Unexpected Bonus of Blogging

It was Saturday morning and I had a lot of things on my "to do" list. No kids this weekend, so let's tackle projects. First, let's tackle the newest issue of my newly leaking ceiling. Then let's do a quick check of some blogs......2 hours later I am in a completely different frame of mind.

Although I've been blogging on my other site for a while, that was just a small thing written mostly for family. I never made attempts to reach out to the masses - indeed I "delisted" it so it wouldn't come up in searches. I didn't go all the way private b/c of extended family. I did have the unexpected bonus there of "getting to know" my cousins again - and getting awesome glimpses in their lives. But I thought that was just a family thing....I couldn't make such a connection with total strangers in cyberspace...could I??

And this new site - just since April 2008 - has a whole different purpose from that other one. Part therapy, part relationship saver (I decided Friend had received enough earfuls about EX and would soon be heading for the hills if I didn't find another way to rant...), part creative outlet, part I don't know what.

I now know what the "other what" is. Friends. A connection. Support. Amazing people.

As some of my "regular" friends have noticed, I have lucked into a group of blogging friends from all over the world. Literally. A bunch of them seem to be true-life friends in San Diego. I am jealous of them and their circle. They are so cool. (Lest you think I'm an outcast, I do have friends here - in fact went to ladies night at the pool Saturday with my favorite friend Jenny and our neighborhood buds, which should be another post "Ladies Night in the Locker Room Because of Storm" You had to be there...). And there is "Dkuroiwa" over at ETC. ETC. ETC. who not only comments on my blog, but also sends me emails about comments on her blog and has become someone on my "want to meet" list. I also get emails from other bloggers, sometimes responding to a comment I've left, sometimes answering a question on my blog. This is all an unexpected bonus to the blogging world I've entered.

Perhaps I'm sappy, perhaps you think I'm in need of professional help (ya think?!), but these blogging friends somehow fill a void that I didn't even know existed. I suppose a part of me suspected it existed and thought that blogging could fill it. My professional life has introduced me to viral marketing and YouTube and Blogging for business purposes, so I am not completely uneducated about these things. And I think part of me wanted to try this blog thing to see if I could reach out to the world, if strangers would stop by and read my blah blah blah. Am I funny (like my friends claim and I think they're just being nice) or just annoying (like Ex said)? But did I expect to fall so fast for these virtual friends? Did I expect to have to run to the computer each morning and see how Jenn is doing, or what funny thing Katy is up to or what rockin idea Mrs. G has or where Manager Mom is in her life or if Suz has another chapter in her life posted or what's going on with those Dogs at Three Dog blog or what Cheri or Mama Milton or Persnicky ticker or We Make Three has to say? And Tootsie Farkelpants - who comes up with names like that?! Her header alone cracks me up every single time I visit. Oh the list goes on and on. (I haven't created much of a blogroll b/c I haven't gotten their permission, and I think that's a blogging etiquette thing you're supposed to do...)

OK so now you're calling in those men with white coats or feeling terribly sad for me that my life is so pathetic. NO wait. I do have a great job and wonderful friends and, let me tell you, the most amazing family in the whole world. I know some of you dread visiting your parents/families. Meanwhile I'm trying to convince them all to move to Florida with me and would like to live on the same street with them!! So it's not that I'm the next Uni-Bomber or anything.

But this Blogging thing? Maybe I'm just coming to the realization that many people have come to long before now, and my "awakening" is, like many other things in my life, coming late. Better late than never, eh? Blogging is ridiculously popular. People have been doing this for years. I actually met someone recently (a younger than 50 someone) who had never heard of the "blogging thing" and asked me what that was! So I'm not as late to the party as I thought. But I digress...

I guess this is a shout out to all the folks who stop by here - my family, my friends, and my fellow Bloggers. You do make a difference in my life. And I'm glad I've found all of you. And as Friend will tell you, I spend wayyy too much time blogging, reading, thinking, creating, posting. Although from what I read on my blogging friends' pages, this seems to be a common affliction...

Peace my friends. And thanks for stopping by. Now leave me a comment darn it!!