Slightly Off-Balance

The wonderful thing about blogging is that you don’t see me!  This was reinforced when the lovely Kelly at Dances with Chaos bestowed upon me the Stylish Blogger Award.  I assume she must like my style of writing, also known as self deprecation, because if she could actually see me, she would not have used the word stylish – at least on a daily basis.  Perhaps you think I am kidding when I say, I don’t get dressed every day or wash my hair every day.  I am a wreck people!  I need one of those fashion and beauty makeovers.  Hint hint…  I tried to do something new with my hair and my stylist said no, she didn’t think I could handle dramatic change!  My 21-year-old nanny puts together my outfits for important occasions (like leaving the house). 

But enough about my style, or lack thereof.  Let me tell you about Kelly.  Her kids are a little bit younger, but our challenges and fleeting sanity are the same.  I love her combination of photos and witty writing.  She is also the genius who taught me to take pictures of my kids messes so that I don’t kill them.  I guess that also makes her a life saver.

In accepting the Stylish Blogger Award, I am supposed to write seven things you might not know about me:

1. I am usually up for anything – if you can get me out the front door.  I seem to lack initial motivation.  Or the proper shoes.
2. My nickname is the “Hostage Negotiator” or the “Devil’s Advocate”.  In personality assessments its known as the stabilizer.  I think it is just an upside to being a people pleaser, which is not always a good thing.  So I am working on that, you know, pissing people off more and pleasing less. 
3. I am afraid of heights!  As in anything above the second floor.  I tried jumping off a bridge into a lake to cure my fear.  It didn’t help.  At all.
4. I have had melanoma twice and am psychotic about sunscreen.  But I still love all summer and water activities.  And I refuse to wear sun protective clothing.  Because I am so stylish.  Ahem.
5. The best compliment you can give me is to tell me I did something that made you feel good.  Or that you can relate to something I said or wrote. 
6. I hate being cold, but I usually am, and I often over dress for any weather.  And over dress my kids.  Then my husband took away my kid dressing privileges.  This is not related to my lack of style, just my lack of a functioning internal thermostat.
7. I love food, drinks, hula-hooping and mildly inappropriate fun (okay, you probably already knew that about me!)

In order to continue to pay it forward, I must nominate six bloggers for this award.  This is hard because there are so many amazing bloggers that frankly, it’s intimidating.  But here are six bloggers that I feel make me a better writer. 

1. Lori Dyan – Her three-year old rocks the naked style, her 7-year-old might be a genius and I never miss reading what she writes.  She has made me laugh so hard I have pee’d a little.  What?!  I said a little!
2. Ironic Mom – Her motto is “If you can’t laugh at yourself, laugh at your kids”.  She is my favorite brand of “real” mom!
3. A Diary of a Mad Woman – Talk about stylish!  She showed up to a lunch pregnant wearing fabulous red leather boots!  And her writing is as powerful as her shoes.
4. By Any Other Name – Julie is my sister separated at birth.  Her posts are funny, they resonate to the point I think she might be stalking me (and I hope she is) and they come from the heart.
5. The Life of Jamie – She recently referred to her daughter as “The Dirty Little Chapstick Thief” – what more do you need to know?!
6. Working Mom Journal – I am afraid she may be to smart for me – she’s an engineer!  But she is a working mom, wise beyond her years and I suspect she may be stylish too!  She has a refreshing positive perspective and helps keep me balanced!

There you have it – six blogs you need to go read right now!  Why are you still here.  Go read, but come back and visit soon, okay?  Pretty please.

The rules passed on to me say to accept this award you are:

1. Supposed to link back to who nominated you.
2. List seven things we might not know about you.
3. Share the “love” and pay it forward by naming six other blogs you enjoy.