One thing I love about the world of blogging is the camaraderie among fellow bloggers.   We get to know each other through reading each other’s thoughts , humor, opinions, and rants.  We like, comment, rate, vote and share links to help others increase their readership.And we like to give each other awards.  It’s sort of like being in Hollywood and spending all your time at award ceremonies instead of actually working on a new movie.  I mean that in a good way, of course.  Because this “celebrity” has writer’s block anyway, this is a great time for me to work on an acceptance speech.

You like me! You really like me!

Besides all that, awards are just nice.  Yes, there’s always a little task to be done, and then there’s the decision of whom to spread the love to next.  But finding out that someone took the time to think of you (and your blog) enough to single you out is always a pleasant surprise.

And if I was giving an acceptance speech at the Oscars, the music would already be piping in, prompting me to hurry and get off the stage, so let me get going on this.  I proudly accept not one, but two awards presented to me from Jeannie at http://gracefully50.com/.  Go visit her blog.   She’s a beautiful woman with a beautiful spirit to match.  She also happens to have a great eye for fashion.  I’ll make her my shopping buddy yet.

Now in order to graciously accept this Blogger Appreciation Award, I must:

1. Thank the person who nominated me by linking his/her blog.
2. Answer the 4 questions below.
3. Award the Blogger Appreciation Award to fellow bloggers.
4. Let the Bloggers know that I have nominated them.

Questions:

1. How long have you been blogging?  I started in July 2011, but I played around with Blogger before making the move to WordPress.  I’m not sure if any of that counts, especially since I kept my privacy settings on for another couple of months and basically just wrote to myself, for fear that no one would like or care what I had to say. 
2. Why did you start blogging?  I have no idea. It’s not like I have nothing else to do!  Seriously though, I love to write, and thought this was a great start to something bigger one day.  Maybe a book one day?  I’d love to channel Erma Bombeck and write a book of essays or short articles.
3. What type of blogs do you like to follow/read?  Until recently I had been focusing on other humor blogs, but am starting to branch out.  I love blogs that are personal, inspirational, funny, or girlie (fashion and makeup).
4. What is the one thing you’d like to improve on as a blogger?  I really need to promote my blog more (does a post about getting an award count?).

And thanks again, Jeannie, for bestowing upon me the Living Passionately Award.  Since she’s awarded me twice, this means you have to go to her link again and read even more blog posts.  To save you from scrolling back up, she’s at www.gracefully50.com.

The rules for this one are simple:

1. Take a deep breath.  I just did aerobics, so I’ve got this one covered.
2. Think about who you’d like to pass this on to.  Further down the page…
3. Do something weird and out of the ordinary today.  Technically, I learned that I received this award on Saturday, and I think I’ve got the weird and out-of-the-ordinary thing covered.  Enough said, it was Memorial Day weekend.
4. Post the award someplace conspicuous…framed in your cubicle, as a place mat, or lining the kitty litter box.  OK, I copied Jeannie and used it as a screen saver, since I’m out of colored ink.

Now for the hard part…singling out the new recipients without them seeing this as another chore to do.  Oh, who cares?  After much careful consideration, I decided that the Blogger Appreciation Award should go to those bloggers/readers who I appreciate.  They comment, they like, they have something to say.  Oh yeah, and I follow and like each of these blogs (among many others).  I’ve chosen 6 lucky recipients for not one, but both of these awards:

Casekayb at www.caseykay1.wordpress.com Casey Kay focuses on writing, designs and music.  She’s extremely artistic and crafty, and I’m hoping that by reading her blog, some of her talent will rub off on me.  I know that’s not going to happen, but I do enjoy seeing just what she’s going to do next.

Lifeofarecessionista at www.Lifeofarecessionista.wordpress.com writes about shopping on a budget.  Shopping is one my favorite things, but being on a budget is not.  She’s got it all figured it out.

Sara T at www.icookbythebook.wordpress.com  Sara is a foodie who, unlike me, loves to cook.  Yet I still enjoy her blog so I can pass her recipes on to my hubbie (haha) or at least enjoy the beautiful photographs of what she’s  having as opposed to my pathetic tuna sandwich for dinner.  I recommend checking out her blog before she makes it big on the Food Network.

Drivelology at http://drivelology.wordpress.com/  This one’s fairly new on my reading list, but I’m already hooked.  Note that her blog name is drivel + ology.  That’s right, it’s not about cars. She says it’s the “science of talking shit”.  She’s a great shit-talker and her blog always makes me laugh.

Jeandayfriday at www.jeandayfriday.wordpress.com This one’s also a more recent read for me.  She’s crazy, but good crazy.  She has two boys and is a very good writer.  She should be, she’s a language arts teacher.  This has me thinking that I better go back and correct that last grammar mistake I just made.

Jlee5879 at www.jlee5879.wordpress.com – Jlee has been a blogger friend since I started.  I always make her do these things, so I hope she still considers me a friend.  Her blog is great.  It’s a little bit of everything.  From Chicago, she’s honest, witty, and a great writer who has just finished her first book.  Go check her out.

So congratulations to all of the above winning bloggers!  Have fun!