806th Friday Blog Roundup

The impulse to own a waffle-iron during my first 45 years of life: 0 times.

The impulse to own a waffle-iron during one random week of the pandemic: 78 times.

The Wolvog loves waffles, but I didn’t want to own one more tool or appliance. All was fine—for his first fifteen years, he just ordered them when we were at a restaurant. Except we’re no longer going to restaurants. Or hotels with breakfast rooms. Or… anywhere one gets waffles.

I bought a $9 electric waffle maker and told the twins I would leave batter in the refrigerator and they could make themselves waffles in the morning. They were happy, and the Wolvog informed me that while the little waffle maker was enough, it was not the waffle of his dreams.

I wanted him to have the waffle of his dreams.

So I bought an old-fashioned waffle iron that weighs twenty pounds. You heat it up on the stove and then pour in the batter. I had to try it the day it arrived, so I made waffles at 9 pm after I cleaned it. Golden. Fat. Crispy. Buttery. The Wolvog sighed as he ate and said, “In less than one week, you have hit peak waffle.” There is no higher compliment.

So I now own a waffle-iron. And a mini waffle maker. It’s breakfast-for-dinner time.

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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:

• “The Losing of Things” (Stirrup Queens) —thanks, Jess!

Okay, now my choices this week.

Look at me getting all loosey goosey with the dates. But I read Searching for My Silver Lining’s post about bobbing this week. She returns to a memory of learning how to tread water while holding a brick—part of her lifeguard training—and how that skill transfers to today, when so many people are exhausted from emotionally treading water. She writes, “In short, though I’m exhausted, I’m still somehow afloat while desperately treading water with cement boots. I’m seeing this from others too. May we all continue to bob.” Love it.

Jewish IVF has a post about people getting comfortable with the new normal. She points out: “There are people who have gotten used to the new world. They’re out and about in a way that works for their family. Then there are those of us who are still as worried today as we were in the tail-end of March.” I am still in the tail-end of March phase. And as she says, it’s not the black-and-white facts that give her anxiety but all of the grey areas where we need to make decisions because we’re not being given concrete, consistent guidance.

Lastly, Hopelessly Infertile and Surrounded by Fertiles took a pregnancy test on CD44. It was negative, and she writes: “I didn’t cry when I got the negative test. I never expected anything different. I didn’t even feel like I wanted to cry until I talked to my gyn’s office and they told me they wanted me to come in for my annual checkup… in November.” In another time and place, she would have gotten what she needed emotionally from her doctor. But it’s these small moments: that sense of irreality that comes during what were once the outlier experiences. Which are now part of the old normal; covered up by the new normal.

The roundup to the Roundup: I hit peak waffle. 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 August 7 – 14) 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.