An award...I’m honoured!

A while back (over four weeks ago!), Kylez aka Mrs P distributed the Liebster award around the Blogosphere. I was very impressed to be on the list.

What does this mean? Well, here's the drill:

• Each person must post 11 facts about themselves
• Answer 11 questions the tagger has given you
• Choose 11 people and link them to your post (they must have 200 followers or less)
• Provide 11 questions for the people you tag
• Tell the people you have nominated

Here are 11 Facts about me.

1. I’m a big wuss. I can’t watch scary or violent movies. I can read scary stuff but prefer to read stuff with a happily ever after.  Or at least where the good guys win and the bad guys get caught or wiped off the face of the earth.
2. I get sick just looking at a roller coaster. Sometimes just looking at a Merry go round can make me feel nauseated. This happened after I had Glandular Fever in Year 11.  Before that I was fine and I can remember going on a roller coaster 8 times in a row a few years before that.
3. My favourite colour is blue. And I don't like pink at all. This can be an issue as pink is one of Girl Child’s favourite (if not the favourite) colour.  I do however, like P!nk.
4. I am now the mother of a 9 year old and a 14 year old.  Add to that Mr E and I have been married for 17 years and time just seems to be flying. I also had one of those significant birthdays recently. I’m not sure which of those make me feel the oldest. Probably having a 14 year old. I found my first grey hairs when he was 6 months old.
5. I still own the teddy bear I was given for my first Christmas.  I even sleep with him, occasionally. Generally that only happens when Mr E is away or when I’m upset but my bear is always then if I need him.
6. The guy I went to my Year 12 formal with (we were probably together for 5 months) decided / announced he was gay not long after we broke up. As it turned out I was not very surprised by this.
7. For me, the most important thing about birthdays is cake.  I don't care if I don't get a present but cake is vitally important. I think it stems from my Dad and I having birthdays a day apart and I remember birthdays when I did not get a cake. 
8. Mr E and I recently had an entire night without the children. It’s the first time that this has happened in about 6 years.  We have had times without one child or one of us has been away from the rest of the family but this was just the two of us overnight. While it felt bizarre only being the two of us, I enjoyed it. I think I would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't had to get up before 4 am.
9. Sometimes I wonder if I should have named my blog something else.  Does having a blog called Whining at the World mean I actually whine more than I would if it was called something else?  I wonder if just having a blog called Whining attracts less than desirable vibes or whatever to me. Would changing the blog name would affect the vibes I’m putting out into the universe? 
10. I’m often told that I over think things.  The previous fact is a good example of this.
11. I have spent over a week writing this blog post. I keep changing my mind about which facts may actually be interesting to you.  I’m still not sure the are but I think these are okay.

The questions Kylez gave me to answer are:

Q1. What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?
Probably backing into a tree in my then new car while the reserving sensors were frantically beeping at me.

Q2. Do you scrunch or fold. I'm talking about toilet paper here. Kylez is a scruncher.
I’m a folder.  I also prefer the paper to go out from the wall…just in case you were interested.

Q3. Think about your best-friend in the world. Now think about them getting stung by a jellyfish. Now think about whether you like them enough to pee on their sting for them. Would you do it?
Yes.  I’d prefer to pee into a container and pour it on the sting though. I like my privacy.

Q4. When the zombie apocalypse happens do you want to be a survivor or are you too lazy to be bothered living that kind of existence and would you rather just be a zombie? I figure it can't be that bad, you're a zombie, you wouldn't really know would you? You'd just be interested in eating brains. How bad is that, I'm too lazy to want to survive a zombie apocalypse. Yep, I take laziness to a whole new level right there!
I’m not sure.  If I could be a zombie quickly then a zombie is fine but if I have to get eaten alive then I’d want to be a survivor.

Q5. Do you pee in the shower? Yes or No? Why or Why Not. I'll just put it out there, I don't think there is anything wrong with that! Unless it's someone else's shower. Or there's someone in the shower with you!
No. I pee before I shower. I think the episode of Seinfeld where George pees in the locker room shower because it’s just a drain scarred me.

Q6. What do you want to be when you grow up? Totally stole that one.
In no particular order I wanted to be a vet, a librarian and a journalist. I became none of those.

Q7. If you won 50 million bucks in lotto, would you give me some? At least pay off my mortgage?
I have no idea what I’d do with that amount of money. I might give you some.  but then I might just blow the lot on myself.

Q8. What's your fave colour?
I answered that up there.  For the record it’s blue.

Q9. What's the best book you've ever read? Yep, stole that one too!
Best? Probably the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Q10. Have you ever farted loud enough in public that people have looked at you?
Unfortunately, yes! Very embarrassing!

Q11. At what point in this post did I prove fact number 2  to you? (Fact 2 was that Kylez talks a lot)
Kylez – Very early on.  But I hang around to look at your photos and stalk you.

I’m supposed to only be passing this award on to bloggers with 200 or less followers. However, some of the bloggers I want to pass the award on to don’t have their followers displayed so I’m going to just take a punt that they may make it in.  So here we go.  I’m passing this award on to:

Megan at Silver Threads of Happiness

Sarah from People Don't Eat Enough Fudge

Renee who blogs at  About a Bugg

Lisa from Simple Loving Thoughts

J. from JAAK’s Place

Jen from Now Let It Go

Emma who blogs her Desert Ramblings

Kakka from Menopausal Mumma

Lisa who is a Mum of Adult Kids

Kate who blogs at To My Dear Angel

Suzi from Under the Windmills

I’d like these lovely ladies to answer the following questions about themselves.

1. Why did you start blogging and why do you keep doing it??

2. What do you think is best thing about blogging?

3. If you were going to be abducted by aliens in the morning, what would you want to have for your last meal on earth?

4. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose to be and why?

5. You are a world famous and respected blogger.  Someone is going to name a cocktail (or mocktail) after you.  What’s it called and what’s in it?

6. What’s your favourite comfort food?

7. When was the moment when you suddenly realised that you were considered a responsible adult?

8. You go to a blogger event…do you think of other bloggers by their names, blog names or twitter names?

9. If you could meet anyone in the world (currently alive) and have a deep and meaningful conversation with them about anything – who you would you want to meet and what would you discuss?

10. If you could travel back in time would you try to change significant historical events or change minor things or just observe the way things were?

11. Aren’t you glad I tagged you in this award?

There you go!  Sorry, Kylez that it has taken me so long to do this.

R U OK?Day 2012

I've been a bit busy lately. We have entered the Celebration Season (4 birthdays and our wedding anniversary in 33 days) at our place. It means we are busy socialising, celebrating and the usual, just getting on with normal life. We have even taken a mini break which was lovely.

Today is R U OK?Day and I thought that it was worthy of a post.

My first step is asking you all R U OK?

I was very impressed to see R U OK? coffee cups today at Tafe, listening to people talk about R U OK? and extremely happy to be thought of and had someone checking up on me. You know who you are, thank you very much!

The R U OK?Day website sa

Most people don't openly share their feelings, particularly if they're struggling. The best thing we can all do is regularly talk to the people we care about - regardless of whether they are at risk - because connection is good for us all. In the time it takes to have your coffee, you can start a conversation that could change a life.

Did you know:

• More than 2,200 Australians suicide each year
• Men are around 3 times more likely to die by suicide than females (ABS 2012)
• For each person that takes their life, another 30 people attempt to end their own life (SANE Australia).

Suicide may or may not have touched your life. It has touched mine in various ways. I know people who have attempted suicide, I know people who have threatened suicide, knew someone who did kill themselves and I have been in that place where suicide seems like the only way out.

I don't talk about it much. There was a very dark period in my life and I thought that the world would be a better place without me in it. Thankfully, i haven't been at that point for a very long time. But I remember it and I hope that I never end up that low ever again.

So while R U OK?Day was today, if you didn't ask someone today, there is always tomorrow. Its ever too late to check up on people, and just asking R U OK? could make a huge difference to someone's life.

Click here to find out how to ask R U OK?

Click here for ideas on how to say that you are not OK.

If you’re feeling suicidal, it’s ok to tell someone you trust or call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 794 991.