574th Friday Blog Roundup

It is well-known that I have an unusual love of Maryland.  Like black-eyed susans trail after me in the air wherever I walk, and I named my bunny in Hay Day Dark Lord Baltimore (as a nod to Harry Potter and Maryland history at the same time).  Therefore, I was happy to see that Mental Floss covered 25 non-crabby facts about my state this week.  Okay, so some of them were crabby.  Is that really what people think of when they think of Maryland?  Crabs?

So did you know that our official state sport is jousting?  Which I guess makes sense since horses are everywhere around here, but I’ve only seen jousting once and it was in grade school.

Interesting: Mental Floss states that “Much to the chagrin of Maryland’s children, the anthem—all nine verses of it—is still part of the public school curriculum.” This is counter to our experience where I have complained that the twins have not had to learn the words to “Maryland, My Maryland,” whereas I did when I was their age.  And it sucked.  It sucked hardcore.

But I can still sing the song.  And snicker at all its vaguely sexual-sounding commentary on being part of the South including “Howard’s warlike thrust” and “She breathes! she burns! she’ll come! she’ll come!”

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Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Walking with Fear” (Jane Rutner)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Waiting to Expand has a beautiful post about her heart remembering what her brain forgot.  She writes, “there was a sadness that hung over me like a winter fog, a sadness that ran deep and couldn’t be defined or explained.”  Please remember with her on the three year anniversary of her loss.

Non Sequitur Chica is in the office for an ultrasound today, but it was her post earlier in the week about this day that held my heart.  I love the mantra: “Today you are pregnant,” but moreover, the bolded advice that she gives herself in the middle of the post.  The thought is so simple, so perfect, it should probably be made into needlepoint and put in every RE’s office across the world.

Lastly, Mrs. Spit has a moving post on the 8th birthday of her son, Gabriel, who died soon after birth.  She admits that there are times when she needs to talk about him, and when she does, she tells the person that it will be a sad story.  This serves as a refrain through the post.  It is a sad story, but it is also a story about a mother and father and son and love.

The roundup to the Roundup: Did you know these facts about Maryland?  Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between December 4th and 11th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.