The Rules & 11 Facts About Me

A couple of months ago, just about the same time I decided that I temporarily didn't have time to read anyone's blogs, much less blog myself, my sister-in-law nominated me for the Liebster Award, for 'up and coming bloggers' (sorry, Kristin, I hope you don't mind if I basically plagiarize the description from your blog!), though in my case, I'm sure that what I need is much less an award than a wake-up call.  Either way, this might just do the trick.

The rules are as follows (and yes, I also copied and pasted these from Kristin's blog):

1. Each person awarded must post 11 facts about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions the nominator has set for them.
3. Choose five bloggers to nominate.
4. Create 11 more questions for the bloggers they will nominate.
5. Let the lucky bloggers know.

Admittedly, I have hesitated a couple of weeks to start working on this.  Quite the opposite of Kristin, I have found that I take and upload lots of pictures, but can never quite decide what to say about them. This is such a fun idea, but I haven't had time to brainstorm all thirty-six items included in the requirements, so I'm going to be a little lazy and cut it up into lots of little posts.

Without further ado:

(I hope these don't have to be in any particular order)

1. I was once frostbitten.  There's a faint scar the size and shape of a band-aid on my left ankle and I'm really quite ridiculously proud of it.  Now, of course, it's lost some of its thunder because my sister recently got frostbitten worse than I did by being a much more hardcore athlete than I ever was, and the scar is fading, and I no longer push myself to go running in -13 degree weather...but still.

2. I have a  serious book fetish.  I collect them, especially novels.  The discount book rack at the library or the ones in thrift stores rarely fail to draw me in and Ben has learned to give me five minutes or so before (literally) dragging me away.  I have the book collection in my bedroom, sorted by the ones I have read and those I haven't, and I'm pleased to say that they're pretty closely tied.  I'll work on reading more after I graduate, though.

3. When I was fourteen years old, I was pretty much convinced that I wanted to become a nun, largely because boys were about the least interesting thing in the world and seminary was the most interesting.  By and  by, I came to the realization that nuns were a Catholic thing and I was not.  It turns out that being married to a boy (man ;) and having my own baby is a lot of fun, though.  And I get to wear cute clothes.

4. I am just a tad bit O.C.D. (or maybe I ought to say that I have a tad bit of O.C.D.  Whatever.)  It used to be that there were certain tiles on my parents' kitchen floor that I made a point to avoid (every other tile, to be precise), I would count my steps on the sidewalk to make sure that I stepped on each block an even number of times and never stepped on a crack.  I'm mostly cured now, but still whenever I'm eating small, bite-sized things  like chocolate chips, raisins, M&Ms, etc. I have to eat an even number of them and if they are multicolored (like M&Ms or skittles), I can't eat a pair that are both the same color together.

5. Two things I have always wanted to do: run a marathon and write a book (and have it published).

6. A confession: I am something of a habitual nail-biter.  It has nothing to do with nervousness or anything like that.  Honestly, I find it somewhat...entertaining.  Is that a bad thing to post on the internet?  Oh well, there it is anyway.  I guess I'll try to quit.

7. Some of my favorite things: my wonderful husband, my little girl, good poetry (I'm somewhat of a snob about it), running, mountains.

8. Chocolate chip cookie dough is definitely my guilty pleasure.  I never get tired of it, except when I've had too much, in which case I get a little sick of it, but that only lasts a few hours or a couple days at most.  I know, I know - salmonella (is that right?  You would think I would know how to spell it...).  I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, but I'll save that for another fact.

9. I'm a glutton for punishment. :)

10. Some of my favorite books (at the time I read them...it's been awhile, so I can't say for certain whether I would get the same enjoyment out of them right now) are/were: 'Cry the Beloved Country' by Alan Paton (love, love, love it), 'Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy' by Gary D. Shmidt, and 'The Book Thief' by Marcus Zusak.  I also remember liking 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' (Betty Smith), 'Cold Sassy Tree' (Olive Ann Burns).  Currently I'm reading 'Anna Karenina,' but I don't think it'll make the list.

11. I typed quite a few of these one-handed, while holding little Thunder.  Woot!  I do feel accomplished!  Thanks Kristin.

Sweet Baby

So almost a month after the fact,  I thought that I should finally post something about the biggest change I've ever experienced in my life.
Just a few days before we celebrated our second Christmas together, my husband and I were thrown headlong into parenthood and welcomed this precious little girl into our family.  Yes, a girl!  We both realized afterward that, deep down, we had both spent most of the pregnancy expecting a boy, despite our insistence on switching from 'he' to 'she' every day.  This just made the surprise that much more wonderful.
I'm borrowing an idea from my sister-in-law and giving her a screen name, rather than putting her real name online.  Since I don't have a lot to go on as far as personality is concerned, I'm going to humor my brother, whose first reaction to the news that we were expecting was "I've got the perfect name - Thunder Horse."  Very well, Thunder it is.
I was a little ashamed of myself for getting the epidural as early on as I did, but whereas before I thought our anesthetists were nice guys, now I can see the angelic glow that follows them around.
I guess there's not too much to tell besides that.  Any of you who are parents probably know how fun and exhausting the past few weeks have been.  On my spare time (ha ha ha, 'spare time' - I crack myself up) I mostly take pictures of our little girl and send them to her Grandmas, so I may as well share a few of those with you too.