Because 31 is a nice shiny round number.

Also known as the, bloggers who never make the popular lists. Or bloggers who I adore list. Or the best kept secrets of the blogging world list. Take your pick.

Last week Babble put up the most popular mommy blogger list, which ruffled a few feathers. Mostly I think because they ranked people and the more votes you get, the hirer up on the list you go. I read probably 85% of the women on that list and I agree that they should all be on there.

This morning, Mom-101 put up a new list called The top 50 mommybloggers that didn’t make the list. I adore Liz and yet again, I love the list. I read a ton of those bloggers. Some of the others, I will check out today.

However, there are always those of us, who will never make a list. I thought I’d make my own list. 50 awesome bloggers who make my list. The list of people I consider friends, the list of people who I read. Granted, I read a ton of blogs, but remember these are the ones who may not make a list, get awards, get noticed, or get invited to participate in fun things.

There is no real order here, I’m only numbering them, because I like to number things.

1. Liz at Lacking Super Powers is my best friend so I have to add her to my list. Or else she yells at me. No, I’m kidding. Truly. Truth is, when she writes, however irregularly, she is a great writer. She claims to have no super powers, but she really does. Have you seen the girls score on Bejeweled? That is a super power. Trust me.

2. Avasmommy, also know as the lovely Jenna is one of my very favorite people in the world. She is kind and sweet and has an amazing sense of humor. She also is sarcastic and witty and writes whatever the hell she wants, despite what people will say about it. I love her and I’m honored to be her friend.

3. Ben at Babbling Dad doesn’t babble nearly as much as his title would suggest. He writes beautiful, sentimental posts for his wife and kids. The man always makes me cry. I love to give him a hard time. Luckily he lets me and not just because his wife is my best friend.

4. Becky at Life out of Focus is one of my oldest blogging friends. She is a writer, a mom, a cops wife and an absolutely amazing photographer. Somehow even with all of that, she manages to make time for me and my endless rambly emails. Ignore the fuzziness of her husband in all the pictures. He’s undercover as Harry Potter’s bodyguard right now and needs to not be seen on the Internet for awhile.

5. The amazing Renee from But Why Mommy is a great friend of mine. I am lucky enough to say that I met her at BlogHer this summer. She writes about her and her daughter Bunny’s adventures, as well as her adoption process. This next year (hopefully very soon) Renee and her husband will travel to Ethiopia to pick up their son, know now as Lion. This post; her love letter to Lion makes me love her a million times over.

6. Amazing Greis is someone who I am lucky enough to have met. She’s sweet and funny and doesn’t blog nearly enough. Except for her football picks, which I think she’ll stop doing very soon. Ha. She super loves her dog too. He’s cute but with those big ole ears, I always want to rename him Gizmo.

7. Tania at Chicky Chicky Baby is one of those people I have read for years. For some reason though, I rarely comment over there and she may have no idea who I am. (Although I have a vague memory that we did meet at the Cheeseburger party.) Occasionally I send a funny tweet her way. She’s a great writer, one who I hope comes back to it more this year.

8. Matthew at Childsplayx2 is the reason I blog. (Blame him for my ramblings.) That’s enough reason right there, for him to be on my list. However, he’s a great writer…he puts me to shame. Matthew is my oldest blog friend. I adore him, even though I do tease him all the time. The greatest thing he ever said to me was at BlogHer this summer. He said: You are like the annoying little sister, I always knew, I never wanted. Warmed my heart, truly.

9. Heather at Domestic Extradordinaire is one of those people you wish lived near you. She is sweet, kind and funny. She is a good friend. Also, she is a FABULOUS photographer. Her pictures make me weep some days, they are that amazing.

10. Emmie is another person I wish I had tons of time to spend with. She is awesome. I adore her. She’s a great writer. Really. You should go check her out at Life Behind the Curve. Maybe it will keep her blogging more.

11. Christina at Fairly Odd Mother is not as odd as she thinks she is. I’ve met her, so I feel confidant in my statement. Although she does name her vacuums…but I can’t fault her in that, since I do it as well. Really, Roombas need to be named. She home schools three crazy kids and made chicken nuggets and french fries for Christmas, both of which makes her my hero. She blogs when she wants and how she wants, which I love about her.

12. The lovely Kari at I left my heart at preschool is mis-leading you in her title. Truth is, she leaves part of her heart at kindergarten each day. I swear, some people. Her title should include the words Flappy in it, but I’ll leave her to explain that one to you. LOL. Kari is my friend and she deserves props for that alone. She was my personal bodyguard at BlogHer, which is good because I needed one. She is another person who I wish lived next door too me…although I think I’d miss some appointments because of her. I love her, even though she’s ditching me tomorrow night for some silly family celebration. Can’t understand where the girls priorities are.

13. I don’t know if Insta-mom will be blogging any time soon. She’s a mom to four boys, including a set of toddler twins; a full time high school teacher and basically has no time to write to read anything that isn’t for school right now. But she’s my friend and I adore her, so I’ll keep her site in my reader forever. She is a wonderful writer and if you’ve never been over there, her archives are worth the visit alone.

14. You all know who Anymommy is right? It seems like everyone knows who she is. However, she never manages to make the big lists, despite the fact that she’s one of the best writers I know. It doesn’t matter what Stacey writes about, she has no less than 50 comments per post. Even when I have nothing I have to say to her, I still comment. She can make me laugh and weep in the same post. It’s an honor to read her. Her words are like poetry. I’m going to remind her when she’s a big famous writer, that I knew her when she was a big not yet famous writer.

15. Tracey at Just Another Mommy Blog is a newer find of mine. I met her for the first time at BlogHer and I’m so glad I did. She’s funny, sweet, entertaining and a little bit crazy. Sorry, but I think that about anyone who home schools. I am not that brave. I’d kill Morgan. That’s all their is too it. She has lived to see eight years old, because I send her to school each day.

16. MommyGeekology, also known as Cat is someone I adore. She’s a great friend. She will write about ANYTHING which I love her for. Again, I am not that brave. She has two tiny girls, a husband, a full time job, a crazy family and she designs blogs on the side. However, she never seems to be too busy for me or my very lame, silly, I don’t know, maybe can we add this to my blog, questions. She doesn’t even laugh at my absolute stupidity when it comes to anything code. She’s just plain awesome.

17. The lovely Maggie at, Okay, Fine, Dammit is another blogger that everyone should know about. Her personal site is like reading the best unwritten autobiography ever. She also gives victim’s a chance to find their voice over at Violence UnSilenced. For that she deserves every award I could throw at her. But I have none to give. Just this list.

18. Sarah and the Goon Squad may have been on a list somewhere. Sarah writes at I don’t, 12 different blogs maybe? Just a guess. She is someone who I re-found a few months ago. One of the bloggers who I used to read back in the day. (I love saying that, like four years ago, was so long ago.) She is the mom to five year old boy/girl twins, she is a writer at the amazing MamaPop (if you haven’t read them before, go check out her Top Chef recaps, they are better than the actual show most of the time), she is a football fanatic and I’m pretty sure she could drink me under the table in five minutes flat. She definitely makes my list.

19. & 20. Andrea has two blogs, so she gets two numbers. The first is The Sweet Life, where she writes about her amazing daughters Alison and Blythe. The other is the blog a lot of us wish we could have, the one where we just write the thoughts in our head. The darker things that a lot of us won’t write on our family/personal blogs. It’s called Walking the Tightrope. I love it and I love her.

21. Kirsten…gah, I adore the girl. She blogs at The Norwidians. She’s the mom to seven year old twin girls and a crazy little four year old boy. She hasn’t written much in December (not that I am one to talk) because she did that crazy NOBLOWPOPS thing in November. I could not adore her more if I tried and I get to have dinner with her tomorrow night, which makes me want to squeeeeee, even though she hates when I do that.

22. Undomestic Diva is one of those people you are sure is the life of every party. It’s true…I’ve met her. She’s sarcastic, witty, charming, sometimes crude and an amazingly funny friend. She is the only person I know who goes to Starbucks more than me. Megan blogs about the three wild boys she gave birth too and the one she married; the crazy, Holy Christian Loves Jesus Praise the Lord Preschool (HCLJPLP) that her boys go too; and anything else that strikes her in any given moment. She gives cooking advice, which no one should take. EVER. Less you don’t like your kitchen being in one piece. She is a sweetheart, truly. This is the most amazing video of all time and Megan is responsible for it.

23. Denise at Eat Play Love is one of those people who I can’t believe I still haven’t met. We live like 35 miles from each other. One day, it will happen. Denise blogs about her girls, her traveling husband, cupcakes that I want to eat and her great organic, non plastic crap toy finds.

24. Gray Matter (whose name I know, but am not sure she publishes) is a newer find of mine. She is a mom to one son. She’s awesome. Someone I’d love to meet one day. She writes about anything it seems: sex, her son, television stars who shouldn’t be stars, crazy people at the gym. Anything.

25. Lu at Jaded Perspective is a great writer and a great friend. She is jaded, I’ll give her that, but she’s more normal than anyone else would be given some of the things that have happened in her life. She’s a mom to one tiny cute little dude named Mason. She is also one of my favorite people on Twitter, because she often tweets while drugged. Sounds worse than it is, she’s had major surgery this year. But still, she cracks me up often.

26. Karen Sugarpants probably is on a ton of lists. If she’s not, she should be. But I adore her and her writing, so she’s getting on mine too. She’s amazing, that’s all their is to it. She makes me think, in a way that few bloggers can. She’s real and sweet and dam funny.

27. I adore Cindy at PooBou and I really shouldn’t add her on here, for the simple fact that she is in IRELAND right now and I’m not. But I love her. I love how she writes about her life and her daughter Catie. She makes the cut, despite that Ireland thing.

28. Everyone should follow a Princess. Mine is Princess Jenn. She’s another person who will write about anything, even if it will offend some people. She’s great at dispensing advice, assvise and ass kickings. All things that every Princess should be good at.

29. Sam from Temporarily Me takes more breaks than Rachel and Ross on Friends. However, I love her despite it. Sam talks about motherhood in a way that is raw and very real and I always relate to it. She’s a talented writer and possibly makes some of the other lists as well. Or she would if she blogged more than ONCE a month. Ahem.

30. Bridget writes at The Ivey League. I met her this summer and I adore her. She writes sweet letters to her kids and random other things. She is also a great photographer. I want to steal the photos she puts up. Her kids are adorable and funny. Her youngest has these cheeks that I just want to eat.

31. Marinka NYC. Every list needs Marinka on it. I think it’s law. She is a funny and talented writer. One day, when she’s all famous, I plan on stalking her. I’ll be able too, because I know what she looks like in person. Also, she is  absolutely huggable. She loves hugs. Really.

ps. I’m sure I missed some of you. For that, I’m sorry. I was going to do 50 bloggers and I’m sure I could have…but I got kinda tired. Love you, even if you didn’t make the list. I promise to add you all to my next list.

Or that is what I’m calling it at least. I’m sure it has a very technical name somewhere, like the 25 things meme.

Headless Mom did this and then Mom to the Screaming Masses stole it did it too and I’m totally stealing it borrowing it doing it too. Because I am awesome like that.

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you. Hitler. No joke. Trust me, people feel the need to tell me all the time that my birthday and Hitler’s birthday were the same day. Great!! Love knowing that the man responsible for killing a ton of my family was born on the same day as me. YAY me!! I also knew a horrible chick in high school who tried and for a while succeeded, in being a huge bully to me, who had the same birthday as me. Double YAY!! (Insert sarcastic eye roll here.)

In other better news, my best friends birthday is the day before mine. That? Completely rocks.

2. Where was your first kiss? Um underneath a trampoline during a game of truth or dare. I was ten. His name was Nathan.

3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property? I once helped egg and TP a guy at schools house. Does that count? Unfortunately the older couple next door saw us, recognized us all and we spent the following day cleaning it all up. In the 95 degree heat. FYI, don’t egg houses in JULY in Los Angeles. Nor, people you know.

4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex? I have two brothers. They are about it. And not probably since they turned nine and were bigger than me. I decked a chick in 7th grade though. She soooooo deserved it.

5. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people? NO…oh shoot…um yes? Twice. Once as a 7 year old, in a school Christmas play. I did okay, surprisingly. Meaning, I didn’t cry or faint and maybe the front row could hear me. I have a decent voice and my mom wanted me to gain confidence. Silly mommy’s. The second? I tried to win concert tickets on the radio. You had to be able to sing a random song of the artist’s. Called in, got on, would have been able to do it, except they made me wait on hold for 25 minutes and I totally siked myself out.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about your preferred sex? Eyes. I always notice people’s eyes.

7. What really turns you off? Arrogance. People whose ego’s are so big, they think they are god’s greatest gift. People who do something nice for someone and then make a point of reminding the person and everyone else, forever.

8. What do you order at Starbucks? Venti, non-fat Mocha with whipped cream.

9. What is your biggest mistake? I don’t know that I can answer this one right now. Not trying to be a lame ass or whatever, just have some stuff going on that makes me question everything. So maybe? Maybe I’ve made a lot of mistakes.

10. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose? Nope.

11. Say something totally random about yourself. I have swimmer’s ear from showering this morning. My left ear and I have issues. It acts four years old.

12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity? Nope.

13. Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows? I have three small kids. What do you think? I’ve always loved Disney movies though.

14. Did you have braces? No. I’ve had a ton of cavaties though. I have straight teeth, but soft enamel.

15. Are you comfortable with your height? I am now. I went through a lot of years of not being happy with it. I wanted to be taller. I *may* have said that I was taller on every drivers license since I was 16.

16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the preferred sex has done for you? Meh, I pass on this one.

17. When do you know it’s love? When you can be yourself. When you don’t think before you say something. When you can wake up in a bad mood and it’s still okay.

18. Do you speak any other languages? No. I failed Spanish and French. Actually I was kicked out of French for being too dumb. No joke. I only managed to get through the requirement in HS for it, buy learning Sign Language. But that? Is technically still English.

19. Have you ever been to tanning salon? No. I am comfortable with being a honkey.

20. Have you ever ridden in a limo? Yes.

21. What’s something that really annoys you? People who drive under the speed limit in the fast lane. When you try to go around them, they suddenly speed up, only to again slow down, when they’ve trapped you.

22. What’s something you really like? Sleep. My ear to not vibrate with water when I chew. A fast forward button for the next two and a half weeks. My life to make sense again. Any and all of the above.

23. Can you dance? Can I? Yes. Do I like too? Not really.

24. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room? Yes. A few times.

25. Tag 5 people! Seeing how I normally don’t tag people, I will today. Just because. Liz, Jenna, Stacey, Becky and Bridget.

My beautiful, smart, sweet, talented, smarty pants with a huge attitude girl. My big, eight year old. My Morgan. Today is your birthday. Today you are eight.

You said those words to me this weekend. The, I’m halfway to sixteen line. Sixteen is big to you. Yes my love, you are; today you are halfway to sixteen.

Can I tell you something though? I am not ready for you to be sixteen. Heck darling, I am not ready for you to be eight yet. I wish I could explain it to you. To the eight year old you. Not the you who will one day receive these letters. There unfortunately is no way I can explain to you how it feels to have an eight year old. Not until you are in my shoes. I can’t make you understand how being eight may seem young to you, but it seems so old too me.

I tried to explain to you how amazing this last year has been with you. How amazing and talented you are. How helpful and kind you are to your siblings. (Mostly. Ha.) How you are one of my three favorite people in this world. How grown up you’ve become.

You laughed at me. Silly mommy you said, being seven took forever. Being eight is better.

You’ve changed a ton this year, my love. You’ve grown. Not just taller, but wiser and more mature. Seven was a phenomenal year for you. For us. This year, we’ve grown much closer than before. In a way, we’ve become sort of friends. It’s been great. You are being mostly challenged in school for the first year ever, which you love. You are being forced to be more responsible at home; something you wanted and needed, but it took me a while to realize. I’m sorry baby, but I may always have to learn through you. You are the first after all.

In one year you have changed from only wanting to discuss Disney tween characters lives, to always wanting to talk about what is going on in the world; what is happening in our family. In one year, you have learned so much. You love to learn. You are constantly telling me something else you need to learn about, something new you want to learn how to do.In one year you changed from a little girl to a big girl. I’m not sure how I let it happen. It sounds silly I know, but this is the age I’d bottle you at, if I could. Most of the time, people say that about babies and toddlers. I do about your sister; nineteen to maybe twenty-three months was amazing with her. But you? I’d bottle you up at this age.

In some ways, I want to hang onto seven. Seven and I got along great. Then again, I said that about six too. Six was such a change from five for us. Seven made our relationship even better. It’s not about the year or the age though, it’s about you. It’s about you getting to a place where you understand life. You like the world more, the more you understand. It makes you happier to not be treated like a baby. You always tell me, mommy, tell me the truth. I do. Sometimes it hurts to tell you the truth, sometimes I’d rather not tell you the truth. But it’s important for you, so I do it as often as possible.

You are a natural born leader. You have dozens of friends. Trust me on this. You literally wanted to invite 32 people to your birthday party next week. You and Mackenzie** are, yet again, have a joint party. Cosmic bowling. Your auntie and I keep wondering how long that will last, the joint parties. Personally, I think it will continue forever, just because then between the two of you, can get away with inviting EVERYONE you know.

We have had a lot of talks about friends lately. About how easy it is for you. How easy it is for Kenzie as well. How it may not be so easy for others. How you and Mackenzie need to be friendly with everyone, even if you aren’t their friends. I know by the time you read this, it won’t matter anymore. By then you will be an adult and you will have found your own way through life. I also know I can only make sure you know right from wrong. At some point I have to trust that you know the difference.

Your favorite show right now is, Jonas. The Jonas Brothers. How I wish they’d go away. Really, when you are over loving these little boys, I am going to forever remind you of how lame they were. Sorry sweetie, but they are horrible. They can’t sing or act. Yet, they seem to be EVERYWHERE. I keep my mouth shut now….okay mostly I keep my mouth shut. Dude, they wear skinny jeans. Boys who can’t sing or act, wearing skinny jeans. Enough said.

You love Playing Majong, probably as much as I love playing Bejeweled. Let’s just call it what it is, an obsession. We are obsessed. We sit on the couch sometimes, side by side, me on my laptop and you on your daddies laptop, playing computer games. Tonight you will open the gift that you have said you wanted all year, an iPod Touch. I wnet back and forth on it, but I know you are ready for it. You are responsible enough and frankly, you’ve earned it this year.

Mario Kart, after an entire year, is still your favorite Wii game. You beg me every day to let you read the Twilight books. I’m not going to give in yet. Maybe when you are nine. Just because you can read and understand it, doesn’t mean you are old enough.

Baby girl, your birth made me the person I am today. You made me a mother. You challenge me every day to be a better one. I could not be more proud of you if I tried. I know eight will be an amazing year for you. Know that whatever happens in life for the next year, you will always have me.

Enjoy being eight, okay? Enjoy each day. One day, I promise you, I’ll let you turn sixteen.

Happy birthday Morgan,

Love mama

**Mackenzie is Morgan’s best friend…since oh say in utero. I call her my niece often, because her parents and I have been friends since we were four years old. Kenzie’s birthday is December 27th.

A little bit ago, in the middle of a funny conversation on Twitter, I started a new list called WOWUBNA. It stands for, We Once Were Unpopular, But Not Anymore. I said I had a quiz for anyone who wanted on it. It was, it is, a joke. I will add my entire follower list, if everyone wants on it. It was something funny to do, on a long day. It made me think though.

I was not popular. I had friends, so I guess I wasn’t considered super unpopular. However, some of my friends were considered popular. Maybe I was, by association? Nah. I just knew them forever. I was friends with them, because I met them at four years old. I wasn’t ever talked to by the popular friends of theirs, just by them.

That doesn’t make me popular, that makes me boring. We are like siblings. I talk to them often, but see them almost never. It’s okay, because we will always be friends. But it’s been lonely for a few years since I moved here. Since the friend who moved at the same time and I have gone our separate ways. She is the chick who gets invited to play dates, out for coffee, on child free adventures with other moms. I am not.  It’s lonely, I’ve been lonely. Might be why I started blogging again.

Where does being popular matter? Does it get you into a better school? No. Will it get you a better job? No. It gets you a lot of friends, I guess. But how many of them can you really count on in a crisis?

If you are popular, you can get the world to come to your party. You had the entire school sign your yearbook. Everyone is looking you up on Facebook; hoping beyond hope that your name hasn’t changed. That maybe, just maybe you will friend them back.

How many of them know your middle name though? Or which movies make you cry, no matter how often you see it? That you know the entire dialog to Ocean’s Eleven? How many will come bail you out of jail? Stop you in the middle of a conversation to tell you that you are being stupid? Will they all keep your kids for a day when you have the flu? Will they send a CD they made or a gift card for a Starbucks to you, because you are having a shitty day? Text you: good morning, I hope you have a great day, when they first get up? Call you and leave you a worried sounding message, when you’ve ignored three of their texts in one evening?

Maybe they do. Maybe some of them would. Then again, maybe they won’t. Being popular is a tricky thing. I know this, because I was friends with a few popular girls. My brother was extremely popular. Anything he did in high school, he had an entourage. He had more people at his graduation party than Ashton Kutcher has Twitter Followers. Okay, maybe not, but it seemed that way. However, when his finance left him last year, he couldn’t get but one friend to help him move. A friend he has gotten much closer to in the past year, since realizing what a true friend is. A friend who he invited to my house for Christmas. (Along with his girlfriend and the friends brother. Another story. Sheesh.) My brother with 200 contacts in his phone, could only get one friend to help him move, even though he’s helped a ton of them move before.

Online popularity is interesting. It’s fickle, it’s a bit weird, it’s possibly not what all of us think. I always find it uncool when people hate on the “popular” people online. It’s as if this is High School. The truth is though, the big name bloggers, have no way of keeping up. They have no way of seeing everything sent their way. I have trouble keeping up and I average 12 comments a post. It’s not always personal, in fact I doubt if it ever is. It’s just what it is. There are too many bloggers and not enough time in the day.

I will tell you quite truthfully, I “knew” some of them before. I started my first blog at the same time as some of them. The big name bloggers so many are afraid of. Some who find themsleves hated, the subject of much ridicule. Mostly, they are nice freaking people. A couple even followed me back on twitter. I don’t take it personal that the others didn’t. If I like you, I read your blog. When I have time, I comment. I can go weeks without though. Like I said, it’s all about time.

Some people, after BlogHer, said oh I saw this person, but I was afraid to say hi to them. They wouldn’t give me the time of day. COME ON NOW. We are bloggers. We talk about our personal life on the computer. We tweet about what we had for lunch, or what our baby’s fever is.

There is a person, a blogger, an amazing blogger who told me she didn’t say hi to me at BlogHer. That she sat behind me in a session and couldn’t make herself say hi. I told her then that I wished she had, because she was on my list of people I wanted to meet. It’s okay. I get being afraid, or uncomfortable. But being popular in some way, doesn’t make someone scary.

Maybe their is an unpopular person in each of us? Even the ones who are considered popular now.

I am not now, nor have I ever been, popular. I never got picked for teams. I don’t get picked for anything now. (Save for the community keynote at BlogHer, which was Anymommy’s doing.) I don’t write for any site except this one. I don’t get paid to blog. I don’t have thousands of followers on Twitter. I’ll tell you honestly that I think maybe 45 people read this site. Maybe 60 on a good day. It’s okay, I am thrilled that 45-60 of you find me entertaining enough to read at all.

I went over on my text messaging for the first time ever this month. I never needed unlimited texting, until the past month. I’ll be honest with you. It’s because my best friend got a phone a month or so ago that can text. She is the reason for this. It is all her fault. HA. I love that I now have a reason to have an unlimited texting plan. I love that I met her because of Twitter. I love that for the first time in years, I have a best friend.

I love the community I’ve made. I loved the community I was a part of before, with my previous blog. Mostly though, the people I talk to now, are different people. I’m okay with that.

What makes us popular doesn’t matter. What matters is why we do what we do. It makes my heart swell when I get emails from my friends. Texts from friends. I feel like, I finally have people who would notice if I disappeared. I feel like I have finally found my tribe, so to speak. My community of friends is amazing.

I’m not popular. I’m okay with not being popular. But it’s nice to feel like I have friends again.