Okay, But What Kind of Meat?

I went to a local museum last weekend with my Wee Lass, to attend a birthday party for two of her classmates. In the room reserved for the festivities, I saw this sign upon the wall:

Everyone is a specialist these days. I think I'll pick...baloney.

In other news, I have been selected for another award, for a Post-Of-The-Week honor from the one, the only, the lovely Comedy Goddess! Please stop by, drop some luv and let her know I sent you. Please. Plus, she has wine!

ImLateImLateImLate...and a tad lazy

Shame on me.

I am a sinner. It's true, I can't deny it.

I have been inattentive and lazy. Which I guess would be sloth(?). Certainly not gluttony or anger.

More folks have been kind to me, and I got so wrapped up in other earthly concerns, I neglected to say thank you to those fine folks.

I know, I know, my little lambs, I have strayed from the flock. But I lay myself down in front of you all to ask to return to the fold. I'm here to 'fess up. My penance begins now:

REQUEST FOR FORGIVENESS #1:

I have been awardamacated again, and I am most grateful. The lovely and intrepid Kat over at 3 Bedroom Bungalow To Let In Crazytown was kind enough to bestow upon me a "Most Wonderful Favorite" award last week, in THIS POST. Her writeup left me with my jaw on the table and a tear in my eye. Please stop by and give her a read and some comment luv. Her take on living the military family life is sharp, clear, wry and just plain funny. Tell her I sent you.

REQUEST FOR FORGIVENESS #2:

I regret that I haven't been able to talk to my friend Mama Dawg over at Two Dogs Running as much as I would like, as of late. She's always sweet, charming and a real hoot (plus has an adorable daughter and a blind cat), and I make it a point to read her blog whenever I can get the colander I call my brain to think. So it was a bit of a surprise when I finally saw HER POST on friendship. In that post, she said this:

"To Irish Gumbo: Thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for trusting me with your stories. Thank you for being there. I mean for really being there."

Gulp. Sniff. I was speechless. What a lovely thing to say.

In my frenzy to get through life, make it to the end of the day with sanity reasonably intact, sometimes my blinders are too big. I forget that there are a lot of lovely people out there who are helping me stay in the race. And I will do well to take more time to realize that, and give thanks.

To Kat and Mama Dawg, you have my heartfelt thanks for keeping me grounded.

My First Sally Field Moment

I’m slow but I get there eventually, so tonight I have to acknowledge a very special event in the fledgling life of Irish Gumbo. It is awards time, and I have been blessed with not one, but TWO awards for my neophyte blog! Squeeee! I mean, Hells to the yeah!

The fine pair of swashbucklers, Captain Dumbass at Us and Them and GoodFather at GoodFatherBlog, have thwacked (in a purely manly, non-sexual sort of way) me upon my big bony noggin with the following awards:

and this:

I cannot begin describe how it made me feel upon learning of such an honor. That searing, gut-churning, volcano of nausea that flared up out of my belly…no, wait, that was just the two foot long chili dogs I had for lunch; no more street food for me! No, once I picked myself up off the bathroom floor and mopped my flushed and sweating brow, I did the Happy Dance three times around the toilet and then punched myself in the junk for good measure. These are manly awards, me hearties! Arrrrr!

In keeping with the spirit of the thing, there are some acknowledgements I need to make. Captain Dumbass did not (CD, I don’t think of it so much as “laziness”; let’s just call it “energy efficient”. Your Green, bro!), but cut him some slack. Probably tired from cutting out all those grilled cheese men. GoodFather inspired (annoyed) us all with his diligence in providing some rules, so I will do my best to uphold the tradition. Here goes:

RULES
1. Say one nice thing to a man in your life: Hmm. Okay, if I have to talk to myself: I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people LIKE me! (This was a tough one. Both of my cats are fixed, and my coworkers think I’m weird enough as it is.)

2. List at least six ways that you measure success in your life (or for your blog):
a) I get to work fully dressed. Most days.
b) I keep a promise when I make one.
c) I have stopped defining myself by what I do for a living.
d) I have surpassed my early target for blog posting by a wide margin.
e) It’s a good day when I make someone laugh.
f) It’s a good day when someone listens to me because they want to.

3. Assign this award to six other blogs and leave them a comment telling the blogger that you’ve assigned them this award: A bit tricky. I am so new at this I don’t know if I have six other blogs that haven’t already been listed. The fine folks below do deserve a holla:

Ali at Cheaper than Therapy: One of the first to a comment when I started. Thank you, Ali!
MomoFali at MomoFaliBlog: Another kind soul who checked in early. Thanks for the nudge!
Danny at DadGoneMad: If not for him, I probably wouldn’t have attempted any of this.
Tanis at Redneck Mommy: Profane, funny, smart – and brave, to boot!
Mama Dawg at Two Dogs Running: I made her snort her drink out!
Big Bro at Dr. Whoopee: He knows why.

4. Link back to the blog that you received this award from: And now a hearty chorus of “We’ve Got The Biggest Balls of Them All” for the biggest booty and longest measure, Captain Dumbass and GoodFather! Many thanks for hauling me aboard (but I will not be the ‘cabin boy’, no sir…)!