Sunday 23 February 2014

Getting to know me, getting to know all about me

Well we won't go that far. I'm not nearly as interesting as the wives and children of the King of Siam. This started with Silvia of Soapjam listing 40 things about herself, and she asked if I would do it as well. I see she's just nominated me for The Versatile Blogger award, so I'll work that in as well, providing you can read through to the end of this post.

Silvia wrote 40 things about herself, and I will try and do the same.
  1. My family moved to Vancouver in the early '70s from Hong Kong. We moved to Vancouver because it was cheaper than Toronto. How ironic that it's now the second most expensive city for housing after Hong Kong. (and that, Ms. Morisette, is how you do ironic)
  2. My sister got me soaping. She had been trying to do it with her sons, but not that many  boys are interested in soaping, so she gave me all her supplies to help me move forward in trying to make a new career for myself.
  3. My sister is my only sibling, but that's not the only reason she's my favourite sibling, just one of the reasons. No, she's my best friend, an amazing baker and incredible writer. (shameless plug coming up) If you get a chance, check out her blog, and while you're there, check out her two anthologies on the right hand side. Proceeds from the books all go to MSF and you get some great stories to read.
  4. This same sister taught me how to knit. We didn't start with something like a potholder, no we started with socks. I guess after that many other projects seem simple by comparison.
  5. Even though I like to think of myself as being balanced, I tend to overshare or under share. I think 40 facts about me is oversharing. 
  6. I'm passive aggressive to the extreme, which is why
  7. I love murder mysteries, they allow me to live vicariously. ;)
  8. Baking is something I love to do, but I'm not big on eating sweets.
  9. My favourite past time would be to sit in a big comfy chair with a good book and a huge bag of chips.
  10. My other favourite pastime is sleeping
  11. I'm an introvert, but not a high functioning one.
  12. I'm a creature of habit, spontaneity and I don't mix.
  13. I fell out of our bed when I was less than a year old. Onto a concrete floor. I'm not sure who I feel more sorry for, my family or the doctor who had to sew me back up without anesthetic.
  14. I spend way too much time on Pinterest.
  15. I'm a hoarder, trying hard to quit though.
  16. I'm also a procrastinator extraordinaire.
  17. In the spirit of the Olympics, this will be a terrible shock to many, but I wasn't that interested in who would win the gold medal in hockey. I know, I'm so non-Canadian.
  18. I enjoy the idea of entertaining people at my house, but in reality, I get overwhelmed and would rather hide in the kitchen away from everyone.
  19. This list makes it rather obvious, but I'm not very focused. 
  20. I tend to be a listener rather than a talker.
  21. I love to laugh though, so I've had a few offices mention how quiet the place is after I've left. ;)
  22. According to my therapist, I smile too much. I think it's a defense mechanism; that's what other primates do.
  23. I tend to lurk on Facebook, blogs and the like. It allows me to find out more about others without having to share.
  24. Lazy: that's the one word that sums me up.
  25. I have a tenor sax that I received as a birthday present. 
  26. One of my bad habits is to read an email but not respond right away. And then I forget about it for a few days before realizing I still have to respond.
  27. Being asian, I don't have a high tolerance for alcohol, although I seem to lack the gene that most asians have of turning very red after a bit of booze.
  28. I used to sleep like the dead. We had a truck crash into our fence and I didn't even notice until my husband woke me up.
  29. I like weird trivia and Twitter is great for that.
  30. The Wii Fit and walking are my main sources of exercise. You'll never catch me doing anything in a gym.
  31. Someday, I'd like to have a garden to call my own where I can attempt to grow some vegetables and herbs.
  32. There are so many crafts and things I want to try, but I can't seem to focus on any one thing so I just go back to reading other people's posts on Facebook.
  33. I'm a recipe collector/hoarder. Is there a Recipes Anonymous group I can join?
  34. I don't usually let people shorten my name to one syllable; I tell them that the people who do that are family or they're now dead.
  35. I'm a kitchen appliance junkie.
  36. I still have Gourmet magazines from the early '80s hanging around. Funny how some of the ingredients back then that you could only find in specialty stores are now commonplace.
  37. My math skills suck, but I'm pretty good at spelling, so it drives me crazy when I see spelling errors, especially on news shows.
  38. My favourite era for fashion is the '50s. I love the beautiful dresses they used to wear.
  39. All in all, I'm just a big kid, hence why I don't need to have kids of my own.
  40. I genuinely love all the people I've met on-line.
And there you have it. If you made it through this entire list, I applaud you. If you just skimmed right to this part though, here comes the good stuff.



Silvia of Soapjam nominated me for the VBA award

The rules are as follows:
  • Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy. (Thanks Siliva, you're an amazing soaper and a wonderful person!)
  • Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it. (Done above)
  • Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!) (See below. Of course everyone I follow is super awesome, is there any other?)
  • Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.
  • Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself. (So done it's not funny)

Okay, so my nominees are (and trying not to duplicate any that have already been nominated by the awesome bloggers I follow, but if I did, my apologies):
  1. Growing, Writing and Creating and One Good Thing
  2. Within the Hive and Welcome to Minnesota
  3. 9 East Main Street
  4. Northwest Backyard Veggies and Bear Soap
  5. Otion Soap Bar
  6. Stace's Space
  7. The Soap Nut
  8. Savon et Fantasies
  9. A Naturalist Here and Elsewhere
  10. Scilana Unikate
  11. Crafty Affaire
  12. Soup, Soap and Everything in Between
I'm stopping there because I figure I've nominated a couple of people for writing two different blogs, so that counts for something right? I hope others will take on Silvia's challenge of sharing 40 things about yourself, since after 7 as per the VBA, I'm dying to know more about everyone.

21 comments:

  1. Firstly, I'm impressed that you thought of 40 things to share without repeating yourself! I can't get beyond...oh, 5?

    Secondly, thank you for the love and shout-out, dear!

    Thirdly, aren't soapers the nicest people? My kid lit writers community thinks it's the nicest group of people but I think soapers are even nicer.

    While I thank you very much for passing along the award, you know I don't usually play these things. So, I'll have to see if I do this time. :) And you know Son1 won't be playing.

    And lastly, you are really funny!!

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    1. Teresa, you have so many more interesting tidbits to share about yourself if you wanted. I'm hoping I don't put my friends to sleep with this list. :D Silvia made it sound so easy, I was sweating blood, another reason why I'd never make it as a writer.

      I hope that people do buy your anthologies, they truly are wonderful reads and such a wonderful charity to support.

      I'm sure your kid lit writer friends are great, but yeah, soapers are really a special group. So supportive of one another and always have encouraging words and so willing to help each other out.

      I wasn't figuring on you partaking but I couldn't not nominate my favourite blogger, could I?

      Thanks for not including the word "strange" after funny. :)

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    2. I actually think you'd make a good writer. It looks like it runs in your blood. :-)

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    3. You are so sweet Silvia! See, this is why I want to have you as my adopted sister. :)

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  2. Ok, you were kind of serious until got to 28. Then, I was LOL, and afterwards you kept making me smile at some other points! I really enjoyed reading this post, you're so funny and honest, it's real pleasure to get to know you better!

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    1. It took me several days to write out the 40 things, and I guess it was when I was writing #28 on that I had a glass of wine to help me along. ;) I'm glad you enjoyed the post Maja, and thank you for managing to read through the whole thing.

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  3. Love your blog! as I was reading your list a majority stood out to me and I was just like wow this is so me, LOL!

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    1. Anna Rose, it's a pleasure to meet you! I think soapers must have a common thread running through all of us, at least the one of we're all a little crazy right? ;)

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  4. Funny! Reading your post made me smile several times today, Monica! We adore you now more for this sincere and funny post. It's so nice to know more about you...especially that you are lazy and that you recognize it ;)
    Maybe you can create that Recipes Anonymous group, Monica, I will certainly join you ;)

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    1. You are so sweet Nat, I don't think you'd even know how to say anything not nice, do you? ;) Oh my gosh, I am so lazy, if I didn't think my past lives were of horrible people and I'm paying for all their sins now, I'd say I was previously a sloth and just carried those traits into this life.

      I'd be happy to create the RA group Nat, as long as you bring the goodies because I would love to try all those yummy things you blog about.

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  5. I really enjoyed that! You are seriously funny! :-)
    I hope we get the chance to meet one of these days. :-)

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    1. Thank you so much for starting this and asking me to participate Silvia, it was so much fun. I would love to visit the Philippines one days and if I do, I'll be sure to let you know. Unless you're planning to come over to Canada soon? ;)

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  6. This was SO fun to read--thanks for making up a list for us. Wish we lived closer; we could laze, procrastinate, and distract our way through some batches of soap! 21, 37, and 38 jumped out as being very much like me. It's nice to get to know you!

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    1. Oh, and I have been humming the song that goes with your post title for hours, even woke up with it in my head.....good movie!

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    2. Thanks for dropping by Amy! It's a good reminder that I've been meaning to sign up for your blog posts for a long time now. If you lived closer, we'd have a blast! I don't' know how much work we'd get done, but we'd have a great time doing so.

      I'm glad it's not one of those songs that drive you crazy, otherwise you'd be busy making a voodoo doll of me. :D

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  7. I LOVE THIS! You had me sitting here reading all of the points with a big smile on my face and a couple of laugh out loud moments!

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    1. Glad I could make you laugh Roxana. Just as long as you didn't spew coffee over your keyboard because of me. ;)

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  8. I enjoyed learning more about you, Monica! I don't think I could come up with a list of 40 things about myself.

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    1. Glad to hear that you enjoyed it Jenny. I think you could easily come up with a list of 100 different things about yourself, you seem to be very adventurous and have done lots of travel, so you probably have tons of interesting tidbits.

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  9. I really enjoyed reading all this about you Monica, thank you for sharing!

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