Focus, Holly, Focus

Ok, so I was on the phone with my lovely and extremely talented and fun sister-in-law, Kim, who is one of probably only 2 or 3 people in the world that I like to talk to for more than 2 minutes on the phone.

I started going through all my old e-mails in my yahoo inbox and realized it was time to do a little housecleaning. I was deleting old files right and left, which you can do easily while still having a conversation. Then I ended up where the new e-mail comes in and I had a couple of them, one from a wonderful and also very talented (what do these people see in me?) blogging lady named Sophia, who I have recently taken to corresponding on a regular basis. (Ok, so it was just since yesterday, but we've probably sent 5 or 6 messages back and forth via e-mail and facebook in the last 24 hours. I would consider that pretty regular for one day.) The message said to go to her blog, quickly. (Hope you don't mind if I post this part, Sophia. I don't think anyone you know reads my blog.) So, still on the phone with Kim, I went to her blog to see what the problem was. There was no problem, just a giveaway for the first five people who left a comment.

Well, there were already 6 comments but I thought it was nice of her to include me so I just left a little "hi" message and sorry that I was too late.

She wrote back and said I wasn't too late. (This is all while I was still on the phone with poor Kim, who had some legitimate things to discuss with me. By now I had started to give her the sidetracked "ahhhs" and "um hmms" and "oh, uh huhs" that I usually reserve for conversations with my mom, who doesn't have a computer yet, so I think I'm safe saying that here.) I was also trying to referee a fight between my two youngest because Ally kept stealing and eating Austin's Valentine candy. This made me mad because she had eaten the pieces that I had MY eye on.

So I guess I had won something. I thought I'd better go see what it was. I did go back and check the comments and I think a couple of the posts were from some of the same people, which is how, by default, I won a prize that I knew nothing about. Here is Sophia's post:

Friday afternoon fun!
Two posts in one day.... something that I rarely do. My favorite neice, Brooke, had this on her blog and I took the challenge because hey! any prize from Brooke will be a keeper! So, here's the deal: Something just for you especiially from me! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. I loved Brooke's interpretation of this little game and here are her "restrictions and limitations":

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you,that's for sure! (From me, it will more than likely brownies or a paper creation, because unlike Brooke, my poetry or painting wouldn't be something anyone would take seriously!)
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. (I would have to add that I reserve the right to take six extra months in getting to the post office to get it mailed. But, you will get it eventually.)

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same prize to the first 5 people who post on your blog. The first 5 people to repost and leave a comment telling me they did win an AWESOME homemade gift by yours truly!

Ok, so seriously, right now is the first I have actually read what Sophia wrote. What have I gotten myself into? Well, since these days all I have is my integrity, and that is barely hanging on by a thread, I guess I better do what I committed to do, even though it was while I was trying to do too many other things at once. (I think there is a lesson in here somewhere for me.)

I do, however, like the part where I could send something extremely strange. So, if you win and are strange, I will send you something to match your personality. :-) I'm not really gifted artistically, but I do like to bake. Somehow I don't think cinnamon rolls will travel well in the mail. How about fudge jumbles? I did read an interesting article about a missing Norman Rockwell painting that they found recently behind a false wall....

Now, back to Sophia, I've heard that her brownies are legendary. So great, in fact that she has said she will only share the recipe at her funeral. She is also extremely talented and famous in the paper crafts arena. (Oh, she was cleaning out old stuff, hmmm.) I even took a class from her quite a few years ago.

Ok, so here you have it. The funny thing is that I don't even think I have 5 people who read this blog. At least not that many who would admit to it. (And then post on their own blog.) We'll see how it goes. While I'm at it, maybe I'd better bake something for Kim to apologize!

Happy Friday!