I haven't done a meme for quite awhile so I was pleased to have Cindy from Sagescript Institute tag me for this one.

The instructions are:

1.Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures
2.Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder
3.Post that picture on your blog and tell the story that goes along with the picture.
4.Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

This is a photo of some daffodils by my front step right after a late and infrequent snowfall. I took this picture a few years ago - the date said March 2006, but it may have been a year later. I see that it was before Easter because the wreath I made is on the front door.

I tag:

1. Lynne at Lynne's Little Corner of The World

2. Mary at Marys Writing Nook

3. Willow at Willow's Cottage

4. Flower at Flower Power

5. Barbara at The Clark Homestead

6. Linda at Somewhere in Time

Have fun!!

SIX WORD MEMOIR MEME

GRANDCHILDREN GIVE NEW MEANING TO LIFE

Lynne at Lynne's Little Corner Of The World tagged me for this. It was hard to do! Give it a try.

Here are the meme rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere

4. Tag five more blogs with links

5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I tag:

Kookie at Fraternity of Dreamers

Kris at Gardens By The Lake

Barbara at The Clark Homestead

Linda at Somewhere In Time

Tracey at Show Me State Of Mind

7 ODDBALL THINGS ABOUT ME - A Meme

Quite awhile ago I was tagged for this meme: 7 Oddball Things About Me. I am finally catching up. I can't remember who tagged me it has been that long ago, but here goes:

1. I talk to myself a lot. Sometimes I worry that I have been talking to myself out in public.

2. I learned many years later from an old friend that I was considered very sophisticated and aloof in high school. I remember feeling very shy and very out of place.

3. I often sing and dance when I am home alone (that and the talking to myself -- yup that's me). Actually, I don't necessarily have to be alone to do this.

4. This is not really oddball, but not that common either -- I love poetry.

5. I collect mourning jewelry. These are pieces of jewelry that were generally inspired by Queen Victoria after the death of her beloved Albert. They often braided the hair of the departed loved one and inset it into brooches, lockets, rings, even used it for bracelets and watch fobs. I have some brooches with pictures in them of the loved ones.

6. I like cemeteries.

7. I generally like the company of animals better than people.

Care to share something a little eccentric about yourself? If so, consider yourself tagged!

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY

The great prognosticator, Punxutawney Phil, arose at dawn today at Gobbler's Knob in Pennsylvania, saw his shadow and declared that there would be six more weeks of winter.

Phil has been predicting his winter forecast since the 1800's and I think he is to be believed, don't you?

A movie that I really enjoy is "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray. So funny! Sometimes I feel just like Bill. Some days I wake up and know it will be the same ol', same ol'. Just sometimes, though. I hope I find the movie on TV tonight.

I hope you all have a great Groundhog Celebration tonight!

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

I found this on Literary Feline's blog and I decided it would make a nice change of pace.

What kind of soap is in your shower right now? Irish Spring, Violet and a bottle of something from Bath & Body Works.

Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? I wish.

What would you change about your living room? New wall color.

Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? Clean.

What is in your fridge? Tons of things - lots of condiments, milk, cream, celery, carrots, apples, oranges, soda, etc.

White or wheat bread? White.

What is on top of your refrigerator? A cabinet.

What color or design is on your shower curtain? One bathroom has palm trees, another has beige, another has a door.

How many plants are in your home? None. The cats eat them.

Is your bed made right now? Yes.

Comet or Soft Scrub? Comet.

Is your closet organized? Slightly.

Can you describe your flashlight? The one that works is black.

Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? Glass.

Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? No.

If you have a garage, is it cluttered? Not right now.

Curtains or blinds? Depends on the room.

How many pillows do you sleep with? Two.

Do you sleep with any lights on at night? No.

How often do you vacuum? Whenever necessary. Don't want to overdo it.

Standard toothbrush or electric? Electric.

What color is your toothbrush? White.

Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? A mat without the welcome.

What is in your oven right now? A pizza stone.

Is there anything under your bed? Not in the master bedroom.

Chore you hate doing the most? Anything related to laundry.

What retro items are in your home? Lots of old things. Retro? An old non-working radio from the 40's. Some old cameras from the 30's and 40's.

Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? Yes.

How many mirrors are in your home? Twelve, counting closet doors in one room, hand mirrors, wall mirrors, bathroom mirrors, dresser mirrors.

What color are your walls? Yellow, beige, green, ivory, light brown.

What does your home smell like right now? Hopefully, not cats. Maybe like the scented reeds by my front door.

Favorite candle scent? I like lots of scents, but I especially like cedar or pine.

What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? Dill and sweet.

What color is your favorite Bible? Black.

Ever been on your roof? No.

Do you own a stereo? Yes, but it isn't working well right now.

How many TVs do you have? Three.

How many house phones? One cordless.

Do you have a housekeeper? I have a woman who cleans every few weeks.

What style do you decorate in? Eclectic.

Do you like solid colors or prints in furniture? Both.

Is there a smoke detector in your home? Yes, there is.

In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you’d grab if you only could make one quick trip? Given that my husband and the animals are safe, I would probably take my little box that has my good jewelry in it. I once lived in an apartment building that had a fire and I tried to escape with all my cats (one had just had kittens). One of the kittens hid and did not make it, unfortunately. I am known in my family as the one who collects the family memorabilia. Some of it is in an antique china cabinet. That would be too heavy to carry out and I would be hysterical over it.

LINK LOVING 2008

This came from Lynne at Lynne's Little Corner of The World.

I have randomly selected 5 of you below to be tagged and I hope that you will similarly publish this post in your blog. You will have to tag 5 other bloggers and just keep adding on to the list. (Do not replace, just keep on adding! Yes we hope it will be a long list!) It’s real easy!

Tag others and see your Technorati Authority increase exponentially.

The benefits of Viral Linking:- One of the fastest ways to see your technorati authority explode!- Increase your Google PageRank fast- Attract large volume of new traffic to your site- Build your community- Make new friends!

Add your blog url here...The Strategist Notebook/Link Addiction/Ardour of the Heart/ When Life Becomes a Book/The Malaysian Life/ Yogatta.com/What goes under the sun/ Roshidan’s Cyber Station/Sasha says/Arts of Physics/And the legend lives/My View, My Life/ A Simple Life/What Women REALLY Think/Not Much More Than This/Jayedee/Jenn/Beth/ Christie/Marla/Cailin/Simone/FlipFlopMom/Katrina/Gill's Jottings/Work of the Poet/ Wakela/Modern Day Goddess/Livin With Me/Are We There Yet??/The Erstwhile Librarian /Lynne's Little Corner of the World/Violetlady At Home/ You are next...

Barbara at The Clark Homestead

Kookiejar at Fraternity of Dreamers
Willow at Willow's Cottage

Jo and JD at Bits and Pieces

Mary at Mary's Writing Nook

NOW TAG/ADD 5 OF YOUR FRIENDS' BLOGS.

5 THINGS MEME

Lynne at Lynne's Corner of the World tagged me for this and I saw it somewhere else, too. Looks like fun!


5 THINGS I WAS DOING 10 YEARS AGO:


1. Helping to be there for my mother (long distance) as she dealt with my father's death in 1995 and her gradual onset of dementia. I know, this is so sad, but it is what I was doing this time 10 years ago.

2. Deciding how to deal with Christmas.

3. Starting a new job.

4. Moving.

5. Wondering how I was remaining sane.


5 THINGS ON MY TO-DO LIST TODAY:

1. Go to church. (Done)

2. Go to the office to update my Realtor access key. (Done)

3. Go to an open house at my beauty salon at 6:00. (Probably won't go)

4. Go to Walmart to buy gift boxes. (Done)

5. Look for gift for our giving tree at church. (Realized I have a question about it that can't be answered until Monday.)


5 THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE:

1. Maybe I am a millionaire. (ha ha)

2. I would give new houses to my family (( might have to be a multi-millionaire, though).

3. I would travel to France twice a year.

4. I would build a log cabin by a lake in the mountains.


5 THINGS I 'LL NEVER WEAR AGAIN (OR HAVE NEVER WORN):


1. Sadly, a bikini.

2. High, high heels.

3. Mini skirts and "hot pants" (remember those)?

4. Maternity clothes.

5. Nail polish.



5 FAVORITE TOYS:

1. Snow globes.

2. Lincoln logs.

3. Monopoly game.

4. Raggedy Ann dolls.

5. Mr. Potato Head

(Most people have named their gadget toys, but even though I love my cell phone, it isn't really a toy to me.)

NAME 5 PEOPLE TO TAG FOR THIS MEME:

Actually, I am going to opt to tag anyone who wants to do this meme. It really is a fun one.

106 BOOKS MOST OFTEN UNREAD by LibraryThing Users

I found this on Musings of a Bookish Kitty. Looks like fun.

The below listed books are the top 106 books most often marked as being unread by LibraryThing users.

The instructions are simple:

Bold what you have read, and italicize books you have started but couldn’t finish. Add an asterisk* to those you have read more than once. Underline those on your TBR list. The ones marked in red are books I am considering reading one day but do not have on hand.


Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: A Novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre*
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-
TimeDune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-Present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake: A Novel
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers


I have read 26 of these -- probably not a good record -- many were read a long time ago. There are a few that I think I read, but can't remember. A few I started, but never finished and a few I plan to read if I ever make a TBR list. SO MUCH TO DO!

No Name Meme

I was tagged by Lynne for this nameless meme. Here goes:

ACCENT: Like Lynne, I took a quiz and came up pure Philly.

DRINK: My favorite drink is Diet Pepsi -- I need to start my morning with it. I hate coffee; I like tea, hot and iced. Alcoholic drinks? Sometimes a glass of wine when we eat out. I like a glass of beer sometimes, esp. Rolling Rock. New Years Eve I have to have a glass of champagne.

CHORE I HATE: Any housework, especially unloading and loading the dishwasher. Oh yes, also folding laundry.

PETS: Beau the poodle and three cats: Violette, Pierre and Chloe.

ESSENTIAL ELECTRONICS: Does TV count? Computer, cell phone.

PERFUME: Happy To Be (Clinique), Eau Du Val (L'Occitane - first bought this in Paris and all I have to do is smell it and it takes me right back there), Tova (Tova Borgnine).

GOLD OR SILVER: Both. I love jewelry and I sell a line of sterling silver.

INSOMNIA: Seldom. Sometimes have trouble getting to sleep, but once I am there I am gone.

JOB TITLE: Realtor, wife, sister, grammy and friend. Favorite is Grammy.

MOST ADMIRED TRAIT: Gee, this is a hard one. I am a good cook, but I don't think that is a trait. I am somewhat quiet and reserved, but most people think I am fun to be around. Is that a trait? I am loyal and honest.

KIDS: One daughter, Beth, and my son-in-law Dale. Of course, my two grandchildren, Cooper and Ian. I have two step-children and three step-grandchildren.

UNUSUAL TALENT/SKILL: I don't know if people still use this, but I can still use some of my old shorthand skills. I am sure Lynne can, too.

VEGETABLE: I am not a big vegetable fan. Corn, lima beans, peas, brocolli, lots of salad. My most hated things are mushrooms, beets and asparagus.

WORST HABIT: I am a disorganized clutterer. I also find it difficult to pass a MacDonalds without getting a "double cheeseburger, no onions ($1)."

X-RAYS: Dental every year.

FAVORITE MEAL: Spaghetti and meatballs or chicken parmesan, both with Italian bread and lots of real butter.

PHOBIA: Several: Driving over some bridges, mushrooms, a certain kind of cricket that I have only seen in Delaware, spiders -- especially Daddy Longlegs. Well, actually bugs in general. And yes, mushrooms are more a phobia with me than a dislike.

RELIGION: Catholic (since last year)

SIBLINGS: One younger sister, Linda.

TIME I WAKE UP: If I don't set an alarm and no one wakes me up, I can easily sleep until 11:00. Hey, I need the sleep! It's not easy being me!

This was fun. I tag YOU: kookiejar, kris, lidy, tristi