Year 3

Well, I sure didn't think this would happen but yet here I am, ready to embark on year 3 of this blog ... and I'm super excited. I'll be honest, I may not have the most popular card blog on the internet but I certainly strive to make it fun and somewhat informative if nothing else and if you've found yourself reading a post I've made and said "huh, I didn't know that" or just found something neat and interesting, then I've accomplished my mission. I guess now it's time for my annual "state of the blog" address:

- Since I came back from my hiatus in January, I've tried to be less reliant on store bought items and stretch stuff out further. I think in some points I've succeeded in this as I've definitely spent less time in the Target card aisle and at the card shop buying packs. I'm saving my card money for stuff I want/need that way it's more special when I get the chance to purchase cards. I think my next big retail purchase will be Archives when it comes out in about a month. As of right now, I'm considering two blasters and at least either a hanger box or two or a couple fat packs.

- I've completed my once a year card purge of duplicates and other undesirables already. Some I've set into the trade box and five plastic grocery bags worth were dropped off at the local Goodwill. It feels good to have pared down things and trimmed the fat. Since I've been receiving lots of Indians cards in the mail as of late, I've made the decision to transfer those into a binder so as to free up some room in the boxes. I also purged some hockey, football, and wrestling cards that were just taking up space.

- One thing I came across while working on my purge is how many cards I actually have and how many cards I haven't shown on the blog or honestly I'd completely forgotten I had. I'm going to start doing posts highlighting more and more of my collection including stuff like short term stops, zero year cards, players I collect (both officially and unofficially), and other things. I'm already in the process of taking pictures (my scanner officially bit the dust about a month ago) and I should have the first of these posts out soon.

- I also did some redecorating of the blog a few weeks ago. I felt like it was time for a change in that aspect as the old background of Riverfront Stadium felt kid of of stale. I also updated the color scheme a bit. I may make some other adjustments down the line (like for Halloween) but for now, I think I'm pretty satisfied with the layout.

- Speaking of Halloween, and I know I say this every year, but it's mid-July but before you know it, Halloween and fall will be here. I'm planning on doing something fall and Halloween related on the blog but I'm not sure if I'm going into full out Halloween mode like I did a few years ago or if I'm going to sprinkle in Halloween and fall related goodies in amongst cards. It's something I need to decide on because some of this stuff is going to start popping up in stores pretty fast (I'm looking at you Michaels) if it hasn't already.

- Finally, one of the main things I'm trying to do is shorten my posts a bit. I'll be the first to admit that I can get really long-winded at times which leads to unnecessarily drawn out posts and that can be a drain on those who come just for a quick read. Occasionally I have to remind myself that I'm not writing a college essay. Starting back with my first post of this month (the Mystery Group Break Expo-se), I'm going try to keep thing much more succinct.

In closing, I want to thank everyone who has visited this blog and who I've traded with over the past three years. I may not be the fastest at returning trades nor do I send out cards all that often but seeing others do posts about the joy they've gotten after opening one of my envelopes is really one of my favorite parts of the hobby. I've had more success and more fun in doing this than any of my previous solo blog ventures and I'm not planning on going anywhere anytime soon.