Category — Friday Blog Roundup

Mali challenged me in the comments to kick off our nightly conversations with the twins with boring stories, and that is exactly what we’re doing. While I don’t think any have been as impressive as the rubbish bin story, this one got them to roll their eyes.

Josh ordered a medication refill. When it arrived, I picked up the bottle and said, “There are not 90 pills in this bottle.” I just had a feeling. So we counted them. Twice. And there were 89 pills in the bottle.

And that was our evening.

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If you live in the US, FEMA is conducting a test of the alert system on October 4 at 2:20 pm ET. It will be very loud — devices will all go off simultaneously with the message. Just putting this out there so no one is surprised. I put a five-minute warning in my calendar so I don’t startle.

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

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

A Separate Life has a post about quokkas. Do you really need to know more than that to click over? There are pictures of Perth. And did I mention quokkas? Because quokkas.

Hopelessly Infertile and Surrounded by Fertiles has a tiny post that summed up exactly what I’m feeling. She writes, “Everyday we release our loves out into the uncontrolled world and hope they come back to us undamaged. Maybe not unaltered entirely, but essentially okay. It’s a hard thing.” I love this comparison to uncontrolled copies.

Dear John tells her late husband about their teenager’s request to bring her boyfriend to the cemetery. (Okay, I laughed at this: “She texted me ‘Can I go see dad with (boyfriend) for my birthday?’ I replied, ‘At the cemetery?’ She responded, ‘No – at the Ouija board. Of course, at the cemetery.’ I have taught the sarcasm well…“) These quiet letters always make me slow down and feel deeply.

Finally, The Road Less Travelled writes about how the pandemic impacted our sense of time; namely, the missing years. Initially, I didn’t think deeply about what I was missing because I was just trying to stay alive. But more than three years on and still masking, I am acutely aware of the can’ts, along with gratitude for the cans. Figuring out how to travel while masked felt like a win. Missing out on dining with people still feels like a loss.

The roundup to the Roundup: More boring stories. Alert on October 4, 2023. 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 August 22 – August 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.

I missed the Roundup; I missed the regular blog posts, too. Not writing my blog for three weeks changed the rhythm of my day. I enjoyed not feeling the pressure to write. I missed feeling the pressure to write. I’m pretty ambivalent about the time I spent away.

But I’m back with a wonky Roundup containing a few older posts and recent posts.

*******

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.

Infertilityhonesty is back with a myth-busting blog post for World Childless Week, addressing the refrain of “you’re lucky you don’t have kids.” I especially like this thought: “All of these experiences don’t just end in an efficient punctuation of linear time, rather they infuse themselves as a part of you. They detonate and then restructure your view of life and the world. They are quite present alongside any arguably ‘good’ things that pop up on your childless path.” Go read the whole post.

The Barrenness was published recently. This made me smile, “The book is a beautiful collection of stories of infertility from a myriad of perspectives and it is heartbreaking and beautiful, and my artwork and words are collected in it. It is quite surreal, and a deep wonderful thing from so much loss.” Congratulations on the accomplishment.

Lastly, A Half Baked Life is having a really hard time. Not just a hard week, but very hard years. And she writes about two moments of kindness that happened recently. She writes, “Because sometimes it is so hard to try to communicate all of your needs when there are so many freaking needs, and you feel like you’re completely exhausting because you have so many needs, and when people just SEE you without you needing to say a word, it breaks your heart wide open.” Amen.

The roundup to the Roundup: I’m back. 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 August 15 – August 22) 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.

You know how I’ve trucked along here for 17 years, writing at least five times per week without fail? Sort of like the USPS… “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Perhaps not as important as delivering the mail, but my point is rain, heat, and gloom of night have never stopped me.

The twins leaving for college has stopped me.

Each week gets harder mentally, physically, and emotionally. I keep it together for work. I mostly keep it together in front of the twins. I do not keep it together any other time. I feel heavier and heavier, slower and slower, sadder and sadder.

I don’t think I’m conveying it well.

But suffice it to say that I can’t write. I woke up thinking that writing was just one more can’t in a long line of mental can’ts. I didn’t want to leave the blog empty, so I just grabbed the URLs of old posts and scheduled posts. It’s like a small time machine. The posts are fine, but I loved reading through the comment section. I hope you do, too.

I will be back in September. I’m sorry if you write me, and I don’t write back. I go back to the first thought. This is the time that stopped me.

Beorn celebrated his third birthday this week. We held a photoshoot in the morning. We told him we were taking “glamour shots,” and he lunged at the phone to nibble the edge of the case. He then turned around to nudge the blinds with his nose to make them swing. And he finally gave us a lot of side-eye before agreeing to a few pictures in exchange for spring mix.

He has a teddy’s sweet temperament and an American shorthair’s jubilance. Beorn, you are still the best of all worlds three years in.

Happy birthday.

*******

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:

• “You Won’t Get Today Back” (The Next 15000 Days)
• “Well, This Is New…” (The Road Less Travelled)
• “Conversations With Adults” (Infertile Phoenix)
• “Leitplanken” (Elaine ohne Kind)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Movable Type has a post about taking a pregnancy test during perimenopause; a very different experience than peesticks earlier in life. She explains, “As tiny as the likelihood, I had to pee on a stick – for old time’s sake – only this time, this time I did NOT want to see the double line. Never have I been so happy to get a negative.” The shift is interesting.

Lastly, Finding a Different Path has a beautiful post about craving noise but having quiet, and how moving helped with life being different from what she wanted. She writes, “But moving away from those noisy ghosts was a great way for us to mark that transition, the contrast that wasn’t so outwardly apparent of Wanting the Chaos to Accepting That Our Life Is (And Sounds) Different.” It’s a post about the different ways quiet can sound.

The roundup to the Roundup: Happy birthday, Beorn. 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 August 4 – August 11) 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 ChickieNob asked a great question at dinner this week: Which favourite food would you never eat again if you were told you had to give it up? You couldn’t cheat and name something you didn’t really love. You had to take one of your favourites and say goodbye forever.

The Wolvog had a hundred questions (“Would I have to watch other people eat it?”) and tried to choose something that definitely wasn’t a beloved food. I said goodbye to mashed potatoes. I love them, but I love pasta more.

What would you give up?

*******

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:

• “The Grass  Is Not Always Greener” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

AndMom returns! She tells us what has been happening for the last 1,237 days, voicing her frustration with a world that has moved on from the pandemic when her family cannot.”No one will be careful for us – or themselves. I have spent the past 3 years reading the studies, looking for any evidence that we’re overreacting. Looking for a reason to loosen up. After all, everyone else has. But all I see is more and more evidence that I don’t want this virus.” Me too. Which is why we still mask.

Lastly, FinallyMyLinesNow is also back with an update about her childcare nightmare. Like this gem: “She arrived. On day 4 she informed us she’d lied about all of her experience and she left, stealing our towels, picture frames, and toiletries on her way out. We were once again sans childcare.” Illness also rocked the family, and you can see how tiny moments add up to huge issues that impact every facet of the day. It’s a good reminder that we never know what someone else is dealing with beyond what we see.

The roundup to the Roundup: Foods on the imaginary chopping block. 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 July 28 – August 4) 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.