Gone Fishin'!

Ok, so my Beloved and I aren't actually fishing. But I won't be around for a while. I hope all of you have a very (re)productive couple of weeks, take care of each other and know that I will be thinking about you guys and praying for you (especially my expectant-bloggy friends who are approaching their due dates).

While I'm away, I'll be missing a couple of important dates on the calendar. First up, my b-day! I won't be turning eleventy-one, only 35. I'm sorry but I won't be hosting a true hobbit style birthday, I'll be busy being lost on the streets of Manhattan. Second, my blogoversary... a year of posts, of hopes, of tears, of giggles... I can't believe it's been a year!

Sign up for Blogger Bingo and ICLW! Two great ways to get to know other bloggers! I'll be back for Show & Tell on September 30th.

Show & Tell: Date Night With A Cause

Good morning Humble Readers!

The company I work for puts a big emphasis on giving back to the community. Our in-house charity supports children's literacy. Every year, for the last five years, we have been able to distribute 1.5 million dollars among high needs elementary schools to help rebuild their libraries. Most of that money comes from the store level, donations provided by our customers and from our staff.

Here are some statistics for you (Canadian stats)... back in the day, when I was in elementary school, a school received $27 per student per year to buy new books and resources for their library. Today the average school receives $3 per student per year. Teachers invest an obscene amount of their own money in resources for their classrooms, and only 13% of Canadian public schools have a full time librarian. And the most shocking piece of info about this situation... if we increase the literacy rate in our country by just 1%, that will equal an $18.4 billion (yes, billion) boost for our economy. (One other piece of info that I don't recall the exact numbers on but is shocking nonetheless... the population of Canada's peneteniaries is more than 70% functionally illiterate!) Inspiring kids to read, and providing great resources for them is key for our coutry to continue to move forward.

So what does this have to do with our date night?

Well, one of my responsibilities at work is to come up with ways that we can fundraise for this project. I'm happy to say that my staff is really really gung-ho on this, and since April we have raised more than $10K, doing things like running lemonade stands, soliciting donations from our customers, and most recently a penny drive.

For the months of June-August we collected loose change. Pretty simple, right? We had a 5 gallon water jug more than half full of change. And last week my Beloved and I counted and rolled all that change!

We spent more than four hours on Friday night sorting, counting and rolling all that coin. My Beloved then spent a large chunk of Saturday rolling while I was at work the next day. All totalled we raised $340 in loose change. My Beloved did the math and we had more than 11,000 pennies.

And let me tell you... money is dirty! Check out the difference in my hands.

Don't forget to swing by Mel's place to check out what the rest of the class is showing this week!

They Say You Can Never Go Back

Good Morning Humble Readers...

I have had these thoughts percolating for a while, and I think it's time to get them down on 'paper'. I will preface this by saying that, if you are going through a tough time right now, you might want to skip this post. I won't mind...

I recently went back to some of the message boards I used to frequent. There are women there who I miss. They are women who started on this journey around the same time as me, and we shared our excitement about becoming mommies, celebrated each other's successes and mourned each other's losses. They supported me through our miscarriages, encouraged me when we were waiting for tests and for the go ahead to try again. These women are incredible, strong, veterans of the road we travel. Many of them are dealing with RPL like me, and some have had heartbreaking numbers of losses.

I had stopped posting on the message boards back in the spring, when it became apparent that we were going to have to take an extended break. I felt that I didn't want to be a downer, whining about having to wait to try again... so I excused myself. (Of course that didn't stop me from whining here... my apologies, Humble Readers). I also knew that reading about them moving ahead would be difficult.

I went back recently, genuinely hoping that most, if not all, of the ladies there would have been able to move on... yes, I know it was an unlikely thing, but I hoped it for them anyway.

I started reading some of the recent posts and was saddened to see so many names I recognized. I was saddened further to read how down they all were.

We all have our bad days. A bfn, a failed cycle, discovery of a cyst, the flu at exactly the wrong time... all of these things can bring us low. I am not making light of those emotions. We all need to process them, grieve our losses big and small, and we often need the support of those who truly understand our situation to help us get through.

But when does commiserating become something more? When does it become a vicious cycle that has no end? When do we stop trying to one up each other with how sad we are?

How do we pull ourselves up out of our darkness? How do we help each other when things seem to be spiralling into the abyss?

I have long believed that the only thing we have control over in this world is our response to it. Barring a chemical imbalance, we get to choose how we respond to the things that happen in our lives. That doesn't mean we don't get sad, but we do get to choose whether to let that sadness overwhelm us or to start moving forward.

I'm in a good, hopeful and, dare I say, content place right now. I want to celebrate that. And at the same time I want to support these ladies... but I don't want to blow sunshine and rainbows.

Maybe after this cycle comes back as a bfn, I won't be so happy, maybe then I will feel like I fit in again with them. But I don't want to let that change my happiness in this moment. We all live in two week incriments... shouldn't we take the joy where we can?

Is it wrong that I choose to be happy?

How Lame Am I?

I apologize Humble Readers... I haven't posted since last Show & Tell.

The thing is, there hasn't been much going on. I don't want to be any more pedantic than I have been... going on and on about how excited I am about "THE VACATION" (and yes, that's how it looks in my mind... all caps).

There is a goofy little story that I'm saving for S & T this week, but other than that, I've been working, obsessing about the trip, and that's about it.

AF kinda messed with me a bit, not following her usual pattern, but she's now packed her bags and I feel human again.

Oh yeah... and we got tickets to Letterman! TICKETS TO LETTERMAN! Woohoo!

Only one more shift at work... 72 hours or so until we leave!

Show & Tell: Travel Preparations

Good morning humble readers... and welcome to my Show & Tell for this week! For those of you who might be new to this, Show & Tell is wasted on elementary school kids, so once a week we all take the opportunity to show off whatever we feel like... If you want to know more, make sure to stop by Mel's place. And while you're there, check out what the rest of the class is showing! Everyone is welcome to join in on the fun!

So... we are now a week away from our big trip! Guess who is super excited? Yup, that would be me! However, in true hobbit form, I am a bit anxious as well, so I have reverted to one of my main coping mechanisms... lists. I have lists of things to do in NYC and lists of things to do before we go. I have finished most of the things on my "before" list and these pictures are the result of that.

Here's a rundown of what you are seeing:

• Our groovy new red luggage. I chose red so that it would stand out, but discovered on our recent trip to Prince George that I'm not the only one who thought that red would be unique.
• My new, much smaller new purse. Perfect size for the camera, a few essentials and a friend named Terwilliger.
• Our passports. I'm so glad that mine finally arrived!
• Our travel books. Bringing them along for reference.
• Our groovy luggage tags. Due to the aforementioned un-uniqueness of our luggage, I found some hopefully unique luggage tags.
• Our vitamins, et al. Like any good infertile, I can't leave home without my vitamins. The larger boxes are mine, and the smaller is my Beloved's
• My awesome travel journal. I couldn't believe it when I found this. Statue of Liberty embossed on the front, NYC taxicab embossed on the back.
• Various travel essentials. A map of NYC, a money belt for my Beloved to wear, luggage lock, and some aromatherapy oils. (I refuse to waste one day of this trip dealing with a headache or insomnia... peppermint for headaches and lavendar for sleep)
• And last but not least... introducing Terwilliger Tidewater Turtle, Traveller at Large. He's going to be having some adventures and is looking forward to sharing them when he gets back.