Chasing Ovulation

Elle Dee's post yesterday highlights her current stress level trying to conceive. As her tagline reads, she is a 30-something lesbian with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and is trying to have a baby.

We inseminated on Sunday, but my fertility monitor has read only moderate fertility every day since. We were suppose to try again yesterday, but with that moderate fertility rating, we decided to postpone one more day. I have accupuncture tomorrow, so I'm hoping that will jump start my ovulation. I'm guess that the combination of pressures - trying to conceive while simultaneously starting back to school - are what's throwing my cycle out of wack.

PCOS is the most common endocrine disorder that affects 1 in 10 women. While there is no cure, the symptoms can be managed. Soul Cysters is a website that provides support and information to women who are experiencing this disorder.

My heart goes out to Elle Dea and her pursuit to have a child. Don't get disheartened; my best friend just had a baby, and she had PCOS. I'm thinking fertile thoughts for you.

Technorati Tag: fertility

Little Miss Knit

Fire!!!

Remember how I said we didn't really get fall in california?
I lied.


Our leaves turn a light golden red, just beautiful, right before they turn charred black because they CAUGHT ON FIRE!!!!


I'm teaching today in a middle school and fires are starting to literally circle around the city. And I'm supposed to get out not only to get home, but to leave tomorrow for the airport.... Not fun.


I wasn't here 2 years ago when the huge fires came, inches of charred randomness all over everything. My parents calling me asking what items from my childhood they should save if they need to cut and run. The fires were under a mile away from our house that time.

Technorati Tag: california

Reflections

Recovering

From surgery yes, but so much more as well. I feel changed. Less naive as to my country being behind me 100%. Caring whether I live or die. Helping me to succeed if only as a silent support. I am no longer convinced any of us matters to our government. I am resigned to it and continue on, more wise than I was before. Maybe less willing now to suffer fools. Or be one again.

Technorati Tag: women

My Place In The World

wondering?

well yesterday I talked to Ken for less than 1 min...see since we don't live togather we have the phone and computer and so on for those weeks or nights we can't see each other...


I miss him at times like this, but last night he got on line, for over an hour and never spoke to me...I was a little stunned...I don't think its as hard on him as it is on me to be apart...


I know I sound like a baby, but this has been going on for awhile...even when we are togather there is very little conversation...and he seems ready to argue at the drop of a dime...I have no clue if something is bothering him or if this is just a phase or what...alls I know is it hurts...

Technorati Tag: emotions

Word Whammy

On the Loose - Armed and Dangerous Dolphins

I really hate that our smartest marine animals are being used as agents of war. It's a shame they can't take aim at the chickenhawks who started the frigging nightmare in Iraq.


I like to imagine that they have relocated to the coastal waters of a peaceful nation where other dolphins have disarmed them.

Technorati Tag: dolphins

Crazy MomCat

Perhaps I should explain...

I don't know why I feel I need to post this, but it has been brought to my attention that perhaps there are some people judging/criticizing those of us in the Houston area who have NOT evacuated. So, I decided to take the time to explain a few things.


I actually DID leave. I packed up my kids and left here at 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning. A good friend of mine left at 3 a.m. that same morning. She got to Dallas in about double the time it normally takes. As for me...well, I drove for 5 hours and 40 minutes. Do you know how far I got?

Technorati Tag: rita

annatopia

My friend was assaulted in Finland "for being American"

I'd hoped I would never have the cause to write a diary like this. Unfortunately, this is BushWorld, where Americans abroad get very little respect.


One of my best friends, Brian R., just returned from a week-long trip in Finland. He goes there with his partner Mika, a Finnish native, on a yearly basis. They've been making this annual trek for at least five years, but this was the first time that my friend had been subject to discrimination based on his nationality.

Technorati Tag: politics

Lab Kat

In the eye

I'm lucky in that I have no family or close friends in harm's way. However, there are several dear bloggers who live in Houston who need everyone's good thoughts:


(snip)


Please let me know if we need to add anyone else to the list or any pertinent news I can pass along.

She has four listed right now, but if you know more, you might want to click over and help her build the list for her to monitor.

Technorati Tag: rita

On The Left Tip

A Call to Meetup for the 9/24 DC March!!

I took yesterday off from blogging. I was in nearly a full-day's Red Cross volunteer course. But NOW I am a certified Community Disaster Educator!! Whee!! Next step is Disaster Action Team training. Those will be longer courses and there are four of them, but I'm going to get them done so that I'm qualified to respond to single-family and mass disasters. So there you go.


That's not why I'm posting this here today, however. As many of you who blog progressively know, there is a BIG anti-Iraq war protest in Washington DC this weekend. The de-facto source for protest information seems to be found here - United for Peace. There is a blogger's contingent attending this. So far I am in contact with bloggers from Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, and ePluribus Media. We have an actual agenda starting on Friday, September 23rd.

Technorati Tag: politics

Can't Keep Quiet

The life of a friendship

Epilogue


I've had a couple of days to think about the whole issue with Susie. I've come to realize that Susie was draining me dry. The feelings I'd come to relate to our Friday night gatherings had changed from camaraderie and fun to obligation and unease.


I've also realized that Susie has been changing over the last two years. I know I mentioned it earlier, but until Friday I just didn't see it. The bitterness and contempt she has for her ex has permeated her feelings for everyone else as well.


Susie may and may not call me about the Friday gathering. More than likely she'll get T to call for her.


I won't be going, though.

You'll have to click over to see what brought this on ...

Technorati Tag: friendship

Bride and Predjudice

Since I'm heading off to Maui in a few days to attend my dear cousin's wedding, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight a wedding blog.

And what better resource to use but our very own "Blogs By Women" Blogroll.

Dahlia's Day highlights"Bride and Predjudice," a movie with an updated twist on the classic wedding-themed romantic comedy. I can't say I've ever seen it, although I think I did see "Monsoon Wedding."

If you're a fan of Jane Austen novels and movies, this one is a modern twist (i.e., Bollywood style) to the classic one. The actor playing Darcy in the movie looks almost like Luke Wilson - his name is Martin Henderson from New Zealand - playing opposite to an actress named Aishwarya Rai. If you enjoyed the movie called "Monsoon Wedding", this one is just as good! I really enjoyed it and got a good laugh.

I've never really been obsessed about getting married. Sure, I'd like to someday --- if I don't continue to meet guys like the typical sons-of-you-know-whats I've been dating these days. And with same-sex marriage legislation turning into public heated debate, and the fact that I'm heading off to Maui to BE in a wedding this weekend, the institution of marriage is just being thrown in my face these days.

It wasn't until I spent a little over a year living in upstate New York that I realized that there is this unspoken, invisible, slight nudge to get married as women get older. I'm in my early 30's, and am fine with not being married for now. But when I was in UPNY, I felt like a freak, like something was wrong with me because I wasn't married. Most girls that lived where I was had already been married by the time they got to my age. When I moved back to California, I felt "normal" again, although, with my cousin's wedding coming up, I'm starting to feel a little pinch.

Anyway, it's refreshing to see that Dahlia's blog isn't the obsessed-bride type of wedding blog that you'd imagine. In her blog, Dahlia asks the tough questions that really get you thinking: Would you sign a prenuptual agreement? Would you get married in Vegas if your significant other asked you to? Can you really tolerate Male PMS?

Wedding themed, yes: Bridezilla style, no. Quite refreshing.

Technorati Tag: weddings

gigglechick

sunday morning sunshine.

hey good morning. i am still feeling punky. yes i feel like i've been sick a lot - but i am chalking it up to a horrid summer cold that keeps rearing it's ugly head.


anyway- just helped gigglemom into the shower - waiting for her to yell for me to help her out.


last night's show was so-so... they sprung it on everyone that they could only do 5 minutes. what!??!? that sucks! i was having problems condensing it from 7 to 6... now i had to lop off another minute... frig...

Technorati Tag: comedy

Alyssa's ramblings...

Flintoff and Pieterson are the bane of my existence.

You heard what happened, didn't you? England won the Ashes. I take solace in the fact that it's the first time they've won since 1987, but still. The first year I take an interest in cricket, and we lose. Oh well, there's always next year. We'll kick their butts (figuratively)! We've done it every other year, for SEVENTEEN years in a row! So we can do it again. :o)

Does anyone here understand cricket??

Technorati Tag: ashes

badgerbag: messy, surly, full of books

Thinking of Dorothy

I keep thinking of Dorothy Hartzog, the sweetest person... she so politely kept coming to send a page for her husband Edward Williams. And he never came, though she said she knew or heard that he had been there in the Astrodome on the first day. She was in her 70s. This is torturing me as I think of all the times she came to me personally pushing her fold-up wheelchair with all her stuff in the seat, leaning on it for a walker, and I did not grab onto that problem and help her with all the powers at my command.

Technorati Tag: katrina

The Daily Blog with Kelley Bell

Theology

Because theology is a topic of interest for me, people often attempt to label me as a follower of some specific religion.


So, I will clarify:


I am not a follower of ANY religion. However, I do study ALL of them.


All religion can be defined as a form of cultural mythology.
Lots of folks have trouble with this idea. They are willing to look at the stories from other cultures as mythology, but they can not bring themselves to use that term for their own belief system.


When they define other beliefs as mythology, and define their own beliefs as Theology, it implies that one is false, and the other is true.

Technorati Tag: theology

Call for Bloggers

Grace over at I Am Dr. Laura's Worst Nightmare is doing her part to help in the Hurricane Katrina effort. Right now she's looking for bloggers in the EST/CST/MST time zones to help maintain her Hurricane-Katrina-specific blogsite.

This is, of course, an unpaid gig. Of course! But this is a truly magical opportunity with the greatest of all benefits - the chance to help get immediate comfort and aid to our friends on the Gulf Coast. And blogging has made this happen.

If you're comfortable with Six Apart's TypePad, the most user friendly blog tool ever, or, if you're far more techno-geeky than me and can harness any software and, most importantly, you have the time (four hours a day at minimum would be best), then please contact me directly (do not leave a comment) at gracedb@yahoo.com.

What a great opportunity to get involved in the relief effort.



Technorati Tag: Katrina

Ultrablog

Vitamin Z.

Sleep is considered a luxury these days, it seems. Working parents are supposed to be tired all the time, sure, but many of my kids' friends are exhausted--they're expected to do well in school (and the schools give a lot more homework than they used to), excel at a sport, take music or dance, attend religious services and participate in family events. They're chauffeured to practice in the afternoons, gobble fast food in the car for dinner and don't even begin their homework until nine at night. This is craziness, people!

Technorati Tag: sleep

8pril

All at once - at peace.

It's rare that I feel at peace with myself.
It's rare that I feel sexy and slim in the same day.

Technorati Tag: reflection

Let's Play Sudoku

Cross posted: SistersTalk

The lastest entry to the BlogsbyWomen directory is Sudoku, a very interesting game that looks like a great twist on tic-tac-toe. I was hooked right away because, well, I'm easily distracted.



Here are the rules for playing Sudoku. Once you've figured out how to play, try creating your own Sudoku puzzles.

Technorati Tag: games

Cookies In Heaven

Raise New Orleans Spirits....

Save New Orleans Cocktail Hour!


Monday, September 12, 2005,5:00 - 7:00 pm


On Monday, September 12th, between the hours of 5:00pm and 7:00pm, bar customers across the nation will raise their glasses for a "Save New Orleans Cocktail Hour" as bar and restaurant owners shake up New Orleans' classic cocktails to directly benefit New Orleans food and beverage industry workers who are out of work and sorely in need of funds for rebuilding their lives.

Technorati Tag: New Orleans

Quirky Chick

I've had Quirky Chick on my Blog Explosion blogmark list for eons. It was definitely the Chinese-menu-themed layout that grabbed me. But it was this Sept. 3 post that got me thinking in particular about rituals.

We all have our "rituals," whether it be our nightime face-washing/moisturizing ritual, our workout-at-the-gym ritual, our jeans-shopping ritual, etc. We do these every day, week, month, etc.

But what Quirky Chick alludes to in her post is the idea of "ritual" that's signaled by the changing of seasons. Living in California, we don't really experience the change of seasons. Where I live, my seasons are Foggy, Cold, and Occasional Heat Wave. If you're in Southern California, your seasons are probably Hot, and Not Hot.

Living in upstate NY for a while really made me understand the passage of time, and what role the change in seasons have in shaping our traditions, personalities (seasonal affective disorder, anyone?), and yes, rituals.

Quirky Girl posts about the beginning of Autumn, and how this season gets her in touch with her Inner Martha:

Although I tend to leave illegal trading out of the mix, a weird insanity befalls me. Even though I never, ever cook anything more complicated than Hamburger Helper or grilled chicken breast during the rest of the year, I start seriously pondering recipes for ridiculous things like homemade marshmallows and foods involving flambe.

Me personally, I don't get into rituals per se. I just get into phases. Around Christmas time, sometimes I'll get on this cookie-baking-from-scratch kick (although I generally like to cook anyway). Other years, I could care less.

What seasonal rituals, if any, do you have?


Technorati Tag: Autumn

ZenYenta

Cronies and hacks and operatives, oh my

This is criminal madness. This is letting us eat imaginary cake. Can you think of anything that takes more expertise than responding to a wide scale disaster? It's right up there with brain surgery as something that's both difficult and vital to get right.


While we're calling for heads to roll, and roll they should, how about a movement to require that political appointees have job qualifications? There is no particular reason why the jobs that run our country should be gifts to give out to political hacks. Maybe, if executives, from county and town supervisors right up to presidents were only allowed to appoint qualified persons to important positions government would run more efficiently.

Technorati Tag: FEMA

Mercury Rising

Wayne DuMond

Just found out from RBH over in the Kos diaries that Wayne DuMond has died.

Wayne DuMond would normally not be someone especially famous -- or in his case, infamous. But he was used as a pawn in a disgusting political game whose intent was to attack Bill Clinton, and the people playing the game didn't give a rat's behind who got hurt as a result.

Technorati Tag: politics

Standing By Grace

Laura, a blogger in New Orleans, has been using her blog to inform her family and friends on her status in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

I chose to highlight this blog entry because in the midst of all of this political fingerpointing and rage and bullshit and incompetence, it's so refreshing to read stories of human kindness and generosity. It's truly in moments of hardship like this when we all need to take a time out and count our blessings.

Here's a few of things Laura is grateful for:

As I mentioned in last night's post, this house we are now living in is FREE until we can go back home - no time limit, and it's phenomenal. It's big enough that I can have a room all to myself, without having to be packed like a sardine with others. E&M have their own room, J&M have theirs, and the kids are all sharing a very large room, which is the only carpeted one (the rest are all either hardwood or Spanish tile), and it's brand new carpet.

[...]

The neighbors on the other side invited us to dinner (grilling), all 12 of us, and fed us very well on steak and chicken. They have also graciously made their washer and dryer available to us, with only one stipulation...it has to be done by 8:00pm. And until the refrigerator was offered, they were offering the use of the spare fridge in their basement, again with only the 8:00pm rule. This couple is also housing M's uncle and his friend who are stuck like us...they're from Mandeville.

Check out the rest here. Laura is a very religious person, and it's nice to see how her faith is helping her get through this tough time.

The best of thoughts go out to Laura's family and to all the families that lost loved ones, pets, and property during the hurricane.




Technorati Tag: katrina

Blogs by Women Lets the Boys In?

Like Angie, it's been hard to stay on task with all the news of Katrina victims dominating our minds. One of my friends is heading to Texas to personally deliver much needed supplies since the Red Cross is having problems getting those supplies delivered. Please, donate to the Second Harvest Food Bank if you can.

I've tossed the idea around that I might want to add a touch of male presence here at Blogs by Women. Oh, I hear some of you now: They don't allow women at the Masters Golf tournament, why should we allow boys here at Blogs by Women? I also understand completely the need to have a space where women bloggers are featured without the necessity to add a male here and there to liven up the place. But, we want to be inclusive without changing the core of what we started.

So, here are a couple of suggestions:

1. A "Men We Like" Link List (this is not a reciprocal blogroll like the BlogsbyWomen blogroll). Example:

Title of Blog (link)
brief description of blog
--nominated by woman blogger (will be a link to the blogger's blog)

2. Weekly "Men We Like" Posts. Women bloggers send in their nominations and we do a cut and paste of your comments. We link to the blogger you nominated and we link to your blog.

We will continue to highlight women bloggers as we always have. That won't change a bit.

Technorati Tags: blogging, katrina

every passing moment

one broken flower

one broken flower
a new home between pages
your color changes


you rescued a flower from the ground
so that it wouldn't get run over
and gave it to me, it was so sweet.
a broken flower
to mend my broken spirit.

Technorati Tag: poem

Shorty PJs

It's been an ugly week. Let's kiss it g'bye.

Finally. Help arriving. Such a massive undertaking, and as I've said before - even in the middle of my angry rants - law enforcement, first responders, doctors, nurses have shown Herculean strength and fortitude. Hearing their stories and watching them weep should say it all. They'll have some truth-tellin' to do when all this is over, I'm sure, as will the National Guard and some of the newscasters who've been in the thick of things.

I have been a tad preoccupied with hurricane news lately to do my daily search for women bloggers, so for that I do apologize. I will try to keep on track here, but it's hard right now when so many are hurting.

Technorati Tag: katrina

DED Space

Bush stuns with ignorance and insensitivity in interview

As soon as it was clear how much damage Hurricane Katrina was going to do, Canada offered us aid. Soon after that, Russia offered us aid. Since then, several other countries have offered help. According to people who saw "Good Morning America" this morning, Bush said he knew of no offers from other nations because they "haven't been asked."


In a statement of such stunning ignorance I almost can't bring myself to repeat it, he said: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." As a Louisianian, I cannot contain my resentment over this remark. Around New Orleans, all we have talked about for decades is a possible breach of the levees. It is well-documented.


Bush also made it clear that he sees to difference between parched, starving refugees taking food and water and opportunists stealing television sets and defrauding insurance companies.


And finally, some reassurance to the thousands of wet, starving, wounded, thirsty, homeless, desperate people in New Orleans: "Well, there's a lot of food on its way. A lot of water on the way. And there's a lot of boats and choppers headed that way. Boats and choppers headed that way. It just takes a while to float 'em!"


To the people who support this ignorant, greedy, insenstive cartoon figure: Thanks a lot. You got the Amurica you wanted.

Please do what you can to help those in need during these next few months. Donate what you can. Money, time, whatever. Every little bit helps.

Technorati Tag: katrina