Three Years of Blogging!

Who knew I had it in me??  Three years of blogging??  Seriously.  I've amazed myself...I didn't know I had such stick-to-it-ness about anything!

Just in case you're interested (but mostly for my own interest!) I have published 804 posts over the past three years, averaging 23 posts/month.  I typically get between 300 and 400 hits/day from readers.  Interestingly, it seems that the highest number of hits are for posts about h/schooling, adoption issues, and book lists/reviews.

The fewest number of posts I published in a one-month period was 12, which reflects the number I posted in both September and October of 2011 - interestingly, during some of my lowest months, emotionally, in the process of transitioning to a family of five.  Yikes, I don't like thinking about those months, or the two following them.

The highest number of posts I published in a month was 35 (sheesh - more than one/day!), and this number reflects the number posted in both of December of 2009 and January of 2010...I guess I was on a roll around the time that Imagine Adoption was back up and running after its bankruptcy.

I don't know what I possibly could have said in all of these 800+ rambly posts.  When I originally came up with the title of my blog, it was mostly because I was looking for an alliteration with the letter "R" from my first name, and because so many other titles had been taken by other bloggers.  In fact, there are now one or two other blogs entitled something like Ruth's Rambles, and one of those blogs makes me rather uncomfortable!  But it seems as if the name is apt for me, too.  I do tend to ramble on.  And I seem to have no shortage of things to talk about.

I truly don't know why people keep reading my rambles.  I've often wondered.  I only know that I keep writing it because it's an outlet for my need to write something, and because I feel like I'm doing something perhaps worthwhile for my family by chronicling a few of the ongoings around here and some of the things I think about (well, that part may not be worthwhile!).

The number of comments that I receive has ebbed and flowed significantly; much more of an ebb than a flow in the past number of months.  I confess that I miss the days when more people left comments for me.  Somehow comments make a blog feel a little bit more like a dialogue than a monologue; a conversation rather than a soliloquy.  It's nice to have feedback.  Those who do comment I have come to really appreciate - the support and wisdom you have offered me over these three years have really made my day on many occasions; even the more critical comments have been thought-provoking for me and have spurred me on to further growth (and likely another blog post!).

I have a few questions for you, dear reader - answer one or answer all or choose to answer none at all (did you catch the unintended-rhymey-rhythm there that I'll leave in just 'cause I like the way it turned out?):

• Why do you keep reading my blog?

• When you think of my blog, what do you think of?  What words come to mind to describe it?  How would you describe my blog to someone who's never heard of it?  I'm curious about this.

• Are there posts that you remember that meant something to you?  If so, which ones?

• What are your favourite types of posts?

• What do you wish I'd write more about?

So...thanks.  Thanks for putting up with me, walking through life with me, and for reading my rambles!  I'm really looking forward to the next three years here.