Ex-cell-ent (imagine Bill and Ted accent here)

Validation is a sweet sweet thing. People who know me well understand that my blog title is very honest. I am riddled with anxieties. These same people also scoff at me because they say I have no reason to be anxiety ridden every moment of every day.


My response: since when has reason had anything to do with anxiety?????


So every little validation - while it doesn't alleviate my feelings of inadequacies, it does make me realize I'm pretty crazy to keep having them. And that's an ok thing.

So thanks to Ian Lidster from Or So I Thought for giving me a place on his top 10 list of Excellent Blogs. How extraordinary! The fact that Ian is actually a man who makes a living by the quill - being a journalist and freelance writer is even more exciting since I imagine that some day, some how, I might publish... well... something.

This blogging thing is my first foray into writing for myself versus writing crap brochures and marketing docs for my job.


So the terms of the awards require that I give back to others - so here's my top 10 list of Excellent Blogs:

1. Searching for an Even Balance. This blog is special to my heart because it has re-introduced me to my niece. Only 9 years my junior, I still always viewed her as a child, a teenager at most, despite the fact she is a very intelligent, grown up woman with a husband and a child and a very entertaining view of life.


2. View from the Passenger Seat. Amybow authors this blog and sits only two cubicles away from me in our own personal Dilbert-hell environment. She taught me about blogging and keeps me sane with our regular walks and lunch escapes from the insanity.


3. Good Intentions. Again, I personally know the author of this blog. Kiki also shares our life and times at Uncle Malcolm's House of Pain (job nickname) and keeps me laughing with our shared sense of the ridiculous. I've learned more about Kiki from her blog than from our conversations at work, and I find her to be an amazing woman.


4. Jason for the Love of God. Touching, funny, totally and brutally honest wrapped up in a gifted storytelling style. Chick simply awes me.


5. Derfwad Manor. I love Mrs. G (as do many others based on her nearly 100 comments per day). I think her ability to think up such engaging posts is really amazing. And sharing her bounty of readership with others with her Slow Cook Thursdays is very generous.


6. Juggling Life. I've only been reading this blog for the last month - since she was featured on Derfwad Manor, but I love it. Great family, fun stories, Almost Wordless Wednesdays, and very inventive nicknames for her featured players.


7. Or So I Thought. Back at ya Ian. I enjoy your writing although I am sometimes intimidated by your depth of knowledge and experience. You encourage me to take the time to read those depressing newspapers, turn off the movie channel and check out the news, and pay attention to the world around me.


8. Stephanie's Place. Although many of her posts are just...painful...as they deal with the trials and tribulations of step-parenting with a highly dysfunctional "other parent" she has termed Egg Donor (ED) - she certainly writes from the heart and I am in awe of her dedication and fortitude.


9. 60 Piggies. For pure artistry - in images, craft, and word. I often feel I'm visiting a museum or a library - but one that has been infused with a lovely homey warmth - when I visit 60 piggies.


10. Artistic Balance. This is hubby's space and my love of this blog is totally tied to my love of him. He has a wonderful artist's soul that still sucks it up and goes to work every day to help pay our bills. I wish he could spend more time on his photography and his painting, but until that day - I hope he continues to pursue this hobby so we can enjoy the fruits of his labor together.

If you didn't make my list - you are still among my favorites or you wouldn't be what populates my blogroll and keeps me up until 3:00AM reading and commenting.

Go visit and enjoy them as I do....my most excellent friends.