Karen left me a comment the other day that said "your readers are wonderful, feel free to take credit".

You are. But I can't.
Every time I think about paring down what gets put up here or maybe shutting my mouth a little bit you guys come at me with a level of support and opposition and discussion and argument and disclosure and receptiveness that totally blows me away.
I learn more here in the blogosphere than I can ever imagine learning out on the other side of the box about certain things because we can be candid with one another, and we can be totally open because we will likely never see one another, and emailing gives us the benefit of organizing and editing our thoughts without being interrupted by the listener (reader). It's amazing.

There is a listening exercise we do here at work that sits two people across from one another. Folks are given a topic (we start out easy, breakfast- for example- or the morning commute) and for three minutes Person A has to talk. Person B has to listen without nodding, "um-ing", "uh-uh-ing", interrupting, etc. Then it's Person B's turn to talk.
Have you ever done that in face-to-face conversation? Truly listened with no pressure to respond? It's wild. It's awkward for the talker at first, but then there is such a huge outpouring that it is hard to stop talking after the minutes are up. That's when things are just getting good.

We have such pressure as listeners to agree and respond that we stop listening and start thinking about responses. I am totally guilty of that. I'm a terrible listener. I'm a very attentive reader. If I can "listen" to what you write, I gather every word. If I'm sitting with you, I feel the need to somehow interject to show you that I care, that I'm hearing, that I'm processing. But sometimes I don't. It's a terrible habit and I'm working on it.

Or maybe I'll just hang out here in the blog world where I don't have to change at all. That would be easier.

Anyway. My readers are great.
And I think maybe they like me too, which is good for my self esteem on these days when I feel like I might be giving the impression that I'm angry and sullen and outlandish and brash and bossy and I'm walking around looking like I got punched in the face with a 10 pound sack of pollen and attacked with a squirt gun full of snot.
Donna over at ...The Obnoxious SAHM... awarded me with the Sunday Spotlight award. I've been not-so-secretly stalking Donna for a few months now. I love her because she is able to talk about things that affect us moms without whining or condescending or sounding like a lunatic or without coming across like she would rather be anywhere other than where she is at. That's not easy to do. Plus she is hilarious, and I hold truly comedic people in the highest esteem. Pretty comes and goes. Smarts can be wasted. But funny is forever. And Donna is a riot. And she is pretty and smart. And that's why I stalk her. To learn.


Then as if that didn't make me feel like I'm eligible to sit with the cool kids at the lunch table, Mamalouise at Rhyme and Reason gave me the Kreativ Blogger award. And the rule is to share seven things that I love.

1. Right now I'm really into the fact that my gym installed personal televisions on all the elliptical machines so I've been taking lunch at 3pm and spending the hour watching Ellen. When's the last time you exercised for an hour and giggled most of the way through it? If it's been more than a week, you've gotta try this. It makes me feel like a million dollars.

2. I'm growing things from seeds! I feel like a goddess. But I'm a little scared that they will die. I have tomatoes, cosmos, and forget-me-nots in the pelican room (worth the click, if just for the pics so you can see how I live and what I look like hungover) and I'm so afraid that I will kill them off and have their little green souls weighing on my conscious for the rest of my life. This is more stressful than childbirth. At least I could've called 911 if Jake started to whither.

3. I love making Swiss Miss hot cocoa my way. Two packets in 8oz of water with three half and halfs. It will cure what ails you. Mentally, at least.

4. I love my job. I can take every bit of it home with me. I oversee social service agencies all over the city that provide parenting education. I need parenting education. I get paid to learn how to parent. How can I lose? My fingers are crossed that we get funding for another year, at least. I have much more to learn. I don't want to seem braggy, but I do notice that my kid is different from (what I am implying here is "better than") most other kids, and I'm hoping at least 60% of that is my doing.

5. I get motivated (OCD) in the spring and the fall and it makes me feel like I'm in control of my destiny (my closets). I love Spring Cleaning and that New School Year feeling. I feel like I can accomplish anything (Manic episode). I miss Kevin Nealon's subliminal message bit. I can't get on You Tube here at the office (war camp), but I'll definitely look to see if there are some clips of the skit (tranny porn) online.

6. I just typed "I love weird porno" but then I erased it. You probably don't want to know that. I like watching people do things that I don't do. If I cared about things that I do on a regular basis, I'd wallpaper my house in mirrors. One Girl/One Guy porn is about as exciting to me as watching someone flip the laundry from the washer to the dryer.

7. I love being the boss of my own blog and freeing myself from the pressure of giving out rewards once I got them. I feel like four cents whenever I do it, and I know that I'm going to stop getting them eventually because of it, but I'm getting over it. I'll start again if they implement that policy with the Academy Awards. Like if they say you can get the Oscar, but only if you give out fifteen Oscars in your acceptance speech.