A Versatile Blogger Award? Holy *ahem*!

 I am not well-known for my fantastic memory, unless it involves ridiculous trivia of no use whatsoever. I continually forget things - like last night, even though I have made it a habit to a) not ever drink juice, since it messes up my blood sugar and b) pretty much not eat after 8 pm, for the same reason, I had a nice big glass of orange juice after watching the House season finale, about 10:15 pm. Big deal? Not really, except I was supposed to go for 12-hour fasting bloodwork first thing this morning. Ugh. 10:15 am is too late to get to the lab & be sure of getting in before they close.

So, while I was on vacation, Raven from Feral Scraps gave me my very first blogging award. I nearly peed my pants! And my plan was to wait until I was home, so that I could include blogs that I follow via RSS but hadn't switched over to Google yet.

And, I totally blew it & forgot.

And then this morning, I'm checking out Emily Leiphart's Art From The Heart and holy sheet, Batman, she tagged me with the same award. Here it is, in all its awesomeness:



Pardon me while I squeal a little bit...yoiks. I've followed Emily's blog for a long time, long before I figured out how to work the RSS feed or joined Google, and she leaves the nicest comments for me :) I'm so incredibly honoured, and I can't recommend her blog enough. Really. *end gush* Besides, she designs for Pink Cat Studio, one of my favourite companies...she will get you addicted.

Raven has all kinds of neat CAS designs on her blog. She & her family are in an area affected by the recent tornadoes, and my heart goes out to them. I hope that things are back to normal as soon as possible.

Thank you both for this award - I'm so incredibly tickled!
So, I'm supposed to first tell you 7 things about myself, and then tag 15 more blogs for you to check out...let's see:

1. I only see out of one eye. I have a lazy eye, and had surgery at 16 to correct it. Previously it was rotated 89 degrees towards my nose, so my poor confused brain shut off the signal. The eye works, just that my dominant eye has to be closed.

2. I have a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with an extended minor in History...and have not ever held a job using that degree. I graduated when I was hugely pregnant with my first son, and have not worked (outside the home) since.

3. After my first son was born, and while I was pregnant with my second son, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I consider myself lucky to be well-controlled with medication, and also lucky to be a primarily depressed bipolar person - seems to me mania causes a lot more problems.

4. I am totally an over-sharer. I can keep someone else's secret, but boy, is my life an open book. I can talk the hind leg off a mule...as in, it will chew its leg off to get away.

5. I read hundreds of books a year. Several years ago I started keeping track of how many books I was reading, and usually it's in the area of 250 per year. Popular fiction and mysteries are my favourite. I read while walking to pick up the kids, while eating, while falling asleep at night - and often my husband has to remove my glasses & book for me when he gets home. About 99% of the books I read come from the public library.

6. Many of you will already know, but both of my boys have autism. The sharing part of this is that I think I actually prefer having atypical kids. There are definitely hard things about autism, don't get me wrong, and I would never have asked that they have to struggle with these challenges...but in so many ways, I too am comfortable with what I call the "autistic routine." I particularly feel lucky that they have responded so well to the years of therapy I learned to do with them. I joke that that's what my degree was for, to learn to be a speech & occupational therapist to my kids.

These are getting longer as I go....

7. We have 3 cats. I've nearly always had cats, and these ones are pretty cool. Sophie is all white, and deaf. Gertie is a tabby, and she's a six-toed cat. Maggie is I guess calico, white & dark stripes with one orange leg. She's also six-toed, but her paws look like mittens rather than just huge. Maggie also plays fetch - she retrieves Nerf bullets and earplugs, and carries them to you in her mouth when she wants to play.



Sophie




Maggie



Maggie's awesome feet!



Nothing better than warm laundry...Maggie & Gertie

 So, on to 15 folks I'd like to tag with the same award:

Emily Keaton: My Little Slice of Bliss

Meg Craig: Corgi Creations

Allison Fillo: Stampin' When I Can

Ronnie: So Many Stamps, So Little Time

Susan Raihala: Simplicity (Check out her other blogs, too!!)

Brandi: Yankee Belle Stamper

Lai-Yoke: Walchow Design

Lydia Fiedler: Understand Blue

Michele Kovack: Thoughts of A Cardmaking Scrapbooker

Suzanne C: Suzanne's Stamping Spot

Mary Dawn Quirindongo: My Pink Mexico

Tiffany: Handcrafted by Tiffany

Stephanie Severin: Ingenious Inkling

Angeline Yong Jeet Leen: The Creation of Creativity

Marlene: Disguised as a Grown-Up

Third time's a charm here - it took me all day to finally get this sucker finished up! Hopefully you enjoy checking out some new-to-you blogs, and as always, I'm so very tickled that you continue to visit mine!

Post #150 is coming up soon, and with it, my very first blog candy - keep your eyes peeled!

xoxo,
Jessi

Edited to add: I have been leaving comments for each of the people I tagged - but for some reason I have been unable to for about half of them. Just in case you somehow manage to see this post before receiving my comment...sorry about that! I'll keep trying :)