Double The Fun

I have some thoughts to share about a few things...that can wait until another day.

Today I want to thank two of my blogging friends for giving me a shout out.

Thanks to Teri at Teri H Photography for my "Versatile Blogger Award" ~ I take that as a lovely compliment. Teri's photography and reflections on life inspire me to look for beauty every day.

Thanks to Starr at Life Decanted for tagging me in the "Random Stuff Meme" ~ it was fun to read the bits she chose to share. Starr is an amazing mom and a social worker who makes a real difference in people's lives.

I am going to combine my responses to Teri and Starr by posting random stuff about myself, based on Starr's questions, in this post. Life is too much with me these days to do more than that. I recommend a stop by the blogs in my "sites to visit" list if you are interested in the lives of the talented women I know through blogging.

Now for the random bits about myself:

My favorite childhood memory is of time I spent with Aunt Kate and Uncle Doots, who raised my mom and were the grandparents I knew the best. From a young age I loved spending the night at their house, and as I got older I enjoyed going to work with each of them. My uncle drove a bus in Arlington, Virginia. My aunt, who was a teacher, worked at a correspondence school for hotel/motel management.

If I could go anywhere in the world for a week I would travel to Paris, France. Since I was in fourth grade I have dreamed of sitting in the cafes and seeing the sights of Paris.

Hands down my favorite colors are green and blue, together and apart ~ green the color of new life, and blue the color of the sky and ocean.

The famous person I would choose to spend time with is Rachel Maddow, host of her own show on MSNBC. I watch her show online. She's smart and funny, and I appreciate the way she is able to see all the angles and layers of current events. I share her politics [which may tell you more about me than anything else I could say] and I would like to talk to her about everything.

I started blogging because I was beside myself with loneliness. My daughter knew how to help and set me up with a blog...oh my, exactly four years ago. I wrote my first post on March 23, 2008. I couldn't imagine how I would meet people online, and now I can't imagine life without the friendships I've made through blogging.

I am an Aquarius. When I had my birth chart read, he told me that Aquarius is a humanitarian who sees no color. I have been that way since I was a small child.

My best friend in elementary school was a girl named Debbie. Her dad was in the military and she started at my school when he was stationed at Bolling Air Force Base. She told me years later that she didn't like me at first; I knew everyone and she felt like an outsider. We didn't have much in common but we liked and trusted each other. I spent a lot of time at her house during the years she lived in my neighborhood. I was one of the first to know when she got pregnant at 16 and one of the few witnesses at her wedding. When I left home at 19 I moved in with Debbie and her husband for the summer before I went back to college. She was in my wedding. While we don't get together often, we love to hear from each other.

My most transcendent experience has been motherhood. Ken and I decided in the spring of 1979 that we wanted to have children, which was a change from the career tracks we were on when we got married. Being a mother to my daughter and two sons made me who I am today. I thank my children for teaching me about what really matters in life.

The first books I remember reading were the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Cleary. My daughter was just telling me she recommended the books to the daughter of a friend ~ Ramona's adventures are timeless.

I was not popular in high school because I got along with everyone. I didn't belong to one clique or another but chose to find something interesting about people as individuals.

I prefer painted walls over white walls. Paint is an inexpensive way to add warmth to a room.

More about me next time ~ now I need to watch Syracuse win (hopefully) their game with Ohio State.