An Award and A Tag

I got my first award as a blogger! It's from my cyber friend and fellow cat lover Sheila at "The Quintessential Magpie." If you haven't visited her blog, be sure to stop by. I especially loved her recent post about the adventures of her new friend ...a rag doll named Autumn Annie who can even drive a car. Oh oh...watch out! Remember Toonces the driving cat?
I am supposed to name 5 things that I love...so here I go.

1. I love sunset at the beach. I love the way it goes down so gradually until the very end when it seems like it switches into light speed and then..zip...it's gone. You can almost hear the water hiss! It also helps if you are with a good friend and you have a margarita to sip on. Ahhhhh!

2. It is no secret that I love my cats. This is the only picture that I have of all 4 of them together. I had to entice them with catnip to get them to be that close to each other all at the same time! They pretty much just tolerate each other...it's a cat thang! That's the remnants of my grandson's chalk drawing on the patio. Three of the four were literally picked up off of the street. I love my babies!

3. I love the artist Van Gogh. Here I am in his bedroom!... lol ... They have a 3-D mock-up of this painting in Arles, France, where he did much of his work. Unfortunately, his house was bombed in WWII. This room is in a tiny museum near the arena. It is located up a narrow staircase and there's only room for about 5 people. My friend and I were alone up there, so we hopped the rope and took pics...lol... Doesn't it look real?? I'm looking somewhat the worse for wear because we had walked all over town for the Van Gogh tour.

4. I love the little town of l'Isle-sur-la-Sorge, France. It looks like a picture post card. It is actually built on the islands where the 5 branches of the Sorgue River come together. There are also numerous water wheels left over from the silk industry. One of the best antique and flea markets in France is held there every Sunday. If you have ever read Peter Mayle's book Hotel Pastis, this is a picture of the bank that the bungling burglars attempt to rob. If you haven't read it, you're in for a treat!

5. And finally....I love cheese! I love it better than chocolate. Roquefort cheese is my favorite... I love to eat it straight. Unfortunately, it's really expensive ... something about a retaliatory tax involving where the French get their bananas. I don't care where they get their bananas...I want my cheese!

Now I am supposed to pass this along to some more cyber friends. But... since it's nearly Christmas and everyone is very busy, I'll let you decide whether or not you want to take this one on. If you do, please let me know. I would love to see your response!

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My good friend Ann at "Life at Ann's Place" has done me the honor of tagging me! I was also recently tagged by my friend Gloria at "Happy to Be." I am going to see if I can think up 6 more random things. Hmmmmm......

1. I have been making "artistic improvements" on my hair for about 15 years. Let's just say I can't remember what I started out with and I'm sure it doesn't look that way any more anyway.

2. I grew up in paper mill town. I know...you are saying "peeeeeew." But when you live there you don't smell it. ..just like those people who work in Yankee Candle Company.

3. I have never broken a bone...thus far. One time I flew off the sink and landed on my head when I was trying to fix the faucet. I was really happy when I woke up and realized I had not cracked my head wide open. That's about as close as I have come.

4. I am near-sighted in one eye and far-sighted in the other. It has come in pretty handy until lately. Now I have to wear bifocals.....wah!

5. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 17. I was a huge chicken. Even when I took the test, the state patrolman felt sorry for me because I was so nervous.

6. In high school, my chemistry teacher told me I was the worst lab student she'd ever had. Now I was a teacher...I know you're not supposed to say that kind of stuff to the kids. But it must have been true. Well... gosh darn... she'd always tell us all about how we might blow ourselves up or burn ourselves with acid! What was I supposed to do??

Well...Those are my 6 random things. I'm not going to pass these along either for the same reason. However, once again, if you decide to participate, please let me know so I can read your post. I love to read these things. You find out all sorts of, well, random things about someone!