One Year Later...

A lot can happen in a year.

Weddings, engagements, anniversaries, births, deaths (him, too), birthdays (too many to link!), first days of school, first lost teeth, first dances, massive gardening challenges, hummingbirds, pregnancies (Misty, me, and my kid sister), losing friends to far away states, making new friends, a little travel, starting a new business and putting it on hold.

Failures. Triumphs. Anger. Contentment.

Every year contains so many different experiences, not all are fun or nice, but all appear to be meaningful in some fashion. This, I believe, is why I don't regret a single year of my age: I'm 38 and I'm damned proud of it. Every year has gotten better and better, so how can you regret your age when the alternative is death? Besides, the whole concept of my life peaking in my twenties and going downhill from there? Total bummer for someone that plans on living until well into her nineties! I mean, can you really imagine spending the next 70 years of your life as a let down after 25? Come on!

This year, though, has been a little different. Blogging is a funny thing. It's rather like writing letters to your nearest and dearest and not being surprised, shocked or offended if random strangers also get that letter. Strangely enough, that part's kinda cool. (Hi, random strangers! Nice ta meetcha!) This tiny piece of the internet has allowed me to stay in better/constant contact with my friends that have moved in a way that I never would have otherwise. I'm terrible about calling anyone and forget about receiving letters or cards. Besides, if you could only see my handwriting, you'd understand! Sometimes even I don't know what I've written.

I has also noticed that one of my biggest fans (many of whom are silent) is my mother-in-law. The funny side effect of letting the family in on the existence of the blog is that those that choose to read it have gotten to know me better. The ties that bind, indeed! I think it's also helped me to reconnect with my sisters. This is a big deal to me and I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was to spend an hour on the phone with my big sister and chatter away without feeling like we were both tiptoeing around one another. That's a big change in the last year.

It has also allowed me to put all of those pictures in one location and stop bombarding the inboxes of assorted friends and family members.

So, yeah.

One year. 327 posts. A whole whacking lot of pictures, realizations, observations, memories, laughter and tears. Hell, I cried just finding the posts to link above (The Dance and Goodbye Pixel are too much for me, even now).

Welcome to my world. Stick around, it's gonna get better and better.