The Sunshine Award – 2014

I’ve been awarded The Sunshine Award by my fellow blogginian Art Mowle who writes at  Drinking For A Lifetime!

Art writes a firsthand account of the experience of getting sober after 43 years battling alcoholism. As a person who has also struggled with addictions, I feel a certain kinship with others who know what this kind of slavery can do to the life and mind of a person. I hope you check out his site. 

Thank you, Art!

It’s been a really, really long time since I publicly accepted one of these awards so please forgive me if I repeat some of the “interesting” things about me from before. I have only a finite amount of interesting things I can share publicly. The rest are for me to know, and you to never, ever find out. 🙂

Ten interesting things about me.

1. In high school, I raised chickens for FFA (in Buckholts, Texas..shout out, ya’ll!) and won grand prize in the Milam County Livestock Show. My back-up chickens, (you bring three sets, just in case something unforeseen (like death) should happen to one of them before they’re judged) won 2nd runner-up and 3rd runner-up. That show was mine, baby!!!
2. I was almost 30 years old before I smoked my first cigarette. I blame my friends from high school for not pressuring me at a normal age so I could blame the stupidity of youth like they can. Not cool, guys.
3. I used to want to write for soap operas, specifically Days of Our Lives. The reason for this was if I couldn’t be as awesome at writing as C.S.Lewis, I’d aim as low as possible instead. Really. How hard can it be to write that crap??
4. I failed my driving test three times before nailing it. Actually, I think the guy testing me just threw me a bone after the last botched attempt to parallel park. ( I had the exact same tester every time, too. Talk about being born under a lucky star. It’s easier to wear someone down if you keep getting the same one….)
5. A high school friend named Jimmy and I used the runes alphabet we found in an encyclopedia to write coded messages to each other. We did this for years, and wrote using those symbols as easily as we did English. He is a brilliant doctor now so I haven’t had the nerve to ask him if he still remembers how to do it. He’s busy saving lives and all that.  I can still do it from memory though.
6. I once had my nose pierced. I kept catching glimpses of the diamond stud so I pulled it out the next day. I’m not cool enough to pull that one off.
7. Nothing that is supposed to taste like chicken ever does to me, except chicken.  Rattlesnake and frog legs are disgusting and greasy.
8. I hate watching sports and yet my favorite kinds of movies to watch are sports movies. ie: The Longest Yard (both versions), The Replacements, Trouble With The Curve, Friday Night Lights….
9. I used to work for the pool company in San Antonio who built George Strait’s guitar-shaped pool. I kept his personal phone number from his file in my cell phone for years. I have absolutely no idea why. I never told anyone, and I never even once was tempted to call it.
10. A drunk cop once crashed into my car with his patrol vehicle in Temple, Texas. Other cops arrested him. It was weird.

And now for the rules.

To accept the award, each awardee must do the following:

• Display the award on your blog.
• Announce your win with a post and thank the blogger who nominated you.
• List 10 interesting things about yourself.
• Present 10 deserving bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere. I’m only doing 4. You know how I am…
• Link to the awardees and let them know of the nomination.

Here’s the lucky recipients:

HometoGo232 – Diane has a way of expressing herself that reminds me of my mother. She’s helped fill a void in my heart and I can always count on her gentle encouragements through whatever disaster I’m facing at the moment. I love you, Diane!

Jennie Upside Down – Jennie was born in 1976, and the world has never been the same since. I imagine from reading her writing, and especially her comments on here, that she speaks a lot like I do. She tends to use the same kinds of phrasing I would, and she can say a lot with just a few words. She’s a kindred spirit.

AllThingsBoys – This site is written by a woman almost the same age as I am. While this isn’t as exciting news as it once was in elementary school, I find myself interested in people who have recently finished raising their children and are suddenly able to concentrate more on themselves again.

Spiritual Abuse Sanctuary – Scarlett writes this blog, and she has found a niche helping and encouraging those who have been abused by organized religion in churches. As with anything, any organization that wields a lot of power can easily become corrupt. In far too many cases, that corruption in a church setting can cause indescribable harm to those they are supposed to shepherd. She loves The Church, but she’s not a big fan of the organized religion we have in practice today.

So, there you have it folks. Thank you again for always showing up to check in on me, and thanks again, Art!!!

~ Bird