sisterhood blogger award

I feel genuinely honored to be nominated for The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award by Tonya of Fourth Generation Farmgirl.  She’s been a great source of support and inspiration as I’ve begun Riddle from the Middle this year.  Her blog is always a wonderful place to visit: interesting posts about a variety of subjects, beautiful photography, and gems reblogged from other writers she’s found.  Please take a moment to see what she has going on these days.

Many thanks, Tonya, for the compliment of this nomination.  It’s made my day!

The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award is given to women bloggers to recognize our unique voices around the world.  As a thankful recipient of this special award I will answer the ten questions asked by Tonya, nominate seven bloggers, ask them ten questions, and include the award badge in this post.

Tonya’s Questions:

  1. What’s your favorite time of day?  Late morning.  By this time of day I’ve enjoyed a cup of coffee, a shower, and some time with my dogs.  I’ve also usually gotten at least one productive thing done, which makes me feel better about kicking around the blogs or taking that afternoon nap.
  2. What inspires you?  Nature.  No one was more surprised than me to learn this – I’ve never been a “hike at sunrise, weekend camping” kind of girl.  But I recently stood in the woods at the edge of a lake, listening to the sounds around me, and felt an energy move in my soul that was undeniable.
  3. What’s the most meaningful experience you’ve ever had.  Learning to relinquish control and accept that BrightSide and I were being called to have children through adoption.  Control issues are a constant battle for me, and accepting that I wouldn’t be doing something as easy (or so they told us in that sex ed class) as getting pregnant was an enormous shift in perspective for me.  BrightSide’s way of looking at things as well as his endless patience and support all helped me move past a huge assumption I’d made about my life, an expectation that would have meant I missed out on T-man and Bear.
  4. What food comforts you most when you’re stressed out or upset?  Real food? Chicken pot pie.  Junk food?  A really messy plate of nachos.
  5. Walk away or stand your ground?  Pick my battles.  I’m slowly learning the difference between my business, your business, and God’s business, and I’m trying mightily to walk away unless it’s MY business.  (But if it’s my business or, heaven help you, my business because you messed with my kids…well, mama bear’s got claws.  And an Italian temper.)
  6. What do you enjoy most about a rainy day?   The incredible feeling of freedom it gives me.  For some reason, being trapped inside because it’s nasty out doesn’t make me feel obligated to do those long-neglected chores.  It almost feels like a snow day – permission to drink an extra cup of coffee, wear my PJs all day, snuggle under a throw, and read/write.
  7. What’s your favorite Christmas or holiday memory?  Making Christmas cookies with my mom.  I’m sure we made the traditional sugar cookies kids associate with the holiday, but I remember the Italian ones.  We’d gather around the kitchen table to help mom make and ice Anise cookies and ones called “Aunt Frances’ Chocolate Christmas Cookies” (which, to my kids’ great dismay, do not taste anything like chocolate).  This was a serious, multi-day event involving baking and icing literally hundreds of cookies, which may be why I’ve been negligent in continuing the activity with T-man and Bear.  My sister has carried on this tradition with her girls and always has a yummy supply of them at the holiday.  BrightSide and the kids don’t really care for them; it must be an acquired taste from childhood.  But they’re delicious.
  8. Spicy or not?  Definitely spicy.  But not five-alarm, tears-spring-to-your-eyes spicy.  That level just makes me break into a sweat.
  9. What word describes you best?  Adaptable.
  10. If you could do any part of your life over again, would you?  No, I’d have to say that given the chance I wouldn’t take a do-over.  Parts of my life have been hard, yes, and the easy answer would be to redo those years without the trauma.  But many of my important lessons have come through the pain, and I believe if I were to go back and erase those particular events from my life that the pain would have manifested in another way.

Here are my nominees.  Wonderful women writing wonderful blogs.  Please visit them and check out their work:

melanie olsen

rachelmankowitz

Raising My Rainbow

Ten Thousand Places

the girl who can’t sit still

The Waiting

Listful Thinking

These are your questions:

  1. What is the most useful skill you learned before leaving home?
  2. You get to live as an animal for one year.  What animal do you choose?  Why?
  3. Vacation travel: flying or driving?
  4. If you were to reach out with your right hand, what would you touch first?  Second?
  5. You’ve been given two completely free hours each week.  What do you do with your time?
  6. What’s your favorite season?  Why?
  7. You’ll be teaching a college course (currently offered or one you design) next year.  What will it be about?  Why do you want to teach that subject?
  8. What are your top three pet peeves?
  9. Dogs, cats, birds, or reptiles?
  10. If money was not an issue, what would you do with your life?

**This nomination is a compliment and reflects how much I’ve enjoyed your work.  There’s no obligation to participate.  🙂 **