Slurping Life

Loving That Someone Loves What I Do

Two of my long-time bloggy friends, Marie and Julie have awarded me the Arte y Pico.  I know.  I had a questioning look too when I attempted to read those words and comprehend exactly what was the honor.  Really, Marie and Julie each have a delightful sense of humor...I was imagining things.  Turns out this is a for real honor.  Thank you ladies, I am sincerely touched that you find art and beauty in what I do here at Slurping Life.

Arte y Pico

What is the meaning of Arte y Pico?  From the source:

What is the meaning of the expression: And basically, ironically, it translates into a wonderful phrase in Mexico, “lo maximo.” LOL! It will never find its counterpart in English, but if it HAD to, it would be something like, Wow. The Best Art. Over the top.

Marie was also the first to have given my blog the Brillante Weblog Premio award.  Then four more darling bloggy friends, Kim, Maddy, Angela and Carrie each passed this honor to Slurping Life.  I am honored.  Thank you times five.

I apologize for having taken far too long to acknowledge receipt of each honor.

I am not obeying the rules of these awards.  Not because I am ungrateful or know of no one deserving to honor, I am simply at a difficult crossroad in life.  Blog reading has been limited and honestly, I feel overwhelmed at the thought of deciding which of you to honor. 

I have been feeling overwhelmed quite a bit recently, and until late last night the reasons were not clear. Sure the boys needs are extremely demanding and Lee's behaviors are becoming increasingly difficult to manage, but there is much more. 

Mainly, I have been completely unauthentic in living life.  It is one of those cases of becoming bogged down with life responsibilities that I should have never accepted...they do not enhance my family's life, they serve no true redeeming purpose, nor do they fuel my passions.  So they are gone.  I have lost count of the times the word "no" has left my lips or been typed by my fingers in the last two days.  I have also used the phrase "I quit" a couple of times.  It feels good.

Marie, Julie, Kim, Maddy, Angela and Carrie...from the deep well of appreciation in my heart, thank you.  I hope you will forgive me for blemishing the spirit in not passing these honors.  I'm sorry.

Enjoy your weekend...enjoy your life...I am.

Blog of the Day at Fuel My Blog

Surprises, aren't they the best?  Sylvie over at Fuel My Blog sent me a heads up email.

Slurping Life is blog of the day at Fuel My Blog.  Yeah, I'm happy dancing.  I really needed a happy dance today, and if you read the post coming up later, you will understand why.

A head's up to you...giveaway...and the third post today will be up about noon.  Then there will be the matter of undoing the damage the boys have done while my nose was to the computer monitor.

If you are dropping by Slurping Life for the first time, I apologize that my most recent posts are not filled with a great deal of substance...life has been a bit fragmented recently.  A place to do some reading and see photos would be the Just Like A Boy and Photography archives. 

Thanks for visiting.  It is always a treat to make new bloggy friends.

Dancing with Ladybugs ~ Sharing Beauty

Sometimes we simply need to stop focusing on everything negative and look through the gloom of darkness to see the beauty.  There is far more good in life than bad, and anyone can choose to smile.  Yes, anyone.  My boys have taught me even though you may be beaten, broken and struggling...there is always a reason to smile.  Sometimes you just have to look someplace besides yourself.

Kat is blogging to do just that...bring the good stuff to light and show you places to look...through her new blog, Dancing with Ladybugs. 

You don't have to look farther than the evening news to see a lot of "ugly" in this world, and it's easy to get bogged down in the storms of everyday life, personal struggles, professional challenges, parenting dilemmas, local and world-wide events. But if you look with the right perspective, you'll also find a lot of good in this world. Stories of love, of hope, of promise, of adversity overcome, of living life as it was intended to be lived... with laughter, promise and love. This blog is about those stories, about dancing in the rain instead of merely trying to survive in the storm.  ~~Kat

Take a moment to visit Kat, read and be sure to comment and let her know you were there. 

Beautiful things happen when we focus on the good in life and encourage others to do the same.  This is how we change ourselves.  This is how we change the world.

Sunday's Sharing Beauty

A Mom of Six, Sharing Love and Beauty

Stop trying to remember, naming and counting my boys...my number is four, not one more, thank you.  But I do like to mess with your head sometimes.

Laura over at A Day in the Life of a Mom of Six shared some love with me.  My toes tickled, my eyes sparkled and I lost a couple of pounds when I saw my Sharing The Love button.  Yes, afterwards I could zip up a pair of jeans once believed to be a lost cause.  Love works miracles and often comes from unexpected places precisely when you need it.  Thank you, Laura.

I am Sharing The Love with...

Tammy ~ Praying for Parker
Michelle ~ In the Life of a Child
Dee ~ Just Another Day in Paradise
Christina ~ Momology
Natalie ~ The Benson Family and Other Stuff
Val ~ Purple Valley
Stacy ~ The Land of K.A.
Marie ~ A Year from Oak Cottage

...because I want your toes to tickle, your eyes to sparkle, and I don't know a woman who would argue with losing a couple of pounds.  Not insinuating anything, just sharing the love because either you've been coming here sharing the love for a really long time, or you recently said something that made my life a little brighter, or I simply know that you really, really need it...or quite possibly because of all of the above.  Please, take your button and post it with love from me to you.

Group hug, y'all.  Hey, that includes you even if you aren't on the list.  Time restraints simply do not allow me to list everyone individually.  If you are a regular bloggy friend, I would be thrilled to have you share the love by posting the button on your blog.  Really.  I would.  And I would love for you to tell me that you did.

Sharing the Love is a beautiful gesture, and the blogs I have linked above are my links for Sharing Beauty Sunday.  You will find a different, but equally inspiring, kind of beauty at each blog.

Now stop the group hug...someone is pulling my hair.

Help Me Not Look Like A Complete Idiot

Edit:  The voting closed about the time I posted about it.  Yeah, I can be slow to find out about things. If you did make it over to vote, thank you sweetly.

The 2008 Bloggy Hoss Awards are open for voting at An Island Life.

Slurping Life nominated for Brainiest?  Being certain the boys and the wine have killed most of my brain cells, I laughed a bit at this one. Honestly, I clicked the link because certainly there must be another blog titled Slurping Life. Nope, me.

Brainiest is about the seventh category down and you must scroll up or down within each category to view the entire list of nominees. Thank you lovely person for nominating me, no matter how misguided you are...whoever you are. Really. Seriously. I'm honored.

Now get over there and vote for Slurping Life so I do not look like a complete idiot. Pretty please.

And stop laughing.