Dearest Blog,

You seem to be looking a little neglected lately -- a bit unkempt, slightly thin, just a teeny bit uncared for. I get the feeling that you feel sort of forgotten, too, and if I'm honest... your exasperation is probably justified. I have been a less-than-attentive owner, and I'm sort of surprised that you've stuck around. I half expected to log in tonight and find that you'd packed your bags and caught the first flight to somewhere warmer.

I know what you're thinking: I've found a new love, a new hobby to occupy my hours. I've seen the little quiver as your statistics drop off while I lace up and hit the road, felt the growing concern from your dashboard as the days go by and the miles add up, while your posts... don't. But I can promise that you've not been replaced: there is plenty of room in my heart for blogging and running to coexist peacefully. In truth, just as a good run can ease my anxiety, clear my head, and start my day with a smile on my face... so do you. I come here for the same reasons I push myself out the door each morning -- for a few minutes to be honest with myself, confront the stresses of life head on, and ultimately feel a little better for the release. You, dear blog, do for my heart what the road does for my body: you wake it up and make it sing.

So thanks for sticking with me when the going gets tough and the writer's block gets sticky. Thanks for allowing me to write without judgment, to share my deep dark secrets alongside the banalities of what I ate for lunch. Thanks for understanding when my two goals for the evening are to run and blog, but by the time I make it to you my mind is too sleepy to produce anything coherent. Thanks for being much cheaper than therapy, but just as effective. 

This month, I pledge to take better care of you, to rekindle my love for you, to stop taking you for granted. September always makes me feel nostalgic and happy, that warm fuzzy feeling of curling up under a blanket as the nights get cooler and the smell of burning leaves and pumpkin announces the arrival of fall. This September, especially, will be busy, but I promise to find a few moments amidst the excitement to reconnect with you on a more regular basis. Don't give up on me, dear blog... I've still got lots to say.

   Love,

    Meg