We are leaving in ONE WEEK for our New England extravaganza! We will spend several days in Providence, Rhode Island (where DP and I lived for seven years while doing our PhDs, and still miss terribly), then a week on Cape Cod in Provincetown. We'll close with a couple more days in Providence, and then fly back home. I CANNOT WAIT.
Nosreves - I definitely will let you know! Though since life is short and I've been to France (albeit a short trip), I think I was thinking Denmark, Germany, Austria...
My wife wants to go on a riverboat cruise through a few countries, but I'm afraid it would be too rigid, waste time, miss important inland places, and maybe be a little too white-haired blue-blood. Has anybody done one of those?
Angela - Have a great time. Both places are great!
Angela, I went to school in Providence, too! Love it there, especially all the 18th-century (and 17th century!!) architecture. ETA: and I've also been to P-Town, but only for a few days back in 98...
I might have mentioned this before, but we're headed up to Massachussetts in mid-August, for an event at Raven Kaldera's farm. He's pretty well known in the trans community (if anyone sees him listed as a speaker at any LGBTQ conferences you're attending, he's worth your time IMO.)
There's a camping area behind his farm, but it's a little too rustic and I'm a little too femmey ;) , and this will be our first road trip with A, so we're staying in a nearby hotel. I've already developed an EXTENSIVE packing list (which my spouse says is one of my favorite pastimes) :D , but I would welcome suggestions from anyone else who's traveled with a 6-9 month old!!
we go home Sunday ... We have been hanging out in the lake up near Mt Shasta ... Been a nice first week of my TWW:)
Sorry I have been slacking on keeping things going. I promise to try to be better.
QQOTD - How long have you been on MDC? What brought you here? Have you formed some real life friendships with people you met here?
I joined last year when I was in the middle of my birth doula training. I wanted to subscribe to the magazine, but I came to the website and they said they were ceasing publication and going online only. So sad. I didn't start posting until earlier this year when my TTC process was taking longer than I had anticipated and I needed a little more support. It can be easier to talk to strangers sometimes. I'm sure y'all understand. I also post in the doula forums sometimes, and I hope to be able to use that more as I get more involved in birth work. I have found a real life friend here too. Cananny lives 3 blocks away from me! What a coininkidink!
QQOTD - How long have you been on MDC? What brought you here? Have you formed some real life friendships with people you met here?
I have been here since 2/02 apparently! I read for about a year before I joined. I started in the TTC forums and didn't even visit the queer forums back then. I was TTC my oldest. I learned about MDC from a friend and while I have several friends on here, and I have met many more, I don't have many local friends (MzYellow, do you count as local?) from here. Randomly, when we were in cleveland a few weeks ago I chatted with a woman who recognized our family from here (Sara's DC, actually).
Ok, I feel bad, I came with my own question, too.
Never would I ever.
What have you said you would never do, but eventually realized that never is a long time?
Like, in middle school I said I would never wear bell bottoms.
In college I said I would never date an only child again.
When I was TTC I said I would never feed my kid hot dogs.
Who else wants to play?
When I was a younger teenager, I didn't want to get married. I thought you didn't need a piece of paper to spend the rest of your life with someone. I was really into Sting then and that was his position, until he got married anyway.
When I was in college, all those kids studying economics/business got on my nerves because I thought they were just out to make money. I never wanted to work for a big corporation in a cubicle in stuffy clothes. I didn't want to conform. I wanted to change the world! I went on to earn 2 degrees in Women's Studies. Being happy was more important than making money. At 31 I realized I was broke and miserable. I quit baking at a co-op and got a job in investments with a huge corporation. I work in a cubicle. I don't wear suits, but our dress code is pretty conservative. I make a lot more money, and I'm a lot happier. It helps to have money when you want to live, not just get by. I surprise myself because I actually like my job. I would still love to work more in the birth world, but I'm not sure how to do that at the moment.
Fun game Seraf ( I count you as local)
Before I got preggo with L I said I would never breastfeed. Hahahahaha
When L was night weaned I said I would NEVER let a baby nurse all night past 6 months. (H is 12 months and nurses 5-7 times A NIGHT)
That is all I can think about
I just met Carmen in real life! And while I haven't met my Feb '09 DDC clubbers in real life, I consider them real life friends now. We've been through so much. One of the mamas and I have skyped with the kids. She's in Alaska, so that might as close as we get!
As for never ... when I was younger I said that I would never eat meat, never date someone who wasn't obsessed with politics and social justice and art, never marry, never buy any number of emphatically boycotted products, never EVER feed my children refined sugar, never EVER raise my voice at them, and never shave my legs. *ahem*
I've also met krista and her lovely Dp . And another couple who don't frequent here anymore ... I love it 
I said I would *never* date a straight woman. Or a woman who was newly out. (DW is "straight", I am the exception and if we ever got divorced, she would probably go back to men, but she doesn't identify as anything).
I said I would *never* work in an NICU because it was too scary (now I work in the highest level NICU in the province and think that any baby 1500g is huge).
I also said I would never be a nurse. Hahaha.
Hmmmm...I'm trying to figure out if there is something I said I would never do...there is lots I have not done, but those things are things I'm genuinely not interested in doing. I do tend to be open to most things tho' (eg, I'm a vegetarian but is someone has been kind enough to cook for me I will eat whatever they have cooked--fortunately I'm in a bit of a crunchy bubble and folks don't tend to go too meat heavy around where we live or in our circles).
As for my time on MDC, I think I've been here for about 5/6 years or so (started lurking roughly around when we started ttc).
Oh! And I would NEVER EVER NOT IN A MILLION YEARS have a c-section. Heavens, no! Women who have c-sections are just lazy or victims of their fears. Every woman can birth naturally.
And of course, every woman can breastfeed. It's so easy! And every woman has enough milk, so I don't even need to say that I would NEVER EVER NOT IN A MILLION YEARS supplement my babies with formula. Goodness gracious me, no way.
(Oobs, eggscuz me, I hab so much crow in my moud dat I can't tawk! 
)
I don't say "never" very often, but I think at some point earlier in my life I may have said I would never use a non-KD. But I was probably saying that because I was afraid I would have to. I had a lot of feelings about using sperm from a sperm bank being sort of dystopian and divorced from human relationships. But after things didn't work out with two potential KDs, I had to face the fact that if I wanted a child, a WTBK donor would be the way to go.
Mommy and baby are both obsessed with Greek yogurt. Mommy likes it with olive oil, garlic and paprika, preferably spread onto pita bread from one of the local Middle Eastern shops. A prefers it mixed with just about any kind of puree under the sun (most recently, butternut squash).
This works out well for my spouse who is trying to cook more vegetarian meals for everyone (although Grandma still thinks a meal should consist of a piece of meat, a starch, and a vegetable boiled into submission, each in its own section on the plate ;) ... she is willing to try some new things, though.)
Also, thanks to everyone who gave me tips on traveling with a baby! A has *just* mastered drinking straight water out of a sippy, so we should be able to keep her hydrated at least...
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