873rd Friday Blog Roundup

I would describe my booster shot as really-really-not-good. I mean, when I first got it, I felt invincible. If I had been in a game of Super Mario Bros, I would have hit my head on every brick wall and coins would have come out.

About ten hours later, I had a sore arm and chills. I took Tylenol and slept. And then I spent about 24 hours after that feeling like complete dreck. I had a low fever, my arm hurt, my body hurt, I was freezing, I couldn’t get comfortable.

And I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Because 48 hours later, I’m fine. And I know that wouldn’t be the case if I got COVID-19. So thank you, science, for inventing vaccines that protect people. And I don’t take it for granted that we are so lucky that it is easy to get vaccines here.

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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 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:

• “It’s Not You” (Infertile Phoenix)
• “The Welcome Table: An Annual Online Thanksgiving Meal” (Stirrup Queens) — thanks, Jess!

Okay, now my choices this week.

Don’t miss the MSNBC article about the Childless Not by Choice community. It’s a great write-up featuring some bloggers you know and love.

Dubliner in Deutschland writes about life in Germany. I love reading a little slice of life in another country. She writes: “December 6th is known as Nokolaustag. This is a tradition that was new to me as we don’t have it in Ireland. The evening before Nikolaustag the children are meant to clean their boots and leave them out and Nikolaus comes around and fills them with little treats/presents.” This sounds exactly like Befana Day on January 6th! Which means I totally have to celebrate it next year because that will give me two chances for chocolate.

By the Brooke marks Eliza’s 11th birthday, starting with a beautiful quote from Redneck Mommy. She writes: “Any day is a day without her, and I’ve already had a thousand days. 4,015, to be exact (or not exact, because I’m not figuring in leap years). And yet this is the day where my throat feels tight and my temper feels short and my heart feels heavy.” Go abide with her as she remembers.

This teeny tiny post by Movable Type is exactly how I feel in this moment. And like her: “It’s just too much. I don’t know where to start in on my work today. Maybe I just need to make a list.” Amen to lists.

The roundup to the Roundup: Booster complete. 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 December 3 – December 10) 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.