Category Archives: about-me

about-me, blogging

Versatile Blogger

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Yesterday, Brittany over at Living in the Moment (Which happens to be one of my absolute favorite blogs! If you’ve not started reading it yet, now would be an excellent time to do. Trust me on this one, kay?) tagged me to receive the blog award Versatile Blogger.

I honored to be in her list! THANK YOU!!

Now, for the steps of this award:

Share 7 things about yourself.

1) I am planning to write a book about the history of Printer’s Alley in downtown Nashville. I have a serious love for that Alley and the history of it just makes me light up to hear. I’ve looked and looked, and I’ve never found a book written specifically about the Alley. I already have several contacts to interview about it. All I need to do is write my book pitch and, the hard part, find someone interested in publishing it.

2) I have two things I battle almost constantly: tooth aches and sinus problems. The tooth aches are from my deep dislike for the dentist, not to mention the sheer expense of dental work. The sinus problems just are what they are. Fall is always the worst, so brace yourself for an extreme amount of whining in the next few months about my not being able to breathe.

3) I play FarmVille on Facebook. My secret is out. Please forgive me! But, I like how it makes me think and balance time spans in the game, and as silly as it sounds… its just plain fun. Time consuming, yes, but hence the balancing time spans. The goal is to always make it such that I play in my downtime, not when it would take me away from my work.

4) I’ve become a total penny pincher. If I do buy myself something frivolous, like today I bought a couple flowers for my front steps, it has to be on sale. Or I have to have a coupon. Coupons are my friends. I’m not as good at the coupon clipping as some people are, but there is a level of satisfaction seeing a significant number under “money saved” at the bottom of a receipt.

5) Labor Day means MDA Telethon. My nephew has muscular dystrophy, and as such MDA is an organization that is very near and dear to my heart. They do wonderful, wonderful things and Labor Day is their biggest fundraiser for the whole year. While many people are out on the lake, etc. I’m watching that total raise, often with tears in my eyes. My nephew is an amazing kid teen, and I am prouder of him than I could ever put into words. Labor Day is a big day for anyone and everyone touched by muscular dystrophy, and I am looking forward to it!

6) My toenails are always painted, but my fingernails are never painted. Well, except for clear. I don’t know why, but its just something with me. I might go a day or two without polish on my toenails, but its only if I am staying home and will probably be wearing socks at all times. It just BUGS me to not have them painted! As for my fingernails, I just don’t like chipped polish, and I can’t go a day without chipping my nail polish. So I just opt to not wear polish at all.

7) I haaaaate making phone calls. There must be a name for that fear, because I literally will get a knot in my stomach and sweaty palms before making a phone call. Well, when I call anyone besides my husband or my parents. As such, I’m a total text message addict. It avoids my phone fear. Anytime I DO make a phone call, I get a sense of accomplishment. I did it! I beat my fear! Yay! But it comes back every time I pick up the phone. Its crazy. I know. But it is what it is.

Pass this award on to 15 bloggers who you love, think are fantastic or have recently discovered.

1) If Mom Says OK — Gotta love Tara… found her via Weekly Winners; I love all her posts and she’s awesome to follow on Twitter as well.

2) Boy Blessings — Follow the story of a Mom whose son has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The same type my nephew has.

3) Just One Miss — I always enjoy her posts and point of view.

4) Lesley’s Blog — I’ve literally know Lesley since she was born. She doesn’t post much, but when she does, she always amazes me the type of strong woman she’s grown up to be.

5) Way More Homemade — Recipes and she’s an Aggie. How could I not love this!?

6) Life Ain’t Always Beautiful — A mom. A country music fan. An all around very cool lady. Go say Hi to Missy!

7) Just Malia — A fellow Nashvillian! I love reading about the perspective of others in my city!

8) Milk Breath and Margaritas — While I am on a Nashville run, Amy is also editor of the Relationships Channel of Blissfully Domestic, which I write for. Besides, how can you not love a blog with such a cool title?

9) Newlyweds Next Door — I only just recently found this blog, and what I’ve read so far, I love!

10) Not Quite What I Had Planned — One of my favorite Weekly Winners ladies, her blog has pulled me in time and time again.

11) Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide — Eric is a friend of my husbands. I only just learned of his blog this week, but I am so enjoying it. Anyone reading my blog mostly for my behind the scenes posts to the music industry would be smart to check Eric’s blog out, too.

12) Matty Thoughts — I keep forgetting to visit Matty on a regular basis, but whenever I have made it over there, I’ve enjoyed his blog thoroughly. He’s given me wonderful feedback on my blog and for that I am grateful.

13) The Mama of Mojo — I follow her on Twitter and absolutely love her tweets. Is it not expected that I’d also love her blog?

14) The Young and The Relentless — Another blogger I found via Twitter, if I recall. Great life blog.

15) i am lotus — aka Sarcastic Mom. Blogger I quite frankly have a blogger-crush on… which might be weird since her husband and my husband have been friends for years. Even weirder to say I’ve never met Lotus in person. But I think I’m in blogger-love. Now, I just hope I haven’t scared her off for life with this. ;)

about-me, point of view, random musings

Are you a cat or a dog person?

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Dog vs Cat -- a scene from my house this weekend

This last weekend I had both a dog and a cat in my house. Growing up, I always considered myself a “dog person” with a dislike for cats. That dislike probably came more from others not liking cats than any real opinion of my own, because once I got my first cat… I began to discover a “cat person” in myself.

This weekend confirmed the transformation was complete. I am without a doubt a cat person.

A cat you can leave for a day without any concern. As long as they have food, water, a litter box and maybe a toy or two, they’re good to go. Self-sufficient, they are. A dog, though, you have to take out and walk. There’s no leaving them for more than a few hours! I also discovered a need for constant attention. This is just something I can’t do working from home. Working Friday ended up being a total bust, and I chalked it up to a life lesson kind of a day.

Anyone who knows me, though, knows those life lesson days usually end up with my doing research and learning about whatever phenomenon I’ve run into. So, I did a quick Google search for “dog or cat personalities” and stumbled upon an article summarizing research done by the (*gulp*) University of Texas in Austin into this exact idea — a difference in the personalities of dog and cat owners.

The article found:

  • Dog people were generally about 15 percent more extraverted, 13 percent more agreeable and 11 percent more conscientious than cat people.
  • Cat people were generally about 12 percent more neurotic and 11 percent more open than dog people.

So, based on those findings, I’m neurotic, disagreeable, not very conscientious and open. Makes perfect sense to me. Describes me to a T.

Or not.

For me, being a cat person is more about the fact that I want a pet companion, but my schedule is just not structured enough to have a dog. I need a pet that I can snuggle with now and then (especially when the husband is on the road), but that I can also not have to worry about being upended by a sudden change in plans. (Plus, if I am gone for a few days, I only have to worry about finding someone to check the cat every other day at most, versus a friend having to make a daily commitment to the task.) Yes, I want the protection that only a dog can provide, but ultimately the frustration I’ve felt having to care for a dog has made that want a little less important. I’ll stick with my checking the locks every night, keeping a head’s up about my surroundings, and just using my head in every situation in front of me.

So, hello world. I’m Denise. I am a cat person.

(I can hear my brother groaning now.)