What's in a name?

Dear Jadyn and Liana,

When I started this blog earlier this year, I thought I would be writing to myself, mostly. I've been used to writing for an audience, but never one so compassionate. I'm glad I found them. Or they found me.

There are some fabulous bloggers reading this blog, who actually care what goes on in our lives. Amazing, huh?

I'm not surprised by most of the bloggers who came forth earlier this week to mention that they are a blogger except for the Indian Textiles guy. That's new to me, but not totally surprising since I have a huge fascination for Indian culture and food. Perhaps he'll return and comment more often, not just for the blog roll list. And, then, there was the sweet lady from Working Mothers Without Guilt. She probably hasn't read much of my previous posts so we'll let her explore for a while before she commits to being on the blog roll.

So, Jadyn. So, Liana. Here are some of our blogging friends -- a few you know already -- and here's a little about them.

PJ Hoover. I've been impressed by PJ's writing blog for some time, how she tries eagerly to stay on task of writing, and inspiring writing. She's so motivated, actually, that she will become a published author next year in the young adult genre. I didn't even realize she had a non-writing blog.

Shannon. I told you about Shannon last week in a post about cyber soul mates. She is also mom of twins who were born only two weeks before you were. She blogs about writing, mostly.

MPJ. You know her because she comments here the most. MPJ writes passionately about various topics, but probably known most for her amazing ability to tell-all (anonymously) about her husband's sex addiction and how she's devoted to him after so many lies. That's love. But, that's not all. She has plenty other great topics that she discusses, including her autistic son who she once wrote is a lot like her, unlike her daughter. And, she reaches an audience of recovered addicts.

Candace. I had to laugh when Candace wasn't sure if she had a special interest. She wrote, "My only special interest tends to be my daughter though." Seriously, Candace, is anything else possible with children? Candace, a good ol' southern mama, has a 2-year-old, Anna, and just celebrated her wedding anniversary this week. She wrote a cute note to her husband that included this," You have suffered through chicken so dry you need a whole glass of water to swallow one bite." Candace also writes a cute blog from the perspective of Anna.

Kasie Sallee. An artist. An Oklahoman mommy to two girls, 5 and 2. What more can be written? She writes about the balance of mom and artist, including writers, on her blog The Art of Life. She is a passionate person, you can tell, by reading her posts.

Lesley. I hate to admit this, but this blogger just might have one of the cutest sets of twins around. Check out her boy/girl cuties who are just about 9 months old. She writes about being a mom of twins, and other topics related to being a mom.

Finally, I've linked to this guy, plenty, and he has numerous fans as it is. Though, not as many as his wife.

So, there you have it. A short but sweet list of bloggers to check out, if you haven't already.

As for the surprise, perhaps I built it up too much. Perhaps a housekeeper or a babysitter is really the only gift you'd be happy with. But, a little link love will just have to suffice. That, and the best gift of all ... which are both located in the very first line of this post.

On making friends, and keeping them

The Internets cracks me up, and amazes me. The world of blogging has to be the biggest story untold every day.

One of my devoted readers, MPJ, recently wrote a funny post about a cyber love triangle among she and her commenters. She wrote that one of the friendships has developed into a cyber soulmate. In the end, she had to pick.

I'm writing a column about blogging for a parenting publication, and in it I'm trying to make the point that moms should read blogs if they are searching for people who think like them or who have the same daily challenges.

If there is a cyber soulmate for me, it might be Shannon, who is also a stay-at-home mom of 17-month-old twins and frantically writes during their naps and tries to find the balance daily. Hmm. Sounds very familiar.

Shannon and I recently discussed the isolation we feel as both mothers and writers --two jobs that keep us home all day. Our other job, parenting twin toddlers, also keeps us home all day because we're pretty much terrified to go anywhere with them that might bring about some stress.

Brian, a stay-at-home dad of three, including twins, and a writer, alluded to some cyber soulmate confession while answering my question to him about raising twins. Read that Q&A here. And, yes, I do laugh when one of the twins smacks the other in the head. And when they head butt or, the very latest, butt-butt.

Amazing who we find on these pages. I'm hooked.

Who would your cyber soulmate be if you could describe them?