You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

With all apologies to Sally Field . . . I will continue.

This week has been a busy one here at Little Merry Sunshine. Once again, I have been recognized for my awesomeness with three highly prestigious awards! Well, they're prestigious in my own mind. You may wonder why I waited to share this good news with you and the answer is that I was waiting because I also wanted to announce that I was Barack's VP choice, but we all know that didn't come to pass and I spent yesterday curled up in a ball on my living room floor sobbing.

But now, onto the awards!

First, a huge thanks to Dr. Monkey for awarding me the Patriots for Peace sticker below. You may recall that he had a contest on his site on August 5th. And I'm a winner! (I told all you bitches who called me a "loser" in junior high and high school that I was a winner and I was right!) And my Patriots for Peace sticker arrived on Wednesday! PLUS, it had a super cool bonus prize with it! (See the pictures below) If you're not familiar with this contest, according to the rules, which I evidently followed, I had to email Dr. Monkey and tell him what car I would put it on, and in the event I am the winner (which I am!), once I receive the sticker, I must take a photo of the car with said sticker affixed and post it on my blog. Now I'm a Patriot! Cuz having a sticker on my car makes me a Patriot, just like wearing a flag lapel pin, right?

Patriots for Peace sticker on the back of my 1995 Honda Civic EX.

Bonus Prize! Joshua Tree Bloom postcard. The quote from the back of the card says "Forests of this true desert tree may be found in many regions of the West. From acrid desert wastes, nature produces this delicate and beautiful cluster of flowers each year."

Second, a big old hug to Boxer Rebellion (if that's okay with you Gourmet Goddess!) for awarding me the highly esteemed "Kickass Blogger Award." That's right. I kick ass! So don't mess with me!

I apologize for not thanking you sooner, but I was out of town when you awarded me this prize and my people evidently failed to inform me. Heads will roll. I am eternally grateful.

Because it's no fun to hog the awards to myself, here's the deal (well, okay, these are actual rules according to Boxer, but we can pretend that I want to share the wealth) . . .

1. Pick 5 bloggers I think kick ass . . .
I can't possibly pick just 5 bloggers. So here's my modification to this rule. If your blog appears on the Sidebar on the left, I think you kick ass. If you're not on the blogroll, but you read my blog, I must not know you exist. Please let me know.

2. Let them know they've been selected to receive this highly prestigious award.
I just did.

3. Link back to the person who awarded you the Kick Ass Blogger Award (thanks Boxer!) and also to http://www.mammadawg.com/.
Done.

4. Visit the Kick Ass Blogger Club HQ to sign Mr. Linky and leave a comment.
Done.

And now, the last and most coveted prize I have received this week was from Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder. While at an Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce Luncheon at the new Village Hall, Mayor Mulder awarded me with the highly coveted lucite paperweight below, commemorating the dedication of the new Village Hall. Finally, a worthwhile return on my tax dollars. I also received a spiffy pen with her name on it. Please note, because the pen has her name on it, that means that she paid for it, NOT the Village. (She told us that). The award ceremony went something like this:

Mayor Mulder, at the end of her presentation: We have a drawing
today. Is there a Little Merry Sunshine in the room?

Me: That's me!

Mayor Mulder, leaning across 3 rows of people so she doesn't actually have to get near me: Here you go.

Me: Thank you very much.

It was a moving moment, I assure you. Unfortunately, the awards presentation was over in less time than it took you to read about it, so no pics of me accepting this award from Mayor Mulder.

Lucite paperweight with rendering of the New Arlington Heights Village Hall. The back of the paperweight says "Arlington Heights Village Hall was Dedicated on May 8, 2008. The landmark building reflects the Village's rich architectural history. The Village Hall is the cornerstone of the John G. Woods Municipal Campus. Mayor Woods served from 1961-1969 and again from 1972-1973 during a time of great growth in the Village. His vision and innovativeness significantly contributed to the Arlington Heights of today."

Pen paid for by Mayor Mulder and not with taxpayer dollars.

While I'm still not convinced that $30+ million was wisely spent to build the new Village Hall, it is a beautiful space and the luncheon was lovely. I'm sorry I couldn't stay for the tour. Maybe if I had, I would feel better about the $30+ million. One thing I can say, however, is that it did get completed on time and under budget. Mayor Mulder told us to repeat that too.

Awards season is not over. In fact, I think it's just ramping up. So feel free to present me with as many awards as you want. I've earned them.

The Parking God ALWAYS Wins

Arlington Heights is notorious for its strict parking enforcement and ultra confusing signage. And parking is always almost impossible to find in the downtown area. I've gotten so many parking tickets, that I should have a short wing named for me in the new Village Hall (aka Taj Mahal). Street parking in the residential areas is also strictly enforced with no overnight parking allowed.

Last night, Dave and I both forgot that his truck was on the street and went to bed around 10. I woke up bright and early with my first thought being, "Oh shit! Dave got a parking ticket!" Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. (Oh, wait, wrong story, never mind.)

Anyway, I looked out the window and his truck was GONE. Dave doesn't leave in the morning until 7:30 and this was 6:45, so now my thought was "Oh shit! Dave's truck was TOWED!" I yelled for Dave, but it turned out he had left at 6:00 because he had a 6:30am meeting. When I finally reached him on his cell phone, he said he had not gotten a ticket. Glory! Hallelujah! I said I would offer up a sacrifice to the Parking God, but got busy and forgot.

Fast forward to this evening . . . Dave and I decided to go out for Thai food before he leaves in the morning. We drive around downtown Arlington Heights for nearly an eternity in search of parking, but finally found a spot about a block away in a public lot. Just as we were getting out of the car, we discovered a sign 90% blocked by shrubbery indicating we would be towed by parking in what the sign told us was a private lot.

We continued our search for any parking and found a spot near, but not in front of, the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre. There was a sign that we both read "2 hour parking 6am-5pm" and then "no parking after 5pm on weekends." Since tonight is Tuesday, we parked and were off to fill his very loud and empty tummy.

Dinner was fantastic, but upon our return, Dave says "what's that on your car?" It was a ticket. The sign actually said "no parking after 5pm." Damn. Now I've parked there 1000 times and I'm certain the sign used to say "no parking after 5pm on weekends" and there's even a blank line below "5pm" that appears to have something covered. But I'm not disputing the ticket. I earned it fair and square.

After all, the Parking God always wins.