The 5th Blog Blast for Peace is coming ...

I've shared at Small Reflections and Sacred Ruminations already, and decided to add this post here ... just because.

Have you created YOUR Peace Globe yet?

As Mimi Lenox says ... "If words are powerful ... then this matters." Clicking on the logo above (or at the top of my sidebar) will take you to information about how to get YOUR Peace Globe to decorate & share between now and November 6th in the 5th Launch of Dona Nobis Pacem. We're counting down ...

My new Peace Globes for November's Blog Blast post (#4, 5, & 6) are in my sidebar at Small Reflections along with my first two (previously published in June) and I've sent them to Mimi to publish as well. If you need help adding 'text' to the graphics available from Mimi's blog, I'm willing to assist as time permits. I invite everyone to participate and to visit others too. If you'd like to see 'previous Globes created by others' visit the Peace Globe Gallery by clicking the logo below. My June Blog Blasts for Peace are here and here.

Click for a link to ...

Find more details by clicking this logo ...

Thought for Today
"An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Just for Fun ... Explore YOUR inner princess too

Yertle at Smile, Play, Dream decided to explore her 'inner princess' and I decided it couldn't hurt to check out mine too (though I suspect I have more in common with 'Godmother' than 'princess' at my age ;--)

According to the answers you have just chosen you are most like the

Disney Princess Belle.

Belle is as lovely as her name implies but her natural unaffected beauty is far more than skin deep. An intelligent and avid reader Belle yearns for faraway places and exciting adventures. She is a loyal, loving daughter and when the beast finally wins her trust she gives him all her kindness and patience and then realizes she has also given him her heart. With her inner strength and outward beauty, Belle is a young woman who can and does make things happen.

Which Disney Princess Are You???

Thought for Today
"Dreams say what they mean, but they don't say it in daytime language." Gail Godwin

New Bling ... gratefully accepted & acknowledged

... albeit some quite belatedly

I apologize. I've been remiss in acknowledging and passing along awards recently ... and I'm going to do my best here to catch up with 'Thank Yous' ... and then pass these along to others. If I've overlooked someone ... please let me know. I'm seriously sleep deprived due to watching the Olympics ... the US Open Tennis Championships ... and the Democratic Convention while trying to live life normally ... keeping up with commitments in the REAL and VIRTUAL worlds.

I begin with the most recently received and (sort of) work backwards as I've done previously.

Note: I realize this showed up in 'readers' before I finished adding links and publishing it. I apologize for any inconvenience in that regard, but the only way to check positioning is to publish ... and I don't know how to keep it out of 'readers' while performing such 'checks' along the way.

54. Kitten of Kitten's Homeschool gave me THIS award for Small Reflections.

Mike Golch of MJG's Rambling Thoughts
gave it to me for Sacred Ruminations.

53. I have no clue who gave me this 'kitty' ... but I love it! If it was YOU, please let me know ;--)

Whoever leaves me a comment below
is welcome to 'snag' & share it
with my gratitude ...

for comments ALWAYS make me smile ;--)

52. Rhonda (aka Chuck) of Foster Me Up awarded me with this ...

51. This 'Roar for Powerful Words' and the Bear Hug underneath it came from Mike Golch at his Weblog and/or Rambling Stuff.

Thanks Mike

50. Winning Attitude came from Mary's Writing Nook who received it from Cariboo Ponderer

49. Ivanhoe blessed Small Reflections with this one and Mike Golch presented it to Sacred Ruminations. I shared it here and here.

48. Mary (of Mary's Writing Nook) also bestowed this 'friendship award' to storyteller (that's me). I shared it and #47 below at Small Reflections on 9-3-08.

47. I've forgotten who gave me this one. Please help me remember ;--)

46. This came from Pam at Random Thoughts

45. This (and the award below it) came fromVixen of Vixen's Den

44. Friendship Award from Juliana at Picturing of Life

43. Tammy of Mom Knows Everything and A Little Girl Talk awarded this.

42. Villas Girl passed this one (and the one below it) along with 'no strings attached' and I shared it at Sacred Ruminations recently.

41. Mike Golch presented this to Sacred Ruminations at MJG's Weblog on August 9th and I shared at Sacred Ruminations.

40. Thanks to Ivanhoe for this colorful award shared as she celebrated her 100th Blog Post and I passed it along at Small Reflections.

So ... I think that's all ... at least for now. I'm in the process of creating a few NEW awards of my own to bestow on others ... but for now I wish to say THANK YOU once again to everyone for their thoughtfulness and generosity. I'll be passing these along on my other blogs ... but if there's something here that strikes your fancy ... please accept and pass along to others as you see fit ... just because ;--)

Read my 'Introductory Post' for this Blog.
Additional awards received and shared previously: Bling - Part One and Bling - Part Two

... and click for 'newer bling' too.

Thought for Today

"Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow." ~Swedish Proverb

Why I Blog ...

Rebecca of Reba's Ramblings is celebrating her Blogoversary today by hosting a Blog Carnival with a giveaway. She has asked visitors recently to address the eternal question ... specifically the issue of why we blog. This is my attempt to respond, although it seems to me I've written of this periodically all along during the last 8+ months ... I'm just not sure where.

It's clear to me that blogging ...
1. provides a way for me to experiment with sharing what I write ... without having to sit face to face with someone as I do this thing, and I've discovered that I'm much more of an introvert than most people (including myself) generally realize
2. allows me to become accustomed feedback from a variety of readers and get over my tendency to keep what I write to myself
3. introduces me to others who write (and take photographs)
4. keeps my mind active and learning new things all the time
5. stretches my imagination and my boundaries
6. fills free time with interaction when I'm alone
7. opens my eyes to what is ... and what might be ... if only
8. expands my world and opens me up to new possibilities & experiences
9. allows me to make & interact with 'virtual' friends

Initially I blogged because others suggested I might enjoy it. They were right. I did ;--)
1. Each day at Small Reflections I wrote whatever entered my mind, pretty much as if I was writing in my journal, and at Sacred Ruminations I followed Carla's example ... celebrating My Sacred Life for a month in daily posts then changing to a weekly Sacred Life post, while sharing whatever came to mind each day.
2. I visited other bloggers to gain ideas & information, returning to my own blogs to experiment and share what I'd encountered.
3, When 2007 came to a close, I revisited my first ten weeks as a blogger and thanked my 'blogging buddies' ... linking to various posts I'd written and activities in which I'd participated ... surprising myself with what I'd discovered & accomplished in such a brief time.
4. In mid-January I pulled together my Small is Beautiful Top 7 in '07 Blog Review at the request of Magpie Girl, and by the end of January I'd reached 100 posts.
5. Once again, at the suggestion Anglophile Football Fanatic ... I created a list of 101 Things About Me on my 101st Post ... sharing a brief history of my life ... revealing more perhaps than I intended to, but leaving it 'just because.'

A few days later (when I reached 106 posts on my 2nd blog, Sacred Ruminations) I created A Milestone Missed? in which I celebrated and reflected about blogging to that point.
6. I had participated in NaBloPoMo and Holidailies ... posting daily on both blogs for two months straight, and with encouragement from Sandy of Momisodes (although I had reservations) I signed up for Blog 365, but began to do some rethinking.
7. I moved the initial information introducing myself from the About Me section of the sidebar to How I Became a Blogger and introduced myself all over again briefly in an updated paragraph which remains in my sidebar now but is in need of another revision soon.
8. Interestingly, fellow bloggers honored me with 'awards' that I displayed in my sidebar and passed along to others in posts with links ... introducing my 'virtual friends' to one another and building a 'virtual community' of sorts.
9. I celebrated my 63rd birthday online ... here and here ... participated in the Ultimate Blog Party ... joined a wide variety of new weekly activities ... and generally had fun playing.
10. As my sidebar got cluttered, I created a special page for Awards & Bling at Small Reflections to make room for new things.
11. When folks complained about the site locking up and/or being slow ... I created this 3rd Blog and moved them over here instead.
12. Gradually I've added sidebar links to my posts by category in the About Me section in hopes that visitors could locate, read, & comment on what interests them more readily.
13. To speed up things even more at Small Reflections, I moved my multiple Blog Rolls over to the 3rd Blog along with Logos and Links to memes I enjoy.

So ... to answer the question of Why I Blog ...

it's FUN and I enjoy everything about it!!!

Sometimes 'life' intervenes and takes precedence over blogging, but when things calm down this Blogosphere remains ... inviting us each to share & engage as much or as little as we choose.

How funny that this list ended up having 13 things ;--)

Thought for Today
"I am never bored anywhere; being bored is an insult to oneself."
Jules Renard

Reprising my Ultimate Blog Party Post of 2008

While responding to comments from Sandy of Momisodes and Yertle of Smile, Play, Dream this morning ... (and thinking about comments from Tina, Karen, and Trish left over the weekend) ... it occurred to me that I might enjoy bringing forward some posts from the past from my other blogs ...(something I've seen others do occasionally & have enjoyed encountering myself). This post, initially published at Small Reflections on March 11, 2008, seemed an appropriate early choice. I hope you enjoy the 'reprise' of ...

After visiting lots of blogs sporting this banner during the past few days and meeting even more stay-at-home-moms than I've met through participating in Haiku Friday weekly, I notice that some older bloggers like me have decided to 'crash' this Blog Party and introduce ourselves too.

When sharing a bit of Spring sunshine and a colorful collage of flowers from my yard here at Small Reflections on Saturday, I was tempted to add the 'logo' ... but didn't. Today, however, I'm putting my little blog 'out there' ... throwing open the doors and inviting visitors in ... looking forward to meeting new friends.

I've got freshly squeezed lemonade made with
Meyer lemons from my tree.

but if you'd rather, there's
freshly brewed coffee and/or tea (iced or hot)
... with fresh fruit ...

and other tasty snacks to munch while we visit.

I'm a happily retired educator living 'the good life' in a Southern California beach community with my 3 year old Labrador Retriever, Molly, and considerably older black feral cat, Ms. Kitty. I've written of them often and posted many photos ... most recently here. I started blogging here and at Sacred Ruminations late last October (knowing little or nothing about how to do anything in this 'virtual' world) ... and LOVE everything about it so far!

Just about everything there is to know about me is in my list of 101 Things About Me.

My Top 7 in 07 Small is Beautiful Review offers a sampling of my early posts.

I've made lots of Blogging Buddies who love to give & receive 'bling' ... (as do I) ... and you can meet some of them here because I enjoy passing along link-love regularly ... introducing folks to one another.

Would you care for some more lemonade ...

chips & salsa or guacamole?

The avocados are so good already this year!

Let's see ... what more shall I share about myself?

I participate in Haiku Friday here at Small Reflections and at Sacred Ruminations, Thursday Thirteen, Wordless Wednesday, and Sacred Life Sunday. Clicking on these links will take you to just those types of posts.

I've published a variety of memes along the way. Here's a link to my Photobucket. For the past two weeks I've joined the Meme Monday and Ten on Tuesday bloggers ... learning a bit more about them as I share about myself. I've just recently discovered One Single Impression and plan to participate with that group weekly.

I did NaBloPoMo & Holidailies in 2007 and I'm participating in Blog 365 this year, however my posts seldom show up in the MegaFeed because of a glitch.

How about a bit of tea or coffee


with some freshly baked cookies
before you leave?

I'm a member of Bloggers Over 50 ... Grateful Gals (I love to write & read gratitude posts) ... and Everyday Kindness. I try to remember to end each of my posts with a Thought for the Day, just as I did every day I spent in the classroom with children. Recently, I celebrated my 63rd birthday and enjoyed sharing it with my blogging buddies!

I appreciate you stopping by today ... hope you've enjoyed your visit & will want to return when time permits. I look forward to visiting your blog and getting better acquainted with you, so I hope you'll leave a comment with a link today. If there's anything you'd like to ask, feel free and I'll be delighted to respond.

Thought for Today
The greatest contribution that you can make is the aliveness that comes from simply being yourself, living your truth, and doing what you love. The passionate expression of who we are will heal the world." Shatki Gawain

My Awards and Bling - (part two)

Continued from My Awards and Bling - (part one)

Hmmm ... now that I've located and displayed these awards here, I'll need to get busy and SHARE them with MY BLOGGY FRIENDS too. I'll be doing that at Small Reflections and/or Sacred Ruminations very soon ... possibly even today?

39. Rhonda (who sometimes goes as Chuck) shared her photographic creativity in a recent post and asked readers to guess what the subject might be. She made and bestowed THIS nifty award on those of us who guessed 'in the ballpark' ... and I'm oh so proud of myself ;--)


In addition, Chuck passed this Sharing The Love Award along to me. It was created by Memoirs of A Mommy in honor the donor who saved her son Noah's life with a heart transplant. Her hopes are that we can create more awareness of the importance of organ donation by passing this award onto others.


38. Tammy at Mom Knows Everything generously shared these awards recently. Isn't she wonderful? Be sure to drop by for a visit and check out her blog.







Tammy also made and shared these two 'kewl' awards ... way back in early May in honor of her 1st Blogoversary ... but they 'got lost' in my computer until they surface today! Thanks so much for your generosity.



37. Akelamalu made this award for her friends at Everything and Nothing. Isn't it lovely?

Click for next 'bling' update!

Thought for Today
"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude." Cynthia Ozick

My Blog Awards and Bling - (part one)

To clear out my cluttered sidebar and restore order,

I've created this special page for
Blog Awards & Bling

Originally created in February of 2008 at Small Reflections and updated it periodically as I received new awards ... I decided to MOVE the post to this separate space (off of Small Reflections) in hopes that I could 'fix' some problems folks have experienced trying to access and leave comments on that blog in recent months. Instead of simply deleting everything there, I left a few 'early' bits of 'bling' there and create a note of explanation redirecting visitors to the new location ... here! What follows is all that was in that post. I intend to start a new post with 'awards & bling' received in the past few weeks since this one is already quite long. I'll add new 'bling' to that post rather than trying to mess with this one. Enjoy!!!

36. Mary (of Mary's Writing Nook) decided to participate in the Meme of Fours and created this new award to offer as an incentive to others when she invited them to play. She graciously extended it to me as well.


35. Misty Dawn of My Dogs Keep Me Sane also made this award for participants of Camera Critters and I shared it as an 'incentive' in my 23rd T-13 with those who participated in any of several 'memes' ... and left me a link to their Meme of Four, Kind Fives, Make a Wish, and/or Message in a Bottle post.

(courtesy of Misty Dawn)

34. On my Fun Monday #4 post of April 28th, I acknowledged and passed along the following awards in the following manner (and I quote myself here):

A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING:

Chris B at Ms Cellania
for this cool award and a Monday Motivational Meme!

I offer this award to everyone on my Blogroll!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Grandy of Functional Shumunctional
shared this 'original' award made with
her own loving hands ;--)

This award is up for grabs to all who comment on
today's post (or any other from last week)

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Betty of Betty's This and That
for this lovely rose!

This 'rose' goes to all my 'regular' readers
and anyone who decides to 'tag' themselves for the
Meme of Fives (see 2nd half of Fun Monday #4)
and leaves me a link to their post ;--)

* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Misty Dawn of My Dogs Keep Me Sane
made this award for participants
of Camera Critters

and for now ... I'm keeping this one for myself!

33. Thanks to Phyl from Scrappy n Happy in Ohio for sharing this special 'new' award with me and others.

I shared it here with blogging friends at Sacred Ruminations and here with more bloggers at Small Reflections. Phyl also shared this new link-love award with me (and others)

and I shared it with all who visit either (and/or both) of my blogs regularly in addition to anyone who left me a comment on that post. If you leave one HERE on this post, you're welcome to it also ;--)

32. Thanks to Mary of Mary's Writing Nook for this wonderful 'friendship' award! I shared it with 13 blogging buddies as part of Meme Monday #6 in the 2nd half of my Fun Monday #2 Double Nickel Challenge post.

31. Betty of Betty's This and That shared this new 'beagle' award and I shared it with all those who read and comment regularly here. In addition, Betty gave

30. Greatfullivin of Gratitude Journal designated Small Reflections a 'Blog of Distinction' and bestowed this award in mid-April. In checking just now I realize I've not passed it along as of May 7th, but I'll remedy that soon.

29. Zenaida left me this award at Verb in early April of 2008 when she tagged me for 'around the world tag' ... and I passed it along in my Meme Monday #5 post.

28. Mo (aka Greatfullivin) of Gratitude Journal created this wonderful 'Gratitude with Attitude Award and blessed me with it along with a few other blogging buddies. I shared it with 13 of my blogging friends.

27. Ivanhoe bestowed this delightful award upon me in April of 2008, and I happily shared it as well.


26. Thanks to Hootin' Anni for this cool award. She gave it to 13 of her friends then shared it with T-13 visitors that week as well. I offered to bloggers who decide to participate in the Make a Wish meme and link back to either of my 'wishes' here or here.


25. Melissa Markham of Melissa's Idea Garden awarded Small Reflections this award on 3-14-08 and I'll be sharing it soon with readers of this blog. I received it previously for Sacred Ruminations (see #12 below) and passed it along then to readers of that blog. Keeping this all straight is often confusing.


24. Rhonda, otherwise known as Chuck, at Foster Me Up created this special 'Easter egg' award and gave it to me recently. I look forward to sharing it with others very soon.


23. Mary of Mary's Writing Nook received this friendship award from me (that I've shared twice before) and bounced it back to me along with a 2nd copy of a previous 'friendship award' ... so I have them to pass along again to other blogging friends.



22. Eve of Adamswife's Weblog shared this one! Evidently ... I rock!!!

and so do these bloggers to whom
I pass this award along:

Akelamalu at Everything and Nothing
Chuck at Foster Me Up
Colleen at Loose Leaf Notes
Greatfullivin at Gratitude Journal
Hootin' Anni of Hootin' Anni
Karen at Journey to Authenticity
Joy at The Joy of Six
Mama Geek at What Works for Us
the Dream at You May Say I'm a Dreamer
Pussreboots
Sandy at Momisodes
Sue at Discombobula
Susan at West of Mars

21. Claudia of On a Limb gave this award from Chuck to all on the Everyday Kindness Blogroll.

I gave this award to the following bloggers
who spread the love joyfully:

Betty at Betty's This and That
Carla of zena musings and Women at Rest
His Girl Friday at Wellied on Life
Hootin' Anni of Hootin' Anni
Joy at The Joy of Six
Karen at Journey to Authenticity
Ladybug at Living in the Light I Find
Mary at Mary's Writing Nook
Melissa at Such Simple Pleasures
MPJ and A Room of Mama's Own
Sandy of Momisodes
Yolanda at Perfectly Imperfect

20. Betty of Betty's This and That gave Small Reflections her stamp approval! How cool is that?

19. Ivanhoe of Communique by Ivanhoe shared this award from the teach (both are bloggers I've recently encountered) with all on his Blogroll and I'm honored to be included.

18. Chuck of Foster Me Up (AKA Rhonda) generously passed along the following 3 awards. I've not passed them along as of 3-14-08, but intend to do so soon ... perhaps by the end of the month?

17. This cool t-shirt came from MPJ of A Room of Mama's Own who shared it with those who commented on her blog during February, and I shared it March 8th who all who had given me 'bling' and awards recently --Betty, Chuck, Claudia, Eve, and Ivanhoe.

16. Greatfullivin shared this 'Link-Love' award with me and others at Gratitude Journal on February 29th.

15. Mary gave this Friendship Award to me and other blogging friends at her Writing Nook and I passed it (and the special Small Reflections Blogging Buddies Award in #6 below) along to others on 2-29-08 in a Haiku Thank You post.

Shared on 2-29-08

As I add links to this now, I notice

she also shared this 'Nice Matters' award
to everyone on her Blogroll and that includes me ;--)
I've added it here and pass it along to others soon.

14. This week when MPJ left her comment on this post (while writing my response) it occurred to me that I had neglected to acknowledge receipt of two 'Thank Yous' from A Room of Mama's Own ... so I'm correcting that now. MPJ shared 'cookies' with her blogging buddies in December and this 'Thank You sign' in January.

I'm grateful for both
and I've decided to pass along the cookies here
to anyone who happens to see this post and add a comment.

I shared the 'Thank You Sign' this past week
on my T-13 Oronym challenge to all who played along.

13. This award came from Lucy at Diamonds in the Sky with Lucy and I shared it here with anyone who commented at Sacred Ruminations on the Monday Addendum to Saturday's Surprise post there.


12. Lucy (at Lucy Creates) bestowed the Excellent Blog Award to me for my Sacred Ruminations blog, and I passed it along to 11 others.


11. At her Writing Nook, Mary shared a variety of awards shown below that I, in turn, passed along here.

Two Belated Valentines
for all my friends at Small Reflections

Shared with 13 supportively caring blogging friends.

For everyone on my Blogroll

For all visitors

10. Joy surprised me in mid-February with this lovely award and some delightfully kind words at Joy of Six and I am most humbly grateful and appreciative.


9. Yolanda of Perfectly Imperfect shared a "Blessings Award" together with a call for prayer for those affected by the recent tornados.


8. Sandy of Momisodes recently shared this lovely Pink Floral Bouquet to "devoted readers and blog friends who keep her going everyday with comments" and this Spread the Love Award (that she received from Baby-Amore), and I passed both along.

The gorgeous Pink Bouquet went to anyone who visits and comments regularly at Small Reflections ... keeping ME going with their enthusiasm and support.

The Spread the Love Award went to all who stopped to share their thoughts at Small Reflections and to anyone who decided to tag themselves and do the Kind Fives Meme at Sacred Ruminations.

7. Miss*R at Tales of Inglewood created this blogging award to share with everyone who visits her blog, and I've passed it along on at each of my blogs ... here and here.

6. Mary of Mary's Writing Nook created two unique awards especially for me and my Small Reflections blog ... one to keep and one to share with others.

Best Blogging Buddies to Share with Others
(Shared on 2-29-08 on Haiku Thank You)

Young at Heart Award to Keep

5. About the same time, Mary P Jones of A Room of Mama's Own honored Sacred Ruminations with this Bloggin Blessing that I shared with three others.



4. Sandy of Momisodes shared this award with me for my Small Reflections blog and I passed it along in turn to 10 blogs that I find filled with rare gems and treasures.



3. Annie gave me my very 1st Blogging Award and I passed it along to 5 bloggers at Small Reflections and 5 more at Sacred Ruminations. When Karen awarded it to me a 2nd time, I shared it with 10 more bloggers at Sacred Ruminations ... and when Yolanda offered the award a 3rd time I passed it along to all visitors to Small Reflections.

I shared the following awards
with my Blogging Buddies in December of 2007
and add them here for the fun of it.

Best Blogging Buddies Ever

2. Akelamalu at Everything and Nothing created and shared these two Christmas Carol Quiz Awards with those who participated in her two Christmas Carol Quizzes here and here.

Quiz Two

Quiz One

1. Mary of Mary's Writing Nook created this Christmas Carol Quiz Award for me to offer to those who participated in my 1st Blog Quiz. I added the "snowy effects" myself. In addition, she created and shared with me the following:

Christmas Wreath

Modified with Snowy Effects

Original Award

Thought for Today
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." William Authur Ward

Continued in My Awards & Bling - Part Two