Liebster Blog Award

Today, I am the lucky recipient of the Liebster Blog Award from my friend Liz over at Life in Pint-Sized Form!

I highly recommend this blog! It's different because it's a nanny blog, not a mommy blog. The perspective is fresh and funny.

I'm to say 11 things about myself and gift the award to someone else. So here goes:

1) I'm excited that my kids are starting preschool next week. My house is a wreck, and with them hardly napping anymore, I just can't deep clean it like I need to. I think the socialization will be good for them, too. I think they're definitely ready this year. And I love the school we picked.

2) I'm not going to the gym this week. I took the girls back to the gym daycare after my sitter left town and they got sick immediately. They're almost better, but this is day eight of cold now. So, no gym until I find a new sitter. (I'm including this because it's lolworthy that I think they're not going to be sick all the time when they start school anyway.)

3) I'm an "author" now, in that I have a published novel and another coming out in September. I have a third in edits as we speak.

4) I don't let my kids play with my computer or my phone.

5) I'm reading 1-2-3 Magic, and even though my friend told me not to start using the techniques until I'd read the whole book, I have to. It will take me all year to read it. I get very little time to read things that aren't for work. It seems to be doing well so far, even if I'm doing it half wrong.

6) I think I'm going to go back to school for a master's degree in Mass Communications Health / Science.

7) I hate soda.

8) I have only three actual friends down here.

9) Today is my wedding anniversary!

10) My favorite book of all time is Jane Eyre.

11) I can eat an entire 5 lb. bag of candy in three days...so I try not to do that.


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I would like to pass this award on to my friend Jackie, author of Accidentally Mommy. She's a talented writer and an amazing human being!



 

Liebster Blog Award

My author blog won an award, so I got to answer some interesting questions! Check them out if you'd like.

Beach Bum Reads gave me a blog award! Thank you!

The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers and Liebster is a German word which means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

The Rules:

1. Each person must post 10 facts about themselves

2. Answer 10 questions the tagger has given you and give 10 questions for the people you’ve tagged.

3. Choose 10 people and link them in your post.

4. Tell them you’ve tagged them.

5. Remember, no tag backs.

 READ MORE:



 

Recap Meme - Best of

My friend Jo over at Poop on a Hot Tin Slide tagged me in this challenge. Good timing, I say. If you're interested in some blog highlights, here are my choices.


1. My most beautiful post: I don't really do beautiful posts, but this one is a nice memory for me. I've come up against a lot of static for being a stay at home mom, but sometimes people surprise you, and hard work is recognized for what it is. One morning, after an already very bad day, a random few strangers buoyed me up by recognizing the good, and not the bad, of being a stay at home mom.

 2. My most popular post: I wrote a piece on Heather Clouse, a woman whom I don't know and have barely read. I wrote it after seeing complaint after complaint about her judgment, advice, and less-than-satisfying writing in the realms of military wives and teen moms. I believe she's deleted all of the links I put in the piece, but here it is. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

3. My most controversial post: Probably the post where I argue with a childless / childfree person about, well, everything. Childish.

4. My most helpful post: In a practical way? Maybe my potty training posts? Either my review of the worst potties ever and why you shouldn't buy them...or my post about actually training my kids. Quitting and failing aren't the same thing.

OH! If you're a twin mom, maybe surviving twins the early months.

5. A post whose success surprised me: The post where I brought down an inane facebook meme that said something like if you don't take care of your makeup then you love your kids THE MOST. I didn't agree.

6. A post I feel didn’t got the attention it deserved: Hmm, probably the post about the importance of identity to twins and kids in general. Not because it was super-awesome-amazing, but because it was a major revelation to me in my own life. The Identity Crisis.

 7. The post that I am most proud of:The first post I ever made. I argue with a new mom who is going around in Marie Claire telling other mothers how easy parenting is and they need to suck it up and be better parents like her and everything would be fine. Your Mileage May Vary.


Now for the tagging...

Monika at Aias dot ca
Joella at Fine and Fair
Farren Square


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If you like this blog, please vote on Babble.com. Tales of an Unlikely Mother is number 18, just scroll down and click on the thumbs up! Thank you so, so much.

Blog on Fire

Jo over at Bum Bum Germs gave me an award this week. The rules are I'm to write seven things about myself, and then give the award to five other bloggers. Thanks, Jo!

So, here goes:

1) I always underestimate the time a task will take me. In fact, just now I spent NINETY MINUTES cleaning out my upper cabinets. I'd sectioned an hour for BOTH the upper and the lower cabinets. Fail.

2) I bite my nails. My mother says I've been biting them since before the babies' age. So far, they don't bite their nails. YAY FOREVER. Last week I'd been able to let my nails grow for two or maybe even three weeks. The nails hadn't even reached the end of my fingers at that point. Gross. I'd really like to pain my nails, too. Anyone have any suggestions?

3) I have no idea what my future looks like. The only thing I know about it is that my family will be there. That's all I need to know, to be honest.

4) Autumn is my favorite season. I particularly miss Connecticut at this time of year. Quite sharply actually. The hoodies, the flannels, the boots, the jackets, the pumpkin spice lattes, the leaves -- they all fill me with hope and joy for some reason. Florida may not have changing vibrant leaves, but it does have amazing autumn sunsets.

5) I ate sushi and went to a three-hour movie six hours before I gave birth. (In my defense, they were early. In defense of the sushi...whatever, I do what I want. Oops.)

6) On the rare occasions I sing karaoke, I'll usually sing You Give Love a Bad Name by Bon Jovi.

7) Halloween is my favorite holiday, but I still don't know what to dress the girls as. The possibilities...

Now, to give this award to 5 blogs that are awesome:

- Aias dot ca; This blog is topnotch. Hilarious, cute, wonderful, clever and smart.
- Crazy About My Baybah; An intimate peek into family life, full of love, happiness and a dash of sarcasm here and there.
- Heart Shaped Leaves; A crafty, cooky blog, but with the event of a new baby in the mix, lots of squishy newborn pictures!
- The Woman Formerly Known as Beautiful; a blog right up my alley, plus she just outstripped me on Babble's list, so you know she's got to be good!
- Diaries of a Grumpy Grateful Mom; honest, genuine, down and dirty and yet full of light, this blog will make you laugh.


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If you like this blog, please vote on Babble.com. Tales of an Unlikely Mother is number 17, just scroll down and click on the thumbs up! Thank you so, so much.

Versatile Award

Last week, I was honored to find that Life Inspired by the Wee Man had given me the Versatile Blogger Award.  Thank you! I'm so flattered.

The rules are, share seven things about yourself and give the award to seven bloggers you admire.

RULE #1: Share 7 things about yourself

#1) My favorite city is Boston.  I love the look of the older buildings mixed perfectly with the newer construction.  I love that it's ALWAYS under construction. I love Kenmore Square in particular. The chocolate shop on the bottom floor of that hotel, the Turkish pizza joint that sells yogurt, Nuggets...I love that you can just walk over the bridge and you're at Fenway.  I love the hole-in-the-wall sushi joint where you order your rolls with a pencil and paper.  I love the T, especially the green line.  Two hops and a jump and you're at Quincy Market (yes, you have to switch to the red first), or Copley, or the pier (if you switch to the blue).  There is no city in the world that beats Boston for me.

#2) I hate the phone.  I hate dialing it, I hate hearing it ring, I hate answering it, and I hate having to have a conversation with whoever is on the other end.  I just can't get into the phone.  Typing is so much easier and efficient.

#3) I was declared the worst employee ever at my first job at a small pizza drive in.  I was 15 and going through a growth spurt.  I was always starving.  I was found hiding pizza slices under newspapers and behind the milkshake machine so that I could take a bite here and there between customers.  My boss was unamused.

#4) My favorite food is Cap'n Crunch.

#5) My closest neighbors growing up were an old couple who had been married for 60 years.  The man was good friends with the chemist who came up with toothpaste.

#6) I have more than 50 first cousins, but my babies are the only twins in the family.

#7) I am the oldest of three.  My younger brother is the director of a specialized school system that tutors special needs kids.  My sister will soon complete her doctorate in biomedical engineering.  Why, yes, I feel underachieving. Why do you ask?

RULE #2: Bestow this award upon 7 deserving bloggers.

I have been loving these blogs lately:

City Mouse in a Country House - delectable pictures and stories of a life I'd want to live.
Farren Square - honest, from-the-heart blogging about life, parenting and self.
Teaching Ain't For Heroes - a rare inside look at the state of school systems from the trenches.
Feminist Mom in Montreal - blogging with spirit and grace about the questions that plague the best of us.
Jansen Family Adventures - if you've got babies younger than toddlers, you'll appreciate this one.
The Crafting Hobbit - she's craftier than I am, with lots of great ideas leading to cute projects.
No Monsters in my Bed - she likes Alice Munro, cheap wine and sleeping in...and she's not me!

If you are looking for new reads, check these blogs out!  They are truly fantastic!

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If you enjoy this blog, please vote for Tales of an Unlikely Mother on Babble.com. We're number 15, just scroll down and click on the thumbs up

Blog Award

I received this morning a blog award from My Spinning Plates.  Thank you!


This comes at a perfect time because the only entry I could think to make this morning had to do with a grocery store clerk comparing my children to dogs.  I'd like to save that one for a day when I have a bit more time.

This award has only one rule: I must specify three destinations to which I want to travel and say why.

I would like to travel to Italy.  I've heard it's beautiful there.  I'd like to see Naples, where my ancestors are from.  I'd like to see Venice where Thomas Mann set his novella, Death in Venice.  I'd like to see Florence.  And I'd like to see Rome and the Vatican.  I worked extensively as a producer for the Catholic Church for a year, and I'd like to see what all the fuss is about.  Plus, seeing the Pope Mobile in person would be pretty darn cool.

I would like to travel back to Portugal to see everything more clearly.  From the city of Lisbon where the sidewalks are larger than the roads and people promenade and sit at outdoor cafes, to the towns of Caiscais and Sintras to see the ocean view once more and travel all the way up to the castles in the mountains, stopping at little fountains and fruit stands on the way.  I'd like to see the Azores, where my husband was born.  I'd love to see a life so totally different from my own.

I would like to see the Grand Canyon.  It is a wonder that has always fascinated me and a picture would never do it credit.  This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid, and I'm sure one day I'll see it.


I would like to pass this award on to three other worthy bloggers.

The Syders is a wonderfully written and touchingly personal blog that ties in everyday life aspects to high reaching ideals.  I love it.

My Mother Says I'm Dramatic deals with kids' issues that I deal with on a daily basis.  Her heartfelt entries make me feel at home and not alone in my parenting struggle.

Codology follows the life and thoughts of a stay at home dad.  Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always unique, this dad brings life into his family in a beautiful way.  I find it hilarious that the blog award I am giving him is the image of a woman in a fancy dress and calls him fabulous.


Thank you again for this award.  It truly means so much to me.

Honest Scrap Award

The Crafting Hobbit awarded me with the Honest Scrap Award!

The tradition is to tell 5 random things about myself and then choose 5 other bloggers who I feel write from the heart and soul and pass the award on.

So, here are 5 random things about me:

1:  I don't know my right from my left.  If I'm under pressure, I will actually make an eating motion so as to be able to answer quickly.  If I'm in a car giving directions, the rule is to follow my finger-pointing as I will invariably tell you to turn right when I clearly mean left.

2: Following the right / left problem, I always go the wrong way.  Don't ever follow me.  When leaving an elevator, I will walk down the corridor for far too long before realizing where I'm going is the other direction.  When I get out of a car, I will go in any direction but the right one.

3: I have two tattoos and a navel piercing, and I'm displeased with all of them.  Turns out my mother was right.  I really didn't need an amateurish rose on the inside of my wrist; I certainly didn't need a big black blotch of Kokopelli inside my ankle; my belly-button piercing was beautiful, and it's still okay, but pregnancy pretty much ruined it.

4:  I am, by trade, a television news producer.  I love it and miss it.  There is nothing like slapping a show together in a few hours, sitting in the control booth and shouting out orders to everybody, especially when the show moves flawlessly.  It's even better when there's breaking news, and everybody is scrambling to get the information and the pictures and put them on the air.  I really, really miss this.

5: Having the babies changed my life forever.  I was completely unprepared and even now I look with trepidation on the daunting future, since I am responsible for the welfare of two other people who depend completely on me to turn them out right.  This is a pressure very different and more intense than live television news.  In news, you're only as good as your last show, and if you mess up, you have a beer and call it a night.  In baby-rearing, everything counts forever.

The 5 bloggers I choose are:

1:  Jessica at Geekamama.  Her true-to-life stories and advice are a constant pick-me-up.  She juggles fulltime work and raising a baby with grace.

2:  Jennifer at St. Louis Bankruptcy Blog.  This is a brand new blog, but don't let the name fool you.  Anyone dealing with legal issues in the United States will be able to benefit from these frank accounts and how-tos.

3: Marcia at I Know My Children.  Her blog is moving and she takes the time to write it in both English and Portuguese.  That's dedication.

4: KD at Life Inspired by the Wee Man.  Her blog reaches far beyond parenting and shows us how to be better people.

5: Phrassie at Mama Phrass.  Her candid and heartfelt posts do not skirt around the tough issues of life; she has been a pillar of strength to me.