Whodda thunk it? This blog has reached the ripe old age of 3. Happy Blothday to 2 Helena Handbaskets!!! It’s been an interesting experiment – and definitely a learning experience.

What have I learned, you ask?

Well… I’ve learned that to be a successful blogger, you have to post regularly. You lose your audience if you go away for weeks at a time. I have also learned that certain topics will attract readers like flies. Mention Obama’s birth certificate or Sarah Palin’s divorce and the internet trolls flock to read what you write. Of course, putting those topics in the headline makes the traffic even heavier. (You have to love those search engines.) Speaking of headlines – I haven’t yet determined if it’s better to start with a clever headline and then figure out what to write or vice-versa. Kinda depends on the day. Headlines can also impact the geographic make-up of a blog’s readership. Mention the name of a place in a headline and guaranteed – someone from there will drop by – and hopefully come back from time to time.

Readership is the objective. And possibly comments. Comments are double-edged swords though. Early on I decided I didn’t have the time or inclination to deal with a whole lot of conflict and discussion, so this blog is not where you’ll usually find a string of comments after a post. Every once in a while we get a good conversation going though so it’s always interesting to see what’s on the comments page.

Mostly, I’ve learned some new techno-tricks. I can post pictures, videos, and links to other blogs and sites. Thanks be to Apple and personal genius son, without whom I never would have been able to start, let alone, continue with this endeavor.

Besides the educational opportunities, the very best thing about this blog is the new friends I’ve met as a result of it. Craig, Gregg, Doug, Jamie, Carol, Steve, the other Steve, “Anonymouses”, and a ton of virtual friends who still don’t have faces, but nonetheless have become treasures in my world – RP, jlw, Mike, Andy, Jack, FLMom, TXMom, TNMom, Julieann, NeeNee, Lynne, Pistol Pete, and the rest of the gang from HillBuzz (which seems to be off the ether right now, but hopefully will be back soon) and Mostly4us.

On my very first post – yea those three long years ago – I climbed up on my soapbox and pontificated on what I expected this blog to become. I think I’ve mostly stayed pretty true to my vision – not a 100%, but close enough. After all, you have to be willing to change and adapt, right? One thing’s for sure – I do this blog my way – and I have a blast doing it. And as I said back then, “It’s good to be Queen”.

Thanks to all of you who have made blogging a wonderful part of my days. God bless!!!

And keep coming back, y’hear. I check my stats on Mint every day.