My throat tightens a little just thinking about it.

A preemie mom friend of mine posted a link on Facebook to a blog of a preemie mom this week.  The "Dear New NICU Mom" post was actually a post by another preemie mommy blogger. These Mommies are only about 3 years out from their NICU experience, and reading through their blogs, I can recall it all so very clearly. The absolute terror of RSV, the realization that they are all suffering PTSD, all of these things they blog about, or blogged about talking about? Been there, done that... but one paragraph in this post really stood out, and made me reflect on those NICU days, and where we are now.

"...And finally, know that you’re not alone. Some of the most therapeutic times are found in the NICU when moms begin to connect. Share stories with each other. As you begin talking, you’ll likely find that these women who you thought were so different from you, have now become the only ones who understand your heart. Don’t be afraid to talk to them. Chances are, they’ll appreciate knowing that they’re not the only ones feeling this way either."

I will forever be grateful to Lindsay and Jamie, who in the middle of the most terrifying time in THEIR lives, took the time to reach out to Scott and Me.  I don't remember the words very well,  I was in a Mag induced haze, but I remember the kindness in their faces, I remember the words, if you have questions, anything we can do to help, and we've been there. It was that moment, that simple act, that changed our NICU stay, and what we took away from it.

Because of what Lindsay and Jamie did, (and what Keri and Craig did for to start it all) and how much it meant to me, I reached out to Nina and Todd, and they reached out to Saffron and Juan, and they reached out to Katy and Scott, and because of that simple act, a community was formed. A support system of people who understood, understand.

In my volunteer work with new NICU moms, I always suggest getting to know their neighbors.  I tell them how much it meant to me.  How six and a half years later, I am friends with those people, our kids are friends, we still celebrate birthdays and milestones, and life together.  I hope I stress enough just how important that connection is, was and will always be.

BlogHer Book Club: Diary of a Submissive: A Modern True Tale of Sexual Awakening

Diary of a Submissive: A Modern True Tale of Sexual Awakening, by Sophie Morgan was in a word, awful.  

This book, has been compared to other books of note recently that deal with the subject of Dominant/submissive relationships, and it has been touted as a more well written book. While yes, the sentence structure and word choices are more polished, it is still not what I would consider interesting reading.

The subject matter is handled bluntly and openly, and that is not what turns me off about the book, but that it is just boring. Had I not been paid to read this book, I would have stopped after the first few chapters.  

The book felt self indulgent.  You know when you are talking to someone, and it feels like they are talking just because they love to hear the sound of their own voice? Well if you could translate that into reading, that is exactly how I felt reading this book.  I found myself shouting “Shut UP”  in my head.

The book claims to give you insight to a submissive, but all I got was a few sex scenes and the banality of one girl’s life.  I would much rather we call a spade a spade, call the book erotic fiction, rather than a memoir, and the expectation of any literary talent would be at a minimum. (Millions of women did not read that other series for its dynamic prose) The expectation, or maybe it is just my expectation with a memoir, is that the author has at the very least something interesting to say. Sadly nothing could be farther from the truth with Diary of a Submissive: A Modern True Tale of Sexual Awakening.

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This is a paid review for the BlogHer Book Club, however the opinions expressed are mine alone.

Kindergarten we loved you so

It seems I started this post the last day of school, and never finished, or posted...go figure. 

The first picture is from day one of Kindergarten followed by pictures from the last day of school.  I am so far behind, and there have been some really fun things that happened over the summer! I need to do a big giant post to catch up!

Until then, know the boys had a great year, summer and are having a blast as first graders!

  

Quilt I made for our wonderful teacher.  All of the kids did a panel.

 

We had a Luau the last day of school.

BlogHer Book Club: Matched

Matched is the first novel in a dystopian trilogy by Ally Condie. This piece of young adult fiction finds us living in “The Society”, where we meet Cassia a young girl, about to take the first step into adulthood.

In this society, everything is predetermined.  There are no choices. Everyone is fed a government prescribed diet. There is no sharing food because the calories are carefully portioned. Your job is based on your aptitude. Free time is portioned out sparingly. Even the day you die is predetermined.

Almost every person attends their Matching Ceremony after their seventeenth birthday to find out who will become their future husband or wife.  Almost always it is a person in a far away region.  In an unlikely outcome Cassia is matched to her best friend Xander.  

Cassia and Xander are childhood friends.  They grew up playing together, they know each other and their families know each other.  Everything is great!  Cassia and Xander are delighted.  That is when everything goes wrong.  

Cassia puts her microchip with information about Xander, her match into her port.  Xander’s face pops up on the screen, but it is quickly replaced with the image of another boy.  And not just any boy, but another she knows well.

The rest of the novel takes us through Cassia’s internal conflict. It raises questions in Cassia that she never had before.  Throughout her life she has been a conformist, never once questioning the rules, or the predetermined outcomes in her life.  Suddenly, she is a fountain of questions.

A pretty typical coming of age scenario, set in a futuristic time and place, but typical none the less. It was a quick read, and I did find myself “reading just one more chapter”, but I think I was expecting more. The cliffhanger does make me hopeful for more adventure and excitement to come in the next two novels, but the ordinary storytelling in Matched does not make me want to go out there and buy them.

This was a paid review for the BlogHer Book Club, however the opinions are all mine.