I'VE GOT SUBSTANCE TWO TIMES OVER

I got blessed with a feast of awards a while back and didn't want to clobber overwhelm you with the love. Instead, I decided to string it out so that the enjoyment could last for a long time.

In my opinion, this is actually one of the best awards out there in the blogosphere. I was honored to get it the first time and bowled over the second time. Yeah, I held onto it a bit too long before passing the love. I just didn't see that coming. Oh well. What is this award? A Blog With Substance. I know. It's impressive, right? The first time I got it, I thought it must be a mistake. The second time... well, I thought maybe I actually do write something on here every now and then that people can relate to, and it hit me in my warm, fuzzy place. That would be my heart people.


You are probably wondering who in their inebriated stupor right minds gave me this award? Well, the first time it was Yenta Mary the Food Floozie. Just so you know, her blog is nothing like mine. She writes about food a lot. I really don't cook at all much. However, she does manage to fit her life stuff into the cooking stuff in ingenious ways. The second time it was Mitzi over at ~Southern Style~. I think that I have mentioned this before, but her blog has a genteel feel to me. It was why I passed the Plastic Joy award on to her. For the record, she did honor that award in a style that suited her blog. I tip my hat to her on that. As expected, it was nothing like the display on my blog. She is a Lady. I am not saying that I am not a lady.... I think we ought to move on to the thanking part of this award process. Thank you very much Yenta Mary and Mitzi. I am flattered and honored that you thought of me.

You know how with most awards you have to make up stuff or tell ten things about yourself. Maybe it involves standing on your head. Not the case with this award. With this award you have to sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation and experience using five (5) words.

Egads! That is the real reason I have been sitting on this award. Five words. Me? Seriously? Philosophy. Motivation. Experience. Here goes:

Discovery ~ Spirit ~ Sanity ~ Reality ~ Connection

Now, I read so many blogs that are worthy of this award. I notice when I get these awards that everyone seems to do it differently. Mary's rules said 10, so I will go with that. However, there are way more than 10 blogs that deserve this award!


I am going to tell you a little about each blog, because I hope you will check them out if you are not already following them.


Chris at A Deliberate Life ~ Chris writes a weight loss blog that has turned into something that I know she didn't foresee. It still is a weight loss blog, but it is called a deliberate life for a reason. It's a life blog. Every day I leave Chris's blog enriched. If you aren't living your life to the fullest, sucking the marrow out of it, or even if you are, you should look up Chris, because you can compare notes.

Purple Cow at Australian in Athens ~ I think she is tired of me hitting her with the awards. Ah well. This is another thinking blog. If you're looking for a light read, this isn't for you. Well, about once a month it might be for you. Most days, not so much. Lots of brain power going on here. Hot topics. I will admit that she has made me cry on several occasions and each one has taken me by surprise because... well, I am used to getting fired up about something. Or philosophizing about something.

Linda Pressman at Bar Mitzvahzilla ~ Heck, with a blog title like that, don't you want to just check it out to just see? Linda's family keeps her in writing material. Usually her stories are funny. She has a wonderful cast of characters to work with, and they present her with ongoing blogging craziness. Some of it you read and think to yourself, "A writer couldn't get away with that in a novel. No one would buy that." Indeed. Truth is stranger than fiction and you can read all about it on Linda's blog.

Kristin at Bringing Pretty Back ~ Kristin is fairly new to the blogging world and writes shorts. I write long. Almost always, I write long. I attempt short, but it turns out long. Kristin actually writes shorts. She has a theme (bringing pretty back) and the idea is that as we get older we tend to let ourselves go. Kids, jobs, and all kinds of other things take precedence and she is saying, "stop the madness." To that end, she is telling her story, a little at a time, and making suggestions on how to bring the pretty back into our lives. Everyone can always use some pretty. I know I can!

Misery at Leftovers from Illumination ~ Apparently there is a story to the whole Misery name that actually doesn't mean Misery. I am still waiting on that blog (hint!). She is from Poland and her English is very good. Much better than my Polish, since that is zilch. She is very into a certain Brazilian male model, but don't hold that against her. She is also very into fashion, which I know nothing about. I just scroll through all of that. She is an avid reader and super smart. I know that my fellow bloggers who are also well-read would very much enjoy sharing some discourse on favorite books. I love bringing people together:-)

Bathwater at memento mori ~ I know that you don't like getting awards. Suck it up. Bath is so honest in his blog that he sometimes breaks my heart. If you follow his blog, you get to go through it all. I am glad that he feels that this is a safe forum to pour it all out, but there have been so many times that I wish the news were better. He has a huge cheering section, and I am among them.

Liza at Middle Passages ~ Lyrical is always the word that comes to mind when I think of Liza's writing style. Even when she writes prose it feels like poetry. Her topics tend to range from what she did that day to a vivid description of a train ride. In other words, you never know quite what you will get, but it will be delivered up with flair.

Sharon at Musings of a Mercurial Woman ~ I think the name of the blog tells the story here. Sharon used to blog faithfully, if not daily, at least often. This little thing called life has happened, and Sharon has gotten pulled into its wake, and she isn't nearly as faithful as she once was. However, when she does put her fingers to the keyboard she always shares a snippet of her world, usually in a most intriguing way.

Phoenix at Res Ipsa Loquitur ~ Phoenix is the first person that I found on blogger and said to myself, "She writes like me." Then it became, "She thinks like me." Then it became, "She reads a lot of the same books as me." Then it turned into, "We have a lot of stuff in common and it isn't good." And then it became, "I think that if she lived in the same city, we would be really good friends." I still think all of that. I also think that Phoenix is smarter than me. She is younger and has a lot of things figured out at her age that I am still trying to zoom in on. The good news is that I think we do think a lot alike, so if she can do it, there is hope for me. One last note, I am not so sure that she writes like me anymore. She writes like her. But I totally dig everything she writes, and I think you will, too.

Kate at The Cow Jumped Over The Moon ~ Here's the deal. I found Bathwater through Phoenix. I found Kate through Bathwater. Leave interesting comments. Someone might come check you out. That is how I found Kate. She left an interesting comment on Bathwater's blog. When you first drop in on Kate, you will think she is all about photography, Boston sports, and shopping. And dogs. It's true. She likes all of those things enormously. You will just have to trust me when I say that there is a very big heart underneath all of that other stuff. Getting to that is what makes blogging fun. Trust me. Meet Kate.


I guess if you don't read this and acknowledge that you received your award, I will leave you a comment. Please don't make me work too hard! Love you everyone! There is a lot of substance out there:-)