372nd Friday Blog Roundup
Our coffeemaker died this week sending us into utter panic. When Josh called out to me, I ran downstairs without my glasses on — that’s how frantic this news made us; and we both stood there as if we had discovered that someone changed the locks on our house and we now had no way in. Coffee is our gateway to consciousness.
Which is why I didn’t research coffeemakers. Usually, if I’m going to buy an appliance, I like to think about it. I like to look up reviews online. I talk to people about what they like or dislike about said appliance. I may even look around to see where I can get the best price. I buy appliances like elderly people drive, slowly and carefully with my coat belt trailing out of the car.
This is as much thought as I gave this very very necessary purchase: I thought about which store would have the most coffeemakers in stock (I put my money on Bed, Bath, and Beyond, though Target and some department stores were also considered). I drove to said store even though it was four days before Christmas and the store was understandably insane with people diving after cotton candy machines and shearling blankets. I ran through the aisle with the kids and visually scanned the coffeemakers for the one that had the least amount of buttons. I called Josh and read off two model numbers and asked him to look at which one had the smaller amount of negative reviews on Amazon. I then grabbed the better coffeemaker, ran to the front of the store (though not before the ChickieNob was distracted by a picture frame that she wanted to get as a gift that said, “in loving memory” and I had to explain to her that the person really wouldn’t appreciate being reminded of their own mortality… Merry Christmas!), thrust my money at the cashier and screamed, “oh please oh please I need this so baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadly” while I writhed on the floor, shaking from lack of caffeine.
Literally, all of that is true until we get to the writhing on the floor part. It was more like I stood at the cash register, drumming my hand on the counter like my skin was crawling, which it was.
Our coffeemaker had a good run. She was 14 years old. We used her every single day. In coffeemaker years, that’s like… 700-something years old. Still, it broke my heart, memories of how the ChickieNob got so excited as a baby to watch the orange ball travel up the clear frame to show the water level. The mornings of just me and the coffeemaker, quietly dripping while I stood at the counter, mug in hand. I had to photograph the coffeemaker before Josh disposed of her useless carcass. And then I kicked myself for not buying the picture frame.
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If you Google “Queen Melissa,” I am the second hit. I’m not sure why this delights me. I’m also a little dumbfounded that there isn’t a Queen Melissa somewhere. It’s a fantastic name, Royalty. You may want to use it.
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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:
- “Tick Tock” (Outlandish Notions)
- “Dear Mrs. Duggar” (The Misadventures of MissOhKay)
- “Festive with Whine” (Bodega Bliss)
- “Reflections on Pregnancy and Loss” (Mission: Motherhood)
- “Fall On Your Knees” (With Every Heartbeat)
- “Black Christmas” (No Oven for the Bun)
- “Choosing” (This Was Supposed to be My Symphony)
Okay, now my choices this week.
Mommy Odyssey has a beautiful post for her first blogoversary about how she sees the community. Like many, she started writing because she simply needed to get out her story. Then she discovered there was a whole world of women and men out there, all writing their stories too. I sniffled through this: “I never imagined that something as simple as a blog would be such a salvation. I never imagined that this space would bring me to women who I now consider some of my closest friends in the world. Women who are oceans away, but who I love like sisters. Because they – you – understand. Because in my darkest moments, they – you – have been there for me beyond anything I thought was possible.” Go wish her happy blogoversary after you read (and nod) through the post.
Project Progeny has a post about parenting, and what shapes our parenting style. But it’s also about how we have no clue how the choices we make will also lead to the relationships we’ll have with our children down the road. It’s really a fascinating read and gave me a lot to consider.
A Real Life returns to blogging with a story about an encounter in an elevator. The woman mistakenly asks about her non-existent kids several times, and the writer doesn’t correct her. It’s just as much about the things we say to others without knowing how much they stay with the person as it is the writer’s musings on why she didn’t let the woman know that she didn’t have children yet.
Lastly, From IF to When has a post about judging others that sparked a good conversation in the comment section. She makes an excellent point: “My opinion on the way someone else is living his or her life doesn’t matter, and neither does yours. I think it’s easier to get wrapped up in what another person is doing. It’s harder to let it go – let people live their lives and speak their minds without passing judgment.” It’s about the times when we judge, when we form opinions on other people’s lives without knowing all the facts, nor frankly having to live out their choices.
The roundup to the Roundup: Our coffeemaker broke. I’m the second hit on Queen Melissa. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between December 16th and December 23rd) 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.
22 comments
The mental picture of a photo of your dead coffee pot in the “in memory of” frame made me snort. Thanks! Off to get my coffee now…
I love that your coffeemaker (appliance) is a She and not an It and your story of buying a new one is priceless. Especially the decision-making based on the amount of negative Amazon reviews. You really do need your coffee in the mornings (and throughout the day probably), right?
I have to think about if I own an appliance that I’m equally attached to 🙂
Queen Melissa and the photo of her coffee pot in the In Loving Memory frame – hahahahahahaha! You crack me up. Here’s to 14 more years of uninterrupted coffee consumption.
And for the blogs:
http://mrsspit.ca/?p=3122#comments
Oh my gosh I so get the everything you wrote about your coffee-maker. Though I’m a tea girl these days, I spend years hooked on coffee, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable addiction. Incidentally, my mom went through a period where she kept buying more and more expensive coffee makers and they kept breaking on her. So finally she got a basic, cheap-o, no thrills drip maker and it lasted forever. I wish you years of happiness with your new machine 🙂
I laughed out loud at “Queen Melissa”.
And I really loved the post Infertile. Pregnant. Myself. on the blog The 2 Week Wait:
http://the2weekwait.blogspot.com/2011/12/infertile-pregnant-myself.html
We keep buying the same Cuisinart stainless 12 cup coffee maker, even thought it utterly dies every 18 months ago and needs to be replaced. My husband it attached to it, at least when it actually works.
I loved this post this week:
http://mylifeafterloss.blogspot.com/2011/12/here-comes-sun.html
omg I’m in the roundup! omg omg omg!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/16/taylor-swift-is-surprised_n_784465.html
😉
I totally understand a love affair with a coffee maker. And coffee… coffee makes the world go round. 14 years is a long relationship. RIP, coffeemaker.
Glad you got your new coffee maker and hope its working out ok. I understand too about losing it although I take my coffee cold and blended. When the rubber ring on my old blender died I had to run to Bed Bath and Beyond as well and of course you can’t buy just the ring at the store (you have to order it) and I couldn’t live for a couple of weeks with no blender so I ended up with a new blender.
Yes, but if you try to google Queen Melissa, autofill tries to suggest “Queen Melissa Bridezilla.” So there is that.
I wish I’d had the chance to make the case for a thermal french press (http://www.allthumbsreviews.com/2010/04/jonzing-for-java.html). Not even one button!
My favorite post this week (maybe this month or this year) was this one by Queen Melissa II: https://www.stirrup-queens.com/2011/12/occupy-blog-street/
“Queen Melissa” that is quite an accomplishment. I could only aspire to one day be the 2nd hit on google as “Queen Natalie”. Too awesome. ICLW #3
I love the thoughts of the coffee maker pic in that picture frame… priceless!!
As for the blogs… this one got me thinking… maybe us IFs can relate a little to Scrooge. http://searchingforoursilverlining.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-carol.html
Ha! I was just coming to nominate the same post that Queenie chose. Which means that it’s extra-good.
http://mylifeafterloss.blogspot.com/2011/12/here-comes-sun.html
I hope your new coffee machine is working as well as the former and that you’ve got good coffee to drink. I’ve only ever owned one coffee machine, it was given to me, and I gave it away soon after. I worked in a coffee house for years, loved coffee, I just didn’t make it at home. Now I drink only tea, so no machine needed.
Our coffee maker also crapped out this week. Luckily, my MIL has already purchased us a K Cup for Christmas. I can’t wait. My husband and I don’t share the same taste in coffee, so a K Cup makes more sense for us.
I’ve never tried Google-ing “Queen Melissa,” but I have tried searching for “Stirrup Queens.” Why you’re listed behind stirrup pants is beyond me. Do people still wear those?!
Oh, and thank you for including me in the Friday roundup. 🙂
Thanks Mel!
Eggs in a Row showed off her amazing bravery and writing by sharing something that she wrote about her brother. Very powerful:
Our beloved coffee maker died this week too. We also research these kinds of purchases to death, but this time we went to Target and got one with a thermal carafe that was on sale. Our preferred brand that is mentioned above was nowhere to be seen. New coffee pot produced coffee that was lukewarm. In our house that is sacrelige. Susan even tried to resurrect the old one from the dead this morning, so desperate was she for piping hot coffee. Now we realized that not all coffee makers are made the same, we want our old one back but have to wait til we return from our KC family visit as the only place we can do find them cheap is nowhere near us. And I know they are closed on Christmas. Glad to be in such good company! For the moment we are using a French press. Very reluctantly.
Oh yes – for the love of coffee!
I feel like this past week has been especially wonderful in terms of blog content. I know that I have read many fantastic posts. One that stands out was a touching post about experiencing infertility during Christmastime from a practicing Christian prospective:
http://sadie607.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-and-infertility.html
I will second the post by Mrs. Spit already flagged by A. I also just read an absolutely heartwarming post by Mrs. Thompson at Viva La Vida that reminded me that, no matter how much we may be hurting, there is always someone else out there who is in even greater need of some Christmas cheer:
http://mrthompsonandme.blogspot.com/2011/12/dusting-yourself-off-with-christmas.html
Does everything, infertility include, really happen for a reason? I just love what “A little blog about the big infertility (& adoption too!)” wrote on this topic: http://alittleblogaboutthebiginfertility.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/1451/
I loved this post from Mo: http://mommyodyssey.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/preggo-dont-preach/
For a brief moment there I thought you were talking about a real, live barista.
Quite a shock. Gave the rest of the post a bit of a different feel, too.
Bea