Kudos

I was honored and touched by Sam's compliments on her blog. Her compliments came with a tasking to say "something nice about 6 people on your friend’s list. (Any six, but just 6) It doesn’t matter if I know them or not. Just tell me something you like about them."

I picked six people off my Google Reader list, and I will list them in alphabetical order.

Bubblehead at The Stupid Shall Be Punished. As a fellow submarine officer, Joel has had to overcome many challenges in harsh climates in the darkest depths of the ocean. He is now in the midst of overcoming an entirely new challenge in dealing with the radiation and chemo treatment for cancer. God bless you Joel, I'm praying for you. Joel is the first submarine blogger I found on the 'net and a daily read of mine.

Caffienated Cowgirl at But Do They Have Coffee. CC (I don't know if I'm allowed to write her real name here - I won't since she doesn't mention it on her blog) and her HE (husband extraordinaire) are very dear friends of ours. It's been... oh gosh... seven YEARS since we saw CC face-to-face??? I'm thankful for the wonders of the internet and how it has enabled us to stay close friends half way around the world from each other. Even if we didn't have the internet though, CC and HE are the type of friends that no matter how much time has gone by, when our paths cross again, it will be like we were never apart - we would pick up right where we left off. I'm not sure if I started reading CC's blog first or Bubblehead's blog. They were pretty much the first two blogs I started reading, before I even knew what the "blogosphere" was. CC is both a very talented writer and a very talented photographer. It brightens my day when I open my Google Reader and see there is a new post from CC, because I know that it will have either (a) a funny story that'll make me laugh or (b) an awesome picture that'll make me say, "wow," or (c) both of the above.

Cris at June Cleaver After a Six Pack. Back when I was just periodically checking out Bubblehead and CC's blogs, I would periodically hear my wife off in her corner giggling while reading something on the computer screen. Eventually she forwarded me the link to enough posts of June Cleaver After a Six pack that I just started reading her blog myself. Cris is an amazing story teller and she is just downright hillarious. In addition, she's also a military wife who just got done uprooting her family, moving several states across country, and getting resettled in a new house just in time to see her husband leave on a long deployment. God bless you, Cris. I appreciate that you continue to make me laugh even while you handle the challenges of life with your husband on deployment. I am praying for you and your family.

Hilary at The Smitten Image. Hilary is a new favorite of mine. She's also an amazing photographer, and I've enjoyed watching the seasons transition from autumn into winter in Canada through her camera lens. She's also a very talented story teller, and I appreciate her insights into having two sons who have grown into fine young men.

Magazine Man at Somewhere on the Masthead. I have to give a shout-out of thanks to our friend Corey for introducing me to MM's blog. There are a lot of talented writers in the blogosphere, and I don't mean any slight to any of my other favorite bloggers when I say this, but MM is absolutely the best writer and story teller on my blog roll. For one of my favorite posts of his, read this one. If you have a few spare minutes to read, I recommend grabbing yourself a cup of coffee and start reading at his Monday, 17 November post and work your way forward through the next three posts that describe his weekend taking care of the kids.

Samantha at Boat Drinks and Dreams. No, I'm not writing this simply because she complimented me on her blog. My compliments go to Sam because she is always providing support and encouragement to her family and friends. She regularly gives a shout-out of praise for friends who achieve important milestones in running or cooking or their career. She and her husband are doing a great job raising two awesome little boys and dealing with the stress of moving their family half way around the globe to Guam. God bless you guys in this big move and in the next few years of sea duty on the pointy-end of the spear. I'm praying for you guys, too.