300th Friday Blog Roundup

Happy 300th (200th) Roundup to you

Happy 300th (200th) Roundup to you

July 21st marked four years

Happy 300th (200th) Roundup to yooooooooou.

Welcome to the 300th (fine…200th) Friday Blog Roundup.  As I said in the first Roundup* back on July 21, 2006,

Every time I read something I love, I want to send it out to everyone I know. Which is how I came to the idea to do the Friday Blog Roundup and comment publicly on a few things I read this week. There is plenty that I read that also moved me, but since space is limited, I must pick-and-choose.

(This is the same post where a young Melissa says, “golly gee, I sure would like to start an organized blogroll if I could figure it out!”)

What the Roundup meant four years ago is still what it means today: they are simply posts that I read during the week that stuck with me.  They are not all the posts I read that stuck with me, but they are four or five that floated to the top when I sat down to write the Roundup.  And I set them out there simply because I hope that you too will read these posts if you missed them the first time, or nod in agreement if they moved you too, and then jump into the comment section on that post and let the author know.

300 (okay, 200) posts later, and that last concept, sadly, hasn’t truly caught on.  So let’s remedy that for the next 200 posts.  If you click over to read (and for the love, you should click over to read because you’d want people to do the same if a post from your blog was here and hopefully, I do a decent job of remembering who has been featured and who hasn’t and keeping it fresh each week), please leave the author a comment.  Answer their question, let them know you’re abiding with them, tell them how hard you laughed.  The Roundup has always been about community discussion.  And it has been way too quiet.

So make a commitment to let one or two of the author’s know each week that you liked their writing if you did (it goes a long way in keeping someone writing), and now, let’s get this party started.

As I’ve been saying all week, to participate in the celebration, upload a picture of a piece of cake (and don’t get hung up on the words “a piece of cake” — if you want to bake a whole cake or celebrate with an oreo or simply walk by the bakery and take a picture and not put anything in your piehole, it’s all good) and then link to your blog post.  It would be lovely if you wrote something about what community means to you.  Why you love being part of the ALI community, and how you feel when you read a particularly satisfying blog post.  If you don’t have time to write a short post, simply post the picture of the cake and a link to your blog’s main url to show your presence at this virtual party. 

The party will be open until next Thursday night.  Check back to see who is in attendance.  And then mingle.

Thank you for celebrating with me.  Here’s to four more years.

* Thank you to those first Roundupers: Dead Bug, Richard (who has a breathtaking post at the top of his blog right now), Carrie, and Serenity.

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No Weekly What If this week because I want to jump back into the party once I tell you about this week’s posts.

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And now, the blogs…

The Miss Ruby has a post about not recognizing herself anymore and how we can never truly return to who we were before infertility.  We can only try to grab back what we can from that old life and mesh it with the new one.  And she asks a good question at the end: “when was the last time you looked into your soul & heart and saw who you really are?”

Big Love, Big Acceptance has a post about emotionally drowning.  Observing a baby at a nearby table interacting with her mother, BLBA admits how much she wants that and says, “I just wanted no one to talk to me, no one to look at me – like if these things were avoided, I could disappear. No one would notice the tears welling up in my eyes, or the tightness of my face as I tried to hold it all together.”  It is a post that lays bare all of her fears, and you will cry with her honesty.

Baby Magnesi has a brief post about the stupidity of the idea that a person can just focus on something else.  As if people have perfect control over their thoughts and emotions.

Lastly, My Infertility Woes has a post about how she has returned (after a brief hiatus) to liking kids.  I love the distinction she makes as well as her ability to take care of herself and take the time she needs.  It is not an either/all situation–it is merely a response to the moment.

Tucking whatever BlogHer posts I’m moved to write today (as well as pictures and video) below this one to keep the Roundup party post at the top of the blog.  So if you are following the conference at home, return later in the day and use the BlogHer Diaries tag in order to find all the posts.  And you know, while you’re here, you can see who else is celebrating the Roundup and visit their blog.

The roundup to the Roundup: Celebrate good times, come on!  And lots of good blogs to read.  Back later for more entries from the conference.