Was Ist Das – Ein Liebster?

Well, well, well. So there’s this thing called a Liebster, which is a blog award that makes its way around and around the blogosphere … I guess liebster is a term of endearment in German (I don’t speak German … though I do plan to learn one day before my brain shrivels up). And two bloggers nominated me – thank you Eric at All In A Dad’s Work and Ann at Grubbs n Critters.

I appreciate that you guys like what I’m writing and are hopefully entertained and maybe find something thought-provoking. I’m the type to poo-poo navel gazing, but I do think it’s nice to be able to say “hey, good job over there!” to those we enjoy reading. (Fellow readers: hop over to their sites and have a blast!)

Eric, aka the Stomper Dad, is a smart dad of two in Canada (oh hi, eh? see fact #8) who has great post series when he poses questions to his boys and also to his parents. Both are so very entertaining for different reasons. He also can answer pretty much any question they pose to him – which we all know is Parenting Skill #1 for kids that age. Let’s all encourage him on the book writing!!!! (A subject near and dear to me.)

Ann writes from such a unique perspective: living in the Netherlands now and previously in Thailand as a (long) stint. She brings us great stories of parenting and travels and recipes. Win win! I learned from her that sprinkles are okay any time of day (phew!). My toddler thanks you. Also, I like chocolate mint ice cream, too and I’m pretty down with rain, too – and fog. The more the merrier.

The rules are: thank the person who nominated you, answer their 11 questions, say 11 interesting facts about yourself, nominate 11 blogs, and ask them 11 questions. Phew! A lot. This post is a lot. Those who like long posts, enjoy. Those who enjoy short ones, I’m sorry. Back to normal tomorrow!

Eric’s questions:

1. How do you re-energize? Physically? Coffee, first choice. Otherwise moving around a bit or getting fresh air helps. Mentally? Making (another) list or organizing my time.
2. What yearly salary would you consider “living comfortably”? It varies with a place’s cost of living. Where we are (greater NYC area), maybe $100k? $90k?
3. If you met Mother Theresa, what would you ask her? I wish I had an intelligent answer for this. I don’t know enough about her to say. What can I say, I’m Lutheran….
4. What ice cream flavor do you think your personality is like? Dark chocolate with orange bits … deep and quiet but with a surprise here and there. 
5. If your car had a super power, what super power would you like it to have? Hoverability! Buh-bye, traffic!
6. Do you have a plan for your blog for the long run? The plan is to have it compliment my author website, which showcases my bestselling novels. Haha. Yes, looooong run!
7. Is there a word you avoid using? A word you don’t like? I avoid “moist.” A lot of people dislike that word, apparently.
8. Do you have a favorite word? I use “funnily” a lot. But I like the way perspicacious sounds. In French I love “citroiulle” (pumpkin) because it has so many vowels, and in Italian I love “gli stuzzicadenti” (the toothpicks) because it makes my tongue dance when I say it. God, anything in Italian is fun to say.
9. If we communicated by playing musical instruments, what instrument would you communicate with? A violin because you can feel emotions through it so clearly.
10. Is there a time when something didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to, but in the end you were glad that it didn’t? Well, “supposed to” is hard to define (free will? destiny? divine hand?), especially in retrospect. BUT, I suppose maybe the reason I chose an engineering major was so I could be an F1/Indy engineer, but in the end it didn’t turn out that way and I became a military engineer (civilian) instead – and I’m much happier with how it settled my life. And it led to interesting fact #5 below!
11. What’s the best piece of advice you would give a new blogger? Work on developing your voice as a writer with quality content more than developing your followers list.

Ann’s questions:

 

1. What’s your favourite time of the day and why? When my kids go to bed. 🙂 It used to be coffee time in the morning….
2. What TV series have you found to be so ridiculous? I don’t watch much TV, but from commercials I would guess Dance Mom? Those poor kids.
3. What’s the strangest thing you have ever eaten? Dragon fruit, because it smells so very, very terrible … yet I still tried it.
4. If there’s one thing you could change in your life, what would it be? I suppose that I would’ve worked harder before having kids to do more – travel more (and spending more money while traveling … because you’re only there once!) and writing more.
5. Any regrets? See #4….
6. What word or phrase do you find to be most annoying? I use it, but the use of “like” in every sentence is so terrible. I abhor bad grammar like nobody’s business.
7.  Name one thing you like about your other half. He loves his family so deeply.
8. What’s your hidden talent? I feel like I do nothing spectacularly, but many things pretty well. Maybe a knack for painting; I do one every ~8 years. If I painted regularly I might be much better.
9. Can you share one of your favourite posts from your blog? A Day Without A Tutu is a Day Wasted, because with two girls it’s just so damn true.
10. Android or iphone? Neither! Windows phone. 
11. Do you believe in destiny? No, I guess not. I think we have many possible paths in life.

And now I’m supposed to list 11 interesting facts about myself. Hmm….

1. I used to be a gymnast as a kid, and after giving birth to Toddler I could still do a roundoff-back tuck on the floor. Major life goal achieved! Haven’t tried since….
2. Thanks to my father-in-law (ancestry.com addict!), I can trace my lineage back to King Edward III of England – literally, every ancestor! Thanks Gwumpa Joe!!
3. Follow up: after learning fact #2, I googled how much of the population is a descendant of King Edward III … it’s something like 97%. Of the earth. Yes. I was crying then, too.
4. I went through an “I love orange” phase in college and painted two walls of my apartment tangerine. Like you, I just cringed a bit.
5. Once I drove an M60 tank over a car. Don’t worry, it was on purpose – part of a show for Armed Forces Day at the Army Arsenal I worked at. I also got to drive an M1A2 Abrams tank in a parade. It may have been at slow speeds, but hot damn that was such a thrill! Actually, any time in a tank is a thrill.
6. I like to shoot guns. For fun, don’t worry. It’s a fun sport, but the only time I’ve shot is at military installations during demos and such. Let’s just say the military is lucky.
7. I did a 3-day Skip Barber race car driving course in Wisconsin when I was 18 (thanks mom and dad!). I spent the first day and a half stalling the car endlessly because I was complete shit at shifting. Needless to say I won the award for most improved driver!
8. I’m American but lived in Ontario for 3 years and Montreal for 4 during college. Loved it!
9. I moved around so much as a kid that I can’t even count the number of times I answered, “Is your dad in the military?” Apparently most people stay in one place??
10. Thanks to my husband, I now count bonsai as a hobby. A very slow one.
11. Like Eric at All in a Dad’s Work, I too dream of publishing a book one day. Right now I’m pitching my first, a sci-fi novel. Cross your fingers along with me!

 

My 11 (more or less) nominations for a Leibster: (I just want to acknowledge how much I enjoy reading your blogs. I totally get it if you just want to say thank you in your head and not post something like this as well.)

Darlene at Baby Costs Money – because it is such a unique blog project – and both fascinating and scary

Maggie at Dreaming of Guatemala – because she is such a skilled writer and only 17!

Niké at Nike Anderson – because her homeschool and parenting tips are fabulous

Rebekah at His Girl Friday – because her words are always beautiful and always on point

My Caffeinated Chaos – because she manages to hold down the fort (4 kids!!) with love and grace

Anna at Rosebud’s Quilts – because, among many other things, her sewing skills are great

Kasia at The Crafty Mummy – because her cute crafts make me smile

The Arty Mommy – because her beautiful style for kids crafts is so inspiring

The Lowcountry Hippie – because she puts so much love into her homelife, plus has great homeschool tips

Mamacravings – because she survived so much recently and is an inspiration for all

Angela at MOMtessori Life – because she has so, so many ideas .. I’ve been lurking for so long!

Erika at Dorky Mom Doodles – because dorky stuff + mommyhood + awesome doodles = so many laughs

 

My 11 questions for the above nominated blogs:

1. What would you say you are best at?
2. What are you worst at?
3. Say you can move anywhere in the country right now – where would you go?
4. Say you can move anywhere in the world right now – where would you go?
5. What’s the longest piece of writing you’ve done? What was it for?
6. Can you stand on your head? Your hands?
7. If you could be an Olympic athlete, what sport would you choose?
8. Ghosts – real or figments of our imagination?
9. What’s in your heaven?
10. If you were only allowed two condiments from now til death, what would you choose?
11. Would you rather live in a desert or a rainforest?

 

Thank you for reading! Thank you again, Eric and Ann, for the nominations. Happy leibstering, all!