I’ve been tagged by Green Stew with the Seven Random Things About You meme. Hmmm… I think I’ve done this one, maybe even twice. But I am filled to overflowing with random things. So here we go!

1. I wash my hands obsessively. I enforce the rule strictly in the house, too.

2. I HATE being sick. See #1.

3. I sometimes crave french fries late at night.

4. I love the smell of pine trees.

5. I’ve been searching for YEARS for perfume that smells like roses. Can’t find any. ?!

6. I use four to five pillows in bed. I have two under my head, one over my head (it’s noisy around here), one between my knees, and another just to have handy. :D

7. I love doing product reviews. I do them for fun. It’s nice to get paid for them, though. :)

So there are seven more random facts about me, for the data-mining bots at Google. As much as I would loooove to inflict this meme on my friends (hehe!), I am not going to pass this on directly. If you want to do it, that would be great! Leave a comment here and post your url that you did, and I’ll add it to this post.

Is Entrecard down again?? All my favorite blogs are listed there in my favorites and inbox, and I can’t remember their urls (I know you guys by your ads, isn’t that awful!). Ugh. I know that Entrecards has been having some problems again. I went to the library to do some speed dropping (the library has a better web connection) and could barely get 200 dropped because EC was having problems. That was, uh, three or four days ago! I can’t even access anything today- the EC home page is completely blank. Nuts. I was on a roll, too, working on 300 a day for this blog. How can I cope without my EC?! I’ll have to go through my cookie recipes and bake all day or something…

Well, I can comfort myself with a really cool award I just got! :D

This award is special one. It’s an award of friendship an appreciation. Thank you, Cy at Money Saving Pro, for giving me this award! You are a dear friend. The words are in Portuguese and mean, “This blog invests and believes, the proximity” (meaning, that blogging makes us ‘close’ -being close through proxy). That’s so true! I’ve have found so many terrific blogs and made some really great friends. It’s been amazing! Thank you, dear friends. :) I’ll try to keep the list *short* and limit it to those who regularly comment here. I love reading your comments– thanks for making my day!

The Sewing Mom
Carole’s Thoughtful Spot
Luxor the White Cat
My Opinion Counts
Grr, Midnight, and Cocoa
New York Chica
Chica& Pumuckl
The Natural Hawg
Penny Raine
Designing Hilary
My Country Home
Reflections by Mariz

Now, please don’t feel like you have to write a post about this award or continue the meme. Just know that you are loved. :D Thanks for being my friend.

Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you!

This week, I received three — can you believe it?!- awards from some of my favorite blogs. I didn’t even know some of these folks read my blog! I am so honored. Thank you thank you! I’ll spare you the long speeches (I used to watch the Oscars.. snnnoooooore) and cut to the quick: passing on the loot!

The first award I won was the Arte y Pico Award. This was given to me by Mariz of Reflections of Mariz and Kathy at Is 8 Enough? This is a wonderful award. *wipes tear*

Here are the rules:

1. Pick five (5) blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award: http://arteypico.blogspot.com.

I would like to bestow this award on some bloggers who have not yet received it.
*drum roll*
*furiously opens envelope*
*squeals*

Fida of Fida Abbott! One of the most beautiful souls on the Internet!
Kathy at BrazoCowgirl! Her blog template is drop-dead gorgeous!
Anajz at The Sustainable Backyard! An incredibly thoughtful and interesting blog that leaves me breathless sometimes!
My Bug Life at Foodie and Travel Bug! She blogs about my two favorite things!
Flo of Flo’s Place! Has a great new template!

Thank you, ladies, for making the blogosphere a better place. Blog on, gals, blog on. :D

P.S. Please do not feel under any obligation from me to continue the meme. If you prefer not, that’s fine. Just know that you are loved. :D

I’ll write posts on my other two awards very soon.

I don’t know for sure if that’s the title of this meme. It’s what Can I Get My Subscription Filled? called it. She left it open for tags, and I liked it, so I decided to do it. Especially since I have a bunch of weeds in my garden right now. :D

What was I doing 10 years ago?
June 1998. Wow, ten years ago doesn’t seem like that long ago. Can’t it be 20 or 25 years ago? *sigh* Well, anyway, ten short years ago… in June… I was probably gardening. I had owned my house for a year and the place was (still is) pretty run down. Here’s hoping we get the house and yard fixed up before I get run down!

5 Non-important things/habits/quirks
1. I bite my nails
2. I type very fast.
3. I think even faster (too fast).
4. I like disco and will bee-bop when it’s on.
5. I hate vacuuming.

5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Tithe and give to Voice of the Martyrs, my church, and other charities.
2. Pay off my debt.
3. Give everyone I know money.
4. Buy a log cabin.
5. Travel the United States and go to Greece.

5 Foods I enjoy
1. Greek stuffed grape leaves
2. Shrimp
3. Grilled salmon
4. Grilled vegetables
5. Brussels sprouts

5 Places I have lived
1. Upstate NY
2. Upstate NY
3. Upstate NY
4. Manhattan
5. Philadelphia

If you like this meme, feel free to do it! I tag YOU! Leave a comment for a link back. :)