Helloooo Out There!!!!!

In June I decided to get really serious about this blog, and to make an effort to reach out to a broader audience than my husband and a couple of close friends. As part of that effort I joined Blogher, registered my blog with Technorati, and signed up for an account with Sitemeter, which provides all sorts of statistics about who is reading your blog.

All of these steps, along with coming out of the closet as a blogger to friends and family, have caused the traffic to my blog to really increase. This has been incredibly gratifying. I never get tired of visiting Sitemeter to look at my current numbers. The coolest thing of all though is to look at where my readers are coming from. I've been surprised and delighted to find that I have visitors from all over the world. I'd like to take a minute to say a HUGE thank you to those of you that stop by to read regularly and to say as personal a hello as I can to all of you in far flung places. So welcome to my blog Jessup, Maryland. Nice to see you Albany, New York and Phoenix, Arizona. How the hell are you Schaumburg, Evanston, Chicago, and Palatine, Illinois? I like your senator (but you probably already knew that). What's cooking Hightstown, New Jersey? Hello to Raleigh, North Carolina, Tangent, Oregon, Swansea, Massachusetts, San Marcos, Texas, and Central Islip, New York. Howdy Oviedo, Tallahassee, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Please consider voting for Obama in 2008. Hi Nashville, Tennessee. I love your accent! And hello to my international readers too! How's the weather in Mexico, Brazil, Philippines, Australia, and Singapore? And I can't forget London and Birmingham, UK. Thank you for stopping by Mas Riudoms, Spain.

More than anything else I would enjoy hearing what all of you have to say to me. Blogging is largely a one-sided conversation, so when readers respond with even the shortest comment, I'm very happy. It begins to feel more like a dialog. Again, thanks again for stopping by.