Last night...

To my dear friends who I spent the evening with last night:

After unmercifully teasing me about my BLOG, I decided to dedicate my post today to you!

Let me set the scene for my other readers...

Eight of us had planned to go have a picnic in the park last night while the Alabama Symphony played. As an aside, we are having an extremely serious drought in my state right now with a real deficit of rain for quite a while. Everyone is under severe water restricted use until further notice. So, the idea of having it rain on this night was the farthest thing from our minds.

The meal was planned: I made some homemade chicken salad as well as some bar-b-que pork; Carol made her unique brocolli salad with bacon and raisins and had mini pita's; Donna brought fresh cut-up fruit and some homemade cookies; Sherri made some falafal and had hummus and roasted red peppers and some chunks of cheese. Mmmmm

Dave had meticulously packed all of our necessities....fold-up chairs (where a hidden bottle of wine was stored to be snuck into the park!), blanket, utensils, coolers, a backgammon game to be played before the concert, etc. etc.

An hour or so before we had planned to get to the park the weather became a little threatening...after 40 days and 40 nights of no rain (a little added drama to my tale), Mother Nature decided to let us have it. We got the call from someone who was already at the park that they were asking everyone to go to a place of safety as it was lightening and hail was on its way.

A quick decision was made to skip the park and head over to Sherri and David's instead.

When we got there, they had put a blanket out in their great room floor along with a large Citronella candle surrounded by a couple of fold-out chairs. Not exactly the park, but a great substitute.

Everyone's food (and our hidden wine) was put out and we feasted on our delightful dinner.

Somehow the conversation got around to my blog. Out of the group, I was the sole blogger...and a few of my friends weren't even sure exactly what a blog was. So, the usual questions arose: "Why do you write in a blog?", "Who reads your blog?", "Why would anyone put all of their personal stuff out there in the cyber world?", and, finally, "Are you going to write about us in your blog tomorrow?".

The answer to the final question is obvious..."YES! After an hour or so of teasing and ribbing and a laptop brought out to look up my blog...yes, you all are definitely going to be fodder for my blog today!!".

I know that to the uninitiated, blogging is a strange phenonemon. It can be very misunderstood and tends to bring up many questions in those who do not partake. But, for me it is an incredibly cathartic exercise of expressing what is on my mind. It has also proven to be a link to so many wonderful new blogging friends who also share their lives with me. We have formed a bond through our words, pictures and stories that is unlike anything else. We genuinely care for and about each other as we join in on each other's journeys.

Since my blog really began as Jenny became pregnant, I feel that it will also be a diary of sorts for Owen to have someday. It is a testament to so many things in my life, most especially, family, friends, and love.

So, for you skeptics out there (and you know who you are!!)...this blogs for YOU. : )