IComLeavWe: September 2010

Welcome back to IComLeavWe. It stands for International Comment Leaving Week, but if you say it aloud, doesn’t it sounds like “I come; [but] leave [as a] we”? And that’s sort of the point. Blogging is a conversation and comments should be honoured and encouraged. I like to say that comments are the new hug–a way of saying hello, giving comfort, leaving congratulations.

Here is the vital information, pure and simple (a more detailed set of rules follows below the list):

• The list opens the 1st of every month. It remains open until the 21st. You can add yourself at any point. The list is open to everyone in the blogosphere–blog writers and/or blog readers.
• Add yourself to the list by filling out this form: the list is now closed.  The list for October will open on 9/30.
• Click here to cut-and-paste this bit of code to add to your sidebar (if you have the old code from another month, remove it and replace it with this one). You need to add the icon or a link to the current list on your blog (see below) and will not be added until it’s up.
• Commenting kicks off every month on the 21st. Please mark it somewhere (calendar, post-it note taped to your computer…), though I will be sending out an email reminder on the 20th. Commenting week runs from the 21st to the 28th. Every day, leave 5 comments and return 1 comment for a total of 6 comments. You are highly encouraged to choose the blogs you comment on from the participants list below, but this is not required.
• I will send a second email on the 28th to remind you to remove the icon from your blog.
• Read below if you want to find out about Iron Commenters.
• The commenting ends on the 28th. We catch our breath and the whole thing starts again the next month on the 1st. Drop in and out according to what is happening in your life between the 21st and the 28th.

1. Stirrup Queens (twins, books, writing)
2. Find Joy Now (adoption, joy, life)
3. Anla Knits, no really she does. (infertility, feeling lost, life)
4. Mommie Heaven (toddler, diapers, academia)
5. Weebles Wobblog (open adoption, mindfulness, perfect moments)
6. Musings of a Hormonal Egg Basket (pregnancy after IVF)
7. Bee In The Bonnet (twins, babies, advice)
8. ErnieGirl (pregnant infertile birthmother)
9. Infertility Musings (ivf, thyroid, change)
10. His & Her Infertility (Just Like The Matching Towels) (PCOS, azoo, international adoption)
11. Certainly Not Cool Enought to Blog (childlessness, survival, life)
12. Maybe Baby . . . (or maybe the loony bin?) (infertility, IVF, life)
13. Just Two Lines Away (high fsh, endo)
14. Someday (azoospermia, grief, decisions)
15. Can I Get Some Sugar with These Lemons? (Korean adoption, endo, infertility)
16. In The Middle With You (adoption, infertility, random thoughts)
17. Creating a Family (infertility, adoption, adoptive parenting)
18. Dragondreamer’s Lair (parenting, secondary infertility, crafts)
19. The Miss Ruby (living childless longtermttc)
20. The Maniacal Mommy (motherhood, infertility, pregnancy)
21. Making Me Mom (ivf, faith, emotions)
22. The Road Less Traveled (infant loss, IVF, embryo adoption)
23. The Inadequate Conception (infertility, humor, adoption)
24. No Suzy Homemaker (RPL, IVF, stillbirth)
25. CD1 Again (infertility, life, tests)
26. Planting a Pumpkin Patch (loss, humor, puppies)
27. The 2 Week Wait (humor, TTC, infertility)
28. Baby On Mind (IVF, ttc#1, unexplained)
29. Cradles and Graves (recurrent cord-related loss, IVF #2)
30. Baby Dreams (ttc#2 w/pcos after loss, my son, love dare)
31. Lil Family Blog (motherhood, lesbians, giveaways)
32. Care to Try (pcos, cycles, life)
33. The Infertility Overachievers (IVF success, son, TTC again)
34. Infertile Revolution (infertility, politics, feminism)
35. Somekindofride (adoption, foster care, parenting)
36. On Tap for Today (life, humor, Boston)
37. Are We There Yet (pregnancy, high risk, post-fibroid removal)
38. Infertility And Me (azoospermia, mfi, pregnant)
39. Wistfulgirl’s World (ttc, hyperplasia, life)
40. Baybee Luv (giveaways, reviews, motherhood)
41. Barrenista (barren, adoption, 3-year-old)
42. Random Thoughts From Angie (challenge, ttc, life)
43. believing in june (early pregnancy, marriage, hope)
44. The Bushey Life (pregnancy after infertility)
45. Rotten Eggs? (Ivf, unexplained fertility, coping)
46. Iscrapandco (scrapbooking, travel, randomness)
47. Trying for Two (miscarriage pregnancy ttc)
48. Reproductive Jeans (parenting, photos, next-steps)
49. Our Journey, but Not Our Plan (adoption, infertility, teacher)
50. Accepting the Unexpected (loss, irregular cycles, infertility)
51. Getting There (adoption, infertility, waiting)
52. Stolen Fertility (infertility, emotions, technical)
53. Funny Little Pollywogs (embryo adoption, food, photography)
54. Inconceivable! (unexplained infertility, ivf#1)
55. Chois-R-Us (adoption, life, waiting)
56. Lifeslurper (miscarriage, donor eggs, 40+)
57. The Journey to Our Three Little Kilos (infertility, ttc, miscarriage)
58. Life in the Last Frontier (open adoption, infertility, life)
59. Fearlessly Infertile (IVF #2, military, random)
60. Melissa’s Thoughts and Realizations (ivf, hypothyroid, miscarriage)
61. My Ordinary Miracles (IVF survivor, twins, toddler)
62. Flogging the Muse (art, painting, creativity)
63. Jen’s Seven From Heaven (embryo adoption, children, family)
64. 3 Babies, 2 Jens, 1 Cause- Embryo Adoption (embryo adoption, our adopted blessings)
65. Savor the Moment (infertility, the beginning, humor)
66. An Unexpected Life (infertility, adoption, sadness)
67. Chasing Mommyhood (IUI, single, endo)
68. Through The Eyes of a Stranger (infertility, life, general)
69. Among the Blossoms (infertility, mfi, randomness)
70. Lily in the Valley (infertility, marriage, stepparenting)
71. Trying not to scream (infertility, loss, trying again)
72. You Call Me a Bitch Like It’s a Bad Thing (ivf, pgd, fibroid/myomectomy)
73. Blawnde’s Blawg (first IUI, 2WW, infertile but hopeful)
74. First & Only IVF (ivf, infertility, loneliness)
75. Carney Exploits (fertilty school unemployment)
76. My Path to Insanity & Beyond (IVF, FET, life)
77. Days Of Our Lives (life, daily events, and adventures)
78. Project Baby (infertility, donor sperm, hope)
79. Dreaming of Quiet Places (ponderings, emotional abuse recovery, my cute dog)
80. Mommy in Waiting (ivf, mfi, hope)
81. The (In)fertility Diaries (adoption, life, ttc)
82. Autism Mom Rising (autism, spirituality, overcoming adversity)
83. ChicknChicken (infertility, miscarriage, trying to conceive)
84. Going For It (IVF #2, MFI, low reserve)
85. Your Great Life (fertility health, infertility support, happiness within)
86. Inconceivable! (ttc, step-parenting, life)
87. DearFutureBaby (infertility, adoption, judaism)
88. Peace, Love, and Starbucks (life, school, TTC)
89. Spermination Station (first trimester, life)
90. Confessions Of A College Angel (random, life, family)
91. wanna bee (adoption, loss, craftiness)
92. A Greater Yes (embryo adoption, infertility)
93. Mama Bear (adoption, infertility, pregnancy)
94. Stumbling Gracefully (motherhood, acceptance, letting go)
95. The Big Green Easy (gardening green cleaning)
96. A Little Bit of Life (pregnancy after clomid, marriage, life)
97. Jamie and us now and forever (foster-care adoption, 4 yr old daughter)
98. Ambivalent Womb (mfi, ivf #3)
99. The Rocky Road to Motherhood (ivf, infertility, life)
100. A Little Blog About the Big Infertility (IVF #4, loss, bad eggs)
101. The Barreness (infertility, sadness, hope)
102. An Infertile Blog (infertility, diet, life)
103. Missing Baby Carriage (pcos, iui, bfp)
104. Keeping my eyes on Jesus (IVF, faith, miscarriage)
105. Quebecoise et bilingue : a Quebecker’s Bilingual Blog (Quebec, life, happiness)
106. Hannah Wept, Sarah Laughed (life, infertility, Judaism)
107. It Is Tuesday, Right?? (frozen cycle, motherhood, general insanity)
108. I Spy A Family (adoption, motherhood)
109. The Deep Breath Before the Plunge (infertility, ttc 4yrs)
110. The Panda Diaries (pregnancy, home birth, depression/anxiety)
111. Knocked up by Another Man (DE-IVF, bedrest, Alaska)
112. Musings of an Everyday Weightloss Guru (weight loss, life, fitness)
113. Baby Magnesi (MFI, TTC, IVF)
114. My Lovely Lady Bump (pregnancy after loss, pregnancy)
115. The Barreness’s Blog (parenting after infertility)
116. Life in the White House (donor sperm, life, crafting)
117. SaM’s Town (twins after IF, photography, life)
118. It’s Always Raining (ttc, life, marriage)
119. As Fast As My Baby Can (ttc#1 unexplained infertility)
120. Are You Listening (toddlerhood, life, photography)
121. The Pitter-Patter (IF,TTC, miscarriage)
122. Invisible Mother (miscarriage, recovery, ttc plans)
123. Life: Chats and Rants (life, pcos, ttc)
124. A Virtual Hobby Store and Coffee Shop (news, music, food)
125. Born From My Heart (motherhood, PCOS, adoption)
126. Flucky Mom (parenting after IF, life, tips)
127. Waiting Lisa (adoption, long wait, infertility)
128. Maybe Momma Someday (IVF, early pregnancy, faith)
129. The Infertility Doula (infertility, support, guidance)
130. My Herbal Salve-vation (ivf, infertility, natural remedies)
131. In Pursuit of Parenthood (faith, iui, pregnancy loss)
132. Riding the IVF Roller Coaster (IVF, fail, repeat)
133. While I’m Waiting (MFI, loss, christianity)
134. Adventures of a Dam Engineer (adoption, infertility)
135. Cape Girl’s Journey (pregnancy, IVF, stillbirth)
136. Magnolia Queen (wedding, catholic, family)
137. The Encouraged Egg (IVF, humor, FET)
138. Infertile Follies (infertility, IVF, ectopic pregnancy)
139. That’s My Answer (question of the day, fun, life)
140. Bio Girl (parenting, family, infertility)
141. Waiting For That Positive (ttc, waiting, life)
142. Our New Normal (pregnancy loss, adoption)
143. Cheese Curds and Kimchi (adoption, korea, photography)
144. the list is now closed.  The list for October will open on 9/30

Q: What if I miss a day?

A: Catch up the next day by doubling your comments–12 comments instead of 6.

Q: What if I have two blogs? Can I sign up twice, listing both blogs?

A: Yes, but you also need to double your comments. If you have two blogs listed, you should be leaving 12 comments per day.

Q: What is an Iron Commenter?

A: Not for the faint-of-heart. People who wish to be an Iron Commenter and be entered on the Iron Commenter honour roll need to leave a comment on every blog on the participants list (exceptions are blogs that require you to have a special log-in, such as some LiveJournal accounts or other similar situations). You can spread out this commenting any way you wish over the whole week, but the final comment needs to be left by midnight on the 28th (EST). Reaching Iron Commenter status is done on an honour system. Please email me if you earn Iron Commenter status so I can add you to the wall of honour.

Q: Why do I have to add that bit of code to my sidebar?

A: The code is the latest icon (the icon changes colour every month so you know that you’re on the right list). This month, the icon is purple, the next month it will be green, etc. The reason is two-fold: (1) it enables more people to find out about IComLeavWe and (2) it gives you easy access to the current list once the commenting week actually begins and better ensures that you’ll use it. Too many times, people sign up and forget to actually do IComLeavWe and this icon gives you a daily reminder (with the dates on it) every time you open your own blog. The icon is linked back to the current list. On the 28th, remove the icon from your blog. A new one will be created for the next month.

Q: It’s the 23rd and I just saw this for the first time on my friend’s blog! I want to join the list–why can’t I?

A: Because IComLeavWe happens every month, once the list is closed, it’s closed. If you’re finding out about this on the 23rd, you can’t join the current month. But leave yourself a note to check back in a week on the 1st and you can sign up for the next month.

Q: You said the list closes on the 21st. Well, it’s still the 21st where I am. Why aren’t you moving my information onto the list?

A: All dates and times are U.S. Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours). The list closes around 11 p.m. EST on the 21st.

Q: What if no one comments on my blog and I have no comments to return?

A: Well, that really doesn’t happen for the most part, but in that case, simply choose another blog and add an additional comment. The goal is to hit 6 comments daily as a minimum. Going over that is fantastic and encouraged.

Q: Mel, my question wasn’t covered at all. What do I do?

A: Email me; I’m quite friendly. It helps to place “IComLeavWe” in the subject line. You could also check this post which contains the history of IComLeavWe and see if you can glean anything there.

Looking for the comment section? It has been closed on this post. Use the form in the directions to add yourself to the list.