I’m getting this week’s (fabulous) links post out while my husband loads up the van to go camping.  Yep, we’re headed to the great outdoors, ya’ll.  Should be… interesting.  Naw, don’t let me fool you.  I’m totally looking forward to it.  I haven’t been camping in ages.  If I’m concerned about anything, it’s Liam and his psycho sleep issues but since I have Evie to fuss over, chances are it won’t be my problem, specifically.  God bless dual parenting!  Anyhow, I’m going to take pictures and have a great time and eat way more s’mores than I should.

• Debunking, Defusing, and Demystifying the Big Name Blogger from Velveteen Mind.  This is SUCH an awesome post.  I sure hope I get a chance to meet her at BlogHer and am so sad I can’t make it to the People’s Party.  She’s right on here and while I consider myself well blog-adjusted, I know that I too tend to get intimidated around the “big names”.  But I get intimidated around my mail man too, so what does that say about me?
  
• Summertime, and the living is geeky from sweetney.com.  Yay for full feeds!  I didn’t know Sweetney had embraced the full feed love and am so happy that I can resubscribe to her blog.  And she’s right: the benefits of full feeds FAR outweigh those of partial feeds.  And if you’re not a blogger and don’t care about this?  I apologize.
  
• Jeremy Who? from We Heart TV.  Besides being a post about the Most Awesome Finale Ever, this was a hysterical summation from both Britt and Carly.  I absolutely loved Carly’s commentary here.  If you watch “Lost” and have seen Thursday’s finale, you need to check this post out.  I cannot wait another 8 months!
  
• The Finger of God: Read This, Cry, And Post the Link from Surrender, Dorothy.  Wow.  I mean, you know that tornadoes can wreak all kinds of horrible damage, but the reality of the destruction in Iowa last weekend is something to behold.  I cannot imagine what those people are feeling.  My heart goes out to them.
  
• My Vagina. Let Me Tell You About It from Wiping Up Snot.  This is one of those laugh so hard you cry sort of posts.  Since I will never, EVER go in for a wax like that, all I have left is to live through other people’s humiliation.  If I were her, I probably would have run screaming from the place. 
  
• Two Posts for the Low, Low Price of Just $19.99! from Playgroups are No Place For Children.  I love the dichotomy here.  It sums up parenthood rather nicely, I think.  What you love about your kids, you simultaneously are driven up the wall by.  It’s a two-headed monster.  And I love that show on VH1 about the top 100 songs of the 90’s.  I’m sure I posted about it on here somewhere.  And I do believe the Backstreet Boys have a place in the 90’s lexicon.  Better them than N’sync, right? 
  
• Students vote autistic 5-year-old out of class from ParentDish.  I cannot believe the cruelty of this teacher.  I hope she receives some sort of reprimand because what she did is reprehensible.  Not just to the poor autistic boy (only 5 years old!), but to the rest of the students too, to put them in this sort of “Lord of the Flies” sort of situation!  GAH. 
  
• I Work* from Queen of Spain Blog.  This is true.  For me, it’s true.  Ever since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, I’ve wanted to be a writer.  And I know that I won’t consider that goal achieved until I am in an actual, published BOOK.  And I know I that I don’t consider all the blogging I do as work.  And maybe it isn’t a lot of work now (because I enjoy it?), but maybe, someday, I can consider it a job.  You think?
  
• How We Told Them from Pocklock.com.   I love stories like these.  None of my family has ever reacted this way, and I knew they wouldn’t so there were no “big reveals” like this.  Still, it would have been totally cool to rock their worlds like she did.  Too fun!

Alright, that’s it for this week, ya’ll.  I had to take a break halfway through to finish packing up my clothes and get clothes together for the little ones.  Wee!  I should be back around mid-day tomorrow.  Until then, ya’ll behave.  And while you’re at it, go check out my comment contest for a FREE BLOGHER ‘08 REGISTRATION.  FREE.  What are you waiting for??

The tides have turned, ya’ll!  I used to be the one who never won anything.  I know I’ve talked about it on this here blog at least more than once.  BUT, it would appear lately that my good fortune just keeps rolling in.  All I can say about this is.. I feel very fortunate.  And you know what happens after you feel fortunate?  You want to share it with the world. Because you know what it feels like to be “on the outs”.  And you want others to feel what it’s like to have such good fortune.

And maybe, just maybe, you don’t really need the windfall that fell in your lap in the first place.  Heh.

Such a wonderful has happened to me today.  I found out from the Parent Bloggers Network (of which myself and my review blog are members) (btw, keep an eye on my review blog next week for a fantastic GIVEAWAY!) that I have won a free registration for the BlogHer ‘08 Conference, to be held in San Francisco, CA this July 18-20.  Which is, as you know, a fabulous prize worth about $350.  I don’t know about you all, but I don’t have that kind of money laying around on a day to day basis.  Now BlogHer?  Is totally worth it.  But still.  It’s a lot of money, especially if you’re staying at home, like I am.

As fabulous a prize as this is, I already have my registration.  Since I’m speaking, BlogHer is covering my conference registration costs.  So you know what this means?

I’m GIVING IT AWAY!

Oh yes, friends.  I’m giving away one, fabulous conference registration to BlogHer ‘08.  Two full, fabulous days of fantastic sessions, speakers and discussions, two fabulous cocktail parties and one un-conference if your heart so desires.  ALL OF IT CAN BE YOURS.

All you have to do is leave a comment here telling me what session you are looking forward to going to the most of all, should you win this fabulous prize.  If you can’t narrow it down to just one (I’m sure I couldn’t!), then feel free to list your top picks.  You have until midnight (PDT) on Wednesday, June 4th to enter.  After that, comments will be closed and I’ll be selecting a winner at random!  The winner will be announced in that Thursday’s post.

Sound like a good deal?  Well then put your thinking caps on and get commenting!  And feel free to spread the word.  I’m going KRAZEE, people!  Get in while the getting is good!

Dude.  Season finale of “Lost”.  It’s a commercial so I’m going to do these little “vignettes” in between commercials.  Or rather, during the commercials.  I have no idea what I’m talking about, do I?

***

Thanks so much for all the support on my post yesterday.  Yes, even from you “non-breastfeeders”. A lot of what I wrote was MY issue though (being embarrassed, forgetting to cover up, etc).  Let’s face it, I’m easy to embarrass.  It’s one of the easiest things to do to me.  Go ahead!  Try it!  It’s painfully easy.  It’s more challenging to tie your shoes in the morning than it is to embarrass me.

I guess a lot of what I was trying to get at in that post was the whole car vs. bathroom thing for nursing and why don’t more women’s restrooms have sitting areas for feeding babies and the like.  I remember the first time I saw such a setup.  It was at a new Nordstrom department store at the mall near the house where I grew up.  I was very impressed.  I knew then that this was a fancy place for surely only fancy places had such luxurious appointments.

A room like that is not just for nursing mothers.  It’s for the weary shopper who needs to sit and catch her breath, a pregnant woman who wants to rest her swollen feet, a mom who is pumping to gain privacy, a mother who formula feeds her child, a place to sit and feed her child in peace.  Nursing is just one of the utilities for such a room.  Why can’t we see this more?  I think it would be AWESOME.

***

Woah, that took more than a couple commercials to write that.  This finale is something else.  I have NO idea what’s going on and I’m loving every minute of it.  My mind is being blown so much that I fear there might not be much left here in a bit.

***

Yep, Evie is still wearing cloth.  In fact, Liam wears cloth too for the majority of the day.  I guess you can say I’ve gone and gotten all crunchy on ya’ll. Sorry ’bout that.  Throw in the sling usage and I might as well just relocate to a commune.

***

Yeah, this show is totally blowing my mind.  Also: Ben is a total pimp.

***

I’m going camping this weekend.  Did I tell ya’ll that?  I am.  Camping.  As in, sleeping outdoors.  For at least one night.  With two small children.  And one rather large crabby one.  CAMPING.  If you don’t hear from me before Sunday evening, send some help.  Call the forest service or something.  Tell them I was last seen in a tan Dodge Grand Caravan with a weird sticker in the back window.  You can’t miss that sticker.  People always say, “Hey, we saw you out on the road today!”  Of course you did.  It’s the sticker.   I guess my point is: Pray for me.  I’m going CAMPING.

***

Damn Sawyer.

***

I’m going to have to cut this short.  My brain is starting to bleed from the effort of concentrating on two things at once. But you all are the best, remember that.  I love you all.  I love this blog, this community, all my commenters, all my lurkers (I see you there, behind the plant) and all that good, mushy stuff.  You all complete me.  Without this blog, I’d be a hopeless case.  I’m more sure of that today than I ever have been.  Viva la blog!

Evie is creeping up on 10 weeks old.  Can you even believe it?  It doesn’t seem like it’s been ten whole weeks since she was born.  And I’ve been nursing her, like a champ, those whole ten weeks.  It’s about now that women start to know if nursing is going to work out for them or not.  Obviously, for me, it’s working out.  I’m one of the lucky ones.  Some gals aren’t so lucky.  It’s not for lack of trying.  Plenty of awesome women try really hard to nurse their babies and it just doesn’t work out for whatever reason.

But why, oh why, is there still this stigma on breastfeeding??  Why does it have to be so hard to be a mama who exclusively nurses her baby?  Society has virtually zero provision for this.  WHY?  Why should I have to nurse in a bathroom or my car in order to not feel like I’m a filthy exhibitionist?

I know part of that is my own problem.  I feel like I’m judged if I nurse in public.  It could be actual, it could be perceived.  I worry that people will give me stinkeye (or worse) if I even think of feeding out in plain view.  However, I did have an incident several weeks ago where someone got skeeved out when I nursed Evie.  Of course, I wasn’t thinking and didn’t use a blanket to cover her and I, but I did make certain that “nothing showed”.  I didn’t know why I didn’t cover up.  In most every other circumstance, minus being at home with just my family, I would have.  I just didn’t even think about it.  I was flustered, and while I was surrounded by friends, it was a new environment.  My brain just wasn’t where it should be.  Though, to my credit, I did consider going out to the van to feed her.  However, it was a 90 degree day and I knew that even if I started the van up and ran the a/c, it would be sunny and hot in there.  Plus, I’d miss out on getting to chat with my friends which is what I wanted to do.   I was told later that this person was uncomfortable and I immediately felt awful about it.

Embarassed, to be sure.  I’m probably the polar opposite of an exhibitionist.  Growing up, it was my older sister’s job to give me baths and I used to make her close her eyes while I got undressed and got in the bath.  Not that there were bubbles to hide anything.   I was just a modest child.  I’m a modest adult too.  And to think someone felt embarrassed about something I did… well, it made me feel sick to my stomach.

Why do people still feel this way about breastfeeding?  I guess that’s an age-old question.  There’s no good, easy answer either.  It’s society, media, up-bringing, personal hangups… you name it.

Why do I feel bad about the way I feed my child?

I think that pretty much means I totally suck.  I could have sworn I posted today.  However, when pressed, I couldn’t tell you what I posted about.  Which means, obviously, that I’m totally full of crap.

Whatever.

I had a good Memorial Day weekend.  I trust you all did too.  It was so good, that it was damned hard to face the day today.  I sort of wanted to curl up into a ball and burrow underneath the covers.  Alas, it wasn’t to be.  Not helping matters was the fact that today was Harry’s first day of “summer vacation”.  Thank Jeebus its only 5 weeks instead of three months.  He’s pretty self-sufficient but he really knows how to drive me up one side and down the other.  Ask any mother of an 8 year old and she’ll tell you, 8 year olds can be pains in the asses when they want to be.

Anyhow.

It’s too late to do any real posting now because I gotta get to bed.  The last MOPS of the semester is tomorrow.  So I should try to get a good, full night of sleep.  Or, you know, try.  Ahem.