I'd like to thank the academy

The past few days have been less than stellar and so I've opted not to post for fear of turning this into "Livin' the Sad Pathetic Whiny Wood Life". I do appreciate all the sweet comments and emails. Your encouragement and prayers mean more than you know.

On top of being in the midst of one of those tidal waves of grief I've also been harboring sin in my heart of the worst kind. You see for the past week I've been plotting a murder. A cold, calculated, vicious murder. I suppose since I've already committed it in my heart over and over and over and over again I'm guilty already. So I should just go ahead and do the deed, right?

Allow me to explain. A bird has decided to plant itself right outside our bedroom window around 1:30 every morning and make the loudest bird noises I've ever heard in my entire life. Many nights I have laid awake listening to the relentless chirping and contemplated how I could sneak outside and bludgeon it to death without disturbing the rest of the family. I've not come up with a solution yet but I'll let you know when I do. Handiman keeps asking me if I've blogged about "shooting the bird" yet. He thinks that would be a nifty title. I'm inclined to agree.

And as if all of that isn't enough to put me in a "fowl" mood (sorry. that was uncalled for. I truly apologize.) I've suddenly gotten on a cleaning kick. For reasons I cannot explain, I've been channeling my energy on jobs around the house that I hate above all else in the world. Monday I pulled weeds. Yesterday I cleaned windows. Today I cleaned the laundry room. Tomorrow I'm thinking of ironing. Clearly the bird has made me delirious and irrational.

One bright spot in my week was making my blog rounds this morning to discover that I've been give an award! My friend Tammy @ Greek Grits awarded it to me and I thank her from the bottom of my heart. She's become quiet the blog celebrity lately so I guess I should be grateful she's still making time for the little people.

So, here's my award.

As you can see, it's just a bright, shiny button with no attached tiara or cash prizes. Which is a shame. But I'm truly grateful and will do my best to represent it well.

Apparently, it's one of the win-it-and-pass-it-on things so now I hold the power in my hands to award it to those I feel are deserving.

Here's who I've chosen and why:

Ashley @ Keepin' up with the Jones' because she's the one who started the whole blog phenomenon in our little community of friends. And because now she's got cool new software that's going to drive Big Nanny crazy with envy.

Nicole @ Four Real because she deserves to win an award for blogging about running into the UPS truck.

And, of course, Big Nanny, because she loves attention and will leave me a nasty comment if I don't give it to her. She may also find it useful in impressing her new young, hip, sun-dress wearing, bloggy friends.

So enjoy your award girls and pass it on.