Saturday, April 23, 2011

Winner! Winners! and Tag

I'm an impatient person, so I'm cutting right to the chase: the winner of Tuesday's cross-blog contest with Michelle Davidson Argyle... and the random.org-generated winner of her e-book CINDERS... is...

Donna Weaver!!

Congrats, Donna! I have already given your email address to Michelle, so expect to get that soon. (Seriously, when  random.org gave me a #1 for the random number, I stared at it for a while. You call #1 random? Guess the system works, huh?)


What's even better (for me, anyway) is that Donna gave me The Versatile Blogger Award waaay back on January 31st. Since I'd just accepted an award from her, I figured I'd put off accepting this one for a little bit, so I didn't have to repeat the same list of bloggers (and facts about me) I'd just posted. Then, well, you know what happened. I forgot.



Then, this week, Laura Josephsen gave me a similar award, The Versatile Blogger. Pretty cool, huh?

Both of these awards require a list of 7 things about me. And for me to identify 15 bloggers who also deserve the award.  And to contact the people I give them to and let them know I gave them the award. And for me to link back to the people who gave them to me.

I'm going to address each in the reverse order.


Links to Donna and Laura are above. :)

As for contacting the winners: Hey! Winners! Come get your award! (Pick whichever one you like best.)

For the list of winners, if you will direct your attention to the list of blogs on the left side of your screen, you will see the blogs I frequent the most. If you're a frequent commenter on my blog, chances are that your blog is over there. (I follow people with excellent taste in blogs, and put them in my blogroll so I know when you post. All the stalkers are doing it.) If it isn't, comment again. Frequently. :) (Isn't that a fun word to say? Frequent: a great combination of Free, Freak, and Quaint. Depending on your accent.) Those blogs are all winners. I haven't counted them, but I suspect there are fewer than 30. In that case, if you want to win both awards... congrats!

Finally, 7 things about me. (I'm also combining this with Anita Howard's game of Tag, because listing personal facts should always have more than 2 rewards):

  1. My middle name is Michelle, and my maiden name is Ambrose. When I got married (like my big sister before me), I kept both, but I don't hyphenate. I just have two middle names, now, which creates endless confusion when filling out forms that only want one middle initial. I usually go with Robin M. Weeks. Sorry, maiden name.
  2. I have three sons, aged (currently) 10, 7, and 5. Their names start with D, C, and B, respectively, and are all two-syllable names. If we were to ever have another boy, we would give him a two-syllable A name.
  3. I want a girl. Actually, I've ordered twin girls next, since I want two daughters and only really want to be pregnant one more time. For many, many reasons, I am insanely jealous of Shannon Hale. My husband is against having any more kids, but if I ever get my wish, the little darlings will be named after my two grandmothers and my mother and mother-in-law. Since my mom and MIL have very similar names, they'll have to be the middle names: Letha Lynette and Kathleen Yvette. Now aren't those the best twin names ever?
  4. I swore I would never marry a cowboy. (What is WITH the belt buckles, anyway?) My husband stopped riding bulls because his shoulders wouldn't take it anymore. He's now the SAH parent, which is the job I want. If I sell my book for a bunch of money, I'm buying him a ranch, then he can work and I can take care of the kids and write. *Sigh* At least we'll have cute baby animals one season a year.
  5. I am the second-oldest of six children. I have one older sister, two younger sisters, and, right at the end, two brothers. My brothers got really interesting after I left for college.
  6. Other than myself, my whole family lives within an hour drive of each other. Only two of my siblings have been to my house, which is a 4-hour drive from my family. My parents have been here three times in the almost seven years I've lived here, all for major life events. The Ambrose family has no gypsy blood AT ALL. (No, I'm not bitter.)
  7. My husband's siblings all live 3-5 hours away from their parents, who still manage to see them all once a month or more. Oh, yeah. The Weeks family likes to DRIVE. I'm an Ambrose, so I don't like to drive. I read or write, while my husband drives. If I'm driving by myself (and I'll be on the road longer than the 5 minutes it takes to get to work), I get a book-on-tape, er, -CD.
Okay, now it's your turn! Either you just won an award or you've been tagged (though playing is optional, sadly). Go list seven things about you on your blog and leave a comment telling me you've done it, so I can come learn about you! If you don't want to play, you can still comment. :)

18 comments:

  1. You smart girl! I love how you multi-task, even in your blog posts. LOL

    Your list of seven is great! I can't believe your mid name is Ambrose; I actually had a character (that I loved) in the first book I ever wrote named Ambrose. :) How's that for fate?

    And I'm also named after both of my grandmas. One is Juanita, and the other Grace. So, Anita Grace was the by product.

    Last but not least, we share one more similarity. I don't like driving and my hubbie loves it so I always write or read on trips, too. Who would've thought we had so much in common? Thanks for playing, Robin!

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  2. Anita--yay! I love having similarities with really cool people. Now you'll never be able to forget me, and that's all good for me. :)

    I've got you one-up on the driving: my husband gets car-sick if he doesn't drive. So even if he gets tired, unless he's going to fall asleep WHILE I'M DRIVING (unlikely), I get to ride. :)

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  3. *dances a jig* SQUEEEEE!

    I hope that fact that I've won three different books in blog contests (and I NEVER win anything) doesn't mean I'm using up all my luck.

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  4. Well, if your luck runs out, don't come crying to me....

    Um, I mean: Congrats, Donna! I'm sure random.org just picked the very best one. (Haha.)

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  5. Oh, and I love reading about you. Just so you know, I found teen girls to be harder on you as mom than my teen boys (and the boys were not vacation). Do you have any twins in your family?

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  6. LOL on your hubby's car sickness. Heehee. I'm not laughing at him, I'm laughing with you. ;)

    Oh, and YAY! I won a prize??? How cool is that? SWEET. Thanks Robin! :)

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  7. Congrats, Donna! I just sent you an email. :)

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  8. Donna--I have twin cousins (my mother's sister's sons), and my husband has an aunt/uncle twin set. *crosses fingers* *opens... oh, wait.*

    Anita--there are prizes for everyone! Which one are you picking?

    Michelle--you're so cool. Have I thanked you enough for crossing blogs with me? Make sure you claim your prize!

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  9. I'm loving the names for girl twins, like I'd steal them for a novel or something if they weren't for your hypothetical unborn children. Number four confuses me, why would anyone *not* want to marry a cowboy? Manly men who get stuff done while looking buff and being stoic? What's not to like? I love the comparison between your and your husband's family's willingness to drive to visit relatives.
    - Sophia.

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  10. Sophia--believe me, I've totally seen the light on cowboys. My hubby is a tall drink of water who is constantly getting hit on by other girls (so he reports), but who is so stoic in his loyalty, I never have any reason to feel jealous. Plus, if I need anything fixed, he's on it. He's the yin to my staid, bookworm, couch-potato yang.

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  11. Robin you might want to rethink the twin idea. I have twin boys who are now ten. And I am glad we had them first. My wife belongs to a mother of twins club and those who had twins after their first always have a harder time with them. Also, having four kids, the hardest adjustment for us was going from three to four kids. I can only imagine the challenge in going from 3 to 5. But then again, having more is a decision between you, your husband, and the Lord so best of luck in any choice you make.

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  12. Hey! Donna! Eric is my cousin and HE has twins! (Boy, Eric, we need to have a family reunion someday.) Come to think of it, I have another cousin who has twins, but that might have been in-vitro.

    Eric--Yeah, I know it will be hard (theoretically) and I'm sure I'll have many (theoretical) moments of "what was I thinking??" but I'm planning on deciding in the end that it was all worth it. Theoretically. :)

    Now if I could just get two more votes....

    Our hardest transition was from 1-2. When they both cried at the same time, I had to learn real quick that crying was OKAY. :)

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  13. Holy cow, Fertile Myrtle! Watch out! And the older you get (not that you're old, I'm just sayin') but the older you get the great the odds that you'll have fraternal twins because you're more likely to throw two eggs at a time.

    I have a friend who married late in life, and he and his wife had triplets--two girls and a boy. THREE sixteen year old drivers ...

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  14. Shhh! Don't tell Jerry! I'm hoping to convince him my fertility wanes as I age.... :)

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  15. Congratulations, Donna! And great contest, Robin!

    Thanks, Robin, for adding me to your sidebar :) I'll have time to acknowledge the awards when April is over and the A-to-Z Challenge has finished. Only one more week *wipes-brow*

    Rosie
    East for Green Eyes

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  16. Thanks, RosieC! And can I say how impressed I am with everyone who is participating in the A-Z Challenge? I KNEW I'd never have time for all that, but it sure was tempting!

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  17. How fun, Robin! I have twin brothers, and let me tell you, twins are a CHALLENGE. I'm sure it's worth it, though. Everyone likes to tease me about having twins since my mom did, and the mere thought of it stresses me out. However, I did a little research and found that your chances for having twins more than quadruples after 35 and my mom got pregnant around 34-35, so I keep telling myself THAT's why she had twins (since they don't run in our family).

    I blogged my seven things! Loved reading yours! :)

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  18. Ashley--how fortuitous! Next month is my (um... 2011 - 1976 = ) 35th birthday!! Ha! Take that hubby! :)

    I know I'm seeing twins through rose-colored glasses ans should be slapped until I see reason... but I can't help but respond that if I deserve a reality check... I'll take it! :)

    Mostly, I want a daughter. Do you know how many mother-daughter traditions I'm left out on without one? :( (Yeah, it's all about ME!) And if I have one, she'll want a sister, yes?

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