A message for Charlotte:
I don't know how else to tell you this so I'm putting it on my blog: I have been commenting on your blog! The problem is, I get a message that says the comment will be posted once the blog owner approves it, and then they never appear. I was feeling a little bit like a rejected 6th grader and hoping my replies hadn't somehow offended. Maybe it's a technology problem and we're both cool people?

As for your very interesting question about why people blog, I am going to weigh in here on my own blog: I write to participate in a community. In my life, I do a great deal of writing in order to figure out my own thoughts, etc. etc.; however, I have many personal notebooks for that purpose. For me, blogging is a way to be a part of this amazing, inspiring community of women who are all on the same journey -- or to have it Co's way, engaging in the same process -- as I/we are. I love reading other people's blogs and comments, and sure, I get a thrill out of receiving my own comments and weighing in on other people's blogs.

My two cents.

Our Blog Title

I named our blog "The Family O" because Co and I both have last names that start with O. The names really have absolutely nothing in common after that first letter, but nonetheless...

I had been posting for a while as "familyo" but now the computer-literate Co has given me a more useful display name. Now I am Lo, which are both my initials, and the letters that appear on the purple thermometer before Co's temperature is taken.

Also, Co has pointed out that when you put our display names together you get "LoCo." Apt.

This is the kind of question that makes Co feel like a science fair project, but....

I've seen that a number of you baby bloggers drink green tea and grapefruit juice as a "fertility cocktail." I looked for info about that in all of my books (and my books were recommended to me by S, my college best friend's wife; S. & A. successfully had a baby with a known donor by inseminating at home...said baby is now almost a year old. They're my heros, so I'm convinced the books HAVE to work) and didn't see anything.

So, where did you-all hear about this idea? Should we add this to Co's variables?

Thoughts on our Potential Known Donor:
Here is why we think he is a good choice:
--He lives in a city three hours away from us. Not too close, not too far.
--He is a good friend of our extremely good friends. Again...not too close, not too far.
--He has certain physical traits in common with C., which I like. :-)
--He already is raising two children, so he does not have an unfulfilled need to be a father.

Here are some quirky things:
--He, like us, does not have a totally perfect medical history (but we're not really all that worried about it, because as Sacha explained eloquently on babycakes, we're not trying genetic engineering, we're just trying to have a kid....God knows what we would pass on could we procreate on our own & together...)
--He is in a 3-person relationship. We definitely don't have a problem with this, but this led a (straight) friend of ours to say that our life sounds like a made for TV movie. True. However, lesbians in search of a sperm donor is already a made for TV movie (or reality show, as someone's blog noted, sorry for not remembering who) so what's the diff?

I am interested in the input of the loyal readers I seem already to have. Obviously a lot will fall into place when we finally meet him to chat (in one month). But I am going to obsess in the meantime, so I want thoughts if you-all want to share them.

I am writing as one half of a lesbian couple who have begun the process of starting our family. (Which means we're looking for sperm, or "leavening" as my friend W. -- who is in the midst of the same process -- calls it.)

I'm starting this blog because I have been enjoying reading other such "journeys" (my wife C., the mathematician, insists that it's a process rather than a journey....I, on the other hand, am an English teacher), such as babycakes ( http://www.drizzle.com/~mdavis/blog_babycakes.html ) and two moms are better than one ( http://twomomsarebetterthanone.blogspot.com ).

No making fun of my computer skills, please. As I said above...I'm an English teacher. I do what I can.

(If anyone who knows me personally chooses to read this: please be discreet and use initials rather than names and no identifying details please. I don't want the FBI -- or worse, my students -- to be able to identify me.)

Edit: Yes, I had misspelled "journeys" above, and now I've fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out, 2More Mamas. YOU try staring at kids' misspellings all day without making a few yourself....