Wednesday, November 18, 2009

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.

11 comments:

  1. Great to learn more about you, Linda.
    I received this same one last week and it's one of the few that I've done. Like you, I appreciate people thinking of me, but it could quickly get to the point where this would be all you did.

    You've had a great life and accomplished a great deal and that's something to be proud of!

    Enjoy the rest of your week!

    Sylvia

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  2. interesting I think most of us started out shy then learned how to exert our voice in different ways-many of us as teachers. interesting life...

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  3. I enjoyed learning more about you. How neat that you and your husband were teachers in the same school. It is also interesting that you were a literacy coach, as I am.

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  4. I like to read these tags..hate to do them...LOL... I wasn't ever shy but have gotten much more outspoken as the years go by..watch out for when I hit my senior years...LOL

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  5. How interesting to learn more facts about you. Yes it is interesting the many twists and turns our lives have. MB

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  6. I really enjoyed learning more about you, Linda. Thank you for sharing. I suppose you don't think of teachers as shy because we have to be out there in front of the class and talk to parents all the time. However, I am also more of an introvert though some people might be surprised by that. I sure am glad you found your voice because you are wonderfully eloquent.

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  7. I enjoyed learning more about you

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  8. Congratulations on your award Linda. It was nice getting to know you a little better too. Lovely post!

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  9. That was interesting to read about your 'roots'! You have been a responsible, hard worker all of your life. And accomplished quite a lot, too. God bless ya.

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  10. Linda, thanks for telling us, modestly, about your life. I like to learn about people, and feel that your life has been much fuller than you have indicated here. Well done for a life well lived! - Dave

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  11. I love hearing people's stories! You graduated the year I was born. And, we both got degrees in English. Fascinating!

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