I've been Sunshined!

First, let me express my apologies to Drew Frank (@ugafrank) who first tagged me with a  Sunshine Award  on his blog back at the beginning of the month. I was running around like crazy at that point in time and completely ignored the whole thing. Lame excuse, I know.

Carl Hooker (@mrhooker), after being a rockstar last week helping me prep for an iPad workshop, turned around and tagged me on Monday in his 11 Random Facts & Breaking My Own Rule post. I guess that makes it official, so please consider this post an acceptable response to both Drew and Carl.

Official Sunshine Rules

Here’s how this all works if you’re late to the party – like me. The Sunshine Awards is intended to help bloggers get to know each other through a few simple rules:

• Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
• Share 11 random facts about yourself.
• Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
• List 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!
• Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. (You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.)

Since I accomplished challenge #1 in my opening paragraphs, I’ll just jump in with the rest.

11 Random Facts About Myself

This is in random order since it is supposed to be a random set of facts….

1. My life-long dream is to be a Muppet. Seriously, like Kermit the Frog. I do a pretty mean Grover and had a What-Not named Zapf until Zoey (the dog) ate him.
   
2. That said, I have two dogs – Zoey and Murphy. They are both Multi-Shepherds and even have their own Twitter handle (@Multi_Shepherds), though they’ve been offline a lot lately since they enjoy being outside in the cold weather.
   
3. While an undergrad at Northwestern University, I danced for 120 hours during four 30-hour Dance Marathons to raise money for various charities. I even raised $2,500 worth of chocolate covered frozen bananas during my sophomore year. Haven’t eaten one since.
4. At one point in time, I was a Knowledge Systems Engineer and Human Systems Integration Specialist at the Naval War College. I’m not at liberty to further discuss that (sort of).
5. I like to fish.
6. One of my favorite authors is Jeffrey Archer. However, I’m really ticked about the ending to the third book in the Clifton Chronicles trilogy and desperately hope that he makes it a quad-logy and writes one more. Seriously?! I can’t believe he left me hanging like that.
7. My first classroom was a 50 foot sailboat in the Caribbean. Sometimes I wonder why I ever stopped working for ActionQuest. I may need to push for EdTechTeacher Summer Workshops in the Virgin Islands some year…
8. In my senior yearbook ad, my Mom wrote, “Incorrigible, Irreverent, and totally Irrepressible! That’s my baby!” Some things don’t change.
9. In 1999, I spent 10 days in Antarctica with my best friend from growing up. Because of that experience, I have a penguin fetish. We don’t have a number on our house, but there’s a 3-foot penguin named “Pete” in the window.
10. The sign of a great vacation is the number of miles covered on foot. Anything less than 50 miles in 10 days without a few thousand feet in elevation gain just isn’t enough adventure.
11. I coached the same high school sailing team for 14 years. Some of my first students are now my closest friends. I actually started blogging because of them back in 2007.

11 Answers to the questions I liked best from Drew & Carl

1. Who was your best boss EVER and why? – not fair! If I don’t say Tom Daccord, I could get in trouble 🙂
2. What’s the biggest prize/money you’ve ever won? – I rarely win. About a year ago, I did win a bizarrely-fitting down jacket from First Ascent in a raffle.
3. What software/program needs to go away forever? – Microsoft Office
4. What is your secret super-power? – I don’t get seasick. This means that I can brew coffee, make sandwiches, and cook a meal in 18-20 foot seas given enough oven mitts and a well-gimbled stove.
5. How many devices do you have in your home that connect to the internet? – 10
6. What is your favorite movie of all time? – Top Gun! I have the need for speed!
7. Cat, Dog or Goldfish? Why… – Dog. Definitely. Goldfish make lousy retrievers and cats smell and puke fur balls on the couch.
8. How do you caffeinated? – Early and Often! Coffee in the mornings. In the winter, I may add an afternoon cup of tea. When traveling, I may throw in the occasional Coke to get through the afternoon. (I’m from Georgia, Coke not Pepsi)
9. Best place you ever vacationed? – Alaska. We only saw Anchorage to Denali and then down to Seward, but I’d love to go back.
10. Best book you’ve read in 2013? – Ken Follet, Winter of the World. Let’s hope that his trilogy ends better than Jeffrey Archer’s or I’m not reading series anymore.
11. Favorite television shows? – In the last year, I’ve become quite the TV connoisseur…. On the Food Network, I really like Chopped, Sandwich King, and anything with Guy Fieri. From a sitcom stand point, I am a huge fan of Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. However, don’t forget NCIS, and for some reason, I’ve become enamored with Once Upon a Time and Revenge – the latter of which I’m a little embarrassed to have just admitted.

11 Bloggers and 11 Questions

Here are my nominees for who should get Sunshined next!

1. Holly Clark (@HollyEdTechDiva)
2. Kristen Wideen (@MrsWideen)
3. Daniel Edwards (@syded06)
4. Brendan Leondard (@semi_rad)
5. Jill Gough (@jgough)
6. Suzy Brooks (@simplysuzy)
7. Chris Casal (@mr_casal)
8. Jennifer Carey (@teacherjencarey)
9. Shawn McCusker (@shawnmccusker)
10. Chris Harrow (@chris_harrow)
11. Bo Adams (@boadams1)

11 Questions to Answer:

1. Who was your favorite teacher in school?
2. What’s the best topping combination to put on a pizza?
3. Fill in the accolade. You are Most likely to_____
4. Name of your favorite stuffed animal/toy.
5. If you could go out for dinner with anyone throughout history, who would it be?
6. Best Day Ever
7. Favorite Song
8. What is one thing you couldn’t live without?
9. What is the worst book that were ever forced to read?
10. Do you have a nickname and how/why did you get it?
11. Goal for 2014

Please share the link to your answer in the comments. Usually only my Mom comments on my blog, so I’d appreciate the dialog!