Happy Friday, everybody! We’ve got a lot to talk about, so let’s get to it.

Virgins!

There were three on the challenge grid and, so far, six over on the hangout grid. It was nice to give our newbies a choice instead of baptizing them by fire like we have been for the past 20 weeks or so. Thanks to the virgins on the challenge grid for jumping in with both feet and thanks to the virgins on the hangout grid for helping me inaugurate our new place.

Editor’s choice by Erica M

I saw a stat on Twitter this past week that made sense to me. The assertion was that special needs kids don’t get depressed simply because they are special needs (how arrogant of us to think that in the first place), but depression comes from the bullying and the feeling of being left out.

The Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms wrote Extraordinarily Ordinary, an excellent post this week on how their family, specifically Erin’s teenage son Ace, overcame its initial nervousness about spending time with a friend’s autistic son. Soon enough, Danny, the autistic teen, was part of their routine and he was part of theirs.

I was touched by Erin’s honesty revealing she didn’t know how it was going to work out and I loved her courage in simply working it out. Inclusion, as far as our special needs kids go, doesn’t always have to mean sink-or-swim immersion (hint: they sink). It can and should be social acceptance—meeting them where they are—and a ride home from track practice. Congrats, Sisterhood, on the win. 

Lurker’s favorite by Flood G

Wishing she could have chosen three favorites—you guys were that good—Flood chose Michelle’s entry “Harpoon”

The hilarious, and dangerous, scene in which Michelle slams her body into a recently stopped vehicle, in an effort to avoid being shot by her brother with a harpoon, is a riot. The thought of it creeps into my head every few minutes, and I laugh like a maniac. It’s just so ridiculous. Michelle was methodical in her torment of her big brother, but he seems to have come out of it with the ability to look back, laugh and chase her again.

Congrats, Michelle, on another lurker’s favorite win.

Lurker’s favorite by Emma T

Emma starts by letting us know Kerstin at The Auer Life must have known the kind of week she had and writes about Lost and Found:

Thanks for giving me the courage to find myself again and quit dabbling. I too knew what I would be giving up when I moved away from what I called home to be with a new husband and family, but now I’ve fulfilled my time and am ready to get back to my roots…find the Emma I was before the move…become myself again. It’s hard knowing that you’re stuck in a rut, then somehow you just can’t find your way out. Being alone in a new community, not being able to have joy about your work situation, the feeling of not being appreciated. Roll those things up in one, and you’re ready to throw in the towel.

 I found strength in Kerstin’s words and will be taking every chance I have to dabble no more…I have a purpose. I will be valued.

Congrats, Kerstin, on the win, and for giving all of us much to think about.

Lurker’s favorite by Jennifer W

Jennifer chose Erin’s story of Ace and Danny, reading the entire grid while recovering from day surgery. That’s some dedication, and I really appreciate it:

The writing is wonderful and it really made me think. (I found myself fantasizing about distributing Extraordinary Ordinary to large numbers of parents who have neurotypical kids.) With the astounding number of children on the spectrum we all need to play a role in helping them and their parents be part of the community and feel normal. This post was the perfect example of fantastic parenting by both a mother of a boy with autism and a mother of NT kids. Normalizing autism is, in my opinion, the best way we can honor the differences and challenges that come with the diagnosis.

Congrats, Sisterhood, on the win-win.

Popular vote winner by the entire Internet (okay, this week, around 300 people)

Did you know the page views of the grid, the tie-breaker, remain live as long as the grid is published? Which is why when some of you check the grid order while waiting for the winner’s post to be written and published, you’ll notice some of the thumbnails will switch places. This happens because people are still reading, still clicking, and the page views are changing. They usually stabilize a few hours after the winners’ post is published and it usually involves thumbnails lower on the grid.

This week, however, Mayor Gia and The Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms were tied in votes and page views once the grid closed to voting and, when some people came visiting, they clicked through to both those blogs and the places kept switching. Gia, Sisterhood, Gia, Sisterhood, Gia. Instead of waiting for it all to stabilize, giving me a very late bedtime after a very long day, I decided to award the popular vote win to both Mayor Gia and The Sisterhood. Yay! Right? Good.

Congrats, Erin, Ellen, Gia, Boyfriend and the duvet, on the win.

Random winner of the week-long ad square on yeah write

The randomizer chose #43 which, post-voting and as of this writing, belongs to Vanessa at 5 things about nothing important. Vanessa, send me the link to the blog, small business or project you’d link to display in my sidebar and the ad will be up for yeah write #56. Thanks!

Random winner of MC Oroville’s Answering Machine

The randomizing machine selected #25 which, post-voting and as of this writing, belongs to Lance at My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog. Lance, you’ll love Mike Young’s writing, and I’m very happy to share it with you. Please send me your mailing address and I’ll get it in the mail to you on my very next trip to the post office. I’ve got a stack of stuff that needs to go out and, believe me, you don’t want to miss this one. I have some sort of undefined post office phobia, no telling when I might make another go at it, but that’s not important right now.

Win-win

The thumbnails are now sorted in the grid from most yellow star votes to the least. In the case of a tie, like if four blogs all got seven votes each, the thumbnails are additionally sorted by page views. Do not be discouraged if your blog has landed near the bottom of the grid; it is always a tight race. The fun lies in getting better exposure for your blog and in the spirit of competition as incentive to improve your writing and blogging skills. It’s a win-win for everybody involved.

Thanks again, everybody, for linking up, for reading, for voting. And for making yeah write the most welcoming spot on the Interwebs for writers who blog and bloggers who write.

Yeah write #56 opens Tuesday.