The Spotlight's On: Margaret "Gary" Bender of The Ordinary Life of an Extraordinary Girl

pregnant with Alex!!

Getting to Know You:

Name: Gary (short for Margaret) Bender

Blog Name and URL: The Ordinary Life of an Extraordinary Girl
http://www.theextraordinarygirl.com/
 
Blogger or Wordpress
Blogger (although I do have it set up on WP, but it is inactive)

Favorite widget or plugin?
There are so many widgets that I want to learn about, so for now I love all the share
functions

Dish you would bring to our community picnic:
Macaroni and cheese is my most favorite dish and a community picnic is the best place to
bring it – I could eat all I wanted without being busted by my kids

On Blogging:

What got you blogging and what keeps you going?

My daughter Alex was chosen to represent the State of Colorado in the National Special
Olympic Summer Games in Lincoln, NE in 2010. I started blogging the fall of the
previous year so I could document this huge accomplishment. Up to that point nothing
extra special happened to Alex, it was the usual IEP meetings and constant intervention
in a nonexistent special education system.

I wanted to share her joy and ended up documenting her entire high school years,
graduation, college search and further accomplishments as an Athlete at the Winter
World Special Olympic Games in South Korea this winter.

We are now planning for her future and I REALLY want to make sure I capture all the
good and bad experiences of living a life of her choice… going to college, having a job
and getting married. As far as I am concerned the sky is the limit and I hope she can
prove it.

I hope families with younger children with Down syndrome can look past the therapies,
IEP meetings and delays and look forward to a future where all kids succeed at living a
life they choose.

Plus, I want to market my awesome book. “From Grief to Celebration, How One Family
Learned to Embrace the Gift of Down Syndrome”.

http://www.theextraordinarygirl.com/p/books-and-projects.html

One post that makes you laugh?

Oh no…I have written 4860 posts and this is the funniest one I can find….I think I need
to change my blogging style.
http://www.theextraordinarygirl.com/2009/10/blue-shoes.html

One post you are really proud of, for whatever reason?

I love this one; it was picked in a few other places and reminds me of how precious our
children’s future is

http://www.theextraordinarygirl.com/2012/11/our-thanks-for-2012.html

How have you seen your blog/blogging style change and how would you like to see it
develop?

I think I have become a better writer, but I have a lot more to go. Sometimes I am too
soapboxed and sometimes to fluffy – I wish I could use more meaningful words in my
post, have shorter sentences and learn funny.

Where else can we find you online?

Best places are Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ordinary-Life-of-an-Extraordinary-Girl/ and Twitter - @garyhbender

I am also publishing to google+ @margaret.bender21 and experimenting with Stumble
Upon and a few other sites…..not sure why though!