Sunday, May 5, 2013

A to Z Reflection


I'm a reflective mood these days, not just from A to Z, although I'll focus mainly on that.
Today, I feel like that last word on the badge "SURVIVOR" - I came into A to Z this year, excited, sure, and ready to go. By the end, due to personal life stuff and the nature of the challenge, I felt like I barely survived.

I wanted to visit more, comment more, be a better blogger buddy. It was tough.

And yet, I still feel blessed to have been a part of the challenge. Not only did this amazing, talented blogger Michael Di Gesu honor me with a guest post on J - Joker's Wild Day, but I also found a whole batch of new-to-me, talented bloggers to follow and befriend.

I enjoyed so many of the posts, but I'm going to highlight a few of my favorite themes here: Michael Di Gesu creatively introduced us to 26 books and authors, Alex J. Cavanaugh intertwined favorite movie characters with talented bloggers and his favorite music, Michelle-in-Transit had us guessing definitions of words, Mark Means unearthed a variety of lesser known comic book heroes, Misha Gericke's writing and faith posts at her two blogs made me think and laugh, and Father Dragon had me laughing every day, and I needed that laughter. I also love the eclectic posts that were slices of life, the travel blogs that expanded my horizons, and the faith based blogs that helped me gain a little more perspective in the midst of a tough April. I also appreciated Diane's tips on marketing in little slices throughout the month.

For all the challengers, and for all the hosts, and for all the minions, I just want to say:

THANK YOU!!!!
 
 
In the homeschool part of my life, I'm doing some reflecting over the end of the year, the changing of seasons in my oldest daughter's life, and I captured some of my muddling about that in this post: 8th Grade Graduation.

BTW - it's Sunday, but this is my Monday post . . . I decided not to wait, but just put it up.

Oh, and scarily enough, I have some ideas for next year's challenge . . .

15 comments:

Simply Sarah said...

Congrats on making it through the end. We are wrapping up our school year too. I'm hoping that if I'm not so busy with homeschooling I will have some more time to write. Oh and your not the only one who is already getting ideas for next year's challenge:)Simply Sarah

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Michael's feature for your book was great! Thanks for the mention and glad you had a good time with the Challenge.
Idea for next year? You know you'll be back now.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I delighted you enjoyed my tips! Thank you again for being a Spunky Solider.

Tonja Drecker said...

Yippee! You made it through the challenge! Father Dragon was/is one of my favorites too. I'm sure you're happy to see the school year coming to an end (or at least, the kids are.)

Natalie Aguirre said...

Glad you enjoyed the challenge and made new blogger friends. I really enjoyed the posts I read. And I'm glad we're getting to me friends.

It's always good to reflect. I am right now, thinking how I can squeeze more writing and less blogging in.

Al Diaz said...

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I loved the time I spent here drooling over the swords and fencing moves. Now I'm paying lessons for my dwarves, just to get them into "conversations" :D

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your successful and interesting post. I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge.

Kate OMara said...

Congratulations on finishing A to Z! Visiting, Following & Inviting you to my blog. http://whenkateblogs.blogspot.com/ Looking forward to 2014

Misha Gerrick said...

Congrats on surviving the challenge! And thanks for visiting my blog in April. :-)

Barbara Watson said...

Making it through the A-Z is an amazing feat!

Michelle Wallace said...

Congrats on finishing the A to Z challenge!
I learned a few new things about fencing... a fascinating sport!
Thanks for playing along in my crazy word game, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
See you next year!

Writer In Transit

Karen Lange said...

You survived! Congratulations! )

Tyrean Martinson said...

Sarah - we're looking forward to summer too!

Alex - Yes it was, and yes I will be.

Diane - You're welcome!

T. Drecker - Yes, we're definitely looking forward to summer.

Natalie - me too!

Al - glad you enjoyed them, and I hope your dwarves don't get too bruised during their conversations. :)

Julie - Thanks!

Kate - Thanks!

Misha - Thanks and you're welcome!

Barbara - yes it is. :)

michelle - it's been fun this year!

Karen - Thanks!

Evalina - Thanks!

Maurice Mitchell said...

Came wait to see next years challenge and that Joker post was awesome Tyrean!

Unknown said...

Wasn't thinking about next year's theme until you mentioned it. Yikes! I had a lot of fun and enjoyed your reflections. Gotta go now ad check out the guest post.