Nan, of Letters From a Hill Farm, kindly nominated me for the Nice Matters Award, and I’m delighted. People have referred to me as a nice person all my life (sometimes it wasn’t a compliment). I come from a nice family–my parents were/are very caring people, and my three brothers and their wives are all people that are very nice to know. I have a kind and gentle, very nice husband, and two nice, talented grown-up kids. My Grandboy is a really nice, mellow, delightful child. As a teacher, the greatest compliment my students gave me over the years is that I’m nice (and tell good stories). So “nice” means a lot to me, and is important in my life. I agree with Nan that the world is full of the not-so-nice, but I, too, prefer to focus on the positives and try to surround myself with nice, decent people. I’ve found the book blogging community to be full of those kinds of people, which makes it difficult to choose just a few to honor with this award. But visit these blogs I mention, and see how nice they are and how well-deserved this award is for them.

Chris (Stuff As Dreams Are Made On)…Chris recently finished his degree in counseling, and somebody in the counseling world needs to hire this deeply caring and sensitive human being because he has so much to give and would do so much for so many.

Carl V. (Stainless Steel Droppings)…You can see what a kind and decent person Carl is by the way he treats everyone that comes to his blog. He also hosts some terrific reading challenges. Check his blog on Monday as he launches this year’s RIP challenge!

Nancy (Bookfoolery and Babble)…A nice way to start my morning is to go to Nancy’s blog to see her beautiful photographs and enjoy her terrific sense of humor.

JenClair (A Garden Carried in the Pocket)…A nice, gentle, beautifully creative spirit comes through in all of JenClair’s posts. Check out her beautiful quilting gallery, too!