Liebster!

Well this Liebster award comes with quite the contract.  11 facts about myself, then I have to answer questions that my nominator picked, then I get to come up with questions for the people I pick.  And then nominate bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. 

So let's get started, shall we?

11 Facts about Myself - Many of these are elsewhere on my blog but they are what has come to mind.

1. I studied geography and Canadian Studies in university.
2. The farthest west I have been is Kelowna, BC and furthest east is Nevis, West Indies (Halifax is a close second but I looked up the longitude, Nevis wins by a degree).
3. I am named after my paternal grandmother who died prior to my birth.
4. I love tea.
5. I started wearing glasses in Grade 7, I now think I look weird without them.
6. I was a life guard and swimming instructor through high school and university.
7. I took three Spanish classes, two in high school and one in university.
8. I love dancing with my husband, cha cha, rumba, waltz, fox trot and tango are my favourites.
9. I am 5' and a half inch.  I like that half inch as much as I like being short.
10. I find sharks fascinating.
11. I support a few independent musicians through house concerts, advance purchase of CDs, etc, my name is in a few liner notes.  Including this guy, Corin Raymond. 

Questions from Aft Agley:

1. What is the most important thing about you?
I think what drives my life at the moment is wanting to be a mom.  Even when I'm in a holding pattern, it's still influencing the decisions I make in my career, my home, and infertility has a huge impact on your marriage.  Impact is not necessarily a bad thing, all of the crap we've been through has made many aspects of our marriage stronger, financially we're in a better spot than when we first tried to have kids (double income no kids has a lot to do with that), it's not all doom and gloom. 

2. Name three things you would like to do this year?

1. Sharpen my scissors.  Lame, but true.
2. See my last two frozen embryos fulfill their destiny and move on to the next stage.
3. Find my sewing mojo again.

3. Do you set goals?

Not often.  I think of it more like to-do lists where some get ticked off sooner than others.  Firm goals set me up for guilt and procrastination.

4. Do you have a dayplanner?
I used to be a daytimer person.  I have daytimers from when I was in high school and I'm amazed at how busy I was (helps when someone else makes your meals, does your laundry...).  But I stepped away from it.  The real problem is that I rely on Outlook to pop up with meeting reminders at work.  A paper book doesn't do that and I can't keep a paper version as up to date as my Outlook so it becomes redundant.  Household events go on a calendar in the kitchen.

5. What is your favourite tv show?
I don't watch a lot of TV, we're pretty selective often waiting to see what happens with a series and watching it on DVD at our own pace.  For humour and still on air, Castle.  Treme has had a real impact on me but we aren't keeping up with current episodes.  Past shows, The Wire, Firefly, Arrested Development.  Guilty pleasure?  Charmed.

6. What is your favourite book?
Anne of the Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery is one I've read over and over through my teens and 20's, but it's been a while now.  I revisit The Fire-Dwellers and The Diviners now and again, both by Margaret Lawrence and as I age I draw from different parts of the books.  They are part of 5 books that are loosely connected through the fictional town of Manawaka, Manitoba which is based on Neepawa, Manitoba and my husband lived in Neepawa in his early childhood.  For Christmas, my MIL framed a picture she took of the stone angel in the Neepawa cemetery that the book Stone Angel is titled for  (although for the record, it is my least favourite book of the series, I should read it again because I might appreciate it now that I'm not 17).

7. Do you sew, knit, etc?
I sew and I know how to crochet one blanket, I specify one blanket because I understand quite a few crochet stitches but pattern reading is still confusing.  I'm game for other needle/crafty kind of things, but they are usually one-offs.  Like embroidering tea towels as a gift or painting stained glass stickies to my bathroom window.

8. What does an ideal day look like?
Oh boy.  There would be many things:

• Time with Mr. Lina.
• Tea, rooibos, black, flavoured black, I like it all.
• Time to read or sew or crochet.
• Good food.
• Friends.
• Sleep.

9. Have you ever been to a spa?
Yes, but not often.  Usually seems like a lot of money so when I have gone, it's been a gift or part of a package of sorts.  In a lot of ways I'm actually more comfortable getting a massage from an RMT in a medical office than the pampering of a spa.

10. How do you make the world a better place?
You do ask the big questions, don't you Nothy?  I volunteer my time, maybe not as much as I used to but what I can.  I am on the executive for my bowling league, I sometimes get paid for this but I like to spend time with my friend with Down Syndrome.  And lastly, I don't know how this helps the broader world but it sure helps my world.  I'll do a lot to help my husband reach his dreams of making movies.  Like sewing 24m of fabric into 3 back drops.

11. What is a goal you've set that you met more easily than you anticipated?
Things that come easy to me I think are easy for everyone and therefore not achievements.  This took some thinking but I found one, it's a bit of a story so get comfy.

When I was growing up, I was the chatty one, the bubbly one, the one people got along with and maybe the quiet one if I was afraid of saying the wrong thing to someone I adored (like my kindergarten teacher).  My brothers were the smart ones.  Not to say I'm stupid or ever thought I was stupid, but I always felt "average" and my brothers were in the gifted program.  I was friends with people who won school awards and I had to work pretty hard on subjects like math and science and I was pretty aware when I didn't know what I was expected to know.  My middle school report cards were usually full of Bs, averaging out somewhere between 74 and 78.
Third term of grade 7 (I would have been 12 starting that school year) I had an average over 80% for the first time thus qualifying me for honours.  It was truly an epiphany.  I realized that I could get honours, that it wasn't impossible or a pipe dream. 
My middle school gave out school letters (a G you could sew onto something) if you earned 100 points through after school activities and a larger letter G if you also got 4 terms of honours over the 3 years at the school (so 4 of 9 terms).  I was already close to 100 points at the end of Grade 7, and I was going to be in band/choir in Grade 8 which would be enough for the Little G.  But the Big G, well, I'd need to get honours all three semesters of Grade 8 to do that.  Getting honours once and getting it 4 times in a row are not the same thing, but I put my mind to it once I knew what I had to do.
And I did.
I also signed up for everything.  The choir, the band, the play (speaking part in Annie), I ran for class president (and lost).  If there was a sign up sheet that didn't involve athletics, I was on it.  I swear it was a year I blossomed and I suspect I got 100 points in that year alone.  Outside of school I volunteered at the pool helping teach swimming lessons on top of my usual competitive swimming, participated in a cross school pairing with a special needs class, my bowling average increased and I came in 4th at a provincial bowling tournament.  Lots of good things happened that year.
And I really didn't have to do much to get it, I just had to believe that I could.

So the last part of Liebster is nominating a few bloggers (ideally with less than 200 followers) and posing them questions.  I must say, asking questions is not one of my strengths, but I'll put on my investigative reporter hat and give it a go.

1. Where is the farthest you have travelled?
2. Do you seek out salty or sweet foods?
3. What is your favourite movie?
4. Tell us about a time in your life where there was a shift - in attitude, work, home, relationships, - something that changed going forward.
5. What is it about fabric that catches your eye? 
6. What is your favourite season?
7. What sewing gadget could you not live without?
8. What is your favourite thing in your closet?

Okay, that's enough questions.  I like conversation more than questions.

The Liebster has certainly made a few rounds in the blog world, I hope my quick search was right that I'm not renominating people.  I nominate:

• K-Line
• Sewing for Real Life
• Shoes are My Muse

But if you have not received this award and would like to play along (or have and would like to answer my 8 questions anyhow) please feel free to!  The rules seem a little fast and loose (Funny Grrl I'm looking at you - to my benefit I might add) so play the way you'd like.