Don't Sweat 30 In June

Okay, okay, that's probably the weirdest title I've come up with in a long time. But it works, really it does. The "don't sweat" part is from this week's Hodge Podge with Joyce from From This Side of the Pond and the "30 In June" part is from segueing into my Day 5 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge with Katie at So Funny Story... If I just used "Multitasking" as a title, it would have been boring.

Now onto today's actual post!

1. Have you learned more from success or failure? Explain.

I definitely have learned more from failure. Failure is the education that makes success possible. Be it from failed attempts in business or failed relationships, it’s only failure if you fail to learn from it.


2. What did you call your grandparents when you were growing up? If you have children, what do they call your parents? If you have grandchildren, what do they call you?

As the oldest grandchild I got to name all four grandparents! Nono, my spelling of nonno, was simply the Italian equivalent of grandpa and Noni was my version of nonna, the same for grandma. My maternal grandparents were “grampapa” when I first named them because they were always together when I saw them. Later when I decided on individual names, they became Grandma and Papa.

My parents were Grams and Papa to my nieces. They are the oldest on their paternal side. Grandma was already on their Mom’s side, so they decided go with Grams for my mom to differentiate. Poppy is their maternal grandfather and my dad became Papa because they always heard me call him Pop. I am Nana to them because it was their first pronunciation of Aunt Nani and it just stuck.


3. You're invited to a luau. In keeping with that theme, what dish will you bring to share?

I don’t have a ton of Hawaiian recipes in my repertoire, so I’d bring tropical fruit salad with fresh pineapple, mango, papaya, small chunks of coconut and garnished with plenty of slices of starfruit.


4. Besides Jesus, what one person's life story do you think everyone should know about?

Mohammed , Buddha… I think age-appropriate world religions should be taught in school starting at grade 1. Disrespect and misunderstanding is at the core of the rampant hate in our society. Maybe the next generation could begin to repair the world we’ve screwed up with our egotistical self-importance that breeds disdain for everyone who isn’t exactly like us.


5. "Don't sweat the small stuff." Agree or Disagree? Why?

I have to agree. One of the sillies David and I do is that he presses my nose and I say “beep.” This comes from my telling him about how amazed Tori and Rina were as babies because my nose went beep when they pressed it.  I press his and he goes "honk."

This morning he “made my nose beep” when he was passing through he room and I returned that but my arm was wavering and it lightly hit his nose a few times before actually pressing it. He went “haw, hu, haw-ha-haw HONK.” The wavering is from muscle weakness and nerve issues from the MS. It makes us both laugh. It is one of the small symptoms of the disease and laughing at it is not just not sweating it; it’s a coping mechanism. Not sweating the small stuff means better dealing with the big stuff.


6. June is National Rivers Month. When were you last on a river? What's the prettiest river you've ever seen? What's a river you'd like to see?

Probably The Ohio River on a sightseeing cruise. I’ve done sightseeing or dinner cruises on the Mississippi, Savannah, Cumberland and all three rivers in Pittsburgh too


7. Speaking of rivers-paddling, fishing, swimming, or bird watching safely from the shore? Which activity would you choose? Yes-you have to choose.

Since there is no choice for riding on a riverboat, maybe the question means smaller rivers. Hmm… The two important things for me to be floating over water are that it must be a very big boat and I must be able to see the shore. I think the fishing choice refers to being in a little boat, which would make me too nervous to fish, so I guess I’d have to choose the bird watching because it doesn’t entail being over the water in a little boat, although I’d really be fishing from the shore.


8. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m going to add my Day 5 of the 30 Day Blog Challenge I’m doing with Katie at So, Funny Thing…

Day 5 prompt:

Favorite quote and why.

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.  -Richard Bach

I have this quote on a plaque my mother gave me as a gift when I was an early teen. I never parted with the plaque or the message. As I began the struggle of the years of one foot in the child-world and one foot in the adult-world, never quite owning either, but belonging to both, it was to remind me that the things I wanted were always in my grasp. As an adult, they still are.

You can see all the prompts for the month here and join in any time, for one day or the rest of them. The 30 Day Blog Challenge is fun and a great way to meet new neighbors in Blogland!