Terrapin Station

Kreativ Blogger Award!

Rachel at The Sweet Bi-and-Bi has nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger award! 

 

Here are the rules: "List 7 things that you love and then pass the award on to 7 people…tagging them and letting them know they won! You can copy the picture of the award and put it on your sidebar, letting the whole wide world know you are KReATIV!" 

1) Well, I love Rachel, and many other blogfriends, for their HONESTY, humor, and wisdom.  It is an interesting way to build community, electronically, no?  But we build very real community here. 

2) I love my husband.  It's a creative relationship (sorry, I but I don't love Kreativ spelling) in that we are very different in many ways so it's a continuous challenge to reach middle ground.  The things I love about him, I love!

3) I love Spring!  Oh, Spring in Texas is the most beautiful time of the world.  The trees greening, the earth waking up, birds and squirrels about their business...fabulous!

And here's a bluebonnet picture for your pleasure.   The Texas State Flower.    

4) I love  a really, really good rainstorm...like the one we are having today and should be having through the week.  It's back down to the 40's after a few weeks of 70's and 80's, and we are getting a good soaking.  It would be a nice day to be home in bed...especially since my husband isn't working in this weather, and that's where he is...but I resisted the temptation! 

5) I love A-1 Sauce!  Last night I had steak for dinner, A-1 on the table.  Mmmmm. 

6) I love  pickles...dill or sweet. 

7) I love Shiner Bock beer, but it makes those salivary glands in my jaw twinge...you know the ones that hurt when you have a lemon drop?  It's worth it.  Mostly! 

I've been granted a MAJOR AWARD!

By both Elastigirl and PresbyterianGal!   The EXCEEDINGLY CHARMING Blog Award. 

Here's the explanation and the silly rules that go with it:
"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

And here are my choices (I can't get the italics to turn off, so I guess we'll just have to deal with that!)

My Mom - who should blog more! 

Songbird - a friend before I knew her and especially now.  Amazing writer.

RevDrKate - deep thinker and  fellow pilgrim

Mindy - A friend for life!  Amazing crafter and dear person

SpookyRach - A longtime blogfriend, a great artist, funny as you know what

LauraLew - a kindred spirit

Ruth - Ditto that!

St. Casserole - she's cold today and needs some warmin' up. 

 

 

The Year in Review Meme

'Cause all the cool kids are doing it, here are the first lines from my first posts each month this year.*

January:  Yesterday began early for me with that routine medical exam that ends in "-oscopy" and nobody wants to have.

February:  Presbyterian Gal has kindly tagged me for this book meme. 

March:  Attended first part of Vestry retreat Friday night; missed the second part this morning as I had to lead a workshop for my professional group here in town. 

April:  Here is my Mexican cruise souvenir:   

May:  Today a visitor brought us a box from a place called "Yummy Donuts."

June:  I'm "considering myself tagged" by Songbird.  And playing it now because I need a break.

July:  So why am I sitting at this computer?  

August:  Just in from Cedar Rapids.  It was a great trip and I'll be reflecting on it for the next few days, probably post more about it here.  

September:  It's been such a surreal night and day...keeping vigil with those affected by Hurricane Gustav. 

October:  I get fabulous items like this in my e-mail each week from Heron Dance's Pause for Beauty.  You can sign up for it, too. 

November:  I am drinking iced tea.  I like it very much.   I am burning a lavender candle.  Ditto.

December:  Today is the 20th Annual World Aids Day.  How can it be 25 years since I first heard of AIDS - in a Time magazine article not larger than my palm - and it is not cured? 

 *You'd think I'd remember to post something really profound at the first of each month...but, no. 

My Band! The meme

Found at Auntie Knickers' place:  a silly meme to create my own random band name and album cover art. You can do this too!  Here's how to find your links:  

1. Band Name: Random Wikipeda Link (click "Random Link" on the left side)

2. Album Title: Random quote generator (take the last four words from the first quote on the page)

3. Album Art: Flickr Interesting Photo (pick one)

So, here you have it.

My band is:  SCHLOSS FAVORITE

Our latest album is called:  A Man of Value

Here's the album cover art, which I think goes splendidly with the album title:

Six Unremarkable things About Me

Hey, Dutchess, thanks for the tag! 

1.  I like to read and watch TV at the same time.  There is very little TV I will watch without a book. 

2.  I already knew how to read, quite well, when I went to first grade.  All these kids were sitting around in  a circle reading about Dick and Jane, learning how word by word.  When it came my turn, I blazed through a whole page before the teacher made me stop.  They put me in a special individual section of language arts throughout elementary school after that.  The bad part was one year when they decided it would be easier to just move me a whole grade ahead, and OMG the math.  What a misery.  The next year I was in the "remedial" math class in my own grade while being in the "accelerated" language class.  All the kids in math mocked me, saying they were retarded but I was only half retarded, and that was worse.  Aren't kids awful?! 

3. I am very fond of grocery shopping.  I also enjoy doing laundry, but I hate putting it away. 

4. My husband and I are so different that sometimes I wonder what we are doing together.  Despite that, I think we have a very good marriage, we understand and support each other well. 

5. I can't sleep if my sheets aren't tucked in at the foot of the bed.  Now, despite that, I often poke a foot out.  Also, I have to have SOMETHING on me (at least a sheet) no matter how hot it may be in the room.

6. My favorite thing to do in a spare Saturday or Sunday afternoon is crawl into bed and read myself to sleep.  Aaah, a nap. 

I tag Mom, Songbird, and anyone else who hasn't played.

Whatcha Eatin'? A Meme....

Found at I'm Mad and I Eat:

This is fun, and everybody's doing it. Andrew put together a list of 100 foods he thinks any good omnivore should have tried at least once. Andrew is British, so his list doesn't include some things this Yank might believe to be must-tries.

How the Omnivore's 100 works:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Optional: Post a comment at Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

My theory is:  I'll try anything once. 

MY OMNIVORE'S 100

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (no cigars, thanks)
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear (does PP jelly count?)
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (gin tastes like suicide to me)
58. Beer above 8% ABV (huh?)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab I would never eat it again, yuck!  Crabs are supposed to be out of the shells!
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

The me, me meme

Cathy tagged me for this.  Here are the rules:

1. List these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.

1.) Cathy said:  "I have had the smallpox vaccination 3 times and it would never form a scab and so I don't have a smallpox vaccination scar. I don't know anyone else my age who does not have a scar from this."  Guess what!  I, also, don't have a scar from that vaccination!  My little sister, who got her vaccination at the same time, does...and all my friends of my age.  I always think of it because in the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon that's how one sassenach (outlander) can tell another...by the scar.  If I get suddenly transported back in time, I'm gonna be in a world of hurt!

2.) I have a perfect attendance pin for five years in Sunday School.  The pin itself looks like this (but it says "Episcopal," not "Lutheran" and it has a bunch of bars that hang from it for each year.  Here's a picture of some with 13 and 14 years perfect attendance; I certainly don't have that!  And the reason I do have it is, my mom was the Sunday School superintendent those years, so we never missed.

The source for the picture has a cool article:  see it here, scroll down to "Mystery." 

 

3.) I have only ever worked in one field: International Education. For 21 years now. I thought I was going to be an English professor, but I'm really glad I found this instead.

4.) My parents are still married to each other (and still living, and way cool!).  They were both married one time before, and I have a half-brother and half-sister from each of those prior marriages.  So, six of us in total.  Behaviorally, I'm very much like an oldest child. 

5.) I never liked dogs until we got our dogs.  Now I am a dog maniac. 

6.) I once got engaged at Texas Aggie Bonfire..with a little help from some beers.  We decided later that that wasn't the best idea...And the Aggie Bonfire no longer happens, because of the terrible accident in 1999. 

7.) My husband thinks my toes are very funny looking because, when I am not wearing shoes, they spread out.  He says they don't like each other.  I say, they are "reclining in the position of free men."

Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Everyone I know has already done this, except maybe my mom.  So, I tag

WeaverWoman

and we'll get this posted on her blog this weekend!  Anyone else who wants to play, please do!  either in the comments here or at your own place.  And let me know you did!

Memey Framey Thingy

Thanks to Songbird for the tag. 

The Rules:

• Answer each of the questions below.
• Surf over to Flickr (set up an account if you don’t have one–it’s quick and easy) and type your answers (one at a time) into the search bar.
• From the choice of pictures shown only on the front page, click on the one that moves you.
• Once the page with your picture opens, copy the URL.
• Surf over to the Mosaic Maker, set up your mosaic, and paste your URLs.
• Click “Create!”

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? Mary Beth
2. What is your favorite food? Chilaquiles
3. What high school did you attend? Westchester (this picture has nothing to do with my school!)
4. What is your favorite color? Green  (Wales...is there a greener place in the world?)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Julia Roberts
6. What is your favorite drink? Bloody Mary
7. Where would you go on your dream vacation? Aruba
8. What is your favorite dessert?  Chocolate
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Happy
10. What do you love most in life? Community
11. Choose one word to describe you? Progressing
12. Your Flickr name? MaryBethButler (no search results, so this is a picture from my set that makes me think of ME...my family at my beach a few years ago.  Aaaah....)

Summer Meme

I'm "considering myself tagged" by Songbird.  And playing it now because I need a break.

1.) What first tells you that Summer is here?  Mosquitoes. 

2.) Name five of your favorite distinctively Summer habits or customs.

• Polished toenails...not always professionally/well but always colored
• Choir does not robe during summer; loft is too hot
• Thursday Night Twilight Tunes on Courthouse Square...take the dogs & cooler
• County Farmer's Market on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
• Cooking out with friends in side yard

3.) What is your favorite smell of Summer?

The beach, and cut grass

4.) What is your favorite taste of Summer?

Watermelon  and Silver Queen sweet corn

5.) Favorite Summer memory?

Taking Ken and Brandon to meet my parents at the beach (in Florida) three weeks after I met them.  I knew they were the ones for me. 

6.) Extreme heat or extreme cold? Which would you choose and why?

Extreme heat.  With a freezer with lots of popsicles in it. 

7.) What books do you plan to read for the season?

Everything that doesn't read me first, including Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, by Anne Rice, and World Without End, by Ken Follett. 

8.) How does the Summer affect your faith? Is it a hindrance or an ally?

Hum.  This is a funny question.  I like the long slow season of Ordinary Time:  I am ready this year for some real reflection and time to be still, without all the jumping around and festivalling.  I'm hoping to try some new things at church too.  So, an ally. 

Meme of the Hour (Oddly familiar meme?)

I'm tagged for this meme by Mid-Life Rookie, so here goes:

Rules: The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about himself or herself. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Ten years ago: 1998?  I was just meeting Ken.  Three weeks after I met him, I took him and Brandon to visit my parents in Florida.  We stopped off in New Orleans on the way home.  Life was sweet.  (Awwwww.)

Five things on today's "to do" list: Laundry, scheduling for next week when I will be out of town, work on an online class/orientation for the summer, go to library, Jazzercise.

Things I'd do if I was a billionaire: Tithe.  Make sure my parents have enough money so they don't have to choose which medications to buy each month.  Pay the taxes.  Investigate charities to feed people who do not have food, and invest in ones that do it properly (large portion of the money goes here).  Pay the bills.  Put aside college money for the kids.  Pay someone to remodel our kitchen.  Hire someone to do HR for Ken's company, and buy Ken a fancy-butt Cadillac CTS so he can sit around on the job site and watch other people do the hot, hard, dirty work. Buy a beach house and use it. 

Three bad habits: procrastination, eating ice, driving offensively (not defensively) - I learned to drive in the big mean city. 

Five places I've lived: All in Texas.  Houston (1 place, 18 years!), Bryan/College Station (3 places), Denton (4 places)...that's all!  :)

Five jobs I've had: Silk flower store clerk, library clerk, international educator...many positions over 21 years!, VP of parking lot striping company, stepmamma.

Five people I'm tagging:

Rev.Dr.Kate

Cathy

Widening Circles

MomPriest

Mom (mine!)