Award

Last Week I received the Kreativ Blogger Award from Martha of Martha's Musings.

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First, let me say Thank You, Martha.

Martha lives in California and takes us on wonderful hikes in the High Sierras.

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In accepting this award I am asked to list seven things about myself people may not know. Since I have been blogging for a year and a half, you regular readers know pretty much what my life is like now. So I'm sharing some info from my earlier life.

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1. I was the second oldest of seven siblings.

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2. I grew up on a small farm in Oregon's Willamette Valley. My Dad was a logger who later became the high school custodian. When all the kids were well into school my Mom became a cook at the high school. We were poor by today's standards. We raised most of our own food, including milk, eggs, pork, beef, chickens, fruits and vegetables.

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3. From an early age I picked crops for wages during the summers. Right after school was out we were in the strawberry field, then the black caps (black raspberries) , and then beans. If we were lucky we had a week or two off before going back to school.

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4. I was extremely shy as a child and young person. I really didn't find my voice until I was 40.

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5. I was the first person in my father's large, extended family to go to college, and the second in my mother's family. I went away to the big city of Seattle and graduated from Seattle Pacific in 1966 with a BA in English and a teaching certificate in Elementary Ed.

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6. I met my husband Tom at Mt View Elementary School, where he came to teach across the hall from me my second year there. We were married during spring break of my third year, 1969. Our fourth and fifth grade students attended the wedding.

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7. I call my teaching a "Career Interrupted". I taught for six years, 1966-1972, quit to raise our daughter and son, and ten years later went back to work as a classified "aide". I worked my way into a full time position as the Learning Assistance Program provider in our local elementary school. In 1998 I resumed my certified status and became the Reading Specialist and finally the Literacy Coach. I retired in 2005.

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When I look back over my life like this I am always amazed by where I started and how different my life is now. Yes, I worked hard, but I was also fortunate to be a part of a loving, supportive family that set high standards of achievement. That shy little girl is still within me, but what a long way we've come, she and I.

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Since I am not inclined to tag others and pass on awards, I will leave it to you if you would like to take the challenge of revealing something about yourselves.