Bragging Rights= Blogging Achievement

Simone at All Tips and Tricks has a writing contest going on where bloggers wrote about their best blogging achievement. There are seven entries and the rules for voting are simple: "I want to thank you all nine people for your great articles, and I invite you to read them all, and give your vote to the three of them you liked most (just make a short post on your blogs, and I’ll check them all out to count the votes). I kindly ask you to do this by December 15th, the latest. After that, I’ll publish the results, award the prizes and open up the champagne, so we can celebrate and enjoy."

Shelly, my very first blogging friend has written about her Share a Square project. In writing about this project, Shelly hopes to win the first prize of $100 to be able to pay for postage and supplies that has gone along with this project. My first vote goes to Shelly's blogging achievement post, because of Shelly's dedication and ability to gather squares and support from bloggers around the world to crochet squares to make afghans for children with cancer. On a personal note, this project has given me the chance to learn how to crochet squares, and get my friend, her daughter and my mother involved. I think between the four of us, we may have made about 300 squares. It has been addicting. This project and Shelly's post are definitely worth bragging about in my book as a blogging achievement.

My next two votes go to two other bloggers that I have on my Google Reader, Pearl over at Interesting Observations wrote about the people that she has met. Her blog has evolved over the year into a very professional blog that has still retained her warm personality. Pearl's blogging achievement is that she enjoys interacting with people from around the world.

Vivien at Inspiration Bit is way to modest in her best blogging achievement, and kept it to a personal level where she feels that her best blogging achievement is within the personal relationships that she has made through blogging. I say way to modest only in that she has hosted two very fun writing contests, Sources of Inspiration and Time Management Strategies which had a lot of participation.

In reading these blogging achievements, it really does come down to the people you "meet" and the interactions of others to your work.

Manic Monday: Track- Where are the kittens now?

Manic Monday Word-Track: to observe or follow the course of progress of; keep track of.

The kittens have been freed from the bathroom and are roaming the main floor of the house. Even now as I write, they have found the places in this couch to go up in the frame. A previous cat was kind enough to take off the annoying fabric backing that separated the springs from the real world to allow future cat generations the joy of traversing the innards of a couch. But now that they are out, we are trying to track where they are to keep them safe. The first day it was easy when they were in the bathroom content to lie on our laps.


Yesterday, sleeping on a teenager who was reading made it easy to track them.
Today, well, that's another story.....
Our two older cats are making brief scouting missions from their headquarters under my bed to check out the enemy. The brave, fearless Punky has even tried to do the male puff look, however Staschio in all of his 1.8 pounds puffed even larger and there was a hasty retreat by the Punkster. This morning, neurotic Muffin took her chance and posted a lookout under a bar stool in the kitchen. However, Blackie (or Minnie, still in name limbo somewhat) did her little puff act but Muffin stood her ground and watched the kittens for 20 minutes. Any time now, it's Punk's turn to scout out the kittens and we are just trying to keep track of where they are at any given time. It's been fun and so what if I am turning into a cat lady!

Speaking of tracking....anyone interested in tracking down a luxury RV to hold Jenny's 11? It's my latest caper of planning the big TeaTime escape from months of knitting her fingers to the bone for her latest TeaTime Rambling's crazy contest of a knitted dishcloth for a month. We may need some former track stars to jog around her neighborhood for a scouting mission. Please go over and tell her that I sent you.

More information about Manic Monday can be found here at It's a Blog eat Blog World.

(Manic Monday banner by JannaGraphics )

I will link back to comments made below.
Janey Wan is playing the pity card for the dishcloths...but check out her picture of the Wild, wild west for her weekend photo.
Tea is just plain taunting me about my rescue caper, but I might be able to persuade her daughter to work some kitten magic. Just think of all the love you would get for letting a teenage daughter get a kitten. (It's working for me here with the boys)
More Random Than Average has a post about living near railroad tracks.
And Miles to Go before we Sleep wrote about one of my favorite brat pack movies
One Gal has a review up about The Brave One and some unconscious mutterings
Duward Discussion has a post about Railroad Songs

It's Tea Time Madness and You need to help!

Okay, here's the deal, we need to get a posse of bloggers together and rescue TeaMouse from Saskatchewan. I figure we can meet in Chicago head up north for a day or two or three or four, grab her in the dead of night. (Shelly- you bring some texas steak for Oliver, we don't need no barking dogs...) Once we have Tea, let's go to Las Vegas for sensory overload to save her from months of knitting.

So I guess since that's not about to happen, then head over to Tea's blog, TeaTime Ramblings and let her know that you heard about her crazy contest from ME! I want (need, desire, covet) dishclothes. And in her newest contest, she will be making one a month for me (or another lucky winner) for an entire year.

What will Dear Abby say about this?

Shelly at This Eclectic Life has a very fun contest for all to enter. The contest rules are to write a funny Dear Abby letter that is 50 words or less (not counting the “Dear Abby” salutation and the “signature”)

My entry here is probably going to date me but I based it on the comments my Dad would constantly make while watching a certain show.

Dear Abby,
My family won’t let me come and visit them. They seem to think that when I visit, there’s another funeral to attend. It’s boring in Cabot Cove because I suspect people pretend not to be home when I ring their doorbells. Can you suggest where I can find friends?

Lonely in Cabot Cove, Jessica Fletcher

Musing about crocheting and graduations

Two more days until the end of the Limerick contest and if you haven't had a chance to read the limericks submitted already, here is the quick link to the Limerick Entries. There is still time to write a limerick!

Last night I made my first granny square which came out 2 inches larger than it should be, so I will make the rest using a H crochet hook. If you have never crocheted, this is really pretty easy to do. I think I crocheted a baby afghan eons ago and a Christmas stocking for my husband over 24 years. With the tutorials available on line, it can be done. I found Crochet Cabana where there were step by step directions with pictures for making a Granny square . Shelly (This Eclectic Life) has posted the directions, now I just have to take apart a cabled sweater that I started about 10 years ago and ran out of yarn to use that yarn for the Share a Square Afghan project.

I think this is a wonderful chance for bloggers to connect beyond the internet and contribute to a good cause. I just called my Mom and mentioned the afghan, her comment was, I don't mind making squares, but I hate putting them together. ( I caught her at a bad time....they are going to a graduation party today and packing for their summer in Nova Scotia).

We have three graduation parties to go to today and our kids are off in three different directions. It's amazing how busy one's weekends can be in June. Tomorrow is Father's day and we have another graduation party tomorrow afternoon. Graduations seem bittersweet, a transition between the familiar to the unknown along with responsibilities. A time of celebrations and goodbyes. The class that graduated today at our high school was my first freshman class and I do feel bad that I didn't stay the entire four years. However, I have been able to see many of the kids at other school functions for my own kids, so I have kept up with them.

My high school graduation was held outside and we had over 700 graduating. As a parent, I can't imagine the logistics of it all. Do you remember your high school graduation? Any good stories out there about graduations? I got nothing except for the two dogs getting it on at my college graduation....

What a Life!

This has a been a great week of blogging, work and family life. It has been fun getting back into the creative part of writing through blogging. Through the TT13 post, I have learned about the Poetry Train blog which I will check out on Monday. Plus, I am still reading through the blogs written for the group writing project last month at Inspiration.com. I read a few every other day or so and it's an interesting concept to see where people find their inspiration. So if you're looking for inspiration, reading through some of these blogs may lead you in a direction that you might not have thought of for yourself.

The limericks are coming in and there are links to all the limericks on the right. Rock Chick wrote a whole post in limerick form and you know, I think she could write a few tragedies and comedies in that fashion just like Shakespeare! Speaking of comedies, Shelly has a "Blow up My Dress" writing contest going on over at This Eclectic Life for your funniest posts. You know, the ones where you get a comment that tell you people laughed through reading it, the old "laughed till I cried".

Work was productive this week, but with "this time of the month", I am always tired. So at one particular meeting where my supervisor was talking about a new chlamydia (a sexually transmitted disease) test that we needed to bring out to the offices, I was too tired to say much, but caused giggles around the table when the directions for the male test were being read aloud....." Place the shaft in the tube and break the shaft"...... All it took was just raised eyebrows at one other person at the table and we lost it. Who says that you can't act like a pre-teen when you're over 45?

Home- Everyone is getting along. Whoopie, right? Ha! You just try working around one car for two teenagers, one working fulltime and the other still in high school with a part-time job. Kissinger's got nothing on me when it comes to bringing warring countries to peace, bet he would find it tough with two testosterone surging young males with one car. Yea! My middle guy is working at a fast food place and learning about the real world. Work is the best thing for teenagers, shows them how important it is to do well in school, so you don't end up making sandwiches for the rest of your life.

Weight Watchers- Went to a meeting this week and decided that it was time to do it on my own using WW etools. I have already lost over 23 pounds and the whining about being denied at the meetings gets boring. As a lark, I bought the Hostess 100 calorie packs, and it was indeed a lark, check out the "untruth" in advertising, I put the quarter up for size comparison. At the cash register, the cashier and I discussed the size and I was pretty close to the actual size ( or lack of). I would rather have a lindt ball for 2 pts than the three bits of cupcake.

Well, it's a rainy Saturday and I better get out my jewelry stuff and get creative. Uck, a James Bond movie is on tv, like when is one not on? Got two of my guys on the couch saying the lines before they're spoken, yep, we are cultured in this house.

There once was a day so rainy and wet
That Jen just wanted to sit and forget
The laundry to be folded,
The children to be scolded,
That she just beaded with nary a regret.

Debbie Downer, Quiz and Contests, Oh My!

Do you know a Debbie Downer? The best part of this video is that the cast just can't stop themselves from laughing.

Your Blog Should Be Purple

You're an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you're the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

My last quiz was in January, I saw this one and was intrigued. This aspect of my personality is a puzzle to me, why do I do these surveys and post them? Maybe I just need some fun!

Speaking of fun, This Eclectic Life has a blogging contest going on and it involves submitting 3 funny posts. Her 13 this week was a riot, even if I felt like a Debbie Downer with my 13.

Another contest to check out is over at Teatime Ramblings where she has some very pretty knitted dishcloths and towels to give away to a random poster who links to her blog.

Quick posts the next few days, we finally have some sun and track meets to attend. Next week is lab week and I have some personal surveys to tabulate to create a Family Feud type game.