Running Stitch

We’re coming up on my three year blogoversary at the end of October. So I’m celebrating with a few fun things. I’ve decided to declare this week, guest post week at Running Stitch.

Today’s post is by Marilyn she can usually be found posting at slackermama . com (where she tries unsuccessfully to be a mommy blogger) and at Watching Reality TV (where, believe it or not, she watches reality TV and then blogs about it) and Watching Desperate Housewives (see above and replace “reality TV” with “Desperate Housewives”) and sometimes over at Parenting Sites 411 (whenever she can think of what exactly she should post about).

Enjoy (also Mom, I told them not to cuss…but what can you do?)
-brit

Yeah, I’m pretty much a horrible friend here, aren’t I? Here it is 3:00 pm in the afternoon and I’m only JUST NOW doing my guest post for Brit. (much blushing commences) In my defense, I go to MOPS on some Wednesdays and today was just one of those Wednesdays and it’s always a struggle to get out the door in the morning. And then I don’t get hoe until sometime well after lunch, depending on what’s on the docket for that day, errand wise. Today? It was my AFP blood test which means I had to go get stabbed by a vampire who took two whole vials of blood out of my arm. Bummer. But, my obstetrician told me that I couldn’t put this blood test off (not like I’d done with the last blood draw, at least), and that I needed to get it done in my 16th week of pregnancy. Since yesterday ushered in the 16th week (by my calculations at least), and my loveable hubby was with me today and could watch my wee one while I was being stabbed, today was the day. So that’s part of my round-about way of explaining why this post comes so late.

Don’t kill me, Brit!

I don’t claim to be as clever as Cagey or Beth and have an actual TOPIC to discuss here. I can barely stay on topic on my own blog, for pete’s sake. Instead, I wanna talk about how I first met Brit. Because even if you’re reading her blog, if you aren’t an existing friend or a related family member (hi, Brit’s mom!), you may not understand what makes her so cool. So hopefully I can do her justice.

I’d heard of Brit through Miss Zoot, seen her leave comments on her blog or Miss Zoot would mention her. But, frankly, Miss Zoot knows and talks about a lot of people and a lot of people comment on her blog. And that was back before I knew the fabulousness of Google Reader and read only a small handfull of blogs on any sort of regular basis. I was bad at trying out new blogs so I wasn’t that familiar with Brit and her blog. But then came Day 1 of the BlogHer conference back in July of 2006. I’d just driven down from Reno (where I reside with my two boys and husband) with a three week old baby in tow and felt COMPLETELY out of my element. My husband had dropped me off at the conference and I didn’t know a single soul there. I had no plans to meet up with anyone and the place was PACKED with tons of women and a lot of them seemed to know each other already.

I found a seat at a table fairly close to the door and proceeded to hide behind my laptop. Then, I noticed Miss Zoot. If you know who she is, you’ll understand how I knew her at first sight. No one else has curly hair like that. At that point, I was feeling far too awkward to introduce myself. Plus, she looked like she had someone with her that I wasn’t sure who it was. Luckily, Miss Zoot isn’t near as awkward as me because somehow she knew who I was and asked if I wanted to come sit at her table. And that’s when I met the friend she had with her; Brit.

Brit was hysterical. She had me in stiches five minutes after I met her. She was obviously feeling as nervous as I was, but it was manifesting itself in her dry humor and something about her just set me instantly at ease. And when I mentioned needing to find the pumping room or a bathroom to my pumping in (I pumped exclusively for 10 months), Brit invited me to come back to her hotel room with her while she pumped (as she was away from Wah at the time who was a mere 5 months old, if I remember correctly). Now honestly, how many people do you know who would ask someone they JUST met to come back and pump breastmilk in their hotel room while they did the same? Not many. And I was grateful for it, not just for a quiet, comfortable and private place to do my business, but with someone to chat with while I got the job done. Those pumping sessions were great, we really got to know one another.

Brit was one of the best things about BlogHer ’06 for me. So much so that not only have I been faithfully following her blog ever since, but I was genuinely and deeply disappointed when she couldn’t make it to BlogHer ’07. And as fun a time as I had in Chicago this last July, she was missed. There was definitely a “Brit-shaped” hole missing in the festivities. I hope I’m able to meet up with her again sometime soon. As awesome as she is on this blog, she’s even more awesome in person. Shoot, she sent me Harry Potter themed candy and a homemade purse, for crying out loud. Only someone who is completely cool would do that.

Anyhow, hugs and kisses to Brit. Believe the hype.