Liebster Award

This award comes from Mental Mama, who, in classy fashion, offered it up to anyone. I haven’t done one of these in a while (a Liebster award that was challenging, as opposed to any award post.) and I think she posed some excellent questions, so here I am.

1. What is your favorite breakfast?

Bagels with lox, cream cheese, onion, and cucumber. Do not knock this until you’ve tried it. Always choose Nova Lox if you’re first starting out.

2. When you need to cheer yourself up, what music do you go for?

I always listen to music on shuffle and I have eclectic taste, so I am not genre specific. It’s rarely about cheering myself up, but there are plenty of songs that make me smile or feel good.

3. What is your favorite family tradition?

Friday and Sunday dinners. They’re not set in stone, but when they come together, they make me happy. I am the matriarch of my line, so I take great pride in cooking for friends and family and seeing their faces as they enjoy what I have prepared. I am always open to requests, but each person has a favorite, or five. 🙂

4. What should your headstone read?

It will be in Hebrew, English, Latin, Russian, and entirely personal between myself and my children. That’s how it should be.

5. What is your middle name?

Begins with an M, ends with an E, and means “Star Of The Sea”, in homage to my Grandfather.

6. Where did you go on your favorite vacation?

I don’t think I’ve had the ultimate favorite yet. Thus far, they have all been memorable though.

7. How do you like your eggs prepared?

Scrambled in olive oil with garlic, onion, kosher salt, a good amount of peppercorn medley, dill, cayenne, mozzarella cheese & baby bella mushrooms. Thus far, I am the only person that can nail this particular combination without ruining it and screwing up the taste ratio.

8. What is your personal mission statement?

Question everything, be honest, be fearless, and don’t ever worry about being liked.

9. Do you feel as though you are a grown up yet?

I’m pretty sure I was born one.

10. What is the most unusual thing you’ve ever done to or with your hair?

I’ve done all of the colors that one would consider “natural”. I like being blonde, for some reason it is one of the longest lasting shades for me. I find all shades of red to be the most work at maintaining. I am an espresso brunette (naturally, and at this very moment), which is a step away from black, which would be way too Goth for me because of how fair-skinned I am (I contemplated it, my stylist refused to let me do it.), but is still in the brown family. I am working myself up to dark blue highlights, or even a lighter shade of blue, or maybe even purple. I’ve tried this out with some Manic Panic clip-ins and I think they look pretty fucking cool. I have yet to decide if I am officially “too old” for this, or not. I don’t think anything I’ve done to my hair, outside of playing with the color, would be considered unusual. I’ve experimented. It’s a creative outlet for me.

11. What kind of chocolate do you prefer?

Dark chocolate with orange and cayenne pepper. I also LOVE Grand Marnier dark chocolate truffles. Yes, there is a pattern here. LOL.

Now I have to nominate some people. I am generally in the habit of nominating the same people over and over again, so this time I am going to try to choose 5 people that are new to me, as in, new this year, not necessarily new bloggers. Also, any of my friends (you all know who you are, because I can only think of 5.) are more than willing to accept this and answer the questions, because I feel all of you deserve it.

For the nominees, post the award on your blog and on a post with your answers. Thank you for playing along and for having blogs I now get to enjoy.  

#1- Of Curious Minds

#2- A.D. Martin

#3- Pagan Connection

#4- Things That Go Bump In My Mind

#5- Taking The Mask Off

 

Ah yes, questions for my nominees…

1) What is your favorite fruit?

2) Why have you chosen to blog?

3) What is your favorite genre in which to read?

4) What is your favorite social media platform?

5) Hometown?

6) Are you drinking enough water each day?

7) Your favorite sound is?

8) What are some of your favorite smells?

9) Do you have specific life rules that you follow to the letter?

10) Do you have a green thumb?

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Sunshine Blogger Award

I received this award from a few people, whose names escape me, so I will simple say THANK YOU for awarding me. Both were e-mailed to me, as far as I remember, but I’m just doing the one even though the awards are displayed.

The Rules for The Sunshine Blogger Award are as follows:

• Display the Award on your Blog. (All awards for this blog can be found in the About Lisa section.)

• Announce your win with a post.

• Present 10 deserving Bloggers with the Award – “who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.”

• Link your list of bloggers in this post and let them know they are being awarded.

• Write 10 interesting things about yourself.

10 interesting things about me: 

1. Spain is allowing my family (and millions of others) to return and is granting us citizenship for dispelling us back in the 1400’s. I have to admit, I’m considering it. I wonder how many other countries will do the same (Yay Portugal!). Citizenship in more than one or two countries, to me, is a great thing.

2. I find absolutely NOTHING flattering about people copying me in any way, shape, or form. Be original.

3. You will pretty much never see me without nail polish on.

4. I type obscenely fast and virtually error free.

5. I believe in the power of prayer.

6. Even though I’ve been a writer for over 20 years, I fully intended to become an NYPD detective in the hopes that I would eventually get to work for the FBI. It’s interesting sometimes how things work out.

7. If you said something behind my back, don’t, for a single second, think I don’t know you did it.

8. Some people avoid confrontation like the plague, I’m the exact opposite.

9. I like and respect the person I have become.

10. I have never gambled.

I now Award 10 bloggers

1. findingmyinnercourage.wordpress.com

2. FishOfGold.net

3. Sassandbalderdash.com

4. Jodi Ambrose’s Blog

5. ltclifeonhigh.wordpress.com

6. tuppershare.wordpress.com

7. fairytaleepidemic.wordpress.com (Deal with it Britt!)

8. bipolarmomlife.com

9. meganhasocd.com

10. myspokenheart.wordpress.com

Sisterhood Of The World Bloggers Award

Much to my surprise I received this award from Shaun last week. Ironic, isn’t it, when a man gives a woman an award for Sisterhood on the blogosphere, but I accept it nonetheless and I’m passing this on to my sisterhood here on WordPress. You need not do anything, but accept it and place the banner on your blog. Simple enough, right? If it comes up for another round, maybe we’ll do something more with it, but for now, it’s about sharing and showing support for one another, as all good women should do.

I’m not going with a number count here, just the women I communicate with and am friendly with in one capacity or a larger capacity thanks to blogging. There is a great Sisterhood here amongst so many of us, and I just have to pass this on to those that have become my friends or those that I relate to in some way and respect. For some, it’s all three and they know who they are. So, without further adieu:

Fairytale Epidemic

Finding My Inner Courage

Knocked Over By A Feather

The War In My Brain

Tuppershare

Fish Of Gold

Mental Mama

High, High, Higher

Jodi Ambrose

Gentle Stitches

Lucy’s Football

Not Taken, Not Available

This is probably an incomplete list, but if I missed you this time around, I’ll get you next time.

Hugs & Stuff…..Li

Sunshine Award

Thank you to Shaun @ http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com for this award. I swear, no one else is thinking about me when it comes to awards. (I’m sort of kidding, but I’ve gotta give a man his props.)

The rules of this award are the following:

1) Use the logo above in the post.

2) Link to whoever nominated you.

3) Write ten pieces of information about yourself.

4) Nominate ten fellow bloggers “who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere.”

5) Leave a comment on the nominees’ blogs to tell them of the award.

Ten pieces of information about myself:

1. I know more about forensics than I will ever let on.

2. It drives me utterly insane when a person can’t spell or makes basic errors when writing, myself included. We all possess the Spell Check option, do we not? Some people really need to use it. I’m a total word Nazi.

3. It makes me ill when a book is far more phenomenal than its movie counterpart. This is generally the case due to time restrictions, but I’d much rather watch a well made movie in 4+ hours (or broken into two parts, like Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows) than a bad one in an hour and twenty minutes.

4. I’m an October Scorpio. Most people assume we’re all evil, manipulative, and jealous. I am none of the above, which is a benefit of severe self-awareness.

5. One of the most difficult things for me to do is ask for help.

6. I’m really proud of the person I’ve become. I’ve worked hard to be someone I can look in the mirror and respect. I think it’s an incredibly important thing in life to achieve.

7. If I lose respect for you, that’s a big problem. Once you break it, you’re forever on thin ice.

8. I wouldn’t wish Fibromyalgia on my worst enemy, whomever he or she may be.

9. After swearing up and down that I’d never touch or try sushi, I finally did in the last week or so. I have a new favorite type of food! I even went back for seconds.

10. Setting aside the fact that I’m a writer at heart, at the core of who I am, I’m also a frustrated jewelry designer and make-up artist. Those are my secondary creative outlets.

I now nominate 10 people:

1. Knocked Over By A Feather

2. Not Taken, Not Available

3. Welcome To The Fish Bowl

4. My Spoken Heart

5. Finding My Inner Courage

6. High, High, Higher…

7. Pocket Money Polishes

8. I Didn’t Have My Glasses On

9. Fairytale Epidemic

10. Bipolar BarbieQ

I hope you can all accept. I chose each person for their unique approach at blogging, which I respect. There’s room here for all of us. Be kind, be safe.

You don’t have to do the whole list to accept the award, as I know many of you are exhausted from them.

Shine On Award

First and foremost, my thanks to Shaun for the honorable mention. Most of the awards I’ve received have been because of this kind man, and that means a lot to me. http://prayingforoneday.wordpress.com. Shaun’s got an interesting blog, unique and honest, and he & I are always able to debate things like reasonable human beings, which is a nice thing indeed.

The Rules:

1)  Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.

2)  Acknowledge that blogger on your blog and link back.

3)  Share 7 random interesting things about yourself.

4)  Nominate up to 15 bloggers for Shine On Award, provide a link to their blogs in your post, and notify them on their blogs.

5)  Copy and paste the award somewhere on your blog.

7 Things about Lisa

1. I’m a jewelry whore of epic proportions, but I’m also extremely selective in terms of taste.

2. My middle name means “Star Of The Sea” in Latin.

3. I recently tried vegetarianism for about two months. I came out of it with the firm knowledge that I will never be a vegetarian or a vegan. Not unless my life depends on it, and even that is seriously up for debate. You do not want to be around me when you cut out most lean proteins and damn near all external sources of sugar. I was so unpleasant, it was scary. I’m pretty sure I was growling 100% of the time. I know people claim that making the change helps them shed enormous amounts of weight, but I’m not buying that as a long-term benefit. I prefer to remain balanced. Not only will it keep me sane, it will help reduce the homicide rate in my state, and every single place I visit. You’ve all been warned. LOL.

4. I am not a people person.

5. I hate tomatoes (I pick them off of everything and out of salads), but “gravy”, as it is known in my house (that’s 100% homemade sauce for all heathens buying it out of a jar. Worry not, in a pinch I do it too.), is one of the most awesome things in the world, and gets better every single time I have it or make it. It started with my Italian relatives and passed on to my Mom, who was not Italian, but made the most awesome Italian food in the world. Now it’s something my brother & I compete over to perfect. We plan on keeping the recipe in the family.

6.  Wearing perfume is like applying moisturizer to me. I always do it.

7. I never forget where I came from, or how far I’ve come in my life.

I now Nominate 15 bloggers:

1. Finding My Inner Courage

2. Fish of Gold

3. Fairytale Epidemic

4. The War In My Brain

5. Jodi Ambrose

6. JamesClaims

7. Not Taken, Not Available

8. Fibro Feist

9. Fibromyalgia This

10. BipolarMomLife

11. Making Lemonade Out of This Shit

12. The Wonder Twins

13. Headache Diaries

14. Black Box Warnings

15. Knocked Over By A Feather

Alive

Alive

Despite how I feel, yes, I am alive & so-so, not necessarily ‘alive & well’. I’ll get there, eventually.

I’ve got a very long blog post that I’ve been working on for all of you, something outside the norm, something that is thought provoking, for a change. Not one to bore, when I tell a story, I tell a story. If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it right.

I hope everyone has a great weekend planned. Thus far mine is looking rainy and cloudy, but the temperatures will be tolerable. Everything is starting to bloom (I have a tree in my backyard and, God as my witness, it bloomed overnight during the few days of warm weather we had in Southeastern Pennsylvania), and soon it will be time to mow, trim, and make some changes to my yard as I prepare to bury my macaroon. It’s been a few months, obviously, but not only was the ground frozen in January, but I also did not have the emotional means to get out there and dig a hole (FYI: I am making my brother do it. He should earn the fact that I allow him to eat my food, and that I’m currently the only woman alive that will make him a London Broil & potatoes without charging him and expecting a tip afterwards. LOL.). When I called my vet and asked them if I had a time limit or anything, they were SO amazing to me that I got off the phone in tears. It’s one thing for you to think that your cat/dog is special, but for others to see it too, for them to tell you what a great mother you were to her, and what an amazing client you are, and that they’re here for you, well, it’s a lot more than I get from most people, so yes, it made me emotional.

In the meantime I’ve got a yard that really needs to be cleared, cleaned, and given a bit of TLC. After that, I’m pretty much done with it. In truth, I want to have stones laid along the better part of the yard, something easy to maintain and clean, because if there’s anything I detest, it’s the smell of freshly mown grass. It’s bad enough I have to smell it from now until October, I don’t need to include my own as well. Waking up with my eyes swollen shut isn’t very attractive.

So, very long post soon to come. Also, my new blog has gone up and even though I will be posting on it in drips and drabs, feel free to stop by and check it out.

lockeandkeyenovels.wordpress.com

Talk to you all soon,

Li

P.S. I have been nominated for another award thanks to Shaun @ prayingforoneday.wordpress.com. I will address this award as soon as my brain allows me to do so and of course, I thank Shaun for his kindness.