Stylish blogger award! Me??

My sweet friend and college roommate Ginny at Cooking With Chopin, Living With Elmo honored me with the Stylish Blogger Award. I feel very honored since I've only had this blog up for a couple of weeks. Thank you, Ginny!

In order to accept this award, I'm supposed to share some random information about myself and then pass the award on.

If you receive this award, please:

1. Share seven things about yourself

2. "Pay it forward" and pass this on to bloggers who are deserving

3. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their award

Seven things about me that if you know me, you may or may not know:

1. I was a newspaper reporter until the stress of the job combined with pregnancy complications with our oldest daughter made me realize it wasn't a good fit for that time of my life anymore. Working until 3 a.m. some mornings and having half the town hate you, the other half love you, don't make for a stress-free environment. I freelance on rare occasion but am mostly concentrating on my own writing right now, which includes books. I do plan to return to newspapers at some point in my life.

2. I have lost three babies, our first pregnancy ending in the second trimester, and pregnancy loss and complications are issues I'm passionate about and advocate for awareness and research in.

3. I'm a terrible procrastinator, but it's somehow the only way I can get a job done really well. If I do a job way ahead of time, it won't turn out as good. In college all research papers I started out early on, I got upper B's or low A's. The ones I stayed up until 6 a.m. finishing always got high A's. I live by the motto "If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done" and I had it blown up and sitting prominently in my cubicle when I was working.

4. Going along with #3, I am not the most organized person. I love to have things organized, but they won't stay that way unless it's in my kitchen. My kitchen is organized. For the most part, anything  in cabinets or pantry have a proper place and spices etc. are organized alphabetically and neatly. The counters may have piles of things likes toys, papers, books ... but they don't usually stay there too long. My desk/armoire currently has papers (due largely in part to my daughters' love of drawing and my lack of filing them away quickly) piled high on all sides and cubbies but I do have room to see the entire computer screen. I do plan on doing something about this -- once again -- before Christmas. Until then, I can close it all up if someone drops by. I love computer armoires.

5. I'm somewhat of a germaphobe but I think it's using common sense. I usually wipe the shopping cart handles even if my children aren't with me and if I shake hands with someone during cold and flu season I wonder if they coughed or sneezed in them at any point before shaking mine. I don't let my kids eat or drink after anyone, let alone each other (which backfires if I do tell them to share a drink, which is rare, because they won't do it), and I pack wipes in their lunch boxes for both snack and lunch. Part of this is due to me wanting to make sure no cross contaminated gluten crumbs have found their way to their hands at school, but it serves an extra bonus on germs. Also, when my kids get sick I obsess over where and when they contracted the illness so I can be prepared for when it will hit the next family member. Knowledge of incubation times is very important to me.

6. I love old movies. Yes, even black and white ones. New movies, too, but I think love of old movies is dying and that makes me sad. My kids will love old movies.

7. My laundry has been more up-to-date since I discovered that the Cosby Show airs on a local channel in the mornings at a convenient time after the girls go to school. I've always loved that show and have more appreciation for it now that I have children of my own. So I try to relax and laugh while I fold and put away.

Ginny passed the Stylish Blogger award on to several other bloggers, but I am just now getting back into blogging after a long hiatus, so I'm just now also getting back into reading blogs regularly. Because of that, I unfortunately am only passing this on to two others.

I pass the Stylish Blogger Award on to:

1. Deni at Foxy Troxies. Deni has been blogging about pregnancy loss, adoption nightmare and the ups and downs of life in general for some time now. It pulls your heartstrings at times, but she is also so full of positive attitude so often. She is an inspiration to so many who struggle with pregnancy loss and infertility, and definitely deserves this award.

2. Aggie at Aggie's Kitchen. I don't know Aggie at all, but a mutual friend just introduced me to her blog a few days ago. I must say I'm very impressed with her blog and I can't wait to try some of her recipes!

Now I better let these ladies know!