The Daily News

LFCA Latest Issue: Friday, September 25, 2009.

Latest Post on BlogHer: Parenting after Infertility.

My Status: Fed Josh's almonds to the squirrels. They needed them very badly.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Friday Blog Roundup

There are about five reasons why you should do IComLeavWe this September (what are the dates, Mel? They're always the 21st to the 28th. That is so easy to remember! I know! Everyone should do IComLeavWe each month. I could not agree more).
  1. Leaving comments makes you feel good. It's like a good teeth brushing.
  2. Getting comments feels even better and IComLeavWe participants can attest that commenting on their blog goes up during the week.
  3. A comment could take you on this bizarre path to this fantastic opportunity. For instance, perhaps future president Obama is reading blogs late one night because he wants to understand people better and he comes across this great comment on a blog and he clicks on it and it leads back to your blog and as he reads, he thinks to himself, "this chick would make an excellent person for my cabinet." And suddenly, you find yourself attending meetings in the Oval Office. All because you participated in IComLeavWe.
  4. You could forge a life-long friendship with a fellow blogger and end up on Oprah.
  5. It gets you out of your niche and reading blogs outside your usual circle.
Which is just a long way of telling you that the IComLeavWe list for September went up during Labour Day weekend and if you haven't yet joined along, you are missing out on some hot commenting.

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Speaking of Obama, my cousin is now working on his campaign and I am so damn proud of her. I am often proud of her for other reasons (like the fact that she got an academic scholarship to go to a top university or knows Spanish), but I just thought this job really rocks. In November, she will go back to her job as a political organizer, but right now, she's rockin' a swing state.

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I did not make it out of the building this week, but it wasn't for lack of good advice. It is my own heart waiting for the right moment, like an enormous invisible game of emotional double dutch. The ropes are swinging and I need to pick the right moment to jump inside.

Or I am a wuss who stopped pushing herself by the end of the week.

The truth is that we're going to the NICU reunion this weekend (as we go every year) and I am hoping to see this certain nurse (whom we see every year). Some years, she has been down at the reunion and other years, she is working in the NICU and we bring the kids upstairs to see her. She is the type of person where her compliments mean so much to you because she can also kick your ass so hard with her tough love. I guess I am hoping to get a bit of her tough love this weekend because inside all of her admonishments is also usually the loving advice I need to push my ass into action. And yes, I have already considered the fact that she could have retired or will miss the reunion for another reason and I will be fucked because I put all my emotional eggs in a very tentative basket. But let's just tuck that possibility aside for a moment.

Though, I said I would pick a winner in exchange for the advice and that winner is Spicy Sister (come on down!). You have your choice between two scintillating prizes--one tangible and one intangible. I will be writing you tonight so think for a moment which one you would like in the meantime.

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And now, the blogs:

DD at Punch Drunk had a great post this week about parenting after infertility and where one fits in the blogosphere. She wrote: "Here’s the thing, though. Just because many of my posts do not contain the details of a consult with my RE, or the internal dialogue for choosing a sperm donor, or my feelings when all my frozen embryos died, does not mean that infertility was shuffled unceremoniously to the back burner." Perhaps this post spoke volumes for me because I am currently viewing preschool through the lens of infertility (or...if I really deconstructed it, probably more through the lens of prematurity, but who is counting). I really loved the analogy in the post and though it was brilliant DD as always.

A Maybe Story had a very short post called "I Want" and I still get choked up reading it even though I have now read it probably twelve or more times this week. Please click over--there is no way I can do it justice by speaking about it.

Baby Steps to Baby Shoes had a rant about the way you are treated after you become pregnant. She wrote: "But where the heck was this woman when I felt like I was the only one at church without a baby? Why am I suddenly part of the 'mommy club?' As DH pointed out when I told him about my experience, Yes, I AM STILL bitter." Dude, it's four years out and I'm still bitter about a neighbour. But that is a story for a different day. I just thought this post was brutally honest and many will relate to it.

This was the week of the short and sweet post. Two Hot Mamas had a hysterical post about wrongfully allocated ovulation. Again, it's a click-over-and-read-because-I'll-ruin-it-with-discussion.

Lastly, Flicka at Vacant Uterus had a post called "Anyone Have Any Butter?" which had me doing that explosive laugh thing followed by a nervous laugh followed by a public plea to get things checked out just in case followed by kicking myself for jumping to the worst place with her followed by saying to myself, "better safe than sorry." And then I lost track of the internal monologue. Click over to read it if you want this paragraph to make sense.

The roundup to the Roundup: Sign up for IComLeavWe unless you have a thing against comments, my cousin rocks, my eggs are all in the nurse's basket, and lots of fine, quick reads this week. And Josh got me a gift that will be my Show and Tell this week so I will see everyone Saturday night. Or at your blog. Whichever comes first.

5 comments:

Tara said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Linda said...

I laughed at myself too even though I felt like kind of an idiot when it seemed SO OBVIOUS that I was catastrophizing in the worst way. I'm going back to my doctor to get an MRI though just because even though a tumor is unlikely, my vision has been getting worse and if I can't read blogs anymore I don't know what I will do! Thanks for the shout-out. :-)

Linda said...

Also Mrs. Shoes: I said the very same thing to Sarge this week about a woman who congratulated me at church about Sam. I felt resentful that she should have the right to act happy for me. Where was she when I was on the floor three months ago, drowning in depression? What right does she have to participate in my happiness now when she didn't walk the long road to get here with me?

Yeah. I'm so with you on that. I'm comin gover to your blog to post this comment there too.

nancy said...

Just giving you a nod, once again, for doing what you do Mel.

I may not comment on every one of your posts, but I read them all. Sometimes my lack of comments is just because I feel a bit inferior to the types of comments you do get on such heavy topics.

Oh - and #3 is exactly why I blog! How did you know???

Tara said...

Hey Mel... I've never done IComLeavWe mostly because I'm invite only. Can I still participate? I'm totally cool with giving out invites to anyone who wants them (except my mother-in-law). What do I need to do to get in on the comment-fest again?

Also - I'm headed over to Punch Drunk to read that post. Sounds like something I can totally relate to right now.

Also - I love Mrs. Shoes post about the way you are treated once you get pregnant. Totally struck a nerve with me.


(Ugh, that first comment was me. Accidentally posting in my alter blog ego)