I just had a bright ray of sunshine on this dreary, drizzly, chilly day. I’ve been nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award! Many thanks to Liz Flynn of The Fruity Tart for nominating me. Check out her blog, I know you’ll love it as much as I do.

Here are the award’s rules:

1.) Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog. (Really? There are people who wouldn’t say, “Thanks!” if it weren’t a rule?)

2.) Answer the 11 questions your nominator asked you.

3.) Nominate 8 to 11 blogs, and ask them 11 new questions.

4.) List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or on your blog.

I’m going to go out of order. I blathered on a bit too long with #2, and I’d rather think about whom to nominate than go back and edit!

My nominations:

My Urban Homestead: for not only living urban homesteading, but also sharing it with us

Art of Quotation: for bringing us such a wide variety of thought-provoking, smile-inducing, why-didn’t-I-say-that quotes

jumblefun.net: for making learning fun

thebadmommydiaries.com: for a great sense of humor and insightful posts

thatblogwherecheriemovestogermany: for her humorous look at life in a new country (and being brave enough to have one)

cascadeoflight: for their beautiful pictures

Stories That Are All True: for their thoughtful, honest, and beautiful writing.

Chef Kreso: for his delicious recipes, cheerful posts, and always having something kind to say

Food Historian Peggy Lutz: for always teaching me something new

Slow Days Small Feet: for sharing the joy of childhood

My questions for my nominees are:

1.) To-MAY-to or To-MAH-to?

2.)  What fictional character would you like to meet in real life, and why?

3.) What music do you listen to while writing, or do you prefer silence?

4.) Sunrise or sunset, and why?

5.) What aspect(s) of blogging do you find most rewarding?

6.) What food is your guilty pleasure?

7.) What advice would you give to younger you?

8.) What is something other people seem to find important that you just don’t see the point of?

9.) Do you have any famous (or infamous) people in your family tree?

10.) Which of your blog posts has had the most surprising response? (Comments you didn’t see coming, traffic that was unusually heavy/light compared to your averages, etc.)

11.) What do you do when you get writers’ block?

Here are the questions Liz posed and my answers:

1.) If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?

That’s easy! Healing. I’d love to be able to instantly heal everyone’s physical and emotional injuries and illnesses. (Including my own, which might keep me busy for the first month or so, but that’s okay. Isn’t it?)

2.) Who is your favorite author and why?

That’s a tough one. I’d have to say Jodi Picoult, because she always tackles difficult ethical/moral/social questions in her novels, and illuminates them in such a way as to offer the reader insights into people and opinions they don’t necessarily respect or agree with. And because she never writes unwieldy sentences like that last one.

3.) If you were on death row, what would you choose for your last meal?

tl;dr answer:

gazpacho, steak, baked potato, asparagus, apple pie, ice cream. Now go out for a walk while one (maybe) person reads the long answer. We’ll catch up with you for Question 4.

Full answer:

In all honesty, I think I’d be too nauseated to eat anything, what with being consumed with guilt for whatever it was that I did that put me on death row and all. But that’s not the spirit of the question, I know. My meal would begin with Gazpacho made from my own recipe, with vine-ripe tomatoes from my own garden (did I just buy myself a few months while we wait for the tomatoes to ripen?). Then a prime beef ribeye steak, sprinkled generously with Lawry Salt and grilled to medium-rare perfection. A crispy-skinned baked potato, with good butter, sour cream, & chives. Fresh asparagus, also from my own garden, steamed just enough to get hot but not soft. (Now I’ve made it impossible to kill me – the asparagus is in season in May and June, but the tomatoes aren’t ready until late August. If my jailers don’t have a Tardis, we’ll be waiting forever, and I’ll never die, bwahaha!). If I still haven’t barfed yet, I’d like a big fat slice of apple pie made from fresh, tree-ripened Upstate NY Fortune or Mutsu apples, and (you guessed it) my own pie recipe. And a big scoop of homemade vanilla frozen custard.

4.) What is the most unusual thing you have ever eaten?

I could say beef tongue (not unusual to some folks) or alligator (ditto), but I’m going with “I have no idea.” I’m not weaseling out of the question, I just really don’t know what it was! We were in Athens, spoke no Greek, and the nice folks at the restaurant spoke no English (and why should they? We were in Greece!) So the waiter took us into the kitchen, we pointed at what we wanted, and that’s what we ate. It was delicious. And baklava for dessert. I’ve known that Greek word since I was little!

5.) On holiday, do you prefer sunbathing on the beach, strolling around historic areas, or trying new and daring activities?

Definitely historic areas! The beach is awesome, too, don’t get me wrong, but it comes in second to seeing & learning new stuff. Bonus points if the historic area has a good local restaurant.

6.) What was the last movie you watched?

Um…ah…have I watched a movie lately? Haven’t been to the theater in years. Watched something on Netflix, but really don’t remember.

7.) Do you believe there’s life on another planet?

Yes. But we may never find it, because we insist on looking for life forms that are like us.

8.) If you could have dinner with any celebrity, who would you choose?

I’m not a big celebrity-watcher, but I wouldn’t turn down dinner with David Tennant, especially if he dropped the English accent.

9.) Who is your biggest inspiration?

Is it too corny to say my husband? He inspires me to be the best me I can be, and has my back even when I fail miserably.

10.) What is the best gift you have ever received?

My grandfather’s girlfriend gave him a signet ring for his 18th birthday in 1900. He sure couldn’t keep wearing it after he married my Nana (after the ring-giving girlfriend was history,) so he gave it to my dad for his 18th birthday. He gave it to my mom for her 18th birthday. She gave it to me for my 35th birthday. It’s hard to top all that history!

11.) When was the last time you danced in the kitchen just for the sake of it?

If you’re willing to accept a very loose definition of “dance,” then the answer is today!