My Secret Blog Giveaway--And The Winner Is . . .

I read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and one of the bits of advice he gave is that when someone does something nice for you, you should do it for someone else. I was so surprised and happy when I found out a while back that I won a set of Snoopy towels in a free blog giveaway that Mountain Woman did that I thought I would have one too and hopefully make someone's day a bit brighter. So, for Valentine's Day this year I decided to show my top commenter during the past year some appreciation by sending her an autographed copy of my book.

I visit this person's blog regularly and is one of the first bloggers that I "met" through Entrecard. The winner is Jude at "Mature But Not Senile." She left me 20 comments over the year which was the most by any one person. Runners up were Homestay Mama at Amazing Journey, Amazing Grace (16) and Sandee at Comedy Plus (15).

To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here.
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Infarrantly Creative Would Have Been One of Harry's Favorite Blogs

When discovering Infarrantly Creatative through SITS last week, it made me think of my dad. This blogger has a lot of imagination and talent for recycling things by making them into something else more useful, just like my dad used to do.

When reading Ballard Designs: Acanthus Cut-Out Plaque it said how she looks in the catalog and then makes the item for much less. This reminded me of my dad because he used to the the same thing. One thing I remember he made was a wood stand with handles that fit around the toilet to make it easier for my mom to get on and off. She was able to push down on the handles to help herself up. He found a picture of it in a catalog and just copied it.

I thought it funny that Infarrantly Creative is active in "Roadkill Rescue." You say you never heard of that? It' when you go out on garbage day or to a yard sale and get a piece of junk very cheap, sometimes for free, and then fix it up to make it usable. My dad had a basement full of junk that someday he was going to fix but just never had the time to get to it all. Check out the makeover Infarrantly Creative did on Lamp Refabulous.

When I read how Infarrantly Creative turned a hutch into a puppet theater, it brought back good memories of the cardboard puppet theater we got for Christmas on year. Funny how different things will set off memories of my dad. I never know what's going to come up next, but it seems something always does.

Infarrantly Creative also gives instructions so you can do the projects too if you wish. It's a great crafty blog that you should be sure to visit if you like doing projects that save you money.

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Thanks For The Over The Top Award, Liza

Liza at Mommy's Little Corner passed this award on to me.

To receive this award your blog must be exceptional in design and content; presenting us with new knowledge, a sense of style, or at times just giving us a smile!

Each recipient of the award will acknowledge the person who honored them with the award and then go to http://overthetopaprons.blogspot.com to copy/paste the code for the award: Your Blog is Over The Top. (located on the right sidebar, scroll down)

Following are the blogs I think are exceptional and "Over the Top" that I am passing this on to.

1. Problogger - I don't know if he accepts awards, but his blog is definitely Over the Top! A great help to all bloggers, tons of in-depth posts to help us blog better and build community.

2. We Used To Be You - It is well designed, easy to read and navigate, and is extremely interactive. Posts are well thought out, interesting and informative. This blog provides guidance to girls and women by sharing their life experiences, providing Godly counsel and sharing the love of Christ. Then answer questions from their readers. I added it to my blogroll and am now a follower. You may want to take a look at this one--it's awesome!

3. Losing It--Getting Fit - This is an exceptional fitness blog with interesting posts and video demonstrations of some easy exercises. Lots of exercise suggestions here.

4. Victor Tabbycat and Nina the Torbie A blog about two beautiful cats that my dad would have loved!

5. Karlana's World is a blog that has articles about parenting and family, technology, education with an abundance of information that is easy to find.

If you don't want to bother with it, I understand and will not be offended. These awards can be very time-consuming.

Thanks For Your BlogNet Award Vote!

I got this award from Huskies to Husbands who received it from Caregiving Daughter.

Thanks to the following who voted for this blog on BlogNet Awards and left a comment here to let me know. I am passing this friendship award on to you, but don't feel pressure to pass it on unless you want to:

Jude at Mature Not Senile
Homestay Mama at Amazing Journey, Amazing Grace
Shinade at Simply Shinade
Liza at A Simple Life
Caregiving Daughter
The Zoo Crew
Tina
Umeko

Click here to go vote and comment about this blog at BlogNet Awards.

Harry Would Have Liked This One--Daisy The Curly Cat!

Writer's Workshop: Pay Tribute to Your Favorite Blogger

My dad always read the comics first in the paper and whenever he found one he thought was especially funny or applied to something in our lives, he'd point it out to me to read. I know he'd tell you to be sure to read "Daisy, the Curly Cat's blog.

If my dad was still alive, he would enjoy the Daisy, The Curly Cat done by a cat who makes up comics, riddles, puzzles and models clothes. Although my dad would probably have thought dressing up your cat is silly, I think he'd be reading Daisy's blog every day just like my husband and I do since he loved cats and humor. Daisy also has a brother cat, Harley, who is learning things from Daisy and is also in the comics and dresses up.

Daisy's blog was nominated for the best pet blog, but didn't win so one of her blogging buddies Skeezix the Cat, made the above award for her and said others could display it on their blogs too so that is why it's here. If you haven't visited Daisy's blog yet, please do. It's great! Her mom is a very talented lady who combines photography with funny dialog.

Let me know what you think of Daisy the Cat in the comments. Are you one of her fans too?

Thanks for the Lemonade Award for having an Attitude of Gratitude!

Thank you, thank you, thank you as Harry would say. I got this award for having a great attitude or an attitude of gratitude from Flitting on Fiction last month. Since I only post on this blog weekly and had so much to post about in December, I waited until now to pass this one along.

Here are The rules:

Put the logo on your blog or post.

Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!

Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

Share the love and link to this post.

10 blogs that show great Attitude and/or Gratitude…. hmmm…

Positive Men
Red Pine Mountain (Fenced in Family beat me to it, but I will still pass it on to her as well)
Work at Leisure
Made To Worship
Parental Instincts
Rising Thinker
Father Blogger
Heart At Home
Guy's Wife
Coming Back to Life

Thanks to Rebecca For This Butterfly Award!

Rebecca at Cat Lovers Site gave me this pretty award and I do appreciate it!

The rules for this award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate 10 other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

OK here are my nominated sites:
Carol Denbow at A Book Inside
Mountain Woman at Red Pine Mountain
Page McManus at The road I'm Traveling
Healthnut Wannabee Mom
TC at My Love for Animals
Tashabud at Tasha's Take
Wildcatsthree at The Cat Dog Log
Terri Terri Quite Contrary
Blogging 101
http://fashionparamedic.com/?page_id=221

Guest Post by Mountain Woman at Red Pine Mountain

I met Mountain Woman through blogging and has wrote a very nice post about me and my book which is as follows in part with her permission to repost it here:

Initially, I discovered "My Funny Dad Harry" when I joined Entrecard. While scrolling through various cards, I came across one with a picture of an elderly gentleman with a large lion ("Leo") seated on his lap. The card caught my interest at once and off I went to click on the link.

I discovered this blog written by a woman to honor her father who had passed away. The blog alone stands as a testament of love to his memory and it is filled with marvelous facts about a man who lived a productive, interesting life. But as I read further, I discovered Karen has actually written and published a book about her Dad.

Karen has a full time job, is active in her church, takes care of her husband and has many and varied outside interests. She made the time to take her precious memories of her father and put them into written form. I have this book "My Funny Dad Harry" sitting next to me today and as I read its pages I am filled with admiration for Karen's achievement. But beyond that and more important is the love Karen has for her Dad and her effort to share this marvelous man with the rest of the world. Her book is touching, poignant, humorous and a truly great read.

Mountain Woman has a very interesting blog of her own about life and her home on Red Pine Mountain. Please stop by and visit her blog at Red Pine Mountain.

Attention Entrecard Users!

There is now a place where you can find blogs by Christians. See that "Christian Carders" button right under my Entrecard Blog on the sidebar? Just click on it and it will take you to Quiver Full Family where you can find out how to join and see the list of Christians at Entrecard. Pretty cool, huh? It's a nice, easy way for us to support one another by visiting their blogs. Not all of us have "spiritual" blogs so aren't in that particular category. What a great way to make more Christian friends!