Things I Like about Me
I haven’t done one of these things in a while. Well, a list of things I like about me? I’ve never done that. Have you?
I got the idea from Jodifur, who got the idea from Elena, who’s collecting links from bloggers who participate.
So, here goes.
1. I’m a good (self-taught) cook. I like that others enjoy my food.
2. I’m a loving mother. I’m not perfect, but I know my kids, and I listen to them. I love them for who they are.
3. I’m a voracious reader, and I’ve passed that on to my children.
4. I have a good eye for color, space and design, whether I’m taking photographs, planning a party or preparing something for publication.
5. I like my sense of humor and that, after 20 years, I can still make my husband laugh.
6. I’m tenacious. I don’t give up just because something is difficult. I get up every time I fall down. Sometimes I climb mountains.
Posted by Becky @
1:57 pm |
Jan Brett contest
We love Jan Brett. She’s not Norwegian, but she writes about trolls and has the most amazing illustrations. She’s a best-selling children’s author, and she’s won tons of awards for her work. The best award is how much children love her books. So do their parents. So do their teachers.
Our school loves Jan Brett, too. My daughters’ Kindergarten classroom reads Jan Brett books, and they do several activities related to her books. My son’s second-grade classroom has several Jan Brett books on the shelf. I’d bet most, if not all, classrooms in our school have Jan Brett books, not to mention our library.
When I saw that she’s holding a contest for the winning school to win a visit from her, I thought, how cool would that be? So I’ve entered the contest, and I’m passing along the information to get as many people as possible to enter. I want our school to win!
Here’s the info: Please help Forest City Elementary School win a visit from Jan Brett! Go to http://janbrett.com/. Click on “click here” to get to her Facebook page. Click “like,” then click on the “Contest” tab.
The school with the most supporters will win a free visit from Jan Brett in the 2011-2012 school year. You must be 18 or older. You don’t need an affiliation with the school, so pass this along. We still have time to win! Deadline is April 2, 2011.
Posted by Becky @
2:29 pm |
Educated Palate: Panettone
I entered a giveaway contest in December on my favorite Italian food site, Educated Palate: Giuliano & Lael Hazan’s blog. What makes it a favorite? Beautiful photos. Heartbreakingly delicious food. (And wonderful cookbooks!) They talk about two places I love, Italy and Florida, and two of the things that make life worth living, family and food.
Guess what? I won! I won this beautiful, delicious panettone and a book all about it. Thank you so much, Lael and Giuliano! It was wonderful!
Posted by Becky @
8:59 am |
Books: Two Snowflakes
We just finished reading Two Snowflakes by Jennifer Miller, who blogs at TwinHappy. She also does #TwinTuesday on Twitter as @TwinHappyJen.
I won the book in a giveaway. It’s a sweet story about two identical snowflakes who find two identical girls. My daughters aren’t identical twins, but we always love a good story about twins. Thanks, Jen!
Posted by Becky @
6:00 am |
Happy
Magpie Musing makes me think. She also makes me happy. She’s inspired me (again), this time to think about what makes me happy. Here’s a list.
- Books
“Nothing is more human than a book.” ~ Marilynne Robinson, The Paris Review, Issue 186, Fall 2008.
- Laughter
- Hugs your body fits right into
- Lists — making them, crossing them off
- Brilliant summer greens
- Blooming azaleas
- Angel-food cake
- Making a good meal then sitting down to eat it with people I love (and some wine, of course)
- Coffee
- The orange sky that makes my kids say, “Mommy, that’s such a beautiful sunset! I bet you wish you had your camera.” (Yep.)
- Music, music, music ~ How can you listen to any of these songs and not at least smile? Say Hey (I Love You), Michael Franti; Love Serenade, The Waifs; Sweet Potato Pie, James Taylor; How I do math: Una mas cervesa + Billy Bacon & the Forbidden Pigs + the Zoo Bar = One Mighty Tasty Tex-Mex Bluesbilly Taco
Posted by Becky @
6:00 am |
Maybe we could sleep in, I’ll make you banana pancakes, pretend like it’s the weekend now
Now I can stop saying that I never win anything. Anne-Marie Nichols had a giveaway at This Mama Cooks! and I won!
This basket arrived the other day, much to the kids’ delight. We love pancakes, and I hate not being able to find syrup without HFCS in it, which is why I entered the contest. The basket includes Log Cabin syrup (with no high-fructose corn syrup), Mrs. Butterworth’s complete pancake & waffle mix, a whisk, a spatula, a plate and a glass. Isn’t it adorable?
Thank you, Anne-Marie! And thank you, Log Cabin!
Posted by Becky @
6:34 pm |
2008 in review: Blogland and beyond
Hey. Still grateful here.
Just a little more than a year ago, we decided at the last minute to go to Norway for the holidays. My husband’s grandmother was gravely ill, and we hoped to see her one more time. (She died just a few days before we got there.)
I put out a desperate call to a bunch of blogfriends, asking if they would be willing to guest post in my absence. I was humbled with the response. I had guest posts for almost every day I was away.
So I’m still grateful.
For …
For …
Linda Jones for letting me blog at You’ve Got Your Hands Full.
Linda also gave me free rein to redesign the blog, which I did over my crazy summer. I had some hits and misses. A photographer promised the use of an image then wouldn’t return e-mails or telephone calls. So I scrambled for a suitable replacement, and I got something even better. I called on someone I knew, Kristine Freed.
With the help of Kristine and Sherilyn Brinker of Brinker-Freed Photographyand new mother-of-twins Kerrin Laari and her 5-week-old babies, Elise and Ian, I had a fabulous image to use on the blog.
None of it would have happened, though, without Jo-Lynne at DCR Design. She made the header and buttons, arranged and rearranged everything and even called me to give me a crash course in making my own changes. (Though I’m still fairly hopeless in that department.) I would have made a big announcement on the blog by now, but I’m having technical difficulties with Typepad, and I haven’t been able to sign on. As soon as I get it figured out, though, I’ll get something posted.
For …
For …
Citizen of the Month for a great experience, The Interview Experiment, and meeting two new blogfriends at A Juicy Life (now Notre Vie Juteuse since she moved to France) and The Would-Be Writers Guild.
For …
For …
Bob for his review of Final Salute.
For …
For …
- Everyone who stopped by to read and/or comment.
Happy New Year.
Posted by Becky @
3:46 pm |
Breakfast of champions
Seriously, what else is one supposed to eat for breakfast in December?
I need a Wii Fit to work off the sugar cookies and chocolate stars come the New Year. What do you think, Loser Moms?
How do I get inspired to work out? Here’s the deal.
When I had three babies in diapers and my doctor asked me if I exercised, I gave him a dark look and a sarcastic chuckle. (Maybe it was more of a crazy cackle.) Do I exercise? Well, I live in a two-story house, and I carry two babies (at one time) up and down the stairs umpteen times a day and a toddler umpteen more. I bounce one baby in the bouncy seat with a foot while breastfeeding the other baby and reading a book to the toddler. And the diapers? Yeah. I change at least 20 a day, give or take. Do I exercise.
Hmph.
My babies aren’t babies anymore, and I’m not carrying them everywhere or changing diapers. But work out?
Who says I don’t work out every day?
Know how much of a workout it is to get them dressed like this, out the door, in the car and off to school in 10 minutes flat?
Or how much of a workout it is to trudge through the snowdrifts to gather wood for the fireplace?
Or to chase after a 50-pound puppy whose reaction to, “Come!” is this look?
Or just to keep from freezing in general?
Oh, wait. You want to know what inspires me to work out … just for me?
Blink, blink.
You can do that? … Really?
To quote George Bailey: I want a Wii. [sob] I want a Wii!
[Cue snowflakes and Zuzu's petals.]
Posted by Becky @
2:39 pm |
Tag, I’m It!
Alisa at Notre Vie Juteuse tagged me.
1. Where was I 10 years ago?
Probably living in a rental by now after selling our house and getting ready to move to Norway in a few months.
2. What is on my to-do list today?
Call about recycling (we don’t have garbage service here)
Call about the gas tank in our yard … when does it need to be filled?
Order pictures
3. What would I do if I were a billionaire?
I’m with Alisa. I would never, ever fly commercial again. I would never put my money in my old bank. I would build a home in Norway and visit often (never flying commercial, ever again, mind you).
4. Five places I have lived
Georgia
Florida
Illinois
Nebraska
Norway
5. Three bad habits
Procrastinating
Not reading instructions thoroughly
Cursing (see first two)
6. Snacks I like
Corn chips
Pretzels
Chocolate-covered peanuts
7. People I’m tagging
Anyone who wants to play.
Posted by Becky @
12:58 pm |
I dress my children in very old clothes
Remember this picture I used for the Crazy Eights meme?
That’s my son wearing my dad’s outfit, which Dad wore in the picture my son is holding.
I did it again.
That’s me and my brother [mumble-mumble] years ago. My mom made our outfits for a centennial celebration in our little town. Come to think of it, I believe she made a matching dress for herself. Whether that and my brother’s outfit still exist, I’m not sure. My outfit — except for the drawstring purse — still does, though. I dug it up and washed it before my daughters were too big to wear it anymore.
My first daughter was all over the idea of dressing up for pictures, especially since she also got to wear her dressy shoes. (She loves her dressy shoes.) She posed and smiled and even tried to dip her head.
My other daughter? She was having none of it. I asked her every day for the last week if she wanted to wear Mommy’s dress. Nope, she said, especially if it meant taking off her shirt. (???) I told her she didn’t have to take off her shirt. Nope. I called it a princess dress. Nope. A princess prairie dress. Nope. A pretty princess prairie dress. Nope. She wasn’t buying it. She might have been tempted if it looked more like this. (Notice the shirt underneath.)
Nagging an almost 4-year-old doesn’t work, although I did tell her yesterday that she would probably regret not wearing this dress for a picture a few years down the road. I imagined the conversation I would have with the girl who can repeatrepeatrepeat something 3,492 times — or until it wears a hole in my head.
“MommyIwantyogurtMommyIwantyogurtMommyIwantyogurt!”
I figured I’d get the “Why didn’t you take a picture of me in your dress?” and “You always loved her best!” and, you know … “MarciaMarciaMarcia!”
But it didn’t come down to that. I asked her again if she wanted to wear my dress and take pictures, and she said YES! I dropped everything, dressed her up and took her outside before she could change her mind.
Here she is.
Only problem was, the other daughter cried the entire time. Two daughters. One dress. Sigh. Oh well. She got to wear it again after we were done. (Notice the teary eyes and the red nose.)
Stay tuned for I dress my children in very old clothes, Part 2.
Posted by Becky @
12:35 am |
