Tell Us About 09.2024: A Few Favorite Things

 

Tell Us About

 

Tell Us About (TUA) is a global writing challenge where bloggers from all around the planet respond to a different prompt on the third Thursday of each month.  I joined the group early in 2023 and so appreciated the invite to do so, and the opportunities to do some creative writing on my blog.

You can find my other TUA posts here:

Tell Us About –

• Play
• Scent
• Gardens and Gardening
• Ways I’m a Curiosity
• Travel
• Imagination
• my theme choice for September, Legacy
• Hometowns
• Laughter
• Music to my Ears
• Beauty in my World
• Blah-blah-blogging
• Vacations:  That Trip with the Tick

Before we wade in, just a reminder:  Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After occasionally uses affiliate links which are usually italicized.  If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link provided I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you.  Thank you for your support.

Please find the places and posts where I link-up on this page.

Tell Us About 09.2024

 

In 2020, for the Where Bloggers Live series, I wrote this post about my favorite things.  I went back and reread that post tonight and really liked what I had written back then, 4 years ago.  I would say all of the things I listed in that post continue to be favorite things in my life today.  But there would be a few additions:

• I listed my grandbabies in that post but Declan wasn’t born yet.  He is our cherry on top.

• on that list I named one of the angels that helped me most in the last library where I worked.  I should have named all of the angels that have helped me through my years as a librarian.  In every single library, I was blessed by volunteers who made my job so much easier and more delightful.
• graphic tees and jeans made the list in 2020 and I would add fun jackets and kimonos
• realize now that ‘Mexican food’ was a very broad favorite so let me narrow it down to mole.  Not to be confused with the little furry rodent-y animal with the squinty eyes.  Google describes this savory dish this way:

 

Mole is created from dried chiles, nuts, seeds and sometimes, chocolate and more ingredients. Did you know that many traditional moles require 30 ingredients and some may even have 100 or more? This is why mole sauce has a complex flavor – one that you cannot explain directly.

 

• our pool made the original list but I would amend that now to read floating in our pool as well as just sitting in our backyard looking at our pool, our yard, our mountain view

That updated things nicely.

But I don’t want to end this post here.  So, I decided to look up ‘favorite things’ quizzes or questions and share some of those questions and my answers here with you.  Let’s go!!

A Few (More) of My Favorite Things

 

I found this 101+ Favorite Things Quiz online at HobbyLark.com.  It was fun contemplate these questions and figuring out my answers.  You’ll be relieved to know that I am not answering all 101+ questions.  Going to just kind of pick and choose.  Maybe you’d like to answer a few, too, in a comment.

HobbyLark divided the questions into categories.  The librarian in me somehow likes that.  Very organized.

Nature and Travel

 

• Favorite color?  green, of course
• The coolest natural wonder I’ve ever seen?  Yellowstone
• The most fun road trip I’ve ever taken, where and with whom?  maybe not totally fun, but the Bicentennial trip my family went on in 1976.  We visited a number of National Parks in the western U.S.  A lot of time together making lots of memories.
• The best place I have ever traveled; where I’d spend my whole life if I could?  best place I have traveled, probably Cancun.  Would I want to spend my whole life there, nope.
• Favorite environmental sound (rain, thunder, etc.)?  rain.  I don’t get to hear it too often.
• The prettiest natural landscape I’ve ever seen?  probably a toss-up between Tennessee and Kentucky.  Gotta love that green.

• My favorite type of wild weather?  when I lived in Tennessee, I used to get excited about tornado warnings but thankfully never saw a twister.
• The most scared I’ve been by a bug or critter? the tick I found in my head, read more, here.
• My favorite flower, purchased?
• My favorite flower or plant, personally grown?
• My favorite flowers to receive in a delivery? an arrangement Lauren always sends that looks like a puppy, like our pup Cici.  A very crazy dog.

Food and Drink

 

• Favorite meal out, ever?
• Favorite food I’ve cooked?
• Favorite food from childhood?  my mom’s fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and homemade bread.  Mmmm, how I wish I could have some right now.  She fixed it every year for birthdays.
• Favorite drink on a hot summer day (include event)?
• Favorite drink on a cold winter night (include event)?  Mexican hot cocoa.  I shared the recipe a few years ago.  If you have never tried it, please consider giving it a go some chilly night.  Check out the recipe, here.

• Favorite total meal that I cook (list all items)?
• The best cup of coffee I’ve ever had?
• The best dessert I’ve ever eaten?
• Favorite junk food?
• Favorite pizza toppings?
• The one “splurge” grocery item I have never yet splurged on?  Nutella and almond butter (peanut butter with almonds) I have splurged on these 2 items at least once before.  Their prices make them a splurge but so does their calorie count!!
• My favorite cooking or kitchen smell?  nothing tops homemade bread baking.  But sauteed onions and green peppers are right up there, too.
• The one food item I can never run out of? nuts and peanut butter
• Favorite dinner my mom made? as shared above, my mom’s fried chicken dinner.
• Favorite ice cream ever, and from where?  Overall, my favorite has always been Rocky Road or German chocolate.  But lately we have been indulging in Dairy Queen Blizzards, my favorite flavor being chocolate chip cookie dough.
• Favorite alcoholic beverage?  For the time being, I am really liking Boozy Taco’s chamango Margarita.

Our mango and chamoy paste cocktail features tequila with fresh lime juice and crisp grapefruit soda.

 

2 oz. tequila
½ oz. chamoy Paste
½ oz. real mango purée
½ oz. fresh lime juice
2 oz. grapefruit soda

 

Shake all ingredients over ice. Top off with grapefruit soda, roll, and pour into a rocks glass.  DRINK!!

• Favorite dessert? German chocolate cake or coconut cream pie like my Grandma Bubby made.
• Favorite cereal? Quaker Oats 100% Natural Granola with dried fruit, please.  This was the food that helped me move from being anorexic back to a normal weight.  You can read a little about my experience with anorexia, here.
• Favorite type of cuisine?  probably Mexican followed closely by Chinese

Hobbies and Entertainment

 

• Favorite car I’ve owned? a toss up between my MG Midget that ran terribly but sure looked cute and my Triumph TR6, which looked only fair but ran like a top.  I also really like my current Nissan Rogue.
• Favorite hobby activity that makes me get lost for hours? scrapbooking with my sister on Facetime
• The most important tool in my craft or hobby kit? probably a paper cutter.  And getting one that cuts straight is a real trick.
• The coolest handmade gift I ever gave anyone?  For years, I made cross stitch pictures for everyone I loved.  For the new babies – my niece and nephews – in the family.  One for my mom and one for my dad.

• The most fun game I’ve ever played? kick the can in the backyard of my childhood home. Or Pictionary!!
• Favorite movie of all time?  Top favorites would be “Saving Private Ryan,” “Schindler’s List.” “When Harry Met Sally,” and “Midnight in Paris.”
• Favorite horror movie?  never watched them.
• Favorite TV show? for years it would have been “The Bachelor/ette” but I don’t watch it that often now.  And really don’t have a favorite TV show these days.
• Favorite book of all time?  “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Diary of a Young Girl” would probably be all-time favorites.
• Favorite TV rerun I could watch 50 times? couldn’t watch anything 50 times.  Loved “The Waltons” and “Little House on the Prairie” TV shows when I was a tween and could watch them on repeat.
• The most treasured book in my library? twin copies/editions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
• Favorite musician? John Denver
• Famous person I’ve admired, living or dead, whom I’d most like to meet? Anne Frank
• Favorite artist? Mary Cassatt
• Favorite song? “Coming Around Again” by Carly Simon

• Favorite guilty pleasure band? not sure what that means but I like Nickelback and my girls are semi-disgusted by that.
• Favorite song I ever danced to; with whom? “Waiting for a Girl Like You” – someone from my long lost past.
• The most competent activity I do? write?
• The favorite picture I’ve ever taken? I have taken lots and lots and lots of pictures.  Just ask PC and the girls.  But the one I thought of immediately when I read this question was a photo I took of Cady and Lucia at South Padre Island in 2021.  Have said I would like to paint it but that hasn’t happened yet.  Maybe I can finally make that happen while I heal.

• Favorite instrument? violin, it has such soul

• Favorite sport? I guess I better say baseball for PC
• Song that makes me move no matter how bad I feel?
• The best paid entertainment I’ve ever seen?
• The most fun sporting event I ever attended? really enjoyed watching PC play at the Cincinnati Reds Fantasy Baseball camp.  That was my birthday present to him one year.  Had this poster made of some of the photos of him playing.

People and Family

 

• Favorite conversation I’ve ever had with a person?
• Teacher who changed my life, and why?
• Professional mentor who changed my life, and why? when I was hired for my first librarian job 10 years out of college, I was assigned to be the assistant librarian at a high school.  The head librarian was tired, bitter and had someone else in mind for her assistant.  She made me feel stupid, foolish and tried to set me up for failure.  I learned what kind of librarian not to be from her.  And transferred to an elementary school library as soon as I could.
• The hardest question a child has ever asked me? “Am I going to die?” as asked by Cami this summer.  “Are you going to die, Gabba?”  “Are we going to die at the same time?”
• The most important time I’ve had to “be there” for a friend?
• My favorite non-relative adult growing up?
• My favorite aunt or uncle? My mother’s much older brother, Uncle Bud.  He was sweet, kind, very hard-working and funny.

• My favorite moment as a parent? giving birth to my daughters and then being with them when they gave birth to their babies.

• Nicest thing I’ve ever done for a little kid? tough one.  Maybe buying Christmas dresses for some little girls at my school who never had Christmases dresses before.
• My favorite moment as a sister or brother?
• My favorite moment as a spouse or significant other?
• My favorite moment as a daughter or son?
• The one person I loved who never knew?
• Favorite person to take a walk on a beach or in the woods with? PC – to walk anywhere with.

• The kindest thing a stranger ever did for me?
• The kindest thing I ever did for a stranger?  I have given 2 cars away in the past.  One to a single mother who had a grandson with very special needs.  Their car was hit in their driveway by a drunk driver.  I got a new car and gave them my Windstar Van.  She wasn’t a stranger but I didn’t know her well.

Memories

 

• My favorite patriotic experience? visiting the 9-11 memorial in NYC
• My biggest moment of celebrity? chosen El Paso Independent School District Elementary Teacher of the Year
• The closest call I’ve ever had? I have had a number of close calls.  A head-on car wreck with a quadriplegic woman who was driving her hand control car for the first time.  Fell through the floor of my attic onto the concrete floor of my garage. Just 2 instances of many.
• My most suspenseful moment?
• My most unexpected achievement? Being awarded Teacher of the Year, being hired to do a televised reading program

• The happiest moment I can remember?
• The best anonymous thing I have ever done or given?
• The most healthy and vital time in my life? NOW!!  Aside from the broken foot.  But I am generally very healthy and feel great for my grandmotherly years.
• The worst thing I ever got away with?
• The hardest I ever laughed in my life was . . . ?
• The biggest secret I still safeguard? (Don’t reveal it!) I’ll never tell!!
• The most significant change I’ve had to go through and how it made me better? divorce, bankruptcy, working more than one job all while being a single mom to 2 teen girls.  Helped me realize how strong I really am.  My friends called me a survivor.
• My “biggest deal” memory of childhood?
• Best Sunday afternoon I ever had?  any Sunday afternoon when I am home, floating in my pool
• Most fun I ever had on a Saturday night?
• The best advice I’ve ever given? marry him.  Read more, here.

• The best birthday I ever had and why?
• The most exciting secret I’ve ever been told?
• My favorite story or experience with the paranormal? my maternal grandfather visited me in the night when I was sleeping in the room where he slept before he died.  He walked up to the foot of the bed and told me not to be afraid, he would never hurt me.  He hung up his hat on a tree stand in the corner of the room and then disappeared.

Hypothetical Questions

 

• If I could go anywhere, be with anyone, be doing anything, right now: Where? Who? What? my foot would be healed and I would be able to go on getaway writing weekend with PC to the mountains, to cool off, refocus, recharge.
• If I had one hour to live, what would I spend it doing? calling those I love most and making sure they know how much I love them
• Perfect day out: what, where, with whom? hiking with PC or going on a winery tour to the vineyards here in our community

• The one item I would take to the desert island? PC

Employment/Volunteer Work

 

• My favorite paid employment, ever? elementary school librarian
• My greatest skill (past or current)? relating to children and animals

• Most rewarding time I’ve ever spent volunteering? rewarding yet frustrating, organizing the El Paso Holocaust Museum library

Olfactory

 

• Favorite perfume? patchouli and Essence de Duende
• Favorite household cleaner smell? Fabuloso
• Favorite outdoor smell? rain in the pines
• Favorite smell from childhood? lilacs
• Favorite baked good to smell? bread

Pets and Animals

 

• Favorite pet I ever had? that’s like asking which child or grandchild is your favorite.  Cici was definitely the one with the most personality.  That’s all I am saying.

• The most unusual pet I’ve ever had?
• Best time I’ve had playing with a pet?
• Favorite type of pet? I have and love kitties, but pups would probably be my favorite pet.
• Favorite animal? 
• Favorite dinosaur? Triceratops – because it had 3 horns and 3 is the BEST number
• Favorite bird?

Material Items and Beauty

 

• Favorite item to go shopping for with a girlfriend? special finds for the house, like mementos or keepsakes
• My best hair day ever? still waiting
• The best gift I’ve ever gotten: what and from whom? 
• My favorite piece of jewelry I’ve ever bought for myself?
• The prettiest shiny object I’ve ever owned?
• My favorite fabric material? tee shirts or sweatshirts, soft cotton
• My one favorite item of clothing? PC’s green sweatshirt
• Favorite item no one knows I own? my grandmother’s tiny Bible
• Favorite hair color? natural on me
• Favorite type of jewelry? pearls, blingy brooches

• Favorite type of shoes? all of my boots