Me, me and more me.

One thing you guys probably don’t realize is how much I love feedback on anything I write (well, I love nice feedback. I don’t love shrieky feedback). So, I read comments on my blog and comments on my Facebook page and notice retweets on Twitter and I can honestly say that your comments can sometimes leave me walking on air.

Bill Peebles at ihopeiwinatoaster left me a comment telling me he was awarding me the Liebster Award. He warned me that it could be a big fake joke but that it would be fun, and he asked me to play along. It’s kind of like the Facebook thing where you answer a bunch of questions and then tag people so they can answer them – silly, fun, harmless.

Plus it’s the first time the word "award" has ever been linked to my blog, so I can’t help but play along.

Warning: this is a looooong post. Sorry.

So here we go. Here are the rules:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions the awarder has given you, the awardee.
3. You, now the awarder, create 11 questions for your nominees, who are now the awardees.
4. Choose 11 awardees, link to their website, and notify them.
5. No award-backs.

Eleven things about myself? Let’s see. (This feels a little narcissistic but you can stop reading at any time.)

I’m one of five kids; my older brother and I are Irish twins (11 months apart to the day) and then there are fraternal twins at the other end with my sister in the middle. We were all born in VERY rapid succession. The kind that makes you go, "ewww" when it’s your parents you’re talking about.

I once worked for an internet company where strippers were hired to be the receptionists. (No, I was not a receptionist.) (Or a stripper.)

On a business trip for another job, I got to ride a camel around the pyramids in Egypt. The camels smelled, and so did I, since I didn’t get to shower before we flew home. On another trip, I was guarded by Colombian police armed with machine guns everywhere I went. It was a kick-ass, cool job.

Airplane is my all-time favorite movie. It’s hilarious. Even my kids know how to respond when I ask, "Nervous? First time?"

If I could, I’d go to bed by 9:00 every night and wake up around 5:00 am to go for a run. But I can’t, and I don’t.

My three biggest vices are chocolate, wine and Diet Coke. And I don’t try really hard to give any of them up.

I have loved to read ever since I can remember. When I was nine, I sat on a couch and ate a whole bag of Chips Ahoy cookies and read three Nancy Drews, back to back. I wanted to be Nancy Drew: 18, with a blue convertible and a boyfriend named Ned. Sometimes I also wanted to be Trixie Belden and tried calling my friends "Honey" but they told me I was weird.

I have crazy, vivid dreams and seriously freaky nightmares. The retelling of my nightmares can scare other adults.

I cry over roadkill. Dead deer and smushed bunnies make me so sad. (Squished squirrels, though, just make me barf, so at least I discriminate.)

I am a professional worrier. If you have a problem but you don’t want to worry about it, tell me. I’ll worry for you. Obsessively.

I actually really love my in-laws. They say things like, "No, really, drink your wine and read your book while we play sardines with your children. You could use a break." Want to know who else on the planet says that to me? Right. NO ONE.

Okay, enough about me. Now, more about me.

Here are the questions I was asked to answer:

1. Were you pleasantly surprised or slightly irritated when I tagged you with this?
Pleasantly surprised. See above. I never get awards for anything.

2. Do you think I am sorry for that?
No. (That was an easy one.)

3. If you were to smack me upside the head for passing this on to you with your favorite book, what book would that be?
Fifty Shades of Grey? Nah, that’s a paperback. And poorly written. My favorite book is usually the last best book I read, which is currently Gone Girl.

4. If you had back the (enter minutes spent on this exercise here), what would you do with them?
I’d be walking the dog or going to CVS. Which is really where I need to be right now but I was flattered enough to sit down and answer your questions.

5. Do you think perfect strangers should stalk around the Internet and bestow odd awards and ask random questions? Why or why not?
Yes, because my favorite thing about the internet is strangers. I love that strangers choose to read what I write and sometimes tell me they like it, and not because I’m going to accost them in the carpool line to see if they thought my last post was funny.

6. How can words be so beautiful to read and so frightening to write?
Because you get so judged by what you write but the best writing is unrestrained. It’s a horribly vulnerable feeling to know someone is forming or reshaping an opinion of you based on a creative outlet you enjoy. I don't even write about the really interesting stuff in my life because it would leave me much more vulnerable than I am comfortable being. And maybe I'd get sued.

7. Do you like my hat?
I do not. Goodbye!

8. How many hotdogs do you consume on a weekly basis?
I despise hotdogs. But I could eat a good cheeseburger every other day and be happy. Fat, maybe, but happy.

9. You seem like a decent person, how did you become so?
I’m actually not that decent. I’m very passive aggressive and sometimes a little judgmental.

10. Pop-up toaster or toaster over?
Um, toaster oven. Bagels get stuck in pop-up toasters.

11. Where do you physically blog, as in, where are you right now and, did you ever suspect blogging would be this damned complicated?
I have an office in my house. I love it because it has beautiful curtains and a rug I really like. It’s part of the 10% of my house that’s actually been decorated. And I don’t think blogging is complicated because it’s how I discovered I can write stuff that makes people laugh. Or cry. Or feel superior to me. All of which is fine, as long as they’re reading.

Now I have to choose some awardees and ask them questions. I don’t follow eleven blogs that aren’t widely known, but I do have a few friends who occasionally blog. I don’t know that they want to be named, so I will just tell them to identify themselves in the comments if they want to continue with the award. In my opinion, anyone who likes to write will jump at a chance to write about almost anything, so I'll tag them privately and let them decide if they want to respond.

1. What motivates you to sit down and write?
2. What’s the hardest part of your day?
3. What’s your biggest vice?
4. What do you do to relax?
5. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
6. What makes you happy?
7. What’s the last best book you read?
8. What’s the weirdest thing about you?
9. What is the quality you love the most in other people?
10. What is the last thing you ate?
11. What was your favorite thing about the 80’s?

And that, my friends, is the end. Thanks to Bill for the honor!