443rd Friday Blog Roundup
I paid the twins 50 cents each to try root beer. I have no idea why it was so important to me that they like root beer. All I know is that we started at $100 for one taste, and we bargained it down to 50 cents. And then they tasted it. The ChickieNob loved it. The Wolvog said it was okay and he’d try it again in the future. And I let out the breath I’ve been holding for eight years.
Next up… root beer floats.
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“How are you doing?” my friend asked.
Doing.
It’s funny because I was talking to Josh about this idea of not doing. Why do we always want to know the action taking place in a person’s life? What about the negative action; the non-action?
I keep thinking this day will come around where we’ll have nothing on our plate and we’ll just chillax. When I talk about the summer, I talk about sitting on the Bay beaches, reading books. Getting ice cream. Riding our bikes. We’re going to the ocean a few times and driving up to my sister’s house. Though I have no idea how we’re going to fit all of this in with all the other things that need to get done. I keep talking about this day when everything will be off my plate, but that day seems to be permanently a few weeks away.
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And now the blogs…
But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:
- “Mother’s Day When a Friend is Struggling” (Funny Little Pollywogs)
- “Why I Hate Mother’s Day” (Mojo Working)
- “Happy Whatever” (The Bloggess)
- “Happy Mother’s Day” (Hidden Infertility)
- “The Other Mothers” (A Half Baked Life)
- “Hope” (Teach Me to Braid)
- “Hold On” (Mrs. Spit… Still Spouting Off)
Okay, now my choices this week.
I also loved Teach Me to Braid’s post about medicinal hope (see above). I especially loved this line: “I need a dose that’s big enough to count as positive thinking but small enough that the side effects won’t leave me incapacitated if this cycle’s a bust.” If only this could be real.
Something Out of Nothing has a post about the Mother’s Day that didn’t end on Sunday but followed after her during the week, tapping her on her shoulder. She writes, “She was just trying to be polite–probably–but it was one of those moments that stung. The assumptions. The invasiveness of a question that seems, on the surface, so innocent. Not having the ‘right’ answer. I wonder if she noticed my moment of hesitation.” Plus, I love the song she ends with.
Battlefish has a note to her mother on Mother’s Day, the first one where she is a mother where she doesn’t have her mother. I cried hard at this line: “You were just supposed to be here.” It’s the wish inside the truth.
Lastly, the Barrenness has a post about playing ostrich with Mother’s Day, and it is a gorgeous post about an unexpected moment at church — a must-read for anyone who addresses large, diverse groups in order to understand how small actions can make big differences. She writes, “When they called for all the mothers to rise, it was like a fortress suddenly popped up all around me. Like these bodies all suddenly formed deep thick walls; I was shaken, physically and began to fight back a swell of tears, I felt so ostracized.” And I need to say how much I love her for saying what she said to the aunt. It was perfect.
The roundup to the Roundup: The twins tried root beer. How are you doing? And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between May 10th and May 17th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week? Read the original open thread post here.
11 comments
I liked root beer somewhat when I was a kid, but over time lost my taste for it. However, when I was pregnant, I couldn’t get enough of the stuff. Now, I’m back to thinking it’s just OK.
I feel like I should be doing something. I should be planning a vacation (but we need a new car for that, and that effort requires the cooperation of my husband), I should be planning activities for my daughter’s summer, I should be…I don’t even know, but I’m sure there’s something. Oh well – I have one plan. It seems like enough.
We grew up having A&W root beer floats but I can’t say I love a root beer float now.
I guess we could start asking each other “What aren’t you doing?” instead of “How are you doing?” I bet we’d get some much more thoughtful responses.
I love root beer, though I rarely drink it. I am excited for my daughter to try the things I love as she gets older. So far (at age 2) she is a mini-me and I haven’t been disappointed… so I know it’s coming one of these days. But until then I’m reveling in the fact that she loves everything I introduce – foods, activities, and friends.
Mmm, root beer floats. Glad that your twins liked root beer (or at least were open to it).
I’ll confess I’ve mostly switched over to Diet Coke floats these days to minimize the calories a little, but on the occasions that I wind up with a real root beer float, it’s a huge treat.
We have a local root beer bottling and restaurant, Fritz’s, I love their root beer, have not had one in awhile but now it sounds good. I introduced my nephew to root beer last summer and he went home and told his parents he had beer, he was 4 at the time. He did like it but soda is not something he is allowed to have very often just when his aunt is spoiling him.
As a teacher I am asked a lot about my summer plans. Well summer came out of no where for me and I have not made any plans, except for our season tickets to the local outdoor theatre. No classes, no workshops, and no schedule of going into work to prepare for next year. I am taking a break this summer! I am sure this non planned summer will last about a week.
I haven’t root beer in YEARS (or a float of any kind, come to think of it — my dad used to make them for us when we were kids). My cousins’ other grandmother used to make her own root beer. It was a lot more bitter than the stuff you buy, though (not as much sugar, I’m sure…!).
I think I will always be “doing.” I have no illusions that my to-do list will ever be completely ticked off. :p
Jo had a marvellous rebuttal to a comment on her post about Mother’s Day (which someone added to the Second Helpings list, above): http://jo-mojoworking.blogspot.ca/2013/05/did-i-do-that.html
I don’t like root beer, but I do like root beer floats, preferably with diet root beer. How’s that for oxymoronic. There’s a Stewart’s down the highway that I’ve been to all of once. (I’m keeping track, you know. In case I need to stock the pantry. Root beer. Special K.)
And it’s funny … when I ask “how are you doing,” I usually mean “how are you feeling” or “how is your spirit” or “how is your be-ing” … but it doesn’t come out that way at all, does it. Interesting observation. 😉
I always intend to chillax in the sun all summer but inevitably when summer ends I am as pale as ever.
Jenny at Stupid Stork wrote a post that made me laugh so hard I cried…and then I sad cried: http://stupidstork.blogspot.com/2013/05/may-miscarriage-be-with-you.html. Things I loved about it:
*her reference to “Facebook/Fertilebook”
*This quote: “My Grandma has a hallway with each of her grandchildren’s graduation photos. She was talking about how in front of those photos, she was going to put pictures of their babies. (So my photo will have… dogs? A cat? Kidney stones?)”
*Her description of an IF-related scene from Julie & Julia. I saw that movie pre-IF, and totally forgot about it, but reading it in Jenny’s blog brought me to tears.
And now, all I want to do is watch “Frida”!
I like root beer, but we don’t have it in Finland. (Oh, I might be able to find it at a few stores in the limited and insanely priced “American section”. I can’t justify paying those prices.) On occasion, I have brought back a can or two of root beer when I visit the US and then hoard them. lol. Thankfully hubby (and other Finns) don’t seem to like root beer. They tell me it tastes like toothpaste. *boggle* I do have some root beer extract, but it is … old.
Thank you for putting me in this week’s list. I cried when I saw/read it.
I am doing far too much the past 2 weeks, and enjoying a chance this long weekend to do LESS. However, I am quite good at doing Far Too Much (almost wrote Fart Too Much, which I also sometimes do). Which is a great reason to take a break from it. Also starting to do Lots of Fertility Tests. Yippee I O.