Old Fashioned Blogging

So a bunch of us old fart, old school bloggers have reunited on Facebook and have a little group going. The membership criterion is that you have to have been blogging since 2010 and therefore remember blogging when it was all about the writing, and not so much about the blagging of free stuff.

And wouldn't you know it, there's an award being given out and a meme circulating. Just like the old times. I could cry (with joy and fond memories).

Joanne Mallon, who blogs at Opposable Thumbs (great name) has blessed me (and several other old farts) with the award, and of course I have a list of duties too. First is displaying the award and linking to the awarder. Done.

Next is slightly more difficult - name another 15 bloggers to award and pass the meme on to. Since Joanne nicked all the bloggers off the Facebook page I will have to dig deep in the recesses of my shaky memory and find some more. Or, I could just look through my old blog posts for commenters.

And then of course, there are the 7 things about me that not too  many people know -

Ahem. Cough.

1. I established and now run a charity to help fund a fantastic little school in Ghana. We are still building but this year we had our highest number of middle school graduates, which is what it's all about. I went out to Ghana in 2011 and had a blast. (Caring Kid Connections, is the charity.)

2. I studied ballet, tap and modern dance from the ages of about 5-18, and can still do a mean time step when there's a hard wood floor and a bottle of Pinot Grigio around. Not so much the ballet as my knees are quite crumbly now. My feet are also a disgrace.

3. I am living vicariously through my older kids these days. One is working as a political journalist in Washington DC, and the other is studying Music (mainly rock) at a Music College. If I could go back and do it all again I would have trained as a journalist (except there were no courses in those days) and rocked out on stage at the weekends!

4. I didn't start my second career of writing until I was in my forties, thus proving that it's never too late.

5. I now write for the BBC America web site and the Wall Street Journal Expat web site - both of which actually PAY! I have also written a couple of books.

6. I've lived in the USA for 25 years and still dread Chicago winters. Nothing, but nothing, in the UK is as cold as a Chicago winter. OK, now I've put myself in a bad mood.

7. I can touch my nose with my tongue.

So - without further ado - I am awarding the following old time bloggers -

Lulu/Lucy at Family Affairs and other Matters

Elizabeth at Welsh Hills Again

Nappy Valley Mum at From the Valley to the Palais

Potty at The Potty Diaries

Iota at The Iota Quota

Michelle at The American Resident

Hadriana at Hadriana's Treasures

Elsie Button at Flower Fairies and Fairy Cakes

Deborah at Metropolitan Mum

Mike at Postcards from Across the Pond

I was supposed to do 15 but I can't find too many bloggers who've been around since 2010.
Anyway, you're all awarded and tagged. Here are the rules:

- Display the award certificate on your web site
- Announce your win with a post and link to whoever presented your award
- Present award to 15 deserving bloggers
- Drop them a comment to tip them off after you've linked to them in the post
- Post 7 interesting things about yourself

Have Fun!