Better Late Than Never- In Response to James Cowper

I am writing this post in response to being tagged by James Cowper @cowpernicus to complete a blogging meme about a month or so back. I’ve been procrastinating as I do best and decided it was time to sit down and find out just who I am and who will join me in this ‘digital chain letter’, as he suitably referred to it.

So here is the task…

1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger- in this case it would be me…
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. List 11 bloggers.
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer, and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. Don’t nominate a blogger who has nominated you.

11 Random Facts About Me…

1. My favourite colour is blue.
2. I lived and taught for two years in Istanbul, Turkey. A beautiful place where history meets modern day, and you’ll find some of the best cuisine you’ll ever taste. I recommend every person make an effort to visit.
3. I’m a certified make-up artist.
4.  I’m addicted to ‘Words With Friends’. I finally broke down and paid the $0.99 to eliminate ads.
5. I’m a chronic doodler. I like to draw and paint for fun and I’m just beginning to dabble in photography.
6. I’ve never had a cup of coffee.
7. I can recite the alphabet backwards in under 4 seconds.
8. My “best friends” to this day (who are twins) are the very first “best friends” I ever had.
9. I have always had a job since I was 10. My first job was delivering the local newspaper and then babysitting. I detasselled corn for 10 years. I worked at a pizza place, an animal hospital, a provincial park, a daycare, a powdered-metal factory, cosmetics counter and now as a teacher.
10. I’m the middle sister of 3 girls, each of us K-12 educators.
11. This is the longest I’ve ever spent thinking about myself. It’s hard.

11 Questions from James Cowper…

1. What has been one of your most significant learning experiences?

 The importance of communication and being intentional with my words. It brings to mind the first agreement from Don Miguel Ruiz’s book The Four Agreements- be impeccable with your words. Say what you mean. Communication is essential. This is how successful relationships occur and grow. I learned that it takes a strong sense of personal confidence to allow myself to become vulnerable with my colleagues that I interact with. The goal of communication is to develop a common understanding about what was said and that the message that comes across is the same to everyone involved- so important.

2. Talk about something that, for you, reason can still not explain.

My dad passed away on Jan 15, 2011. Two months later to the day he died, I heard a strange ringtone coming from somewhere in the house. After some time I tracked it to a drawer in the back room. I opened the drawer and saw a blue light flashing and the cell phone continued to ring. As soon as I picked it up the light went out and the phone stopped ringing. The phone was powered off and completely dead. The cell phone belonged to my dad and hadn’t been used or charged since before his death.

3. Rural living or big city life, why?

I chose Windsor for exactly this reason. Windsor is the happy medium between rural living and big city life. I grew up in a small rural town with one option for a high school, not much diversity and a whole lotta farms. Once I left for university I never turned back. And…despite the plentiful food establishments and trendy shops, the fast-paced urban living and notorious bad traffic of Toronto is too much for me. Windsor offers all of the conveniences of urban living while still being close enough to enjoy the serenity of country life too.

4. How did you get your name?

My birth name is Jodie Lee Caron: My mother, who is British, chose my first name Jodie, which was a popular name and spelling in England the year I was born. My middle name Lee comes from my Dad. He had a sister Mary Lee who passed away at the age of 2.

5.  Name something you couldn’t live without.

Since it says some’thing’ and not some’one’ I’m going to say my iPhone. I know I survived just fine for years before it. Now that I have it, I can’t imagine going back to a time without it. It connects me to friends and family all over the place, keeps me informed and makes the world a smaller place. It’s the last thing I see at night and the first thing that I wake to in the morning.

6. If you were a professional wrestler what would your name be?

Ruby Knock-Out. I don’t know. What?!?

7. What are you pretending not to know?

I’m going to hide in the convenient cloud of I don’t know on this one. 😉

Ok, how about this, why I can’t seem to take control of my health goals. I know what I need to do and I continue to struggle with it. I know I am a happier person when I am in control of it.

8. If I dumped out your junk drawer what would I find?

A lot of pens and pencils. I am a writing tool hoarder. Mechanical pencils in particular. Even though most of my notes are now kept on my Smart phone and on my computer I still can’t go down the stationary aisle of the Army Surplus store in Stratford and not buy the latest and greatest in erasable pens and clicky pencils. You’d also likely find a tangled mess of Apple chargers, ear buds, dongles, camera cords, USBs, batteries, random photos and a flashlight.

9. What is a powerful lesson you learned from a parental figure?

My mom taught me the value of a dollar and the importance of a good work ethic. She taught me that when I start something to stick with it until it’s done and do my best while I’m at it.

More importantly she taught me to be kind.

10. Where were you on 9 / 11 / 2001?

I don’t remember a lot of details about the day. I remember waking up early that morning to prepare a resume for a job interview. I was heading out the door to catch a train from Windsor to Chatham when I caught sight of the first plane hitting the tower on the news on TV, and then the second one. There was a lot of buzz around the train station about whether or not the trains would run and what exactly was happening. The train ride was eerily silent.

11. If you could give all your time and wealth to a charity…who/what?

If I could, I’d give all my time and money to a charity that fights against childhood obesity; an organization that helps families to make necessary changes to their lifestyles and to provide overweight and obese children opportunities to get out and get active. We are living in a generation where obesity in children is becoming an epidemic. I struggled with weight as a child and it’s an issue close to my heart. I think its more important now than ever before, with the way that our society is changing, that children are made aware of the risks of acquiring life threatening conditions, the need to live a healthy lifestyle, and what that looks like.

Bloggers I have nominated to participate…

1. Steve Nardone @stevenardone
2. Brian Ball @reed_man
3. Daniel Scibienski@danielscib
4. Julie Wakeman @JKWakeman
5. Dawnelle Salant @Dawnelle88
6. Judie Haynes @judiehaynes
7. Taunia Mathias @MsTMathias
8. Chad Barrette @globeandtims
9. Natasha Feghali @NEFeghali
10. Heather Rinke @hrinke
11. Chris Blais @nordmach

11 Questions for you to answer…

1. When was the last time you cried? Why?
2. What did you learn today that you didn’t know yesterday?
3. What do you remember most about your favourite teacher?
4. Where is the best place you’ve been?
5. Build or buy?
6. What is the bravest thing you’ve done?
7. What book or article ‘revved you up’?
8. What influential person would you like to have a conversation (more conversations) with?
9. If you were to write a book what would it be titled? What would it be about?
10. What is the most recent piece of advice you received? Did you follow it?
11. What source do you use to get most of your news?

Have fun!