Questions:
Is copying and pasting images or information off the Internet plagiarism? Do you credit those whose work you ‘borrow freely’ or do you think the idea is repugnant? (Credit for this question goes to GC and Sue)
It’s not plagiarism if you specifically state that the work is not your own. Ideally, you should credit the author and web site from which the image or info came. When this is not possible or feasible, I will at least caption or tag the image as having been downloaded from Google, for example. I use a lot of web sites when researching information for a post and I will always link back to the URL I got it from.

Do you let sleeping dogs lie?
I don’t have a dog, but I do have a cat and mostly I DO let a sleeping cat lie! If she’s lying on my computer chair, I’ll sit elsewhere and do something else. If she’s on my favorite armchair, I will actually sit somewhere less comfortable to accommodate her. MOST of the time. Sometimes I’m ornery and then she has to leave! If she’s on my lap, I usually will use this as an excuse not to get up to do something. However, if she feels the slightest movement from me of getting up – some muscle in my thigh tightens a little – she’ll get up and jump off. So she also accommodates me!

What’s the strangest pet name (for adults) that you’ve ever heard someone called?
My son’s last name is hyphenated so he’s sometimes been called “Hyphen Elf.” Or “Fro” when his hair was large and curly!  My former mother-in-law had the nickname “Baby.” (This might not be too strange for an English-speaking person, but she was Brazilian.) She liked people to call her that, but did not like it when someone thought it was “cute” to give her childish gifts, such as cutesy balloons or toys. (Yes, someone actually did this to her!) She got the nickname from a boyfriend in her youth, so her husband was not too pleased with it. Yet he also referred to her as Baby!

Me (left) dancing at a niece’s wedding (2013)

Do you like to dance? If yes, what’s your favorite and if no, why not?
I like to dance but I’m a lousy dancer. I can’t dance with a partner at all. If the guy tries to twirl me, I get all mixed up! But I do love salsa and other Latin dances. I used to be pretty good at dancing samba but now that I’m older, I get worn out very quickly! For years, I took a Zumba class at our local park district and the instructor was dynamite. Because of this, I still listen to Latin dance music on my headphones when I am working out. It really gets me going!

Gratitude Question:
November brings Thanksgiving to Americans. I know Canada celebrates Thanksgiving too, but I believe it’s in October. Does your country celebrate a similar holiday? If you’d like, share some traditions you observe around Thanksgiving or if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, what are some traditions you have?
Since I live in the USA, I celebrate Thanksgiving, which has always been one of my favorite holidays. Thanksgiving was the day that traditionally a lot of our family would get together, rotating houses each year and people traveling to the hosts’ house. We’d have a big, noisy crowd and it was a time to talk to family members I rarely see! Although we still have a get-together with family, it’s usually only with one branch of the family, while others in my immediate family will have their own celebration, even if they are only a few miles away. Anyway, I am grateful for having the large, happy family I have – we all get along; we love and support each other – and that seems to be getting more and more rare these days. I am also grateful to be able to pass the torch to the younger generation to host Thanksgiving dinners – we just have to show up, with a bottle of wine or some other no-work item!

Much of my extended family at a Thanksgiving gathering in 2017

Share Your World 11/11/19