We’ve come a long way baby…reasons to celebrate
I’m celebrating two milestones this month…63 years on this earth and nine years in the blogosphere. I’m not sure which surprises me more. I do know I could never have made it this far without the people in my life…including you!
So let me start with a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time and energy to cultivate a relationship with me…whether in life or online. I love you all.
In celebration of our friendship, I’d like for us to get to know each other a little better. So let’s pretend we are at a party, and the host presented us with these three icebreaker questions. Each of us must choose at least one to answer.
While we are at it, go ahead and imagine you have a giant piece of cake and your favorite drink in hand.
Icebreaker questions
1. Would you rather be the funniest, smartest, or best looking person in the room?
Given a choice, I would trade being the best at any one of these for a balance of all three characteristics. If the rules of the game require me to choose one, I choose funniest. Afterall, laughter is the best medicine. I’m not sure why we need medicine at this party…but you get where I’m coming from, right?
2. If you had to teach a class on one thing, what would it be?
Probably because I have just completed the nutrition section of my coaching course, I would say The Basics of Healthy Eating. That sounds kind of boring, though. Maybe it would be more interesting to answer this question with a question…What would you like me to teach a class on?
3. If you had to delete all but three apps from your smartphone, which ones would you keep?
For the record, I thought this would be an easy question to answer, but in reality, it was a heart-wrenching exercise. I love more apps than I realized. I may have to write a future post on this topic. Still, here are the three I chose:
- Maps (or Waze), for sure. I can’t imagine arriving anywhere without help navigating!
- Spotify. Music is a basic need for my mental health.
- Insight Timer. I rely heavily on these guided meditations to keep my mindfulness practice going.
On an interesting side note…or at least interesting to me…in the last week, I spent the most time on Zoom (coaching courses), Facebook (doing what I’m not sure), and Messages (yeah, I have been texting with family a lot).
Your turn
- Please answer at least one of the questions above…more if you are so inclined?
- What was the drink you envisioned sipping (or gulping) at this make-believe party?
- What’s one icebreaker question you’d like to ask?
Image by Paul Stachowiak from Pixabay
Congratulations on your birthday and 9 years blogging. Well done.
I’d like to be the funniest person because looks fade and smarts get duller, but funny is enduring.
I would teach a class in how to create a color-coordinated pleasing exterior for your home so that your neighbors wouldn’t be offended every time they drive by and talk about you behind your back.
Three apps: Overcast to listen to podcasts; Yahoo Weather for an obvious reason; and DuckDuckGo to do research.
Thank you, Ally, for the well wishes and for playing along with the party game. I wish that some of the builders in our area had taken your class! I am not offended exactly by the new houses, but I admit I do talk about some of them (question the design or lack thereof) on occasion. I use my podcast and weather apps quite a bit too. I have not tried DuckDuckGo, but have heard it advertised. Wishing you a lovely week!
Hi Christie – I’m 63 in a few weeks and it’s 10 years for me in blogging at the end of November – so we’re leading very parallel lives! I read the questions and couldn’t come up with any truly thoughtful answers. The phone one is easiest because I am pretty old school with my phone – as long as I can take an occasional photo, text, talk and use FB Messenger, the rest is superfulous…..if it was a question about all the stuff on my laptop, that would be a lot trickier!
Happy birthday and blogaversary – you rock and it’s lovely to be one of your online buddies. 🙂 x
Yes, Leanne, we seem to have much in common! The Universe brought us together for a reason. 😊 Happy upcoming birthday and blogaversary to you as well. I’ve been away and am just getting back to blogging, so I will pop over to your site soon.
Congratulations on your recent reasons to celebrate, Christie. You’ve been on line for a while for sure and I had a blog since 2010 but closed in 2023. Now on Substack I am enjoying my connections.
But I still have a special place for the many bloggers like you I have met along with way!!
Denyse
#TeamWWWhimsy
Thank you Denyse. Time flies, doesn’t it? It seems that blogging has changed during the time we’ve been participating. I have noticed several of my online friends moving over to Substack. I’m glad we can continue to connect whichever format we use.
Hi Christie, Happy Birthday and happy 9th Blogiversary! At a party – I’d have the same answer as you – a mix of all three but if I had to choose one it’d be ‘funniest’. If I were to teach – I guess I could teach some painting in watercolour techniques or some photography tips perhaps. What 3 apps would I keep on my phone … um 1) Instagram – as a visual person, I love it 2) Snapseed – very handy to brighten/resize/edit photos, 3) Messenger – I keep in touch with friends and family all the time with Messenger. An icebreaker question I’d like to ask? Um – I’m so terrible at thinking on the spot. Maybe – what’s one thing you couldn’t live without? Thanks for linking up with #WWWhimsy – this was fun! xo
Thank you Min! I’m just getting back to blogging after a brief break to travel with my sister. It’s been fun reading responses to my party questions. As far as your question…assuming I can keep the people in my life and we are talking about a “thing,” maybe it would be my smartphone, considering it allows me to stay connected, find my way around, read books, and listen to music all in one handy item.
Congratulations Christie, a great achievement! I think I’d rather be the funniest in the room, my family always laugh at me and say ‘Cool story Deb’ because I can’t tell a story or joke – they think I’m quite random and quirky so I play up to it a bit now! I use Messenger and What’sApp a lot as our family is sporead around the world and I like to stay in contact. Cool questions!
#Teamwwwhimsy
Thank you, Debbie. I love that your family recognizes your random quirky storytelling skills…and that you have Messenger and WhatsApp to stay in contact with them. We complain a lot about how our phones can be isolating, which I know is true for some people, but they can also be great tools for connecting with loved ones.
Congratulations on your blogiversary Christie. I love your questions and found it hard to choose one. the 3 apps I’d keep are Maps, Borrowbox and Garmin. To cheat and choose a second question – the thing I’d teach is genealogy/family history.
Thank you Jen. I haven’t heard of Borrowbox, so now I’m going to have to check it out. I would take a genealogy class from you for sure. I have wonderful memories of working at the Genealogy Library in Salt Lake City with my mom, back before everything was available online. Those were such fun days bonding with my mom over our shared family history.
I am sure your class on healthful eating would not be boring at all. Maybe we could cook with you? Or you could make a recipe with each class? But if I were picking a class for you to teach, it would be something on meditation or how you use your mindfulness app. You seem to be such a balanced, level, even person. So calm. Wish you could rub off on me.
What would I teach? Yikes. I really don’t know. Maybe a quick course on reading aloud to your babies?
I like your answer for question number 1. A nice balance of all 3 would be terrific. I think being the smartest person in the room can make one awkward and uncomfortable and unrelatable. I wouldn’t want to be that person…no danger!! I am not very funny and struggle to laugh at myself which I think is a real gift to be able to do. Maybe being the funniest in the room would be the best choice as long as I can be taken seriously, too.
We had a delicious glass of Moscato last weekend. Could my glass be full to the brim with that? And may I have a second piece of cake?
Please may I keep WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Messages (texting) on my phone? And the ability to take photos on each. Those are the ways I connect with those I love most.
Congratulations and happy birthday!! Here’s to a healthy, happy birthday year!!
Happy birthday and blogiversary! 🎉
I (like everyone else) would choose funniest in the room, although all three would be nice!
I would teach something about children, as I have worked with them my entire adult life.
The 3 apps I would keep are my navigation, my music and my messaging..I think. I’m really glad I don’t have to choose!
Thank you sister! After I read your comment that most of us want to be the funniest person in the room, I pictured a party where we are all outdoing each other with our jokes and witty comments. Maybe variety really is the spice of life and we should throw a couple of smart and pretty people into the mix.
Thank goodness we have that navigation app this weekend in San Antonio! We’d still be wandering around hopelessly lost.
Now you’re talking, Leslie. Any class where there is good food involved, and I’m in! And thank you for the kind words.
I love the idea of you teaching a class on reading aloud to children. That’s such an important and fun skill to have, and there are so many wonderful children’s books to share.
Yes and yes to the Moscato and the cake…as long as I can join you!
Many many happies for both your birthday and your blog anniversary Christie!
With cake, I like tea, but I could be persuaded to join you in a glass of good sparkling wine 🙂
The apps I would not be without are Calm (for led meditations and sleep stories), WhatsApp for communicating with the family, and Maps – which is the reason I was convinced to move from a “just text & call” type of phone to a smartphone. I described how I wanted to be able to sweep my finger across a phone surface so I’d never head off in the wrong direction again. Note: I still go in the wrong direction a high proportion of the time, but with Maps, I realise and quickly turn around! 🙂
Thank you Debs. I laughed so hard when I read your note about going the wrong direction even with Maps, but being able to correct faster. That is me to a tee. My sister and I were using the walking mode on the Maps app this week to get around San Antonio (our first time there), and more than once we reversed direction when we realized the blue dot that represented us was moving the wrong way on the route.
So glad to have made you laugh Christie 😀 What would we do without our clever phones!