Monday, October 26, 2015

Dream Blogger


I know some people have seen this post before. It is one I keep trying to write, and finish.  Then I schedule it for sometime in the future thinking I'll get back to it, and I don't.

I copy it, cut it and paste it into a new post, deleting the old, so people are left confused about where this post just went that they were reading, or "Hey, how come it is here again?" "I just read this last week"... etc., etc. and so forth... 

Well, that is the reason.  It publishes automatically, and I remember that I wasn't finished.  So I take it down and reschedule it.
Thank you for the nomination for the Infinity Dream Blog Award, Chrys!.  Like you, I do not know exactly what that means, but dreaming is fun, usually...except for that time the four men in black hats came in the front door and I had to decide if it was a prank or if I was really going to shoot them.  I, fortunately, woke up before I had to come to a decision.
Anyway, I thought I'd start by telling the 20 Random Facts about me - which is one of the things you have to do if you are an Infinity Dream Blog Award recipient (which you may be one of someday, or today if your name is listed below). My random facts (in black) will be right after Chrys Fey's fact (in neon green), just to show you how we could be related, according to the random fact gene.
I added a couple others because I felt like it.

First assignment - Here are the questions posed by Chrys, and my answers: 

1.What is something you’d do tomorrow if money wasn’t an object? 
I would buy a little house on the ocean...wait.  I did that.  Okay, I would actually finish remodeling it and move in!  And I'd add a pool, which we aren't doing because it is too much money and we are beside the ocean so it seems foolish, but you don't really swim in an ocean.  You wade, and come out because you can't feel your feet anymore. 
2.What is your biggest, wildest dream? 
My dream is to write something publisher worthy, "get discovered", and have it published.  Failing that, I want to self-publish, so my children, grandchildren and future greats will have a book by me that they can hold in their hands.  
3.What are your goals for your blog for the next year? My goal would be to have a Writer's Blog, not a Writing Blog. I guess that would mean I stop writing for the blog and become a writer who has a blog. To stop putting all my writing up there, and save some for a book. Thank you for clarifying that for me. It's been nagging at me for a while, but I didn't have a clear picture of what I wanted to do until now. Well, it's clearer anyway. Here are 20 random facts about me (Green Chrys', mine below):

I don’t usually listen to rap, but I can rap all the words to Eminem’s song “Lose Yourself.”
I don't usually listen to rap, but I do eat M&M's, and I kinda lose myself when I do.

In tenth grade, I rewrote the Declaration of Independence for a contest. I won first place in my school and third in the district.
In third grade I won a coloring contest put on by the Fire Department.  I did this for three years in a row, winning a silver dollar each time. 
 

I don’t drive and have never owned a drivers license.I don't pilot a plane and have never owned a pilot's license.
I once dyed my hair black. (I was a teenager and stupid.)
I once permed my hair into frizzes. (I was old enough not to be stupid.)


 

I donated 14 inches of hair to Locks of Love in 2013.


I could donate 14 inches of hair...white...a first grader told me I looked like Elsa.  She's a wonderful student.  I don't know her name, but I'm sure she's smart.  My daughter did donate hair to Locks of Love.

When I was fifteen I had spine surgery to correct scoliosis. Now I have a metal rod, screws, and fusion in my back.
My family has lots of back and neck issues.  I hurt my lower back when I was diving into a pool when I was 15 or 16. I am hoping that I will be able to avoid back surgery.

Autumn is my favorite season and Halloween is my favorite holiday.
Autumn is my favorite season.  My birthday is near Halloween and I had my one and only birthday party with classmates as a Halloween party.

When I was younger, I dressed up like a pimp for Halloween. I drew a beard and uni-brow on my face with eyeliner and wore my brother’s clothes. My friends called me Christopher all night.
I dressed up as an old man for Halloween once.  No one even once called me Don, though (nor Christopher).

I am a vegetarian. (Seven years now.)
I was a vegetarian for a while - I think it destroyed some of my health.  I have become now a full-fledged non-glutenarian (not by choice).

I dabble in jewelry making.  (This is Chrys' necklace below.)


Me, too!  I dabble in jewelry making.  And Chrys' shell necklace (above) bears a resemblance to a piece I made for my sister-in-law (below).


Here's a ring I made wrapping wire,


and a wrapped wire and stone pendant I made.


Neon green is my favorite color.
 
Neon green is not my favorite color.  I like dark green or blue or red or purple.

I have a dragonfly tattoo on my arm.
 
I have dragonflies in my yard, on some hooks and on my stained glass lampshade.

At the age of twelve, I started writing a series of books that I later rewrote when I was seventeen. This is the supernatural-thriller series that I plan to publish someday. Avrianna Heavenborn from Ghost of Death stars in this series. 

In my day, no one under adult age wrote a book, even for fun.  My first book was written at the age of 21 in college as an assignment to write a children's story.  I wrote the sea-natural oil spiller book called "Gilly Grows Up".  It would take a bit of work to publish it.  I did the illustrations, too.  My instructor was quite impressed.  I think everyone else did alphabet or dictionary books.  Mine had a plot.  Not a good plot, but a plot...and characters.

I have four cats that I rescued from an unknown fate. Read their story here: The Great Kitty Rescue.
 
I have rescued many a kitty and a couple of dogs.  Currently, Noah is our rescue cat.  He has his own blog: I, Noah Cat.

 

I draw fashion designs. I have sewn a few dance costumes, my wedding gown and other miscellaneous pieces of clothing.  In addition, when my son wanted to have full size Alvin, Simon and Theodore Chipmunks for a school marionette-type skit, I made them.  I don't always use a pattern, preferring to "wing it", or I adapt a pattern all to pieces.

As a young girl, I started collecting nutcrackers but they all broke over the years. I still have the original...the one that started it all.
As a young girl I collected porcelain horses but they all broke over the years.  I do not have the original, but I remember it (a black Saddlebred with one front hoof raised). I have looked on eBay a few times for one.  I'll find it someday.
I adore movies about writers, but I dislike books with characters who are writers. (Usually.)
I adore movies about... I don't generally like movies if they are based on a book.  I REALLY don't like a book written from the movie!

I eat pizza with ranch dressing.
I eat gluten-free pizza.  For a while I ate pizza with no cheese.  That is just dumb - like getting a frizzy perm.

I have a fear of fires due to a wild fire that almost took my home when I was ten.
We had a fire causing soot damage in our home while we were out of town.  My son was home and got himself and the animals out in time.  It took a year to get it cleaned up enough to live in again.


A TV caught on fire in the basement - plugged in when a power surge occurred it appears.


My mom almost gave birth to me in Okinawa, Japan where my family was stationed (my dad was in the Air Force), but we left when my grandmother got sick. She died from ovarian cancer when I was two.
I had two penpals from Japan when I was 14.  My grandmother died of cancer when I was 9.
Random facts now about me!

Random extra fact A: We raised Arabians on our horse farm in Minnesota.  I never had a horse as a child.  We could have been killed.

Random extra fact B: I took toe dance lessons up through high school.  I was on TV doing a toe tap dance with another girl once on a weekly local talent show.  Wish I had THAT tape!  I'm sure we were wonderful!

Random extra fact C: I do not like elevators.  At all.  They are in the same genre, for me, as airplanes.  I will use both and I will look normal (I think), but inside I am screaming.

Random extra fact D: I was voted class quietest in high school and got nauseous when I had to speak in front of a class.  I became a teacher who spoke daily to students, a presenter at teacher workshops at the state level and a vocal soloist at church.  Never underestimate the power of screaming on the inside until you can take it on the outside!

Random extra fact E:  I appear to be allergic to strawberries now and have a gluten sensitivity.  Perhaps too much screaming on the inside causes sensitivities to other things?  Nah.

Random extra fact F:  I hate bats even though they are good to have around.  I like baseball bats though.

Random extra fact G:  My husband and I knew each other for exactly one year when we got married 43 years ago this September.  Sometimes you just know it is the right person and the interview process can stop.

If you made it down this far, you should stop.  Nothing I've said is going to enrich your life in any way. But I enjoyed the ramble.  Oh, one more thing:


Biggest Random Fact of All - THIS is my 700th post!
 

Now, I am nominating, for the next Infinity Dream Blogger Awards:

Tabatha Yeatts
Linda Baie
Keri Collins Lewis
Buffy Silverman
Margaret Simon
Tara Smith

Michelle H. Barnes

You know, I can't do this list....there are too many wonderful bloggers out there!  Anyone who sees this and wants to snag the award - go for it!

You may answer the same questions I answered above.  And then tell 20 random facts about yourself.  Enjoy!

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for the nomination, Donna! So many interesting facts about you here.
    I am sorry to hear that you are allergic to strawberries. Random fact about me: one of my favorite smells is a field of strawberries.

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    1. I have had this page up about 6 times, and have taken it down each time. I wanted to but just never got around to cleaning up the "ransom note" look it has! I scheduled its post for my birthday - TODAY - thinking surely by then I'd have gotten back to it to edit...nope. So I've decided to just go with it! I never got the Infinity Dreamer button, but will try to get it on here today, so you can grab it!

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  2. Thanks for the nomination, but this looks like a lot of work. 20 random facts? It may take me a while to come up with them. I love your sense of humor. You crack me up. I secretly envy long hair.

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    1. The facts aren't so bad when you get on the front side of a ramble! Take the award anyway! Write a fact when you think of one. Kind of a time payment with no interest. That doesn't sound right. There will be lots of interest - just not money!

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  3. Thanks for the nomination, Donna. I don't think I have so many random facts to tell, but I enjoyed learning all those facts about you!

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    Replies
    1. I first got this in June I think. It took me months to actually publish the post. It didn't really need to take that long but it seemed overwhelming! When you start to write though, you begin to realize how much you've done in your lifetime. I might just continue so my grandkids will know!

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  4. Donna, one of the best facts about you is that you have a marvelous sense of humor! Thank you for the nomination. My one random fact that always made my students be happy they weren't me was that I had my mother as a teacher for 5th & 6th grade. I didn't mind it too much, & have fonder memories of those grades than of others. I guess it was okay! Congrats on number 700!

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    Replies
    1. Oops! Happy Birthday one more time. Hope it's been grand!

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    2. Oh, my! I got the BEST present EVER! My daughter and children had a Facetime session with me this morning, to say happy birthday to me, Nannie. As soon as they came onscreen, 18 month old granddaughter said "Nannie!" and waved. Surprised her mom, too! Neither of us knew she knew my name or how to say it! I'm still smiling!

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    3. It doesn't get any better than that, Donna. Sweet times!

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  5. Happy birthday, Donna! AND happy 700th post! That's a lot to celebrate. I'm happy dancing as I write this. :)

    I so enjoyed your random ramble and getting to know more about you. Thanks also for thinking of me for the Infinity Award. I came up with a list of 20 random things about myself once before –25 actually– which is posted in a friends-only area on Facebook. Are you my friend on FB? If so, here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/notes/michelle-heidenrich-barnes/25-random-things/51500253539?pnref=lhc If not, you should be. But if you don't do FB, let me know and I'll post my random ramble here... or maybe emailing would be better... 25 things goes on for a while.

    Hope you had a special day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I replied to this once using my iPad this morning...doesn't seem to have taken!
      Anyway, I said I'd head on over there...then got distracted by shiny stuff.

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