Thankfully Zoe took pity on my newbie status and graciously dropped off her cheeky, pouncy-poofy remarks on a regular basis. Kat @ Mostly Fluff, who came 'round these parts in the latter part of the year also hopped on the DMB bus... and she's still coming by! (Now THAT's a friend.) There were other folks who popped in, but they practiced the comment drive-by shooting -- that is, leaving a comment and bolting, never to be heard from again unless I wrote about them in a blog post. Eventually I had other new visitors and comments, but over time I noticed that my writing voice changed (as Greg @ Mr. Helpful can confirm, since he read my prior-to-blog writing.) It took a while before I figured out that my writing voice had become stifled.

Put Down the Mouse and Step Away from the Computer
There were a couple of times when I thought it best to shut down the blog and work on other things. The first time I took the blog down, a friend called me an hour later demanding to know where it went (hey, I didn't even know he read the blog!) The second time I didn't announce it, I just put a single page in its place along with a redirect and then the shit hit the fan. That last poorly-executed attempt at blog execution resulted in numerous protests from those I've come to know over the last year in this space. Even the ever-elusive Land o' Lakes man himself wrote me an almost threatening email that by taking my blog down I made him sad and that I'd better do something about it. Who knew that a single story about a rubber dress would keep a reader forever? Greg @ Mr. Helpful inquired about my mental health, wondering if he could, indeed, be... uhm... helpful. And then there's Ozg, who sent a lengthy email but ultimately just wanted my archives back up. [insert big smile here.] Some looked to Zoe for answers, expecting her to write up a blog post about my departure when she didn't even know about it. NOTE: I could keep mentioning others who wrote me but then we'd be here all day. Obviously I gave in to their pleas and begging and put the blog back up. Even though I knew that I didn't have to post something every single day, and Lake Boy mentioned that, it took Wendy @ allseasons to remind me of it and really drive the point home.

Data, Thanks and Blah, Blah, Blah
So where do we go from here? Oh, I don't know. I've got some really terrific blog visitors and frequent commenters and am grateful for each one of them. They're all unique and talented and witty and kindhearted people, and I'm very lucky to know them. From a data mining point of view of those on my blogroll:

• The majority are parents
• The majority are from countries outside the U.S.
• There are more men than women (IMHO, only the best female bloggers are listed.)
• Of those who responded to my "when is your birthday" post, most were born in September.
• The majority of comments made during the last year were from Zoe with Kat @ Mostly Fluff following in second.

So thanks for ...
the guffaws, talking with your mouth full of food, not answering my emails, not tipping me off to remove my email address from my blog and instead letting me just lay here swimming in spam, surprising me when I least expected it (wipes tear from eye), keeping me on your blogroll even though I know you know that it doesn't get more boring than this, and thanks to the rest of you lovely, talented and adorable folks who stop by from time to time. (You too Nick, since you love picking on me in your blog posts.) Grassy ass, it's been a trip!