Category — Friday Blog Roundup

When I grow up, I want to be my kids. They have much firmer boundaries with protecting their emotional health and sticking to them than I do. A case in point: when content on a social media site made them feel distressed as they scrolled, they signed out of the account. They need to log in via a computer to see their account, making it unlikely they’ll go on more than every few days. Enough to check up on people, not enough to get them upset.

They are the Michael Pollan of consuming creative content and information (consume content, not too much, mostly heart-filling things).

I noticed the same reaction, and all I did was check more. I would see something upsetting on the app that caused me to set down my phone and worry. But then I thought, “I must recheck the app to see if there are more upsetting things.” And because I mostly went on social media in the evening after work, I was also carrying those last things I saw into bed, worrying about everything in the dark.

I wish I could tell you that I took the twins’ lead and logged out of the app. I didn’t. Social media is how I stay in touch with many people. But I did start to ask myself if I needed to recheck the app, reminding myself that I had just checked it a few minutes ago and meditating on how the news makes me feel. My goal is to take my scrolling down to twice a day — two quick check-ins.

Let’s see if I stick to the plan.

*******

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.

And now the blogs…

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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.

Hopelessly Infertile and Surrounded by Fertiles comes to a profound thought while reading a romance book that applies to the political landscape happening right now. She explains: “So many people spend so much time denying women’s feelings and experiences. I want a space where women’s experiences and feelings and choices are respected.” As she points out, it’s not that we can’t make mistakes or change our mind; but sometimes you sense the character is leading the way, and sometimes you sense the author is making all of the choices.

The Barreness breaks down the current landscape, bringing in the personal including what she is doing to get her voice heard. This perfectly summarizes how so many of us feel right now: “I have found myself on more than one occasion staring off into space. Trying to figure out where the ground is, as everything seems to be floating in zero gravity.” That ending to the post — wow.

The roundup to the Roundup: Cutting back on social media. 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 Feb 14 – Feb 21) 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.

Once upon a time, even if snow wasn’t in the forecast, I would look outside right as I woke up. I’d start this in late November (you never know) and continue it until late March (again, you never know) because I didn’t want to mess up a snow day. I did once — back in 2015 when I put on my yoga clothes and came downstairs and THEN discovered we had a two-hour delay and I could have slept in. I was not going to mess that up a second time.

But now, snow days are meaningless. The twins are off at college, so we won’t spend a cozy day together. I work remotely, so I’m going to go to work as usual. I thought about this Wednesday morning when I woke up because I knew it had snowed overnight. For old time’s sake, I peeked out of the blinds at 6 AM. But it made me feel super sad to miss the anticipation of an unexpected break and realize that I had given up on the ritual of checking for it.

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Oh, and after all of that Eeyore-ishness, happy Valentine’s Day.

*******

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.

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.

No Kidding in NZ writes about you don’t have to be a parent to care about the next generation. It’s important to care about all people: It’s kind of the point to society. As she points out: “I may not have children, and I may feel isolated at time, but I have not dissociated from our communities, country, or world.” May we all step forward and take care of each other.

Lastly, The Road Less Travelled introduces us to her childhood piggy bank, which she recently brought home with her. She explains: “She makes me smile every time I look at her. I know I can’t keep EVERYTHING from my childhood, but this meant something to me, and I’m glad I still have it — and have it here now.” It made me smile to see her pig and think about this childhood rite-of-passage to get one in North America. Do other countries give kids a piggy bank?

The roundup to the Roundup: Snow day shmo-day and happy Valentine’s Day. 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 Feb 7 – Feb 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.

Usually, when we go away, my parents babysit Beorn, but we both will be out of town at the same time, which means… Guinea Pig Roadtrip.

First, we had to confirm with the hotel that they would be fine if we brought Beorn. They were just thrilled to be asked vs. having us show up with a guinea pig, so they said yes. Next, we went out to get Beorn a bigger carrier.

His current carrier is perfect for car trips because he can’t move around a lot and get hurt, but he can’t sleep in it. So we got him a second carrier — meant for a small dog — and tricked it out with a new water bottle, food dishes, and a hay bowl. We placed him inside, and he walked around a bit, checking out the space and testing out the new water bottle before settling down inside the carrier for a FaceTime call with the Wolvog.

I hate being apart from him for even one day, so I’m kind of thrilled that we can bring him with us. I hope he likes the new carrier and the trip goes well so we can kick off a series of grand adventures. I have already Googled whether guinea pigs can travel to Canada. International pig!

*******

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.

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.

Scientist on the Roof talks about walking the line between going bonkers for someone’s birthday vs. not doing enough. I struggle with finding this line or feeling like I’ve done enough to make the person feel special without depleting myself in the process.

Lastly, Infertile Phoenix highlights “it’s the little things that are the big things” because she can finally unpack boxes she packed up years ago. I completely agree with this: “When you’re going through infertility or grief of any kind or debilitating stress of any kind, it massively affects your ability to function. It’s amazing that we can do anything at all.” Here is to getting things done when the energy (and space) returns.

The roundup to the Roundup: Guinea pig roadtrip. 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 Jan 31 – Feb 7) 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.

The kids left a few days ago to return to school, and I still feel empty. Winter break is deceptive because it looks long on the calendar but moves so quickly that it feels over in a second. At least, it does to me.

It was lovely. It felt too quick. And now it is back to a quiet house and talking to Beorn and missing them.

*******

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.

*******

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:

• “Accepting a Childless Life Should Not Be a Crime” (Childless by Marriage)
• “Shifting Mindscape” (The Barreness)
• “Collective Waiting” (Infertile Phoenix)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Barreness processes the California fires. She is the keeper of many family photos, and she writes: “To help me work through the constant onslaught of sadness, fear and grief from the fires and the election I started scanning all the images. I can share them with my cousins and niblings. That way I would not be the only one to hold them and there will be other locations to view them/save them.” The story about the book pages raining down on the yard was haunting.

Lastly, Finding a Different Path writes about an ultrasound picture that ended up in her work mailbox. She realized things would only change if she spoke up. She writes, “I explained that ultrasound pictures are triggering even though they are EVERYWHERE (facebook, emails, CHRISTMAS CARDS, profile pictures, ugh), and that we have a lot of people (the WORLD has a lot of people) that saw that and it opened up a wound.” Luckily, the conversation went okay, and the person took her words to heart. As she writes: “how will anyone ever know unless we talk about it?”

The roundup to the Roundup: Missing the kids. 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 Jan 10 – 31) 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.

I realized something due to No Kidding in NZ’s recent post about being sick over Christmas and New Year’s. In olden times, when you were sick, you stayed home and maybe watched daytime TV. You intellectually knew that other kids were going to school or adults were going to work, but you were cocooned in your home, thoughts of what other people were doing far from your mind.

But now, we spend time while we’re home sick on social media, so we can see exactly what people are doing out and about in the world, healthy and happy.

Isn’t that strange?

You can always choose not to go online or avoid social media, but let’s be honest, we won’t.

I guess I hadn’t really thought about how being home sick had changed. Mali — hope you’re fully better.

*******

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.

*******

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.

A Separate Life gives great insights learned from three months of travel. The post is a gift, and I pulled out a bunch of thoughts to take to heart. Travel sooner rather than later in terms of wear-and-tear on the body; I think I would rather do short trips than long trips hearing the reality of being away; pack as light as possible; and get packing cubes. It inspired me to start jotting down my own travel advice that I’ll post soon.

Lastly, Scientist on the Roof points out some things that I didn’t realize about the number 2025 that made me like the year a little more. But I also loved this summing up of life: “Life is a mish-mash of happiness, heartbreak, sadness, frustration, fury, curiosity, wonder, and so much more: the only thing missing is balance (I wish!).”

The roundup to the Roundup: Beyond The Price Is Right while home sick. 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 Jan 3 – 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.