I'll take it!

A little over a month ago, I was very kindly given a blogging award.  This was awesome for two reasons: (1) It is my very first award ever for writing, and I truly had no idea this sort of thing existed so I was quite surprised, and (2) It came from a reader who I don't know personally, which was exhilarating because it means that I have a bigger audience than I ever thought I would.  How lovely!

So first, I would just like to thank the gracious Medical Student's Wife for reading and liking what she saw enough to award it.  You should check out her blog, particularly if you are one of my readers who is a partner of the medically-inclined.  She's a teacher, her husband has just graduated from med school (congratulations!), and they are currently in the process of moving so he can begin his intern year.  I am both jealous of and anxious for them!

Here's the award:

How flattering is that?

And here's what I've been asked to do:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.  Donezo.
• Tell seven things about yourself.  Fixin' to.
• Contact and award 15 recently discovered new bloggers.  Working on it.

So without further delay, here are my seven things, which took an embarrassing amount of time to actually come up with, mostly due to thing #1:

1. I’m not all that good at talking about myself (which you’ll find hard to believe by the end of this post, I’d imagine).
2. For anyone who was incredibly concerned that I may have gone through life so far being a “waste of height” (a phrase that really gets my goat, by the way... like I consciously chose my stature and am being incredibly stingy with it), you might be interested to know that I played basketball for many years, and was a scholarship athlete in college until I realized I’d be much happier if I wasn't. {Side note: where does the saying “gets my goat” even come from?  Was goat thievery at one point a rampant issue?}
3. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m what I like to consider a “situational extrovert,” meaning I am inclined to introversion but can be coaxed into social situations in which I somehow manage spurts of outgoingness.  I’m good for some witty banter, I can easily speak in front of large groups of people, and I even put myself into performance situations (singing, acting, lecturing, etc.), but believe me, I need recharging afterward.  This is not to say that if I had my way I’d be a complete shut-in; I’m just an internal processor who can sometimes be overwhelmed by too much social activity and not enough time to reflect.
4. If people-watching were a career, I’d be a professional.  When we go out to eat, Dr. D has to purposely sit in the seat that has the best view of people and their comings and goings, otherwise I get terribly distracted.   I get sucked into strangers’ conversations, albeit discreetly.  I make up life stories about them in my head.  If I can’t hear them, I imagine what their conversations are about.  I concoct plot lines and imagine what they’re going to do once they leave.  It’s awful(ly entertaining).
5. I’m 25 and have finally reached the point where I have to actually stop and think when someone asks me, “How old are you?”  When I was a kid and my mom used to struggle to recall her age, I remember thinking it was the silliest thing ever.  How could anyone not know their own age?  But for some reason now I perpetually want to answer that I’m 22.  It must have been a defining year for me.  I suppose getting engaged, married, moving across the country, and beginning a new career all in the same year is pretty significant...
6. I can recite and sing the entire musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as quote anything James Marsters’ character (Spike) said throughout the entirety of its 7 seasons.
7. My biggest artistic outlets are writing and photography.  I truly hope to one day have my own photography business and spend my days capturing beautiful things through pictures and words.

Well there you have it.  Chew on that for a while, and I'll go recharge.