A Present For YOU!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I like Mondays.

I know I'm in the minority here, but the way I see it, Mondays are full of possibility - like morning, and the first day of every month, and the first day of school and the first day of the year.  Monday begins a new week and the door is wide open for something good to happen.  It could be anything!

And this Monday I'm feeling particularly happy because of you.  At the end of last week I got not one, not two, but THREE Versatile Blogger Awards AND I got tagged.  In addition, someone commented that she looked forward to reading my blog.  My Blog.  MINE!  I can't believe it :)  I am honored and touched.

So first, let me acknowledge the awesome bloggers who awarded me.  Thank you all so much!
Kelly at As Seen Through A Different Glass
Diane at The Patient Dreamer, and
Debbie at Debbie Johansson.
Please take a moment to check out their wonderful blogs!

And, let me also acknowledge Grillyfish who tagged me - check her out too!

Now, let me just say that I'm really terrible at these awards.  I'm so grateful to the people who felt I was worthy of receiving them, but I can never choose who to forward them to.  I treasure everyone who reads and comments on my blog and I don't feel right singling out only a few to pass the award on to when you are all so wonderful.

So I'm going to combine the awards and the tag I received by telling you 10 random things about me (because the conditions are 7 for one and 10 for the other) which you may or may not care to read :) and then I am going to give you ALL a present!!!

You can skip to the present if you want.  I won't be offended :)  I'm not even sure I can come up with 10 random things and they might not be very interesting.  And presents are very hard to wait for :)

Let me see...

1.  My favorite color is blue - not pale blue, but pretty much any other shade from periwinkle to royal to midnight.  Second favorite is a tie between pink and yellow.

2.  In third grade I played Sneezy in our class production of Blanche Neige.  French was never my best subject, but apparently I can sneeze in any language :)

3.  I think roses are pretty, but I don't like the way they smell (except for the delicate little wild roses.)  I love carnations, which have a kind of light spicy scent, and lantana, which smells citrusy.

4.  I have burn holes in every polar fleece I own from sitting too close to the fire on winter evenings.  Which brings me to #5...

5.  I think it's entirely possible I may have been a cat in a previous life (or that I will be one in my next life.)  I base this on the fact that I love to sit in warm sunny places or very close to the fire (as mentioned in #4) and I do not like to swim!

6.  I have jumped horses up banks, through brush, over ditches, and into water.  (I spent my young adulthood being a competitive Three-Day Event rider.)  I am one of those horse-crazy girls who never outgrew the phase.

7.  We don't have cable or a dish, so I really don't watch TV.  The only shows I ever watch (online, the day after they air) are Glee and Modern Family (with my kids) and Grey's Anatomy (which I totally love and consider an indulgence :))

8.  My all-time favorite candy bar is Snickers.  I challenge you to come up with anything better!

9.  When I was 8, I stole a pack of lifesavers from the stationary store on the corner, but I felt so guilty I turned around before I'd gone half a block and went and put them back.

10.  My dogs come with me pretty much everywhere, conditions permitting (which is why I call my car the Dogmobile.)  (Which is also why I'm always asking for helpful tips on removing dog hair from car upholstery...!)

So there you are.  10 random things.  Feel free to share your own!

Now.  The moment you've all been waiting for!  Are you ready?  Here is your present!!!!!

Ooh!  Ahh!  Ain't it purty?

Now, here's the deal.  This present contains whatever you'd most like to have today!

It could be 15 minutes to sit on the back porch in the sunshine sipping your coffee and watching the dragonflies...
Or a romantic dinner with your better half where you have the time and space to remember why you fell in love...
Or an afternoon in the playground with your children, watching them run and play, reveling in the strength and individuality that grows a little more in them each day...
Or an outing to pick apples, the sunshine dissipating the mist over the orchard, the grass kissed with frost beneath your feet, then home to a happy kitchen to bake pie for dessert with a game of Candy Land or Clue or Scrabble...
Or one uninterrupted hour to read that book you've been itching to get to, your cat curled warmly in your lap...
You get the idea!

So go ahead!  Open your present!  And then tell me what's inside!  Whoever has the best answer (to be determined, very scientifically, by writing each one on a piece of paper, mixing them up and drawing one, or else, possibly, very subjectively by me) will win their choice of a signed copy of any one of my books they choose, or a $10 Amazon gift card.

So how do you feel about Monday now? I can't wait to see what you got!!! :)