Awards and a Fun Meme

I am very blessed with a wonderful group of blogging friends. I received these beautiful awards recently and I love them all.

The Nice Matters award was presented to me by Karen of Karen's Korner. I love pink and green together and this award is very pretty. I would like to pass it on to:

Denise at Samaritan Women

Denise at Shorty Bear's Place

Sharon at Sit With Me Awhile

Grams at Talk to Grams

Lady Di at Kitty Justice

The You Make My Day Award was also presented to me by Karen at Karen's Korner. This award touched me in a special way. Thank you so much for the beautiful awards, Karen. You often make my day as well. I would like to present this award to:

Anni at Hootin' Anni's

Dawn at Call Me Grandma Dawn

Diane at Diane's Place

Deb at The Canvas Grey

Pea at Pea's Corner. I love this award with all the coffee cups that tells of a Perfect Blend of Friendship. This one goes to everyone on my blogroll. I am very thankful for my blogging friends. I don't know how I ever managed without all of you in my life.

Speaking of being grateful. I've been blessed. When we got back from our Florida trip, I mentioned that Barry, Michelle and the boys were planning on moving away from this area because Barry's work would be taking them there. Well, the house didn't sell and as the week's passed he realized that the job wasn't for him. So, he began looking for work closer to this area and he starts his new job on April 21st and it is only 20 minutes from here, so they will still be living close by. God is so good.
Carolyn at Talk to Grams tagged me for a meme. Here are the rules:
1. The rules are posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago.

Well, let me see. That would have been April 1998 and I would have been taking care of Brandon and Jordan full time. Brandon was almost three and Jordan was 8 months old. Those boys kept me real busy back then.

2. Five things on my to-do list for today.

Go and pay a bill that is due on the 13th. I always like to pay things ahead of time.

Do a bit more spring cleaning. I have to do it a little at a time because of my disability.

Get a few groceries.

Clean the bathroom.

Do laundry and get meals.

3. Snacks I enjoy.

Fruit of all kinds.

A taste of dark chocolate, though I have to be careful with this one as I'm a Type II diabetic.

Cheese and crackers or cheese and grapes.

Miss Vicky's potato chips. Mmm!

Crackers with a little peanut butter.

4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire.

Give money to the Salvation Army to supply all of their family service clients with food for a year.

Give money to the Autism Society so they could further research autism and the disorders that fall within the Autism Spectrum.

Pay off any debts for immediate family members. (1 brother, 1 sister, Mom, daughter)

I would buy my niece a house and pay the mortgages off for my other nieces and nephews.

Set up a college fund for my grandsons and great nieces and nephews.

5. Three bad habits that I have.

Not watching my diet close enough.

Procastinating about things that I dislike doing but know I have to do. Grandma always taught me if I had something to do that I disliked doing to get it done so it would be over with. I also tell the grandsons this. I should practice what I preach and do as my grandmother taught me.

Writing details on envelopes or scraps of paper. Sometimes, though not often, these get misplaced before I record them where they're safe.

6. Five places I've lived.

This one is real easy as I've always lived in the same area I do now. While growing up, I lived in rural southern Ontario about a 20 minute drive from the place I reside in now. Today I live in the city but our house is in an area across from a park. We have lots of green space here.

7. Five jobs I've had.

Sewing baseballs by hand for Spaldings. I loved this job and worked there for a number of years until they moved their operation to Korea. This job entailed tacking the leather onto the ball innards, threading the lacing through two needles and coating them with beeswax and then stitching the ball. These balls were for the major leagues and had to be perfect. I could sew three dozen balls per day, which was good. Since we were paid by the piece, I made good money.

Driving taxi. I did this for 14 years and owned my own taxi. Most of that time I worked from 12 noon to 2 am the next morning. It seemed that if there was a problem call I always was the one to get it. I probably would still be doing this if I hadn't been hit from behind when I was stopped. I had my foot on the brake and the impact gave me whiplash and pushed my hip into my spine. I was not able to dress myself for 6 months. It took me weeks to even be able to get out of bed.

Nurses Aid. I worked in a nursing home for a few years and then worked as a private duty nurse. I looked after a woman who was 101 years old. I adored her. She died at 102.

Bartender and waitress. I worked at the Holiday Inn for years as a bartender and waitress. The tips were good and the wages were $1.35 per hour.

Retail clerk. I worked as a retail clerk when Michelle was a baby - so about 40 years ago. I earned $1.00 per hour.

Here are five people I'd like to know better. What a nice way of tagging people.

Anni at Hootin' Anni's
Jackie In the Land of the Living Skies
Pea at Pea's Corner
Lori at Pink Faded Roses
Mama Bear at Bears in Exile.

Thanks, Grams for tagging me. This was a lot of fun.

That's all the news from this corner of the world for today. Take care, Everyone and remember to do something nice for YOU. You deserve it. ~Blessings, Mary