Monday, June 4:  Last week, Nando of Cyan Skies nominated me for the Genuine Blogger Award!  Of course I can’t help but be flattered and pleased that someone thought enough of my blog to nominate me for any recognition.  Thank you so much, Nando, for your kind nomination!!

The rules for accepting the award are pretty simple:

  • Post an article stating that you have been nominated and include the name and link to the blogger who nominated you.
  • You should also include the logo of the award on your post, and in your sidebar (or on a permanent page) so that everyone who visits your site will know that you have won the award.
  • Tell your readers seven random things about yourself.
  • Pass the honor forward by nominating seven other bloggers that you feel deserve the award. Include links to their blogs in your post.
  • Notify those seven bloggers that you have nominated them.

Here are seven random things about myself:

1. I am always fretting about my weight, especially my ever-expanding waistline, which I think is the horrible thing about middle-age.  I weigh myself every morning, in the hopes that what I see will shock me so much that I won’t eat much that day! This rarely works.

2. I love the song and the music video of “I and Love and You” by the Avett Brothers, which I think is a song about nostalgia and growing up in America.

3. I fell in love with Egypt in 2007 and have been looking to repeat the experience I had there since then.  Oman, where I live now, is much more modern and clean and sparsely populated than Egypt, but it doesn’t have the energy and character, or the fascination, that Egypt holds for me.  I hope to return there someday.

me on camel at the Giza pyramids in Cairo, Egypt ~ July 2007

4. The first road trip I ever took was a trip to my mother’s hometown of Pagosa Springs, Colorado when I was about 10 years old.  On that trip, I rode horses, hiked in the Rocky Mountains, ate scrambled eggs with chili powder cooked by my grandfather in a cast-iron skillet over an open fire, and fell in love with road trips.

5.  I am the oldest of 5 children, with my youngest brother, Rob, 9 years my junior.  My second-to-youngest brother Brian died in 1988 and never got the chance to live his life.  It was so sad to lose him, a creative and talented young man, at such a young age.

my family in 1992 from left to right: me, Joan, Mom, Rob, Stephanie and Dad.

clockwise from top: me, Joan, Brian & Stephanie

6.  I’m a fallen-away Catholic, was an Episcopalian for a long time, and now just consider myself Christian with some Buddhist sprinklings.

7. I love the water, especially being on a sailboat or canoe, and bobbing along in glimmers of sunlight.  I even used to work on a boat, at MSI (Management Systems International), which had its offices on 13 boats in a marina in Washington, D.C.

on Lake Pichola in Udaipur, India. I love boats… 🙂

Though there are many bloggers I’d love to nominate, I will try to pick 7.  I know many bloggers who have been nominated numerous times for various awards, so if they don’t feel like accepting, I certainly understand.  Here are my 7 nominations, in no particular order:

1. Ailsa from Where’s my backpack?

2. Flickr Comments by FrizzText

3. Jo at restlessjo ~ Roaming, at home and abroad

4. Christina at Shanghaied Away

5. Christine at Heartfelt Images

6. Priya at Hellopalz

7. Elaine at i used to be indecisive…but now i’m not so sure