Category — Creme de la Creme

Updated at the bottom:

If you’ve been looking for an excuse to walk down memory lane and read through a year’s worth of posts from your blog, look no further. It’s time to prepare for the Creme de la Creme of 2007.

If you didn’t read or participate in this list last year, the impulse behind this list are the ubiquitous award ceremonies that crawl out of their hiding spaces usually around December or January. Awards are nice–it’s good to honour someone and mark big accomplishments. But we all have a best post tucked into our archives. We all have words that have moved another person or ideas that have kicked off a series of musings. Bloggers are writers and all of us deserve to be celebrated.

And we’re doing just that.

This is the way it works. If you want to participate, read through your archives and choose a favourite post. You can leave all sorts of comments below telling me how fantastic I am, but email me your post submission (do not leave it in the comments section–the point of this list is also the surprise of seeing the choices revealed on a single day). If you post your link below, I will probably delete it. Again, feel free to leave love comments below–in fact, please do leave love comments below–just not your submission for the list. Let’s keep it a surprise until the list is ready to go up.

You can only choose one entry. You cannot be modest. Everyone has a best post. There is no such thing as a boring blog. Even if you don’t think you have any readers because you’ve never received a comment, you have a best post. The one that you felt really good about when you hit publish. The one that would be the post you’d put forward if an editor called you tomorrow and said, “I have this great writing job for you that will pay a million dollars an hour. You just need to submit one blog entry to get this job so we can check your writing style.”

Even if you just found my blog because you read about the Creme de la Creme on another person’s blog, you are not only welcome to submit; you are encouraged. It is the best posts of 2007 for the infertility and pregnancy loss community and that community includes anyone who writes about infertility, adoption, pregnancy loss, assisted reproduction, and every related topic–from living child-free after infertility to parenting after infertility. Everyone on my enormous blogroll is welcome to participate and everyone I haven’t found yet too. Really, you don’t need to be a regular reader of my blog to join in. It’s open to everyone in the IF/pg loss blogosphere. Really, I can’t say this in more ways than that. Which means you don’t need to write me a note asking if it’s okay to participate. The answer is yes. Okay?

Actually, it’s not only “yes” it’s “please do.”

The list will be posted January 1st and I promise you that you will use up a good portion of the beginning of the year reading through the most stunning posts you’ve ever seen. I think we had about 80 posts or so last year and I’d really like to top that this year. My goal is all 1040+ blogs currently on the blogroll, but baring that, let’s aim for over 100. Which means that not only do you have to participate if you’re reading this, but you need to spread the word and get other bloggers to participate (more on that below). Link to this post, send out a note to other bloggers you like, and suggest favourite posts to bloggers from this past year.

Um…other FAQ-like things:

• You can only submit one.
• Please don’t submit two and ask me to choose.
• Submit one.
• I will probably only send out a quick email with the words “got it” just to let you know I’ve added it because it takes a long time to read through submissions and write the little blurb with the link. I hate being impersonal like that, but the list took a long time to put together last year hence why I’m starting earlier this year.
• Think of this list in sort of the same vein as those “Best American Short Story”-type collections except that it’s blog entries and everyone in the blogosphere should be represented with a link.
• The idea of the creme de la creme is not to put out there “the best” by someone else’s definition of “best.” It’s to put out the entry that means the most to you. Everyone has a best entry from 2007. It’s the one you would cry about if it was ever eaten by your computer. Even if it’s only meaningful to you.
• If you are in this community, you have been touched by IF, whether you went into conception knowing you’d need assistance, like the fine chickies under gay and lesbian or were shocked beyond belief like others on the blogroll. Even if you didn’t start blogging until you were parenting a child after adoption or were pregnant from your first IVF cycle, all are welcome to add your favourite post from this past year. Got that–it doesn’t need to be a post about being in treatments.
• As long as you’ve had one post in 2007, you can participate. Even if you didn’t start your blog until October 2007. Just choose your best from the last two months.
• If your blog is password protected and you want to participate, choose your blog entry and create a free blog at Blogger or WordPress and post that single entry. Then send me the link so I can place it on the list. I can’t link to password protected blogs.
• The 2007 list doesn’t close until December of 2008. Which means you can always submit to the list. There’s no such thing as “too late.” Of course, getting it in by the deadline would mean that it’s definitely in when I put it up on January 1st and therefore seen by the most people, but you can submit it whenever you wish.
• Deadline? What? Oh, please send submissions by December 23rd if you want to ensure that your blog has a link on the list when I post January 1st. Anything sent after December 23rd will be on the list, but I may not be able to get it up until the list has already been posted.
• Oh–about that link, send the following things: the title of the post, a permalink to
  the post, the name of your blog, and the url for the blog. I’ll do the rest.

If you don’t want to participate, do nothing. With the Creme de la Creme List, I never add a blog or highlight a post unless the author has sent it to me. Therefore, no hurt feelings. If your post isn’t on the list, it’s because you haven’t sent one. If you see someone missing from the list, go bug them and tell them to submit a post. But don’t send me a note asking me to add them without their permission. I really would like this post to be what the author believes is their best post, but if you are feeling shy and can’t choose, enlist a friend to help you narrow it down and choose your best work.

Lastly, there is another section of the list that needs your help: blogs that closed in 2007. These are blogs that closed entirely–the person stopped blogging–not blogs that went password protected. If you read a blog that closed during 2007, please send me the title of the blog. It doesn’t matter if it was read by one person or read by 5000 people, all blogs should be honoured and recognized. And all blogs stand on the same plateau here.

Spread the word with the following button on a post or your sidebar to encourage others to send a link:
The code for adding the link to your blog is below. Simply turn all of the { into < href=”http://stirrup-queens.blogspot.com/2007/12/getting-ready- to-read-little-creme.html” target=”_top” alt=”Creme” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2SDEpISlohw/R1L4JRVi5II/ AAAAAAAABRg/ZVNmR_9POno/s200/Creme+de+la+Creme+ List+ Are+You+2.JPG” style=”font-weight: bold;”>Everyone has a best post. It is your personal best. It is not best by any other standards. Stop comparing yourself. Stop feeling shy. Stop thinking it’s immodest to toot your own horn when I’ve told you to toot your own horn. Start reading through your archives. Reflect on the year. And then send me a link for the list.

Wheew. Sorry about that last part. But everyone in the blogosphere should be represented and honoured.

Ooops–and if you’re looking for more stuff to do, go read through the posts from the 2006 list and then visit each blog to see how much life can change in a year.

Updated at 3:25 p.m.:

Just to kick your ass a bit–the first link is in! So now you can stop feeling shy and send your link. Everyone could use a little love right now–let’s celebrate us.

The Creme de la Creme of 2006

Other prizes honour only a small handful of blogs. Fuck that! We’ve expanded the idea of presenting “the best” to include a post from every blog in the infertility and pregnancy loss world. Listed below are the best posts of 2006. If you have a blog that chronicles your experience with infertility or pregnancy loss and you’re not on this list, send a link of your best post from 2006 to thetowncriers@gmail.com and I’ll add your blog*. In the meantime, happy reading!

• I Probably Shouldn’t Be Writing This ( from Thalia’s Fertility Journey): an emotional journey through all the could-have-beens.
• International Infertility Film Festival (from Infertile Fantasies): Bea’s brain-child–a completely online film festival! This post is a guide to participating in the first ever International Infertility Film Festival, due to screen from March 31st at a computer near you.
• Designer Knock-off Children at Bargain Prices! (from Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters): the rallying cry of “natural is nice!” but any way you become a parent is best.
• On Changes (from Serenity Now!): a unique perspective on infertility and change.
• The Dark Side (from Well, Now That We’re Here…): pregnancy after infertility without the gestational naivete.
• 101 in 1001: #11 complete (from Gypsyhick): a somber post on mourning after a pregnancy loss.
• Tattoo (from Thin Pink Line): filling the void after a loss and ultimately realizing how she still carries her daughter with her forever.
• Three Weeks (from the Twinkies): a mother of twins tells it like it really is in those first weeks. A must read for anyone struggling through early motherhood.
• A Decisions (from Miss E’s Musings): the divine Miss E and her husband find their peace and know that it’s time to walk away from one path and step onto another.
• Dear M (from A Somewhat Ordinary Life): a wife writes a note to her husband, begging him to get angry about infertility so they can beat it together. A must read for anyone struggling with a spouse about when to move forward to the next step.
• Hope on the Edge of the Map (from This is NOT What I Ordered): a woman turning 41 realizes that she is about to enter the final age category in most REs’ success rate statistics. Screw that–she’s refusing to give up hope of having a child with her own eggs, even if statistics (and conventional wisdom) say that it’s time to start thinking seriously about Plan B. A must-read rallying cry for hope.
• Got Meds? (from My Inconceivable Life): all the frustration, fear, and anguish of loss races through her head as she goes to pick up her fertility drugs from the pharmacist. A post that rests of the edge of tears.
• On Being Young and Infertile (from This Sorta Fairytale): a post that blows away the myths of being young and infertile.
• Nothing for Granted (from Elevated Umbrella): a loss and a change in perspective. The holidays look different, pregnancy looks different, family-planning looks different.
• My Hopes for Madelyn (from My Journey): before her daugther is born, a mother lists all the qualities she hopes to instill in her child conceived via IVF with ICSI.
• Untitled (from Are We There Yet?): a heartbreaking post at the end of a cycle. A must-read for anyone who currently feels alone with infertility.
• I’m At a Loss (from Tigger’s Infertility Madness): an extremely raw post chronicling her thoughts on sex during infertility as well as her own hidden fears.
• But My Husband REALLY Deserves a Baby (from Inconceivable): a gorgeous post singing the praises of her husband and why he truly deserves to be a father, all the while fearful that it will never happen for them.
• Writing From Where I’m At (from Kir’s Corner): how we each see the world through a lens shaped by our experience at the time.
• Halfway There (from Our Own Creation): a few months away from trying IVF, the author wonders how one knows if they’re making the right decision.
• Testing, Testing: the HSG (from Managing the Sweetness Within): walking you straight through the HSG experience from hell.
• Advice (from Flutter of Hope): a beautiful open note explaining infertility to the non-infertile world. A must-read for anyone trying to explain the emotional pain of infertility to someone who doesn’t understand.
• The Comebacks (from The Sweet Life): good comebacks for all of those annoying infertility related questions. Must try out the “oh, you mean he has to put it inside me?” one next time someone asks if we’re doing everything right…
• A Lot Can Happen in a Month (from My Grasp at Sanity): an HSG and collecting her pee for a Cushing Syndrome test to boot!
• On Injury and Loss (from …as good as it gets?): a gorgeous post explaining the pain of loss–from the failed cycle to pregnancy loss.
• I Found It (from Diary of an Infertile Mad Woman): a dark entry written during the time when she found the bottom of her soul.
• Getting Everyone Up to Speed (from Looking for 2 Lines): a new blog in the Blogosphere and this is the perfect post to get you caught up on her journey as she enters IUI with injectibles.
• Untitled (from Max’s Mommy): a raw, frank entry that will bring you to tears–when the worst that can happen does. This is the mourning that comes after a loss.
• Living in my Skin (from Journeywoman): how our life experiences prepare us for parenthood–a woman discusses how the reactions of others to her weight has given her unique insight into the possible emotional experiences of her daughter-to-be.
• Over the First Hurdle (from Chasing China): finally DTC at the beginning of the year, it’s an entry filled with hope and excitement. Or, as Dee says, “It’s from the time before we were beaten down by every imaginable delay. I sounded hopeful then.”
• Dealing (from A Cop, A Nurse, 3 Dogs, and Maybe Baby): there are two kinds of people in life–those who strap on their own life vest and those who wait for someone to rescue them. And this is about learning how to strap on your own life vest.
• Crazy Talk (from Herveryown): what happens when a woman tries to navigate the medical system in order to have a prescription filled. You’ll be laughing through tears.
• You Want Answers? (from The Tragic Optimist): pregnant after infertility, the Tragic Optimist answers all of those common pregnancy questions–stirrup queen style.
• From the Outside (from Plan B): a post written by Tara’s surrogate about the power of prayer and how she came to carry Tara’s child for her. A beautiful post on friendship.
• The Happiest Infertile on the Block (from The Smarshy Files): an absolutely brilliant discovery of how to speak to an infertile woman–at the very least, his wife–and extremely funny to boot.
• Secrets (from T.K.O…more or less): the dirty, deep, dark blogging secret that most don’t have the guts to admit. What happens when infertile bloggers get pregnant.
• 2007 (from Perpetually Waiting): technically published in January, this post sums up the final cycle of 2006. And it is a small microcosm for the entire infertile experience. The suckiness of treatments, the highs of a positive, and the lows of a loss. It is a literal roller coaster where Meg wonders how she can step off and return to the person she was before she ever got on the ride.
• Stick It (from City Girl Tales): a fellow needlephobe admits the real deal behind giving oneself an injection. A must-read for anyone who just cried after giving themselves their first injection.
• Last Night=Bad (from It Could Take 3 Months): when infertility changes how you view yourself. Or, as the author eloquently said, this post “represents the first time I was truly struck by the shittiness of IF, how it was affecting every aspect of my life, and how difficult this journey is emotionally.”
• Good Words From My Husband (from Entrusted): an ode to her husband and her faith.
• My B’shert (from Our Forever Family): living the life she was meant to have, a woman goes from childless to adopting three children and also pregnant–her forever family.
• Dark Little Storm Cloud (from Carrying On): getting it out of her system–a post about loss and wishing for things that can’t be.
• Walking and Talking (from Certainly Not Cool Enough to Blog): an entry that comes after the death of her son, Thomas. It’s clear to the world that women with strollers have children. But she is now a secret mother, Thomas’s ambassador on earth, and that burden sometimes keeps her from starting those easy conversations that occur between mothers.
• Ah Well (from Welcome to the Dollhouse): a wise, aching, gorgeous entry reminding us to celebrate the good moments even when the possibility of heartache is around the corner. A must-read for anyone pregnant after infertility or loss.
• Craft Therapy (from The Mama, The Papa, and Baby Bear): a woman creates a tangible reminder to honour the child she lost during an ectopic pregnancy.
• How I’m Feeling (from When’s It Gonna Be My Turn?): when infertility literally brings us to our knees. Jules says it best with the last line: “See. This makes a strong, totally sane women, go completely bonkers.” A moving, anguished post.
• You Think You Know Me (from My Many Blessings): a woman can hide a lot behind a calm exterior. This amazing post shows a woman who is also stronger than she can ever imagine. A wise woman also takes care of herself. This is a rest stop on the road of healing.
• A Clothes-on Consult (from Things get IF’fy): more informative than your own freakin’ RE–a consult post IVZero yields information presented in a question and answer format (complete with resources at the end!). Excellent writing places you right in a third chair within the consult room.
• Buy Some Waterproof Mascara (from Waiting for a Miracle): if you think it’s hard to admit to infertility in a crowd of 7, trying coming out to a crowd of 7000. During a baby dedication ceremony at her church, her pastor asks all people experiencing infertility or pregnancy loss to stand for a special prayer. A piece of advice: make sure you’re wearing waterproof mascara.
• A Day of Remembrance (from Baby Proof): an incredibly moving post springing from the question: why can’t she simply forget the painful memory of her first unfulfilled due date? A litany of all the painful memories of infertility and loss that she would like to forget, yet can’t.
• One Small Step (from Still Waiting): a short, sweet post about the happiness she feels for a fellow stirrup queen as she passes over the loss threshold and takes her current pregnancy farther than any other. Without one shred of “why not me!” mixed into her happiness.
• A Couple of Things I’d Like You to Know (from The Oneliner): a list of all the things she wants to tell her future child about life prior to his or her conception or arrival. A entry to read on a night when you’re really searching for something proactive you can do with your hope, especially for the end lines: “that you had a name months before we knew you were coming. That the thought of you not coming was more than either of your parents would accept. That even though it looked like it wasn’t going to happen…that you weren’t going to happen…. we held out hope.”
• Sixteen Fits and Conniptions (from What Am I?): religion returns to the family after many non-religious generations as the author finds comfort in singing a hymn to the Virgin Mary after a loss.
• A Letter That Goes Unread (from The Woman Who Cried Pregnant): another gorgeous list of things the author will teach her son or daughter–once they are finally conceived or arrive. Again, a wonderful idea for a night when you have so much hope and need a place to lay it down in words.
• Yep, I’ll Be Violent If It Happens Again (from Cheese and Whine): fantastic post as J puts in her vote for most offensive question of the year: whenever J and her wife are discussing their quest to have a baby, someone inevitably asks, “Why don’t you just, you know, find a guy at a bar one night and close your eyes for a few minutes and just…you know, get it done that way?”
• Welcome to the Dream Factory (from Of Course You’ll Get Pregnant!): a post eloquently expressing the frustration she feels when people tell her that “of course you’ll get pregnant” despite the fact that she ovulated three times in 2006…
• Here Ye, Here Ye (from Baby Wanted: Apply Within): birthdays never made her feel old until she was trying to conceive. When she was younger, she imagined her life would look very different at 46, but she found the love of her life at 38. A moving post on the reality of something we all realize when experiencing infertility–when you can’t conceive the one gift you truly want, all other material objects cannot fill that void.
• How Do You Know? (from Postcards From the Mothership): after struggling with infertility and pregnancy loss to create her two children, the author asks how one knows when they’re finished building their family. Especially when one takes into account the scars left by infertility and loss. A moving post without a clear answer.
• Is it Possible? (from Hopeful Mother): musings about her RE–how is it possible to spend this much time with a person and not wonder what happens after he leaves the office?
• Frustration and Undirected Anger (from Relaxing Doesn’t Make Babies): a
  bad mood brings to the surface many of the author’s fears and frustrations concerning fertility treatments–especially the fact that a positive beta will never be celebrated in the same way as it would have been before they started down this road.
• 2 Years, 1 Month, 2 Weeks, 1 Day (from The Problem With Hope): reflecting on who she was two years ago when they started trying to conceive, before IUIs and IVF didn’t work. The hope at the beginning and the understanding at the end.
• Looking at Day-3 Embryos (from Getting Pregnant the High-Tech Way): the silver lining of IVF–you get to see the blueprints to your future child when you look at the embryos. A beautiful post about the complex system that needs to fall into place in order to gain the coveted positive beta.
• Length (from Surviving My Loss): without her daughter to hold and measure, she depends on an autopsy report when that overwhelming mothering urge hits–that burning need to know your child. And in light of all that she has lost, a wry ending to the post that makes you smile through the tears.
• Wreck Womb (from Inhospitable): can finding a uterine septum really be humourous? Yes, if you’re reading it on Inhospitable.
• A Cervical Cap Is Just Odd…Isn’t It? (from You’re Still Young!): could her husband ever imagine on their first date that one day they would be hanging out in an insemination room? A very funny post from the wacky and wonderful Shlomit.
• Training Bras and Easter Dresses (from Oh Well…): a heartbreaking post about the loss of her daughter and how those tangible items–the training bras and Easter dresses–stop her in her tracks while she is shopping and make her remember Hope.
• In Their Honor (from In Their Honor): an extensive list of public figures who have experienced pregnancy loss.
• Walkin’ Up a Tightrope (from Once More, With Feeling): a brown bag that once held treats for her as a child becomes a modern day hope chest for her baby-someday. It’s a virtual life raft as she floats through infertility.
• Matthew I and Matthew II (from No Matter How Small): two posts that tell the heartbreaking story of a medical termination after discovering her child had Trisomy 18 (originally posted in July, removed, and now reposted).
• A Baby Story? No Thanks (from Fertility Blogs): TLC’s A Baby Story went from being a cute distraction to the bane of her existence.
• Adoption Story (from Baggage That Goes With Mine): running commentary from Bug, Baggage’s extremely funny and adorable daughter, during Discovery Channel’s Adoption Story. For what it’s worth, I would watch Bug’s Adoption Show.
• My Problem with Empiric (from Oscar Wants a Playmate): the author questions the trend to treat first and ask questions later–wondering if she had just played the game and taken the Clomid when first offered, would she currently be pregnant or is she better off ruling out problems before beginning treatments. A well-thought-out post from the mind of a scientist.
• What’s a Defect, Mom? (from How to Make a Family): one side examining the infamous controversial article that appeared in the New York Times by Darshak M. Sanghavi on PGD.
• Hold My Hope (from The Waiting Womb): perhaps we can’t hold our own hope anymore, but we can hold the hope of another person. This entry will send chills down your arms–it is so beautiful and poignant.
• Slow and Painful Way Back (from Bullet Proof Eggs): an extremely moving post detailing the mother she will be based out of the way that she was raised. A wonderful post for anyone who needs a moment to dream about how they will mother.

Off-topic Posts from Infertility or Loss Blogs

• Chainsaws and Butter Knives (from Just Crazy Enough to Try): sure, you’re worried about chainsaws, but what about the sink full of butter knives?
• Johnny Don’t Do It (from Karaoke Diva): musings on Madonna’s sex book and all the naughty things that turn up in a library.

Blogs that Closed in 2006

We’re so sorry to see these blogs missing from the Blogosphere. Every piece of writing changes a person’s perspective of their own journey. The world was changed by their words.

Cancer Baby

Random Ramblings

A Barren Island

Gravida Zero

Hanazono

Vindauga

Tales of a Wessel

The.Sunnie.Side.Up

Infertility 2.0

Palatial Squalor

Laughter and Forgetting

Chez Miscarriage

One of Our Own

Life is Sweet, Baby

*Our philosophy is once an infertile, always an infertile. We like reading the whole spectrum–from newly diagnosed to veterans of treatments; those still filling out paperwork and those with completed adoptions; those who are trying to choose a donor and those parenting DI or DE kids; those who are completely confused on what to do and those who are peacefully–or not peacefully–living child-free. Infertility can become a new lens with which one views the world, and viewing the world includes parenting. I love to read blogs after the children have come–from the newborns to four-year-olds. And all of this is a long-winded way to say that if you have ever experienced infertility or pregnancy loss, we would love
to keep adding your posts to this list year after year. Please don’t disappear because you don’t think you’re part of the infertility community anymore. If your heart feels like it belongs here, you belong here.

Are you going to make me jump through this computer and kick your ass? Because here is the deal: you are a great writer. All of us are great writers. Some people write for a living and their blog reflects that. Some people write emotionally and their entries are raw. Some people write rationally and present their take on news articles. Some people chronicle a year in the life. Some people present their world in photographs.

The idea of the creme de la creme is not to put out there “the best” by someone else’s definition of “best.” It’s to put out the entry that means the most to you: the one that sums up a moment in time you want to remember forever, the one that shows us a sliver of who you are (as Manuela pointed out today about her post titled Tattoo), the one that changed another person’s point-of-view, or the one that served as a turning point in your own journey.

Everyone has a best entry from 2006. It’s the one you would cry about if it was ever eaten by your computer.

Don’t get hung up on the idea of blogs being “well-written” or entries being worthy of the “best” title. I promise you, if you’re in my side bar (and even if you’re not yet in my side bar because I haven’t found your blog yet), your writing is enjoyable and emotional and I have learned a great deal from reading your words (oh, and if for some reason you’re not in my side bar, let me know so I can add you).

If you’ve experienced infertility or pregnancy loss and written about it in your blog, you have an entry to contribute to the list. Send me your crying-on-the-bathroom-floor-after-a-negative posts. Your call from your RE with your first positive beta post. Your holy-fuck-why-didn’t-they-tell-me-that-HSG-hurt-so-much post. The day you received your referral. The day you were jealous of your surrogate. The day you wanted to marry your RE. The day you thought you’d never make it to the other side of infertility. The day you really mourned that loss and felt catharsis. The day you realized you had never mourned your losses. The day you came out to everyone about your infertility. The fight with your MIL. The fight with your husband or wife. The reason your husband or wife is the best person to have with you on this journey. The frustration you felt with yourself for feeling overwhelmed after your child was born. The sadness you felt over past losses when you held your newborn child.

Any messy, wonderful entry.

Whether you’re in the middle of treatments or finally pregnant or parenting your twins conceived through IVF.

Of course you can nominate others too. The entry you read that changed the way you viewed your own journey. The entry that helped you get through the day. Send them on over.

And here’s the idea behind this “best of” collection: it’s just another way you introduce someone to your blog. To give them a little taste of that world. This post will be on the side bar for the entire year (until we make a new list next year) and people can read down each entry, taking their time to savour all of these incredible posts. It’s a monument to what a sliver of the infertile world was experiencing in 2006.

So spread the word about this list and gather entries from your favourite blogs too. I’m compiling it as links are sent either via comment or email (and just so you know, many people are sending it via email so feel free to send it directly to thetowncriers@gmail.com). It will be up this Friday.
————————————————————————————————
Updated at 4:58 p.m.
I moved around icons and links on the side bar to make room for the new Creme de la Creme icon and listing. The picture is currently linked to today’s post, but I’ll link it to the actual list come Friday.

Keep sending them in! I have about 25 already listed in Friday’s post. But there are hundreds of blogs on my side bar. Spread the word and nominate links that changed the way you view the world (if it’s someone else’s blog) or that you loved writing (if it’s your blog).

2006 ended with a purge. The storage room in the basement was filled to capacity. It was time to throw out all of the college notebooks and graduate school papers. Phone bills from 1993. Items that had lost their sentimental meaning. Framed photos of the ex-boyfriend who shall not be named.

All of it bagged and pushed over the edge at the dump.

Josh and I were each going through boxes of important papers, deciding what to keep. At the same moment, we turned to each other and both said, “I’m holding what I said at my grandfather’s funeral.”

How creepy is that?

The fit of reorganization spread upstairs. We ended up at IKEA on the 31st and are now the proud owners of a Billy bookcase and Magiker unit. As well as seven new Swedish words added to my vocabulary including inkopslista. We moved the seven thousand books scattered across our kitchen floor onto the bookshelf. We filled the cabinet with toys. We moved all the piles of “stuff” to its new, proper place.

I’m still on a cleaners high.

And like a huge wave threatening to crash (but that we’re hopefully still riding), the reorganization will skip up the stairs in the next few days. Clutter will be eliminated from the bedroom. Our bathrooms will soon be void of expired medications. The clothes slung across the guest room bed will be taken to the dry cleaners.

It. Feels. So. Damn. Good.

I love to clean. Whenever I’m stressed, I love to clean. I had been waking up most mornings with my heart pounding from anxiety. This morning, for the first time in weeks–no pounding. Not even a dull thud. It was just a normal heartbeat. I needed to work out all of my anxiety from 2006 so I could enter 2007 breathing normally.

Let’s see how long this lasts.

Anyway, Teamwinks had a great idea last Friday that I want to expand to cover the entire last year. As y’all know, I love writing a blog roundup each week to spark conversation, point out interesting things I read, and, overall, show the world all the posts that influence my train of thought. And using Teamwink’s idea as a jumping board, what if people nominated their own favourite post from the last year. Their best writing–the blog post that perfectly summed up a moment in time. A post that you feel best expresses how you felt in 2006. A post that helped other people understand something from an entirely unique point-of-view. You know the post I’m talking about. The one you would wear if you had to go on a first date this Friday.

Which means you can’t be modest this week. Between now and Friday, send me a link to the best post you wrote in 2006. I will create a list of them on Friday morning, the creme de la creme of the infertility and pregnancy loss blogging world for 2006. And who knows where this will lead. An award with a beautiful pot de creme graphic for your blog? A huge open discussion series using these posts as a jumping board for people? Just a new tradition of creating a best post roundup for the previous year each January? Anyway, either leave a comment here with link–just a link, no full posts–(and you can nominate someone else’s post too–though really, don’t be modest. Everyone has a perfect post) or send me an email at thetowncriers@gmail.com. And also leave your ideas on where this tradition should lead.

Lastly, I was told today that someone nominated me for a Bloggie. But because the only people who become finalists have multiple nominations, I just thought I’d (cough) put it out there (cough, cough) in case anyone (achem) wants to nominate me again. I would love to win an award. The nominations are open from now until January 10th.

Shameless self-promotion part is over. Now nominate your best post for my creme de la creme roundup. And keep them coming all week. And then check back on Friday to read the creme de la creme (and I’ll keep it linked in the sidebar for the rest of the year too).

And if anyone is reading this and it is beyond January 5th, send me your link anyway. I can keep adding links to the creme de la creme post.
————————————————————————————————
Updated at 10:36 p.m. If you have a link to your best posts in your side bar, still choose one and send it along. I sort of envision this post to be like one of those best short stories of 2006 collections. You’d have all the links in one post and you could jump off of it to the best posts on each person’s blog. And just to make it clear–send only the link or the post will get too long. And feel free to write a short description to go along with the link. Maybe two or three sentences tops?
————————————————————————————————
Updated again at 4:02 p.m. This is so much fun! I love all the posts that are being sent in and the list is really a pleasure to create. This is the format I’m using:

• On Changes (from Serenity Now!): a unique perspective on infertility and change.
• The Dark Side (from Well, Now That We’re Here…): pregnancy after infertility without the gestational naivete.

Just to give you a sense of what I’m doing. Keep the links coming–it’s any post you’re connected to emotionally. Any post that sums up a moment in 2006. Any post that could help others to read. From fertility treatments to loss to parenting after infertility (yes–send in parenting after IF posts too!), all of them are great.