I Think I Love You

The other day I was talking about how, through small choices every day, we have the power to completely change the color of a person's day. I really meant it, and though after I wrote it I felt that I might have come off as a bit too sunny, a bit too I've got spirit yes I do, I've got spirit how 'bout you?, since writing it I have experienced it from the other side. I have been aware of the moments when I have decided to do something, however insignificant, and found that I touched someone. A phone call, an answered email, small talk at the bank. I'm telling you, if you slow down enough to pay attention to your interactions with people over the course of a day, you'll find you are able to make a difference, or you might even make that difference without changing a damn thing.

I have had so many good things happen lately that I really felt sheepish the other day when I popped over to In The Trenches of Mommyhood and found that she had singled me out for a Thinking Blogger award. I'll never forget the day she left her first comment.

Hi--love your blog. I'm de-lurking. I have 3 boyz ages 5 and under, and lemme tell ya, not a day goes by that one isn't bit, hit, pinched or bumped by another. Fun times.

She made a difference then, and she has made a difference now. I can't thank her enough, but if I could, I'd give her that night at the podium with the perfect hair and figure. I'd make her the "it girl" and then I'd send her home and she'd share how great the dream is, but that her wild reality with her three boys is the sweetest reward.

Now, it's my turn to single out some people, and as I tend not to do in the real world, but do often in this virtual world, I am going to break some rules. I believe the deal is you nominate five bloggers, indulge me a slight twist.

First, I have someone who has made me think a lot about blogging. She is a voracious reader of my blogs and she comments in person on every single entry, often calling me into her office to reread them or watch a video I posted. Seeing my words through her eyes, hearing what she takes from the pictures of the girls, makes me think. It's for these reasons that I am raising Debbie's name as my first Thinking Blogger. She does not have a blog of her own, but she has serious ownership in this one you are reading today. I know if she did have one it would be witty and warm. She'd be compassionate and would advocate for breast cancer awareness and kindness. We would be a better blogging community for having her, and until she starts one of her own, I pledge to be as compassionate with mine as I can.

My next person is a woman who has wowed me for months and months with the way she chronicles the parenting of her two children. She is inventive, tender and incredibly smart. Add to that a fierce sense of humor and a candor so refreshing you wish you could get rid of the monitor and sit across a table from her and gab. Karen, I am nominating you for this award for your writing on We found baby s in China.

My third person is a woman who writes with a piercing honesty. There is no other way to say this, if you read Karla's blog you are either going to weep or shoot coffee out of your nose. I am still trying to recover from her description of Lululemon Reverse Groove pants (Please Santa, I really need a pair, though I won't explain the way Karla did how good they'll make me feel because that would put me right on the "been a bad girl"list). In all seriousness, she is a fascinating woman who has literally changed the way I value life. Karla at Untangling Knots, I am so honored to be a part of your stories of parenting Nate, restraining Samson and adoring your husband.

This next one is for the person I know she is and the blogger I know that she will be. I suspect that if she weren't my sister our paths might not have crossed, a friendship might not have been forged and that would have been an incredible tragedy. She shares scars on her soul that I recognize on my own. We are as different as night and day and yet, we are so very alike at times, sharing an eerie sense of humor (ok, what I mean more than "eerie" is laughing at inappropriate things), an uncanny connection during Cranium, Pictionary challenges and the like, and a true devotion to trying to accept our differences. Abbie has revamped her blog and has me walking around proud as a peacock. I am proud to introduce you to an incredible mind over at Abbie's place.

My last nomination is for someone who makes me laugh and think. I can't decide if she'll mock this award or be tickled by it, either way it will make a good read. Her writing runs the gamut from hilarious self-deprecating tales to sharp observations on everything from literature to obnoxious children visiting her home and raiding her fridge. She is CCE and her blog is Mad Marriage.

If anyone has already received one of these puppies just consider this an old fashioned "Job well done."