Look At That!! I’m Going on a Blog Tour!

I am so excited – Amber from Mommy Needs Wine Not Whine has invited me to join a blog tour.  OK.  Well I was excited until I found out it actually means I don’t get to go anywhere.  There’s no train.  And no wine.  Sigh.

But then I got excited again – because it means that I get to introduce you all to some of my favourite bloggers!

For those of you who haven’t visited Mommy Needs Wine Not Whine, please go over and have a look.  Amber has a nice sharp tongue that she’s not afraid to use.  Which could actually fail spectacularly for some people – but for someone with Amber’s keen sense of humor, and complete lack of fear of exposing her inner nerd, it actually works out quite well.  Check out this recent post on “a whole shitboat of super-nerdy cool and interesting things“.  (Yes, that’s a direct quote.  Don’t you love her already?)

Oh yeah…so back to the tour.  The rules of the tour are that I’m supposed to answer a standard list of questions (so you can learn more about my blog) – and then I invite three other bloggers to join me on the tour.  So let’s get started!

I am so deliciously not working right now I’m almost giddy.  I’ve been lucky to take not just six weeks after the birth of my son – but an entire 14 month leave from my job.  I was supposed to go back at the end of June, but my employer agreed to extend it to September.  Which means (sound the trumpets) – summer off!

I’ve been enjoying the kidlings and going to the beach and the park and riding my bike and just, all around, having a lot of fun.  It’s also allowed me more time to take photographs (which I love, but of course, can’t share…) and write.  I’m trying – even with the kids – to get a blog up every couple of days.  Now there’s a whole blog tour – and I’ve been participating in #AAF – Ask Away Friday for the first time!  It’s been great!

I don’t really think of myself as a niche blogger.  My blog is basically my life.  If I had to put myself in a category – I guess I’m a Mommy Blogger.  I haven’t come across anyone else who has exactly the same combination of posts that I do – what with my accident, my divorce and co-parenting with the Goblin King, my son’s learning disabilities and last (but certainly not least) my remarriage to hubs.  (Who, now that I’m thinking about it, I should have a name for.  I’d go for Prince (because he is one), but that’s Divorced Pauline‘s ex’s name (for a completely different reason).  I’ll have to come up with something suitable.)

Whoops…that was a bit of a ramble.

Anyway, I’m different than anyone else just because there’s no one in the world quite like me.  Mommy Bloggers run the whole gamut – like snowflakes, no two of us are exactly the same.  There are those that do crafts and have potty parties.  There are the fashion mommies.  There are those who blog about ADHD, Autism and other special needs.  There are those struggling with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder.  There are single moms.  And moms who are married.  And moms who are married who wish they weren’t.  There are moms with one kid, three kids, five kids.  And then (my favourite) – the food mommies.  I loves them.

Therapy.  Yes – my blog is all about me in so many ways.  It helps me to remind myself that my ex husband is mentally ill and I have to take baby steps and be patient. (Today was one of the more difficult days…deep breaths).  I keep myself on task – and try (through writing) to remain true to myself and my beliefs.  Sometimes it’s fun to poke fun at my ex for your amusement (today is one of those days…but I’ll save that blog for later).  I don’t think it would be fun any more if he were aware of it or if the kids were reading my blog.  But for now, it helps me.  So, as I said.  It’s all about me.

Generally it goes like this:  something happens or I get something in my craw.  I write about it.  Then I rewrite.  And rewrite again.  And sometimes, one more time.  (Because I’m a little anal retentive and like to ensure that grammar and spelling is correct).

And then I spend an incredible amount of time making a pretty graphic.  Which I add and hit “post”.

Whew.  That was intense.  Where do I drop my blood and urine samples?

Now I’m supposed to invite three more bloggers to join the tour.  This week, I’m going to have to nominate three of my favorites.

The first – R.F. Dietz of Dizmommy.  I discovered Rebecca’s blog probably within the first week or two of blogging.  She has the most hilarious stories about her gorgeous curly haired little boy Dylan – they brighten my day.  When she’s not considering murdering overenthusiastic grocers, or heading down to the beach, Rebecca is a stay at home mom with an attitude which, as far as I can tell, is (most days at least) about an even match for her toddler.  She tries really hard to be is the antithesis of the helicopter parent and little Dylan has just about everyone wrapped around his little finger.

The second, Sweet, Sweet Cicily Bilecki.  I discovered Cicily when I started writing for DivorcedMoms.com.  Cicily is different than the other divorced moms on the site in that she very rarely blogs about her divorce or any struggles with co-parenting.  Her blog is very forward and inward looking.  She has such a light and fun attitude.  When she’s not travelling the world, she and her son Jack live in Hawaii – and she did CrossFit and does yoga and meditation and is just starting her journey to learning to surf (after she learns to swim).

The third is Jessica from the Domestic Pirate. You’ll have to forgive me for not going in depth – because Jessica is one of my new favorites and I haven’t quite had the chance to delve deeply into her blog.  I do know that Jessica loves Pirates and is a Ren Faire Privateer.  She’s a stay at home mom with FOUR kids – the Cabin Girl, the Cabin Boy, Mr. Monkey and (wait for it…) the Kraken.  (Wow – big props for that).  But even more props for the fact that she and her husband and (did I mention) FOUR kids live in a very small house with ONE bathroom and three small air conditioners that don’t all work at the same time.  No wonder she fantasizes about the open seas and spends a lot of time on the Internets.

And last but certainly not least (oh wait…is this four??  Damnit.  It is.  I’m breaking rules.  Screw it.  She’s worth it.  This is four) – I can’t exclude the lovely Jenessa Mullen from Mothering {In Real Life}.  You may remember Jensessa from my recent #AskAwayFriday blog post, and yes – she’s one of my new favorites.  From photography to Pinterest ready projects, to pizza night (haha…all “P’s” – but for the ph, it’s almost alliteration) – Jenessa is just…well…amazeballs – and you have to visit her site.

Whew.  My blog tour is over.  Do you feel like you went somewhere?  I feel like I’ve just visited a few fantastic favorites (ahhh…there’s the alliteration!)  Hope you’ve enjoyed the tour!!  Visit Rebecca, Cicily, Jessica and Jenessa’s blogs in the next week to continue your tour!

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