The Thinker's Meme

Have you seen that meme circulating the Internet, cleverly disguised as an award? It's the Thinking Blogger Award, and I decided to accept it like an award rather than a meme because, I'm a glass-half-full kind of woman. I've never even been nominated for a blogging award, never mind won it. So when Christine at the The Bean Blog awarded me, I even shed a tear. I know! Shut up!


I like this meme because it's another way for blogger's to spread some link love, and that's never a bad thing in my book. Three bloggers have tagged me, each with their own different take on this meme.

• Christine at The Bean Blog chose five bloggers from her blogroll.
  
• Jill at Single Mom in the City awarded me for a post about my miscarriage called I Remember You.
  
• Liz at This Full House, ever the overachiever and rule-breaker, awarded her entire blogroll, saying five words about each blogger.
  
• (Maggie at Pocket Change did a similar meme, the "you-you," which I think morphed from the Thinking Blogger Award. Either way, it was great fun. If I had a smaller, more up-to-date blogroll, I'd try it. Thanks, Maggie!)

All three Thinking Blogger awarders said extremely kind things about the awardees, and I feel honored to have been tagged. I'm also happy to spread the link love. Here are the official rules for the Thinking Blogger Award meme:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
   
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.


3. Optional: proudly display the “Thinking Blogger Award” with a link to the post
   that you wrote.

I awarded seven people, not five. Since I got tagged three times, I gave myself two extras to give out. So without further ado, I'm giving the Thinking Blogger alien dude to:

• Mary at Mom Writes. Mary is a fantastic writer, and real go getter. She's always challenging herself, taking her kids on adventures and throwing parties and going for long runs, all things I aspire to. I always feel uplifted after reading Mary, even (or, especially) when she shares her struggles.
  


• Philip at The Blue Sloth. Philip stays home with three kids and still manages to do things like "open up the boat for the season" and "build a sky garden," while I sometimes struggle to simply cook dinner. He'll probably email me after he sees this with tips on how to get dinner done, urging me to be creative to accomplish my goal. That's one thing I love about him.
  


• Amanda at Mandajuice. Amanda at first glance may be "just a mommy blogger" as she's described herself more than once. However, the folks at Club Mom, at Disney (holy crap, Disney!), and at Wonder Mom disagree. She's a kick ass blogger who generously shares her life with her readers, and who has me thinking, How do I get a piece of that paid blogger action??
  


• Jo(e) at Writing as Jo(e). When I read Jo(e)'s blog, I want to climb into my monitor and go hang out on her couch. Or be a student in the college class she teaches. I think my blood pressure goes down when I read her prose and look at her pictures. She reminds me to slow down, and to take joy in the simple things. And she makes me want to move to the middle of nowhere.
  
  
• Angela at AngelaGilesKlocke.com. I've been reading Angela for years. I downloaded a book of hers about parenting and writing before I even knew what a blog was. She has an amazing life story yet she's still merely a spring chicken with everything to look forward to. Her talents in writing and photography come through loud and clear on her blog, as does her ability to inspire others with her story and with her drive to achieve her own dreams.
  
  
• Dani at Postcards From the Mothership. Dani's one prolific blogger. She shares all the usual ups and downs that come with being a working mom of two boys (expecting number three!). In between she also broaches interesting and unexpected topics. There's always a good discussion going on at her blog, which is one reason why I rarely miss a day.
  


• Sheryl at Paper Napkin. Sheryl's awesome. What can I say about her? She's always doing something unique on her blog, inventing memes such as the purse party and "a day in the life," and I always play along. She's also a designer who's created some fun and unique blog banners. Her writing blows me away. I follow Sheryl around the internet like an annoying little puppy dog, and I'm lucky she hasn't kicked me out from under her feet yet. She's that nice.

So there you have it, the blogs that are my daily reads. Spend some time with any of the above bloggers, and I guarantee they will get you thinking. About what? Well, you never know until you get there. Happy reading!