Leaping Liebsters!

It is at the end of a long day that I finally sit down to write. There was this coffee to be drunk with a friend, there was knitting to be done, there were monkeys to ferry about, there were delicious chocolate cupcakes with the most beautiful blood orange frosting to eat, there were library books, magazines and movies, there was a flat tire and a dark and rainy walk with monkeys who did not complain, only said "What an adventure!" Soon there will be cuddling by the fire and the eating of take-out with the monkeys all fed and bathed and put to bed.

But first, some gratitude to express. It's a great day when I get to be profusely grateful. I find that most days provide me plenty to be grateful for.

In the last week or so I have been tagged for both the Versatile Blogger Award and the Liebster Award. They both have their separate set of rules that go with them which I am going to ignore, if you don't mind. I will, however, tell you a little about the two ladies who were kind enough to give me these awards.

Kristen at Four Hens and a Rooster is really the girl who does it all. She maintains her delightful blog, she works in social media as a professional - which means I kowtow to her and her knowledge of such mysterious things - and she also started a group blogging site for parents facing some tricky ages at Ten To Twenty Parenting. She saw a gap in the blog world for this sort of writing and advice and so she filled it. It seems people tend to stop blogging about their kids when they stop being so little and cute and start to face some real-life kinds of challenges. All of my many hats - as a mother, a blogger, a writer, a woman and just as a person - to Kristen and her boundless energy and good will. Mwah!

Dawn at Alphabet Salad had me at the title of her blog. And then to click over and find all of her lovely images of vintage typewriters... bliss before I ever read a word. Dawn's blog is entertaining and thoughtful and always interesting. She's slogging through the NaBloPoMo world for many of the same reasons I am - the discipline, the practice, the dream of writing more, more, more. In the process you get to read about words themselves, her lovely old house, and interesting memories connecting her to the present. And, get this... she taught herself html. Again, hats are flying. I am inspired daily by her dedication to the craft of writing, even when she doesn't feel like it. And she's Canadian and I have a soft spot the size of Toronto for Canadians.

So thank you, ladies! I am honored indeed, to be included in such fine company. I told Kristen the other day I felt like I'd crashed an awesome party. So I'm sitting here, snarfing canapes, trying not to spill my drink on the rug, and making appalling small talk.

Also, as you may recall, tomorrow is Leap Blog Day. If you're just desperate to read something by yours truly, you can find me guest blogging over at Southern Fried Children, where Kelly was kind enough to let me traipse through (heaven knows why. Seriously, while you're there, you should just skip my post and read her archives. Twice I've had to have the Heimlich done to me from choking on things from laughing so hard.)
Also, you can find a different post by moi over at Faith In Ambiguity. Tara and I have decided to swap spaces for the day and I get the far better end of the deal.

Let me tell you about Tara. Her posts just suck you in. She's led such an interesting life - heavily populated with animals who need her salvation - and she writes about every aspect of it with inimitable poignancy and humor. She's self-deprecating without being self-pitying; she winds her stories around your senses with lyrical prose and a original wit. She's likely to write about anything, and no matter the subject matter - her boys, her animals, living with chronic pain, her mother's penchant for action figures, cooking a squash,  blogging frustrations, and anything else - she draws you in with her words and takes you with her. You all are in for a treat tomorrow, I promise.

I leave you now, for my couch and my love beckon, with some words from Robert Louis Stevenson:
"The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

I'd like to thank the Academy...

Wow... I can hardly believe it... I don't have a speech prepared... let me get out my glasses... [deep breath and shaky hands]... unbelievable... I don't want to leave anyone out... and so on.

Seriously, though. After a day of avoiding my blog like the lurking, oozing pile of nonsense that it is, I logged in to beat it down. (Once engaged in a steel cage grudge match, I'm not one to back off.) And what should find in my comment feed but some extra-special love. I am new to blogging, still getting used to the idea that other people even click this way. I still am amazed that people not only read, but take the time to comment. So imagine my gaping awe to discover that the lovely Nicole had tagged me with the Liebster Blog Award. "Thank you" doesn't even begin to cover it. Nicole said, "there's no money or trophy or free cookies, but at least you know I think you are great." I love money and cookies as much as the next guy, but having just ventured out on my wobbly Bambi legs to do this thing, knowing someone thinks I'm great is way better. It was the kick in the pants I have needed these last few days. Especially coming from Nicole, whose blog is magnificent.

Now it's my turn to honor some of my favorites. Here's how it works, it's the nice kind of chain letter:


'Liebster' is a German word meaning dearest, and the award is given to up-and-coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.

If you receive this award, here is how you continue spreading the love...

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your top 5 blogs (with under 200 followers) and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the Award on your blog.

4. Enjoy the love of some of the most supportive people on the Internet.



So here are my current top 5:


Wait, first I want to take a second and say that when I started this whole blog thing, I felt like such an outsider. I still do in some ways, but I have found that fellow bloggers are some of the most interesting, encouraging people I have ever not actually met. OK, now my top 5:


Oh. One more thing, I apologize in advance if I seem all weird and gushy and kind of stalker-y. I just love to read what other people write and I am completely enamored of the idea of people out there just hanging out, doing their thing and being fabulous. Now, really, Top 5:


Southern Fried Children - Sassy and foul-mouthed and oh-so-funny. Also brutally honest and boy, can that girl tell a story. She comes in just under the 200 readers thing, but I think she should have millions more.


Masked Mom - and not just because she leaves me comment love. She is suuuuuch a good writer, has her finger right on the pulse of something very real and funny and smart. She is always a day ahead of me with posts I was thinking about writing and does them so much better, I just make lists instead.


Frazzled and Frumpy - whatever her blog's moniker may be, her writing is fresh and funny. I am fascinated by her big family and her ability to keep it all in perspective and remain mostly sane.


Columbibueno - Two words: amazing poetry. Even the comments she leaves are like little poems. She's got a gift for breathtaking imagery, both literary and visual, that make me want to throw out my pens and paper.


The M Half of the M-n-J Show - She writes about the random ephemera of life and that makes me happy. She's got this whole balancing act of simple and sweet, funny, timely, and interesting. And she can write fiction which makes me extremely jealous.


I'm thankful for my gentle, long-suffering readers. But most of all, I'm thankful for the other writers. The ones that inspire me and cheer me up and make me laugh and make me want to crush my fingers with a mallet and never write again.