February 20th?! Apparently 2011 is going to be another one of those years that simply flies by. I’m behind on reading again. This was a heavy deadline week. But really? February 20? Wow!

Recipes That Made My Mouth Water:

Fire/EMS Blog Posts That I Particularly Enjoyed or Think You Should Read:

  • I Got a Job by Hydrantgirl. Go give her some congratulations for landing a full time paramedic position. Also, give her high fives for saying “holy snotsticks.” HIGH FIVE!
  • The Visit We Hope We Never Receive by Trina at Too Hot to Handle. A post about the LODD of Firefighter Glenn L. Allen and how news of such things sends a chill down the spine of fire wives all over the world.
  • I Am Recruiting by Just Me at Just My Blog. In short, the youngest child of The Happy Medic is in the ICU. If you’d like to get send something to the family, see the post referenced for ideas and how to’s. See also This post at Pink Warm and Dry for a definition of family if you don’t quite understand why we’re rallying around this family.

Photo Blog Posts That Inspired Me:

  • 46/365 by Cynthia at Freezing memories, one day at a time. Not only are the photos of her son so darn cute, but the story… well, it made me all weepy. Read it.
  • List #15: 7 Things To Do When You Need to Add Good To Your Day by Karen Walrond at Chookooloonks. I think, with snow in the forecast again this week despite the fact that I have lily sprouts through the ground, I’m going to take Karen’s advice. Great post.

My Absolute Favorites of the Week:

  • Bird Count and Self Promotion (Plus Pretty Pictures!) by Kim at Arizona Writer. As a photographer who devotes a large amount of time to stalking birds, I have always admired Kim’s work. This post? I love. Lots. The Yellow-Headed Blackbirds photo? I want. Badly.
  • Photographic Darkness by Casey at Moosh in Indy. Just read it. There are also very few pictures of me during any time that I struggled with depression, postpartum, pregnancy or otherwise. Really, this post is a must read.
  • Making It Work: Traveling While Lactating by Jory Des Jardins at From Here to Autonomy. Any mother who has traveled and pumped (or pumped ever) will appreciate the humorous honesty in this post. Keep it up, Jory.
  • Ann Landers by Loralee Choate at Loarelee’s Looneytunes. I don’t know why we continue to submit ourself to the stupid that is Ann Landers’ column, but I love Loralee’s rant. In addition to that, the truth remains that I really wouldn’t be in the place where I am today if it wasn’t for my blog(s). I have been challenged, been helped and been encouraged by others willing to comment, share, push and love me through my darkest of times. Good rant. Lesson: Ignore Ann Landers.
  • Behaving Badly by Christina at A Mommy Story. Her post is a beautiful finger-pointing at some things that have been driving me crazy as of late as well. I like this paragraph:

    Our society is teetering towards a loss of all civility. It’s like people are rebelling from the politically correct atmosphere of the last decade and swinging to the polar opposite. Maybe all of the power of anonymity on the internet is spilling over into our day-to-day behavior? (Note to offenders: when you act like an internet troll to the people in your community, we actually know who you are. And then don’t like you.)

A Few of My Favorite Photos This Week:

I took a lot of photos this week and it was a hard decision for me.

Waiting, Watching
We took the boys bowling. Loved it!

February Lily Sprouts
Yes, those are lily sprouts. In February. Not a crazy great picture, but a crazy awesome thing.

February Geocaching
I love the texture nature gave to this photo. I can almost feel it.

I am so excited for what this week holds. I’m dealing with some stuff as well, but I just have this level of Kool-Aid Man “OH YEAH!” for this week. I hope you can find some of that in your upcoming week as well.

 

I’m desperately behind in my blog reading this week. It was one of those super busy, deadline filled, crazy weeks that flew by, and before I knew it Sunday morning was upon me. If I missed something amazing you wrote this week, please let me know.  Now onto the favorites that I did get to read this week.

Recipes That Made My Mouth Water:

Fire/EMS Blog Posts That I Particularly Enjoyed or Think You Should Read:

  • At the sharp end and its follow-up, At the sharp end II by Kal at Trauma Queen. First off, these are both intense posts that made my stomach lurch for a fellow blogger and friend. Secondly, these two posts are evidence of crazy amazing writing — not just within the fire/EMS blog niche but in general. This? Is good writing. Read it. It’s the best fire/EMS post/series this week.

Photo Blog Posts That Inspired Me

  • A Taste of Spring by Sarah at One Starry Night. While Sarah isn’t solely a photo blogger, she is an amazing photographer. This post made me long for spring which, I’m hoping, is right around the corner.
  • Overcoming Fears | Foundation Workshop 9 by Mary at Birchtree Photography. Not only are the photos that she shared moving and amazing, but the words she shared about fears and photography are inspiring.

Books I’ve Read/Book Posts I Liked:

My Ultimate Favorites of the Week:

  • Dear Author by Sassymonkey at Sassymonkey Reads. If you missed the drama created by author Sylvia Massara, you are out of luck. The author bashed “unprofessional reviewers,” which created a crazy amount of comments from bloggers all over the web — book or otherwise. But then the author deleted all of those comments. You’d think author’s would know to “own their words.” All the same, I enjoyed Sassymonkey’s letter.
  • Parenting. Try It Some Time by Lindsay at Suburban Turmoil. Considering I’m one of those pesky, interfering, opinionated parents, I wanted to give her a standing ovation at the end of her post.
  • How to Make Flubber, Glurch and Other Fun Art Supplies at Home at Ohdeeoh. A bunch of links to the recipes for all those fun things (including chalk! and watercolor paint!) all in one place. Definitely bookmark this one.
  • Alternately titled How Jenna doesn’t really want the Steelers to Win Super Bowl XLV by my mean friend Heather at Domestic Extraordinaire. (She’s not really mean. Promise.) It was funnier before the Steelers dropped the ball — literally and repeatedly. Then it was sad. It’s back to being funny now. But I promise you: We are not now nor will we ever be Browns fans. Ick!
  • Love Thursday Bonus: Simple Photo Valentine’s Day Card for Kids by Karen at Chookooloonks. Still trying to figure out what to do for your kid’s Valentine’s Day cards? Know your way around a camera and a printer? Get to work!

A Few of My Favorite Photos This Week:

Magnolia Buds
Not technically great photos, but, OH! Spring is coming! Magnolia buds!

Detailed Bird
In love with this one. The detail in his eye made me swoon. Flickr sharpened it a bit on upload, but it still resides in my Project 365 Favorites set.

Black and White Train Tracks
Snapped this from the passenger window as we whizzed by on our Date Day.

Hopefully I can keep up with my feed reader this week. I feel awful knowing that I likely missed some great stuff from some great people. As such, if you wrote something amazing or read something great from another blogger, please feel free to leave me a link. I promise to make time and read it!

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