Sunshine Blogger Award: A return visit

Last April I was nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award. I wrote about it in my post — Sunshine Blogger Award! Walkin’ on Sunshine! And last week melsar93 from the Next Eleven Years nominated me again. It must be the water. Or maybe the change of seasons. A little bit of sun, some high temperatures, and the Sunshine Blogger Award makes its appearance.

I thought about skipping it this time around. However, I rarely respond to prompts but these were some good ones. I had to give it a try. So here goes.

First the rules.

• Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog. Done.
• Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to their blog. Thank you the Next Eleven Years!
• Answer your nominators’ questions. See below.
• Come up with 11 questions of your own. See below.
• Nominate others to continue. See my spin on the nomination.

A few sunny responses!

Now the Sunshine Blogger Award questions and my responses:

1. What’s a hobby you picked up as an adult that you wish you’d started earlier?

My daughter knits and crochets. My youngest son collects and listens to old records. He’s fascinated with 80s bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. My wife enjoys puzzles and does Diamond Art Kits. I’m not really a hobby person — at least not in the traditional sense. I write. I post on my blog three times a week. I’m pretty consistent at it.

2. If you could invite three fictional characters to dinner, who gets a seat?

I see some themes here. There’s the obvious trios. People like Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and  Hermione Granger. Altogether now, Wingardium Leviosa. There’s Alvin, Simon, and Theodore from the Alvin and the Chipmunks fame. There’s the Three Musketeers.

If I’m in need of a superhero friend or two, I could call up Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. If I’m in an “evil, I want to take over the world mood,” how about The Grinch, Darth Vader, and The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. Oh this would be an interesting dinner. We could debate who’s got the best line?

“You’re a mean one, Mister Grinch, you really are a heel, You’re as cuddly as a cactus, You’re as charming as an eel, Mister Grinch, You’re a bad banana with a greasy, black peel.” Or Darth Vader saying menacingly “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Or even the classic villain line: “I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too.”

I wrote about this in the past. In my story, Party of six, your table is ready, I listed six people that I would want to invite to dinner. This one is tougher. I just happened to watch Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope the other night. The movie is nearly 50 years old and it’s still a great watch. I’ll go with the original trio, Luke, Lei and Han.

May the force be with you. And please pass the salt and pepper!

3. What’s the most ridiculous thing you believed as a kid that you maybe… held onto a little too long?

We all believe our parents, right?

My dad was driving one day and he joked that he had special powers and could control the traffic lights turning from red, yellow, and green. And I believed him. I was a gullible sort. Did I look at the speedometer to see him speed up or slow down? Nope! Did I fail to notice that he we were driving a piddly slow speed? Nope. I believed him hook line and sinker.

In my defense, my dad was not one to make jokes. In fact, he never joked. I felt for the lie and believed for a long period of time that he was telling the truth. He had magical powers.

Ugh. If only life worked that way.

4. What’s a movie or show you can quote without trying?

There are several, but the biggest without a doubt is the Godfather. In the movie You’ve Got Mail, Tom Hank’s character, Joe Fox, describes The Godfather as the ultimate guide to life, calling it “the answer to any question.” I’ve got a little bit of Joe Fox in me. I love so many different quotes from the movie and I quote them or some variation of them all the time:

–“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

–“Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.” I say that every Thanksgiving or Christmas when we take a dish to a family member’s house. I don’t care if anyone laughs or not. I laugh at my joke.

–“Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, consider this justice as a gift on my daughter’s wedding day.” I Venmoed my son a few bucks last week. When I called him later, I felt compelled to repeat that line.

–And this one from Godfather III: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

5. Describe a habit you’re proud of building over the past year.

It’s corny. It’s hokey. It sounds too good to be true, but the habit that I’ve been working on the past two years has been to be thoughtful and deliberate each day finding something to be thankful for. My mom made us think about those things when we were kids. I got out of the habit there and I’ve been working to get back into it.

Last year, I ran a regular list — I called it my Big Three and ran it every Saturday. I wrote then that some days I’m grateful for just getting out of bed. Other days it’s something big like some good fortune that’s come my way. I find that it calms and stabilizes me.

It makes me much more optimistic about life. So yes, it’s corny as can be, but I love how it makes me feel inside. It’s my own little way of meditating and seeing the good in others.

6. What’s a small daily ritual that genuinely makes your life better?

Writing a little each day. Most days it’s for this blog. Other times for my novel or some other piece. No matter what, it’s always a better day when I’ve had the chance to let my thoughts play and to creatively choose the words on the page.

Love the feeling of having written.

7. Share a memory that still makes you laugh, even years later.

I wrote about this one recently, but the memory is worth sharing again. I can’t lie for the life of me. I’m a horrible Poker player. I wear my emotions on my sleeves.

One Summer Olympics, however, I got my revenge. We were watching with our kids and they were teasing me about one thing or another. I thought to myself, “I’ll show you.” I somehow got my kids into believing that I was a former Canadian 100 meter sprinter. They saw me rooting for some Canada runner and wanted to know why. Of course, the lie took on a life of its own.

Throughout the next several days, the lie got bigger and bigger. When they asked where my trophies were, I told them that I was overshadowed by the great Canadian 100m runner Donovan Bailey. He became one of Canada’s most iconic sports figures when he set the 100m world record at the 1996 Atlanta games, running a time of 9.84 seconds to become the world’s fastest man. I told my kids that I made it to the Olympics but since I was just so-so, I didn’t have any medals to show. My kids were in their tweens, but they still somehow believed me. I was floored.

Fortunately for me, my kids never googled the preliminary races or the Olympic Final. They believed me for a week, but they kept coming back to the Canadian part. They wanted to know why we weren’t still living there. I tried to throw in a few Canadian sorrys (sore-ee), abouts (a-boot), and Lieutenants “lef-tenant” in there but it was too late.

They were onto my lie, but it was fun while it lasted. At the very least, I reminded them to never overlook Dad!

8. If you could have a blog post go viral, which one would you want it to be?

I’ve had a couple posts collect a few hits. Oh, it was nothing crazy. It’s just been interesting to me when I see a post start to build momentum and generate interest with readers and beyond. I saw it happen with a piece I wrote and have rerun a few times on my mother leaving the Amish church, An Amish girl leaves home to create a new way of life. The other post was a post I wrote about my father’s carvings, How I carved out my own place in the world. I appreciated it both times it’s happened.

9. Is there a meal you can cook from memory without a recipe. You can just walk into the kitchen and create something.

This is probably the worst question for me. I’m a horrible cook. H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E! I like exact instructions. I want to know that I’m headed in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, I’m surrounded by cooks and bakers who go by feel more than anything else. It’s not a great mix. Ugh.

Saying all that, my go-to meal memory meal would be the rural Chicken Pot-Pie or Chicken Corn Soup that I grew up on from back in the day. Simple, but good food.

10. Tell us about something you’re looking forward to in the next few months.

It’s been a busy few months. We moved our middle son into his apartment and got him settled into college. My daughter got married. And our youngest son graduated from West Virginia University. I’m looking forward to later this summer to our beach vacation.

I’ll spend a little time on the beach. I’ll catching up on some reading. And mainly, I’ll chill and spend some down time with family. It doesn’t get much better than that.

11. You’re invited to my house for dinner. What should I cook?

Your specialty — whatever that may be. I’m a pretty easy visitor. I never want to put someone out. Make what you want to make.

Thank you!

My Sunshine Blogger Questions

1. What’s your favorite season?
2. What motivated you to start blogging?
3. What is your dream vacation?
4. What’s a movie or show you can quote without trying?
5. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
6. What’s a favorite book?
7. What’s your biggest fear?
8. What was your first job?
9. What’s the best surprise you’ve ever received?
10. What’s a personal motto or life motto that you live by?
11. If you could only eat one food for breakfast for the rest of your life, what would it be?

And the Nominees are . . .

I’m cheating. I’m not going to nominate anyone. I think there are some fantastic writers on WordPress. I think it’s challenging to name a select few. On top of that, I think it can be hard to find time for prompts. Instead, I’m leaving it up to my readers and writers. If you’re moved by my questions then so be it, take a crack at answering them. Consider yourself nominated!

On the other hand, if you’re too busy with your own projects, then I get that too. Let some Sunshine into your Life!

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Related Stories

• My Previous Post: Sunshine Blogger Award! Walkin’ on sunshine!
• The Sunshine Blogger Award Nomination
• Check out Next Eleven Years