Blog Stalker Revealed

As the lazy days of summer are winding down, and I am weathering our non-air conditioned home and a sick three year old (yep, Anna got what I got - to her credit, thank goodness she is not whiny when she is sick), I have decided I need to do another blog activity to add some excitement to my life. I've been thinking about this post for a couple of days, and I think I finally have the nerve to publish it. So here it goes...

You know the old saying, "It is better to give than receive." Quite a few posts ago, I did a blog experiment on my "Happy 9 Years" post, and to my great delight, I received by far my most comments ever. This time, instead of receiving the comments, it is my turn to give. I have stated before that there are many blogs that I read - some on a multi-times-a-day basis, some daily, some every two or three days, some weekly, some only when I have some serious blog time to spend, some of people I am related to, some I know well, some I know as acquaintances, some I wouldn't recognize if I passed them on the street. There are only a few, however, that I post comments on, for a couple of reasons. First, I don't have time to post comments on every site I visit - often times I am doing quick clicks just to get updates. Second, most people would question "Why in the world is Deb Wuertley reading my blog, let alone commenting on it?" But wouldn't all of us secretly like to know who all visits our sites? We don't need to hear from these people, we just want to know they exist and are reading, even if on a sporadic basis. So I have decided to make myself known - if only for one night. I have decided to post a comment on every site that I visit. I have set some guidelines, however, and I will list them below:

1. I will only post a comment on sites I have visited more than one time. I have visited several sites once and for various reasons have not gone back.

2. I will only post on sites that the author has kept the blog reasonably up to date - I'm going to put the limit at the last two months.

3. I will put the same comment on each site - "Just wanted to let you know I stopped by."

4. I will only post these comments tonight, and starting tomorrow, I will return to only commenting on sites that I normally comment on.

I realize I may get a variety of reactions from my comments. Some who I already comment with will know what's going on and it won't be a big deal. Some will read my comment, wonder who in the world "Deb" is, and click on my name, thus seeing this post and realizing why I left the comment. Some will think it's spam and ignore it. Some will think I am really strange. I guess it's the chance I am taking by doing this activity. I am going to leave this post on a couple of days in case a blogger does click on my name, wondering what in the world is going on. What spurred on this idea? Other than the obvious - I've always wondered who reads my posts and am surprised at times when I find out who does, so I thought I'd let others know I read theirs - I visited a site the other day that had a really humorous post about an awkward hug, and I read some of her other posts, and I thought, "I would really like to let this author know I enjoy reading her stuff, but I obviously won't since we don't know each other."

I know I'm not going too far out on a limb here- let's face it, we are all in this blog ring somehow connected, if only by our IWU alumni connection. Almost every blog I browse is either an IWU grad, a relative, a relative of a relative, or a church acquaintance. For any of you who clicked on this site just to see what crazy person commented on your blog, my name is Deb (Porter) Wuertley, and I graduated from IWU in 1997. Thanks for making my blog surfing worthwhile.

Triathlon Training Update: I felt pretty good after the bike ride today - we went 9.2 miles in 50 minutes, and I can walk tonight. I had good intentions of going to the YMCA for the strength training, but after cleaning up Anna's messes most the afternoon/evening and with Jason coming home, I just didn't make it. Looks like more sit ups, push ups, and free weights at home.