You like me! You really like me!

No WIP Wednesday this week.  I've been far too busy begging money from people so I can afford to send Girl Child to the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals.  We're over half-way to our goal of $1200 and all the donations that have come in so far (from a couple of awesome people who gave $5, to someone who gave a whopping $300!) make my heart happy.  I'm normally a total misanthrope and think the worst of people ('cos it's easier not to be disappointed that way), but the way that You have all come together to help my daughter get to Iowa in May is chipping away at that jaded point of view of mine.  So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And I got another surprise yesterday!  I received my very first blog award EVAR!  I squeed with surprised happiness when I saw it, especially when I saw who it was from!  Tanya from My Grandmotherly Ways seems like she and I were separated at birth!  We have the same obsessions: crochet, Doctor Who, Joss Whedon's work, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and doughnuts.  See?  Totally separated at birth.  Thank you so much, Tanya!  :D

This award has rules, which state I must now:

• Thank the person who gave you this award.
• Include a link to their blog. 
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. 
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award. 
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself. 

Since I'm a total rebel (in addition to being a misanthrope), I'm not going to nominate 15 other bloggers...mostly because I don't follow that many people.  I'll just nominate 7 others, who I read every time they post something new.  I don't always comment, but I do always read!

1. The Mossy Nest
2. crochetime
3. Bunny Mummy
4. CraftyRie
5. plus3 crochet
6. Crocheting The Day Away
7. Teacups and Tiskets

And now seven things about myself?  Hmmm...

1. I have worked as a radio DJ, a web designer, 411 information operator, and a managing editor of a newspaper.
2. I used to have a paralysing fear of spiders, until Girl Child and I allowed a large, tame tarantula to run across our hands at a butterfly museum.  I have not been afraid of spiders since!
3.  My favourite place in the world is atop a little rock escarpment that overlooks a tiny creek valley just outside of Bailey, Colorado, in the Pike National Forest.
4. I have killer strong hair but weak nails that often split and break for no apparent reason.
5. The very first serious story I wrote was in the spring of 1988 and was inspired by the song, "Lady of the Valley", by White Lion.
6. I have never had a professional pedicure.
7. When I was eight years old, everything I owned was lavender.  It was my favourite colour at the time.  The next year, when I turned nine, I decided that I hated lavender and made my parents get rid of everything I owned.