A Shady Award!

My new friend, Shady Del Knight at Shady Dell Music and Memories just bestowed me with this lovely award!  Isn't it cool?

I'm a huge fan of Shady's.  He's an exceptional, thoughtful, entertaining blogger, and he's made me feel like a queen with his kind comments and tremendous support of my own writing attempts. This award is just another example of his generosity.  His blog is terrific!  If you get a chance, be sure to stop by and visit, he'll make you feel right at home.  I PROMISE, you won't be disappointed!

Anyhoo, Shady has instructed me that the rules of accepting this award are to list five things about myself, then pass the award along to five other bloggers.

Some may say I've been RIDICULOUSLY open in this blog, and there's very little LEFT that one wouldn't already know about me, but let's see what I can do...

1.  I was terribly afraid of the dark as a kid, WAY after most children typically get over the fear.  My younger sister and I shared bunk beds in our room, and I always made an excuse as to why SHE should be the one to get out of bed and go across the room to hit the light switch each night instead of me.  I blame my overactive imagination.  Yeah, that's what it was...my imagination! (Pathetic!!)

2.  I am a doll collector, but not in the weird, creepy, always-tuned-to-QVC kind of way.  My grandma Simmons (aka: the most awesome person in the UNIVERSE) saved all of her dolls, my mom's dolls, and my dolls in her spacious walk-up attic.  When she died, I received this precious stash, and they all reside in my guest rooms to this day.  None of them are worth anything, monetary-wise, because they've all been played with a "loved" a great deal.  No original boxes here.  But they are so precious to me.  Especially my sweet Tubsy doll, to whom I actually devoted this entire blog entry.

3.  I have follicular lymphoma.  It's lazy and low grade, and I only have to think about it twice a year now, when I undergo a neck, chest, and pelvic CT scan to make sure it's not becoming active.  It was terrifying when I got the diagnosis, but for almost four years now, each scan has provided a "no new growth" result, and no treatment has been necessary. It's still a little daunting to know that I have cancer, that it will be with me for the rest of my life, and that I will never be able to call myself a "survivor," but I remind myself daily that it could be much, much worse.  (To the left is a picture of me with my second opinion doctor who was convinced I needed to start chemotherapy immediately.  She was WRONG!!)

4.  For thirteen years, I performed at Universal Studios, in the Terminator 2/3D attraction, as Kimberley Duncan (the annoying host in the ugly red suit!).  I got "choked" by a cyborg and thrown back onto a hidden mat nine times a day (stunt pay!!), and it was the best job I've EVER had!  I loved every day of my thirteen years there, and I only left when my sweet husband was promoted and we were required to move (Alan's the ONLY man for whom I would have left that awesome job!).

5.  I run every day, usually around 3.5 miles or so.  I don't run because I like it, I run to keep my dress size in the single digits.  I wrote this blog entry about my relationship with running.  People thought I was a little "touched" when they read it,  but I swear it's the truth.  That being said, my husband talked me into entering the 5K Sunset Run in Key West last July when we were there for our yearly trip.  I told him I was on vacation and didn't want to run, I wanted to drink margaritas on the pool deck.  He persisted, promising me drinks AFTER the run, and I caved.  It was 9000 degrees, and the sun was blistering.  It was, by far, the worst 24 minutes of my life.  Then, I learned that I placed first for my age group!   NEXT year, we're skipping the run and going STRAIGHT to the frozen drinks!!

Well, there you have it, Shady!  Five (somewhat?) interesting things about me that you may not have known before.  Hope you found it riveting!!  Thanks again for your kind words, and for this sweet award, I really do appreciate it!

Now, to bestow the award to five other blogs I admire:

1. Red Shoe Chronicles
2. Reforming Geek
3. Mumsy's Place
4. The Blog O' Cheese
5. Along Life's Highway The Yard Art Game

Not only are these blogs terrific, the authors are dear, thoughtful commenters as well, and I greatly appreciate them!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!  Thanks to Shady, mine's already been made!!

Thanks for Reading!