Back With A Tag.

And a few awards.
Hello and a Happy 2010 everyone, it is great to be back! I trust you all had lovely Holidays. I have enjoyed my short, but very needed break. Staying pretty much completely off line for a week, it was beneficial for my mind and soul.

I had a wonderful white(!) Christmas and a very laid back New Year. The weather has been bitterly cold and it is snowing as I write this. In the news they talk about a possible "ice-winter", the first one in about fifteen years. This means that inlets and bays of the North sea will freeze. An event that happens very rarely, as it takes prolong subzero temperatures to cause saltwater to turn into ice.

I have decided to ease back into my writing by acknowledging a few awards I have received recently and less recently. I have been feeling guilty about not doing so for a while, but I want all the award givers to know that I always appreciate every single award I get; and I keep being amazed and extremely flattered that these are being bestowed upon me.

The first one was given to me by the talented Doreen. It is entitled Best Blog Award and is given to blogs that are "visually stunning, memorable, educational, and funny". I feel very honoured that I should fall under this category - thank you so much Doreen.

The second one was passed on to me by the very lovely Susan. It is apparently originally a nameless award, but Susan decided to call it Gratitude Expressing Award. Thank you dear friend, I am very thankful for this attention.

The last one was given to me by my friend and a talented artist Stevie; thank you dear, you know this means the world to me.

The last two awards both came with the same tag; I am suppose to reveal Seven Things You May Or May Not Know About Me. I am not sure there is anything left to disclose that you might not know about me (or that is of any interest). I have done similar tags before, such as here, here and here and am kind of running out of things to say about myself, but I am giving it yet another try:

1) When I was a child I fell on my chin and needed to have it stitched. So I have a scar just below my chin; I think this is one of the most common injuries in small kids.

2) I carry my passport with me at all times. It is a strange habit, I guess revealing the more adventurous me; ready to travel at any given moment.

3) I am a collector. I collect stuff. It is not critical yet, but my basement is filled with boxes of stuff. Some I have not opened for years. But as a hobby, as a child I collected stamps, chewing gum wrappings and napkins. I think my collections are still somewhere in some of the boxes.

4) I once went on a two weeks vacation to Cyprus on my own. I was 22. It was "a last minute trip", meaning I did not know where I was staying until actually after my arrival. As luck had it, I was assigned to a first class resort, with my own apartment, sea view and private beach. I met tons of people and had a blast. I never traveled alone again though and would never do that today. Sometimes I miss the braveness of youth.

5) When I was about five years old I saved a kid that was drowning at the shore of the Black Sea. He was a son of my parents friends and our families were at that time vacationing in Romania. This happened as we played on the beach at the shore line, and he kept being hit by waves, unable to come up for air. I grabbed the boy by his hair and screamed my lungs out for help. His name was Tom. I wonder if he recalls this and what he is doing now.

6) I have reoccurring dreams. They have varied over the years, but most of my reoccurring dreams are unsettling. Not directly nightmares, but not directly pleasant either. My latest dream is about a basement in a house, that is apparently mine, but that I do not recognize. A basement that has been locked for years and that I do not dare to enter. Hmm.

7) I believe that Saint Francis of Assisi adequately summarized the art of how to live in this one single quote (which is my favourite, together with the one listed in my sidebar):
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."