Middle-Aged Broad does good! I got a Liebster Award!

Wow! I won an award! How awesome is that for a new blogger? It's VERY awesome!
Thank you so much to Gemmi Fuchsbau at Walk the Circle for giving me the Liebster Award. As this was my second attempt at creating a blog, it means so very much to know that there are people out there not only reading my blog....but LIKING my blog!
As a blog newbie, I was unfamiliar with this award-so here I will borrow the explanation of the award from Gemmi for you to understand it better:

"For those bloggers and readers who are unfamiliar with this award, “The Liebster Award" is given to up and coming bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers. The word ” Liebster” comes from German and can mean the sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, most beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.”

Isn't that cool? What a lovely way to share the love and encouragement with those bloggers just getting started....and giving some validation to their thoughts, feelings and expressions! It's also an incredible way to pay it forward...by supporting and getting to know new bloggers, who will in turn, do the same for others. Sweet!!

So-here's how it works:
Here are the Rules for this Award
-Thank the person who nominated you.
-When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.
-Pass the award onto 6 other blogs (while making sure you notify the blogger that you nominated them!) You write up 11 NEW questions directed towards YOUR nominees. 
-You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated your own blog!
-You paste the award picture into your blog. (You can Google the image, there are plenty of them!)

Let's get to it!!
11 Random facts about ME:

1-I got married for the first time at age 45
2-My mother passed away on October 19, 2012
3-My cat, Zella, is 17 years old and runs our house!
4-I am an aspiring, struggling, wanna-be mixed-media artist
5-I adore Rockabilly music, style and culture. It makes me happy!
6-I have an addiction to Hamburger Helper (I know, I know....)
7-I hate vegetables....especially raw tomatoes...blech!
8-I have a paralyzing fear of the dentist...which I am trying to overcome before I lose all of my teeth!
9-Coffee, Coffee, Coffee.....Hated it when I was a kid, can drink it all day long with gusto as an adult (and no trouble sleeping!)
10-I'm a pack rat...and a daughter of a pack rat. Mom passed that onto me, and I have trouble letting go of stuff (getting better at it, though...)
11-I am half Puerto Rican (Dad) and half Italian (Mom)

Now to the 11 questions from Gemmi:
1- How do you get your exercise? 
My husband and I finally agreed to go to the gym together. We do walking laps in the pool, which has helped us lose weight and isn't as painful on our joints and back.

2-What is the most challenging thing about this blog for you?

Being afraid that I will sound stupid. I try to write from my own experience and how I feel. That keeps the second-guessing to a minimum. However, it's still a struggle at times.

3-What have you done that deserves a big High-Five?

In April of 2012, I gave up on pressure to keep dying my hair and have accepted letting the gray come in. I think it looks pretty good, though many have tried to convince me that it will make me look 'old before my time'.

4-Describe the person you should really kick out of your life.

My half-sister, Rita. If we weren't related, it would be easy. She is self-absorbed, a martyr, and manipulative. She complains about her life, thrives on being a 'victim', while at the same time talks about how wise and worldly she is. She could take small steps to start changing her life, but is so invested in her fantasy life, she won't take any steps to change her reality.

5-Invent an entirely new kind of pet. Describe.

A hybrid of a cat and a dog. I adore both, but I would love to have a mash up. I would love to be able to take my cat with me places, be a bit more loyal/obedient....and I would love to be able to have a dog that would use a litter box and not bark so loud I'd get evicted! 

6-Would you have robot servants if you could?

Nope. I'm an Old School gal. I think we rely too much on high tech gadgets of all kinds now. I prefer to deal with and work with people.

7-Why do you think athletes continue to be role models?

Money and the media. People want to be like those with a lot of money. And the media exploits all manners of bad behavior for better ratings....which leads to more money. It's a vicious circle...

8-Who is your role model and why?

I don't have one. I never have. There are people who have qualities I admire, but there has never been anyone I have ever felt I wanted to model myself after. I just lived according to my own choices and feelings...and learned (and sometimes not) from whatever the consequences were.

9-Chocolate cake or White? Icing?

Ha....well, that has changed over time. I would have said chocolate without reservation many years ago. But as I've gotten older, I find I like white (or vanilla) cake better. But no butter cream...I prefer it with a whipped cream or cream cheese frosting!

10-What makes you work really hard right now?

In my mid-life, I find I don't want to do or say things that don't move me forward, or make me feel good about myself. Not necessarily a 'greater purpose', but more about being a good person and being able to live with myself and feel happy. I work hard to be happy with where I am, what I do, how I feel, and how I live. That is what drives me every day...my own self-worth and happiness.

11-What was the last thing you did as spiritual practice?

My last blog entry was a part of my spiritual practice. It allowed me to reflect on Goddess as Mother and Her influence in my life. I meditated on how I want to connect more to Her and how she is already a part of my daily rituals in word, thought, and deed.

Here are my 11 questions for the new nominees:
1-What do you find is your greatest inspiration to blog?
2-If you could live someone else's life for a day, who would it be and why?
3-Past, present, or future? Where do you feel you most drawn to?
4-What is the most common thing people don't get or misunderstand about you?
5-What is your favorite comfort food?
6-Name any song that makes you happy whenever you hear it.
7-What fictional character would you most like to meet and get to know?
8-What is your 'guilty pleasure'?
9-Name one of your favorite quotations or sayings.
10-What is your favorite time of day and why?
11-How do your incorporate your spirituality into your daily life?

And  now...here are my nominees for the Liebster Award:
Samhains Sirens
The MaJicKal Life
The Artistic Witch
DARKWENCH
Cattywumpus
Ye Olde Crones Gazette