793rd Friday Blog Roundup

The twins’ final year of camp was canceled. They had been going to the same camp for nine years, and they were finally in the oldest group. So… no re-do possible. They’re taking it in stride; I mean, what is one more canceled event amid so many other cancellations?

School was canceled for the rest of the year. We expected it, but it was still strange to get the alert telling us that they’d be sheltering in place for the remainder of the spring. It’s unclear whether they’ll go back in the fall. Everything feels like a big unknown.

I’m in a numb stage this week. I’m reading all the announcements, but I’m not really emotionally processing them. It’s almost like I’m being told someone else’s dream. It’s interesting, but it’s not really mine, so I don’t really feel anything about it beyond a general sense of unease.

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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:

• “COVID-19 Jubilee: Shame, Debt, and Mercy” (The Philosophy of Motherhood)
• “No Kidding 2020 Project: Day 12 – Accept” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Dreaming of Diapers has a post about being the last one to be told about a pregnancy. She wasn’t expecting friends to be announcing their pregnancies in their 40s, but she had two who let her know recently. She writes, “The call was super uncomfortable. I mean, beyond. All of our other friends found out at 12 weeks… but me… the last one to know.” Everyone, do not do this, even if you think you’re being considerate of another person’s feelings. They’ll have to find out at some point. Better to know along with everyone else. Ugh.

Res Cogitatae has a post that pretty much sums up all of my feelings about food at the moment. I have never spent so much time worrying about ingredients, worrying about meal planning, stressing about cooking. She explains everything that is happening in their home: “The effort of making sure the right things are in the cart and the uncertainty of knowing what we’ll actually get when we go to pick up the groceries is producing stress for both of us.” I think many of us relate to this post.

The Road Less Travelled has a post about COVID-19 that is brilliant, summarizing the main things she wants to remember. I’m highlighting it here because everyone is going to want to steal her format. Especially the idea of revisiting the questions later to see how your thoughts change over time.

Lastly, I learned the word “sabai” from A Separate Life. She explains: “I have always enjoyed what the Danish call hygge – cosiness, comfort, content. It’s not unlike the Thai concept of sabai, though because of the different climate, sabai conjures less cosiness, but pleasure, a gentle cooling breeze, and a feeling of contentment or even bliss in a moment.” I love that she makes you think about your personal definition for hygge (or sabai). Mine definitely includes reading at the end of the day.

The roundup to the Roundup: Everything is canceled. 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 1 – 8) 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.