Thursday, March 5, 2009

I Would Like To Thank The Academy....

So maybe it's not really an Academy Award. Unlike Kate Winslet, I'm pretty sure I'll only be making my acceptance speech in the bathroom with a shampoo bottle for the rest of my life. It's hard to be discovered when you're almost 40 and more Frumpy than Fabulous.

But I am pleased and honored to receive the Kreativ [sic] Blogger Award from Mary at The Adventures of Mommy Maestro. Thank you Mary!

The rules of the award state that I must list seven things I love, and then to pass the award on to seven bloggers I love to read.

In no particular order:
Seven Things Irishembi Loves (besides husband, children and assorted pets):

1) Grocery shopping by myself - No joke. I enjoy grocery shopping solo. I'm not sure if that's because that is the rare place that I do sometimes get to be by myself, or if I really just enjoy grocery shopping. Maybe a little of each. When the kids are with me, it's a trip guaranteed to produce a nervous breakdown, tears and snot, and at least one temper tantrum. And then sometimes the kids have a rough time too. But when by myself, I stroll through those aisles. I read packages and labels. I check out new products. Look over all the items in the $1 bins just in case I might need a miniature size can of foot powder some day.

2) The smell of my kids' hair, clean or dirty - I'm sure that will change once they enter puberty and dirty hair smells less like the syrup they got in it at breakfast time, and more like sweaty teenager.

3) Music - I love music of all eras and genres. I have completely random taste. There are certain artists or genres I might be more familiar with or prefer, but for me it's all about the way a particular song makes me feel. Could be the melody, a certain turn of phrase in the lyrics, or even just that a particular song reminds me of a certain time in my life. A song can bring back a memory to me in such a way that I can feel that memory with all of my senses. I love music from Classical, to the cheesiest of Pop, to Disco, to Rockabilly, Jazz and Heavy Metal. There is a finely tuned string somewhere inside my soul and certain songs make it resonate. Music, especially played in a public forum such as a concert hall or marching band, can bring tears to my eyes. Not to be confused with making me cry, it just plucks that inner string and the emotion and sheer feeling overflows from my eyes. I also love to sing. I'm told I should never do this, but my singing always sounds far better inside my head than out of it.

4) Kennywood - I've promised a full blog entry about this local Pittsburgh Amusement Park in my post about Pittsburgh. But the short version is that I love the sounds, the smells, the foods (three words: POTATO PATCH FRIES). I love the build-up of anticipation to the annual Kennywood trip. It still feels almost the same as it did 30 years ago when I couldn't wait to go.

5) Really Good Coffee - Nuff said.

6) My friends - I am blessed to have wonderful friends that would do anything for me at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately those hats are mostly in different time zones to the tune of several thousand miles away. Even my BFF that I grew up with right here in Pittsburgh had the nerve to move to England. Hmmm, maybe I should shower more often......

7) Books - I have a love affair and passion for books. It's cerebral, it's sensual. The smell of a new book, the cracking feeling when you open it for the first time, the feeling of the paper pages; both smooth and slightly scratchy at the same time. The moment the book opens up I can escape to a world that is "other." I have looked at a Kindle on Amazon, and while I like it in concept, I am reluctant to give up my real books. I cannot understand people that don't enjoy reading. Cannot relate at all. It is a love affair that has not wavered since I learned to read approximately 35 years ago.

Seven Blogs I am passing this award on to (again in no particular order, and I love ALL my blogs on my bloglist) :

1) Welcome to the Snug
2) The Chronicles of Blackheart Lola (since giving her an award seems to be the only way I can induce her to write)
3) Been There - Done That - By Jo (because I haven't heard all her stories yet and I never get tired of them)
4) Say it Ain't So (because I'm waiting for her to tell ANY story ;-) )
5) The Other Side of the Fence
6) Confessions of a Mommy Blogger
7) Life's a Journey...Not a Destination

6 comments:

Dani said...

Yes, you will not want to smell your sweaty teenage boy's hair. After wearing a hockey helmet for almost two hours, I honestly don't know what's worse his sweaty head or the hockey bag.

michelle lynn said...

Awesome, I am SO honored ;) In fact, I had just told Josh that his gift to me when he got home could be time for me to blog! Somehow I just can't find the energy when doing the single parent thing. I mean I have no idea why, I can count on one whole hand the number of things my kids can do independently!

Colleen said...

Thank you! Thank you!
I totally agree on the books and Kennywood! I still get that excited feeling when it's Kennywood day. Even after spending 12 hour shifts 6 days a week for 3 summers...Kennywood magic is real...(Even after working 3 summers at Kennywood in the refreshment department--and seeing/hearing way too much, I still love the food there!)

laura said...

remember that time we were, like, soul sisters, yet we'd never actually "met", but it didn't matter, because you want your theme song to be my fifth grade song "corn in my poopy and poopy in my corn" and i want to be, well, you?

oh, right. that time is now.

seriously. you.kick.ass.

and i refer most specifically to item #7 on your list: books. i guess i'm slightly biased, being a graduate student of literature and all, but i will confess that i am a Total Geek when it comes to books. do you know that on one of my first dates with the ross-a-tron, we sat on the front porch and smelled the new books we'd just purchased at barnes and noble (one of which was a dictionary)? yes, i love the smell of books and actively sniff them. and the reading part? can't live without it. simply.cannot.

you're super. congrats on your award.

with love from pittsburgh...

Anonymous said...

Congratulations MB, you deserve an award!! Thank you for mine! Tho I have a few for my web pages this is a first for the blog...therefore... I've NEVER Been There - Done That :) TY TY TY

Petra a.k.a The Wise (*Young*) Mommy said...

Congrats on your lovely award!

(I love the smell of kids' hair too, especially my daughter's!)