Tagged again - twice!

The lovely and chic Bliss of Stepping My Way to Bliss and Debby from Nanny's Place have both nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award.  I love both of their blogs and read them daily so although I have been tagged for this award before I think I'll follow Bliss' approach to sharing seven things about myself that others may not know.  Bliss talked about her journey with a relatively unknown chronic health condition and how she lives a joyous life by adapting her approach to exercise, etc.  I'm going to talk about the themes that I see in my life from childhood on.

Before I start though, I like to nominate anyone on my blog list who hasn't received this award yet to jump in and accept it!  It is fun to learn about other bloggers.

1. Reading widely and eclectically has always been a pleasure for me.  I think I've mentioned before that my Mom used to take us on the bus to downtown Champaign, Il  to the library to get as many books as we wanted.  So from the age of about 8 (horse stories being a theme then) to now I have been reading like crazy.  I still head to the library for most of my books and help raise money to support it now.  Again following in my Mom's footsteps as she volunteered at her current small town library for 20+ years and served on its board for a while.

2. I really like having new experiences and will never be the person who goes the same place for vacation every year.  Next month we are going to visit the Okefenokee Swamp, and Amelia and Cumberland Islands by participating in a Road Scholar program.  We will be seeing those places for the first time and it will be our first group travel experience.  The one exception has been going to visit Yosemite which we did at least once a year when living in S. California.  I've been there in all seasons so perhaps that is the variety piece.

3. I love seeing art and go to museums and on artist studio tours.  When I was in graduate school I was planning to go through the training to become a docent at the Los Angeles County Art Museum, but found a part time teaching position that interfered so I had to withdraw as I really needed the income.  I also have taken a number of art classes and have enjoyed most painting with acrylics.  My Dad was the one with the talent though.

4. Goals are important to me so that I can see that I am making progress.  This is making semi-retirement somewhat of a challenge but some goals are developing now that I am finding satisfying. 

5. I have to consciously work at being positive and not complaining.  Enough said.

6. I love animals.  The dog we have now is my fourth if you count my childhood pet.  We have also shared our home with cats, and due to our sons' interests with a guinea pig, a hamster, fish, a parakeet and a hermit crab.  I took horseback riding lessons at two points in my life as I love horses.

7.  I have moved around the country in pursuit of my goals and jobs and while that has had its cost in terms of time with family and friends as well as the need to make new friends, I have enjoyed living in Seattle, Stockton, CA, the Los Angeles area, San Diego and now Atlanta.  I think I have one more move ahead when we really retire - we'll see where the family is mostly then and make that decision later.