Showing posts with label Notes from Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Notes from Me. Show all posts

Sunday, September 15, 2013

So, having sex every day is news?

It seems that about every 6 months to a year a blogger makes big news by doing one thing: pledging to have sex every day for a certain amount of time.  People go nuts over these stories.  Now, if you've been paying attention, you know that I personally feel that having an active sex life is really important in relationship health, but not being a sex therapist or educator, I can't really say anything with any authority.  All I can say is that Husband and I are super cranky if we go without sex too long, and are generally happy people if we are going at it often.  Friends of ours that are having...marital problems is too strong a term.  Let's say they are easily irritated with each other.  We've noticed those friends often have a very infrequent or nearly non-existent sex life.  But which came first?  Is not having sex leading to irritability, or is irritability leading to not having sex?  Or are they completely unrelated?  I have no idea and wouldn't even venture a guess.  All we know is a good roll in the hay (or lack of it) affects us (Husband and me).

Once upon a time, we tried the whole sex for a year thing, really just so we could say that we did it.  We quit because we have sex almost every day anyway, sometimes twice a day, but knowing we had to felt too much like work and not enough like joy.  And then we got to wondering, for the sake of the experiment, what counts as sex.  Vaginal intercourse?  Oral sex?  Any sort of penetration?  Does one or more of us have to orgasm for it to count?  We sort of figured that since we have sex almost every day anyway, this experiment wasn't worth the frustration it was giving us.

All of this brings me back around to my main point.  Since we have sex almost daily, I'm always surprised when I see yet another blogger in the news pledging to have sex every day for a month, year, or other period of time.  After the latest one (which I admit was actually partially about body image, so there was a whole new dimension to the experiment that I fully applaud), I looked at Husband and asked him point blank why this is news (the sex every day part.  Not the body image part).  Doesn't every healthy married couple have lots and lots of sex?  Barring emotional or health concerns, of course.  I mean, aren't we the picture of average?

"It's news because not everyone is us.  We're not average," Husband said.

I always forget this.  Always.  Our frequency just feels so natural and comforting that I never remember that we're the exception.  A friend I confided in even told me once that Husband and I simply have too much sex.  Another friend told me I must be the best wife ever for giving my husband sex that often (I had to correct her and told her that we both have high sex drives.  I'm not sacrificing.  We're both giving and receiving).  And yet, I always forget these conversations that indicate that we're not average.  According to the Kinsey Institute, our age group generally has sex an average of once a week to a few times a month, and the youngest married couples (18-24) average about 2-3 times per week.  But with so many sexless marriages running around (an estimated 15-20%), I figured the average among happy, sexual fulfilling marriages must be higher.  It must be that 5-6 times per week (sometimes as much as 14) that Husband and I have, right?  RIGHT???

I made a quick and dirty informal poll of both my mom friends and my sex blogging friends, all happily married, all in relationships that are by no means sexless.  I expected to see at least 4-5 times per week, probably more.  Maybe as much as 7+.  I expected to see that answer from just about everyone.

That's not what I saw.

The average among my friends of a wide variety of ages was still (drum roll please) 1-3 times per week, with only a couple of exceptions.  I'm trying to wrap my brain around this.  Maybe we are odd after all. And somehow, I don't care that we're the oddballs.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

It's May: Masturbation Month, Star Wars, and Safety Testing

Apparently May is Masturbation Month.  I am totally not kidding.  Masturbation Month was originally started by the adult shop Good Vibrations in 1995 after Jocelyn Elders, who was then serving as Surgeon General, was asked about masturbation and whether it could keep young people from being involved in riskier activities.  She replied, "I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught."  This statement was the last straw for the administration at the time, and she lost her position as a result.  Since Masturbation Month started almost 2 decades ago several companies, bloggers, and just general people have been on board with the idea that masturbation is part of sexual health and celebrating the merry month of May in that regard.

Today is May 4th.  Star Wars fans everywhere are greeting each other with "May the Fourth be with you."  However, I got in trouble this morning when I misspoke something about Star Wars (actually, I spoke correctly.  My conversational companion misunderstood), which I explained away by saying it was wibbly wobbly timey wimey.  He told me I was destroying it.  But then he said, "Mr. Fett, engage," so I think we're even. (Note for those not a part of Geekdom: I combined Doctor Who with Star Wars.  He shamed me for it, then responded by mixing Star Wars with Star Trek.  It's funny.  Shut up, it's totally funny.)

Big news from the sex toy world!  Dildology.org launched, and this is a really big deal.  Consumers and reviewers have been growing more and more suspicious of sex toy materials and their safety, but up until now there was no way to know for sure that the toy material being advertised is the material you get.  Remember, sex toys in the US are not regulated.

From the Dildology press release:
“In an industry that is largely unregulated, consumers have been relying on the manufacturers to disclose the materials used in any given sex toy,” says blogger Dangerous Lilly, the organization’s marketing director. “But the fact is no governing body requires full disclosure, or even any ounce of truth. We think it’s about time consumers have reliable information on the toys they’re using so intimately with their bodies.”
Pretty dang admirable, if you ask me.  Not sure why this is needed?  Go do some research on jelly toys.  Find out about the questionable materials and reactions, how fast they break down, and how they can't really properly be cleaned.  Find out about phthalates and other potential carcinogens in toys.  This info is important.  We, as consumers need to have access to safe products.  Since there is no official regulation (which would have certain pitfalls even if we had it), we have had no other option than to simply trust that what the company says it is is actually what it is.  Until now.

To find out more about Dildology.org, visit their page.  If possible, donate.  They are a nonprofit organization and are relying on donations to keep their doors open.

Monday, March 25, 2013

How I very nearly stopped blogging, tweeting, and reviewing, and why I'm still here

I walk a fine line here.  I'm not as straight-laced as my parents (not even kind of), but I am a bit more conservative than other sex bloggers.  This has lead to times of indecision, uncomfortable discussions with other bloggers, and once or twice I've been shamed by bloggers that considered me on the outside (I'm not going to name names.  Don't ask).  At this point, I don't care.  I am what I am, I write what I write, I think what I think.  Still, I can't help but notice that as not fully a sex blogger, not fully a marriage blogger, and not fully a review blogger, I don't quite fit.

A few days ago I woke up and found several contacts I had with companies had quit, lost their jobs, or simply stepped down from their positions, and several perks and discounts I relied on for my reviewing hobby were disappearing.  This was going to deeply impact how and how often I receive toys for review, how much I would pay for them, and what quality I was going to be able to afford.  I thought about joining some affiliate programs, but after talking for a while with Husband on the matter, we decided it is not something we want to get involved in at this moment.  That aspect of the blog is something I'm still trying to figure out.  But to be honest, the reviewing was only supposed to be a bit here and there anyway.  I know there have been a lot of reviews lately, but that's just because I happened to try several new products fairly close together.

Then there is the rest of it.  The part where I actually talk about sex.  The part where I talk about marriage.  And occasionally, the parts I talk about kids or why something in the news/magazine/internet has greatly pissed me off and I felt it needed to be discussed.  I'm sure you remember last time that happened.

I was in a pretty big funk.  I thought that I really had nothing of value to say except for the review part, and with reviews possibly slowing down in the near future perhaps it was time to call it a day.  What could I possibly offer?  Does anyone even read the nonsense I type out?  It was time, I decided, to hang up my sex blog hat and walk away.  It was fun while it lasted.  So long and thanks for all the fish.*

Small bouts of depression will do that to you.  Not that giant, suicidal, life is not worth living depression, but the small little thunderstorms that make you doubt yourself.  Make yourself a cup of tea, listen to Mumford & Sons, have a good cry, and move on.  You'll find a new hobby.  It's the same self-doubt crap that's been occasionally rearing it's ugly head since I was a kid.

"It would free up more time for you in the evening," Husband said.  I agreed that it would.  He wasn't sure how to advise me, and I don't think he felt he should be giving any direction at all.  This, he feels, is my thing.

In retrospect, it all sounds very silly.  Big deal if my reviews are a little further between.  I've got other things to talk about.  But that's where I was.  I was ready to end this aspect of my creative life and go back to focusing purely on my mommy blog.  (Yes, I have one of those.  Shut up.  Don't judge.)  The plan was to finish up the reviews for products I had, say whatever came to mind, and that's it.

And then it changed and I knew that if I ever decided to stop, now was certainly not the time.  You see, a friend was taking a human sexuality class and asked if Husband and I would be open to being interviewed about our sexual history and current sex life.  We both readily agreed.  To us, it's just sex.  It's something everyone does.  She thanked us several times and told us her classmates were having a heck of a time finding couples to interview.  No one, it seemed, wanted to talk about sex.  We don't understand why.

Sex sex sexity sex sex.

Where was I?  Oh, yes.  This particular person knows that I'm Batman my true identity and that I run this blog.  Occasionally, she reads it.  (Hey, there.)  Now, I can't remember if this was part of the interview or just small talk, but she did ask me some questions about the blog.  Husband chimed in, telling her that I've been a big help to some people who have been able to open up to their spouses.

That's when all the self-doubt and worry and plans to pack it in came crashing to the floor.  As Husband talked about me and this blog, I realized that he was right.  I thought about all the messages I've received from people.  All the questions I had answered.  The people that were actually opening up discussions about sex with their spouses because the read something I wrote.  I was succeeding at doing exactly what I wanted to do: make sex normal and open up frank talk.  Allow spouses to see that they can, and they should, be open with each other.  That it's perfectly fine for friends to swap tips.  That sex in and of itself is not shameful.

I realized that I don't give a flying flip if I only have 20 people--5 people--2 people reading what I put out there as long as those people are taking something away from it and opening up to each other.





*It's a Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference.  Kudos if you got it.  You know where your towel is.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Wrapping Up the Old Year and Starting the New!

Wow, what a year!  A lot has happened for me this past year.  Some of it was positive, some negative, but mostly it was positive.  Husband and I have been more open about exploring new sexual activities and toys that we never considered, and are having a blast doing so.  Our only firm rule is no extra people (ie, no swinging, wife sharing, etc.)  That's a firm no.  Everything else is fair game!  After all, how do we know what we like most if we don't explore a little?  Along those lines, we recently picked up a book called Two Knotty Boys Showing You the Ropes, which has instructions on everything from restraining knots and wraps, to purely aesthetic rope work, like "rope panties," along with, of course, safety information.  I'm not going to lie: it's been fun to play around with when we're in the mood.

We also tried a lot of toys this year.  Here's a breakdown (not including lubricants or lingerie).

The Best:

The Meh (didn't love it, but hate is too strong a word)
We-Vibe 3 (meh because it doesn't do what it should, but it's not useless)

Worst:
Jopen Ego e3 (tons of people loved this one.  I just didn't.)


It would be hard to pick a toy from the best list and say, "This is my favorite toy of the year!"  They all do different things.  However, if I you'd like to know, the absolute worst, hands down, was the Key Io.

Now, what do I have lined up for this year?  Well, there are several things I want to try.

The Tentacle (for no other reason than it is hilarious looking)
Whatever else strikes my fancy.

In what order are these things going to come in?  No idea.  It depends on how I'm feeling when I happen to have enough Eden points for them.

I hope everyone is looking forward to a great (and sexy!) new year!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Why I moved

If you've made the hike to follow me all the way over here from Wordpress, congrats!  Nice to see you.  If you are meeting me for the first time, hey there!  Nice to see you.

Now, for those of you that followed me over, you may be wondering why I spontaneously moved.  The blog was doing pretty well over there, the stats were pretty rockin', the useability and user interface was fantastic.  And, you may note, that generally people go from Blogger to Wordpress, not the other way around, so what gives?

Simply put, here is the issue.  Sometimes I add links.  It's just a necessary part of what I do here.  Wordpress didn't always like what links that I made and would flag them as "affiliate links" (links where you make money per click and such).  Even though I didn't actually have links like that, they got flagged anyway.  This resulted in me having to contact Wordpress and get it fixed and yadda yadda yadda.  But, the issue did get fixed.

I thought it did, anyway.

Turns out it didn't really.  See, there is a company I intend on working with during the course of this blog.  Call them a sponsor, if you will.  They give me perks (but not money) for talking about them every now and again.  I don't mind doing that.  I like them.  They're a great company.  I buy most of what I review here from them (at the time of this post).

Recently, I received an e-mail from this company that said due to Wordpress's terms of service, they can't work with me while I remained there.

Ouch.

But I really wanted to work with this company.  I was faced with a very difficult decision.  I could stay with Wordpress, where I loved the interface and was doing well but would not be able to work with my favorite company, or, I could go through the pain of moving my blog, in it's entirety, over to Blogger/Blogspot, hope it does as well, and hope my followers so far follow me over.

You can clearly see what decision I made. Welcome to Blogger.

For those that knew me over there, I really hope you made it over.  And those of you that know me, the real me, personally, who had been afraid to comment and leave evidence of you visiting, you'll find that I've now made it so you can comment anonymously. 

So there we go.  From this point backwards in time, you'll see all of the posts, photos, and reviews you saw over at Wordpress.  They're all here.  From this point forward, you'll see all new material.

And yes, I know the follower widget is not working at this moment.  I've already contacted Blogger about it.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Frustrations

I've been trying to find like-minded blogs to add to my blog list, and having a huge amount of trouble doing so.  I'd love to find some Sex & Marriage blogs, but can't seem to do so.  Scouring Google hasn't led me anywhere productive.  Most are either opinion columns about same sex marriage or where different religions stand on sexual issues.  Although I am religious ("WHAT?!"  Yes.  Stay focused), it's not what I'm looking for.  Just looking for sex blogs or sex toy blogs lead me to all sorts of crazy places.  Though I have found a lot of blogs with really great sex and toy information, I haven't been able to find ones that are like what I'm trying to do here at Rolling in the Hay.  They're out there somewhere.  They have to be.

And why shouldn't they be?  I mean sometimes I find cutesy blogs or articles that just skim the surface about sex and marriage.  But sex, marriage, and sex toys?  I've only found one that fit the bill without being, oh, let's say interest specific, like people that actually live the slave/master fantasy in all areas of their lives.  Not...quite...what I had in mind.

Anyway, in my looking, I came across a very brief article called 5 Reasons to Hate Sex Less.  Whoa, boy.  Flag on the play.  Even though there was some good, although shallow, information there, I had so much trouble getting over the title.  Am I, as a woman, a married, healthy, adult, consenting woman with *gasp* children supposed to hate sex?  Who on earth made that rule?  Are we still stuck in the days of lie back and think of England?  I mean, someone close to me did tell me once that Husband and I have sex too often.  The statement confused me.  Her definition of normal frequency was somewhere between twice a week and twice a month.  Maybe that's normal for her, but not for us.  To this day, I don't understand why she thought my number was odd.  I won't tell you what the number is, but it is more than twice a week.  Another woman I knew thought the only sex position was missionary.  Wow.

I'd call for more sex ed, but I don't know that it would help.  I mean, even in sitcoms, you always see the husband begging the wife and the wife shutting him down.  Does that seem right to you?  It doesn't to me.  If he's in the mood, and I'm not, I try to get there.  He does the same for me.  Generally, we both end up having a great time, even if it takes a little to get going.

Am I odd for being a married woman who enjoys my husband?  I don't think I am.  I think it's more likely that there are women out there that are somehow afraid to enjoy sex or afraid to admit they do.  The idea of sex toys must be downright terrifying to them.

Friday, August 24, 2012

In the Quiet Moments

I'm having one of those extremely rare occasions when I pretty much have the house to myself.  The only noises are the hum of the air conditioner and the mechanical noises of the dishwasher and washing machine.  Do you know that when I'm up late I tend to do housework?  True story.

I'm thinking about what toy to review next and when I want to post it.  And then I start thinking about sex ed, and how it is probably coming up soon at school.  Husband and I are in agreement that we'd like to be the ones to have "the talk" with with our kids and we want it done before they go to be "educated" about the birds and the bees with their giggling peers.  I mean, really, we all know there are pretty important facts missing from sex ed...like what a clitoris is.  It seems to be a part of the anatomy that's just glossed over.  Or at least that's how I remember it.  I also remember the teacher explaining that the sperm comes from the man, the egg from the woman, and when they unite, ta-da! there is new life.  I remember understanding that, but being confused on one point: exactly how does the sperm get from point A to point B?  So I asked.

I have never before or since seen a teacher turn colors and stumble over words while answering a direct question.  And yes, she did answer it, but it made her extremely uncomfortable.  I don't think it should be that way.  I mean, I've known people that as children were sure that the euphemism "sleep together" meant exactly that, and a baby could be the result.  But then again, these are my kids, and I have another few years before I have to think of them as freestanding sexual beings.  *Shudder*

But we are such amazing creatures, aren't we?  Shouldn't we know how our bodies work?

As a fun fact, you've now gotten a peek into how my mind works.  Do you see how we got from laundry to the birds and the bees?  Late night housework--->thinking about what else I need to do--->need to post on the blog--->sex--->upcoming sex ed classes.  Fun on a bun.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Titles and Whatnot

I have thoughts.  And then more thoughts.  And then those thoughts have thoughts of their own.  And the next thing I know, I can't remember what I was up to.

Oh, right.  I remember now.  Titles.

The title of my blog, technically, is Rolling in the Hay: Life.  Marriage.  Sex toys.  I feel like people are going to focus on the term "sex toys."  Even though this blog is going to have my experiences and reviews,  it won't have only that.  I wonder if I should just shorten it to Rolling in the Hay.  But then I would have to redo my header.  Again.  If you've been watching, today is the only day since I started this blog that I haven't tweaked the header several times.

If I was just looking around at different blogs or specifically marriage blogs and saw "sex toys" as part of the title, I would probably click away.  Unless, of course, I was looking for that.

Oh, what to do.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

I'm here!

Ah, the obligatory introductory post.  As I start to write this first of firsts (and you were here for it!  Good for you!), I find I have no idea what to say.  I have oodles and oodles to say coming up, but what do you put in post number one?

Well, let's do it this way.  I'll tell you about my super humble self.  I'm a wife.  A mom.  A human.  I'm madly in love with my life and the love of my life, the Husband.

Several years ago, when I was in my late teens, my sister gave me my very first vibrator.  ("What?  Your sister?!" Yes, my sister.  Focus, please.)  In the few years that comprised my young adulthood, I bought just a couple more.  My modern self knows that those toys weren't stellar, and in fact the materials were downright scary, even dangerous, compared to the silicone that current high end toys are made of, but at the time I loved them.  Orgasms on command, both solo and with the Hubs.  How could I miss?

Did I mention these first toys were cheap?  Yeah, they were cheap.  They lasted a while before the motors died, or they broke, or they got lost.  I now know that not all sex toys are created equal!  Everyone should know that.  Seriously, I think vibrator safety and knowledge should be included in sex-ed.  If you ever think about buying any kind of marital aid (are they still called that?), it is so, so important to know what you are buying.  You just can't go by what the box says.

That's where I come in.  Here you'll find my little journal of different toys I've tried, my experiences with them, how they stack up to each other, and of course bits about my married life with kids.  Boo-ya.