The Liebster Award!

Life is really so strange!  I was reading a blog yesterday that had been nominated for several awards.  A case of "Award Envy" struck as I whined silently to myself, "I wish I would get nominated by someone :(. (Don't you think we need both a sarcasm and a whining font??)   I digress... imagine my surprise and pleasure when I got an email this morning announcing that Kathy from Carpe Lanam  had nominated me for the Liebster Award!!   Thank you, Kathy!  I’m really honored and excited, and hope the bloggers I nominate will feel the same way.

The Liebster award is given from bloggers to bloggers. To qualify, the blog must have fewer than 200 followers or be less than 6 months old. Once the award has been bestowed upon you, you may accept it and pass it along by writing a post with the following things:

1. List 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer 11 questions posed by the nominator.
3. Choose 11 blogs to pass the award on to and link to them in your post. You’ll need to notify them too, probably by a comment on their blog.
4. Create 11 questions for those 11 bloggers to answer.

My 11 random things:

1. I have been on three TV game shows: What's My Line (I am showing my age), High Rollers, and Family Feud. All True.
2. I have had 6 Great Danes.  Serially.  I mean, really, one at a time has been plenty for us.
3. I grew up in a family of six kids.  My parents remained married to the end and I consider my childhood to have been pretty healthy and normal.  That alone makes me weird.
4. I put myself through college working as a cook on sport fishing boats.  I worked way too hard and had way WAY too much fun.
5. I love to read but you will almost never see me with an actual book in my hand.  Since I discovered audio books I have been hooked.  I am almost never without an iPod hanging around my neck.
6. My husband and I have raised two terrific young men.  One is a lawyer and the other just got accepted to Yale for a Master's program.
7. I consider popcorn a completely acceptable meal if I am dining at home alone.
8. Apparently I have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.  At least that is what my family thinks because I cannot stop quilting.  It has taken over at least one room in our home and most of my life.  
9. I have been to China and loved it.  I would go back in a heartbeat.
10. Once upon a time I wanted to have FIVE children.  Son#2 convinced me I was not cut out for that thankyouverymuch!!
11. I have an unnatural affection for my smartphone - and pretty much anything technological.  My name is Chris and I'm a geek.  "Hi, Chris."

My 11 questions from my nominator:

1. What do you like to blog about?  I tend to blog mostly about my quilting.  Although my dog, Izzy, seems to have more than her fair share of posts. 
2. How did you get started blogging?  I had been reading blogs for a long time and just decided to get in on the action.  It looked like fun and a good way to document my quilting.  It turns out to be rewarding but also more work than I thought.
3. If you had a time machine, when and where would you go?  (You may assume for the sake of the question that no unfortunate paradoxes will be created by time travel if that makes you more comfortable!)  Great Question!!  I think I would go back to Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs. I would love to see all that magnificence in it's pristine splendor.
4. What is the next color that you would choose to paint a room or the exterior of your house?  I am actually very happy with my house colors.  However, I think I might repaint my quilting room in a nice sophisticated neutral.  Maybe something in a pale taupe.
5. Name a favorite fiction book.  Or two or three if you can’t pick. How in the world do I pick one or THREE!  I love the Outlander series.  I also love the George RR Martin Game of Thrones series.  But then how can you Beat Stephanie Plum as a hapless heroine?
6. Name a favorite nonfiction book.  Again, hard to pick one.  I really enjoyed Confessions of a Radical Industrialist by Ray Anderson.  I also think Night by Elie Wiesel and Man's Search for Meaning by Frankl are Must Reads,  They are about the Holocaust and human survival.  If you only read one, pick Frankl's
7. What is your favorite genre of music or your favorite musician?  I am a Beatles fan through and through.  I also enjoy Joni Mitchel despite the razzing I take from my friends who don't consider her work "real music."  So, for a genre, I guess I would have to say Oldies.  LOL
8. How many states/countries have you lived in?  I have lived exclusively in the  USA and only in two states: Arizona till age 6, then California till age 26, Arizona for a few months then back to California at age 27 (didn't like the heat!).
9. A favorite teacher?  I'm afraid no one stands out.  There are several who had a profound effect on me that I used to my advantage but I can't go so far as to say I liked them.  What can I say - I went to Catholic school and not a nice one.
10. Favorite color?  RED!  Go ahead, analyze me.
11. Where would you like to go on vacation, if you could go anywhere?  Since I can't go there in its original state, I want to go to Egypt in its current state (when politics settle down).  I would spend about a week in the Cairo Museum and a day or two in the markets and then tromp out to see the pyramids.

My 11 questions for my nominees to answer:

1.  Why did you start a blog?

2. What is the most embarrassing thing you've ever done that was witnessed by someone else?

3.  Favorite TV show?

4. Do you like to cook?  How did you learn?

5. Dustbunnies?

6. If you could talk to a famous person who would it be?

7.  Have you met anyone famous?

8. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

9. Which main character from a book or movie do you think is most like you?

10. If you could live anywhere, where would you choose?

11. What is your greatest fear?

My nominees are:

Elaine Adair Pieces

Joe Tulip Quilts

Life is a Stitch

Quilter Behind the Door

Cheryl in Iowa

Dogwood Lane Rambles

Always Quilts

These are a Few of my Shiniest Things

Sarah Did It

Annie's Quilt Orts

Kwiltnkats

I hope you have fun with this. I don't mean this to be a high-pressure obligation, so no worries if you're unable to pass along the award.  Or if you take a couple of weeks to write the post.  I did it right away because if I don't do something right away, chances are very good that it will never get done.  

Chris