355th Friday Blog Roundup

Cozy Jackson endured many small, excited hands squishing him his first week in our house.  The twins brought in anyone and everyone to marvel at him, and he responded by giving me this continuous, imploring look as if to ask what the hell was happening between those hours of 4 — 8 pm.  During the day, he listened to me type and ate tiny bits of apple and carrot.  During the night, he frolicked around his cage (actually, I don’t know what the hell he does at night — I never hear him).  But from 4 — 8 pm, it is a constant barrage of children’s hands attempting to give him love.

One night, perhaps as a response to a particularly rough afternoon being over-loved by the neighbourhood, he backed himself into the corner and raised himself into a handstand.  He was practically vertical, his tiny feet pressing on two walls of glass about two inches above the cedar chip bedding.  I was marveling at his agility, impressed with the fact that he can so easily do a handstand when I find something as simple as turning a somersault to be nausea-inducing, when his tiny penis popped out like an oven timer in a plump chicken and he let out a stream of piss down the cage walls.  He lowered his legs and stared at me as if to say, “that’s what I think of your neighbourhood kids.”

Seriously, have you ever heard of a hamster peeing in a handstand position?  Is my hamster fantastically unique, ready for a solo in Cirque du Soleil?

I can feel myself bumping that thin line that divides sane pet owners from crazy hamster ladies (which is the less-work equivalent of the crazy cat lady).  I mused aloud one day that perhaps the twins would like to give up all their toys to make room for a few more hamster cages.  I purchased a tiny carrying case for Cozy so we can take him on the road.  I could see Cozy enjoying our next hiking trip or trying to chew a seashell on the beach.  Josh has warned me that we are not taking Cozy anywhere.

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The results from the poll are interesting, and I have some follow-up questions, so I’ll post that this weekend.  So if you haven’t yet voted, get on that by Saturday afternoon or so.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week as well as the week before.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Same and Different” (The Mud and the Lotus)

Kicking Your Collective Ass: One?  You only found one blog post worthy of directing everyone’s attention to read last week?  I had four and I could have posted more.  You have to do better this week.  There is a whole world of blog posts out there worthy of a little extra attention.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Les Terres Fertiles has a post about the choices we make with assisted family building.  About finding our own comfort zone with the myriad of decisions one needs to make about utilizing treatments or pursing adoption or choosing donor gametes.  I like this post for the raw honesty; for the exploration of the difficulty in making these decisions.

Mommy Odyssey has a post about how her biggest asset is now her liability.  She writes: “Why I can’t break free from this and just LIVE until we get our baby. I’ve realized that it’s something that’s ingrained in me. You see – I have this thing about me, which in the past I’ve viewed as an asset, but is now a liability. When I get my mind and heart set on something I go for it like a guided missile and don’t give up until I reach my goal.”  As someone who shares that trait with her, I found her post thought-provoking.  As well as deeply honest: she explains how this has affected her sex life and comes to a conclusion by the end that will probably have many people nodding.  One of the most helpful posts I’ve read in a long time.

First Time Twins has a post about Beyonce’s pregnancy.  I have to admit that this post was where I first learned that Beyonce was pregnant because I am so far behind on reading People magazine.  I’m still back in Charlie Sheen’s breakdown, in fact.  So this post was both informative AND funny, and I loved this thought directed at the media: “When I finally have a bump, would you be so kind as to send camera crews and thousands of audience members to my house to applaud and tell me how wonderful it is?  Because if it actually happens here, it’s an accomplishment worthy of some frikkin applause.”

Lastly, Finding My New Normal has a post about ending a friendship.  She writes: “In no time flat my feelings would get twisted in a way to make her the victim and me the crazy lady whose baby died and can’t be happy for anyone else. This is not what I want. So I’ve got some decisions to make.”  You can help her make these decisions by weighing in with your thoughts in her comment section.

The roundup to the Roundup: Cozy Jackson has settled into his new home and I am still deeply in love.  Results from the sitemeter poll coming soon.  And, of course, lots of great blog posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between August 26th and September 2nd) 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.