Post 314 - special, isn't it!

The lovely MMMC tagged me for a Versatile Blogger Award yesterday. I'm not usually too good at these things - always having the best of intentions, but rarely remembering to follow through. But it's miserable and rainy and we're all on holidays, so hey, I've remembered!

You HAVE to read her entry about driving a car down a set of stairs. I was in stitches.

MMMC has been blogging a few months and has done 200 posts. I've been blogging for years and this is number 314. That's how amazingly prolific she is. But the quality is excellent. A laugh here, a bit of educational content about Danish design there... it's something I look forward to reading every day.  I thought that maybe one day I'd see her on Oprah, talking about her blog.Of course, now that Oprah's only on for one more year, if she doesn't make it to the Oprah House we might have to settle for Kerrianne. Or The Circle. That'll do.

She says I have to list Seven Evil Things you don't know about me. I think she's using some creative license - I'm pretty sure they didn't HAVE to be evil... not that I'm baulking at evil... 'cause there's nothing wrong with that MMMC... but here goes...

1. My favourite illustrator in the whole world is Quentin Blake. His website is fabulous and these two videos of him working are brilliant. And I've just found out he's done wallpaper. Makes me sort of tingle. I'm going to have to earn some dosh and build a wall so I can paper it.

2. In Year 12, I could do the most sit-ups in a minute of all the girls (and most of the boys) in my class. Now, after 5 caesarians, I can barely do one. Actually, I just got on the ground and tried, and I can't do even one. Hmmmm.

3. I can't drive past an empty shopfront without trying to figure out the sort of business that would work there. And whether I should do it. Of course, the fact that I have 4 young children usually puts the kybosh on any grandiose plans of business empires. So the flesh is weak, but the mind is free!

4. I dream of having story about my art in Country Style magazine. But need to lose the weight first. It's literally a weight around my neck (and thighs and tummy and chin). I'm sick of it, but haven't managed to coordinate my desire for weight loss with an ability to stop stuffing food in my mouth while I rush from one task to the next. Probably contributes to point 2.

5. I did 6 parachute jumps in 1993, and honestly thought that it was something I could be good at. But then I travelled for a year and lost my nerve. Also, the thought of me in an jumpsuit... see point 2 again.

6. Sometimes having kids drives me crazy. I wouldn't swap them for the world, but it's often a lot harder than what you'll ever see on my blog. Sometimes my husband also drives me crazy. I just don't write about that stuff much.

7. Blogging keeps me sane. The night I read someone's blog entry about how they stayed up the night before a wedding and made a jacket from an Ottobre pattern, complete with mistakes, meltdowns and cursing ... but simply had to do it... I felt like I'd found my tribe. People who like having birthday parties at home, making things for their friends, and showing their love through cooking for friends and family... and doing it all creatively, but not necessarily perfectly... yep, these are my people. Thank God.

An 8th thing could be that I never pass on chain emails. OK, perhaps once in a very blue moon, if it's EXTREMELY funny. But never if it says something bad may happen, or that you have to send it to six people, etc. It's nothing personal, and I don't mind being sent them, it's just a policy that works for me. Plus, I start thinking who the seven people may be, and then I get distracted. So I may never be tagged for anything like this again, but MMMC I was honoured and it was fun to play!

So thanks for listening. We'll resume normal programming tomorrow. Or the next day. There'll definitely be some animation happening on Friday anyway! Loving school holidays.