Honest Scrap Award

Crysta at Go Diego Go, has given me my first blog award. I'll keep this short, sweet, and light-hearted as reading through award posts is often tedious and mind-numbing.




Here's the rules

::Recognize your award presenter and link back to their blog in your post.
::List 10 honest things about yourself that others might not know.
::Present this award to 10 admirable bloggers and link to their blogs.
::Leave a comment on your recipients' blogs to let them know to visit your post to retrieve their award.

First the Nominations. I put this part first, because this is how I found many great blogs - by reading blog award nomination lists. Crysta nominated many of the blogs that I would normally put on this list (but won't because I don't want to duplicate). Please go to Go Diego Go and check out her list. They are not in any particular order. Happy Reading!

A. A Horse and a Half - This is is a highly entertaining, non-endurance blog. Onthebit is a prolific blogger, blogging most days on her experience of owning one horse (permanently retired due to injury) and leasing "half" a horse. Onthebit is unabashedly honest about her feelings and provides a riveting snapshot into her life.

B. Dressage in Jeans - DIJ is trying to make it in the show world by doing something radical - not using any tricks or short cuts to achieve the "look", but rather actually teaching her horse to carry itself correctly. Educational and intriguing.

C. Glenshee Equestrian Center - It's a long wait between posts, but it's worth the wait. Thoughtful posts that do not disappoint.

D. Mugwump Chronicles - My favorite horse training blog. There is a life-time of experiences behind these thoughtful posts. Her stories of her past are incredible and we are trying to convince she's good enough to publish. This blog is one you'll want to read from the beginning via the archives. She does take questions from the "audience", as long as the problem isn't so severe it's going to get you killed - then you really ought to be working with a "hands-on" trainer.

E. Lifeshighway - A lighthearted look at the yard art across America. Either participate by sending in your own pics and rack up the points, or just read and chortle at the misguided efforts to incorporate the garden section in a lawn (right after checking to make sure YOU haven't made the same mistakes in YOUR yard).

F. The Barb Wire - This blog has grown on me. While it wasn't an instant favorite, it has grown on me and now I can't imagine not reading each post as it comes out. Her recent series on her views of exercise and nutrition, specifically with the endurance rider in mind has been amazing.

G. Esther Garvi - A look at a very different sort of life. Gorgeous pictures. She's recently had surprise litter of puppies! She splits her time between "Eden" in Africa, and Sweden, where she was born (I think).

H. Citizen Horse - Another blog that's worth the wait between posts. Always entertaining, always in informative. Another well written, thoughtful blog. I first read her series about the costs of horses, and it was so good I went back and read the archives.

I. It seemed like a good idea at the time.... - I first started reading Funder's blog after Minx's death. Days after her death, Funder also lost a much-loved horse. Funder's blog is a real look at someone trying to deal with life, horses, and fitness.

J. Snippets from a people watcher - I find redgirl's blog hilarious. I may be a bit biased, as she is my younger sister (newsflash - all my siblings are *younger*) but I don't think so. Check it out for yourself. Redgirl, unlike her older sister, did inherent the gift of narrative writing and leaves me in the dust. *sigh*

10 Honest Scraps about Melinda

1. I have a 10 year plan - where I will be and how I'm getting there. It's like rubber - stretchy and compromise-able, but absolutely there. I thought that this was normal and everyone had a rubbery 10 year plan - until talking to a friend and co-worker last night. Apparently the fact I have a long-range plan makes me weird. Actually, she said "exceptional" but we all know what she really meant.

2. This blog is written for the purely selfish reason of improving my narrative writing. Yes it's part of "the plan".

3. I used to wish I had been born a boy. I've since discovered that I have the best of both worlds. I can work hard, be financially successful, support myself and my hobbies, all while dressed in a sharp, professional, and modest style (think slacks, blouses, blazers). A jaunt out to the stables adds the desirable layer of grime and grunginess. And then, in the evening, I get to watch my co-workers jaws drop as I saunter into the office Christmas party in a little cocktail dress.

4. I am OCD. (big surprise....ha!). I've been known to slam my own fingers in a door because I had accidentally slammed one in the door and wanted both hands to hurt equally bad. Water glasses must be set down evenly on tables. If they don't, they are picked up again and set down so the OPPOSITE side plunks down on the table in the EXACT same unevenness as the first side, but OPPOSITE so that everything is "equal". Invariably, I plunk it down too hard and now I have to plunk the ORIGINAL side down equally........Socks that are reused must go back onto the feet they came off of (left to left, right to right). *sigh*

5. I run because it is the only time my brain stops going 100 mph.

6. I love finding exactly the right word that conveys EXACTLY the right meaning. The Thesaurus is my best friend. On a side note, I don't use it for blogging, but for writing work-related memos, appeals, justifications etc. It's gotten so bad that co-workers call me when they can't find the perfect word...

7. My goal in practicing the fiddle is to be able to play, without apologizing about my playing, for people/family/friends who ask me to play them a song.

8. My neighbors report that I have a peeping tom. I plan on sicing Jonah, my huge non-cat-like cat on him. (yes, I've filed a police report)

9. I have better friends than I deserve.

10. I don't really know what I'm doing. I just pretend I do. On a related topic, the older I get, the less patience I have for reading the directions. I just wing it.