I knew it was coming, knew it was coming, and now, WHAM! My blogoversary has snuck up on me.  Yup, today is one year since the “birth” of Mrs Fringe.

I’m in the midst of a dental emergency, and whatever they gave me at the dentist this morning is wearing off, so I’m going to keep this short.  Also without all of the links I had intended to post.  Just go ahead and check out my blog roll.  Really.  Every single blogger on my roll is someone whose words I read, someone I respect, someone with something to say, through words or images, that touches my heart.

I began Mrs Fringe in the hopes of giving myself a safe place to navel gaze, vent, be honest, and get my writing synapses connecting again.  It has fulfilled every one of these hopes and much, much more.  I didn’t know if anyone would be interested in reading what I had to say, and that was ok.  Did I hope my ramblings would reach a few people?  Of course I did.  Hell, I fantasized about one of those sensational “hit it” blogs that result in legions of followers and a book deal.  I also fantasize about winning the lottery.  But I don’t buy lottery tickets, I blog.  So here we are, one year later.  No legions, no book deal, but the reality is that I have more followers, made more friends, had more great conversations, met more interesting people than I ever thought could/would really happen.

I also completed a manuscript, Wanna Bees–that I’m now querying–and have begun another one.  I submitted a few short stories, wrote a few more.

Mrs Fringe may not be an overnight sensation, but for me, it is a rip roaring success.  Because of you, my readers, my Fringelings,  who have stopped to check out a post and stayed to become a member of Fringeland.  In my opinion, a blog is only as good as its community, and we’ve built a hell of a little community here together.  Thank you, for visiting, for following, for joining in the conversation whether you agree with my opinion or not.  All are respected, all have been respectful, and all are welcome.

I feel honored and humbled by each and every “follow,” each and every person who takes the time to comment. Very few of the people who have become a part of Mrs Fringe are people I know “in real life.”  Hell, even among those few, most are people I’ve met online, through blogging, special needs moms communities, or writing.

In this year, I’ve written 177 posts

Gathered 234 followers

Received 3, 386 comments

Had 11, 675 views

from 91 countries

Been asked to guest blog by people who stumbled upon my blog.

Been Freshly Pressed once

Gotten more joy, support, laughs, tears, and warm fuzzies than I thought possible.

Remembered what it is to be a person, an individual, a woman thinking about the world with something to say.

Last August, one of my posts was chosen for Freshly Pressed.  It was two days after I posted, and I had no clue why I suddenly had all these comments waiting for me.  A new blogger, I had no clue what Freshly Pressed was.  I don’t consider it one of my “best” posts, but being recognized among the WordPress community was, in an overused and abused word, awesome.  I like to think that one day, with more posts under my keyboard and a greater understanding of what I’m doing here, it will happen again.

Confession.  I am a bad blogger.  Good bloggers have a posting schedule and stick to it.  I don’t.  Good bloggers show their readers they care about and respect them by paying for upgrades.  I do care about and respect you, but I haven’t paid for upgrades.  sorry. It’s a budgeting thing.  Good bloggers have one very specific focus, so viewers/readers/followers know right away what type of blog it is, and what they’ll be reading about each time.  Oops. Good bloggers don’t use expletives to get their point across, and certainly never in their titles.  Shit.

Have I said thank you clearly enough?  Muchas gracias.

And now, I’m going to see if I’ve got any pennies left in my bag after today’s shakedown at the dentist.  Maybe someone still sells this.