Code Yellow Is One Year Old!

It's been twelve whole months - fifty two weeks - 365 days - since I signed myself up and posted in the great wide blogosphere for the first time. I did it with no little amount of trepidation, and still have momentary thoughts of completely annihilating my blog-self for one reason or another, but overall, this year of recording the mundane, the thoughtful, the daily, the semi-profound in my world, has been a fascinating and rewarding experience, not to mention a sorely needed outlet and way of connecting with other women.

I've noticed that lots of the bloggers who started around the same time I did almost immediately found a niche of sorts and immediately found the "flavor" they wanted to put out there. I'm a little more helter skelter, and have worried probably more than I should have about what other people wanted to read more than what I wanted to write.

I'm still looking for my flavor, but whatever. I'm glad many of you come back for regular tastes even when you don't know if it's going to be a hot fudge sundae or liver and onions...

And I'm still baffled by feeds and tags and Technorati and pings and all, but the non-technical benefits of more or less writing something (even drivel) almost every day consistently, are really immeasurable.

In the last year, I've spent most of my time on food prep and clean-up and laundry, but I've also been able to document lots of things my boys say and do, that I'm sure I would not have done otherwise.

In many ways, I feel like my blog posts are the truest glimpse into my life with young children, and I hope they will be treasures for my boys someday, when they ask me how they were or what they said and did when they were little. Right now, I'm in it so deep that I can't imagine forgetting, but I know lots of moms honestly can't remember...

We spent 100 straight days of this year apart from my husband, who was working in a war zone while we slogged along at home but mostly enjoyed the summer, lonely as we were without him.

And of course six months of the last year I've been pregnant and whining about it, even while actually being really excited...

The beautiful thing is that writing about all of it has helped me prioritize, to look for the humor or the larger picture, to appreciate what I have, to feel free to tell it like it is, and to learn to go forward and take one step at a time if that's all I can do at the moment.

I've found that I've actually blogged the most when I was the most stressed, that sometimes I felt like I was so tired or down that the superfluous, my blog, is what had to give. As it turned out, I needed to write - and I needed to read a "HAHAHAHA!" or "My son did that, too, once," or, "You're doing just fine," from the wider world of girlfriends out there.

The way I look at myself, not to mention my perspective on being a woman and a mom, and even some of my fiercely held beliefs and opinions on mothering have changed for the better in this year, due in large part to your posts, your comments and the introspection that blogging has prompted.

And I think I'm a tiny bit less self-conscious and a little more sure of who I am and what I'm about because of you. So, thanks.

I had some grand intentions of filling this post with links galore to my first bloggy friends, some new bloggy friends, and some posts from all of them that I love and respect.

And I wanted some confetti and balloons falling from the ceiling and some kind-of million dollar give-away to offer. But alas, getting a shower and going grocery shopping takes precedence this morning. You understand.

But in celebration of my blogiversary, I'd love it if you'd read "Holding Pattern" and/or "Genetics, Questions, and Super Powers" (both are linked in my sidebar), especially if you are new to my blog. They are particular treasures of mine, and comments remain open and are of course infinitely appreciated!

Now go have some cake, and eat it, too.