...Otherwise known as my entire blog for the last 4 years.
So this week is reserved for Infertility Awareness. Isn't that nice? They sandwiched it in between National Don't Be A Dingus Week and National Ride A Bicycle Week. Seriously I have no idea what the weeks around this one are. But that sounds about right, doesn't it?
It's no secret that we have tried to have a baby. And it's no secret that it didn't work.
One of the hardest parts of infertility is that we are mourning a life that we will never have, children we will never know and there is no outward place of grieving to go to. There's not a gravestone or physical marker for our loss. We look as though nothing has changed on the outside.
The truth is that we are forever changed. We are not broken forever. But we are living in a new normal.
In this week of awareness, I simply want to say that there are many factors that play into a couple's ability to keep pursuing interventions. Insurance, health, emotional and mental stress, and finances are just a few. Infertility doesn't care if you are rich or poor, although admittedly if you're rich it may be easier to stomach the cost of repeated failures. Infertility doesn't play nice. It plays down and dirty. It will clothesline you and take your sense of worth and your wallet all in one move.
I would guarantee that you each know someone struggling with infertility and the outcome of it, whether that's a baby or not. Infertility is not something that disappears with a successful pregnancy. Our story has ended the way that many others have, without a baby.
Now excuse me while I chase down infertility, break it's knees and take back my wallet and my sense of worth.
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Five Tidbits
It looks like I'm on the few times a year posting schedule. Sorry about that!
I really do enjoy writing and one of my resolutions for this year is to write more, whether that is blogging, in a journal or some ill-fated manuscript. But the actual act of starting to write after not doing it for so long is hard. It's a weak muscle that used to be exercised way more often.
In line with that, I thought I'd jot down 5 tidbits that you may not know about me.
1. I can make my own mayo. Now I know that doesn't seem like something worth sharing, but let me explain. E and I are in our second round of Whole30. We did our first in Sept 2017 and while it wasn't for weight loss but to feel better, we did lose weight and found that weirdly we didn't miss cheese and bread. And by "we" I mean me. I would have staked my entire bank account on the fact that life had little meaning without bread and cheese in it on a regular, i.e., daily basis. We did miss having a beer or glass of wine.
Fast forward to this round and I really wanted to try making mayo but all the recipes I had seen were very particular about how much oil and how to drizzle it and maybe sing it a song to be sure it was happy. If you failed at any one of these things then it would be a disaster and you wouldn't be allowed to call yourself a success in life. Nope, not for me. Way too much pressure in the kitchen which is my happy place.
Last week I saw a link for a no fail mayo and clicked on it so I could see all the ways others are better at this than me. Surprisingly it was an easy recipe and required no singing, so I thought what the hell. And, guys, it worked! I even chose to use a tall plastic container instead of a glass jar. I can hear all of you gasping from here. I know, I know, playing it fast and loose with the fail-proof recipe. My confidence has been renewed when it comes to concocting condiments!
In case anyone needs a confidence booster, here it is: https://thehealthyfoodie.com/fail-proof-home-made-paleo-mayo-whole30-compliant/
2. I've started to play Bunco with our neighborhood group. I had decided about halfway through the year in 2017 that I needed to make the remainder of the year a "YES" year. So when an invite was issued through the neighborhood facebook page, I said yes to attending. I was nervous about meeting other women in the neighborhood, and whether they would like me and was I dressed right and would I understand the game and what if they all hated me? My head can be a weird place.
Spoiler, no one hates me (that I know of) and everyone was so open and welcoming and I can, in fact, understand the game. It's loud and rowdy and reminds me of spending time with the women in my family. I'm hosting this month and I'm excited!
3. I'm the small time procrastinator of E and I's marriage. Papers or mail on the counter? Eh. Whatever. I'll get to it sometime in the next few months. The thermometer I ordered TWO MONTHS ago is still sitting on the kitchen table. It really should be elsewhere. It would take 2 seconds to pick it up and move it. Guess it's a good thing I"m hosting Bunco this month...it forces me to clean up the miscellaneous schmutz in our life. Or, red up, if you're some of my Pittsburgh folk reading this.
4. I still prefer an actual real book to my Kindle. I love the Kindle for travel and reading at lunch because it's small and fits in my purse. But there is something about feeling the pages of a book that the Kindle just can't make up for.
5. Sometimes when I'm in the kitchen and a recipe is particularly daunting I specifically choose to play the Game of Thrones Season 6 soundtrack. If I'm going to do battle then I should have the back-up music to complete the experience.
If anyone is reading this - because I think everyone has fled this blog since it's been forever since I posted - thanks for sticking around!
I really do enjoy writing and one of my resolutions for this year is to write more, whether that is blogging, in a journal or some ill-fated manuscript. But the actual act of starting to write after not doing it for so long is hard. It's a weak muscle that used to be exercised way more often.
In line with that, I thought I'd jot down 5 tidbits that you may not know about me.
1. I can make my own mayo. Now I know that doesn't seem like something worth sharing, but let me explain. E and I are in our second round of Whole30. We did our first in Sept 2017 and while it wasn't for weight loss but to feel better, we did lose weight and found that weirdly we didn't miss cheese and bread. And by "we" I mean me. I would have staked my entire bank account on the fact that life had little meaning without bread and cheese in it on a regular, i.e., daily basis. We did miss having a beer or glass of wine.
Fast forward to this round and I really wanted to try making mayo but all the recipes I had seen were very particular about how much oil and how to drizzle it and maybe sing it a song to be sure it was happy. If you failed at any one of these things then it would be a disaster and you wouldn't be allowed to call yourself a success in life. Nope, not for me. Way too much pressure in the kitchen which is my happy place.
Last week I saw a link for a no fail mayo and clicked on it so I could see all the ways others are better at this than me. Surprisingly it was an easy recipe and required no singing, so I thought what the hell. And, guys, it worked! I even chose to use a tall plastic container instead of a glass jar. I can hear all of you gasping from here. I know, I know, playing it fast and loose with the fail-proof recipe. My confidence has been renewed when it comes to concocting condiments!
In case anyone needs a confidence booster, here it is: https://thehealthyfoodie.com/fail-proof-home-made-paleo-mayo-whole30-compliant/
2. I've started to play Bunco with our neighborhood group. I had decided about halfway through the year in 2017 that I needed to make the remainder of the year a "YES" year. So when an invite was issued through the neighborhood facebook page, I said yes to attending. I was nervous about meeting other women in the neighborhood, and whether they would like me and was I dressed right and would I understand the game and what if they all hated me? My head can be a weird place.
Spoiler, no one hates me (that I know of) and everyone was so open and welcoming and I can, in fact, understand the game. It's loud and rowdy and reminds me of spending time with the women in my family. I'm hosting this month and I'm excited!
3. I'm the small time procrastinator of E and I's marriage. Papers or mail on the counter? Eh. Whatever. I'll get to it sometime in the next few months. The thermometer I ordered TWO MONTHS ago is still sitting on the kitchen table. It really should be elsewhere. It would take 2 seconds to pick it up and move it. Guess it's a good thing I"m hosting Bunco this month...it forces me to clean up the miscellaneous schmutz in our life. Or, red up, if you're some of my Pittsburgh folk reading this.
4. I still prefer an actual real book to my Kindle. I love the Kindle for travel and reading at lunch because it's small and fits in my purse. But there is something about feeling the pages of a book that the Kindle just can't make up for.
5. Sometimes when I'm in the kitchen and a recipe is particularly daunting I specifically choose to play the Game of Thrones Season 6 soundtrack. If I'm going to do battle then I should have the back-up music to complete the experience.
If anyone is reading this - because I think everyone has fled this blog since it's been forever since I posted - thanks for sticking around!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
