836th Friday Blog Roundup

It’s impossible to determine THE date everything changed last year, but in many ways, the 12th—today—is what many people in my area think of as the one-year anniversary. It’s the day they announced that kids would be home from school for two weeks. The shelves of the stores were empty as people prepared to hunker down.

But… this isn’t the day that I think of as the start of the pandemic. For me, I think of March 3rd as the anniversary date. It’s the date that you could no longer get Purell in the stores. I know that’s sort of an arbitrary thing, but that’s the point where I realized that I should get everything we need to last a few weeks at home. A bag of lemons. A few boxes of pasta. Some extra flour and butter. I made pancakes and froze them so I wouldn’t have to worry about eggs expiring. We were going to get through this, whatever “this” was.

Today marks a complete year at home. No in-person school. No in-person work. No in-person social events. No visits inside a home. I went from mostly paper books to mostly e-books. I went from no plants to an indoor herb garden. I walk in place in front of YouTube videos.

I’ve stopped believing this will be over soon.

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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:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Remember how I gave you a heads up last week that March 9th was a day of kindness? Kristin Fitzgerald-Zita has a post about it on Mindful. She explains: “There are lots of other things about me: I knit, I write, I live with an anxiety disorder … But in so many ways, ‘bereaved mom’ defines me because it’s the lens through which I view my world.” This is a story of impact; one that continues year after year. Please continue to do kindness in Thomas’s name.

The Road Less Travelled has the most thought-provoking post about how men and women approach social media. I nudged her to write it, and she didn’t disappoint. I am much more likely to silence than unfollow, AND I do feel a sense of responsibility in holding friend groups or family together. I thought this was such an interesting observation. Join the conversation over there.

My Perfect Breakdown uses International Women’s Day to encourage women to speak up about their health. Doctors ignored an issue for years, encouraging her to “just keep trying,” and she currently needs a hysterectomy. She writes: “Keep fighting for what you know is right. Don’t stop. Don’t let anyone tell you that they know better. As women, we need to continue to use our voices and push for the healthcare we deserve. (And education, and equal pay, and, and, and…)” YES!

Lastly, FinallyMyLinesNow has an update at 14 weeks pregnant, post-cerclage. I love this: “I’m 14 weeks now. Sore but not in agony. Scared but not terrified. Finally also nauseous, but not constantly vomiting. So, progress.” May things keep going smoothly through the summer month.

The roundup to the Roundup: One year at home. 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 March 5 – 12) 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.