Nettie's Awesome, Linktastic, Insanely Long Blogiversary Extravaganza

I started this whole thing because I was bored. There is really no deeper meaning to it than that. I never dreamed how much this would come to mean to me, how much I would see and learn from what started as a desire to carve out my own little notch in cyberspace. As I look back on this year, so much has happened, and gradually my blog became such an important part of it. So if you will allow me to remember...

I wasn't one of those people who started off and quickly had a lot of readers. I didn't have a clue. My first post was a political rant- that I probably have in common with many others. I don't think I figured out links for six months in. I'm not a perfectionist really, but when it comes to blogging I've become one, and it drives me nuts to look at my early stuff, seeing how horrible I think it is now. I did attract a few people in those early days- I was happy if I got even one comment! Somehow, though, they all seemed to drift away, so I went for a while being one of those "boring-diaries-of-my-life-that-no-one-reads".

In the middle of November, I happened upon Blair, who I just loved cause she was pregnant at the time, and I was waiting for my niece or nephew to be born. Those early posts still make me cringe, but I was improving. I think. And in December- Mark, and Sweetie, and Edwin. Things were picking up- I had learned to love my job, and not just because it provided endless entertaining fodder for my blog. And I had people who were actually reading me. But the explosion was yet to come...

It's all thanks to Darlene. I came across her blog like I did a lot of others- by hitting the next blog button- but this one was a real treasure. And through my inserting myself into her clique- Jeff, Paula, Cindy-Lou; through them, others, as I picked up a few more on my own. Suddenly, I looked around, and I had a community. One that would soon, I have to use this word, serve me in ways I hadn't imagined.

February 11. This is still so hard for me to write about. It's the night I found out that my cousin Kevin was dead. I'd written a slightly cranky post the day before- I don't even remember what I was upset about now- but had planned a nice cheerful post to make up for it. But the second I heard that news...I've said before that it was a grief like no other I have ever experienced. I'm normally a pretty strong person, but I just fell apart. And at three in the morning, when I couldn't sleep, I came to my computer. I know y'all's prayers were what kept me going and functioning, that weekend and during many of the days that followed. And I took comfort in the fact that I could tell his family that people all over the world were lifting them up. I was overwhelmed by the support I got. And when I try to tell people how much this blog means to me, this is what I say: Thank you for that. Thank all of you for that.

I guess that was a turning point, of sorts. I realized the support I had in cyberspace. And maybe even more than that, the support that I could provide in cyberspace. That was when Darlene put together my current gorgeous design, which I am slowly learning to add to and play with, and occasionally screw up. Plus, a photo account, and an adjunct blog for pictures and stuff. As for the future, I have no foreseeable plans to expand into a dotcom, since my blogging budget sits at zero. Besides, I have a demented affection for Blogger. I do hope to see my readership increase, but not to the point that I can't interact with each of you. I'll never be one of the biggies. Which may be because although I have pretty strong opinions, I usually end up yakking about basically nothing. I think it's a good thing when I can go through my archives, and see the old comments that still make me laugh. I love all of y'all, and even if you weren't specifically mentioned (or plagiarized), I was thinking about you!

If any of you actually clicked on all the links, I am seriously impressed. But enough history. It's time to celebrate. The question is, how? My first thought was to yank some chains, pretending that at long last, I would actually reveal my real name. But that would only be fun for me. Giving you one no-holds-barred question? Too revealing. Idea I had in bed at 3 A.M.? Lost it. Pictures? Boring. So finally, I decided to leave it up to you. After all, without you, all this effort would be wasted. How do you want to party? Make it awesome! But please do leave me some nice comments- I worked waaaaaay too long and hard on this. So spread the word, Nettie's having a knock-down, drag-out, year-in-the-making BLOWOUT!!!!!!