The Very Inspiring Blogger Award V. 2.0

My dear friend John over The Bathroom Monologues recently (well, not that recently) nominated me for my second Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  This one means an extra lot to me because John has long inspired me.  Back when I had just started this thing and no one knew it existed he was reading and commenting and  cheering me on like a head cheerleader.  And knowing that I could possibly inspire him is just amazing.  Thank you, John!

Anyways, like most of these memes, the rules are rather simple:
1) Display the award logo on your blog.  (Checkaroo!)
2) Link back to the person who nominated you.  (John is the best.  Please go tell him I said so!)
3) State 7 things about yourself.  (Comin' up- see below.)
4) Nominate several other bloggers for the award.  (At the end.)
5) Notify those bloggers of the nomination via comments.  (And boy, will I!)


OK, so 7 more random facts about me.  Here goes:
1)  I have four middle names.  Seriously, I'm not kidding.  My birth certificate is a whopping six names long.  My father's name, funnily enough, is also six names long.  Seems it's a family tradition.
2)  I had my first poem published in 4th grade, in the school newspaper.  It rhymed (of course) and was titled "The Beautiful Butterfly".  You can probably guess what it was about.
3)  I am 5'8".  My height has always been one of the few physical characteristics that I was always pleased with.  Though it does get awkward when I'm standing around other women who are much shorter than I.
4)  I grew up playing pinochle with my parents.  I'm actually pretty good at it, though I don't play often.
5)  I once went to school wearing an octopus on my head (it was a stuffed animal, of course).  I wore it around all day and reveled in the weird looks I received.
6)  I don't wear makeup.  Not for political reasons like protesting animal testing or anything like that.  Just cause I'm too lazy.  For the most part, anything more than combing my hair and putting pants on is too much work.
7)  When I was a kid, I excelled at getting hit in the head with things in gym class.  I've been hit in the head with: a basketball, soccer ball, softball, tennis ball, badminton birdie and rosin bag (which, to be fair, my friend got yelled at for throwing rather than handing to me).  Thank goodness bowling was never a subject we covered in gym.


And now, the nominees!  I'm going to copy John and nominate three people for the award.
1)  Mark Koopmans  Whether he's covering WWII vets or Holocaust survivors he is amazingly inspiring.
2)  Charmaine Clancy  I'm reading her book Dognapped? right now and absolutely loving it.  She's a great example of how to be successful at writing what you love.
3)  D.L. Hammonds Cause today is another blitzing day because of him.  Cause he's organizing Write Club which is going to be amazing.  Cause he's leading the charge of spreading blog love all over the internet.  Just awesome.


And now I'm off to contact these awesome bloggers and let them know that, if they choose, they've got another little badge to proudly display wherever they would like.  Please go check them out, and really do say hi to John because he's the bestest!