Mar 282011
 

I posted on my main blog some thoughts about blogging for ten years. In that post, I talked about how pleased I was that I blogged most of my pregnancy with the Munchkin. (I have some gaps from lack of Internet when I didn’t move hand-written stuff to the Internet.)

I decided to go wading through old posts just now, which was probably a bad idea. All the same, I came across one from November 25, 2003 — 18 days before the Munchkin was born. Looking back at this now, I ache in ways that I didn’t know to ache then.

I’m so confused as of late. I just want to curl up in bed and hide from the masses. But that makes the days last twice as long, I’ve noticed. So, if I just keep completely busy… I won’t have time to think… “I’m going to miss her so much.” “I’ll never be good enough for Him.” “I don’t know what I want to do with my life.” “I don’t know if I can do this anymore.” So, I’ll just do things like… plan to make three deserts for Thanksgiving, plan on three different dinners on Thanksgiving day, do lots of laundry, make plans out the wazoo, visit old friends, write letters, write entries, and all sorts of randomness.

I’m trying to hide. But I’m not invisible.

This is one of the rare posts in which I allowed myself to voice confusion. I talked of sadness often, but not confusion. I wonder what — exactly — I was thinking then. I wish I could be a fly on the wall of that memory. I wonder if I would have listened to Future Me. Probably not.

I am grateful for those writings. But they are very difficult for me to read. I’ll save them again for another day.

Feb 112011
 

I got an email earlier this week informing me that I am one of Adoptive Families “Top Adoption Bloggers.” Color me happily shocked. The “official announcement” will be made in the March/April issue, but they told me that I’m free to share the news with my readers now. So, I am!

I’ve never received a Top Anything award with relation to Anything Blog Related. In high school, I was voted Most Likely To Be Famous. And, to be fair to myself, I did get a nod from BlogHer and fellow bloggers last year with the Voices of the Year. But this warms my heart a little. Why?

A birth mother (me) was acknowledged by a mainstream media outlet that caters largely to adoptive families. Hence the happily shocked part.

I did ask my contact how this cool thing came about. This is the first time the magazine has done a bloggy roundup. She was kind enough to explain it to me.

As for how the selection process happened, we asked for reader suggestions and the magazine editors picked which blogs made the final cut. Other information, such as who else will be included, won’t be released until the magazine hits newsstands, which is March 8th.

Someone out there gets some virtual hugs from me.

I’ve been writing this blog for five years now. I have been blogging for ten years sometime this Spring. (I don’t have an exact date as that first blog was deleted in a hasty click one emotional college day. I do know it was in the Spring as I was in the dorm room that my college roomie and I moved into for Spring semester of our Sophomore year and it was actual Spring because I remember being warm (instead of freezing) and the windows being open.) But this blog has always had a special spot in my heart because it contains so much raw emotion, change and growth over the years. It has, as people have told me, helped others in their journey while simultaneously helping me. I am not who I was when I started this blog, and as I have continued to grow into who I am today, I hope to continue to grow into who I will be tomorrow… and the next day… and the next day.

I want to thank my loyal readers, my quiet readers, those who have challenged me and those who have supported me over the years. I have, at various times, been tempted to chuck this blog, lock it up or simply let it fade and waste away into blog etherland. Every time I have a feeling like that, someone says something that encourages me to keep on keeping on. So, thank you.

I’m apparently getting a badge for my sidebar when the magazine hits stands. I’ll probably blog about it again once I see who else is included and such. Looking forward to honoring other picks as well.

But, yes, thank you. So much.