Post number 300 —sharing the love

So, how is that for a cheesy title! This is my 300th post on this blog. It's not that I am so big on mileposts— numbers 100 and 200 both passed without any awareness on my part, but when I started to approach 300 it got kind of exciting. It would have been hard for me to imagine back at post #1 that I would ever get to 300. I wondered, at the time, if I would even sustain any interest in this blogging business beyond a month or two. In quiet, but profound ways, blogging has changed my life. When I started I saw it as a way to share my artwork. It has evolved into a way of sharing the beautiful things that touch and inspire me in my everyday life. In the beginning I thought I would keep my thoughts fairly impersonal and after all, who really cares about my personal life? Some bloggers, in fact, remain entirely anonymous, but that just doesn't feel right to me and personal things creep in. I hope I maintain a certain balance. Sometimes I feel a little embarrassed by how self-indulgent keeping a blog is and I know there are people in my life who think it is just wierd or the height of narcissism, but others of you get what I'm doing and accept it for what it is.

Now, here is the "sharing the love" part. If you have been reading for awhile you might remember the image at the top of the page. It is a little quilt that I made to reproduce for my Valentines this year. It was the first piece I made this year. I still have about 5 of the Valentines left, as well as the original little quilt. To celebrate my 300th post I'd love to give them away to people who, for some mysterious reason, keep coming back and reading this blog. Leave me a comment, saying you'd like one of my Valentines. If there are more than 6 of you who respond in the next 48 hours, I will hold a random drawing to send 5 of the reproduced cards, and I will randomly choose one person to receive the actual quilt. Ray will supervise the drawing to make it all fair! It's my way of saying "thank you" for making me feel like I am part of the community of bloggers and friends who somehow find something worth reading and commenting on here.

P.S. Your comments about Emily's surgery and our scary hospital adventure were so supportive and kind, especially in light of the fact that most that commented have never even met us face to face. Thank you so much. She is home from the hospital and healing nicely. The baby is a tremendous blessing. As Emily told me this morning, "It is almost impossible to feel down with this little ray of sunshine around."