sandwich
     b.  a sandwich my husband loves, but I hate 
     c.  Meryl Streep's favorite sandwich
     d.  the ex-clown's favorite sandwich

 3.  What are these?
     a.  fancy paint stirrers
     b.  crooked rulers
     c.  mummy fingers I uncovered on an archaeological dig in Malaysia
     d.  Halloween sugar cookies

5.  Who is this?
    a.  the ex-clown
    b.  Miss Curly-Cute with a shrimp on her nose
    c.  my high-school graduation picture
    d.  four-year old Drew Barry's mug shot

6.  What is this?
    a.  a flower lasso and some colorless Rubik's cubes
    b.  a Home Depot project that went awry
    c.  I have no idea
    d.  a 9 (the flowers) 11 (the twin towers) tribute created by our daughter's high school students.  I welled up when I first saw it. 

7.  What is this?
    a.  a quilt I made, but it had too many arms 
    b.  a potholder
    c.  last year's swimsuit
    d.  a never worn Coldwater Creek cotton jacket I'm giving away (the tag says size 16, but it runs small; I'd say it's a 14.)

There ya' go!  Put your answers in the comments box, and the first one to get all the right answers wins the jacket - if you want it.  If you don't want it, I'll send you some Ballpark brownies.  If you don't want the jacket, or the brownies, you can still put your answers in the comments box, and discover how smart you are when I share the answers in the next post.

As to passing on the award to 7 bloggers, that's like asking a mom to pick her favorite kid.   I enjoy so many blogs, I'm going to offer the award to any reader who wants it.  I've seen a few bloggers do that recently, and I'm stealing the idea.  I can't pick just 7, and you can't make me.

Thank you, Jerralea, for thinking of me and giving me the opportunity to unload that jacket.

Who will win??!?!?!  The suspense is worse than waiting for the last season of Lost.

A Dazzling, Fabulous Day

It's the first day of spring, and it's beautiful here in the Sunshine state.

The ex-clown is in town, and I'm preparing a family dinner tonight of Omaha steaks and a few sides.  My daughter is making croutons, and I'm making split-pea soup, which I've never made before.  All I can say is...the color of it is not that appealing.    

Luckily, it's darn tasty, so maybe we can eat it with our eyes closed.  

On this lovely day, I'd like thank a few people who have done some sweet things for me this week.

1.  An enthusiastic thank you to Lisa at ALL THINGS CAMPBELL for designing the new baseball links to your left.  They were exactly what I was looking for!  If you're looking for creative additions to your blog/website, drop her a line.  She was a peach to work with.

2.  A surprised thank you to Carri at SIMPLY DONE WRIGHT for featuring Adventures in the Ballpark as her Dazzling Blog for the week.  Carri has a beautiful blog and loves the camaraderie, linking, and networking that grows from blogging.  She's like the social director on planet Blogwarts.  Thank you, Carri!

3.  Danielle at SWEET TEA READS gave me this...

A heartfelt thank you to Danielle for thinking of me.

I'm feeling pretty fabulous and dazzled this week because of these kind women.  And, the ex-clown is providing pies for dessert tonight.  I'm telling ya', it's like Christmas around here. 

The Dazzling Blog feature doesn't require any self-revelations.  Carri did a write-up about Adventures on her blog and said some very nice things.  Click on her link above, if you'd like to see it.  It's just pure gift.  I'm humbled and appreciative, and I'd like to thank the members of the academy and my mom, who is really the English teacher/editor/writer in the family.   I share this badge with her.

The fabulous blog ribbon must be shared, which I'm happy to do.  First, though, the required self-revelations:  Name five things I've experienced in my life that were fabulous. 

I wonder how Streep would respond.  Hopefully, she's reading.  (Hi, Meryl!)

My fab five:

1. Holding my three slimy, wrinkly, perfect, fresh-from-heaven children on the days they were born.

2. Winning $1,000.00 at a church raffle.  Way fabulous.

3.  Receiving a letter of recognition from my congressman for my ten years of teaching character education to high-school students.

4.  Purchasing our first house, the one we're still in twenty years later.  The coolest feature was the loft, which is now where I write.

5.  Anytime I savor really good chocolate, it's fabulous.

List five things I hate:

1.  Brussell sprouts.  However, I like cabbage.  Go figure.
2.  Foul language.  It's unnecessary.  Raise the bar.
3.  People who blame their problems on someone else.
4.  Throwing up.  I can't begin to tell you how much I hate this. 
5.  Stubbing my toes.  I've broken two toes this way, and it's extremely painful.  If toes weren't necessary for balance, I'd have mine removed.  They're in the way.

Five things I love:

I created a page last year that covers this category.  This helps me on tough days when I need to remember there are fabulous and dazzling things in the world for which I'm grateful.  Scroll to the top of the blog and click on the tab that reads "Home Runs" for seventeen things I love.  You only have to read five.

Pass the award to five other bloggers (and leave a comment on their blog, so they know they are a recipient.)

1.  Cari at Bubblegum on my Shoe. She writes poignantly and witty-ly from the heart about life as a single mom.

2.  Tamera at Housekeeping, Down Syndrome, and Autism Stuff.  Enough said.  This girl has her hands full.

3.  Jen at We're Living a Full Life.  She is a sweetheart with a passion for all the right things.

4.  Marie at Women Talk About Life.  Otherwise known as Sweet Marie.  And she is.

5.  Laura and Falen at Upward not Inward.  This is a spiritually inspirational blog.  These girls have a heart for God.

Thanks to all these great fellow bloggers, whom I found through the A-Z Blogging Challenge in April.  Blogwarts is a wonderful place.

Non-bloggers suspect/think Blogwarts is a loony bin.

But hey, I say, drinkers bond over booze, quilters bond over fabrics, bakers over cupcakes, and football fans over a touchdown.  Writers bond over shared words inside a column that scrolls down forever.

It keeps us off the streets.

Liebster, Schmiebster

There are two crazy, but endearing sisters whose blogs I have begun to follow at the positive pessimist and in my mind, it's always funny.

I imagine, when they're together, they're like Lucy and Ethel, but I can't verify this.   They're witty and tender-hearted and generous.  This week, they each (independently) gave me this blog award.

I had no idea what it meant (what the heck is a liebster?), so it seemed fitting coming from the crazy sisters.  Thank you, girls!

I did some research and learned that this award is given to up-and-coming blogs that are full of genius and promise.   OK, I added that last part, but the up-and-coming part is true. 

I did some more research and learned that the award was named for Gwendolyn Liebster, who was the first woman to work for an American newspaper in 1857.  Widowed at twenty-six, with one young child, Gwendolyn began writing for the Boston Chronicle for just nickles a week.  Her son grew up to become a successful editor.  Gwendolyn is credited with being a little-known single mom and a trailblazer. 

OK, I made all that up.  But, isn't it a great story?  It gives the Liebster Blog award depth and significance, which it needs because nobody seems to know what the title really means.  

So, I'm sticking with Gwendolyn.  

As the rules require, I'm posting seven things about myself and then passing the award to five other bloggers who I think are also full of genius and promise.   

1.  Today is our first-born's birthday.  He lives on the other side of the world in Arizona, so I don't get to squeeze him as much as I'd like to.  You can read about him here:  WHO'S ON FIRST?
I mistakenly mailed his birthday gift to Louisiana. 

2.  I will never eat octopus.

3.  I rarely make my bed.  

4.  I could not have had a better father.  My tribute to my dad for Father's Day (which is tomorrow) is here:  THANK YOU DAD

5.  The best advice I ever got was this:  When people show you who they are, believe them.

6.  I hate that I can't eat what I want and stay healthy.   

7.  I'm writing a book about a Christmas project for families.  I see it in my head, complete and colorful, on a Barnes & Noble shelf.  If this vision ever becomes a reality, I will cry.  And thank every person who ever read a sentence I wrote. 

I'm passing the Gwendolyn Liebster award to: 

1.  Lisa at All Things Campbell
2.  Jaime at Awakenings and Reflections
3.  Brenda at It's All Good!
4.  Suzi at Make a Joyful Noise!
5.  Juli at Surviving Boys

Have fun, ladies!