BLOGGING GRANDMOTHERS SERIES 3 WITH LESLIE FROM ONCE UPON A TIME & HAPPILY EVER AFTER

The 17th blogging grandmother to be featured in the Blogging Grandmothers Series 3 is Leslie.

NAME OF YOUR BLOG: ONCE UPON A TIME & HAPPILY EVER AFTER

SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook • Instagram • Pinterest • Twitter

WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE: My PC, my Prince Charming = Paul Clingan; my daughters Brennyn Alexis and Lauren Allegra, my granddaughters Cadence Ellie and Lucia Carolina, my extended family to include my kitties Purrsnickitty and Purrsimmony.

YOUR FAV SNACK: Probably movie theater popcorn with ranch flavored popcorn salt sprinkled on it.

WHAT QUOTE APPEALS TO YOU MORE THAN ANY OTHER: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before beginning to improve the world.” -Anne Frank

FUNNY OR SCARY MOVIE: Definitely not scary. Funny only if it is sweet humor and not crass or vulgar. I sound like a nun. But ain’t nobody got time for that bologna! Give me “Nacho Libre” and a big bowl of popcorn.

POOL, LAKE, OCEAN, OR NONE: How about all!! Yes, yes, and yes. Ocean being my preferred body of water. But I even enjoy splashing about in a bath tub or large puddle.

DO YOU MONETIZE YOUR BLOG: Well, yes and no. I use affiliate links but have never earned a penny. Ha! So not getting rich over here. With Shop Style Collective, a blogger must earn $100 before you ever see the first penny. Over the two years I have been using their affiliate links, I have earned $30. I have tried to use Amazon’s affiliate program with even less reward!

HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE OR PARTNER: We met through Match.com. After emailing a day or two through Match, we met in person at Applebee’s. He was so cute!! I was wearing culottes (he hates culottes), and had a huge oozing wound on my knee from falling while running (can you say grace?). It is a wonder he didn’t run in the opposite direction. I asked for a hug after our dinner that night, and discovered he neither hugs nor kisses on first dates. When he tried to pull away from me after a brief embrace, I told him we weren’t done yet and pulled him closer. Wanted to get a better sense for the way he felt. G-rated entirely. We had a second date 2 days later and dated for 5 years before finally saying ‘I do’.

HOW LONG DO YOU PLAN ON BLOGGING: I truly take it day by day. LIFE gets in the way of my best laid plans. About once a month, after a big day filled with LIFE, I ask myself why I continue blogging. The answer is always that it is the vehicle I use to write. Blogging keeps me writing.

FAV TYPE OF MUSIC: Older country music – not terribly twangy stuff – but Brooks and Dunn, Clint Black, Martina McBride, The Judds. Folksy-stuff from my younger years like James Taylor, Carly Simon and Dan Fogelberg. And the pop music from when my daughters were growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

DOGS OR CATS: Both. Have kitties now (our cats remain kitties no matter their age) but have had many pups (ditto with our dogs remaining pups) that I loved dearly over the years. I will pass on all rodents, thank you.

IF PAST LIVES ARE REAL, WHAT WAS YOURS: Oh, girl, I have had so many past lives! I am certain I was either Anne Frank or another young girl who fell victim to the Holocaust. Before that, I was a runaway slave boy in the deep south. Pretty sure I was a Native American at some point. A counselor once pointed out that I have a unusual connection with people who have been persecuted. Hmmm.

ARE YOU AFRAID TO BE ALONE IN YOUR HOUSE: Maybe a teensy bit at night. But I have my brave kitties sleep with me when PC is out of town. They won’t let anyone hurt their mommy.

DO YOU HAVE ANY RECURRING DREAMS OR NIGHTMARES: In my childhood, I had recurring nightmares of Nazi soldiers being on the front porch of our home in Memphis, Tennessee. They were always eating water melon, then trying to peek into the windows of our house. And we were always hiding under the dining room table. As an adult, and retired elementary school librarian, I have nightmares about being in the first library where I worked and having 3-4 classes of children show up at the same time.

YOUR EARLIEST MEMORY: I am not sure if it is a memory or something from a photograph, although I haven’t seen the photograph, if it exists, in years. When I was very young, maybe 2 years old, my father took me on a ‘date’ to see the ballet. I ‘remember?’ my mom standing in the driveway of our Buffalo, New York home holding my baby sister, and my dad putting me into the car on the passenger’s side. I don’t remember the ballet so this ‘memory’ might just be something captured in a photo once upon a time. My dad did take me to the ballet when I was 2 years old, though, so I didn’t totally dream up the whole thing!

DO YOU HAVE A BUCKET LIST? IF SO, WHAT ARE THE TOP 5 THINGS ON IT: I have seasonal bucket lists rather than a big bucket list of things I want to accomplish before I die. I don’t see myself parachuting from a plane just to say I did but I do see myself hiking this spring, running a 5K, taking some kind of craft project, scrapbooking, spring cleaning and going on a backwards date with my PC.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY: Thank you, Dee, for providing an opportunity for blogging grandmothers (or in my case blogging Mimi/Gabba) to meet and support one another. I struggle with finding my tribe, my posse, my crew…but feel more comfortable among the ladies who follow you.

Thanks ♥ for ♥ Sharing