First, let me just thank everyone for playing along yesterday, that was outstanding, and I love how we are all so diverse, love it.
I do this as much for myself as for you guys, so here goes with today’s announcements. Remember how I said that I write shit down on any- and everything I can find? Well here is a nice example, it’s also an example of how my blog, and blog-hopping, has taken over my life (right, OCD much? I know I know). 
So this is what the note means:
Sarah (Sure Thing) has a post up that she’d like some feed-back on, so go there and give her your opinions.
Delia had a vote on her blog but I think we missed it, you should go check, maybe give her your thoughts anyway.
Kate recently posted the start of her new novel, which is very fun, and she’d like a bit of feed-back as well.
And over there, cast your eyes to the right, we have still more additions to the Important Things blog roll. Why yes, it is now officially cumbersome and tilting my entire site off its foundation. Worry not though, My Hurricane will be in town next week, and all will be well. In fact, this is one of my other announcements, an up-grade is in the works. You already know how I feel about change, so I am preparing my wee self elf for the new look. It’s coming, whether I like it or not. (If you would like to be included in this listing, and/or the new one later, let me know.)
I will begin this next portion of tonight’s events with a disclaimer, I was young when I first gave birth, and I believed what people told me. I wanted to name my son (after TEN months of being pregnant, no I am not joking) a name that wasn’t actually a name: J.D. But the official woman in the hospital, who was older, and stood more firmly than I did, said that was illegal, I now know it was not. She said the initials had to stand for something. She was wrong, I could have done it my way, but I was in pain, had a huge and fresh surgery scar, and I had an equally huge baby to deal with, and I just wanted to go home and start being a mom. So I assigned some words to the initials, and then never looked back. Never called him anything but J.D. (okay, that’s not true, I call him Jade, and I call him Petunia, and for a long while there, before he had sisters, and sometimes to this very day, we call him J.D. Boy). There’s a reason I tell you all this. 
He won the Academic Award today for his entire graduating patrol class. (As he told me last night,” that’s right, the guy who never studied got the highest test scores.”)
If any of you can read that plaque, do not, I repeat, DO NOT say it out loud, or anywhere near me. I will not acknowledge it. (His middle name is Daniel, that doesn’t bother me as much, for obvious reasons.) I am HUGELY proud of this kid. All those months of toting him around (in the womb and years beyond that) were totally worth it. And because he was the perfect baby, he has sisters, who I am also HUGELY proud of. 
And guess what else? Fictional Friend Whitney (last discussed here on the Pictures of State Fair Day post) is really a person. And a lovely person too! 
Foreign plates du jour: Ohio and Colorado.
For our card draw, we have returned to Colette’s Hidden Realm. And before anyone says anything, yeah, he’s a bit odd, but let’s concentrate on the message today, shall we? 
“The Ringmaster of Scrutiny ~ discernment, clear vision, details.
The Ringmaster of Scrutiny is all about the details. Look closely and pay attention to the smallest elements of what is being presented to you on your path. It is in these details, not the broad strokes, that you will find the breathtaking beauty and perfection in what you observe.
This Ally is on your side to point to the deeper meanings of what unfolds in your life, and reminds you that every moment counts. Staying present in this perfect moment, observing the minute things, leads you to manifest your highest good and greatest desires. Grand gestures are for other times. It is the smallest acts that really count now.”
