459th Friday Blog Roundup
My old yoga teacher used to talk about the monkey mind, which jumps from thought to thought, never settling down to tune in to the moment. My brain has gone totally simian.
In a 20-second period, I jumped from “I feel like a sad blob” to “maybe I should pick up the kids early from school so we can read Harry Potter” to “I think I’m getting my period” to “let’s go to the Faroe Islands.”
I’m not entirely sure why the Faroe Islands. It was one of those things where an article mentioned the place and my monkey mind made me Google it. And then I saw pictures. No, wait, I saw these pictures. And then I watched the video made by a travel service.
And then my monkey mind went wild, like a golden lion tamarin who has found an untapped treasure trove of unblemished fruit. How could I focus on anything like… work… when the Faroe Islands existed? And for that matter, how could I focus when I had to think about all the other places I’d love to visit: how I want to get to Mingulay one day. And ever since I saw a pictures of the Azores in my National Geographic Kids book when I was eight, I’ve wanted to go there too. And Iceland — I need to get to Iceland at some point.
Then I Googled airfare to the Faroe Islands and came back to earth like a sad monkey.
There are a lot of places we want to go, and a few places we should go to before we go to all of those places. Israel, for instance, trumps the Faroe Islands. I have a feeling I will get there at some point if I want to put it at the top of my wishlist. But not now.
Where would you love to go?
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And now the blogs…
But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:
- “Time Out” (Two Adults, One Child)
- “He’s a Watcher” (The Little Grape)
- “Little Red Hen” (AndMom)
- “Childfree – the Life for Me” (a guest post)
Okay, now my choices this week.
Here We Go Again has the most brilliant, simple idea in her post. I’m not going to ruin it by telling you it here, but suffice to say, when you read her post, your mouth with drop open and you’ll say, “daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn, that is really really smart.” Feel free to tell her that in a comment.
The Medicated Momma has a tale of two baby showers. She writes, “I hate that I can’t get a baby shower invitation in the mail and not just stick it on my fridge and move on with my life without weighing my options with best case and worst case scenarios about the state of my uterus.” Sending her a lot of good thoughts that today brings her good news.
Mellow in the Midwest has a post unpacking everything on her mind before her second baby arrives. While she rationally knows that it will all work out since things have a tendency to work themselves out, she also admits that “All of this physical stuff I’ve checked off the list, but I still feel utterly unprepared emotionally and know that there’s no way to feel differently. There’s no way to prepare for the change that’s coming.” It’s a great post about feeling off-kilter, not knowing what to expect, but also knowing that cool things are about to happen.
Lastly, Searching for Our Silver Lining has an incredibly helpful post about the NICU that you should bookmark and pass along to any friend or family member who ends up with a child who remains behind at the hospital. This advice would have been invaluable during our NICU stay. It’s a must-read.
The roundup to the Roundup: Where do you want to go? And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between September 6th and September 13th) 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.
12 comments
I would just like you to note that in that video, I don’t think I saw more than 5 people (the runner, the people swimming in the lake, and the singer) who were not bundled up in a sweatshirt, heavy jacket, or other cold weather gear. So, maybe that will temper your regret.
I would like to go…pretty much anywhere. I just want someone else to plan the trip for me.
Here’s my pick for the week:
https://www.stirrup-queens.com/2013/09/selling-the-fantasy-of-cancer-survival/
Where would I want to go? what a loaded question…where WOULDN’T I want to go?!!? I have always dreamed of Russia had an opportunity in the early 90s but with the situation then, we decided on another destination & now that it’s becoming feasible, again I am unsure with the political atmosphere there…
My pick for the week: http://knockedupbyatesttube.blogspot.ca/2013/09/outing-single-hussy.html
I am gutted by this story & so sorry it is so common.
I’d like to go back to Australia. I’d love to go to New Zealand. I want to go to Africa. All of it. India has been on my mind lately as well…..
My dream trips (the ones I haven’t already done, that is)- an Antarctic cruise, climbing Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, followed by a Kenyan safari, and doing the Everest Base Camp trek. So many more, but those are my top three. Travel just seems so scary these days, though…
I have so many places that I want to go to- Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Peru, Thailand, Ecuador (esp the Galapagos). Not sure any of these trips are going to happen any time soon though…..
There are so many places I would like to go. I have never been to Europe and would love to go just about anywhere there. Australia & NZ would be cool. There are many places in the U.S. & in my own country (Canada) that I’ve never been, or would love to get back to, too. I know lots of people who have been all over the world and vacation in the Caribbean or Mexico every winter, & yet they have never been outside of their own province, which seems sad to me.
Related to ICE, snopes has a very interesting write-up:
http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/icephone.asp
I would love to go to Ireland (I’m a small part Irish) and an Alaskan Cruise-my husband served on-board a ship that patrolled the Behring Sea when he was in the USCG, and he would love to show me what he experienced up there.
The Internet has totally fed my inner simian. I go down rabbit holes all.the.time.
(Enough animal references there?)
I liked this one. http://www.blogher.com/between-gutter-and-stars-thoughts-success-writing-and-everything-else
Oooh. Right this minute I’m ticking off the places I want to go. But there are always more. Right up there at the top of the list is Egypt, but timing is not good for that. Scandinavia too, but that will have to wait for another trip. Then there’s Zanzibar. Tanzania or Kenya for the Great Migration. Madagascar. Mexico is also high on the list. Peru and Macchu Pichu (sp?). Japan. Yellowstone and New England in the US.
And I would love to go to Mali (Timbuctu), but political issues there might preclude that. Not that I think I could ever convince my husband to go!
Sigh. The list never gets any shorter.
I want to go to the Faroes too. And Antarctica. I have this fantasy whereby I convince someone to pay me a nice upfront chunk of money and I will go and write a book about living in the faroesmor Antarctica for a year. I know they are cold, but I want to go. I have wanted to go since I was at college. It is one of the minor regrets of my life, why did I not do a science degree that would have enabled this? Would also willingly go and live somewhere for a year of two observing life, but haven’t worked out how yet.
Apart from that, just want to travel the world. Currently discussing road trip across the USA. Next year, timed for my 15 year reunion at college.
I really appreciated the honestly at Where the Bleep Is Our Stork in this post.
http://wherethebleepisourstork.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-bitch-in-my-head.html