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!

The Love Story - Asked and Answered

Tammy of Family Doin's and Midlife Mom asked me to tell the story of my courtship with DC. I am always glad to tell this story.

I didn't date much in high school. Not much at all. And it wasn't because I didn't want to! I thought for sure that going to a Christian college was going to solve that problem. Freshman year I met a guy at a week-end retreat and we clicked. We dated the rest of freshman year, and I thought we were going to get married. The thrill went away when I began to realize he was not going in to study when I went in to study. He was totally wasting his time and flunking out of school. I was a very serious student, and that didn't set well with me. Then I discovered he couldn't manage his money. It wasn't going to work out for us - my idea. But it was hard anyway.

I went through the rest of college being lonely. When you graduate from a Christian college without an "equally yoked" partner, the future seems pretty grim! That is, if you want to get married.

My college roommate (who was in the same boat) and I moved to a small town in southeast Kansas to teach school. I posted about this during my Job Saga series. I was not happy there, and ended up moving back home with my parents. It was not a good time. My heart was broken during this period of time by "the rancher".

It was at this juncture that I was one of a very few "career young adults" (read single and lonely) in our church. There were several other small evangelical churches in our town, and we did a lot of things together for great fellowship. My dad and his best fellow-pastor friend asked me to try to get some activities going for all of the "career young adults" in all of these small churches. I thought that was a great idea and ran with the idea.

Now - I happened to know that Dad's good pastor friend had a son who had just recently graduated from college and moved to our town to work (his dad had come to pastor here after the son had left home, so it wasn't really "home" to him). I learned that he had a new friend who had just moved to our town from the Midwest. I remember writing down their names in my little notebook and beginning my quest for more people to join together for some "career young adult" fellowship - badly needed by me, at least.

The bad news - I didn't really unearth too many people who seemed to need or want this organization. But I had a core group - these two guys and me! I had to figure out a way to meet these two. It was my new mission in life. Because my dad's pastor friend refused to introduce me to his son - didn't want to get involved in something that might backfire on him!

I began to go to everything that might possibly bring these two guys out. I didn't know how, but I KNEW I would KNOW who they were when I saw them.

We had a small, but good group of this age group in our church at the time, and we enjoyed fellowship in our Sunday School class. But there were more gals than guys, and none of the guys were of interest to me. But we did have good fun every Thursday night when we played volleyball together. Suddenly a great idea DAWNED upon me! I presented the idea to my class - let's invite the "career young adult" class from the church these two guys attended to play volleyball with us. They thought it was a great idea, not even suspecting my ulterior motive.

I have a confession to make at this point - I really hate volleyball. I have never enjoyed any activity that had the possibility of a ball hitting me in the face - it goes way back to elementary school when I was stuck out in the far outfield during baseball games at recess. And I can't serve a volleyball over the net to save my soul. But I went every Thursday night because I was desperate to get out of the house - I was back in a small bedroom in my folks' house after having been on my own for quite awhile.

Wonder of wonders - the other church group agreed to come and play. Of course, this was something these two guys would show up for - it was a sport! I went out and bought a new slack and top outfit and watched all the other girls show up in their grubbies. Not fair, I suppose, but isn't all fair in love and war??

My heart was in my throat as these two really handsome guys showed up first - I was the only one there from our church (p.k., you know - we were always the first ones to any service or activity). I introduced myself. And began to shamelessly flirt with the son of my dad's friend. I spent a lot of time on the floor - I told you I am REALLY bad at volleyball (or most any other sport). I did not pay much attention to the other young guy, the one who had moved out recently from the Midwest.

That was a Thursday night. On Saturday I was taking a trip to visit my college roommate - the one who had left me and moved back closer to her home in western Kansas. I had really been looking forward to this trip, and suddenly I didn't want to go - what if one of these neat guys called me and I wasn't home? Would he ever call again??

Bad news - nobody called! But - on Tuesday, the OTHER one called me. We talked for a long time, getting acquainted on the phone. He had such a great voice, and I really really liked him. He asked me to go for a ride in the mountains on Sunday.

Now, remember, there had been a REALLY LONG dry spell in my romantic life. The very next night, the phone rang - it was a guy. The son of my dad's pastor friend! I could not believe it. We didn't have a long conversation, just enough to make a date to go to the Icecapades on Saturday night - yep, the day BEFORE the ride to the mountains with the OTHER one.

Needless to say, I had a hard time keeping my mind on my work for the next two days. On Saturday night L. picked me up for the trip to the Icecapades. I had always wanted to go to the Icecapades, and we had a really nice time. Nothing heart-stopping. Just very pleasant. He didn't book another date.

The next day, DC picked me up in his beautiful brand new Monte Carlo - I think I fell in love with his car before him. We had the greatest time - we drove and talked and drove and talked. We had so much in common. He practically planned up the whole summer doing things together. I was in heaven. I remember telling my mom that L was really nice, but DC was ready to settle down!

We did begin to see each other and/or talk most every day. L didn't seem to notice. By the time he got around to asking me for another date, DC and I had really developed a relationship. DC had to tell him - L didn't mind. He truly wasn't ready to settle down, and he was happy for DC and me.

This was in April. Things got serious really quickly. In June I went on a trip with my sister and a friend, and I know I bored them silly with DC's name in every other sentence. When I got back home, we began to seriously talk about a permanent commitment. I couldn't believe it was going so fast. But I realized that we both were older and had lived independently, knowing what the other one would bring to a marriage. We had been hurt and knew what we did and did not want in a partner. We were both eldest preacher's kids and had been reared with a tremendous sense of responsibility. We both loved the Lord. We had saved ourselves for each other.

It wasn't long before we were looking at rings. We found a beautiful diamond with a minute flaw. We chose it and decided it would remind us that, no matter how beautiful, nobody is perfect and no relationship is perfect. We chose a set of rings that involved the stone being sent to Kansas City for setting. It took much longer for it to come back than I imagined.

It was a beautiful October Saturday. L and DC were watching football in DC's apartment - he had a large console colored t.v. I had gone fabric shopping and found the perfect off white velvet that I wanted to use for my wedding gown. I stopped by DC's place to tell him we needed to tell our folks we were engaged pretty soon - and I really needed to buy this fabric, because it was on sale until Monday! How romantic is that??!!

We were going roller skating that night with DC's sister and her husband. Now, you know how I feel about sports. I'm a lousy skater, but I was game to go. It was the couple's skate - they cleared the floor of single skaters, lowered the lights and put on romantic colored ones, played "Ebb Tide." It was great. As we were skating around (I was okay as long as I was hanging on to DC's hand), he began to ask me interesting questions. The one I remember the most was, "When we get married, will you sometimes do what I think is best, just because I am the husband?" I immediately agreed! I have to say I didn't think that one through too carefully. Then he somehow managed to stay up on his skates while pulling something out of his pocket - my ring had arrived that afternoon after we talked! He had made a quick trip to the jewelry store 15 miles away, picked up the ring, stopped by to ask my Dad's permission (so romantic and sweet!), went back home to get ready for our date, and picked me up on time.

I must say - I was so shocked when he pulled out the ring, after the conversation we'd had that morning, that I literally ran into the wall! At least I didn't fall flat on my face. I excitedly put on the ring and began flashing it in front of my SIL. She was so excited for us!

We set the date for December 28 - two months hence. His folks had been out in August, were coming again for Christmas, and we figured they would have a hard time coming again in April, which was when I really wanted to get married. I made my dress, my going away dress, my sister's bridesmaid dress, my mom's dress, worked full time 50 miles drive one way - and got it all done in two months. It was a very low budget, but beautiful wedding. And 35 years later, we're still going strong. We've been through a lot in the last few years, but God has brought us through and made us stronger.

INTERESTING FOOTNOTE: L and my sister met that July when my sister came home for a brother's wedding. They instantly hit it off. She was not at all eager to meet L, because she had been "set up" for so many dates that she was pretty gun-shy. At our wedding in December, he told her he loved her. They got married the next November. We've been best friends and family ever since. So awesome.

The Twins - 3 Weeks Old - and More Answers

Three weeks already! Where in the world has the time gone? Here it has gone very fast, with keeping up with admissions, running to the hospital every day at noon. Kristen has been going up twice a day to feed both girls.

Kate has become the star! She is eating so much and growing so fast that they were predicting a Wednesday release - but I think they've changed their minds on that. She's at 4 pounds. I got to feed both girls today, because I was the only one there. Kristen went to the mid-afternoon slot today. Kate is out of the isolette, and both are wearing fetching little stocking caps. Kristen is wondering why they aren't wearing the ones she made for them. We'll have to remind them.

This was before I fed her the bottle - notice no more feeding tube!

Full tummy - very contented!

Emma after her bottle - making the same face her big sister, Care Bear, made as a teeny tiny baby.

Now - back to the questions!

Diane at Diane's Place asked, "What's your favorite meal that your Mom prepared - including dessert? Any special memories attached to the meal?" That brought about so many happy thoughts. My dad was a poor preacher - now I don't mean that he was not a good speaker - I mean he was paid very little, and had 7 mouths to feed. We never knew we were poor, and we had such great times.

Mealtime at our house would have been good for the commerical that we see on t.v. often these days - about how important the family table is. As if they just figured that out! Oops - I've gone to preaching myself. Back to the topic at hand - we didn't have a lot of grocery money. We all went to the store together on Saturday. Though there was a tight budget, one of us 5 kids got to take a turn picking out a bag of candy for the week - which lasted till later Saturday night!

Saturday night was hamburger night - when we finally got a t.v. set, we watched Perry Mason while we ate. Sunday night we ate after church, because Dad couldn't preach on a full stomach. But it wasn't a real meal - it was very snacky. Fun memory. It must be why I have never been able to bring myself to fix Sunday evening meals.

Sunday noon - ah, that's where the best memory is. No matter how much we had to scrimp on food for the rest of the week, we almost always had roast beef with all the trimmings for Sunday dinner. What good memory is involved? Aside from yummy food after Sunday morning church (roast; mashed potatoes and gravy - Dad makes the BEST mashed potatoes; either peas, beans, or corn - Dad's only acceptable vegetables; I don't remember what else filled out the menu), the best memory is waking up to the wonderful aroma of the meat searing in the pan before Mom put it in the oven on low. The very best memory in this regard is the year we lived in the tiny two-story apartment attached behind the platform of the church - the size of a tiny two-bedroom townhouse - 5 kids, as I mentioned before. Toward the end of the sermon, our dinner would start reaching the olfactory senses of all of us in the congregation. I wonder if Dad cut his sermons short every Sunday while we lived there??

As for dessert, we had something almost every meal - most likely the reason all of us fight our weight! Most likely something chocolate. Most often chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Nadine of Just Being Me asked, "If there were such a thing as a time machine what time period would you like to visit?" That was a tough one. I really think God knew exactly what He was doing when he put me on earth in a period in history when life is pretty cushy. I'm not very adventurous. I can't even fathom myself surviving the trek across this huge country in search of a better life. Or worse yet, one of those Swedish immigrants trying to get to the land of opportunity on one of those wretched ships where many died during the crossing. Or during the Civil War. Or having to wear long, hot dresses every minute of the day. I thought seriously about the period during World War II. Though it was a terrible time in our world's history, it was a time when our country was very patriotic and everyone worked together for a common cause.

I like the 50s and 60s, at least as they're portrayed in books and movies. I lived then and it seemed like a more innocent time, though I know there was a lot of political unease at that time as well.

I love fiction based on history. I love Maude Hart Lovelace's writings of the Betsy/Tacy/Tib books - they took place in Minnesota in the early 1900's. I think I could have enjoyed living then.

Myrna, of Cherish . . . the Word asked, "What is the best book (or author) you have read in the last five years? Why?" Oh, my goodness - that is a tough one. I have read so many books. Most of them were for pure pleasure, not with any higher purpose than for escape. I read about 10 different "light mystery" series. I like so many of them, but I think I need to choose Earlene Fowler as the best of the lot - every book is named after a quilt pattern . She's a Christian, the plots are well written, and I get lost in them and look forward to every April when a new one comes out. I am also very fond of Jan Karon and the Father Tim series. I love Rosamund Pilcher's books, because they take me to England. So - that's a round-about answer to a simple question.

Two people have asked me about my romance with DC. I thought I'd written that story, but in searching through my archives, I don't find it. So I will be glad to do that in the near future. I also have been tagged for a meme about my quirks - me, quirks??

Any more questions?

Asked and Answered

Two days ago I joined in the "ask me anything" game, but I kind of snuck it into the midst of a post. I have two questions so far. Feel free to jump in (or not, if you don't have a need to know!)


My dear friend and prayer partner, Nancy, from "Daily Blessings," asked me "How are your son and daughter-in-law doing?"


When I first began blogging, in June 2006, Kevin was just coming home from Teen Challenge on the East Coast. Diane from "Partners in Prayer for Our Prodigals," threw him a Welcome Home party. What fun, as I met so many new friends around the globe - especially those with prodigals in their lives.


Kevin and I journaled his journey together, and it appears on my sidebar, if you're interested and are new to my blog.


Kevin is married to Sema (her blog name), who is a beautiful Kenyan girl that he met when he spent a semester in school in Nairobi. They have been married for six years. She stayed with us while he was in Teen Challenge and achieved a second degree. She finally got the job she really wanted in the large office of a gastroenterology practice. Kev is in the second semester of his junior year as a social work major, an undergrad in the same office where I work with grad level social work students. He's not sure what he wants to do yet, but he knows this degree will be a good launching point for his future. He loves languages - in fact has the gift of languages and can learn them unbelievably easily. He and Sema speak Swahili together. He is taking Arabic, and has a heart for such places as Somalia and Afghanistan. Please continue to pray for them as their future unfolds.


Linds, of "Rocking Chair Reflections" asked these two questions:


What are you looking forward to most about your retirement?


What is your favourite holiday destination in the USA?


Retirement - it is sounding better every day. After 14 1/2 years at my job, which I have truly enjoyed for the most part, I am finding myself with "short-termer's mentality." For me, this means that I am beginning to get impatient with situations that haven't bothered me before. The thing I'm NOT looking forward to is the preparation I have to make before I can leave - I have to create a Desk Manual, which delineates everything I do, with processes and time lines. I don't have time!


But that wasn't the question! What am I looking forward to? Not setting an alarm. Of course, I can never sleep in anyway - my bladder won't let me. But at least I can go back to bed. If I want to. Which I probably won't. I'll probably be up early, fixing DC's lunch (he plans to work a bit longer so that we can do some major overhauling of our house while he can draw Social Security and his salary - long overdue). I plan to have my devotions in a more leisurely fashion. I plan to go to the gym in the morning instead of in the evening when I'm exhausted. One huge project - getting approximately 10,000 pictures organized and put into albums. I will probably be very involved with the grands - but hope I have a bit more flexibility than I do now in that regard. We hope to travel. We hope to someday do some short term mission work.


My favorite holiday destination in the US? As I thought of this question, I realized that I have been blessed to have visited some wonderful places. The west coast from north to south; the east coast from Boston north (much too briefly); Washington D.C. - full of history and absolutely gorgeous in the autumn (the two times I've been there - would love to experience the cherry blossoms in the spring); the midwest - Minnesota and Wisconsin are green and lush (and full of relatives); I discovered the beauty of Georgia this past spring; Arkansas has a beauty all its own; Idaho has a gorgeous lake I never knew about until our last family reunion; Arizona - the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Wickenburg and the high desert (Phoenix, not so much!); Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in northern Wyoming; and of course my own back yard, Colorado.


But my favorite? If you've been reading my blog recently, you can probably imagine my answer - the place we keep wanting to re-visit - The Big Island. We hope to try other islands, but this place has a special spot in our hearts.

Nobody asked this question, and it's not about spots in the USA, but, after reading Linds' posts in the last year, I definitely need to get back to England (to visit her and my brother and his family), and to Switzerland and New Zealand!

So - any more questions?