Why I Love the Internet

It's too late and I'm too tired to really list ALL the reasons, but I wanted to cover the top 3 tonight...

1) The Braces Bunch

Thanks to the beauty of the Internet, the magic of JJ, and the brilliance of her idea, my mailbox is routinely blessed with cards, notes, recipes, and postcards from fellow Stirrup Queens. Words can't express how much I enjoy getting these. Today was a huge jackpot, I got 3 cards in one day!! (Thank you Kate, Farah and Sharah.)

Just so you non-Braces Bunch people know what you are missing out on, check out the loads of mail that I've received in the past couple of months. This isn't all of it, but just what I could put my hands on at the moment to take a picture.

Thank you Braces Bunch friends! And the biggest thank you of all goes to JJ. You rock.

2) Angels disguised as Infertiles

After my woe-is-me, we-are-going-to-rob-banks-to-fund-our-IVF post the other day, I have been offered some leftover meds. Wahoo! Another GIANT thank you goes to Jill who immediately sprouted wings and a halo when she sent me 3 boxes of meds. As if that wasn't enough reason to like her, she's also got a baby on the way whose due date is the same day as Megan's birthday.

Shelby has offered some leftover meds if, in her words, "I'm actually pregnant." After 2 progressively darker 2nd lines, I'd say she's definitely pregnant. Congratulations, Shelby! Shelby has the fortune to reside in two of my blogsphere universes simultaneously -- as a fellow Braces Bunch member, and as part of the DC Metro group that met up last month (thanks to LJ's coordination efforts). Anyway, when Shelby gets comfortable with the prospect of this whole pregnancy thing, I'll hit her up again for the leftovers. :-)

LJ had a med windfall recently (because she's crafty and has a great nurse), so she's got lots of stuff right now. When she gets pregnant from her next IUI (notice I said "when," not "if"), she says we can talk about her stash. Yay!

Even if the offers by Shelby and LJ never materialize, it warms the cockels of my black, IF-riddled heart to know that they would even consider it.

3) IF Blogs

Clearly I'm a little hormonal right now (no good reason why, still waiting for ovulation to occur on a laughable DIY cycle) because I'm just gushing with luuuuv for all my blog friends.

Like most everyone else, I started out reading those mind-numbingly trite and obnoxious message boards. I commented a few times, but couldn't bring myself to type all the corny shit that was necessary like "baby dust" and "baby dancing." Plus, I just couldn't handle the lame questions like "My husband and I have been trying for 2 months, but I'm not pregnant yet. I'm so worried, what should I do?" Um, you should go find a mirror, look in it, and then slap yourself. Really hard. Because complaining about not getting knocked up after 2 months of trying is tantamount to spitting directly in my face.

I can't remember exactly what search it was that I tasked my buddy Google with, but it lead me to Julie at A Little Pregnant. It was all downhill from there. I spent literally hours and hours hopping through blogs in a frenzy of blogroll sampling. It didn't take long to find Mel's blog that I consider to be the center of the IF blog universe.

The gig was totally up when I stumbled onto Cycleista, I'm pretty sure I lost a few solid days to blog reading at that point. I didn't shower, I didn't brush my teeth, I didn't sleep or eat. I just read blogs. And laughed. And cried. Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic, I did actually tend to my personal hygiene, but I got sucked in quickly to the IF blogsphere. I'm happier here than any place I've ever been (except maybe Vegas or Disney World, but we're talking apples and oranges here).

If you're reading this post, you already know of the magic that is contained in IF blogs. I don't need to go on and on any more than I already have. Just know that each and every one of you has had a hand in helping me maintain (and perhaps, I dare say, restore) my sanity. I heart all of you. In case she's reading, I can't finish up without saying how much I love my SG wife, Rhonda. No, we're not actually gay (not that there's anything wrong with that), but we're former co-workers who have now been each other's constant IRL companions through the IF trials and tribulations of the last year. For sure I would not have made it through without her. Rhonda is totally da bomb.

Enough gushing, must go to bed. I've spread lots of love around, and it's all genuine. Everyone should fall asleep tonight feeling all warm and fuzzy. I sure hope to.