#AtoZChallenge: K is for Keeping up with my Shiznit

photo credit: “When I grow up, I’m gonna be the tiniest, most powerful-est Sith Lord in the whole galaxy!” via photopin (license)

So, I forgot what letter we’re on.

Twice. And what’s even better, I razzed fellow blog dad Eric of All in Dad’s Work about a guest post he promised me for this Wednesday. In the midst of the A to Z Challenge. For both of us.

Only, Eric has already guest posted for me.

In what can be attributed in equal parts to Canadian kindness and just being a standup guy, Eric wrapped up a post in his drafts folder to deliver the guest blog he didn’t have to deliver. Good man, Eric.

Guest Post: Vicki, of Horses, Dirt & Motherhood, on the Essentials of a Big Family

photo credit: “I am so…” via photopin (license)

Vicki’s life has a definite smell soundtrack.

“Horses, new babies and my husband!” she said with a laugh in a comment last year, when I took on the A to Z writing challenge. It was the post for B, about breakfast – and the glorious smells that lift our lives.

Vicki lifts plenty of spirits in her blog, Horses, Dirt & Motherhood.

She’s a kind, sharing soul with nine kids and a yard full of animals. A mom of nine! My mom tells me I used to wish for nine kids so I could field and entire baseball team. They might even give the actual Colorado Rockies a run for their money.

Guest Post: Janine, of Confessions of a Mommyaholic, on Baseball

photo credit: Starball via photopin (license)

I can count on certain certainties in life.

My daughters’ love.

My Rockies to struggle.

And for Janine Huldie to comment on my blog.

Janine, who writes Confessions of a Mommyaholic, has been a blog and life friend for years. In times when I’ve pondered the health of this blog and of myself, she’s been there to encourage. Unfailingly. Janine embodies the kind of kindness and loyalty that can help sustain you during good times and bad.

Guest Post: Camdyn shares her favorite websites

photo credit: “listen up…” via photopin (license)

One thing – sometimes I ask the universe for just one good thing.

Usually, it’s a word from someone I love or a gesture. I feel like if I can get just this one thing, I can carry on. I get it sometimes. It’s a well-timed text, a smile from a stranger. Maybe it’s a Norah Jones song on the Pandora or the biggest slice of pizza at the café.

Lately, that something has come in just the nick of time has pretty almond eyes and killer soccer shot.

Grace has been a life-saver. At times I feel downtrodden or can’t figure out why people do what they do or say what they say or why the universe seems to have left me at the terminal, Camdyn comes through. She plans time for us together. She texts me.

Guest Post: Paige of Tales from the Laundry Room, on a Conversation with a Random Stranger

photo credit: Look here so I can brush your teeth via photopin (license)

---

 

Jesus is just all right, said Paige.

She said more than that. I can’t pass an opportunity to quote that song, though. Paige Hamilton writes on life as a mom/wife/foster mom and more on her blog, Tales from the Laundry Room. She debuted here on the CD during a six-words post.

I asked what we’d upgrade in ourselves, if given the chance.

Her response: “My upgrade: More Jesus, Less Paige.” We’d all fare worse with less Paige, though. If you haven’t checked out her blog, do it. She writes of life and love and faith, of the random happenings of every day and profound thoughts, too.

Today, she’s here to share a conversation with a random stranger.

Guest Post: Eric of All in a Dad’s Work, on Unsolicited Advice to Himself

photo credit: Sony RX1 sample 1 via photopin (license)

---

Paired up, it’s tough to tell just what order of shenanigans Eric and I would find.

Eric Wood writes the blog All in a Dad’s Work. He popped up around here during the early stages of my A-to-Z Challenge. At the letter C, in fact. In a river of fabulous hair and ocean of motherhood that is my readership, Eric stood out. Mainly because of his bald head and the fact that he’s a dude. A Canadian dude, at that.

He’s also a soccer coach.

He and I could be cast as madcap bumbling cops who nevertheless get the job done. Or, as the bad guys in a movie like 101 Dalmatians. Either or. He’s stuck around and become a good blogging friend.

Guest Post: PD, from Cricket Muse, on Grrs and Greats

photo credit: Never trust an Ewok via photopin (license)

# # #

Sometimes, happiness and sadness is a matter of mere inches.

They say that in sports. Joe Hawley plays center for the 6-10 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He told me Sunday that football is a game of inches. An inch here or an inch there, he reasoned, and maybe they’d be like the 15-1 Carolina Panthers and not third-place Atlanta.

Today’s guest post is about a world of difference – in a matter of letters.

PD Webb writes the blog CricketMuse: : A Writer’s Journey as a Reader. She once had a story published in Highlights for Children, ya’ll. That’s cool stuff. She blogs about reading and writing and also about just writing.

On the Road Again: This Time, at All in a Dad’s Work

photo credit: Walking toward todays adventures via photopin (license)

So, I’ve switched teams a few times.

No, not those teams. I’ve signed a lifetime contract on that front. I’m talking God teams. Or, creator teams. Call it what you’d like. Raised Catholic, then transformed to Episcopalean.

Tried out Lutheran.

Now, I spend Sunday mornings meditating in a Buddhist center. I get to wear soccer coach pants. I absorb some of the best lessons from my teachers there. But that’s just today’s chapters of my faith.

On the Road Again: This Time at Making the Days Count, to Break Down ‘River of Dreams’

photo credit: I think this is the gear we’re looking for via photopin (license)

I’ve been all over the place lately.

I posted the usual Go Ask Daddy on Friday (did you know speed stacking qualifies as a bona fide sport?). Then, late Friday/early Saturday, I ran across Christine’s rendition of 10 Things of Thankful on A Fly on the Chicken Coop Wall, and had a go of it for the first time.

Then, I posted Sunday afternoon, fresh off watching the Carolina Panthers remain unbeaten, with a Christmas post for the Literary Musings linkup.

By Monday, it was back to work. I posted a story of another example of my ineptitude at being Hispanic. Even though we don’t observe las posadas, we can still get down with Mexican food.

Guest Post: Jess from The Happiness Project, on 3 Books, CDs and Quotes to Share With the World

photo credit: Guys, we’ve gotta get off this rock!!! via photopin (license)

Jess Witkins has this endearing clumsiness to her.

And I do mean endearing. One of my favorite posts on The Happiness Project is about her busting her face at Circus World. It’s so pathetic it’s adorable. The whole world loves a the girl to whom physical comedy is a gift.

Jess wrote once of a serendipitous meeting with a favorite actor. Read it here because I don’t want to spoil it. You must read this.

She’s brought her show to the CD today to talk about the three songs, three books and three CDs she’d gift to the world. Jess has had, as have many of us, a whirlwind, topsy-turvy kind of holiday season so far.