Loving my Liebster Award

I would like to thank Grace and Gusto, God, and every reader who ever remotely considered nominating me for a blog award, for my recent nomination for a Liebster Award! After languidly basking in the pink glow of newfound fame, I decided to share this award with others, which is what I supposed to do in the first place: this award is an informal way for bloggers to learn more about each other, discover new blogs, and perhaps gain a few new readers in the process.

To accept this award, I'm supposed to answer a series of questions:

1. What's your favorite thing about where you live?

The sea, seafood, and non-freezing seasons, and the history, arts, culture, people, flower, 
and fauna of Rhode Island.  Least favorite thing would be the politics and corruption... :P

2. What is your favorite post you've ever written? (leave a link!)

That's tough... I guess I enjoy my humorous ones most, tie between maybe 
"How To Be On Time With Preschoolers", "Football Widowhood," and 
"Discipline From the Dentist's Chair."

But I also, in a completely different way, love when I can talk about my "Pepper" and what I do
in her honor, like "Due Date of a Water Child."

3. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A crossing guard, like I just blogged about yesterday lol.  I totally should have gone with it. 
Know what I said about politics and corruption above? They all favor crossing guards, 
at least in my city... these savvy people have amazing pay and benefits, so I'm told.  
See?  Every career decision you need to make is made in Kindergarten, sigh...

4. What was the first blog you started reading?

"This Fish Needs A Bicycle."  I may not agree with all her views, but I thought, and think, 
her style is hilarious.
 
5. What movie do you think should have a sequel?

Pollyanna.  Cuz c'mon, haven't you always wanted to know, for sure, she'd be able to 
walk again? Or how she'd handle it if she couldn't?  Biggest childhood cliffhanger 
of all time, man...  A second would be Mary Poppins... she and Bert need 
to get married and have kids that fly on umbrellas! 

(No, I don't get out to the movies much; why do you ask?)

6. If you could be a member of any TV-sitcom family or group, which would it be?

On "Survivor: Spa in Milan," where I'm the youngest, strongest, and smartest.  
Yeah, that, I guess...

7. What's your favorite song?     

"At Last I See the Light" in Tangled.  At least that's today's favorite... 
All time favorite, very well:

8.  What is the worst job you've ever had?

Cold calling for a beauty product home business.  Ughhhhhhhhh

9. Do you collect anything?

Seashells.  And unmatched socks, apparently.

10. What is the best compliment anyone has ever given you?

"Mom, youwa my best fwend."

11. How far away from your birthplace do you live now?

Five minutes. :D  We don't migrate, we Rhode Islanders, not really. We are born with 
homing instincts. I lived in the south for three years, and in Europe for two semesters, 
but I ended up living a street away from the one I grew up on.

11 Random Facts About Me:  

1. I love enormous bathrobes and candles, as I am usually cold.

2.  Red is my favorite color.

3. I'm terrified of bees and sharks.  As I kid, I ran inside in a panic whenever I heard 
buzzing (my poor mom), and would cry for fear a shark would appear in my bathtub. My kids 
now run squealing with me when bees are around, and laugh at me for being afraid of sharks 
in the bathtub.  They are afraid of puppets, instead, which makes so much more sense, right?

4.  I've been in love three times, not counting the time I discerned entering the convent. :)
I consider God to be my first and best love. :)
5. I grew up without TV, and was homeschooled from 6th-12th grade. I learned a lot 
academically, but I was ever so slightly "sheltered." 

6. I spent my first year of married life in Austria, in a dorm room, using a common kitchen 
with several European students who all wanted to learn English.
Thus, I know a very little of several different languages, about enough to say hello, goodbye, 
order coffee, and find a bathroom. :) 

7. C.S.Lewis is my all time favorite author.

8.  I prefer coffee to alcohol, easily.

9. I sleep holding a large panda.  It helps my back. You see, I have a rare and severe 
arthritis in my back, bad enough to qualify me--so far--with a handicapped parking permit 
till 2020, woot woot! I only use it when there are 16 empty spots though, or when I wake up 
truly feeling 82. 

10. On the days that I don't feel 82, and the med du jour is actually doing something other 
than causing liver damage or threatening lymphoma, I love ziplining. I want to try a longer, 
tree top tour sometime... I also like white water rafting... well I liked the level 3's anyway.

11. I believe that God loves absolutely everyone.

My 11 Nominees:

(I’m not sure how to tell if they have less than 200 followers unless it’s displayed 
on their page, so some of these are assumptions.)

1. Little Big Girl
2. Imperfectly Living a Dream
3. Imelda Franklin Bogue
4. Fibroworks/The Fibro-Fog Chronicles
5. Rosie Amber
6. My Daily Bread
7. La Belle Dame de Merci
8. Adventures in the Ballpark
9. One Catholic Mama
10. Things My Mother Taught Me
11. Getting Up Again For the 8th Time

New nominees, kindly answer the questions I answered above for yourself; 
I look forward to reading them!

11 questions for the new nominees:

1. What made you decide to begin blogging?
2. If you could switch places with someone for a day, who would it be?
3. Where would you most like to travel?
4. What is your all-time favorite blog post (leave a link)?
5. What is your favorite book or movie and why?
6. Who do you consider a role model?
7. If you won a million dollars, what is the first thing you would buy?

8. What is your favorite hobby or pastime?

9. What's the worst job you ever had?

10.What is your favorite meal, or what is the weirdest food you have ever eaten?

11. What is one thing you would change about your life?

So there you have it! It's been a lot of fun putting this together, and I can't wait 
to read the responses! Thanks again for the nomination, Grace and Gusto! :)

"Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is the right word spoken at the right time." Proverbs 25:11