Memes and Awards

I have to interrupt the regularly scheduled anniversary adventure series to do a bit of housekeeping. I have been honored with two awards, which I appreciate so much. One of them involves a meme. On top of that, I took on the challenge of Hootin' Anni's interview. Wow, did she come up with some interesting questions!

I had to laugh out loud (LOL, you know) with Jessica's comment to me today - that if there was an award out there for the longest posts, I would win hands down. Hey, ladies, they didn't call me "Mouth of Third South" in college for no good reason! I am a woman of many words - ask anybody who knows me IRL.

So - here goes - - -



Honorees are to list 10 honest things about themselves-and make it interesting, even if we have to dig deep! This is going to be a challenge. Thank you, dear Laurie, for this award.

1. My dear husband and I are both eldest children in pastors' families. As such, we felt as if we knew each other very quickly, because we had shared many of the same things in our growing up years.
   
   
2. As Laurie shared, I too am a non-swimmer. I almost drowned at age 10 when I hit a drop-off in one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. I have never since been able to trust the water to hold me up. I love boat rides, I enjoy cruising, I go along to watch snorkelers from the boat, but don't expect me to get in.
   
   
3. I was the tallest girl in my graduating class of 82 students. The class was small enough that they had us process by height instead of alphabetically, so the tallest boy and I led the group.
   
   
4. I was the self-proclaimed president of all neighborhood clubs - clubs which I created. I see a lot of myself in my 6-year-old granddaughter, known here in Blogland as Care Bear.
   
   
5. I asked Jesus into my heart when I was three years old. I don't remember this, but my mom told me, and I believe her. I often wish I had a memory of where and when I accepted Christ, because I could point back to that time and place when Satan makes me doubt. But I have never wanted to do anything but serve Him. I praise Him for salvation and protection from the junk that many people have had to overcome.
   
   
6. But no matter how much I loved Him and served Him, it did not prevent heartache in our family. But He has helped us through it all. So far. I don't expect Him to stop now!
   
   
7. My parents scraped up the money to buy a used piano when I was 7 so that I could start lessons. I began playing for church in our tiny Arkansas church when I was 8 - we had nobody else, so Dad raised his own accompanist. I have been on the piano or organ bench most of my life since then. I'm a very generic musician - meaning what I see is what you get. No fancy chording or embellishments. That's why I love the organ - you can make it sound good with all those buttons! My potential was short-changed when I was 13 and we moved to a bigger city where the cost of lessons was prohibitive for my parents.
   
   
8. I love singing in choir and am thankful that our church still offers this opportunity (and that we still have an organ to play!). Music is a huge part of my life and I remember the day I figured out that I could harmonize.
   
   
9. I struggle every day with my weight. I look back at pictures of when I was much younger and thought I was overweight then - and can't believe how good I looked. I must have had a skewed body image in those days. I'm thankful I didn't fall into anorexia or bulimia, which of course wasn't known of when I was a teen.
   
   
10. I used to think blogging was stupid - can you believe it??
    

Thank you so much, Midlife Mom (my friend Louise) for this beautiful award. I'm not at all sure that I deserve this one, but I certainly will accept it with gratitude.

The Blogger manifests exemplary attitude, respecting the nuances that pervades amongst different cultures and beliefs.

The Blog contents inspire; strives to encourage and offers solutions.
There is a clear purpose at the Blog; one that fosters a better understanding on Social, Political, Economic, the Arts, Culture and Sciences and Beliefs.

The Blog is refreshing and creative.

The Blogger promotes friendship and positive thinking.


I began blogging in June of 2006 - Kristen, my daughter, pushed me into it. In fact, she set me up, named the blog, then called me and told me to join in and get busy. She gave it the title "Call Me Grandma Dawn" because that was what Anthony, her stepson, called me from the very beginning, when he was barely 2. The theme of grandparenting is a huge part of this blog, but it is mostly my day to day life that appears here on this page. There is no great political or social agenda. In fact, I mostly keep my political opinions to myself. But it has become such an important part of my life and I appreciate all of you. I regret greatly that I have had to go private, but it is better than nothing!

This morning when I visited Hootin' Anni, she had been interviewed by one of her blog buddies. I let her know I'd be willing to be interviewed - she chose the questions. This will be another challenge~~

1. What prompted you to say "yes" to the marriage proposal from your spouse?

We were 25 and 30 when we married - we both had been through some painful relationships. Nothing horrendous, but we'd both been hurt by someone. We had both lived long enough on our own that we appreciated what the other one would bring to a marriage. We didn't go together very long before we knew this was "it." (In fact, we'd been married a few months when DC asked me how long we'd gone together before we got married - I told him 8 months and he said, "That's not long enough!" Too funny! Too late!) We had talked about marriage, had even looked at rings. The proposal was kind of a technicality - we had ordered the rings and when they came in and he got the call, he went over to ask my dad if it was all right (yes, he did - even at our advanced ages!), then proposed on roller skates during the couples' skate as they played "Ebb Tide" with the lights lowered. Oh, it was very romantic! I am not a very good skater and actually ran into the wall with shock, because I wasn't expecting it at that time! I don't think he had much doubt that the answer would be in the affirmative. What prompted me to say "yes?" He was the answer to this girl's prayers!

2. What childhood memory is most vivid in your mind as you blog at this very moment?

This is so tough, because I have so many vivid memories of my childhood. It was a happy childhood with 5 kids in a parsonage with very little money. If I have to pick one memory, I think it will be when my brother, sister, and I played missionary. We had two sets of uncles, aunts, and 4 cousins who were missionaries in Africa. We had this great two-seated merry-go-round in our yard and we pretended it was an airplane. It would take us to the jungles of Africa, where we would land and share the gospel with the chief in his hut. Our whole life revolved around the church. Nothing's changed!

3. With your experiences, have you ever thought your existence as female is less stressful than a male's existence?

Never! I have always felt like I was more stressed out than my husband. Maybe guys just don't talk about their stressors as much as we do.

4. What historical leader, in the world, has captured your admiration most?

I mentioned above in the previous meme that I don't get into politics here. But I was quite outspoken when I was younger. In fact, I thought that one day I would run for office when I grew up. I know there will be those who gasp when I say this, but my first interest in campaigning was Nixon vs. Kennedy in 1960. I became very interested in Richard Nixon and his family. I read his book, Six Crises, and decided that his daughter, Julie, and I could be soul mates. I eventually did a term paper on him in high school, and later met him when he was between political jobs and was corporate attorney for Pepsi-Cola Company. I wrote about this experience here (unfortunately, the pictures I posted were deleted when I had to go private and I overreacted and canceled my Flickr account). When Watergate happened, I was devastated. I won't go into this any further, but that is my story.

5. What influences in life have triggered you to set certain goals? And what are/were those goals?

I have never been a big goal setter, unfortunately. Most of my goals have had to do with my personal appearance, which seems pretty shallow when I write it down.

So - there you have it. Another long post. No pictures to break it up. Sorry, Jess!