A few weeks ago the Farmer Gal at Farmer Gal’s Market passed on a Beautiful Blogger Award to She Wears Many Hats. I was supposed to follow up with a post choosing seven of my favorite blogs and at the same time tell seven things about myself that you don’t already know, but I’ve been dragging my feet.

Choosing the seven other blogs is the easy part. Well, kinda, sorta. Narrowing it down to only seven blogs is a little tough because there are so many fantastic blogs out there. The part I’ve been avoiding is the telling of seven things about myself.

I don’t want to tell you seven things about myself.

I’m just not that interesting.

So here’s the deal, I’ll list seven things about myself, if you leave a comment with seven things about yourself. Deal? Deal. Sounds fair enough to me.

But first, as far as the seven blogs I’d like to pass on the Beautiful Blogger Award to, I decided to make it easier to narrow down by selecting seven blogs that are fairly new, roughly a year old. Each blog recognized may carry on the tradition if they’d like by posting about seven other blogs and telling seven interesting things about themselves. Here they are, in no particular order…

1) A Cozy Kitchen – Stop by and take a gander at some tasty recipes and wonderful food photography.

2) The Sophisticated Gourmet – Would you believe me if I told you that there is a teenager blogging quite beautifully about food while attending high school full time? And what if I told you that it’s a guy? Yep. Meet Kamran.

3) Spontaneously Clapping – An expectant newlywed with stories, observations and yummy treats that will have you spontaneously clapping too. Be sure to tell Dandy I said “hey!”

4) Our Life in the Kitchen – Karen never fails to leave me craving for whatever she’s got cooking in her kitchen. Great photography, great food and she feels like a sister already.

5) Wenderly – Wenderly is brand new to blogging – like April 2010! I’m sure she has some great things in store for us. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

6) Three Many Cooks – A fantastic trio of mom and two daughters weave together a variety of recipes and life stories that’ll keep you coming back for more. Hey y’all, can I come over and we can make that Four Many Cooks? Just for a day? Purty please?

7) Tickled Red – A southern gal, married to a surfer dude. I’d say she’s got a lot to be tickled about. Don’t miss her variety of offerings that’ll leave you tickled too.

There are many, many blogs that I frequent that have been rockin’ and rollin’ for a lot longer – you can check some of them out here if you’d like.

Okay, moving on…the seven things about myself that I’d rather were left unsaid but I am relying on you to counter with your seven to make me feel better about baring my soul.

1) As a child I was freakishly strong. By the time I was in the 6th grade all the boys would test their strength by seeing if they could beat me at arm wrestling. I’ll not say how many young men were left in defeat. I felt very sorry for them. It was pitiful indeed. You think I’m joking? I wish I were.

2) According to the video, there was a time that I wore a bikini and didn’t care what my stomach looked like. Oh, the oblivion of childhood…

3) The video also reveals how I’ve got the beat. I’ve got mad skilz. Did you see those moves? Seriously, music makes me happy. Our home is full of all kinds of music. On another musical note, when I was younger I played the clarinet for eight years. Yesirree, I was a band geek.

4) In the 10th grade, Anthony C., a varsity football player, stopped by to re-test his strength with an arm wrestling match. Who won? Hmmm…who knows…I’ll never tell…

5) That same year, even though I was very much a band geek by that point, hearing of my incredible strength, the track coach “recruited” me (I don’t recall why, maybe Anthony told her to, or maybe blackmail was involved) as a pole vaulter. No, it was for discus and shot put…throwing them…through the air…great distances. And you know what girls on the track team wore back then? Bloomers. Freakin’ bloomers and a tank top. Mighty nice. I still shudder when I hear the word “bloomers.” And you will not find me in sleeveless attire – ever. Never.

6) That same year, whilst not hurling things through midair, because my parents wanted me to be well-rounded (and one day have a boyfriend, get married and have grandchildren for them), I was enrolled in a modeling/etiquette class. We all know how important working the catwalk is for clarinet playing shot put throwers. I really don’t know what was worse. Walking the catwalk in a leotard (yes, a leotard, and I was 15, and it was green) in front of a bunch of attractive young ladies who actually wanted to be there, or swirling around in bloomers to throw the discus.

7) My junior year I was drum major. And I think the only reason I wasn’t drum major during my senior year was due to an accidental (or was it?) trip into the men’s restroom after an honors band concert, only to find the band director from a neighboring school in his skivvies. Ahem. They were nice plaid boxers. Later when I walked into the drum major tryouts to find him as one of the judges, I knew my days of counting mark time were over. They missed out. I could conduct a darn good Sousa march with one hand, while arm wrestling with the other.

(For the record I am happily married to a man who met the prerequisite of having to be able to beat me at arm wrestling.)

So there, seven things. Done. Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment telling me seven things about yourself. Come on, it’s only fair. And I’d love to learn more about you too!