Nine years

"Dime Boxes" turns nine today, but that can't be right because didn't I just start this blog a few weeks ago?

I feel like I say this every year around the blog's anniversary, but sometimes it seems like these nine years have gone by so fast...but then again sometimes it does feel like I've been doing this for a long time. I was still a teenager when I started this blog, barely out of high school. That's mind blowing to me. I had no inclinations towards writing then -- go back and read some of the first posts on this blog, if you must -- but talking about baseball cards was (and is) something I'd always wanted to do.

I wish I could say I had every intention of blogging for nine years when I started this blog, but truthfully I didn't. I thought I might do it for a few months, get bored, and move on to the next thing -- as teenagers so often do. But no: seeing people actually read my posts, and better yet, learning that some people collected and thought about cards the same way I did, sucked me in for good. It was a joy and an affirmation I never really got collecting in my own bubble. I blogged some more, and then people actually started sending me cards for absolutely nothing, and the rest is history.

Nine years later, and I'm still here, just as grateful for this universe of blogs as I was when I found it way back when. I don't blog nearly as much anymore -- I don't have the time and energy that teenagers have so much more of -- but make no mistake, the blogs are still my happy place. It gives me great joy to carve out some time to write a post these days, and in the end, I'm still every bit as entertained by the blogosphere as I was nine years ago.

I can honestly say my life changed the day I decided to start this blog, and I have all of you wonderful readers to thank for that -- so whether you've been here since the beginning, or if you're new to the blog, I thank you so, so much for reading.