Blogging year in review & favourite posts of 2017

(A hat tip to Mali, whose post "2016: Looking back on the blog" inspired me to do the same last year.  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. :) )

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As I mentioned in my 2017 year in review post, I published 138 posts last year. 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 44 #MicroblogMondays.  I reviewed all of the 17 books I read in 2017, 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!), retirement and life in a condo. 

Here are a few of my favourite 2017 posts:  

• "Emotional labour" and childless women -- Making the case that "emotional labour" is not only something that women do more than men, but that infertile/childless women are uniquely saddled with in their relationships with parents. 
• The stigma of a childless/free life -- We really aren't imagining it!! 
• "He needs a cousin" -- Just when you thought the pressure to have kids was over, people start telling you that you need to get a dog...! 
• What helped? What didn't? -- Personality traits that helped (and didn't help) me survive infertility & loss, and the transition to permanent childless/free living. 
• #MicroblogMondays: "The Handmaid's Tale" season finale -- Reflections on the finale of the TV adaptation of Atwood's novel (one of several posts I wrote about it). 
• It takes a village -- Building your personal village when you don't have kids. 
• "Samantha's Secret Room" by Lyn Cook -- I got to share a favourite book from my childhood with another little girl. 
• #MicroblogMondays: "You really need a daughter..." -- An "ouch" moment during an all-girls outing to a local bakery cafe. 
• "Some people get what they want and some don't" -- A book reminds me of a key life lesson. 
• #MicroblogMondays: "The Misery Filter" -- How hardship makes us more resilient. 
• #MicroblogMondays: "Let's open up" -- The case for being open & honest about the difficult things in our lives. 
• Struggling -- The November blues descend as I ponder my place in the world as a retired, childless 50-something woman.  
• "I woke up so sad this morning" -- Remembering the late David Cassidy, my first big teen idol crush. 
• Please, put yourself in the picture! -- A plea for all women, and especially those of us without kids, to include ourselves in photos more often. 

And in a nod to my 10th (!) blogoversary: 

• 10 years down the road less travelled 
• Top 10* blog posts from the past 10 years
• 10 things I've learned after 10 years of blogging