I am honored to have been nominated by a fellow blogger and a fellow attorney for the Sunshine Blogger Award, Jeff Neurman of Its In My Blood. I really enjoy participating in these challenges and getting to know other bloggers. Also, getting any kind of award is always appreciated and, what can I say, I was born competitive and law school only made that much worse.

What is the Sunshine Blogger Award?

The Sunshine Blogger Award is an award of recognition to bloggers from fellow bloggers. It is a way to recognize those who are creative, positive and inspiring — people who spread sunshine to the blogging community. 

What are the Rules?

To keep spreading the love, these are the rules of the Sunshine Blogger Award:

• Thank the person who nominated you, and provide a link back to their blogging sites.
• Answer their questions.
• Nominate up to 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions.
• Notify the nominees about their nomination via their blog or social media.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post.

Jeff’s Questions for the bloggers he nominated (and my answers thereto):

1. What about blogging gives you the greatest satisfaction or joy? I write blog posts primarily because it is cathartic for me. I notice things or I’m working through something and writing it out helps me to connect better to my own feelings. I also write to leave a record of who I am, in my own words, for my boys. These primary goals are so inward focused that, frankly, it still surprises me sometimes that my words resonate with others. For now, the knowledge that I’ve been able to touch other people, put their feelings into words too, that’s what gives me joy.
2. Conversely, what do you find most challenging or disappointing — if anything — about blogging? I write a lot. If I’m not journaling or writing letters for my children or advocating for something, then I’m blogging. My writing process is very much stream of consciousness and then I go back later to clean it up a little. The biggest struggle I’ve had is that I have lots to say and sometimes by the time a post comes up in the queue, it’s not as relevant. I’m still trying to figure out the right balance.
3. Have you ever done any writing (school work doesn’t count) before starting your blog? I wrote a lot of short stories in high school for fun. I actually had a book writing club where we each wrote a chapter and then discussed it when I was in middle school. I wish I’d kept it. I’ve always been a letter writer, even now when it’s out of fashion. I wrote a lot in college and in law school. Out of law school, I wrote all day long, but it was so technical and careful. I enjoy writing about real things and I’d rather write to be persuasive than just for the sake of writing.
4. What is your favorite vacation destination (which, if you are somewhat of a homebody can include a staycation)? Anywhere there is a beach. The beach is my happy place.
5. Is there any food you absolutely cannot stand the sight of (pre-chemo, for those for whom that is applicable)? Why? Bananas and fried chicken. I enjoyed both before pregnancies and now I get nauseous if I smell either. There are also quite a few foods that I ate during chemo that now I can’t stand. My mom made me these wonderful green smoothies to keep my strength up and now I can’t see or smell them.
6. Do you believe that it is wrong that a “season” of a television show (which you probably watch via Netflix or Amazon) is only 8 or 9 episodes and takes over a year to produce? Discuss. I hate waiting for the next season just as much as the next person, but I have to say that the anticipation (so long as it is met) is often half the fun. I often start at the beginning and binge watch all seasons of my favorite shows so I’m all caught up and ready for the next season.
7. If you go to the movies, do you just suck it up and buy the larger size popcorn because it is not really that much more and seems like a better deal even though no human being needs that much popcorn? Defend your position. I love popcorn. Caramel corn, the buttery stuff, all of it. I would always get the largest one because there is always someone wanting to share! Plus, it’s better to have too much than not enough, especially where my boys are concerned.
8. What was your least favorite subject in school? Math. My calculus teacher in high school would often let me take the tests twice because inevitably I would make addition errors or transpose numbers. I thought I was avoiding math by going to law school. Nope. It was literally the worst day on my first professional job, when I had to crunch numbers in front of a judge. I still have nightmares about that sometimes. I’m pretty sure I got them all wrong and had to fix it later.
9. Do you think that there are too many lawyers in the world? (The answer I am looking for here, as a lawyer, is yes.). The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that I think law school should be more difficult to get into and we need to screen applicants better.
10. Is it right that Pluto got downgraded from planet status? (This is a bit of a dated issue, but it still concerns me.). I still get turned around on why this changed, especially since I’m pretty sure it happened after I was already long out of school. Generally, I think despite the reasons for the recharacterization, Pluto should still be a planet.
11. What is your favorite non-primary color? Purple!

My nominations for the Sunshine Blogger Award

When Jeff listed his nominees, he said some really amazing things about each person. Since it’s hard for me to tease out why I love each blog listed below, I’m just going to say this: when each person on this list publishes a blog, it’s like my birthday, I get to read more by and about each one. You, dear reader, should definitely check each one out.

1. Life, love and the dirty c-word.
2. Sharon Kehl Califano
3. Outlivinglungcancer.com
4. LifewithLane.net
5. Kristie Konsoer
6. Sandra Spivey
7. Life on the cancer train
8. Beyond the Pink Ribbon
9. Connie Rosser Riddle

My questions for my Nominees

1. What led you to start blogging?
2. Who is/are your childhood hero(s)?
3. Who are the people in your life with the most influence?
4. If you could go back in time to meet one person, who would it be? Why?
5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

1. What is your favorite book and why?
2. What is the most memorable thing about you?
3. Look at the most recent picture in your phone and tell us what it is and why you took the picture.
4. Dogs or cats? Why?
5. What was the most difficult conversation you’ve ever had and why?
6. What one word sums up 2019 so far for you?

I can’t wait to read the responses and get to know each of the bloggers a bit better. Until then, Happy #MetsMonday!