Thinking Blogger Award

CCW has very graciously awarded me a Thinking Blogger Award! How neat is that? As we may have mentioned before, CCW is like the other half of myself that I've never met. In long discussions, we have discovered that there are so many similarities between ourselves and our families that we are extremely surprised when something *isn't* just alike. CCW is a wonderful lady, and has been both an inspiration and a support for me through trying times. No matter her own personal strife, she is quick with a kind word and a wicked sense of humor that never fails to make my day brighter.

The rules behind this Thinking Blogger Thing are as follows:

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 (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

Now, CCW didn't name a specific post of mine, but I will try to tag five specific posts of blogs that I feel have really made me think. And, I'll try to tag people who haven't already been tagged. (What a monumental feat -- it seems like we all have the same blogular friends, and everyone has already pointed out all the most inspirational posts.)

Here are my submissions for Thinking Blogger Awards:

1) Amy at The Texture of Things. This is the best blog you all aren't reading. I "met" Amy through Andrea of Beanie Baby/A Garden of Nma Mmoy during this year's Winter Holiday of Your Choice gift exchange. Amy recently switched to Word Press, and does not have all of her old posts archived yet, but this recent post of hers deals with her daughter's tactile hypersensitivity and shows just what a good, dedicated mama she is, and how she would move heaven and earth if her baby needed her to.

2) Marni at It's a Pug's Life. Marni is a super sweet lady with a heart as big as all outdoors. Marni has been a constant support through the time I've known her, but is firmly in my camp on the issue of weight. This post of Marni's was touching, since she faced a lot of the very same prejudices I faced growing up, and stil face today. Marni underwent gastric bypass more than two years ago, and this past fall, she walked in the Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer! I'm proud to know Marni, and I hope we will be friends for years to come.

3) Miche at aboutMiche. Miche is a very talented woman who always has kind words for everyone. Miche had a post not long ago about a mugging that she suffered through when she was young, and how she had the intestinal fortitude to get herself out of a potentially deadly situation. I admire Miche for not only foiling her attacker, but also for myriad other reasons. Miche always has something interesting to say, and often has me returning to her blog again and again to reread things because they were just so compelling. You all know that I'm a big mouth, and it's not very many people who leave me speechless. Miche is one of those.

4) Yankee, Transferred, who is now contributing at Mixter's Mix. YT is one of the most thoughtful, loving, responsible people I've ever had the great fortune to "meet." She is a force unto herself. She not only adopted two children, she also took into her heart and home another child, and a grown child at that, simply because her heart was that big, and that child was in need. Not many people are that giving and unselfish. To her credit, all three of her daughters have turned out to be well-brought-up individuals who would make any parents proud. She writes eloquently about gay rights and is living proof to the "religious right" exactly why and how gay marriage would work, and why giving the gay community those rights is the correct thing to do.

5) Corndog at Blather.Wince. Repeat. Corndog is one of the funniest individuals I've come across in the blogworld. He was instrumental in leading me to start my own blog. Corndog has gone through some tough times lately, but can still make me smile with just a word. In his many incarnations of his blog(s), I have found so much to think about, and mull over, including his posts about battling depression. I thank him for his contributions to the blog world, and wish him all the luck in the world in his quest for happiness. We'll always be your groupies, Dr. Dog.

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These are my choices -- just a few of the many wonderful, deserving bloggers who have helped shape the way I see things. Their contributions have helped me with issues that I face, and knowing them has been to my credit. I am lucky, indeed, to be among such illustrious folk.

Thanks again to CCW for tagging me in the first place. She is my greatest cheerleader, and some days, I couldn't do it without her.