Knew I could count on you guys to find out what happened on Grey's. Have to say that I'm not that impressed with the "secret." First of all, I feel like we already knew that from another episode. Second of all...well, there is no second of all, but it feels like there should be a "second of all" because that was a really lame secret.

My whole house smells like vegetarian chicken soup. What? Vegetarian chicken soup? I'm so glad you asked. I've been trying to create a soup stock that tastes like chicken soup but is completely vegetarian (without using any of those premade veggie bases that taste like chemicals). And I think I'm getting closer. We're putting this batch to the test tonight with a pot of pho ga (Vietnamese chicken soup). Email me (thetowncriers@gmail.com) if you want the recipe for my "no chicken" soup. You can use it in place of chicken stock in any recipe. The only catch is that if you make it, you need to write back and tell me what you think so I can keep tweaking the recipe.

And what is the best thing to do while you wait the hour and a half for the pot of soup to cook down into golden goodness? Read blogs.

A huge congratulations to Ella at Nothing But Lemons. It's still quite early, but she just learned that she's pregnant. Woohoo!

Southern Comfortable posted a 100 things list this week. I've been meaning to do one of these for a while. Perhaps I will get to it this weekend. Top of that list: I've been trying to create a recipe for non-chicken chicken soup. I think my favourite part of Soco's post was about leaving for her cruise: "I've had at least three people tell me that I'll get pregnant on the cruise. Aha! The solution to our infertility was there all along! A vacation-- silly me for not thinking of it earlier! Gah. Luckily, I knew all three well enough to explain that, no, we won't be getting pregnant on the cruise, considering that I won't be ovulating during the cruise. I also think that, somehow, a cruise was unlikely to be the solution to my blocked tube. I know these people all meant well, but good grief." I love this image of her explaining how ovulation works. Right...so the answer is that you need to time the relaxing with when you're ovulating. Silly, Soco, don't you know that you should have scheduled your cruise around your cycle? Hope you have a good trip and post pictures when you return.

Makariya at Two in the Infertility Boat has a gorgeous post on why she's not out to her parents (specifically her mother). Unlike Grey's Anatomy, the end of this post was a total surprise. And I think it's such an interesting twist on how we choose who to tell.

Those Pommie girls at Pomegranate have declared their blog a celebrity-free zone. At least it's a celebrity-bashing-free zone. After the brouhaha with Madonna's adoption this week, they posted an entry on the fact that Angelina Jolie, Meg Ryan, and now Madonna are adoptive parents--regardless of what they do. Their adoption aren't more unique and interesting and wonderful. They're just adoptive parents trying to create their families. The Pomegranate ladies ask: "At Pomegranate, can adoptive parents (all of us reading and also beyond) be just that: adoptive parents? Women? Men? People? With good intentions and insecurities and hopes and shortcomings?" The gist of this entry is that we shouldn't judge each other's decisions--and we shouldn't do it just because the person is famous and the story is out there in the news.

Serenity has done it again with a gorgeous post about infertility and marriage. The stress of infertility has caused many a divorce, but it can also have the opposite effect--working together day after day under duress can strengthen a marriage as well. Which is what it has done for Serenity. But she came to that understanding over time. It's not that they've been without their fights, but realizing that you're standing on the same side of the river with someone who wants to cross it just as much as you do is a huge moment in a relationship. And one that carries you over to the other side and life beyond.