Roses and Raspberries

My newspaper does this cool thing called the Roses and Raspberry Awards. It's simple if you are very cool you get a rose, if you are lame you get a raspberry. Not those yummy mouth watering raspberries, the one that babies do to you showering you in copious amounts of spit. Today I feel the need to do my own set of awards.

I always like to hear the good news first. My 2 winners of the rose awards go to the following:

• Blue and Ashley Markham- In July Byrd and Melanie Billings were murdered in their Florida home during a well planned home invasion robbery. Byrd and Melanie had put their wealth to good use adopting and caring for nine special needs children with every challenge from Autism, to fetal alcohol syndrome to Down's Syndrome. After their tragic murder, their adult daughter Ashley and her husband Blue put their life on hold and fulfilled a promise made to her parents to always make sure the kids are taken care of and not put into foster care or group homes. Bravo Blue and Ashley, for having the courage to step up to the plate and take on this huge responsibility. You deserve more than a rose...

• The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty- You guys rock!!! I love these people. They have created a program aimed at showing the world beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. They have workshops for young girls working on body image and a line of commercials showing real women with real bodies. This all came to my attention again this week when a commercial came on with women singing a tune about how some woman's noses wrinkle, some women have freckles and some women even have wide set eyes. It was all sung to the childrens tune I remember all to well from my Barney days-- Do Your Ears Hang Low. So, thank you Dove for showing real women of all shapes and sizes on your commercials, our poor children (women too!) have enough body image issues.

• Honorable Mention: I would like to give Kate from the used to be John and Kate plus 8 a rose too. I know people often say she is mean and controlling. I'm not getting into that. I just want to say you are awesome for not abandoning your children. You are right there taking care of them everyday. You could be out there partying, spending the family finances on lavish dinners but you girlfriend are there being the Mom those kids need. You are rad.

Tomorrow I will do the raspberry (loooooser) awards. I have them all picked out and am ready to go off on those lacking brain cells. Anyone else who needs to be added to the list? Of course there is... I'm open to suggestions.


On the whole Project Peyton thing, I did it. I made a quilt top with the left over fabric from the quilt I made this week. BTW this morning on my way to work I was thinking to myself "Hmmm, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!!!". I'm a total impulse chick. I blogged about it to force myself to follow through. I lost my card reader so I will post pics as soon as I find it. Errrr.