Saturday, February 9, 2013

I've Been Nominated for an Award!


My friend Decemberbaby at SweetCrunchyJewy nominated me for a Liebster award. I’ve never heard of these awards before, but it’s an honour to be chosen. Here are the rules:
1) Tell 11 things about yourself.
2) Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
3) Post 11 questions for those who will be nominated by you.
4) Nominate 11 bloggers.
5) Get in contact with those bloggers to inform them that you nominated them
It appealed to me because I like a challenge...and I was having a time coming up with a blog post recently.  
11 Things about me:
1.  I have been an aunt since I was 10 years old.  I can remember the day my oldest niece was born and the sense of pride I had at being an aunt.  To this day, I still revel in the role of aunt (and honourary) aunt!  I have 13 nieces and nephews and 26 grand nieces and nephews.
2.  I am overweight and it bugs me that it bugs me!  For much of my life I have been on the 'heavy' side - though I realize in hindsight that there was some cognitive distortion going on when I was a teenager cos when I look back at pics of me I can see that I was fairly average.  About 12 or 13 years ago I lost a whole lot of weight and really loved the way I looked and felt and the energy I had.  Now I've slowly put it back on and I can't stand the way I look in pictures, etc.  I know what to do to lose weight yet I resist sticking to anything.  I am working on accepting myself for who I am AND getting some of the weight off so that I can be healthier, be stronger and like myself in pictures again. 
3. I am very comfortable on stage.  Although I do understand that I am mainly an introvert (i.e. I recharge my batteries by making sure I have down time) I am completely comfortable on stage.  I am a musician and I recently wrote and performed a one woman short, autobiographical play.  I also love to talk to groups of people - either facilitating a discussion or giving a presentation on the work I do.   This doesn't mean that I don't get a little nervous before a 'performance' because I do - but the nerves are not related to being on stage in front of a group of people cos that I love! 
4. I don't really enjoy cooking.  It's not that I'm not a good cook - when I have to and/or when I set my mind to it, I can whip up good, tasty food.  The thing is, I've never been very inclined to it and it's not something I enjoy very much.  Lucky for me Sariel LOVES to cook and does all the cooking in our house.  I sometimes feel bad cos it might be nice for him to come home to a home cooked meal.  But generally when I feel that way, I suggest we eat out and he gets to pick the restaurant!

5. I don't like winter.  Born in Canada.  Raised in Canada.  Have experienced many Canadian winters.  Have tried skiing (downhill and cross country) and skating (which I do enjoy) but really, really dislike winter.  There's no way around it.  I accept it but do not enjoy it, even an iota.
6. My tonsils partly grew back after a tonsillectomy.  Weird, huh?  Had my tonsils removed days after I turned one due to severe, recurrent ear aches.  Recently found out that they are back - small and misshapen, but there they are.

7. I believe that I was South Asian in a previous life.  No explanation, just a gut feeling.

8. I have called in sick to finish a book a was reading.  I'm not necessarily proud of this fact, but it's true.  I've actually done this more than once but not in the last 10 years or so.  I am a passionate, avid reader and sometimes I get so drawn into the world of the book that I can't pull myself out to join the real world.

9. I was born into an Orthodox family.  Orthodox Christian, that is.  My journey to Judaism is long and complicated and the subject of the One Woman Show I recently performed.  Suffice to say, I knew from a VERY EARLY age that I was Jewish.  Turns out I had Jewish ancestors - not uncommon for people like me.

10. Owning a house brings out my worst anxieties.  I have owned two 100 year old homes in my life.  Both were in reasonably good shape, the first one especially had been renovated just before I purchased it with my good friend.  But the constant worry about the roof, the basement, the yard, the walls, the ants, the mice, the everything just about drove me mad.  Tried again with Sariel but had the same result.  We have been living in a condo for just over a year and I am still grateful EVERY DAY (literally!!!) to not have the worry of a house.  It has made a huge difference in my peace of mind.

11. My brother and I didn't speak for 10 years.  I have 3 brothers and 1 sister - I am the youngest.  I have a very religious (Christian; see #9) brother who took great exception one day when, during a discussion, I took the "Lord's name in vain".  I know this is a touchy area for my family and I mostly am able to restrain myself.  But this time we were having a heated discussion and it slipped out.  And then he just stopped speaking to me.  After 10 years we slowly started being civil to each other.  When I came out to my family as Jewish, he took great offence which set our 'relationship' back quite a bit.  So be it.  I committed to be civil to him for the sake of our elderly parents.  So now we are civil to each other and can actually stand to be in each other's presence for periods of time.  Oh, and one of his grown kids (my niece) 'de-friended' me on facebook because of my support of LGBTQ rights.  

Now, D Baby has asked a bunch of questions that I’m supposed to answer. Let’s see how I do with these!
1. What’s your passion in life?  Tough question!  I am passionate about justice, inclusion and equal rights for all!!  I am passionate about Judaism!  I am passionate about my partner and our relationship!  Life is great when they all come together!!!
2. Given the option, what time would be the “perfect” wake-up time for you?  I am definitely a night owl who has slowly adjusted to 'normal' life over the last several years.  Because of life long insomnia I have to practice good sleep hygiene.  But, in an ideal world, a perfect wake up time for me would be about 11:00 a.m.
3. What’s your favourite mode of transportation?  I can see I am not good at answering questions with one answer!  I love walking - I love the pace, the proximity to the ground and things around me.   I love taking it all in - sights, sounds, smells - and walking does that for me.  I love cycling because I would love to fly and I think cycling is the closest feeling to flying. For long distances, I love trains.  I fly on airplanes a lot for work and pleasure but the pleasure of that has worn off over the years.
4. What do you think of The Simpsons?  I think it's a clever, funny show for adults.  I think it's gone on waaaay too long!
5. If you were a food, what kind of food would you be?  A pomegranate.  Obvious fertility references aside, I love the pomegranate because it is one surprise after another.  An interesting colour, shape and texture on the outside.  A surprising sweet/tart fruit on the inside.  A challenge to get to the fruit but so worth it when you take it and savour it!
6. What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken? Did it pay off?  Leaving the religion and culture of my family.  I risked losing them all.  Losing everything.  No question though - it paid off!  I am living the life my soul was meant to live.  I am integrated, whole and at peace.  Completely worth it!
7. If you didn’t have to work for a living, how would you spend your days?  Some combination of spending time with children, music, ocean, Sariel and reading.  Oh, and cycling and walking!
8. What’s your favourite charity?  Ve'ahavta.
9. If you had two hours a day all to yourself with absolutely no other obligations, how would you spend them?  Reading.
10. What’s the best book you’ve read lately?  The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier.  EXCELLENT!!!!
11. Why do you blog?  To help me tell and figure out my life's story.  I am creating, on my own and with Sariel, a life that is not the one I had planned/hoped.  I don't want to just be a passive observer I want to be a dreamer and shaper and live with intentionality.  The blog, while it might not seem like it, is an outlet that helps me do that.
And now, here are your 11 questions:

1.  What did you want to be when you grew (grow?) up?
2.  What style of underwear are your favourite?
3.  What's the best thing about being an adult?
4.  What's the worst thing about being an adult?
5.  What does spirituality mean to you?
6.  What's your favourite food?
7.  If you had to be another person for a day, who would you be?
8.  What do you first notice when you meet somebody new?
9.  What's your favourite season and why?
10.  What happens after we die?
11.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

I'm not sure I currently know 11 bloggers anymore!!!
Here goes:
Loribeth, Gil, Ms. C and anybody else who visits my blog or used to visit my old blog!!

Thanks Decemberbaby.  That was tougher than I thought it would be but all in all, I enjoyed it!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Upcoming Blog Post Preview!

My friend Decemberbaby at SweetCrunchyJewy nominated me for a Liebster award. I’ve never heard of these awards before, but it’s an honour to be chosen.

I decided to do it because I thought it would take less brain energy than coming up with a post.  Hmmmmm...more challenging then I thought and taking longer than I had hoped.

I am on vacation as of next Friday...I will have it done by then!

Here's a description so that you can start thinking about what you're going to write when you're nominated!


1) Tell 11 things about yourself.
2) Answer 11 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
3) Post 11 questions for those who will be nominated by you.
4) Nominate 11 bloggers.
5) Get in contact with those bloggers to inform them that you nominated them



If you're reading this 
and haven't yet accepted 
the prestigious Liebster award, 
consider yourself nominated 
by me!


peace
shlomit