pretty*swell

What would I do without you?

Opportunity is screaming at me louder than my child does when someone takes a toy away from her. Which says a lot because Small Fry can really belt it out. She’s two and not a big fan of sharing ANYTHING. Yesterday, during a routine diaper change, I grabbed her leg like I do every. single. time. She shrieked, “My leg Mommy!  My leg!” As if I was going to stick it in my purse and take it to the store.

Seriously. No sharing.

Sooo … the opportunity. Mabel’s Labels is offering one lucky blogger the chance to write for their site for a year AND a free ride to BlogHer ’10 in New York City this summer. I can’t express in words how awesome I think this is. And how grateful I am to be a blogger and put my name in the hat.

To enter, I have to answer the following question. Here goes:

Electrical storms are going to wipe out the Internet (perhaps forever). You have one day left to write about your passions: what do you want to say to the blogosphere in 300 words or less?

Thank you.

I want to say thank you. For opening my eyes to an entire community I didn’t know existed before I started writing this blog. For cheering me on through sleep training, a vicious bout of croup and ALL of the other pitfalls of new motherhood. For laughing with me as I ate my weight in chocolate-covered bacon as the NC State Fair’s “Deep-Fried Ambassador.” For your advice on how to get my picky toddler to eat. For kind words and even funnier stories. For relating. Venting. Celebrating.

Internet, if I could give you a big ol’ mom-hug, I would.

This blog is only six months old, and I’m telling you, it has changed my life. I’m not exaggerating, y’all. By writing about everything from my hilarious toddler to my love of celebrity gossip (and bacon), I have grown closer to who I believe I really am. The real me.

And don’t even get me started on Twitter. The connections I’ve made there continue to surprise me.

Holy cow, the Internet might vanish forever. I’m crushed that my blog will disappear, that my Tweeps won’t be publishing 140-character bits of wisdom, that I’ll no longer be able to stalk Etsy (or Neil Patrick Harris on Twitter, for that matter).

But I have to believe this experience transcends my computer screen. The question now is: what to do next?

I’ll find a way to channel my passions, to keep flying the flag for new moms everywhere, to continue writing and taking way too many pictures.

Or maybe we’ll get lucky and Steve Jobs, Oprah and the folks from Mashable will join their mighty forces to rescue the Internet.

Either way, I’ve only just begun. And it’s because of YOU.

Thank you.