I’ve been a little bit at odds the last couple of days. The holidays makes it easy to figure out what to blog about, but now that it’s over with, I keep wondering where to start in the old routines. No doubt I’ll be back to status quo in a few days. I’ve been planning and plotting and have a list about a mile long of things to do to get ahead but next week? It’s a bit of a mystery, especially since I missed my recipe window of opportunity this week. Oh well, we’ll figure something out and get back into the groove. Be patient with me… too much bad food and alcohol, it’s sort of muddled my brain!
Imagine my surprise as I get an email from a fellow blogger Sally Payette at Our Krazy Kountry Life as I’m sitting here developing grocery lists and meal plans. I’m being given a Sunshine award for bringing a ray of light into her life! Awww. Like the Liebster award, the Sunshine Award was created by bloggers for bloggers. It is an award that is given to those who are positive, inspiring, and creative, as a way of letting them know that they have created some wonderful reading for others. It’s also a nice way to show our appreciation for each other. And it’s also a fun way to blog hop 😉
Bloggers really are some of the best people to know (yes, I’m awesome *wink*). Seriously, almost without exception, we’ve all started writing with the intent to share our knowledge and make the world a better place. Bloggers tend to be supportive, curious, and frequently love a good cathartic rant.
Suddenly I have something good to say that isn’t about Christmas or New Years. I answer 11 questions posed to me, and ask another 11 questions of 11 bloggers who have given a little ray of sunshine in my own life.
Questions posed to me:
1. I have nominated you for this award because I found some thing(s) on your website to be positive, inspiring and/or creative, can you tell me (and your readers) why you have chosen to blog about the topics that you do on your website?
My DS has severe food allergies to dairy and nuts, so a lot of this was all about him and making sure he knows that he doesn’t have to be denied all things delicious. But I am also concerned over the quality of foods since we have begun to import so much from other countries, and I also have come to believe that the “standard practices” used in commercial food production are at least partly responsible for the growing number of illnesses and ailments we see in North America.
2. Do you ever donate to charities? If yes, which ones and in what ways do you donate? If no, have you ever thought about it?
I donate complete vegetable soup mixes and complete meal baby food to the Hamilton food share every time I’m at the grocery store. I believe that people who are in dire straits deserve nutritious and healthy meal choices, and not just high carb and fat options. I’m a sucker for the kids who come sell the Hamilton Spectator, and I also donate occasionally to a variety of places when I have items we no longer need in our home, volunteer at the local elementary school, and weigh in on the elementary school’s activities and nutrition program as an allergy mom and a natural foods/clean eating advocate.
3. When you’re not inspiring people like me by devoting time out of your week to update your blog what are your favorite things to do?
I touch base with my inner introvert and hunker down, usually reading a book or Netflixing.
4. If money was no object what is ONE thing that you would purchase?
A green and energy-efficient home, off the grid as much as possible, with enough acreage for a subterranean greenhouse and some animals. With a moat. Maybe some piranhas.
5. God has blessed my husband and I with four children, I would love more but we’ve decided that we just cannot afford school and weddings and everything else that comes with children. If money was no object how many children would you have?
One is all I ever really wanted!
6. When life hands you lemons what do you do? How do you remember to be thankful for the things that are right in your life and not obsess over the things that didn’t work out?
When life hands me lemons, I try to make a fancy dessert. If that doesn’t work out, I at least try to figure out what I screwed up so I don’t ever do it again. Then I start over, cause I’m an obsessive perfectionist. 😀 Hey, you kind of have to be, cause if you get discouraged by a little failure, you don’t make pickle bread!
7. What do you do to balance your online blogging life and your physical family and/or work life?
It’s tricky. I am constantly reminding myself to try for balance. Sometimes being mindful of the need to create it is enough.
8. Do your friends and family know that you’re blogging? Do they actively participate in your blog by leaving comments, liking your facebook posts, retweeting things etc?
My mother is my biggest fan. My other family isn’t quite as tech-savvy. But that’s okay, cause I’m finding other huge fans too that aren’t obligated to be my cheerleaders along the way!
9. If you had it to do over again what is one thing in your life you would want to change and why?
I never like this kind of question. The honest truth is: I would change none of it. Like most people, I’ve had some really bad times in my life that I wish never happened. I’m not talking about my pet dying or being bullied in school–I’m talking fundamentally life-altering bad stuff that I won’t talk about because other people I care about were involved. I could have wished that my early childhood turned out a little differently than it had. Or that I didn’t almost fail my senior year in high school because I was skipping school to waitress when I was 17. I could wish that my son wasn’t born with allergies that could kill him.
But I can plot great things that were direct results of drastic course changes made because of what seemed like terrible tragedies. If none of these things had occurred to me before I became an adult, I might have gone on to university when my friends did. I wouldn’t have moved over a thousand miles away to a different country to marry the love of my life and be here 15 years later. If my son had been born without his allergies, I might have never created this blog. I might have gone on directly to another job after I got laid off that paid the bills and made me quietly unhappy.
Life is pretty good right now. Could it have been better? I’ll never know for sure. But somehow, I doubt it. I wouldn’t be interesting in finding out.
10. When I’m feeling down I like to take a break, usually after the children go to bed I can end the day with a nice relaxing bath where no one can bother me. What do you do for your “alone time” to pick yourself up and refresh from things that bring you down?
I also lock myself in the bathroom, draw myself a nice bath, and ignore the kid fingers and kitty paws that reach under the door. If it’s a really bad day, I bring a glass of wine and the tablet so I can watch cat videos.
11. What are you most thankful for in this life that you have?
My husband and son, who between the two of them have given me a niche and permission to follow my dreams as a starving crazy writer.
My 11 Fellow Bloggers that I am passing on the Sunshine Award to:
Christella Morris – Crawl the Line – who had a great viral post on YMC… The Gift of Not Giving a Thing.
Kyla Cornish – Mommy’s Weird – who always makes me howl and might be the next great female Pat McManus.
Chris Read – Canadian Dad – A super nice guy and one of the few people oozing testosterone in the traditionally female-dominated blogosphere. He has a side blog called Kindness Canada. Seriously, he might actually be a Care Bear in disguise.
Julie Nowell – 3 Chickens and a Boat – who has taught me tons about blogging and may have a chicken vlogging fetish.
Mona Andrei – Moxie-Dude – who always makes me feel good about my recipes even if she might never make them. 🙂
Jennifer VanOosten – YouPinspireMe – who is my fellow Hamiltonian tag-team partner for a giveaway.
Jennifer Perry – That’s What She Said – who is the most cheerful, politest person to trolls and haters that I’ve ever met.
Magnolia Ripkin – Magnolia Ripkin – who might write a hilarious rant about this in lieu of a response to my questions, but who I privately consider my personal mama bear of the writing universe, and also who is someone I would never, ever, ever want to tick off. Ever. Never.
Tabitha Pye – Not Quite a Handful – like my sister from another mother and who I had the best time talking with at BlissDom Canada. She not only allowed me to revel in my geekdom but also celebrated it with me when my husband procured Robert Picardo’s autograph on my behalf.
Pamela Smith – Divorce Doula – my parrot friend and a lass who can make a sailor blush (so don’t say I didn’t warn you). She asked for naughty questions in particular, so I kind of expect dirty answers to all of them, even the “clean” ones.
Kim McDonald – Two Bugs and a Blog – who was so cute on camera for our BLUNTmoms telephone game. Look at those curls, baby!
Questions for my friends:
Game on, bloggers, game on. And please link back to your replies in the comments!
Mona (Moxie-Dude) says
Congratulations on the Sunshine Award!!! Kudos to you – you definitely deserve it!
And thank-you for passing it on my way. Awww. I’m touched. Yes, no denying that I’m touched in the “weird mind way” but I’m talking about in the heart way.
Thank-you.
Hugs 🙂
M.
Sally says
Thank you so much for sharing. I love your answer to #9, I also would never change anything. Even the smallest occurance has brought me to where I am, making me who I am and I love this life. The road was bumpy but it was more than worth it.
Have a great day!
julie nowell says
Awe smooch Anne! Thanks for the shout out! And yes, I played along! Check out my fave bloggers here, and the answers to your questions! http://www.3chickensandaboat.com/someone-called-sunshine/
Mona (Moxie-Dude) says
Done 🙂 http://www.moxie-dude.com/a-day-without-sunshine-is-like-night
Tabitha P says
Here is the link to my post:
http://notquiteahandful.com/2014/01/finding-sunshine-anywhere/
That was fun. And thanks for nominating me 🙂
Magnolia says
Well Food Lady, I tried a number of times to respond to this auspicious award, when I realized that I was drowning in the irony of it all. I am not, as you know to be mistaken for Suzy Sunshine anything. I am so grateful that there is some twisted side of you that seems to get my sense of guffaw but it is pretty much just you, my brother and occasionally my bartender, but I think he smiles for tips.
I can’t come up with a response post to save my life, because well.. Happy Hour happens every damned day, how do people fit anything else in???
Love to you Anne of my heart. Thanks for the sunshine into Mordor.
Food Retro says
Lady, twisted is how I roll. I just try to put on a good face to fit in. Not that it seems to work all that well some days… 😀