695th Friday Blog Roundup

My brother wrote a book called Little Disasters, and it’s kinda sorta a big deal.  As in every major publication has reviewed it. (In case you were wondering, it’s very trippy seeing your brother in the Washington Post.)  We’re going to visit copies of it at the bookstore this weekend, and if you are so inclined, you too can visit copies at your local bookstore and purchase it.  Or order it online.

I am insanely proud of him.

[Yes, we are a literary family.  Yes, we are trying to convince my sister to write a book, too.  Yes, our goal is to take over one complete bookshelf.]

My book review comes with a warning; there is baby loss in the book.  You will ache for the couple who loses their child at birth.  If you’re in a vulnerable space, bookmark this and return to his book when you can read it.  If you’re not currently in a vulnerable space, this book is a page turner.  Bring it to the beach or the pool this summer.  I love it.  I love the person who wrote it, but I really love this book.  It’s an incredible accomplishment.

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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:

• “#Microblog Mondays: My Un-Mother’s Day” (My Pathway to Mommyhood)
• “There’s So Far to Go” (An Engineer Becomes a Mom)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Dubliner in Deutschland has a post about the reality of parenthood.  I love the title: “You Don’t Have to Love Every Second.”  It comes from a familiar idea: “…The fact that her daughter was such a miracle, she would feel a lot of pressure to enjoy every moment even the hard ones.”  It’s a pressure a lot of people put on themselves after infertility.  It’s a reassuring post that growth moves in spurts and the hard days are often replaced by easier ones.

Northern Star is back!  Constant in the Darkness has an update about her three year adoption wait.  They had such a positive experience with their first child’s adoption that they thought they’d have a similar wait for their second child.  She writes, “It was crushing. It was hard on our marriage. It was hard on my heart.”  It is about life throwing you curve balls, and how some knock you down and others you catch in amazement.

Lastly, My Path to Mommyhood has a post that outlines the difference between the words childLESS and childFREE.  I love this thought after a wonderful albeit stressful trip: “I could recover without needing to split my energy.”  Not a small thing.  And this: “And now I can give so much more to you guys, to my wonderful students who I love and embarrass and laugh with as if they are my own.”  Beautiful.

The roundup to the Roundup: My brother wrote a book.  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 May 18th and 25th) 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.