Gurlee Made Me Cry

So after being away from blogworld for a while when my Mom was in town, I opened my email to discover that Gurlee over at Infertility Musings had bestowed on me the Versatile Blogger Award. And I cried. Like most of you, I started this blog just to have somewhere to vent, to get everything out of my own head with a hope that someone out there would say, "Me too. Doesn't this shit just suck?" 

Thank you Gurlee *sniff*sniff*

So as I understand it, this is how the award works:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award. (Thx again Gurlee!)
2. Tell 7 things about yourself that readers may not know.
3. Pay it forward by nominating 8 bloggers you’ve recently discovered.

So without further ado:

1. I have an English Garden and I hate gardening. I have to pay someone to come take care of the flower beds because otherwise things start dying and weeds take over and the next thing you know... there goes the neighborhood!

2. I was in the past (and will be in the future) an artist. I packed up my studio to take my first ever 9-5 job in order to do the baby-making thing with decent insurance and maternity pay. It's been two years and I'm only just now starting to miss it. I'll get back to it when I can have a home studio.

3. I actually like my job. I've only been there for 18 months, but I go home at the end of the day knowing that I contributed to making the world a better place.

4. Salsa is my number one comfort food. No joke. I was raised in Texas and good salsa is probably the thing I miss most.

5. I am a book addict. I collect first editions, particularly young readers and teen books. Yes I like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and Twilight (all for different reasons). I also love Diana Wynne Jones (Chrestomanci) and Catherine Webb (Horatio Lyle).

6. I am allergic to cats. I have two.

7. I have a soft spot for aquariums (the kind you visit, not the kind you keep in the living room), but find zoos depressing. I am particularly fond of sea urchins. But not for dinner.

I would like to bestow the Versatile Blogger Award upon the following:

1. APlusB at a+b, waiting for c
2. Becca at Liberal Granola Girl's Blog
3. Hope Springs at Moving On to the Next Plan
4. Jay at The Two Week Wait

5. Jenny at Among the Blossoms
6. My So-Called (TTC) Life
7. Secret Sloper at Park Slope Purgatory 
8. This is More Personal