Stealing is Sometimes Better Than Being Tagged

So I did not get tagged by Mrs. 4444, but I'm not going to let that stop me from playing. (How's that for tenacity?) Here's the Motherload meme:

Rule 1. List the first ten people who have commented on one of your blog posts.
Julie: Campus Crusade for Christ missionary in Hungary. Creative mother. Deep thinker.
Cool Breeze. BHE's guy. Kind interpretor of male speak.
Pam McEwens. Enormous sense of humor. Heart of kindness.
Lady Fi. British teacher living in Sweden. Always teaches me something, and makes me smile, too.
Cairo Typ0. World traveler. Marvelous writer. Always worth the read.
Mental Pause Mama. Razorsharp wit and insight. The type of person I wish lived on my street.
Big Hair Envy. Oh so funny. Oh so pretty. Oh so one of my favorites.
Laura. One of my first blog friends. Survivor. Unpretentious.
Pleasing Procrastinator. MIA blogger. Wife. Mother. Student. And doing it nicely.
Dr. John. Retired pastor. Lover of words and thoughts. Compelling faith sojourner.


Rule 2. The meme questions: 10 Blogs, 15 Questions.



What is your favorite post from #3's blog?
Nicely stated: 8 simple rules for dating/marrying my sons.

Has #10 taken any pictures that have moved you?
Dr. John always has a picture of the day. Through these, I've come to know his family.


Does #6 reply to comments on their blog?
MPM - To know that, I would have to be very organized and good at remembering. So ...


Which part of Blogland is #2 from?
Cool Breeze - Virginia. The part where they burn their trash.

If you could give one piece of advice to #7 what would it be?
BHE - Your life will be immeasureably enriched if you will rethink your refusal to decorate my house.

Have you ever tried something from #9's blog?
PP - I do believe she was the blogger who introduced me to Vintage Thingies Thursdays.

Has #1 blogged something that inspired you?
Julie - Her commitment to her call and faith absolutely inspires me, and has me thinking some pretty deep thoughts about my own life.

How often do you comment on #4's blog?
Lady Fi - Trying to get up to a daily comment.

Do you wait excitedly for #8 to post?
Laura - She's one of my first clicks every day.

How did #5's blog change your life?
Cairo Typ0 - She has genuinely expanded my world view. Seriously.

Do you know any of your 10 bloggers in person?
No, but wish I knew each of them in person.

Do any of your 10 know each other?
Cool Breeze and BHE are married. They know each other and then some.

Out of the 10, which updates more frequently?
Okay, I'm adding #11 here. Jeannelle posts daily and sometimes twice daily. Her posts hooked me with her farm tutorials, and then her honesty and philosophical approach intimidated me. But now? I can't wait to read how she sees life every day.


Which of the 10 keep you laughing?
I do believe that laughter is a constant theme of all 10 11. Some irreverant. Some self-depreciating. Some just silly. All good for the heart.


Which of the 10 made you cry (good or bad) tears?
Laura's story of a terribly bumpy journey to now.

Rule 3. If you are mentioned in this post, you're now it. Then again, since I didn't get officially tagged, maybe you're off the hook?

Being It is Fun

How very sweet when someone I've never "met" thinks I deserve a little something. Thank-you, Miss Peach, for this sweet little surprise.

It does, of course, come with conditions. If I answer these questions, does it get me out of sending a formal thank-you??

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood?

No. We made a couple of big moves during my childhood and that is what I shall blame, thereby taking no personal responsibility.

2. What do you value most about your friends?

That they choose to sit by me even if other people are around. We're deep like that.

3. Are your friends your sounding boards?

Yes, and just so they don't feel pressured, everyone else with whom I have contact during the day also is drafted as a sounding board.

4. What is your favorite activity to share with your friends?

Talkinglaughing. (If it's written as one word, it counts as one item = an old English teacher rule)

List 5 things under the following headers:

10 years ago:

Size 8

5 things on today's "To do" list:

Pull Pepper the puppy around the block,

Funeral visitation for Checkered's beloved aunt,

Make an apple pie,

Grade 56 essays and 28 quizzes,

Sell our travel trailer

5 snacks that I enjoy:

chocolate ice cream,

Cherry Cordial ice cream,

plain banana splits

upside down banana splits

right side up banana splits

(When does the Dairy Maid reopen???)

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:

Fully fund my children's higher education, currently non-existent savings accounts,

Buy the house next door and move my parents into it,

Run for the local school board,

Fully fund a program for hungry children through a missions organization,

Fret about money.

5 places I have lived:

Massachusetts,

Missouri,

Kentucky,

Michigan

5 cutting-edge, uber exciting jobs that I have had:

receptionist at Chemlawn,

legal secretary,

library clerk,

ESL teacher,

English professor

Fine. I Might Have a Quirk or 7: #1

#1:  I once appeared in a t.v. public service spot celebrating a teacher I disliked.

At one point in my looooooong schooling history, I worked with a teacher I disliked.  He was frequently absent,  returned homework weeks and even months after it had been due, and ice skated all around the subject matter without ever teaching us anything.

Then that teacher was chosen to be honored for his great teaching.  Isn't that how life goes?!

A film crew was scheduled to shoot a public service "commercial" honoring this "great" teacher.  The little spot would air on t.v. statewide for weeks.  The teacher asked several of his students to appear in the tribute.  I was among that group and thought the irony of it all was hysterically funny.

When the morning of the filming arrived, I was very nervous.  This film thing would be seen by other students.  This film thing would be seen by genuinely good teachers.  I would be on t.v. being disingenuous. 

I arrived at the filming only to discover that NOT ONE of the other students had shown up.  So my little 30 second tribute was to be expanded to several minutes - during which I was extol the teaching virtues of the teacher I considered to be one of the worst of my entire life. 

Somehow I survived those moments of terror and blank-minded talking.  When the spot first appeared I was mortified at how high my voice was, how obviously nervous I was, and how untruthful I was.

A few days later I received that most gracious of thank-you notes from the professor.  He said that students like me made his entire career worthwhile.

*sigh*

Fine. I Might Have a Quirk or 7: #2

#2: I once went to a student's home for dinner and survived.

English as a Second Language (ESL) students are among the grandest on Earth.  In all my years of teaching, I have met a variety of students.  Some are mean and yucky, but some are simply marvelous.  The ESL students were among my favorites and during the years I taught ESL, I received several invites to meals in their homes.  To refuse would have been the harshest of insults. 

I have been the guest of honor many times in my students' homes, but the most memorable was my experience in a Cambodian home in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

I had taught two children from the same family and some of their cousins, as well, that year and truly loved them. It was my first ESL job and I learned that there was much more to good teaching than simply going over vocabulary and syntax.  My students didn't know how to dress for the weather (they didn't even have winter clothing), they didn't know how to eat the food served in the school lunchroom, they didn't know how to get help in a medical emergency.  It became my personal mission that year to get my students over all those hurdles and more.

So when the invitation to dinner arrived, my supervisor gave her blessing, and I headed over to the students' home one Sunday.  The family graciously welcomed me.  I was seated alone at the table while my translator student sat with the men on the floor:  all watching my every move.  We "talked" for quite a while before the food was brought out by three generations of women.  It was placed before me.  At some point I understood that I alone would be eating while the extended family would all watch.

Whoa.

I ate many of the same foods the students had brought as gifts to me during the year.  There were egg rolls and other recognizable treats.  Then the main course was brought out:  it was some kind of soup.  By that point my irritable bowel stomach was rolling and roiling and protesting but I knew I had to eat the soup. My translator-student looked absolutely stricken when the soup arrived. 

I continued to pray, asking the Lord to allow me to be gracious to my hosts. 

And I ate every drop. A slurp from the bowl. A smile for the men sitting and watching me. Another slurp. A smile for the women peeking around the kitchen door. Another slurp...another smile.


As we eventually walked from the house, my student-translator explained that the soup had taken many, many hours to prepare.  The day before my feast, the entire family had gone to the public park.  There, they dug and hunted and found hundreds of snails.  The snails were brought home and became my soup.

In later years I would enjoy Mexican, Puerto Rican, Lebanese, Chinese, Indian, and so many other meals courtesy of my beloved students.  And in almost every situation, I alone ate while the families watched.  I am just now beginning to understand what an honor those meals were.

Fine. I Might Have a Quirk or 7 : #3

#3:  I am a Kentucky Colonel.

Thanks to a man named Bill Fred (no, I am NOT using his last name here), I am a Kentucky Colonel.  What's that mean?

According the website for Kentucky's Secretary of State:

The highest honor awarded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky is that of Kentucky Colonel.


Commissions for Kentucky Colonels are given by the Governor and the Secretary of State to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state or the nation...
This tradition began in 1813 during the second term of Governor Isaac Shelby. Shelby had just returned from leading the Kentucky Militia on a highly successful “War of 1812” campaign. He named one of his officers, Charles Todd, as an “Aid-De-Camp” on the Governor’s staff with the rank and grade of Colonel. Later Governors commissioned Colonels to act as their protective guard; they wore uniforms and were present at most official functions. (Today's colonels are not required to perform such service.) Other Governors continued this practice and by 1920’s their numbers had grown considerably.


In 1928, an effort began to organize the Colonels into “A great non-political brotherhood for the advancement of Kentucky and Kentuckians.” In 1932, The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels was formally born. Today, the organization is incorporated as a charitable organization with by-laws directing it to be non-partisan, non-profit and dedicated to good works within the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

So there you have it.  A little knowledge for your own edification from Colonel Caution.

Fine. I Might Have a Quirk or 7 :#4

#4:  I have a learning disability

I do have a learning disability and it impacts my life daily.  Sometimes it's a subtle little annoyance; sometimes it really stinks.  The learning disability manifests itself as an inability to do math and to organize and in some other ways.  It's not that I am afraid of math or have had a bad experience.  My brain simply struggles and usually can't "get" math.

It must have been second or third grade when our teacher first brought out the wooden pies to teach us about fractions.  I was completely and totally lost.  I assumed everyone else was, too, but it was only me.  That day is as clear in my memory as any other life-changing experience.   For the first time in my life, I knew I was dumb.

I would have gone through life believing that, too, if it hadn't been for my mom who was earning a master's degree in psychology/guidance and counseling.  At the time (the 1960's) learning disabilities were newly "discovered" and the research wasn't always accepted by teachers.  There were still more teachers who believed that a student simply needed to try harder.   But my mom tested me and had me tested by other professionals and there it was:  the reason I couldn't do math, couldn't do puzzles, couldn't organize things, et cetera.  It also explained why when I needed to throw a ball, I didn't know which hand to use - not because I was ambidextrous, but because neither arm was a dominant/strong side.

My mom became my greatest advocate.  And when through the next many, many years we met an obstacle, she was right there finding a path around it.  She never used the LD as an excuse for me, but always as a basis of understanding.   She worked with me academically all the way through and she helped me to create patterns in my brain so that  I could get through course material.  Baby steps is more than a movie quote for me.  It is how I've lived sometimes.

Checkered has taken up the cause since we've married.  He shoulders anything having to do with numbers in this house from  orgainizing and list-making to bill-paying to helping our children with their math homework.  He even sits next to me at the end of every semester and plugs in all my students' grades and tells me what their final percentage is.

The learning disability is real, but  I've learned lots of coping skills and function pretty well.   I believe it all has made me a stronger teacher and a more compassionate human.   I will be forever grateful for my mom and her life-changing love and her understanding that something WAS wrong and her determination that the LD would not be a stop sign, but that it would simply be a bit of a detour.  And then there's Checkered.  Wow!  I've surely been blessed :)

Fine. I Might Have a Quirk or 7. #5

#5: I have never gotten a traffic ticket.

I should not have typed that.  Now I feel as though I am a target.  "Hey," the traffic cops will say.  "Isn't that the innocent driver who has never, in all these years of driving, gotten a ticket?  Isn't that the same woman who has been pulled over twice and driven away ticket-free? Well, her luck has run out as of NOW!!!"

Fine. I Might Have a Quirk or 7. #6

#6:  I shave my legs only as high as my hemline.

Wearing capris?  Shave to mid-calf.

Wearing shorts?  Shave to the knee.

Wearing long pants?  Well, that's an outright gift.

I'd say Checkered's a lucky man, isn't he?

Fine. I Might Have a Quirk or 7: #7

My favorite school board member, Sue, from As Cape Cod Turns has tagged me.  I've never been very good at tag because running is not my thing.  But, after some serious introspection I am going to play.  It also helped that she said I was smart.

So this week, you will learn about 7 hitherto unrevealed facets of me (that sounded smart, right?)

#7: I GET GENUINELY FRIGHTENED
DURING THUNDER STORMS.

I am not certain of the origin of this reaction to thunder and lightening, but it probably has its genesis (please note the use of that smart word, too) some time around my 9th year.  I had a horrible, miserable, ugly, life-changing school year courtesy of some factors such as a cross-country move for our family and being assigned to the most mean-spirited teacher ever. 

Prior to that year I had always shared a bedroom with one of my sisters.  But in that new house, I had my own room.  And in that room I spent many nights wrestling with nightmares and sleepwalking.  I was certain that someone would break in (but the murderer would only enter the house through my bedroom window.)  During any stormy night, I would watch the windows during the flashes of lightening to see if the murderer was outside my room yet.

Two years later, we moved again and my new best friend taught me a lot about life that I had never known.  Included in those unsolicited lessons were several horror stories - always with the setting of a raging thunderstorm.

Fast-forward a whole lot of years and one particular thunderstorm found me with my fussy newborn who had just settled into sleep while in my arms.  I knew that if I put him down, the crying and crying and crying would resume and I was soooooo tired.  My two-year old son was in the room with us and wanted to see the storm.  He reached from the bed to the window and missed the landing.  I heard a thump and then the 2 year old began to cry.  In one of my finest mothering moments ever, I opted to continue holding the sleeping baby while telling my toddler he was okay.  When the lightening flashed next, I saw my toddler 's face covered in blood which was freely flowing from the newly carved gash in his head which he received when his face hit the window sill during his fall.

So there you have my first quirk.  I think my "discomfort" with thunderstorms is perfectly normal, thank-you!