Please Excuse Me While I Make Excuses

So here's what I know.

As a Southern girl, you learn to reciprocate any kindness that comes your way. If someone brings you flowers, you fill the vase with candy before you return it. If someone gives you a gift, you write a thank you note. If someone sends you a letter, you answer it. These things were non-negotiables as far as my mama was concerned.

As a blogger, I want to adhere to the same code. And I did for awhile. If someone commented, I quickly went to her site and commented in return. If someone emailed, I immediately answered. If I saw that someone had added me to her Bloglines, I added her to mine.

But then a lot more people starting coming around, and it changed things a little bit. I'm not saying that it should have, but it did.

Which leaves me here, still trying to figure out how to keep up my end of the bloggy deal.

A bit of backstory: I have been in my house one night out of the last fourteen. ONE NIGHT IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS. And I'm not positive, but I think my mental state at this point is only slightly better than an eight year old enduring his first week of sleep-away camp.

(In other words: “I wanna go HOOOOOOOME.”)

Two weeks ago I went on a great trip to Savannah with some of my bloggy friends. The day after we got home, I made an unexpected trip to be with my friend Elise. And when I left her last Tuesday, I came to my parents’ for a visit we'd planned several weeks ago.

And I've realized something during my time away from home: so much of my blogging "routine" is dependent on location. Since I've pretty much been hijacking other people's computers for the last two weeks, it's thrown me off more than a little bit. I've blogged from Wendi's, from Mama and Daddy's (DIAL UP IS HATEFUL), and from my cousin's house. I came THISCLOSE to blogging from Elise's house one afternoon, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that, seeing as how she's been recently widowed and all. I mean, I know we've been friends for almost 20 years, but I'm pretty sure that the etiquette experts would draw the line at trying to catch up on blog reading from the computer of someone who is grieving the death of her husband. I think that would probably qualify as tacky. (And by the way - lest you worry that I'm being insensitive to the plight of my sweet friend Elise - I can promise you that when she read those last two lines, she laughed. Loudly.) :-)

So I haven't exactly been minding my bloggy manners. I've hit "mark all read" on Bloglines more times than I can count...I've read all of your sweet emails and more often than not been totally unsure of how to respond...I even asked y'all to open up your homes, and you did, and in a lot of cases I haven't made it by your place yet.

Tacky, tacky, tacky.

But there is a flipside. And the flipside is why, in the grand scheme of things, I just can't beat myself up too much for the way the last two weeks have gone, blogging-wise.

- I made time to take a trip with four sweet blogging friends. Only now they're not just blogging friends - they're friends. Period.

- I was able to be with a long-time friend who needed me more than ever before.

- I hung out in my pajamas for almost two days when I got to Mama's - and pretty much never let go of my little one. We sang songs and read books and watched movies and loved every second.

- I've spent the last three days with my sister at my cousin's house - cleaning out, decorating, rearranging furniture - all for the new member of our family who's scheduled to arrive sometime in November.

- And I've missed my husband like crazy.

So yeah, I've missed some posts. Yeah, I'm behind on the tour. And yeah, I've been a little overwhelmed, truthfully, when I've thought about how many of you are reading Ye Olde Blogge these days, because I want to make it worth your while. I want to have something to say.

So if you would, bear with me. I need to ease back into regular life - and ease back into blog life, too. Once I get back home, I'll re-discover my routine. I'll be able to write a little when A. is eating breakfast, and read through my Bloglines when he's taking a nap, and write a little more after he goes to bed. I'll be able to click on your comments and (quickly, thanks to DSL) discover all sorts of new bloggity treasures.

Did I mention that I've missed my husband?

One more thing. I owe Jeana a big ole thank you. She made me smile last Thursday by giving me a funny blog award, and because I've been visiting Tackyland, apparently, I haven't thanked her yet. So, many thanks to Jeana - for making me laugh with her quirky sense of humor, for giving me something fun to put in my sidebar, and for ensuring - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that at least in terms of the Christian blogging world, my mama's legacy is secure.

I'll be back tomorrow.

With nary a trace of tackiness remaining.

Hopefully. :-)