Liebster Award

The lovely Jennifer over at A Little Fluff nominated me for the Liebster Award (you can read her fascinating post here). I have to admit that this was back in May… I didn’t manage to get my post finished before the madness of summer descended, and as this one requires (more than a little!) thought, it had to go on hold until now.

Then, the wonderful Mummy Tries nominated me too.

I was thrilled to receive it once, but to be nominated twice really is lovely.

So, it is time for me to get my act together and write the post. And, apologies in advance… It’s going to be a long one!

Having had a quick Google, a Liebster Award seems to simply be a nice way to say ‘I really like your blog’ – passing on a bit of blog love, in a sort of blogging chain letter kind of a way – while providing a good way for others to find new blogs. All in all, a wonderfully karmic act!

There are a few rules (and these were slightly different in my two nominations, and in my Google search!):

1. Post eleven (or ten, or seven!) facts about yourself (Jennifer’s nomination asked for this, Mummy Tries didn’t!)
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you and create eleven (or ten, or seven…!) questions for people you’ve nominated.
3. Choose eleven (or… you get the idea!) people (with fewer than 200 followers) to give this award to and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. Remember, no tag backs.

So, without further ado, eleven facts about me:

1. I have been a vegetarian for almost 30 years. When asked at events for a fact about myself I generally say that I don’t eat anything with a face, or parents!

2. I love tea.

3. I have lived in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, and now live just outside Boston.

4. I cry at books, films, TV… even adverts. This has become worse since I became a mother. There are some things I can no longer watch! The books ‘PS I Love You’ by Cecilia Ahern (the film, not so much…) and ‘After You’d Gone’ by Maggie O’Farrell had me crying from page one until the end, it was messy :)

5. I have very vivid dreams, which make me tired, and have on a occasion caused me to ask someone if we’ve had a conversation – generally we haven’t…!

6. I am passionate about sustainability, especially in the built environment.

7. I am a control freak and a perfectionist – these traits don’t really mix well with children :)

8. I am a Chartered Building Services Engineer (the engineering of sucking and blowing as Graham Norton once memorably called it at an awards ceremony!) and I won Building Services Engineer of the Year in 2003 in the UK, the first woman to do so!

9. I have met the Queen, Prince Philip and Princess Anne (twice!).

10. I love to paint, and almost applied to Art College. I then toyed with being an architect, before choosing to become an engineer. Engineering to me is the creative application of science, and as an engineering designer I was able to marry my creative side with my need for control (and a job!). Perfect!

11. I love to read and I adore all things sci-fi and (especially) fantasy. I could be considered a geek, but who wouldn’t want to live in a world of magic and heroes? I could read all day if allowed. Sadly, I’m not.

Now, for my eleven questions from Jennifer!

1. What is your dearest wish?
For my children to be happy.

2. What inspires you?
Dedicated and passionate people, doing something they love.

3. Who would you like to meet if you could?
I would love to meet my father again. He died when I was nineteen, and I would dearly love to get to know him.

4. What is your most admired cultural pursuit?
I wish I could play an instrument well.

5. If you could be any character in history – who would he or she be?
I found this one difficult to answer, I’m not really a history buff, and I also felt I should choose someone that I could actually imagine being. For example, Marie Curie is someone that I admire and her life must have been very interesting and rewarding, but I’m not a scientist. Amelia Earhart is inspiring, but I don’t like flying! Being a King or a Queen sounds wonderful, but I imagine the reality is less so. Now, if it was simply a character, that is much easier. I would choose Jill (from Katherine Kerr’s Deverry books) or Rhapsody (from Elizabeth Hayden’s Symphony of Ages series) or Aurian (from Maggie Furey’s books) – all strong, magical, heroic women!

6. If you had more money than God – what would you spend it on?
Firstly I would, of course, ensure my family were secure, now and in the future. Then I would support the charities that I admire: those that work with the vulnerable, work towards ending poverty and work to safe guard the future of our planet. Which all sounds very trite and predictable! I honestly don’t think I would want the responsibility of that much money, those who do have money don’t often seem to be particularly responsible with it!

7. Where would you travel to given no restraints on time or money?
There are so many places that I would love to visit! I want to see the Egyptian and Incan pyramids, the Taj Mahal and the Colosseum. I’d like to go on safari, visit the rainforest and see the Grand Canyon. I’d love to spend time on a real desert island then visit Bangkok, Hong Kong and New York. There is so much to see, such diversity of life and culture, I’d like to see it all!

8. How would you spend a day if you had no other responsibilities?
I would have my nails done, then go and drink tea and read a book. I might do a little shopping :) I would then meet friends for a proper afternoon tea before heading out for drinks, dinner and dancing – lots of dancing! That all sounds very self indulgent doesn’t it?!

9. Who was the most influential person in your life and why?
My mother. She taught me to work hard, take responsibility and value my integrity.

10. Why do you blog?
My blog started as a journal to record the time that we spend in the US – essentially a diary of our time here that would also keep our friends and family at home up to date on our adventures (it was preferable to writing emails all day!). It has since become a lot more than that – I have been inspired by the blogging community to write more, record more – looking back as well as simply recording the present – and to think about the future. I have discovered a love for writing, and I am slowly finding my voice.

11. What is the happiest moment in your life?
The births of my children. Well, not the actual births themselves, but the arrival of my children in my life :)

And, my ten questions from Mummy Tries!

1. Who would you like to play you in the film of your life?
Reese Witherspoon

2. What was your first ever job and how much did you get paid?
My first job was as a Saturday girl in a lovely shop called Realfoods in Edinburgh. I was fifteen, and I haven’t the foggiest how much I was paid (I’m going back 25 years here!) but I suspect I went home on a Saturday with less than £10 in my pocket!

3. How long have you been a parent?
My oldest turned seven in June!

4. What did you use to judge other parents for before you had kids, which you can now empathise with?
Bribery – of course, I do it rather a lot now, although I like to think of it more as motivation and reward..!

5. How do you spend ‘you’ time?
Blogging! If I had more ‘me’ time I would run and read more, and perhaps even start painting again.

6. What was your favourite restaurant pre-kids?
Centotre in Edinburgh.

7. Do you enjoy cooking or see it as a necessary evil?
I enjoy cooking, I just wish I had more time so that it didn’t end up being a chore.

8. If you could authorise one piece of government policy what would it be?
I would really tighten up energy efficiency regulations, make them much tougher and more binding – we are messing about with our children’s futures by not legislating to ensure meaningful and lasting change.

9. Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole: Like or Loathe?
Loved it, I read it when I was a teenager :) Haven’t read it as an adult though…

10. What’s your favourite quote?
My favourite quote changes with my mood, but a current favourite is:
“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”
Les Brown

Now to my nominations! It’s very difficult to separate out Twitter/Facebook followers from Blog followers. I also know that many of the blogs I read and love have already been nominated for this Award! I also took a (slightly arbitrary) decision not to nominate anyone that I know is in the Top 500 of the Tots rankings (otherwise my list would have been much longer!)…

So, I am nominating some (random number!) of my favourite blogs, who I would most like to see get lots of new readers… I apologise in advance if you any of you have already received this award (and I’ve just missed the post!), have more than 200 followers, or have no interest/time to do it!

MummaG
Premmeditations
Orli, Just Breathe
Mini and Mum
The Road Outside
Redpeffer
The Move to America
29yearoldmama
Go Mama O

Should you feel so inclined, my questions are:

1. How did your blog get its name?
2. What fictional character would you most like to meet?
3. Where in the world would you most like to live?
4. What is your dream job?
5. What is your favourite meal?
6. What motto best describes your approach to life?
7. What is your earliest childhood memory?
8. What has been your most important life lesson?
9. What are you frightened of?
10. Are you a glass half full/glass half empty person?
11. How would you like to be remembered?

But, perhaps I should simply use this as an opportunity to say: these blogs are fab, go read them!! That is what this award is all about, after all :)

I’ve linked this post up to #PoCoLo from Verily, Victoria Vocalises.