Mama Diaries

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Versatile Blogger Award

Rachel, over at When a Lion Sleeps, Let it Sleep (good advice, Rachel!) bestowed on me the Versatile Blogger Award.  Thank you so much, Rachel!


I've done this before, actually a few times, but since there are many new visitors here, I'll do it again, so you can learn a little more about me.  I'm supposed to give you seven random tidbits of information about myself.  Then I'm supposed to pass this on to seven more people, which I'm not entirely sure I'm going to do, since I'm the Mama, and I make up my own rules.

Here are some random things about me:

1.  I am a professional musician who plays and teaches violin, viola and piano.  I have a lot of stories I could share related to my life as a musician, but  I'll share just one:  In 2004, when I was five months pregnant with Bubba (my second child), I had the brilliant idea to compete in the Paris International Viola Competition. I don't know what I was thinking, being so sleep deprived and sick from the pregnancy, but since I'm crazy, I did it anyway.  Circling over Charles de Gault airport, waiting to land in Paris, was the worst.  I tried really hard to not throw up, but I couldn't hold it back.  The flight attendant provided a nice brown bag, and everyone stared at the poor, pathetic pregnant woman as she heaved up her insides.  Totally embarrassing!  (For those of you who are interested, I somehow managed to be a semi-finalist in the competition.  I think the judges felt sorry for me.  Either that, or they found me extremely amusing.)

2.  Before kids, I was a PADI Scuba instructor.  I have lots of stories related to that, too, but I'll limit it to one:  I was on a night dive in Cozumel, Mexico, swimming along, minding my own business, when an octopus decided to suction cup my face.  Yep.  I got a grand eight-legged hug from the cephalopod that covered my entire face.  Talk about a little startling!  I managed not to panic, and got the thing off of me, but it left me in a nice cloud of ink. Oy!

3.  I've always been interested in science.  If I wasn't a musician or author, I'd be a scientist (and probably make a lot more money!)  I enjoy studying genetic engineering, and had also considered being a pediatrician or brain surgeon.

4.  This is a weird one.  Sometimes I have dreams where I see things happening, and then the next day or sometime later, the things happen just as I dreamed them.  The first time I remember this happening, was when I was eight years old.  I dreamed I was in school.  I saw the girl chosen for the May crowning, I heard what the teacher said, and I even saw a paper fall off a desk. The next day it all happened just as a saw it- even the paper falling off the desk. It was the strangest thing.  Has that ever happened to anyone else?

5.  I've always wanted to skydive.  It's on my bucket list.  I'll probably end up doing it when I'm 83 years old!

6.  I love to travel.  It's my goal to visit every continent and every state in the United States.

7.  The two things I wanted to be when I was a kid were an astronaut and an opera singer.  I still find outer space fascinating.  But I'm sure none of you would want to hear my opera singing skills!



Okay.  That's it.  I'm running out of time here, so I'm  not going to select 7 people.  If you have less than 200 followers, please take this award!  Hope you enjoyed reading these random things about me.

44 comments:

  1. You can skydive and go to outer space for me - I like my feet firmly on the ground.
    Knew you were a musician, but not exactly what you played. Cool you were a finalist!

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    1. I'll let you know how the view from up high is!

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  2. So you are prophetess, who knew!

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    1. It completely defies logic. I have no idea how a mind can travel through space and time to see things like that. But these kind of things have happened so many times in my life, that I just have to scratch my head and wonder if there's such a thing as ESP and a sixth sense.

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  3. That's really interesting Sherry!..
    I enjoyed learning more about you

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  4. Hi Sherry,

    Considering everything, that was an amazing achievement to be a semi-finalist. I bet you will never forget Paris.

    Happy travelling, Sherry. Congrats on getting that award, again.

    I'm outta' here...

    Gary :)

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    1. I'm really glad I did it. I had always wanted to do a competition, and I never did it when I was in college. This was a great opportunity for me, and now I can explain to my students how it works.

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  5. Hi, Sherry! CONGRATS on your new award! I bet your bucket list has LOTS of exciting things to do on it.

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    1. Absolutely! There's so much to do in life, I want to pack in as much as I can!

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  6. I loved reading all about you, Sherry!

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  7. what is the plural of octopus I wonder?

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  8. Technically it was supposed to go to 15 people but shhhh, that's our secret since I was too lazy to link that many. haha

    The dream thing has happened to me quite often, though it doesn't always happen the next day. It can be years later. The first time I remember it happening, I dreamed of 3 criminals escaping prison and my mom making a comment that they looked like the Three Stooges. It was quite some time later, but it happened and I remembered my dream and freaked out, since at the time I had a reoccurring nightmare about being a snack for a bunch of rats. ._.' I was a disturbed child.

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    1. I don't understand how these dream things work. It's weird, isn't it?

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  9. Yes! I had quite a few of those kind of dreams when I was young and still have dreams that either immediately or eventually come true once in a while.
    You are a talented (and stubborn) woman. ;)

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    1. That's amazing. And yes, I'm very stubborn. I like to call it strong-willed. ;)

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  10. You're psychic AND you were suctioned by an octopus. Sounds like the makings of a good children's book to me!

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  11. Wow, musician to brain surgeon quite the array to pick from there. I've had dreams where they were a warning of sorts, heeded them and avoided such things.

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    1. I've heard of a lot of people having warning dreams. Must be that sixth sense kicking in.

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  12. I bet you played beautifully in Paris. The octopus story freaks me out. I've seen things in dreams a few times, but only one memory of a dream and the occurrence has stuck with me in its entirety. I can still picture the dream and the event the next day. It happened to me when I was in high school, but in my mind, it could have been yesterday.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. It's really freaky when the dream thing happens. I've also had thoughts pop into my head that something is going to happen, and sure enough, it does!

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    2. Me, too. Or I get this feeling that I need to something small and after I do it I realize that it was important and necessary and would have caused problems if I hadn't done it. We is freaky, we is.

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    3. We is freaky. But we's cool freaky! ;0)

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  13. You are versatile indeed. :) So many interesting things here.

    I dreamed of the color schemes of both my books, the setup of future homes, so many things.

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  14. LOL not too many people on this planet can say they've been kissed by an octopus! Wow. I want to learn to scuba dive!!

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    1. SCUBA diving is fun. Being kissed by an octopus in the middle of the night was not fun. I can think of better things to be kissed by!

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  15. Congrats on the award, well deserved as you are indeed very versatile. It's neat that you were a finalist in Paris and the dream aspect sounds intriguing.

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    1. Paris was a great time (except for the vomiting part). I wish I completely understood my mind, because sometimes it's really baffling!

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  16. I totally did enjoy learning about you!! So cool about the diving and the music. And I love that you get to make your own rules as the Mama!

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  17. A psychic? Could get a side business going with that

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    1. Yes, but I don't know how to channel it whenever I want. It just happens.

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  18. Congratulations and thanks for the stories

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  19. So glad you were tagged for this award, Sherry. Loved reading about you. That octopus story was hilarious, but if that had been me, I would have probably left my Scuba gear and jetted to the surface.

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    1. I'm glad it happened to me, and not another diver. At least I had a lot of experience under my belt, so getting a kiss from an octopus didn't exactly freak me out.

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  20. Congrats on the award. The fourth one sounds familar. :) It hasn't happened much lately though. But it is weird, isn't it. I just remember once I dreamed of an old castle and the people in them as I climbed a wooden ladder. A decade later, I found myself in the exact castle realizing that the people I dreamt of were my future in-laws and future husband. The smell and sounds in the dream were the same too, including the wooden ladder.

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  21. Congratulations on the award. I learned a so more about you and its feels great to connect with you :)

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  22. Congratulations on your award. You have lots of exciting stories to share! If President George H. W. Bush can sky dive at 90, I imagine you'll do it before you're 83.

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  23. Great award! Love learning more about other bloggers. :)

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