Lovin' Your Bloggin' Neighbours

Hehe.

The lovely little piece of graphic design that you see on the left is an award.  Yes.  And it was awarded to me!

Apparently, these little guys have been floating around blog-land for who-knows-how-long so if you're a seasoned blogger and/or blog reader you'll recognize it and know what it's all about.   However, if you're like me, this is all new to you.  New and exciting!

This is how it works:

1. You receive this "award" from a fellow blogger. 
2. You  write a blog post and include in it 7 things that people don't already know about you. 
3. You select and list (for all to see and admire and visit) 7 blogs that you enjoy reading, declaring that they are the honourable recipients of the award. 
4. The selected award recipients grab the award (if they choose to; you are by no means obligated to carry this whole thing out), plaster it on their blog post and start at #1.

What I love about this is the whole "support your fellow blogger" thing that it has going on.  When I started my blog I certainly did not have visions of thousands of followers perched on the edges of their computer chairs just awaiting my next post, hanging on every stroke of my pen... or... tap of my finger? Whatever. Anyway, I wasn't even sure anyone would want to read what I had to write.  Heck, who am I kidding?  I didn't even HAVE anything to write.

But here I am.  Writing away.  Writing away whether anyone is reading it or not.  And you know what?  "Anyone"  is reading it!  Quite a few Anyones, actually.  And I must confess that it does feel nice to get notified about a new comment on a post or to see that there is a new little profile box in the "Followers" section on the sidebar :)

As I was sitting down to write this post, I couldn't help thinking of my very first Stray Matter blog post waaaay back in April titled, "Okay, okay, fine already. I'm typing...".  Well, it's been an interesting journey so far!  I've learned a lot about myself,  HTML code, key lime pie - the list goes on.  And the best part is that I feel like I'm just starting to get warmed up.  Haha!

I'd like to thank Sadie over at The Tightrope Walk who chose me as one of her 7 featured blogs (wow!) and honoured me with this bloggin' award!

And now, it's my turn to love my bloggin' neighbours and spread the bloggin' good news!  These blogs are great!  And are in no! particular! order!

• The Deliberate Mom
• Food and Whine
• Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy
• The Primal Den Mother
• Birth Source
• Happy Opu
• The Tightrope Walk  (right back at 'cha, Sadie!)

Now, the thing I've been avoiding since day one: 7 things about me!

1. I have a serious weakness for croissants. (I briefly worked for a Parisian baker who a) was a really big jerk b) was the best baker ever and c) kept all his recipes secret and would just yell at me to crack zee eggs! cut zee sheeze! knead zee dough! etc.  I gained 15 lbs.)
2. I don't like to touch foam (mattresses, sponges, etc) but I will if I have to.
3. For someone who doesn't practice the martial art,  I know a metric crap-load about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. (Sorry folks, I'm not really sure what the Imperial conversion is for that but just know that it amounts to a lot more that I should know.)
4. I love meat.
5. I hate lilacs.
6. I'm good at catching stuff.
7. And I like to start sentences with the word "and".

Thanks to all of the "Anyones" out there in cyberspace who have been reading my blog.  I didn't know what this would be like when I started just a couple of months ago and I'm glad to say that I'm having a great time.

Now, get out there and check out these awesome blogs!