eleventy

Lauren Malone of Muggyman has nominated me for a Liebster Award, which seems to be a somewhat obscure internet pat on the back for being a favorite, small-time blogger. You pay forward the favor by patting the backs of your own favorite emerging bloggers.

The gist is to answer 11 questions put to you and then list 11 facts about yourself. And of course, you tag five people you admire and pose 11 questions to them.

So now ... without further ado ... here are my answers to the lovely Lauren's questions:

1. What is your favorite season?

It used to be autumn. I still love the colors of fall, especially in the hours before sunset on those rare days when the sky is a deep blue and the trees against it seem to be lit from within. But now, since having kids, my love of winter has overtaken its precursor. Cold air and a fresh blanket of snow outside; a wood stove burning hot inside, waiting for us to return from skiing, sledding or sculpting snow people.

2. What do you love most about being a mom?

That it brought me closer to my mother. 

3. Who is your #1 celebrity crush?

Morgan Freeman. I once attended an art gala where he was a guest. It was a small party, maybe 75 people altogether, but I was so afraid to accidentally bump into him that I just stayed as far away as possible. I envisioned an entire scene in which I was just saying nonsensical, embarrassing things like: "You were the best part of The Electric Company," or "Do you ever just hang out with Rita Moreno?"

4. What is your first memory?

It can't be true, but since I was a child I thought I remembered being a newborn in the hospital. I remembered venetian blinds half-way open and a crow on the ledge outside the window. I told my mother about it when I was 12. She said it wasn't possible, but that the nursery did have blinds half-way open.

5. Who is your idol?

My dad. My mom, too. It's hard to put the why of it into words -- but I bet you can understand without me spelling it out. 

6. What inspires you to write/blog?

I usually say my kids inspire me to write, and I suppose that's true in a way. The writing I do here has definitely taken shape amid the premise that it would be theirs to read and get to know the me who was getting to know them. But the thing is I write. That's what I do. It doesn't matter if anyone reads it or if it just gets lost in the ethosphere; I have to write it down.

7. Favorite ice cream flavor?

Coffee. Coffee would be my favorite breakfast cereal flavor if they made such a thing.

8. What is your favorite method of relaxation?

Canada geese. It used to be yoga ... but that was before kids and trying to juggle teacher conferences, play dates, dance class, 4-H, soccer, gymnastics and soon (gulp) Little League. Now I just listen for the honking of the Canada geese as they flyover head on their migration paths. For some reason their calls always take my tension away.

9. Where would you live if you could chose anywhere in the world?

New Zealand. Or Vancouver. Or Seattle. Or San Francisco. ... Oh who am I kidding? Anywhere seems better when you're on vacation. Once you have to figure out how to do the day-to-day life stuff, though, it doesn't really matter where you live, does it? How a person lives, not where, is the crux of it all.

10. Early riser or night owl?

Night owl, dammit. Wish I were an early bird.

11. What is your favorite book?

Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things." 

Eleven Facts About Me

* I was born on a Saturday, 40 minutes before Mother's Day.

* I prefer celebrating Mother's Day than my birthday.

* I stopped being a vegetarian on a flight to California. It was airplane chicken that turned me.

* Halloween is my favorite holiday.

* I can wiggle my ears and whistle with my fingers ... though I haven't tried these feats simultaneously.

* I can recite the entire 20-minute Alice's Restaurant massacre movement (though not with four-part harmony).

* I twice walked past former president George Bush (41) in a small Maine video store and didn't recognize him. 

* The things I do obsessively tend to balance out the stuff I do "half-assed" (or that's what I tell myself).

* I see nothing wrong with "re-gifting."

* I rarely ever take down the Christmas tree before February.

* I'm trying to smile more. I need to try harder.

So here's the part where I tag people:

I'm calling out some old favorites and hoping to reconnect.

Stefanie of Mommymatic fame ...  
Kitten Pie ...  
My Daily Struggle ...  
Fairly Odd Mother ...  
All about the X ... 

Here are my questions:

1. Who was your favorite teacher?
2. If you could have one day to do over which would it be?
3. I'm springing for drinks, what will you have?
4. What do you miss most about the salad days?
5. Dog or cat?
6. What was your favorite subject in school?
7. What are you reading now?
8. Who is your favorite president of all time?
9. Did you have a family nickname as a kid?
10. What's your favorite restaurant?
11. When you grew up, did you get to be what you wanted?