The Versatile Blogger :)

 

What can I say? Another blog post in less than 12 hours! I'm just that grand, I guess...or, perhaps, I have a lot to say at this point. We'll see. 

Anyway, here's what's going on. See that big banner at the top for the Versatile Blogger? Someone awarded me the Versatile Blogger. This "someone" is Jessica and you can visit her blog here (and I recommend that you do as I'm now one of her followers because I wasn't before). 

By accepting the Versatile Blogger award, I have agreed to the following: 

1. Thank the blogger who presented it to me and link back to their page.

2. Share 7 things about myself. 

3. Pass this award to some newly discovered blogs (15, if I remember correctly).

So, #1 is done (see above where you can clicky the linky and go visity the bloggy...wow, too many "-y" statements - just go click the link to visit her blog). 

Now, seven things about myself........this could get interesting and maybe a little too deep into my psyche but, we'll see. 

1. I'm an unemployed, licensed elementary school teacher. I have a BA in psychology and elementary education from Luther College and upon my graduation, I found that it was nearly impossible to find a job in my hometown or any of the surrounding areas. Part of the problem was due to being so close to the University of Wisconsin and some of the other UW-system schools (Platteville & Whitewater, in particular). My inability to pack up everything and move is another reason. Either way, I'm licensed and haven't had a full-time teaching job ever. I went so far as to go back to school for another BA at the aforementioned University of Wisconsin for K-12 special education. I'm not finished, though.

2. I'm currently a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) to Little Man. It's hard to believe he's going to be a year old in a few weeks. Seriously...he went from this (taken November 10, 2010 when he was a day old):

And now he looks like this (taken this past Sunday, October 16, 2011 while we were camping): 

How did my baby get so big so fast?!

I suppose I shouldn't say that I'm a SAHM to just Little Man. This past July/August, we also got Puppy, a male Brittany. So, in reality, I have two babies to take care of. 

Anyway, back to the "list" of things......

3. I'm 31 years old, I own two properties (yes, own...outright...no mortgage, no liens, just property taxes), and have more crap in the one property than anyone should have, ever. And I still don't even come close to qualifying as a hoarder. So...why do I own two properties and have all this crap? Well, when I was 21 years old, my mother passed away very unexpectedly (May 2001). My parents had been divorced since I was small so it was just my mother and I. I inherited everything: the condo, all the possessions (including her car), any money, life insurance, etc. So, there's one property, with a complete interior to go with it. Now, it wasn't all my taste but hey, it was there. 

I shouldn't say I was left to fend for myself entirely. My maternal grandparents were still alive and well when my mom passed away. About five or six years after my mom passed away, however, my grandfather was working at his business (the man was over 80 and should have retired long before then but that's a whole other story) and went to sit down on a rolly office chair...which rolled out from under him. He broke his hip. He was okay...sort of. He did better than most do at that age after breaking a hip and having surgery. He lived for another two and a half years after that. He was in and out of nursing homes and the hospital and rehab clinics (for physical therapy, not drugs). In the meantime, the power of attorney paperwork was enacted, especially when my grandpa got really sick. Also, there was the case of my grandmother. My grandfather had hidden her dementia/Alzheimer's for so long that she was too far gone for her to be left on her own. She wound up in the nursing home, too. It was a horrible decision to have to make but I had to do it. My grandfather passed away in September of 2008. My grandmother stayed in the nursing home and she eventually passed away...the day I was in the hospital having Little Man (November 9, 2010). I inherited their estate which included the house, all the items held within, money, and life insurance (of which I've found none, yet). 

So, at 31 years old, I have two properties and two full households worth of stuff. It's been a long process going through it all, too. I may never finish. It took me almost 10 years to get through all my mother's stuff and what she had was negligible compared to what my grandparents had! Actually, let's be honest...I haven't finished going through all my mother's stuff yet but we moved it all to my grandparents' house and rented out the condo.

4. I'm kind of a nerd. I mean, I was always a bit of a nerd but it seems like I'm embracing it now whereas I tried to hide it when I was younger, especially in high school. Don't get me wrong, I love sports and other non-nerdy things but I have a love of nerdy things. I always liked reading when I was younger but I didn't discover fantasy until I was in college. I was so missing out! Things that I should have read when I was younger, I was finally getting around to reading in college...of course, Harry Potter came out while I was in college. That became my first huge obsession. I think it was a compensation for losing my mother. I needed something to distract me. I also discovered Lord of the Rings right about the time that the movies started coming out. I read The Hobbit first and have since read through the first third of LOTR. I haven't finished it, though. I'm somewhere in the middle of The Two Towers. I'm going to have to start over again...if I ever get time. So, aside from those two things, I also discovered Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, and Torchwood. And knitting. And genealogy. And music has always been a big part of my life. I don't think I could have married Husband if he didn't have a love of music, as well. 

5. I still own stuffed animals that I had as a child. Even better, I still have stuffed animals from when my mother was a child. I don't have as many of those, however. I've been a little harsh on my possessions as of late because we have so much stuff. I've gotten rid of a lot of things to make room for Little Man, Husband, and Puppy. I'm working on it. 

6. I really like cemeteries, especially old ones. I find them calming, for one thing. I also find them interesting from a genealogical standpoint. You can learn so much from looking at a headstone and grave markers. You can learn about how much money a family had, the "era" they lived in (based on whether birth/death dates are listed by year, in full, age only, etc.), any military service, etc. I actually visited a cemetery over the weekend...the old Zerbel family stomping grounds in Denzer (Wisconsin). My great-great grandparents are buried there, along with some of their siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. Basically, my dad's entire family from his grandparents on back are buried there. 

7. I love and hate living in my hometown. I love it because I know where everything is, what's good and what isn't good, what to expect with property taxes, I know everyone in town (and everyone knows me), and I grew up here. I hate it because I have nosey, asshole neighbors, everyone knows me, I'm expected to be a certain way (because of my grandparents and mom)...I could go on about my love/hate relationship with my hometown.

And now, fifteen newly discovered (or deserving) blogs that I need to pass this on to (in reverse alphabetical order): 

1. Wendy Knits: I discovered her blog fairly recently. While she does a lot of writing about knitting, designing, and her cats, I still find it versatile because, well, she's so funny about it. 

2. The Meanest Mom: it's mostly about "mom" stuff but, hey, having kids pretty much means you have to be versatile, right?

3. The Knitting Squid: Yes, it's mostly about crochet and knitting and crafting but she's fun and adorable about it (and she makes her man wear her shawls so she can photograph them!).

4. The Garden of My Heart: a blog from a knitter, fairly local to me, who writes about her life as a mother to a beautiful little girl...with Downs Syndrome (and trust me, her daughter is so adorable!)

5. Tami's Amis and Other Creations: I love Tami's blog, even if it's only for WIP Wednesday or FO Friday

6. Stitch, Brinn, Stitch: Okay, so I've been reading Brinn's blog for awhile but she's so damn cute about everything...she knits, recycles (upcycles? saves?) sweaters, dyes, designs....

7. Small Things: I discovered this blog recently and this woman amazes me. She's a SAHM in Virginia (I think) with six (yes, six) kids that she homeschools. They travel, she crafts (sewing, knitting, etc.), and she takes amazing photographs. 

8. Nothing But Knit: Yeah, right....she does plenty of other things besides knitting (don't get me wrong, she enables my queue on Ravelry quite a bit).

9. Molly Bee's Attic: I discovered her at Knitters' Guild at the beginning of the month when she showed off her non-knitting craft (that knitters love) and again when one of the shops nearby started selling her things. 

10. Master of a Thousand Things: knitting, cooking, life...she kind of talks about it all :) Plus, she's from England and that's just fun.

11. Hannah Knits Stuff: knitting, moving, marriage, and recently added to the list is "mummy" (as she puts it - she's Kentish, forgive her).

 Okay, I ran out of steam after #11....I have a ton of blogs that I read but I'm just running out of steam.

Anyway, thanks again to Jessica for this astounding award :)