I have been honored.

*is humble*

I have received my very first ever Blog Award from Candice, who writes Thoughts By Candice (at http://candicesstories.blogspot.com/) and I'm very honored, and surprised. Now, there's a rule about the Blog Award that says I have to list ten things I like, and then name ten other blogs to pass the award on to.

Well, there isn't really a problem with part one. I like lots of things, and I'm sure I can find my top ten favorite things/persons and put them in a list to share with cyberspace. However, there is a problem with complying with part two. I only follow five blogs, how am I supposed to award TEN? I know I've been on Blogger for a couple of months now, or maybe more, but the whole process for finding a blog worth following is delicate and slow and must be done properly. So I thought that first I would have to go out and find five more blogs to follow.

But like I said, it's a delicate process, and I just can't rush it and then accidentally award and follow a blog that I regret later. I'm all about not wanting to regret my choices, and so I try to make good ones.

So, since I only have five blogs and ten awards, and I believe all of them to be very excellent blogs, which is why I read them in the first place, I will give each of them two awards.

So...on with my list.

Ten things I like/love:

Padawan and my family. Yes, this includes Padawan. We're not married or engaged or anything, but my family has already adopted him into their ranks. And while I believe my family is mostly insane, I still love them.

My job. How many people can honestly say that? Me. I love my job. How many people can say they can come to work and play on the internet and blog and read and do whatever they want all day? AND wear whatever they want? Very few. Not even my own co-workers can boast such a freedom. I have a one of a kind job, and I love the freedom and the fun.

Reading. I read an awful lot, and I've been that way since my dad first helped me crack the code of letters and words when I was just three. There was just something about the way letters could combine to make different sounds and words that thrilled me, and each story is like an adventure. I'll read almost anything you put in front of me. (Even the encyclopedias, which took me a few months in fifth grade, but I finally succeeded.) Reading is definitely one of the best things I ever learned how to do, and I pity anyone who can't find pleasure in the pages of a book.

Dr. Pepper and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. I know I've given up Dr. Pepper, and I haven't had a drop since I gave it up at the end of August. But I still love it. And now, Dr. Pepper and Reeses are not tied, and they aren't two things I've listed together. I put them together because I love them together. Seriously, they're awesome on their own, but they're mind blowing when you have them together. You just can't be anything but completely happy when you have Dr. Pepper and Reeses at your disposal. It's just not possible. If you haven't tried it, you should. (Bottled is always better than canned, FYI.)

The Beatles (and pretty much just music in general). Definitely my favorite band ever, and they take up almost fifty percent of the space on my iPod Nano, the Beatles have been part of my life since before I can remember, just like music. In fact, I've always loved music, from singing along with the radio (which I thought everybody did up until I got to high school and realized none of my friends sang) to listening to Daddy sing me to sleep at night. It's always been so much a part of my life that I even work in music, and I love sharing my knowledge with customers and friends. Music is universal, and if you don't love or even just LIKE music there's something very wrong with you.

Choo Choo. I love my dog. She's the sweetest, silliest, most adorable dog in the whole world, and while some people say that she's a rat or ugly, they're just jealous because I won't give them the same attention as I give to her. I can't have children, you know, and even if I could I wouldn't want them, but I've always loved animals when I couldn't love children. Choo Choo is my companion, I love taking her with me to stores and to parks and to see my family. It would break my heart if I ever had to give her to a new home or if she died. I knew from the moment we met that she was meant to be my dog.

Mouse. No, he's not an animal. He's my best friend, and he's been in my life since we first met when we were thirteen years old. Yeah, we dated in high school (if you can call it dating: we held hands and I wouldn't let him kiss me) and we discovered we were just like brother and sister, and that's what we've been ever since. He went off and joined the Marines after he graduated, and while I ripped him a new one for it, I was proud enough of him to drag myself all the way over to San Diego for five days to watch him graduate from Basic. He's engaged to his high school sweetheart (the one I told him to ask out after me) and he's all set to have a better life than he's known before, and I couldn't be happier for him. (There IS a story behind why EVERYBODY, even his own family, calls him Mouse.)

My eyes. I know that sounds a little narcissistic, but everybody should love themselves, and I do. In a healthy way. But I really do love my eyes. They're big and green/blue/gray depending on my mood and what I'm wearing (I say green regardless, but nobody ever agrees on the color), and my friends and family have always called them my cat eyes.

Chai Tea Lattes. They make my mornings worth getting up for, and I love them. On Mondays I'll go out and buy one from Starbucks, and the rest of the week I make them myself with milk and the Chai concentrate I buy for the exact purpose of making my own. If you've never had a Chai Tea Latte (which is just Chai Tea with milk) then you should go out and have one. It's yummy for your tummy.

My flute. Yeah, that kind of goes with music, but not really. My flute is like a part of me. You see, the flute I have is the first flute I ever had. My grandparents bought it for me when I joined band in eighth grade (two years late). My band teacher told me I was a natural, and after two months of using a crummy school flute, my grandparents realized it was something worth spending the money on buying since I loved it so much. My Junior year they bought me an Amadeus intermediate model with a solid silver head, and I loved them both. But I sold the Amadeus when I went to college because I needed money for books, but I couldn't bring myself to sell my student model flute that was merely silver plated. She's been with me since the beginning, and I still play her on my days off when I'm alone. She's a fond reminder of being great at something without having to try.

So that is my list of likes/loves.

And now for the Blog Award.
Candice from http://candicesstories.blogspot.com/

Carmi from http://writteninc.blogspot.com/

Doug from http://iloveilikecheese.blogspot.com/

Charles from http://arealgoodblog.blogspot.com/

Allie http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

But I would like to point out it's entirely pointless for me to even give them Blog Awards since none of them (except Candice, who gave me my award) read my blog. So I guess they won't even know. (There's not some rule that I have to tell them about it, right? Well if there is, I'm not doing it.) However, I feel that I had to at least try to honor the spirit of the coveted Blog Award, so I did my best.

Also, I was totally going to share a funny story about a centipede getting a little too close and personal with me, but I will have to do that next time. Choo Choo's surgery is Monday so I probably won't be writing it out until Tuesday. Unless I feel like doing it tomorrow. But Padawan has managed to go through four towels in two days (I know. I don't know HOW he does it, but it does me no good to say anything about it because he just does it again. This is something like "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"), and he's out because I won't let him use my towels, and since I have to wash the towels anyway I'll probably just decide to wash all of the sheets and blankets and catch up on some of the laundry I didn't get around to finishing on Wednesday.

So I'll probably just do it Tuesday. Which is a shame, I think, because it's a really, really funny story and I just giggle endlessly every time I think about it.