Something happened last Friday that I just have to share.  I must.  Because it was so crazy awesome that it makes me want to keep at this writing thing, which I started in the 3rd grade with my first flower-covered diary: “Dear Diary, Larry Brown tied my shoelaces together in class today.  He is so dumb.  Boys are dumb.  Mike Davis is not dumb, but he does not know I exist.  My sister thinks I am dumb.  Diary, I will tell you about her later.  My best friend is Marianne Mantock and she does not think I am dumb.  I love you Diary.”  You can see my talent surfacing at such a young age…

Now onto the awesomeness of Friday night: I was recognized for the first time.  As I walked into Mass Ave Toys, I heard from across the store someone say, “OH MY GOD, it’s Lori from Wisdom Comes Suddenly!”  She looked at Greg, then checked the girls, and at that point Greg was standing next to her, and said, “Why yes, yes it is…Lori.”  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  I would have stood up, and you could have done it again.  So thank you to Faye at Mass Ave Toys, you have no idea what that meant to me.

I think I should mention to everyone: if think you are peeking into this space alone, you are not.  Some of you have been so kind as to email or ask me at school or out and about, “Is it OK that I read?  I hope it’s OK because I like your blog.”  Those comments make me want to do backflips and squeal, “I love you grown up Diary!”  While I share personal stories, I promise that I only share that which I am willing to broadcast to the world; and I love that you join me in this space. Sharing this journey has been a joy to me every step of the way.  Less of a joy on the few days I’ve pissed some of you off, but you are part of that mess I call “My Family”, which means you have to forgive me.  Sorry…them’s the beans.

Which brings me to my heckler, who is also my biggest fan: my pal Lydia.  It must be said that Lydia has announced if I don’t stop playing with my new photo editor, she is threatening to UNFOLLOW.  Oh Good Lord, we can’t have that.  How would I know that my laundry room wallpaper is an abomination to good taste?  Which, to be fair, it is, but I LOVE it.  How will I know I’ve gone off on a week long tangent about POOP, if I don’t have Lydia to write in and say….”ENOUGH OF THE POOP!  WHAT ARE YOU FEEDING THESE CHILDREN?!”  How would I have made it through that unbelievably difficult Gifts Galore month had Lydia not written in to say…”BRING…BACK…THE…BLOG.”  In all seriousness, that comment alone got me out of bed several mornings in a row.  Lydia has known me so long that I can’t actually remember when we met, which means she can tell me…how do you say it?  Oh yes…THE TRUTH. And she can get away with it in ways my poor husband can’t.  Girlfriends: the thing we just can’t explain to our husbands.  The girls think she is cooler than Barbie, and I do too.  So Lydia, you can be my highly unpaid Artistic Director, and I promise no more fading and vignetting.  Back to my boring rookie pictures.  Keep commenting or I’ll kill the blog, and it will be your fault.

So to the 800 to 1000 of you who stop by here on a regular basis, I want to say from the bottom of my humble heart, thank you.  I hope you’ll keep visiting, all 2 of you in the UK.  To my reader in New Zealand..HELLO!  And to the many, many of you across the US…blessings to each and every one of you in what is sure to be an awesome-coated-awesome-with-awesome-filling kind of a year.