Blog Awards!

Awards are such heart-warming things, aren't they?  I'm not talking about the awards *shows* themselves, which are usually tiresome monstrosities of celebrities patting themselves on the back for not only their work, but also the "causes" they want to push forward.

I found out yesterday and this morning that I've gotten two awards just in the last 48 hours for this blog.  Neither of them are of the world-shattering Oscar variety, and they won't make the E: Entertainment Television (though I've been trying to beat Joan Rivers off of my doorstep for the past 12 hours at least, which is fun in its own way).

No, these are much more personal, and thus, much more valuable.


The first one I found out about yesterday.  It's the Authentic Blogger "Weekly Featured Blog Author" award.  I was one of the early members of the Facebook group (which then spawned its own blog, among many other things) for Authentic Blogger.  It was formed by two dear people, Marty D. & Dawn S, as a place where bloggers could go to commiserate with fellow bloggers, have their blogs read and also as a resource for any advice from their fellow bloggers.  It's like a lot of other blog groups out there, and you may have noticed the Authentic Blogger sign on the right side of my blog.  It's full of great people, with over 250 people in it at the time of this writing.

A number of great blogs have been featured, so I'm very honoured to be included in the select list.  If you're on Facebook and you like to blog, you should definitely check the group out.  Post your stuff on the wall; help other bloggers with their questions; ask your own!  I've made lots of great new friends there, and they know their stuff.  They also know quality when they see it.

They chose me, didn't they?  

(ok, raise your hands anybody who didn't see that coming?)

The second award I found out about this morning, and it's a very personal award, in the sense that it doesn't come from a group (Peanut Gallery: "Dave Roy, the new Webster's Dictionary of the bleedin' obvious").  It's from our very own "Widow Lady" who decided to post her Widow's Smile awards and made a very gracious mention of this blog.  Observant readers will notice that my blog header has changed slightly to quote one of the favourite things I've heard said about me or my blog in a long while.

The Widow is a wonderful lady and an excellent blogger.  Her blog on dealing with the death of her husband is riveting reading and may help those of you who are in a similar situation. But she also has fun with the blog too, with her personality shining through with every word. I encourage you to go read her blog now.

Well, not right now.  Finish reading this post first.  Then go read that one.  And make sure you read the Widow's Smile awards post first, so you can see what she said about me.  You know you want to.

So, many thanks to a wonderful group of people for these honours. I hope I continue to live up to the feelings behind the awards, and that you continue to enjoy my work.  It's not possible without you, the reader, so I thank you as well for the inspiration behind keeping me going.

Sorry for the long-winded acceptance speech.  I better end now before they bring out the giant hook for me.

But I'd bet I still look better in a tux than David Letterman, and I don't make dumb Oprah jokes either. (Peanut Gallery: "Just leave out the 'Oprah' part and that would be a wrong statement.")