Paying It Forward

Part of receiving The Versatile Blogger Award from Suzie Tullett is naming other blogs that should receive the award.

The criteria stated 15 blogs, but that's a lot. I don't read 15 other blogs regularly -- maybe I need to expand.
And a lot of blogs don't accept awards. So that's fine. If I nominate you and you don't accept awards then just ignore me (or leave a comment if you want).
If you do accept awards, then please accept The Versatile Blogger Award and write a post about seven random things your readers don't know about you.
Since I'm a Francophile and a writer, many of the blogs I read focus on those topics.
Frenchless in France by Linda Mathieu makes me feel like I'm in Paris with her. She's the author of a Kindele book, Secrets of a Paris Tour Guide.

du Jour by Delana is living my dream. She's a Minnesota gal who moved to southern France and writes about her adventures there. She also runs a business called Provence Rugs.

My friend Sheila writes Life's Many Colors. She's the healthiest person I know and also writes about the trials of raising children, homeschooling, art projects and rehabbing her bungalow.

My daughter Grace started a blog called Life Allons-y when she went to college and then spent fall semester in France.

Artist Sally Tharpes Rowles writes Between Here and There and spends summers in France.

Diane writes Bibliophile by the Sea reviewing books and discovering great authors.

Tongue in Cheek by Corey is all about an American woman who married a Frenchman and loves antiques. I love her photos and her American gaffes.

Book Pregnant is a new blog about some authors whose first books are getting ready to be published. They provide me lots of info about what will someday happen when I get a book deal.

At Home With Books by Alyce is, you guessed it, about reading and books. She also does a Saturday Snapshot meme once a week that draws lots of readers and great pictures.

Lucia writes On My Way 2 Work & Other Stuff. She takes gorgeous pictures of sunrises and shares my love for foreign countries.

I know this isn't 15, but these are some blogs that I enjoy and that I wanted to offer the Versatile Blogger Award.

Awards

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"Great day!"
The text buzzed me while I was in a cubicle filled with students looking for help on their English essays.
My daughter was in school, but that never seemed to interfere with her ability to text. The trick, she'd told me, was to look straight at the teacher and the teacher would never glance down to see my daughter's hands busily pushing keys on the bright purple phone.
I couldn't wait to find out why my normally subdued daughter used a word as effusive as "great." Must have been bomb scares and fire drills that kept them out of class all day.
"What happened?" I texted back while feigning interest in an especially scintillating narrative that compared life in a nearby suburb with the gritty toughness of our community college.
"We had awards in French club and I won best legs!!!"
I pictured the high school boys sitting in their wooden desk perusing the girls legs as they jutted from beneath the desks. And even though I knew she'd worn jeans that day, I suddenly pictured her in the plaid shorts that ended high on her thigh, her legs pale and bare as the boys raked them with their eyes before casting a vote for her.
I felt protective, but, as someone whose legs resemble Greek columns more than sexy gams, I was a little proud. My daughter, standing nearly five inches taller than me, and those five inches all in the legs, would never have to hem pants or settle for ones that fit tight in the thighs and loose around the waist. Best legs.
The phone vibrated again.
"Oh, I was nominated for National Honor Society too. Love you."