I Can Kill Two Birds, Too!

The Sisterhood of the World Blogger's Award is making a circuitous route among my blog friends. Kristi at Thankful Me also received it from our Ten Things of Thankful co-host Lisa, but she actually followed the directions (part of them, anyway) and wrote ten questions of her own for others to answer. And I do love a good questionnaire, so here I am, answering Kristi's questions and stealing borrowing her format of incorporating them into the Ten Things of Thankful for this week.

1. What small act of service have you received that has meant a lot to you?

These were actually HUGE acts of service, but so many did so much for me when I had my bilateral mastectomy nearly three years ago, and I am still overwhelmed by everyone's kindness.  My kids were ferried around, I was given all kinds of gifts, my sister in law and my friend took time out of their schedules and away from their own families to stay with me for a couple of days when my husband had to be away from me after my surgery. I had lovely visitors and received all kinds of flowers and balloons and Diet Coke. I was given a gorgeous Tata to the Tata's party, complete with boobie cake. The list goes on and on. 

I am thankful for good friends who are there for me in times of great need.

2. What was your favorite meal when you were a child?

My favorite meal as a child was my mom's smothered steak. She would cook pieces of round steak with potatoes and carrots in her electric skillet until they were fork tender, then thicken the juices into a gravy. I can make a similar version, but it doesn't taste the same.

I am thankful we always had plenty to eat.

3. Do you enjoy camping?

God, no! 

To paraphrase Jim Gaffigan, I'm thankful my parents loved me enough not to take me camping.

4. Have you moved (changed houses) more as an adult or as a child?

We only moved once when I was a child; the summer after I finished 6th grade, we moved from a little ranch style house to a neighborhood with a little bit bigger, nicer homes. We were still in the same school district, and even though the kids in the new neighborhood went to a different elementary school than I had, we all went to the same junior high.

I moved to college when I was 17. If I'm counting correctly, I moved 17 times in the next 20 years. The last move was into the house we're in now, 16 years ago.

I'm thankful not to have had to pack and unpack boxes for 16 years now!

5. Where would you like to retire and why?

I imagine when I am retired and have grandchildren, this answer might change, because I suspect I will want to be near them. Putting that aside, I'd like to summer either in upstate New York or near Rocky Mountain National Park, because both places are beautiful, and winter somewhere warm and beachy. Florida, maybe.

I'm thankful I have had the chance to visit a variety of places.

Taughannock Falls, Ithaca, NY

6. If you had a free day next week, how would you spend it?

I am always well meaning when I have a day off. I think I'm going to use it to get Great Things Done, but that rarely happens. Now, if it were a snow day, then I would spend the day in the kitchen, baking bread, making homemade noodles, making some kind of cookies. Snow days inspire me to use a lot of flour!

I'm thankful for occasional days off from work and (most) responsibilities that allow me to do whatever I choose, even if it's just sitting in a chair and reading.

7. If you could suddenly develop a new talent or skill, what would it be?

I've always wanted to be able to sing Broadway style. I can sing, but I'm only okay. 

I'm thankful that lack of talent doesn't keep me from singing like a rock star when I'm by myself in the car.

8. Do you know where your grandparents and/or great grandparents were born?

I do! My mother's parents were born near Urich, Missouri. My dad's parents were born near Marshfield, Missouri. I also know where my great-grandparents on both sides were born.

I am thankful to my brother for all the work he has done and shared with me on our family genealogy, and I am thankful to Kristi from Thankful Me for showing me how to make a family tree of my very own!

My maternal grandfather (1890-1960)

My maternal great grandfather
(1863-1941)

9. What is one trait that describes you?

 I'm very positive and optimistic.

I am thankful for the ability to see the cup is always half full.

10. What is one of your family traditions?

On Christmas Eve, after we attend the candlelight service at church, we come home and have a late supper of appetizers. We started this about 12 years ago, when my husband's sister and her family would come for Christmas from their home in Pennsylvania, and we continued it even after we started celebrating Christmas with my husband's family on a day other than Christmas Eve. 

I'm thankful my oven has a timer, so we can come home from Christmas Eve service to an oven hot and ready to bake up some appetizers from your grocer's freezer.

There you have it. Ten answers, ten thankfuls. Pick one and answer it below. Consider yourself nominated and pick all ten and post them yourself. And don't forget to link up with us, below.

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An Award With A Catch

I have one of the loveliest blog friends ever. Her name is Lisa and she writes over at The Meaning of Me, and if you don't follow her, you really should. She and I "met" at Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop blog hop a couple of years ago, and she is, I believe, the ONLY blogger I have been able to convince to join us at the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop. At least I got a good one!

Lisa has nominated me for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award, and I can't accept this accolade without first answering some questions that Lisa has posed. There's always a catch, isn't there? 

1. What is one of your favorite habits you have?

My bad habits far outweigh my good ones, but I think my favorite good habit would be that I pray every morning before I get out of bed. I pray for family, for friends, and for my preschool students. I also take my shoes off in my closet and don't leave them all over the house. That's a pretty good habit. 

2. Would you prefer to travel by plane, train or automobile? Why?

No brainer. Automobile. I don't like to fly (although I find it exciting to be in an airport), and I've never been on a train. Besides, both of those modes of travel are so limiting. Take our family vacation to Galveston this past summer. If we hadn't driven there, we would never have been able to see the World's Largest Peanut. Or the Texas State Prison Museum. Or stop for Texas barbecue at a filling station. Or swing by the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. 

3. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Before they speak? Their teeth. After they speak? Their grammar. Yes, I'm a Judgy McJudge on that one.

4. If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what would it be for?

As a general rule, I HAAATE parties. I feel awkward going to one, unless I know everyone there, and then I only feel LESS awkward. And I hate giving them, because I'm afraid no one will show up. But if I HAD to throw a party, I'd invite a big group of friends over to play Bunco. Ever play? It's stupidly fun, ridiculously easy to play, and forces you to mix with people, as you have to change tables and partners every round. Everyone would bring an appetizer or dessert to share, those who wish to imbibe could, and we would have an evening filled with laughter and good food. 

5. What was the first thing you bought with your own money?

I don't remember the first thing I bought, but the first MAJOR purchase I ever made was when I was a freshman in college, and I bought a rabbit coat (don't hate me, you PETA people). It cost around $50 (it was the late 70s) was amazingly warm and I loved it.

6. What was your favorite activity in gym class?

Leaving gym class when it was finally over. I was NOT athletic, and this was the time of the Presidential Fitness Test, the brainchild of President Kennedy. The only time I ever liked P.E. was on Fridays, when all of the classes in a particular grade met in the gym together. The first part of the class was devoted to doing calisthenics to a record (and I can still hear the voice of the announcer), and then, for the rest of the class, we square danced. Yes, you heard me correctly: WE SQUARE DANCED. It was definitely more fun than doing sit ups, the shuttle run, climbing the rope, doing the flexed arm hang, or suffering through any of the other components to the Presidential Fitness Test.

Some call it a gym, some call it a torture chamber.
Whatever you call it, there was one in this building,
where I went to elementary school.

7. If someone asked you to give them a random piece of advice, what would you say?

If it were something I knew anything about, I'd give it my best shot.

8. What's your favorite part about today so far?

I gave my daughter a bag of candy hearts yesterday, and she left the opened bag on the dining room table. This afternoon, Ruby jumped up on the table (she is getting worse and worse about following household cat rules and doesn't even pretend that she feels guilty about any of it) and pulled a candy heart out with her foot, knocked it onto the hardwood floor, and used it as a hockey puck until she lost it, at which time she jumped back up on the table, hooked another candy heart with her paw, and repeated the activity. Again. And again. And again. I KNOW I should have stopped her, but it was so stinkin' cute that I let it go. And took a picture and sent it to my daughter at school. Who didn't find it funny at all.

Caught red handed footed
and doesn't care.

9. If you were a type of animal, what would you be and why?

Another no brainer. A pampered house cat. Because I am sitting here, typing this post, with a very large, well-fed cat lying next to me, snoring.

This is the life.

10. What story does your family always tell about you?

There are two that come to mind, both future blog posts. In both of them, my parents tried (and failed) to off me. No lie. 

Sneak preview of one of the
places where my parents
tried to get rid of me....

Thank you, Lisa, for thinking of me! As for the rest of you, pick a question (or two) and answer it in the comments.