Reflections and Ramblings

Reflections on the A to Z April Challenge

First of all thanks, Lee, at Tossing It Out for creating the A to Z. Great idea.

The A-Z was lots of work to create posts prior to the challenge, schedule them, and visit the other participators and comment. In the beginning, I continually thought about my posts. At the end, I thought little about my posts. Here are a few thoughts about my experience.

The good experience:

·         I found out that I CAN write a lot of words in one month. I can’t make them perfect in that timeframe, but there are words in my brain begging to come out and I didn’t realize this fact until the A-Z.

·         I found new blogs with awesome people.

·         I gained 100+ followers.

The bad experience:

·         The A-Z is not for the faint of heart. Preparing posts ahead of time is the key.

·         I dreamed about the stories. (True story.)

·         When it was over, I felt exhausted and…empty. Too dramatic?

I told my daughter that I will never ever-ever participate in the A to Z Challenge again. She said, “Yes you will.” I said, “I know.”

I liken the A-Z Challenge to childbirth, you swear you’ll never go there again—and yet, YOU DO, because the memory of the pain and discomfort fades after you see the product. So, I will probably- maybe—we’ll see, participate in another A to Z Blogging Challenge. And...

I think I'll edit and make my wad of stories into an e-Book.

Now back to my regularly scheduled program….

Speaking of one of my new followers, I received an award from a nut who is two years old. Now before you click out and leave me thinking I’m crazy, let me go on. The Writing Nut, whose blog is two years old, gave me an awesome award: The Versatile Blogger Award. She is celebrating her blogaversary, too, with a giveaway. So be sure to go visit her. She is nuts about writing, but her blog isn’t nutty. Okay, okay I’ll stop. She does have a very cool blog with lots going on. Thank you Writing Nut for the award. You’re blog is tops.

There are two suggestions:

1.      Share 7 completely random pieces of information about oneself.

2.      Share the award with 15 bloggers.

I won’t choose 15 bloggers because you’re all special to me. But, here are seven (7) random things about me.

1.      I love to eat pie over cake. This doesn’t mean I stand over cake eating the pie, either.

2.      I use to sew nearly all my clothing including jackets and coats. Not underwear. Is that too much information?

3.      I am an obsessive-compulsive person with ADD. For instance, in my unfocused world I leave things lying around the house, AND THEN my OCD side follows behind cleaning up after me. (Are you picturing it?) Try living with that one.

4.      My first job was at 16 and as a waitress.

5.      My first car was a Ford Mustang that my parents bought me.

6.      I love to watch psychological thrillers even though I’m a scaredy cat.

7.      PLEASE DON’T HATE ME, but I love to clean my house.

Movies (old and new) I’ve watched lately that I liked:

·         Mirror Mirror

·         We Bought a Zoo

·         Hide and Seek

I’m reading: Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson.

I think I’m caught up with you now.

JW