"Fun Facts" List

 I know, this is a stretch, using a fun facts list as a blog post, but it's hot, so here you go...

The best advice I was ever given... was by my friend's mother, a no nonsense type of woman, who said, "Put the baby down awake" or in other words, allow your baby to learn how to fall asleep themselves. Otherwise you will be tasked with walking that baby up and down the hall, or rocking him or her in your arms until the baby falls asleep. Some people love to do this, but both of ours were excellent sleepers, sleeping through the night fairly early on. 

The hobby I could never give up is... gardening. Winter is LONG here, and when true Spring and Summer arrive, I cannot help but go out and putter around or even full-on dig, create, relocate, weed... Even though it just about puts me in traction sometimes, I just have to garden.

My biggest role model is... nobody. I'm one of those people who never had a particular celebrity or famous person or elder family member who I was somewhat "obsessed" (an over used word) with. I see certain traits and qualities in people that impress me or inspire me, but I do not have a role model.

One of my favourite books is... probably something from my childhood. I adored "The Magic Faraway Tree" and  "The Children of Willow Farm" by Enid Blyton, reading them over and over. I also loved "My Side of the Mountain" and read it to many of my grade three or four classes over the years. 

I would love to learn how to... sing well. My father sang, in many choirs, entering competitions when he was a younger man, even sang at my wedding. I can absolutely tell when someone is sharp or flat. I can "carry a tune" but I'm not great. I don't have a decent range. I wished that I had a wonderful voice. However, I am not going to sign up for lessons or anything. It's just something I would love to be able to do.

If I won the lottery, I would instantly... pay off my debts. I despise debt, but it is a fact of life for us. I know many people out there do not hold a mortgage anymore, but we do. Canada is a country of taxation and high heating bills, we helped our kids through post secondary education, and even though we live what I would deem frugally, we still carry a mortgage and a couple of other small debts. Now that we are "pensioners" is it even more important that we live frugally. Money is a touchy subject for me.

If I could have any superpower it would be... teleportation. Just let me do that Star Trek thing with the shimmery lights and electronic sounds and beam me somewhere. Or better yet, cross my arms and blink my eyes ala I Dream of Jeanie and let me go somewhere instantly. I DESPISE the travel part of getting to a destination. I cannot sleep on a plane or in a car (oh how I envy those who do). So yes, teleportation please. 

I first traveled solo when I was... Twenty-three?? I think that's how old I was when I loaded up my tiny little three cylinder Chevy Sprint and drove from Ontario across Quebec and New Brunswick to get to Nova Scotia to attend teacher's college at a wonderful university there called St. Francis Xavier. I am certain my mother thought I was going to be killed by a maniac on the way (she thought I should dress up a "dummy" and put it in the seat beside me so it didn't look like I was travelling alone). Before I left, it was one of the few times my father ever said, "I love you", thereby leading me to believe that he also thought he'd never see me again. This was in 1990, way before GPS and cell phones. I had written down the directions and the highways I was going to take and taped the paper to my dashboard. I also had a map. I made collect calls from the motels I stayed at on the way there back home to let my parents know I was indeed still alive. (I had already been living away from home for the most part since I was nineteen, so this wasn't like the first time the baby bird had flown the nest). I've always been pretty proud of myself for doing that, as I'm not a particularly adventurous or brave person. If you aren't familiar with the geography of Canada, it was a LONG way! (Southern Ontario, tucked in amongst the Great Lakes to slightly north-east Nova Scotia).

I have two kids. My proudest moment as a parent was... still is, happening. We are blessed with two really great young adult kids. They have never truly disappointed us, consistently make us proud, and are just really decent human beings!!

I hope you enjoyed this and please feel free to chime in on some of your answers, or use some of these questions for your own blog if you wish.