The Versatile Blogger Award

Ok, so I'm bringing it back. Lea, over at Lea's Corner  (http://musingsofabottom.blogspot.com/) was kind enough to nominate me for it---Thanks Lea! :) Sorry it took so long to get around to it!

So the rules are:  1. Link back to the award giver. 2. List 7 things about yourself. 3. List fifteen other blogs you enjoy reading and pass nominations on to them.

Geeze, lets see, seven things about me.......that are interesting......that you dont already know........


1. I know how to play the drums. I would never ever do it in public mind you, but its something I learned as a kid. I've never learned to read music, despite many efforts by many people.

2. Biologically, I have 6 sisters and 2 brothers. Thats nine of us in all, and I am right smack dab in the middle. Four older sisters, and two of each younger than me. I also have one adopted sister (she was adopted by the same "parents" who adopted all of us). The maximum age difference between any of us is 3 years (between two of my older sisters) and the minimum is 11 months (between myself and the sister who is just older than me). For a little over a month each year, she and I are acutally the same age.

3. I was once arrested for shoplifting. I was a teenager, made a very stupid mistake, but thankfully one that was fixable. It took alot of work, but I took every punishment I was given, completed all of the things given to me by the court system, and got my record expunged. (This fascinates Ace by the way--it came up in conversation just the other night, and He wanted all of the details....the first time I have ever really gone into it with Him. I'm only slightly worried....and a little curious....about why He was so interested). 

4. I would rather read a book than do anything else. Especially John Grisham. I have a literary love affair with that man. I own all of his books and some in both hard cover and paperback(a whole shelf on the bookcase is his and then some). I have a system to reading books. I usually start a book, read about 75% of it, and then start another one. When I get to 5 or 6, then I go back and read all of the endings.

5. I was once in a serious relationship with another girl. No, that doesnt make me a lesbian or bi-sexual. Lesbians actively seek women and bi's actively seek members of both gender. I've never actively sought anyone first off. Second of all, and this is where I get funky with my views, I dont believe that a soul has a gender. Believe me, I have a whole lot of discussions with a whole lot of people on this one. If your a Bible person, yes I know about the verse with "male and female" and "created in His image"---I was raised in a strict Bible Baptist home. Thats the physical body we all have. What I want to know, is if God did put a soul in a body, what was it before it was there? Did it have a gender? I dont think so. For that matter, the perceptions we have of what "male" and "female" consist of have been determined by a man, not necessarily by God. Man wrote down what his interpretation of God's word is and that original document has been tampered with revised many times (mainly by early leaders of the Catholic religion). Who's to say if thats ever actually what God said at all? Do we really put that much faith in one or even a few men who supposedly wrote the whole truth and nothing else? The Bible says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and yet the majority of religions in the world rely upon one or even a few of these people and their interpretations of divine revelations. Thats a little scary, yes? Ok, so now I am rambling........lets get back to the point. Souls dont have gender, bodies do. And I didnt fall in love with a body, I fell in love with a soul......and incredible soul that moved me and changed me in ways I could never hope to understand. She was the first to ever "Top" me, although I was far too naive to understand it at the time. Losing her was one of the hardest things I have ever had to face. (If you read my post "o que escapou" that was her, the one that got away....in her language.)

6. I know how to read Tarot cards (although if you read my last post, you know this one already). I also have the sixth sense, a gift I was told by a savant that was given to me by Nature to account for my being born a preemie. Ace and I have tested it often---we share an unnaturally high level of telepathy between us. I am usually pretty good with perception and telepathy with others as well, as long as they can clear their mind and project ideas. It really doesnt depend a whole lot on the person receiving a message, the one sending it from themselves has the greater task. I love doing this with people though---it freaks them out most times and then they want to know what "the secret" is. I dont know if my savant friend is right---I think most people can do this, if they can control their mind and find an open-minded individual to participate. Perhaps Nature makes it easier for some than others, but I do feel that everyone has the potential to be able to.

7.  I used to be fairly good at singing. I was required to sing in the choir at church so my voice was trained to be good. I sang soprano, and the hardest song we ever performed was Handel's "Messiah". I used to love the holiday season at church though---the Christmas songs were always a favorite of mine and still are. I taught myself to plunk them out on the piano, but I cant actually play them.

Whew. That was alot. Ok so for the blogs. I follow quite a few of them, although I'm what you call a lurker or what Lea might call "a creepy McCreep". Ok, so I'm not that bad but I usually dont comment on other people's pages. I read alot of blogs but rarely comment---by the time I get to them, what I would have said has usually been expressed by someone else already anyway. So anywho, in no random order, the ones I will admit to following are:

Lea @ Lea's Corner  http://musingsofabottom.blogspot.com/
Mikki @ We're Making Up For Lost Time http://mikki-makingupforlosttime.blogspot.com/
Rayne @ Mischief Managed http://solemnlyswear-uptonogood.blogspot.com/
Ashley @ A Loves Z http://alovesz.blogspot.com/
Ms. Margaret Davis @ http://msmargaretdavis.blogspot.com/

If you go to any of these blogs and read the blogs they follow then you will see the ones I normally read. I really enjoy Stormy's, as well as Mick's (nice to have a guy's perspective), Kitty's, Season and Michael, Grace, Hermione, Christina, Rogue, Ronnie, Kay, Kiwi, and I know there are others that I am forgetting. None of these people know me, nor I them, but I have followed their blogs for a while and very much enjoyed their posts. I didnt include links to their pages because I dont know them and I dont want to freak anybody out. :)

Christmas

Well, littles' birthday is over.....gosh darn its hard to believe that child is 6 already! Time flies.......    This is always my favorite time of the year by far, but its a little bittersweet. I've had an ungodly number of people ask me when we are having our next child---none of whom know about the little one we lost. Its been really hard, I'm swallowing down a lump in my throat even as I type this. Its been a more than a year, for all practical purposes I should be over it. But I just cannot let it go. I've had it suggested that I may need to attend grief counseling---I have a whole bunch of mixed up emotions about that. It might help, but at the other hand I feel like a) I shouldnt need it, and b) its not fair of me to take something like this to a counselor when its something I should be able to handle myself. There is alot of guilt with this. Alot of hurt. I think any woman that can just "get over" this, move on and even have more kids after it is incredibly strong. I'm not that woman.

Ok, this isnt what I was intending to post about at all. Like I said, littles had her birthday party--the second one this year---and it was really great. Her nana gave her another American Girl doll--she has had the Bitty Baby ones but this is her first full size one and she was thrilled. Party went off without a hitch. We are all pretty tired, but I know it was worth it to have her be so happy.

We had Christmas with Ace's family today. Doing things a bit different this year---opened presents tonight, but having Christmas dinner there tomorrow evening. Tomorrow morning, Ace, littles, and I will have our own little Christmas---a tradtion we started for the three of us when she was born. We wanted to have our own special time to be together and exchange gifts without the extra family. Looking forward to that time with my loves, as always.

Tonight was really great! While I dont always agree with my in-laws (they still think Ace made a mistake with me) they are, to be honest, unfailingly generous at the holiday season. My favorite gift this year from "Mom and Dad" is this:

*Huge grin* Ok, so my in laws have had one of these benches in their living room for a few years and I have always loved it---and this year they surprised us with one of our own! I've told Ace (privately) many times that this would make a fantastic spanking bench, and that we should get one. As soon as we saw it, He turned to me, with His back to His parents, and gave me the biggest grin ever! I know what He was was thinking! As soon as we had a few seconds alone, He whispered evil naughty things He plans to do with it  and my response was "They may not be as vanilla as we think they are"! (although I am pretty sure they have no idea what we see in it) :)I am absolutely tickled with it. The top flips over to make serving trays or a coffe table space and the bottom is open for storage. Ace mentioned off-handedly that we could use it to hold our implements, prompting a rather startled look from me! :) He then amended that to say "If it were anyplace but the living room " *insert sigh of relief here* Its just fantastic, I cant wait to use it for everything but its intended purpose.

I've not been spanked in over two weeks----the health stuff and then busyness have prevented us from having the time. I am surprised to find that I dont actually need it. I have been behaving appallingly well, for me, following all of Ace's directions, keeping my temper, getting everything done, and still finding time to rest and get myself better in between. I have to admit, I am a little nervous about going back to it. We have a few new implements that have been neglected and now a new spanking bench as well. Dont know for sure when we will get around to it, but hopefully a nice gg spanking sometime soon.

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday! Looking forward to the New Year! :) ~sugar and Ace

P.S. I've learned a few new setups for my Tarot cards---I love doing readings for people, if you want one just let me know and I'll get back to you! :) I am not a professional and it is all just for fun, so please dont take it too seriously. The answers given are usually pretty broad and can be interpreted different ways depending on personality and mindset. Consider that my disclaimer. :)

Just a post

Lots of things going on at once--its hard to keep up with everything this time of year. My semester is finally over, assignments all turned it so that is a relief. It was alot of work, but I managed to get it all done. Just in time too--the day after I turned in my final paper, our PC crashed. Nasty little virus---thats what we get for trusting a microsoft program(I thought it was a bad idea from the start, but who am I?). System recovery, and we are back, but on a very old/outdated browser and lots of stuff gone. The last thing I needed right now.

I've been to the hospital two times in the last week. I had very painful spots break out on my left shoulder that spread to my arm and around my ribcage. Dr. determined it was shingles. Lots of pain/soreness/stiffness last Wednesday and Thursday. A day or two of meds, and I thought I was ready to take on the world! What I've found is I am not nearly as strong as I thought I am. Working two days out of three this weekend and throwing a GIGANTIC birthday party for my daughter---hey I can do that right? Well, whether thats true or not, I did it. And I shouldnt have. My body and my mind are just in turmoil. I've spent 90% of the last week wrapped up in blankets sleeping or swallowing pills, but my body is still rebelling against the idea of movement. Getting up and walking across a room is an effort. Going to work has been excruciating. I'm trying to keep going, focusing on the good things coming up this week--Christmas and my little girl's actual birthday that we are celebrating with another party. Just focus on the good stuff.

Since my last post, we've added two new weapons to our arsenal :) At Ace's request, I  purchased a new leather belt for us. His is very old and was given to Him by His grandfather so we both wanted to put that one away and not use it for ttwd. The one I purchased for Him is just awesome. Dark brown with a nice little bite. Despite health problems for both of us, He has been able to use it on me (gently) twice so far. He whipped me once with the gorgeous buckle on the front which was excruciating lovely. I think I am going to fall completely in love with it when He gets the chance to fully use it for the first time (hopefully soon).

The other implement is a pretty little metal carpet beater we found at an antique store. This one I DONT like! Its only been used once (besides when we tested it in the store) and I dont like it at all!! Its a serious implement and while we want to experiment with it more, we're moving slowly with that one.

Anywho, its early and I am exhausted. Slept all day, and need to sleep more. Just a quick update. Everything is ok and I am healing up. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday if I dont get a chance to tell you all before then! Take care! All the best,  ~sugar ( and Ace).

Homework, Interrupted

So, I was working on school work today (almost done re-creating and finishing the "lost" assignment, yay!). I was home alone, the ideal working situation, and only the television was on but off to the side of me so I wasnt paying attention to it. Well, at least not at first. When I glanced over, I noticed that "Bonanza" was on (a show I hate!). I think Fate was playing with me a bit, because a rather boring scene grabbed my attention and a few minutes later turned rather interesting.

So, background: Ben has been given a white girl who was raised by Indians. She is wild and crazy and he has a difficult time taming her. The first video should play from about 5:30 (thats just before I started watching it). Unfortunately it breaks off at a crucial moment, but if you press play on the second video you pick up right where it left off. On the second video, there is another moment where the girl is throwing a fit at the table and Ben commands her to follow him outside. The voice he used grabbed my attention and made me shiver. YIKES! But, what happens outside is not at all what I was expecting. :) Enjoy! :)

Video 1--Fast forward to about 5:30 :)

Video 2---the continuation and extra scene beginning at about 7:15.