Elisabeth Röhm has an interesting post on People magazine’s blog (yes, I read their blog AND their magazine because I’m a whore for pop culture mindlessness) about her daughter conceived via IVF.  It’s specifically why she never said something publicly before this point as well as why she is saying something now:

Still, it never seemed like a subject I wanted to be public knowledge. Was I ashamed or embarrassed by my choices, and therefore, unwilling to be revealing? I don’t know. I just know that back then, I had decided that some parts of life are best left private and that was going to be one of them.

Go over and read the whole post — it’s wonderful.

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Allison has resurrected Team on the Road for the March of Dimes fundraiser.  Please support and cheer on Allison as she walks to raise money for the March of Dimes and their prematurity campaign.

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I wrote a few years ago about how I still have the sharps box from the cycle the twins were conceived.  At my clinic, you empty your sharps box at the start of the next cycle, and since this was the one time that there wasn’t a next cycle, I didn’t bring it back to the clinic.  And then I held onto it for superstitious reasons instead of emptying it at the OB/GYN, because I didn’t actually believe fully that this was it.  And then I didn’t empty it after the twins were born because I’m not going to shlep a sharps box and two pumpkin seats with me to the doctor’s office.  And finally, I found that I couldn’t let it go because it was this tangible reminder of a moment in time.  The sharps box is STILL in the closet.  And yes, we’re going on almost seven years at this point.

This week, someone needed a photograph of a vial of hCG and a needle.  And I finally had a use for that sharps box.  I ran home and took it down from the closet, setting it up on the bathroom vanity to snap a picture.  It finally served a purpose beyond simply making me sad.

You would think that it would have been the release I needed to let it go, and I considered taking it to a pharmacy or doctor’s office to dispose of it.  And then I bit my lip and packed it back in the box in the closet.  I’ll deal with it another time.

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You know how Pavlov’s dogs learned to salivate for food when they heard the bell?  I have a Pavlovian response to the term “Maryland history.”  I literally start twitching, shouting out the names of all six Lord Baltimores. (George, Cecil, Charles, Benedict, Charles Calvert, and Frederick!)

So imagine what it did to my body when I saw that the twins’ school was having a Maryland history day.  A WHOLE DAY?  I first ran in a circle, barking, and then peed on the floor.  And once I had gotten past that dog-like response, I calmly approached their teacher to explain that in my chest beats a black-eyed-susan-like heart.  One that pounds with furious love for my state.

And once she stopped staring at me strangely, she agreed to let me come into school and do a presentation on Smith Island, complete with a Smith Island cake.  I am a huge lover of Smith Island.  If I could, I would take all of you out there with me when we go on our yearly trip.  I have over 500 photographs from the island, and I finally have a place to use them.

I finally have a receptacle for my enormous Maryland love.

The comment love fest (and annual giveaway) is heating up, so you really get two Roundups this week — the one you’re creating in the comment section over here and this one.  I am baking all weekend and trying to get my first round of boxes out on Tuesday, so you only have until Monday morning to comment elsewhere (and compliment that person’s writing) in order to win.

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So, does everyone know about Cyclesista?  It started probably five years ago as a way for people to connect with others cycling at the same time.  (Someone help me out with this — my blog is almost five years old, and I think it was there before I started blogging.)  People submit their blog name and what they’re doing (IUI or IVF) and then they can visit the other people cycling at the same time — giving support and getting support.

Equally fun is going back through the archives and seeing old blogs.

I was trying to remember the five original members this week.  I believe it was Things Get If’fy, Journey to the Centre of the Egg (which became Rememberella), Prop Up Your Hips (now deleted), Stella and/or Ben, and Jenny from the Infertility Block?  Correct me if there were others who came before these members.

The torch has been passed a few times now, and it is currently run by Bea and Jen.  Seriously, no one needs to cycle alone.  Go add yourself to this month’s list if you’re not on it.

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Who will be the next Limerick chick?  Only you can determine that.  Go over and vote (hint: it won’t be me).

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The Weekly What If: what if you could either be transported to the first show or the last show of your favourite band.  Would you rather go see them before they became the polished musicians you know them to be; to catch that first spark?  Or would you rather go enjoy their last hurrah?

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And now, the blogs…

BigP and Me has a moving post about whether or not to give a lost twin a name.  She writes, “It feels like if I give her a name, it means she was more than she was.  She was hope and possibility.  I wonder if naming her makes her out to be more than that?  More than she was.”  I feel that the naming of things is such a gut, personal decision, but I also love the discussion of what naming someone means, how that helps (or doesn’t help) us heal.

It is what it is (or is it?) has a post about her adoption story and how it contributed to how she processed her child’s birth.  Because she was never told about the moment of her birth but rather the placement in her parent’s arms, she always saw herself as someone who was “hatched.”  She explains: “Unless you have been raised without that knowledge you simply cannot appreciate how profound it is to know.”  The post gives a lot of food for thought.

Here We Go Again has been keeping a secret — but it’s one she placed in clear sight in another post.

Finally, Bloodsigns hit it out of the park with her post on the classroom orgasm incident this week.  The story she tells of her own experience as a teacher showing a controversial film illuminates how no one can speak for the way anyone else processes an event and that almost parental-like care teachers should have for their students.

The roundup to the Roundup: The comment love fest winner will be announced on Monday (so keep reading those posts that are being linked to in the comment section this weekend).  Do you know about Cyclesista?  Answer the Weekly What If.  And lots of great posts to read.

Perhaps you noticed Purim creeping up on the calendar.  Perhaps you thought I had forgotten.  But no, like an elephant, I always remember.  At least, that is the case when it comes to candy.

It is once again time for my annual mishloach manot giveaway. (I believe this is the fourth time doing this.)  The idea behind mishloach manot is to send out treats so no one is without dessert after the Purim feast.  It’s a recognition that not everyone has money for extras, but everyone could use some sweetness in their life. (And on that end, not everyone has my mad baking skillz so this is to save a person from Pepperidge Farm.)

It is my favourite thing I do all year, and we have a great theme planned (past ones include “Yes, We Can(dies)!” in honour of Obama’s inauguration, the Winter Olympics, and Dr. Suess), but you’ll need to win the basket to see it.  I have been sitting on this theme for almost a year now.  It’s that good.

I can tell you that in the baskets thus far (and whoever wins can tailor this to their tastes/allergies):

• Chocolate and sea salt peanut butter cups
• Chocolate and sea salt nutella cups
• Hamantaschen
• My infamous chocolate chip cookies
• Homemade lollipops
• Brown sugar toffee
• Chocolate bar
• Non-edible items which cannot be named because they will give away the theme

And whatever else I dream up between now and mailing the packages.  I’m not going to be modest — people tell me that my baking and candies are fantastic and while they may be lying, they have inflated my culinary ego.  This basket is going to rock.  And 100% of the items so far are recipes of my own creation.

The baskets are for our friends and family, but we also make one every year for the lovely people of the Internets, and it’s yours to win.  Here’s what you need to do to enter the giveaway (and you can enter as many times as you like):

• Leave a comment below (yes, a box full of candy for the low low price of one comment!) telling me where you left a comment already today–and feel free to leave, write a comment somewhere, and come back.  Please put the name of that blog and a link to the post in the comment.  And say something nice about that person’s post.  And no, commenting on this post doesn’t count for where you’ve left a comment (though my blog still counts as long as you’ve commented on a different post).  The posts that you’re commenting on need to have been written in March 2011 (only entries with a link to a post written in that time frame count).
• You can enter as many times as you like.  Which means the more you comment around the blogosphere, the more chances you have to win (last year’s winner did an insane amount of commenting).  Only comments that talk about a post you read elsewhere in the blogosphere have a chance at winning (in other words, if you write below, “that looks delicious!” I’ll be appreciative, but you won’t be eligible to win.  You need to list a place where you commented today, give the url for the post, and say something about the post).
• Each comment counts as one entry, so if you’ve commented in three places, you’re allowed to leave that in three entries here.  Leaving it in separate comments is actually sort of an important fact because too many links in a comment will make it caught by the spam filter.  I will release comments caught by the spam filter, but it will take me a moment.
• The giveaway ends at 8 a.m. EST on Monday the 14th, therefore, you can return all weekend and list new, great blog posts you found.  If you’re still confused, think of this as creating a Friday Blog Roundup-type list in the comment section, one comment at a time.

I will also love you forever if you read down the list and click over to read the other posts listed in the comment section.  And don’t just hit the first ones at the top of the comment list. Make sure you hit some of the people in the middle or bottom of the list and leave them a comment telling them that you agree with the original commenter — their writing does rock.

If someone writes something nice about a post you wrote this week, bask in the love.  Oh, and here’s a good impetus to go write something amazing on your own blog so people can come and comment on it over here and win the basket.

My usual blog rules apply: any spam is deleted — the point is to honour another person, not drum up business for a Viagra website — as well as anything rude.

I’ll use the random number generator and announce it on Monday after I’ve contacted the person.  So let the commenting/mishloach manot winning begin.  Oh, and no, I’m not sharing these recipes yet.  You’ll have to win them to eat them.

I have joined GoodReads and I’m just figuring out the site, though I can’t really find anyone unless I’m willing to let it search my email addresses, and I learned that lesson with StumbleUpon (remember that SPAM event, anyone, when I clicked the wrong button?).  So if you are on GoodReads, please let me know or friend me so I can see what you’re reading.

Also, a question — I got an email that someone is following my reviews.  How do I follow her back?  And how is that different from friending?  And why do I have friends and fans?  What is the difference?  I guess that was more than one question.

I am hosting a Q&A for Life of Scratch over there for the month of March.  So please join along and ask your questions.  And spread word to others on GoodReads.  I’ll be really sad if I’m just chatting with myself.  Looking a bit insane.

I really wish I had joined it months ago because I’m always forgetting what I’ve read and here is this chance to have a history of what I’m reading — all in one place.  I added the two books I’m currently reading (Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens on your recommendation when I was reading Coraline — see, I do listen to you — and Peggy Orenstein’s Cinderella Ate My Daughter) as well as what I’ll read next (Hunger Games.  Then it’s back to the vampires).

Mostly, I just like being around others who pick up books and rub them against their cheek as they would a cashmere sweater. (What, am I the only book cheek-rubber?)

NY Times has an article today about injecting hcG in order to lose weight.  You can go laugh for a moment; I can wait.

The regimen combines daily injections with a near-starvation diet, and patients, mostly women, are often enticed by promises that they can lose about a pound a day without feeling hungry. Perhaps even more seductively, they are frequently told that the hCG will prompt their bodies to carry away and metabolize fat that has been stored where they least want it — in their upper arms, bellies and thighs.

I would post a picture of the fat ass I received from fertility drugs, but I don’t want to freak these women out.  Granted, I wasn’t consuming 500 calories a day and I was only injecting hcG once a cycle, but still, hard for me see pictures of myself pre-treatments and post-treatments and not do a slightly hysterical laugh when I hear diet stories like this.*

*Just to be clear, I have no opinion on the actual diet since I haven’t read any of the research.  I am merely commenting that hcG took me in the completely opposite direction from these women.