This is the first post for the 31-days-in-May 2012 Word Count Blogathon. It was originally a page, but I made it a post.

I got the idea for this post from the fantastic blog The Squashed Bologna. The post gives a bird’s-eye view of me and my life based on my choices of words that resonate for me from the alphabet, A-Z.

Here it goes..

A: Is for the appeal that advocacy work for mothers and women has for me

B: Is for the brilliant women I am meeting because of Listen to Your Mother www.listentoyourmothershow.com/nyc.

C: For the caring, communicative daughter I have whose name begins with the letter C.

D: Is for my dad who has been a source of strength and support.

E: Because I’m like an elephant. Whether you’ve done me good or bad…I never forget.

F: For the friendships I have built over the years, and for the new friends and the friends of my future. True friends are an investment; that reap dividends over time.

G: For dear departed grandma Genia, who loved me “because you are sweet, like a piece of chocolate.”

H: Is for the hands of time that relentlessly march on, and all we can do is keep up and try to do our best. Or as Barry Manilow put it, “riders to the stars, we are flying we are sailing, we are soaring, and all we can do is try.”

I: For the interviews that I will be doing with influential and philanthropic women for my new Women’s Issues beat at www.examiner.com

J: For the jewelry that is dear to me and wear every day: my wedding and engagement rings and the heart shaped diamond necklace I received from my husband when he received his MBA, because I support his dreams.

K: For the unbelievably adorable koala bears we saw at a zoo in Australia when we went to the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns in 2006.

L: For the loyalty and love I value from my friends and family, which I return in spades.

M: For the concept of “me” that used to inform my life, but has been supplanted by the needs of my very verbal and adorably demanding daughter. For my mother, who I understand better than ever since having a child of my own.

N: For the word “No”, which I find hard to say, but need to more often.

O: For the layers of me, like an onion. If you think you understand me, you probably do; but look even deeper; there is a lot more there to see and uncover.

P: For the purpose with which I live my life. For the passion I try to bring to everything I’m involved in; for my love of publishing the written word (whether in print or online); for the power that makes it possible to influence people and the course of events.

Q: For the Queen I want my daughter to see when she looks at me.

R: For the resourcefulness I display as a journalist in pursuit of a story.

S: For the sugary sweets I used to love, but have given up for the most part to stay in shape

T: For the word tomorrow, which always offers hope.

U: For the unicorn, which is my favorite mythological animal.

V: For the vigor with which my husband and child attack a task.

W: For the women who together will raise the vibrational level of this planet. I am lucky to be meeting so many of them.

X: For the x marks the spot, aspect of editing, which has a poetry to its preciseness.

Y: For the golden, warming rays of the yellow sun under which I loccassionally ike to bask (while using a good sunscreen).

Z: For the zebras my husband and I saw on safari in South Africa, and the private joke between us about what they did to elicit peals of laughter from us.