Two years of blogging

Tomorrow, August 9th is my 2nd anniversary of blogging. It started as a little experiment for myself, to see what this blogging stuff was all about and how I could explain it to low-income, primarily homeless, women. I ended up leaving that job but I'm still blogging.

And while my first year was of experimenting, learning and fumbling through the blog-o-sphere, this second year was marked with something pretty radical.

I met several of you in person. One of you even agreed to multiple get-togethers. I met one of you while you played tourist in the big city. Another two agreed (in separate cities) to meet up for drinks (now Ambassador and Flower Child were present for those but they don't count - they've been friends of mine before email or text messaging).

But the big journey was traveling over the ocean to be hosted by Jenn in Holland and her family, who didn't know me except through blogging. It was the biggest act of faith and generosity shown to me in a long time. She even rigged a surprise day of play with Fourier Analyst who spontaneously welcomed us into her family. I still think I was the luckiest person in the world that weekend.

Then Jenn in Holland came to visit me and my family. It was such fun to show her my actual world, not the virtual one.

I have been laying low with comments these few months due to work, new found commitment to exercise and spending time with the kids. I continue to write and post and am grateful for those of you who keep leaving comments even though I haven't been around to visit you.

And, to celebrate my 2nd year, here is a list of a few of my favorites posts from the past 12 months:

Love (the boys' birthday letters)

Hairspray

Inspiration by Brown

Farewell to a bee

Got a call from Newsweek Magazine

Day to Read

A boy in the hospital

Lorraine Hotel, 2008

Happy Birthday (little lady's birthday letter)

We're just beaming here

Show and tell

Pink Hearts and Bad Connections

Am I missing a post or two that you really like?

And what am I doing tomorrow to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of my blog? Spending the afternoon with over 20 second-graders on an elementary school baseball diamond for two boys' 8th birthday party. All my sons want to do is play a baseball game for their party.

I knew you would understand why I missed the blog party.