On awards, and two roles I was apparently born to play...

Yesterday was a difficult day.

I woke up to discover that during the night, all the muscles in my neck had seized up, and my left shoulder had mysteriously become attached to my left ear. It was an extremely painful situation. As a result, my normal walk turned into a strange kind of "lollop" that apparently made me resemble the fabled Quasimodo.

"Wow! You look really AUTHENTIC!" exclaimed my clearly oblivious husband, as I made strange motions to hustle the children through their early-morning routine. "You'll have that down pat just in time for Hallowe'en!"

Great. Just great. Twenty-odd years pursuing a career in theatre, and it turns out that all it actually takes to make me believable in a leading role is a severe muscle spasm. Actually, I think it was partially my screeching about being late and missing "THE BELL" that clinched it for him...

Needless to say, I was NOT in the sweetest of moods when I returned home from seeing the kids through their classroom doors. The task of shovelling out the heap of rubble that is our home loomed before me, as did the mountain of paperwork on my desk.

Procrastination (and a couple of Advils) seemed a far better alternative, so I inched my way to my desk, and flipped on the computer screen.

This is what met my eyes:

Shauna, dear girl, to say that you brightened my day with this award would be the understatement of the century. I am honoured to be counted amongst your favourite blogs... I hope you know how much I love you right back.

And now it's my turn to spread the love around a little further... And while I'm at it, I'll take the opportunity to pass on THIS, as well:

A few weeks back, Whymommy passed this lovely button on to me, and coming from a person like HER... well, let's just say the compliment was pretty overwhelming.

After much thought, I've decided that the BEST way to sort this whole thing out is to do a bit of a "swap", if you will.

And so, Shauna, from "Up In The Night", upon you I bestow the "You Make Me Smile" award. I can think of few people who are more deserving. Shauna is a wonderfully entertaining writer, and the tales of her adventures raising three busy little kids never cease to amuse me. However, on top of all of that, Shauna is showing incredible class and dignity during a difficult time of transition in her life. Her words are always carefully chosen; she is clearly a sensitive, kind person, as well as one hell of a mother. These are qualities that REALLY make me smile. And they are also qualities that guarantee her immense success and happiness in the future.

Whymommy, I know you have one of these already (and most likely even more than one), but I honestly can't think of a more perfect recipient of the Blogger Reflection award than you. Your daily posts always make me stop and think. Most recently, it was your post about the BIG "little achievements" in your life that made me reflect upon my own... Because of you, I have paused each night this week as I put my children to bed. I have reminded myself to be conscious and in-the-moment with them, and more fully appreciative of the fact that we are able to share such precious time together. Your intense gratitude for the BIG "little achievements" has made me stop to reflect upon how much I miss by rushing through life, rather than savouring the experiences of my girlies' daily routine. You never cease to teach and to amaze me... You help to make me a better mother, and a better person. Thank-you.

And finally, I absolutely mustn't forget to mention my ancient friend, Shawn, from "Prairie Preacher". (Because, if I'm an old friend, then you are DEFINITELY ancient, boy...) Thanks for second-ing Shauna's vote yesterday... I'm very grateful that The Power Of The Blog got us re-connected, and even more so that you helped to inspire me to start "I-Can-Fly"-ing in the first place. No doubt, the "arguments" will continue for many, many years to come... And I'll be damned if I let you win a single one of them!!

There. All caught up.

Now, I'm off to search out my well-thumbed copy of Richard III... Because if this neck-thing keeps up, I'm clearly going to need to have an encore performance prepared. "I Gotta Hunch I'm Gonna Be King" would no doubt get me a standing-O from the family at breakfast tomorrow...