A Little Spring Cleaning

Yeah, I know spring is basically over. But I recently updated and reorganized all my blog bookmarks, ditching the ones that I don’t enjoy so much, or even the ones that take forever to load, and adding a few new must-reads. I shared with you some of my favorites a few weeks ago, and I thought I would add a few more.

In the mommyblog realm, I have become a fan of Lifenut, who I think I found through ClubMom. Check out her clever suggestion of a source for baby names.

Overwhelmed with Joy! is a new bookmark for me. She participates in a number of weekly theme blogs, and she is big with the linky love, so I’m happy to share some back (did I just write that slangy sentence? Egads, how blogging has changed me.).

Owlhaven is one of those moms who I am amazed can blog at all: she has eight children. And before you make assumptions about what that means, check out her blog. She’s a hoot, as I used to say when I lived in Alabama.

And if you have or have had or will have a toddler, read Phantom Scribbler’s latest.

In the international world of blogging, I have been reading Italian Trivia by Jennifer, an American married to an Italian, living in Italy. I think she made me a regular reader with this post about housecleaning, which made me grateful to be married to an American and (lest Jennifer get in trouble for this) certain that her husband must be a wonderful man to be worth that aggravation.

I have also been enjoying Food and Family from Kit in South Africa. I intend to try her pasta sauce soon.

And while it’s not strictly a separate nation, it is a separate continent, and I must occasionally peruse the pictures of Antarctica from Julius’ Travels in the South. I feel cold merely looking at them.

I regularly read a few booklover blogs. Semicolon’s book reviews are informative, but check out her list of suggestions for bored children this summer. Excellent. It makes me wish I had time to be bored.

The Bookworm is another mom who reads and blogs, and I think if we met in person we would either be kindred spirits or have riproaring arguments. I’m okay with either.

On my sidebar there’s a link to Calvesgarden Calendar, a blog from a man in Denmark who writes about his garden and the books he is currently reading. His prose is lovely, and gets downright intimidating when you realize that he is writing in English as an acquired language. Some of his metaphors have a startling clarity, like when he compares his wind-tossed garden to a riotous dance floor. If you are someone who would enjoy sipping tea in an arboretum while reading Charles Lamb, this is your guy. Give him a try.

I recently added two enthralling cop blogs. If you have police officers in your family, or if you just have a little healthy gratitude for our women and men in blue, check out LAPD Wife and Life of a Cop in a Cop’s World. They don’t need any more introduction than that. You’ll get hooked.

And in the miscellaneous category, I have two to include. The Blog Antagonist, who some of you already read, is daringly refreshing. And I am a newish fan of The Ice Floe by PeripateticPolarBear. This post made me laugh harder than any other blog ever has.

And now, mingle. I hope I’ve introduced you to a few new friends.