Sunday, January 1, 2017

Blogging year in review & favourite posts of 2016

A hat tip to Mali, whose post "2016: Looking back on the blog" inspired this one. Also to Mel, whose Crème de la Crème lists from 2007 to 2012 prompted me & other bloggers to review our posts from the year past & pick out our favourites to share.  (There was a list in 2006 too, but that was before I started my blog.)  If the Crème de la Crème list still existed, one of these posts would probably be the one I would have submitted. :)

(I've gone back through the posts I submitted for Mel's lists and tagged them all as "Crème de la Crème picks" so that you (& I!) have an easy way to find them all. However -- in trying to tag my posts, I somehow seem to have deleted my 2012 list pick -- which was titled "I am childless, hear me roar" from May 2012 -- along with all the wonderful comments. :(  :(  :(  It was one of my all-time favourite posts.  And no, I have not backed up my blog. :(  (New Year's resolution for 2017!)  Any idea if/how I can get it back?? :(  ) (I know, not likely...!) :(

*** *** ***

As I mentioned in my year in review post, I published 133 posts in 2016.  In addition to posts about childless/free issues, I tried to do a "Right now" or "The Current" post every month or so, and participated in 43 out of 52 #MicroblogMondays (hmmm, I thought I did better than that...).  I reviewed 21 of the 24 of the books I read in 2016 (the last 3 will be coming shortly), and wrote about news items (usually ALI-related) that piqued my interest.  I also wrote a lot about what was going on my life, some of which touched on aspects of ALI/childless/free living and some that didn't, including aging, (peri)menopause (and Aunt Flo's continuing appearances!), official retirement, moving, downsizing and life in a condo.

Here are a few of my favourite 2016 posts (going back from newest to oldest):
  • It came, just the same, about my not-quite-the-same-as-usual Christmas, and how Christmas can still be enjoyed even if it's not perfect or what you expected.
  • Childless/Condo Halloween, reflecting on Halloweens past & present.
  • Survivor?  Are those of us who have experienced pregnancy loss survivors?
  • The power of awareness & education (i.e., about infertility & pregnancy loss).
  • 31 -- using my wedding anniversary to look back on the highs and lows of a turbulent year.
  • Fifteen years (!) on this road less travelled -- reflecting on both my personal journey and the growth of the childless/free community in the 15 years since I stopped infertility treatments.
  • Parenting transitions -- a #MicroblogMondays post about being a parent to a dead child, and how that relationship has evolved over the years.
  • Pregnancy loss = disability? -- Is pregnancy loss a disability? (An Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ruled yes!)
  • Tick, tock... -- in which I pass along a family heirloom that I had hoped would go to my own child(ren).
  • Condo conundrum, continued -- in which I wrestle with the decision to sell our house and move into a condo.

2 comments:

  1. Oh no! I loved your "I am childless, hear me roar!" post. I don't think there's a way to recover, but I'd google if I were you. Or maybe someone reblogged it?

    I'm going to enjoy reading your posts again. It's always good to have another opportunity to think about something again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Couldn't find it through Google. The one time you WANT someone to plagiarize you, right?? ;) It was very weird, when I went to update the post after adding the new tag, I got an error message of some kind about formatting -- there were a lot of links in the post, as well as a video -- & I guess I hit the wrong button or made the wrong decision about what to do next. SIGH.

      Oh well, lesson learned. I've started working on doing a "poor man's backup" of the blog a la Mel, starting at the beginning. It's going to take a while to get through almost 10 years worth of posts, even doing it a month at a time, but I suppose I needed a new project to work on...!

      Delete