We Have a Winner!!!

The last few weeks I've been struggling to reclaim my mojo. I'm in a funk. Part of my funk can be attributed to the fact that I've given up my planning period to teach an additional class, so I have no time to recharge. My motor is constantly running. I'm running on empty, and this coupled with the fact that I'm an introvert who needs time by myself has resulted to more appearances by Mr. Crankypants. It takes all my energy to keep him at bay, so my writing and creativity has suffered.

I'm not one to sit back and accept my fate. I've decided to be proactive. I've decided to follow Jack London's advice and to not wait for inspiration. I'm going after it with a club. To inject some enthusiasm into my blog, I decided to host my first giveaway contest at The Greasy Skillet. Tonight I'm announcing the winner.

For the sake of full disclosure, I should note that I personally know three of the individuals who are eligible for this drawing. They are:

Jane: She cared for our daughter for a year. Since I could never repay her for the quality time she spent with my daughter, I should probably rig the drawing for her to win.

Steve: He's married to one of my wife's college friends. I've only met him twice - once at a Nebraska football game, and he, his wife, and their two flatulent Great Danes visited our home once. Steve posted an outstanding post to the question, "What do you love most about your hometown?" You can read it here.

Rechelle: She writes a quirky blog called The Country Doctor's Wife, and she's a rock star - a regular Leather Tuscadero - in the blogging world.

I met her once at a bon fire, and despite her rock star status, she didn't wear leather. However, she had some great words of advice for this beginning blogger. For the record, she didn't play by the rules for the giveaway because she never responded to my prompt in her comment. Despite a profanity-laced protest by Mr. Crankypants, I've deemed her eligible for this drawing.

Here's the moment you've been waiting for: I placed the names in The Greasy Skillet prize hopper.

I gave it a good spin.

I turned it upside down and pulled out the following name:

Rebel

Congratulations!!!

Rebel's a regular reader of The Greasy Skillet, and she writes a great blog called Hillbilly Woman. I regularly read her blog for inspiration because she does a great job of capturing the lore and history of the Ozarks. I hope to use this inspiration to document the history of Lawrence, KS.

Anyway, Rebel wins a Josh Ritter album or she can choose a cookbook from my basement stash. She has the following choices:


How to Bake by Nick Malgieri
Jack's Skillet: Plain Talk and Some Recipes from a Guy in the Kitchen by Jack Butler
Crust and Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers by Peter Reinhart

Rebel, email me your address and prize choice, and I'll ship it out. My email is mtrendel@excite.com.

thanks for playing,
muddywaters