Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Yippee! I got The Sunshine Award!



My friends know I like to win. That I'm hyper competitive. That I don't like games of chance because then winning didn't take anything on my part except rolling a dice. I LOVE BLOG AWARDS. I think they're such a great way of spreading community around the blogosphere – we get to know tidbits about the recipient, we get to meet some of his or her friends as the award/love is passed on, and the giver gets a big THANK YOU.

Thank you goes to Click of Click's Clan



for this Sunshine award.  OK, some have said it's creepy, but a friend of mine is making me watch The Walking Dead, so I can deal with a baby burning up...
I just met this lovely lady from Scotland through the A-Z Challenge. Please pay her a visit. She is a delight!  


Here are the 11 Questions I'm to Answer

What inspired you to start blogging?
I've loved writing for as long as I can remember. To write a book has been a life goal since my teen years. I was getting old, you know, over 40...so I decided I needed a place where I'd be accountable. People would expect content, they could critique the content, and I'd improve my writing skills. I think it's working. What I had never counted on is the amazing companionship and love and support that's out there as we interact with other bloggers. That more than anything has helped me grow, enter writing contests, join blog hops, and explore many genres of writing I hadn't even heard of before.

How did you come up with the name of your blog?
I've been working on the whole gratitude and contentment thing for a while. I've needed to, or my medical issues might have done me in. So I try to be grateful for each day, look on the bright side, and find something good in whatever happens. I fail at this daily, but having a focus gives me at least a chance to succeed.

What is your favorite blog to read?
Impossible question, seriously. There are so many fantastic blogs out there, but I guess I do have to answer it, so I'll say WaystationOne. Brian Miller is an amazing poet and observer of the human condition. His little slice of life pieces are so vivid you can see the person, empathize, and step out of your own little safe world for a bit. He's also been an amazing friend. He reads EVERY blog post I write, and has been doing so since I started in 2010. I find him everywhere I go. He's got a bazillion followers, yet return visits every comment. Amazing guy with an amazing heart. Go say hi!

Tell us about your dream job.
Probably doesn't sound dreamy to most of you, but I'd like to go back to working as an office manager/HR head. That was a fun, varied, never a dull moment job and I miss it.

Is your glass half full or half empty?
It's dirty...my kids are behind on dishes as they finish end of the year projects and study for finals. Can't find my favorite, either. Seriously though, my glass is usually empty because it's hard to stay hydrated in Colorado, and I drink my chardonnay too fast ;-)

If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go?
I'd go to my family's property on the waterfront near Annapolis. We've owned this place since the 60s and it's nostalgic and wonderful. There's nothing better than spending a day on the water sailing, or crabbing to have dinner, or watching your kids being dragged behind the motor boat on various flotation devices and learning centripetal force...

What food can you positively not eat?
Lima beans. Ugh. Chalky and mealy and flavorless. It's about the texture.

Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?
Neither, hypoglycemic. But before I knew that, I'd pick dark. Swedish dark chocolate is amazing, and my favorite is the orange infused.

How much time do you spend blogging?
If you ask my family, too much. In my opinion, not enough. I do try to block out two hours a day to visit others, return comments, and write my posts. Of course, during the Challenge, it was pretty much a full time job...but I loved it.

Do you watch t.v. and if so, what are your favorite shows?
I do watch TV, but only about an hour a day. I'm addicted to Food Network, so that's what I'd pick for by myself, and I usually allow myself a show while having lunch. Lately it's Chopped and Hell's Kitchen. When The Engineer and I watch, we alternate between Warehouse 13, The Walking Dead, and Torchwood. We were extremely sad when Eureka ended, and will never forgive them for canceling Firefly...

%%%

I'm passing this award on to the 6 members of Tina's Terrific Team! I could not have survived the Challenge without your amazing help! You made my days sunnier! Thank you.

AJ Lauer of  Naturally Sweet

      

Jolie Du Pre of Precious Monsters


PV Ariel, aka Philip of philipscom




Your turn, team. Pass this on to 6 fellow bloggers who make your days sunnier. Here are the questions for them. 


What inspired you to start blogging?
How did you come up with the name of your blog?
What is your favorite blog to read?
Tell us about your dream job.
Is your glass half full or half empty?
If you could go anywhere for a week’s vacation, where would you go?
What food can you positively not eat?
Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?
How much time do you spend blogging?
Do you watch t.v. and if so, what are your favorite shows?

Thanks to all my readers and blogging friends for making this world such a supportive place!  I'd give you all an award!

~Tina

27 comments:

Stephen Tremp said...

Great answer to the half full or half empty question. Enjoy the Chardonnay!

Brian Miller said...

big grins....thank you ma'am...and glad you started writing as well...we all need that outlet of our creativity...

hey remember the short story we wrote together...smiles...

LD Masterson said...

Hey, that's the laughing baby from Teletubbies.

Not that I've ever watched Teletubbies, or anything like that...
*slinks away*

Unknown said...

dark chocolate really is the best!

Gina Gao said...

Congrats on getting the award! It was nice getting to know you better.

www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations! You are the sunshine, Tina. And the glass is dirty - funny.

Intangible Hearts said...

Hello and congratulations on the award. You have been quite sunny Tina. I guess dark chocolate infused with orange would make it palatable.

Lucy said...

You always learn so much about a bloggy friend when they win an award,congrats and I need to check out those bloggers you recommended.

Do you miss the chocolate at all? I love chocolate but have noticed lately it doesn't love me,so I have backed off, I don't miss it as much as I thought but every great once in awhile I want to indulge and I can, I am not like you and know that it is a big NO for you or I suspect you will get really really sick.

Lucy from Lucy's Reality

Donna Smith said...

I enjoyed reading your responses. Now that burning baby... like The Great Oz at one year old... I think that needs to be rethunk.
Too bad about the chocolate. How do you get by?

Jeremy [Retro] said...

YOU ROCK! oh was that all in capitals... maybe i was screaming it... oh i was...

:)

Andrew Leon said...

I like Lima beans!
And I choose dark, also.

katie eggeman said...

I tend to think awards are less like community and more like a "friendly" chain letter. I don't do them anymore and I hate to be the one to end the chain but I am the guilty one. I have a bloggy friend that has a button declining awards. I haven't got an award for a while so maybe folks have figured it out. However, it is nice to read the answers to the questions on blogs that I follow.
Katie atBankerchick Scratchings

Philip Verghese 'Ariel' said...

Hi Tina,
Here comes a BIG CONGRATS!!!And
Ha! Thanks a lot for passing this
Award to me too,
Sure I will pass on this to my friends too.
Keep Inform
I am on my way to your lovely friend LOL
Phil

Amanda Trought said...

Tina, lovely to have met you, passing by on the A-Z Road trip. Its always nice to find out a bit about the person behind the blog, and you have a great list of people to visit. Blessings Amanda
Amanda - Realityarts-Creativity
Art Blog

JoJo said...

why thank you Tina! And I admit when I saw the award pic I went 'Whoa....' It's the baby from Teletubbies. The only time I ever saw it was at a doctor's office and I was very, very sick with a high fever. It was on in the waiting room and I truly thought the baby in the sun was a hallucination. So thanks for inducing a flashback. lmao

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tina .. thanks so much for the award and ideas and thought processes - anyone active in the hosting of the A-Z deserves much acclamation .. especially the co-hosts ..

I'll be back tomorrow - as you know I'm not good with awards .. but love receiving them! Typical combination .. but I'll answer a few of the questions here ..

See ya tomorrow - Hilary

Click said...

Aw, thanks for taking the time to respond.

I particularly liked your response to the glass half full/empty. You'd fit in at my house! ;-)

Suzanne Furness said...

Great to learn a little more about you, Tina.

Jo said...

Congrats, and I hope you found a clean wine glass.

JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

Jolie du Pre said...

Hi Tina,

Congrats and thanks! I'm behind with posting the awards I've been given. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Rachel said...

Have you seen Master Chef? That's my favorite cooking competition. My mom likes ALL those shows but I only really like Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef. Last season, a blind girl won, and it was the best thing ever. It still makes me happy.

A Daft Scots Lass said...

Congrats on yer Blog award!

Hart Johnson said...

HA! Lima beans are my single most hated food, too. There are a couple others I won't eat, but that's the worst. And your vacation sounds fabulous. And thank you for reminding me I need to catch up on Torchwood. A while back I watched all Netflix had, but I have Xfinity now, so I bet there is a season or two that's more reasonable.

Sue McPeak said...

Shine On, Tina...I knew that must be you Shining so Brightly in the Texas Skies...not so far from Colorado. Enjoyed reading your answers...blogging love and support...so amazing.

Sue CollectInTexasGal
Rattlesnake Butte on AtoZ RoadTrip

Annalisa Crawford said...

I know I shouldn't pick up on it, as you can't eat it but dark Swedish orange infused chocolate sounds amazing!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tina - well tomorrow went, and now today has gone .. so looks like I won't be back .. another - as you reminded me in your new post - I need to pack for London town.

Cheers and have a lovely weekend with a Chardonnay or two .. Hilary

DL Hammons said...

Congrats on the Blog Bling! It is WELL DESERVED!! :)