Taking inspiration from Penny's question "Why do you blog?" I thought I'd turn my answer into a Thursday Thirteen post.

I blog because I want to! Aside from that...

I blog because I want to share my experience and thoughts about adopting and adoptive parenting. I write about adoption because I believe my opinions are valid and should be recognized as equal to all other adoption viewpoints.

I blog because I want to connect with other kidney disease patients. I write about my personal kidney-related health issues to express my emotions about living with chronic illness and to prove to the world that living with chronic illness does not equal chronic unhappiness.

I blog out of a sense of urgency to advocate for the issues for which I believe are the most important - mainly adoption/adoption parenting/adoption reform and kidney disease/organ donation awareness.

I blog to express my frustrations... not about anything specifically, but about everything specifically.

I blog to explore my insecurities, and I find that sometimes I blog to discover my insecurities. Blogging about what bothers me most helps me figure out why I feel the way I do.

I blog when I need a friend who does nothing but silently listens reads...

... although, I also blog when I need a friend to leave a comment to offer advice, support or point out things that I might not have otherwise realized or considered.

I blog as a form of self-therapy and to record my thoughts so that I may look back at them when I need to remind myself where I've come from and where I'm going. Of course this also creates a great record of my life and a journal of who I am.

I blog because I feel much less inhibited in expressing myself online, especially about difficult to discuss topics. I can always delete a comment (although I very rarely do) that has gone awry, but I can't un-speak words said during an in-person conversation.

I blog to make friends!

I blog to be controversial and non-conformist (when the topic at hand warrants it.) I also blog to be united with others (when the topic at hand warrants it.)

I blog because it makes me happy - that is pretty simple, wasn't it?

Hello blogger world. Yes, I realize I've been a bit absent from this blog for awhile, but I'm sure you'll forgive me, right?

Yesterday and today I've been feeling really achy. I'm wondering if I'm having another "fibro-flare"... I should count my lucky stars as I haven't really had one since Thanksgiving (all the other chronic pain from other stuff doesn't count..)

I'm working really hard on this site - half of the work is learning how to use Drupal to it's full advantage. I tend to reverse-engineer things which, of course, takes longer than just learning it before trying to apply it.

As of now - 2008/05/28 @ 2242 EST - I realize I need a break. Maybe I'll go watch some TV for once (instead of blogging/Twittering/site-building!)

P.S. If you're reading this from a feed, would you mind coming on over to take my little 10-second survey? I'm interested to know who reads my blog.

After several tedious days of working on MyKidney.com I'm happy to say that the site is just about ready for a re-launch.

My Kidney Blog is crawling back to life. I've finally had a chance to get a few things in order and reorganize the theme and sidebars.