969th Friday Blog Roundup

It feels like I should write something profound at the top of the last Friday Blog Roundup for 2023, but I’ve got nothing except an update on the plant situation.

We replaced the basil plants in September when we returned from college drop-off, and I took three clippings from the ChickieNob’s inch plant when we visited in October. Clippings? Who is this woman who never had a plant in her house before the pandemic?

The ChickieNob’s school gives each student a plant on the first day of school. Many kill their plants in the first few weeks, but the ChickieNob was determined to keep hers alive until graduation. This is probably impossible with an inch plant, but you can keep taking clippings and replanting them to keep the plant “alive” indefinitely, and having clippings at home was also a plant insurance plan.

ChickieNob brought the original inch plant home for winter break, asking me to nurse my sick grandplant back to health. It looked scrawny, especially next to the robust October clippings. But I gently shaped, watered, and cared for it, thinking about how much people can change. They can go from plant-free to plant-full in barely a blink.

May you also notice happy changes in your year.

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. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Finding a Different Path writes about establishing new holiday traditions. Read it now so you have months to think up your own. She explains how she took back Christmas: “One thing that has made that possible is a handful of holiday traditions that I am somewhat maniacal about keeping up, because we have to make our own milestones and basically be our own children in a way.” I love so many of them, especially the book flood, but my favourite is the woodland critters countdown.

Lastly, Dear John writes a letter to her late husband, updating him on Christmas and various end-of-year news. I always find these letters touching, but this made me laugh a little: “Speaking of the cookies, S has been making them for her friends lately. She was apparently telling them they were a family recipe. I laughed and told her that the recipe came from an old girlfriend of yours who you ended up hating. Which is why her name is blacked out on the recipe card.” Sending a hug.

The roundup to the Roundup: Plant-less to plant-full. 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 22 – 29) 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.