Thursday, February 5, 2015

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.


16 comments:

  1. We did hook up via Mamma Kat's, didn't we? Wait. That sounds nine kinds of wrong. Yikes. Now here's the thousand dollar question - when was my first TToT??? I didn't tag them or name them the way I do now and I have been trying to figure out when I started.
    I love that in you I have found yet another fan of the END of gym class. Those presidential fitness tests SUCKED. A lot.
    I also hate parties for all the same reasons you list and I mentally check grammar when people speak. Now, I'm all for a little poetic license with the language, but when someone just plain old can't speak or write properly? Like nails on a blackboard.
    I think Ruby and Cat One have been secretly communicating via our technology. If he has influenced your girl in these negative ways, I do apologize for him. He does those very same things - particularly the blatant disregard for cat rules. You did see my post about him, yes? The cat hockey thing, though, is not his game. He's simply too fat. This is a cat who needs to lie down after changing sleeping position because he's exhausted. The other two love to play hockey with anything they can get their little paws on, though. Cat One does play with Zilla, though. If she drags a ribbon around the house he will trot after her as fast as his fat little legs will carry him. It's really very sweet how they love her.
    Can't wait to hear those two stories...


    Thanks for thinking I'm a lovely friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a shame "hook up" doesn't meant the same thing anymore! Holy cow, when DID you start the TToT?!
      I hated gym class. It only got worse when you had to wear a gym suit and change in a locker room.
      We would have fun at a party together, wouldn't we?
      No surface is off limits and every item is a potential toy in Ruby's world. She likes wadded up pieces of paper, like grocery lists or receipts, and fishes them out of the trash to play with. She also loves the little balls of Hershey kiss wrappers my son makes and leaves all over the house. My husband has to empty out his shoes every morning before he puts them on, because she likes to drop her toys in there and play with them.
      Can DFS be called retrospectively? Because someone's going to want to after reading my stories!

      Delete
  2. Frist. Oh, Dyanne, I was delighted to read your answers. I've learned some things about you, that's what these awards are for. That picture of Ruby is iconic and adorable. Caught red-footed. That face, so funny. (Share it on Facebook). I used to belong to a Bunco group. We played monthly. Now just occasionally. It is a fun night with the girls. Your memory of President Kennedy's fitness tests - remember squat thrusts - Ugh! No rope climbing for me, but I did love the square dancing. I wish my daughter had the shoe habit. Sometimes there are 4-5 pairs of shoes lying around my laundry room and they seep into the family room.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you learned something! I figured I'd already spilled pretty much everything there was to know about me!
      Squat thrusts! Same as shoot the cannons? That's what we called them. Now they call them burpees, which is gross.
      I am the ONLY one in the house who puts shoes where they belong. When my son is home, he leaves his size 15 shoes around, and believe me when I say they take up a lot of space!

      Delete
  3. Oh that Ruby! I love this post, and I knew I liked you. I would have LOVED all of those pit stops on your vacation. I would like to throw a "Do Whatever Makes You Comfy" party, somewhere in a big private field with comfy couches, covered by beautiful gazebos with televisions, radios, refrigerators and fully-stocked bars. You could mingle or not, play games or not, take a nap. Doesn't THAT sound like a fun party??? I would totally invite you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That Ruby is a MESS. Do you like to stop at off the wall places, too? The prison museum was one of my favorite things to do in a long time.
      I would totally come to your party, because if there wasn't anyone there I knew, I could just lie on a couch and eat snacks and read while Friends reruns are on the tv!

      Delete
  4. I remember the President Tests all too well. We didn't have to climb a rope though, because I think they decided it was too dangerous, so my gym teacher changes it to this thing where we had to hold I pull up position for a certain amount of time. I was never athletic too, and HATED when we had to do these tests in the spring each year. My favorite gym activity was when we got to play games like medic, or capture the flag etc. Games that involved strategy along with athletics.

    I would choose flying. I hate driving - crappy vision is to blame- and while I don't mind being a passenger, I think of all the places I would miss seeing in the world if we didn't have airplanes. I have yet to be on a train too - but I imagine I would like it. Planes to get me abroad, trains to travel between countries and a car to drive all around. Sounds about right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That stupid pull up position was called the flexed arm hang when I was in school. Cristy Begley was the only one who could really do it, and she would hang and hold herself there until her entire body shaked. Torture!
      You can be a passenger with me on a road trip some time. I'll drive. You be in charge of snacks.

      Delete
    2. I will totally be in charge of the snacks. I think we would have a kick-ass road trip!

      Delete
  5. Presidential Fitness Test sounds AWFUL!

    I just remembered I used to like gym class in first school, when there were things to climb on, and wall bars and ropes and stuff. That was always quite exciting :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was HORRID.
      I never, ever, not once in all my years of school thought "Oh boy, gym today!"

      Delete
  6. My daughter's cat's favorite toy is jelly bellies! Ruby might like to try them; they roll better than candy hearts. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Around Easter, I am sure there will be jellybeans rolling around on our hardwood floors!

      Delete
  7. I can't get over all the people who hated gym class! I loved it!
    My kids still do the Presidential Fitness tests AND square dancing. Even in high school.
    Hate parties?!?!? How is that possible?? Good heavens, according to this list, you and I have nothing in common. Except driving to see crazy things on vacation. We will always have that. I used to be a part of a Bunco group. It would be a fun party...
    I guess my list shows where my head was when I wrote it. I didn't mention prayer or or church even once. :)
    If you are only going to bring one person into the TToT, at least it was Lisa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should have gone to my school. That would have cured you :)
      Neither of my kids have ever square danced.
      Contrary to what you might read in this list, we really are the same person. Almost, anyway :)
      I don't know what Lizzi was thinking when she asked me to be a TToT host, because I'm an obvious failure at recruitment, except for Lisa. She's my only success!

      Delete
  8. They did. Totally. Twice (that I know of).
    I think President Kennedy actually hated children, to come up with a test like that.
    Rabbit coats were da bomb.

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