840th Friday Blog Roundup

Right on the heels (well, several weeks on the heels, but time has no meaning this year) of my sister’s visit, we got to see my brother and sister-in-law and nephew. We met them outside my parents’ house, masked and distanced. Which felt much stranger than my visit with my sister and niece due to the age difference in the children. My niece is older, so it didn’t feel odd not to pick her up. Honestly, she is almost my height, so I’m not sure I could pick her up.

But my nephew is a tiny toddler, so it felt odd not to scoop him up. But we take what we can get, and it was still fun to watch him paint the trees with his stick or go up and down the slide at the playground.

Someday. Soon-ish. We’ll get to have normal visits again. And we’ve just given him amazing fodder for future therapy sessions. “Well, there was that time when all the adults stood eighteen feet away from me, masks over their face, while they gazed at me…”

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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:

• “Persistence” (Finding a Different Path)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Searching for Our Silver Lining has a moving post about grief. Her twins’ teacher died suddenly in a car accident on the heels of a beloved cat. They go to the beach while she figures out how to tell them. She writes, “As they played, I watched the waves, allowing the rhythm of water catching on the shore to calm my spirit and unjumble the thoughts and emotions from all the loss from this past week. From this past year. From a lifetime.” Send her some love.

No Kidding in NZ has a post about reading infertility and loss blogs (and message boards) in secret. She admits that she didn’t talk about the trying-to-conceive boards with her husband. She explains: “Perhaps it was because I was trying to figure out what it was I was thinking and feeling before I discussed it with him, or anyone? Perhaps it was shame? Perhaps it was nervousness that he (or others) wouldn’t understand, or would mock it?” I think many will nod along to this post, whether you entered the infertility internet almost two decades ago, or whether it was after social media became commonplace.

Lastly, Empty Arms and Broken Heart writes about surviving this past year. The whole family has had to go through multiple adjustments, but she points out: “Going back will feel like as much of a shock as being sent home was last year. I know I will re-adapt. I feel exhausted from all the adapting I’ve done since March 2020. But, if I could live through 2020, I can live through anything.” So true.

The roundup to the Roundup: Another outdoor visit. 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 April 2 – 9) 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.