wHooligan feature - Kripali Kulkarni

Our final wHooligan feature is Kripali Kulkarni. She blogs at Sumptuous Living, and you can follow her on Twitter, too!

Kripali is such an observant writer! She notices little things around her and writes beautiful reflections on the things she sees. She has a very playful style, sometimes talking to you the reader in an almost sotto voce style. She approached the opportunity to be a wHooligan with such excitement I just had to bring her to the team!

Here are her answers :)

Where do you go to "Get away from it all"?
This "Get away from it all" syndrome strikes me pretty often. I prefer to bury myself in some book or I write some draft posts that I do not intend to post ever. So basically I do not have any actual place to go to but books are my buddy.

True or False: Frequently cracking your knuckles will lead to arthritis. (Defend your choice.) 
I crack my knuckles all the time when anxious, elated, annoyed and all that. I just prefer the gas bubbles in my knuckles to explode rather than my brain. So well, it's False that cracking knuckles will lead to arthritis. The learned doctors say that. But yes don't you try to crack them when super annoyed. You might just break them with your fury.

When writing, do you prefer to compose your first-draft by hand, on your computer, or using Morse Code?
Oooh. Morse code sounds hot. But no I am too lazy and I use my cell phone to draft my writing material since it's super handy and convenient. I absolutely love the idea of hand written drafts but just as I am about to begin with the hand written ones, the lazy self in me sends boredom signals to my brain and my hand just withdraws and accepts defeat.

On a rainy day- curl up on the couch with a good book, or a good movie?
A good book, continual supply of hot tea, something little that is hot and spicy to munch on and soft background music is all I would ask for. It in fact is what I would prefer over a movie any given day.

What brought you to blogging and how did you find yourself doing the A-Z? 
I must genuinely credit my husband for it for he was the one who suggested me to try my hand at it. I just happened to bump on to an A to Z'er on Twitter where I was relatively new and that good soul guided me to this wonderful blogging challenge.

I'm glad you found A-Z, Kripali! 

wHooligan feature - TaMara Sloan

I stumbled upon TaMara Sloan last year during A-Z. She writes about all sorts of awesome things related to homeschooling her five little munchkins - favorite snacks (some are seriously drool-worthy!), books, lesson plans, you name it. She is a creative person and I am excited to have her on the team!

TaMara's answers follow. Enjoy!

You're on a crowded train, and the person across the way from you (who is probably 20 years your senior) finishes a bag of chips, and throws his trash on the floor. Do you speak up and tell him to pick up his trash, or just let him go?
I would probably say nothing, but I would pick it up myself. Sadly, I'm passive aggressive that way. :)

Who would win in a fight: Jiminy Cricket or Tinkerbell?
Tinkerbell. She's a girl. When I used to teach in a public high school, I would say that I would stop a fight between 2 boys any day, but I would never step between 2 girls. I was too afraid I would get hurt. Girls fight dirty.

How far in advance do you prepare your theme and complete your A-Z before the Challenge begins? 
Last year was my first year doing the challenge, and I had my theme picked out in February and most of my posts pre-written by the end of March. This year, it took me a little longer to choose a theme, but I finally have one by mid-March and will have started pre-writing posts by March 20.

Are you smarter than a 5th Grader?
Since I homeschool my 5th and 8th graders, I certainly hope so. Most days, though,
I find myself learning right along side them. Often I think I'm learning more on this homeschooling journey than they are.

What makes you cry? (Emotional reasons. Onions don't count.)
I am an angry crier; when someone angers me, the tears start flowing. This is especially true if it involves my children and the mama bear in me is coming out.

Stop by to say hello to TaMara today!

wHooligan feature! Helen Jameson

Today's featured wHooligan is the multi-talented Helen Jameson.

Helen writes Murder Mystery Dinner scripts! She also volunteers as a clown at her children's church. How cool is that? Her posts range in topic from writing, to her grandbaby, to conversations with Moe, her mafioso muse. That's right - we have a mafia connection on the team! Lookout A-Z :)

Here are Helen's answers to our A-Z questions!

What is the most Overrated letter of the Alphabet?

The letter ‘i’ especially when it is capitalized. Conversations that center around ‘I’ can be very boring.

  

Describe the last Halloween costume you wore. 

I was a Christmas elf. I had pointy ears and everything. I actually have been in several children’s plays and portrayed elves. I love being an elf. I also like ‘Elf the Movie’.

Name an item that you have too much of.

Coffee. I collect coffee, and I drink it, of course. Maybe a little too much sometimes.

What makes life worth living? 

Uh…coffee?  Actually, life is worth living if it is filled with love.

  

What is your "Thing". i.e. do you have a non-professional hobby or a particularly acute preference for something that you feel defines a large part of who you are?  

I’m a second degree blackbelt in Tae Kwondo, and I am a clown named Freckles. I consider myself lethally funny.

Go say hi to Helen! I promise you won't regret it. :)

Hutch!

A break from our regularly scheduled wHooligan features for a house update!

We've been quite busy lately with house projects. It must be springtime in the air putting a spring in our efforts. Or maybe it's that my whole family will be descending on us at the end of April (yikes!). Or perhaps yet, procrastination from all the writing I should be doing?

Anyway... One of the projects we've had on our list since we moved in was to find a buffet/hutch to put in our dining room. See that wall? It goes all the way up to a roof peak at the 2nd floor level. It's a BIG wall, and needed a piece of furniture to ground the room. Chris started searching Craigslist about a week ago, sending me links and trying to get a feel for what I thought would work. This one was the winner!

And! They were moving this weekend and really needed to get rid of it, so they only asked us for $100 to take it off their hands! Talk about a Craigslist win... The hutch is solid oak and in near-new condition. For $100! I can't believe our luck! The room finally feels complete, and we have somewhere to stash our serving dishes.

I can't wait until that plant sitting on top of it starts to really grow. It's still basically a cutting in a pot of dirt, but once it branches out it will be lovely, don'tcha think?

Anybody got a good Craigslist story? A win or a fail?