You know you’re up for this one!

(Okay, I’ve been scheduling posts for a couple weeks now, so I’ve got one or two up on you… but that doesn’t mean this challenge is insurmountable!)

I first became aware of the A to Z Challenge a couple of years ago. I kept vowing to team up with Jett and do it over at The Rock of Pages “next year,” and then 2016 was going to be our year. We were going to take the plunge.

And then I took a plunge of another kind.

So now that it’s 2017 and I’m picking up the pieces that got left behind in a pool of eye goop (charming, huh? I’ll fess up: there was no pool of eye goop. I’m taking an author’s liberties), and the A to Z Challenge is one of them. Only… I’m going to do it over here, not at The Rock of Pages. Jett is busy and I’d rather put the time in here. I’ve been absent for too long.

Here’s how the challenge works: You blog about something starting with a certain letter of the alphabet every day during April, usually taking Sundays off. Because of the way the calendar worked this year, there’s a Sunday or two that you have to blog on, but… that’s what the scheduling feature is for!

You can read the rest of the details over here, at the post announcing this year’s challenge.

This is a great way to widen your circle of networking contacts, make new friends, and push yourself to accomplish something new. Come join me during April. It’s going to be a lot of fun — and if not, hopefully thought-provoking.

So, yeah. Not only did I get to meet a cool new blogger for the Best of the Burghosphere fun, I got to meet another one.

Bold Pittsburgh, who takes a BOLD look at life here in Da Burgh.

He/She/They — they have a big staff — gave me a pretty serious award. “The blog with the Behind the Scenes look at an Author and Editor” — that’s pretty cool. Yeah, I’d been hoping for something more fun, especially since my friend Hana, the Green Grandma herself, got the award for “Blogger Most Likely to Keep You From Poisoning Yourself While She Simultaneously Gives You Birthing Tips” — but it was my buddy JJ came up with that.

You mystery lovers, go check out JJ’s books.

Okay, shameless plug for a buddy aside, I’m super glad to be on the radar of the cool folk over at Bold Pittsburgh. I’d love to be a contributor, even, in my copious spare time (yeah, like 30 of my favorite clients just groaned and sent their inboxes death glares ’cause they’d really like to continue our conversation than see I’m continuing to lollygag when it comes to e-mail). So we’ll see what’s going to happen. Probably nothing, but a girl can hope.

Speaking of hoping, I’ve committed to going to the Best of the Burghosphere Friday night (adults only) party. Hana and JJ have been tasked with making sure I don’t weasel out, and my kids are ready to throw me out the door even though the party’s not for a few weeks yet. I don’t suppose anyone’s got some hot male eye candy who’d be glad to adorn my arm for the evening? And those of you who know of my preferences in that department*, I’ll let you raid my chocolate freezer if you make it happen.

Like I said, a girl can hope.

*before you go cluttering up my comments here or on FB, please remember that I do have a stalker issue and the less we say publicly, the safer I am and the safer my kids are and the safer the eye candy is. You wanna talk about my hot man? Use e-mail ’cause if the stalker’s in my mail and I find proof of that, I’m pressing charges this time. Period. End of discussion.

This post needed my logo. But it needs another one, too:

That’s because although I’m a proud Pittsburgher, I’ve lived below the radar for too long. Time to change that. And one way was to join the Best of the Burghosphere 2015 celebration, in conjunction with Most Wanted Fine Art and Sue Kerr, who I’ve known via social media for a long time now.

Here’s a bit about the project:

Most Wanted Fine Art is pleased to team up with Pittsburgh Bloggers to acknowledge and honor the contributions of bloggers through Pittsburgh’s blogosphere (aka “Burghosphere”) with an awards ceremony that also pays tribute to our love for all lists Top Ten.

Whether blogging is an art, craft or off-shoot of journalism, it is a labor of love and creativity that infuses our lives with new ideas and an unparalled opportunity to engage (and sometimes, outrage) our community. To be a blogger is to be among the best. There is no ranking, no competition and no criteria. The act of blogging is all that is required.

Now, come on. How can your favorite heavy metal editor not join in this sort of fun? It’s right up my alley!

And I’m glad I did.

I got to investigate LJSkool, which is an incredibly energetic, upbeat blog about parenting and homeschooling. Truth? It made me sad homeschooling wasn’t an option for me and my kids ’cause the way this family learns? Would have been perfect for the gang I’ve got. Of course, it would leave me next to zero time to work, but on the other hand, I’d be out living life and not hiding behind a computer all day. We’d be having adventures, challenging both myself and the kids, learning the way learning was probably meant to be done, through experience and direct contact, not blackboards and bell schedules and backpacks that are allowed in some classes and not in others.

Anyway, in the end, I’m jealous as anything. To have the freedom to teach, to explore this magnificent city of ours, to use it as a backdrop for learning… Definitely jealous.

So it’s my privilege and delight to award LJSkool the Best, Most Upbeat Homeschooling and Parenting Blog in the entire City of Pittsburgh.