A wonderful gift from a great friend

Well well well....... Rockin' Girl Blogger. Me. What????? I am grinning from ear to ear at the thought. Rockin' Girl Blogger. Diana???????? Do you hear that? Your mother is a Rockin' Girl Blogger! My lovely friend, Susan has given me this award. I am really thrilled to bits, but I do feel my wardrobe needs a re-vamp. The 16 year old girls I teach could help. Or maybe not.

Receiving awards like this gives me such a lovely warm feeling, both of being a part of a community and also of being a friend. So let's rock then, girls........

1. BooMama - of course. She may still be rocking around her kitchen as I speak.
2. Danielle - because she absolutely rocks. (And her daughter will be amused!)
3. His singer - because she has a wonderful caring heart.
4. Dawn - because she is becoming a dear friend, and shares so much with us.
5. Pea - because she keeps me smiling and takes me on tours of Canada.

I am out of profound things to say. Just all know I think you are great and you add a new dimension to my life. Rockin' Girl Bloggers .......... I need a badge.

Wonderful honours from lovely ladies

Updated to add: At a hen's pace has also given me this award. How amazing is that! It still amazes me that there are people out there who really like to come and visit, and read the musings I post. Thank you all so much.

I have been blessed by 3 amazing women, who have passed on the Blogger Reflection Award to me. His Singer, Dawn and Linda are all remarkable women, who have become dear friends in our small corner of the blogging world. All would have been on my list of people to pass on the award to, without a doubt. All have taught me so much about not only their lives and experiences, but also their unshakeable faith, and how it has sustained them. I hope one day to meet my blogging friends, and I have to say that Dawn and Morning Glory could be the most likely to come this way, (having a brother fairly close to where I live certainly helps!) and that fills me with excitement, and delight. I imagine that we would feel as though we had known each other forever.

And now it is my turn. So many. How on earth do I choose?

I know she has been nominated by Dawn, but Morning Glory has to be my first choice. She was my first blogging friend, and has been a delight to get to know. She has the most wonderful insight to so many important things in life, and her sense of humour and experience make her a lady well worth listening to. Her Woman to Woman forum, set up with Lei, challenge us to think and express our views, irrespective of age, and her devotion to her husband and daughters, not to mention her grandchildren, is a real model for anyone to follow. She cares, and has a gentle spirit which shines through her words.

Jeanne At a Hen's Pace is a fairly recent blogging friend, and she and her husband are about to move, as her husband is going to be leading a new church in another town. She has a wicked sense of humour, coupled with a shining faith, and a large family to add to the mix, and she rises to new challenges in a manner which can only be an inspiration. If you want to see an example of faith in action, look no further.

And then we have the most amazing example of how to make a marriage grow and blossom over 40 years right here in our blogging world. Susie and her dear husband have just had their anniversary, and her happiness just bubbles over. You want to smile? Go and visit her. She is kind and caring, and a delight to know. We can all learn from the examples we have right here, and Susie has shared both the ups and downs of her life with us. She lives in the real world, and it works!

Mary, at Owlhaven is another lady who has a heart as big as the ocean, and listens when God speaks. She and her husband have just heard that they are now the parents of 10 children! They have just received court approval from Ethiopia to adopt 2 girls, which makes a family of 4 biological children, and 6 adopted sons and daughters. How blessed they all are, most especially their children, to be a part of this amazing family. Mary makes me believe that the impossible is always possible.

And there is another lady out there, who is very special. Her name is Laura and she is the mother of seven children. She has battled with children with health problems, and the court system to be allowed to adopt their 2 foster boys with a grace that astonishes me, given that she is still so young. Her faith is an inspiration.

So there you have the five special ladies I have chosen. Can I just add that I could have gone on for hours. Each and every one of you has given something special to me in your posts at different times. How true it is that we never know when words we say may make a difference to someone at some time, without knowing how or when or why.

The award originated here. That's probably the best place to learn more about it. Here's what it says you should do:
1. Replace my five bloggers with yours and write a least a paragraph about each one.
2. Make sure you link this post so others can read it and the rules.
3. Go leave your chosen bloggers a comment and let them know they've been given the award.
4. Put the award icon on your site [see here]

Blogging meme

Chilihead has a post up re why we are blogging, so you can go over and visit, and add to her Mr Linky thingy if you want to join in too.

• How did you start blogging? Well, that one is easy. My daughter was going to work in NZ and she started blogging before she left to keep all her friends and family updated with her adventures. I watched her and said I wouldn't mind having a go too, and the next minute she had set it up for me. I confess that I knew nothing when I started, and she has done some long distance idiot-proof tutorials! Messenger is a wonderful invention. I didn't write much for the first 6 months or so, and then I started very tentatively. No-one except her read it, and then I started looking for women my sort of age to read about and talk to and stumbled on this wonderful community. I remember gathering my courage and making my first comment on Mary's (Owlhaven) comment marathon night. And that was the start of a great voyage of discovery!
  
• Did you intend to have a following? No. I didn't intend anything. And even now, I am just fascinated to get to know new people and have them visit if they feel like it. I am not bothered by stats. It has just evolved steadily.


• What did you hope to accomplish? Initially to keep in touch with friends and family, who are spread all over the world. Then a new world opened. No goals except to learn more about all my new friends all over the place. The love and support is an unexpected bonus.It is fun. Simple, really.


• What do you wish you had known when I started? How easy it would be! And how wonderful it has been to be part of the community. Maybe that I had been more techno savvy.


• Do you make money from your blog? No. I only found out that you actually could a short while ago.


• Do your family know about your blog? Yes. They all do and they all read it. This can be good and not so good. I do know that what I write is tempered by the fact that they read it.


• What 2 pieces of advice would you give a new blogger? Don't let it consume all your time. It is a part of your life, not the whole thing, and all of us can talk of the hours we have spent reading and posting! Don't be afraid to comment on other people's blogs. It is great to get to know each other. Ask for advice when you need it re how to do things or where to go. OOps that was 3. Just enjoy discovering a wonderful community of amazing people!

Seven things.......

His singer has tagged me for a meme on "7 things you don't know about me." Or something like that. Anyway, 7 random things about me. Hmmm. Let me think.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I have an absolute compulsion to know the news. I need to know what is going on all over the world.
2. I LOVE quizzes. General knowledge type of quizzes. And I need to find out all the answers too.
3. I have a very long list of things I want to do before I die. It gets longer each year, but I do manage to cross bits off now and then. It ranges from pie-in-the-sky to banal. ( I have crossed off the hotair balloon ride...that was great!) Dreams are good.
4. I make mixed media wallhangings of family trees. I am a textile artist at heart. Not a teacher. Now I have no time to be creative.
5. If I had grown up in a different time or place, I might have been a carpenter. I love working with wood.
6. I am a night owl. I love being up late, especially when everyone else is asleep. That is when I get computer time.
7. I adore books. I always have a pile waiting to be read. I have way too many, and I cannot sit still in a house where I can't see any. It feels weird.

So that is my list. Now I tag Heidi , Laura , Isabelle , Momteacherfriend , Susan , Linda , and
Dawn . Of course, as you know, my memory is not what it once was, and you may very well have already done this one! So feel free to skip it if you have. It is becoming increasingly harder to find people who have not done all the great memes doing the rounds. And thanks very much for the thinking blogger award from Sandy ..... I have been meaning to say how honoured I am that you chose me, Sandy. Thanks! Not that there have been any great thought-provoking posts in recent days.