Nominated for a Liebster! I’d Like to Thank the Academy….

. . .and by Academy I mean aspiring and gifted writer Sophie, who shares bits of her way with words through her blog A Note From Sophie, who kindly nominated my blog for a Liebster Award!

No one seems to know for certain how or when the Liebster Award got started. At least the all-knowing Oracle Google doesn’t, and that’s good enough for me.

The earliest Google reference to the Liebster Award is December 19th, 2010. So, as far as awards go, I suppose that would make the Liebster a mere child. Yet despite its youth, the Liebster accomplishes a great deal.

As I understand it, the Liebster (not to be confused with the Biebster aka Justin Bieber, who also is a mere child) is given to budding bloggers (like me) who are in the infancy of their blogging careers (like me) and have less than 200 followers (like me). The award is a way of showcasing us noobs to the blogging community.

I’m honored that Sophie considered my blog post about my little friend OCD Louie worthy of the award. What? You haven’t been introduced to Louie yet? You really should meet him. He can be quite entertaining to read about. Not so much to live with though.

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Now, before I get to the unofficial official rules, here are a few interesting facts about the Liebster Award:

• It’s a virtual award only. So there will be no award ceremony. I know. I was disappointed, too, when I found out.
• It has nothing whatsoever to do with Justin Bieber.
• It is an award given to budding bloggers by other budding bloggers.
• “Liebster” means dearest or beloved in German.
• Again, please don’t confuse it with The Biebster.
• It’s sort of a blogging chain letter.
• You can choose to accept the Leibster, which requires paying it forward (the chain letter part), or you can opt out of participating. Really. No one will shame you or blame you. We all know you’re overwhelmed and overworked. Wait, that’s me. Besides, since the official rules are in reality sort of unofficial, I think we can all agree to overlook it if a blogger wants to bend the rules a bit. Such as, oh, maybe nominating only two or three bloggers. Or asking your nominees to answer just a few questions, if you can’t come up with eleven.
• The Liebster’s rules have changed over time, so you may find different versions out there on the Interwebs. You may even be responsible for creating your own new version.

The Unofficial Official Rules For The Liebster Award

1. Thank the person who nominated you and post a link to their blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Sophie at A Note From Sophie!!
2. Display the award on your blog. That’s it right up there at the top of this post. But if you don’t like that one, just Google Liebster Award and browse the images the all-knowing Oracle Google produces. There are oodles and oodles.
3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, provided by the blogger who nominated you. Keep reading. You’ll find mine below.
4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself. Hmmm. This will require some thought, but I’ll give it a go.
5. Nominate 11 blogs with less than 200 followers that you feel deserve the award. This is the hard part. For me, at least. What with raising Pebbles and all, that doesn’t leave me a lot of time for browsing blogs. But I’ll do my best. I promise. Please keep in mind what I said earlier about bending the rules and no shaming or blaming.
6. Create a new list of questions for your nominees. More time consuming homework, but, again, I’ll do my best.
7. Post these rules on your blog. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
8. Tag your nominees and let them know with a link to your post.

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So, to summarize, here is the CliffsNotes version of the Liebster Award rules.

• Thank the blogger who nominated you (that would be me) and link to my blog.
• Display the Liebster Award on your blog.
• Answer the questions I’m still thinking about for you.
• Share 11 facts about yourself.
• Nominate 11 deserving bloggers with less than 200 followers, link to them and create 11 questions of your own for them.
• Let them know you’ve nominated them with a comment on their blogs.

Eleven Random Facts About Me

1. I’m a computer nerd.
2. I taught myself HTML, CSS and some javascript. (see #1)
3. I designed, coded and now maintain a complete website for my husband’s business. (see #2)
4. I deleted all Windows operating systems from my computers once I discovered Linux. (see #1) Woo Hoo for open source and no viruses, worms or trojans!
5. I’m a wannabe photographer.
6. I love The GIMP! (see #5)
7. I love cookies, cakes, pies and donuts way too much. So I avoid buying them and baking them as much as possible. Seriously. I can eat a whole batch of cookies all by myself.
8. I love to drink dill pickle juice. Weird, I know, but it’s true.
9. I am a hopeless night owl. I am raising my grandchild. And I home school her. I should be in bed right now. But you can see I’m not. Crazy, I know, but I can’t help it.
10. I have vaccinated more cows than I care to count and have had more cow poo flung on me than you want to read about.
11. I personally butchered, defeathered and eviscerated 75 chickens one year. Notice I said one year. We haven’t raised chickens since. But The Rock says we’re doing it again in September. We’ll see.

My Answers to Sophie’s Questions

1. If you could have any super power, what would it be?

I would definitely want the ability to wake up energized and refreshed after only an hour’s sleep a night. (see my random fact #9)

2. Where would you go on your dream holiday?

Actually my dream holiday would be to stay home while The Rock took Pebbles on her dream holiday. Anywhere. For at least two weeks. Ah. The peace and quiet and the house all to myself. I could get sooooo much stuff done that’s been piling up since Pebbles rolled into our lives and our hearts.

3. What is your biggest fear?

Snakes. Definitely snakes.

4. What is your favourite Disney movie?

Cars. How could you not love Lightning McQueen and Mater?

5. Marmite, love or hate?

Umm. What the heck is Marmite?

6.  If you could spend a whole day with ANYONE, who would it be?

See #2. I’m really, really serious about that alone time.

7.  Describe an awkward moment you’ve had.

Oh please. Do we really have to go there? Well, okay, here goes. I peed my pants in front of my whole first grade class. Yes, it’s true. Maybe that falls under the embarrassing category, more than awkward. But I guess it was pretty awkward.

8. If you had to be an animal, what animal would you be?

An animal that spends a lot of time alone. I’m not sure what kind that is exactly. When I get time I’ll ask the all-knowing Oracle Google.

9. What would your “Perfect Day” consist of?

Okay. I realize it seems like I’m beating a dead horse with this alone time theme, but yeah, a whole day alone would be perfect.

10. What is your earliest memory?

Being knocked into the deep end of a swimming pool (accidentally, of course) at the age of two and watching, amazed, as a nice man swam to my rescue.

11. If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?

Hah! If I could describe myself in one word I would be. . .someone else. If it’s possible to be genetically incapable of describing anything in one word, I possess that flawed gene.

I’m Tired. Overworked. Overwhelmed. Snowed-under. #HaveWayTooMuchToDoAndNotEnoughTimeToDoIt. (At least I tried to turn that last sentence into a single word, à la Twitter hashtag-style)

My Liebster Award Nominees

The Politically Wrong Bong – I’m nominating Debarati for several reasons. She has attended a Hackathon, she uses Linux and likes her software to give her “the most perfect experience,” and she likes to dabble with “more glamourous Open Source alternatives.” A woman after my own heart.

anntogether – I love AnnMarie’s thought provoking wit, her observations on life and the world and, because I am a bit of a Grammar Nazi, I revel in her excellent use of the English language. Anyone who can tie together Dating Naked and World Peace in the same post deserves more attention from her fellow bloggers.

Storytime with John – John has a uniquely hilarious way of describing his experiences and, at the tender age of 23, has had more experiences than almost everyone I know put together. He’s traveled extensively, teaches English to Korean kids, and apparently many people in China think he’s David Beckham. Poor Guy. “…MR. BECKHAM – YOU WILL GET THE HONEYMOON SUITE!” Bwahahaha!

Dangerously Tenacious – I’m nominating Vin because she not only has the strength to conquer her demons, but she blogs about them, as well. I love that she shares the aftermath of what she endured as a child in order to help others who may be going through the same thing.

OCD In The Family – Angie is a mom, a psychologist and she’s raising a teenager with OCD. I joke about my OCD because it helps me deal. This mom shares the torment, the trials, the travails and the triumphs of watching a beloved child struggle with this debilitating condition.

I am shamefully aware that I haven’t nominated 11 blogs. Please do keep in mind what I said earlier about the unofficiality of the Liebster Award’s rules. And also the stuff I said about not shaming or blaming. Because I wasn’t kidding when I told you I am Tired. Overworked. Overwhelmed. Snowed-under.

Questions For My Nominees

1. Why did you decide to start blogging?

2. How did you come up with the name for your blog?

3. What inspires you to write a blog post?

4. Do you use an off-line editor for composing your blog posts, and if so, which one and why? (Because I really, really need some suggestions)

5. If you could cure any disease what would it be?

6. What is your favorite thing to do when you have free time?

7. Using 10 words or less, how would you describe yourself?

8. If your life were made into a movie, who would play you in the film, and why?

9. How would your life change if you were to win the lottery?

10. Miracle Whip or real mayonnaise?

11. Paper or plastic?

I want to thank Sophie once again for nominating my blog. In some ways this has been an interesting experiment in self-assessment for me.

And now, my nominees. . . go forth and Do That Liebster Thing.

(And once again, please don’t confuse this with the Biebster.)