Some Unfinished Business

Here in the South we're pretty big on manners. You can call us old-fashioned, and that's okay - because we are. And we like it that way.

When I was growing up, there were, as far as my mama was concerned, some hard and fast etiquette non-negotiables: saying "yes ma'am" and "no ma'am," greeting people - especially elders - with a smile and a "how are you," and writing thank you notes that not only mentioned the specific gift but also enumerated all possible uses of it. You know, something like this:

"Dear Mrs. Vandingham -

Thank you so much for the beautiful Eternal salad plate that you gave David and me for our wedding. I cannot wait to use it to serve my mama's great broccoli salad, and who knows? I may even get daring and try a homemade Caesar. And with all the baking I do, I know your gift will be used to serve countless pieces of homemade lemon pound cake. We are so grateful for your thoughtfulness, and we appreciate you sharing in our joy during this most memorable time.

Love, S.

Side note: when D. and I got married, I actually got a thank you note for a thank you note I'd written. I don't think David's mother has ever been more proud. :-)

Over the last four or five weeks I've had a lot of people ask me if I have been "freaked out" by the increase in readers here at my blawg. And initially, yeah, I was. If you can imagine having a certain amount of people stop by for six or seven months, and then suddenly, over the course of a couple of days, you have that traffic times ten - and it doesn't go away - it's a little overwhelming. It's one thing to put your life and your family's life "out there" when you have a pretty good idea of who all is reading. It feels different somehow when you don't necessarily know everybody and - here's the strangest but nicest part for me - those people you don't know start saying really kind things about what you're writing. I'd gotten pretty used to the notion that no one would ever find my blog unless I was the one to tell them about it - so the very idea that you're sitting there right now, reading this - well, it blows my mind just a little bit.

Because did nobody bother to tell you that I'm a GOOB?

All that to say: I'm okay with the numbers now. I really am. It doesn't even freak me out anymore. And if people stop reading, that'll be okay, too. Because, really, the blogging thing has been good at every single stage - even back when I was begging people to comment.

And also to say that, given my Southern tradition, I've been a little remiss with something:

Dear Stranger Friend - (hey. that's you.)

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to stop by my little corner of the interweb. I should probably apologize in advance for my excessive use of coordinating conjunctions, my dependency on sentence fragments for effect, and the inexact nature of my diction (see "stuff," "a lot," "things," etc.). Which reminds me: I can't promise that you'll always read the most finely crafted sentences when you visit here, but you will always see my heart.

It's sort of a work-in-progress, the BLAWG, and there's probably way too much talk of pickles and catfish for anyone's taste, but, well, it's home. Virtually, of course. So put your feet up. Have a diet Coke. Sit a spell. And know that you're welcome anytime.

I pray Philippians 2:1-11 will always be the order of the day 'round here. And I'm grateful - SO grateful - for the privilege of sharing in just a little bitty part of your life. You know, the bloggy part. :-)

Love, S.

Happy Monday, everybody!