Category — Friday Blog Roundup

Two and a half years into the pandemic, I realized something. Socializing outside is tiring. I mean, socializing when you’re out of practice is exhausting in and of itself. But add in the heat of summer or shivering through the cold in winter, and hanging out with people outside may be safer but it’s also draining.

We had two weekends of back-to-back outdoor socializing with people, which was fantastic, but now I’m ready to not go outside for 48 hours. Just books. My guinea pig. Tea. And zero minutes with fresh air.

Small goals.

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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:

• “Winning in a Childless Life” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Finding a Different Path has a post about card shopping for a wedding gift. I’m sure you can imagine what themes card makers went with to celebrate the marriage, and she muses on how offensive new baby cards would be if they followed the same trajectory. She makes a vital statement: “There’s got to be ways to congratulate people without making one life out to be better than another.” Which gets to the heart of a whole host of issues.

It’s Inconceivable has given an update on her breast cancer treatment and shared about the loss of her dog. It’s a heartbreaking story, and she could use your support. She asks: “How many more times am I going to deliver news to this beautiful man that will make him cry?” She is going through such a hard time right now, and her honest words will make you think about how we take care of the people around us.

Lastly, Res Cogitatae writes about pandemic traveling. She has admittedly converted me to the idea of getting a CO2 monitor. (Read her post to see how she uses it.) Though I agree with her: “Public health shouldn’t depend on privilege.” And right now, it does.

The roundup to the Roundup: Tea and book time. 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 12 – 19) 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.

Everyone I know has a travel horror story from this summer. I know multiple people who have gotten to the airport to learn that their flight was canceled. Others who couldn’t return. Many people who lost luggage, stood in long lines, or had their lodging reservations dropped once they reached their destination. We were super lucky because our outgoing flight was canceled, but we were able to make a second reservation at a different airport immediately. But that’s the thing: it’s completely random. And you don’t know.

It makes me want to stay home. Travel is supposed to be fun. Relaxing. It’s not supposed to be multiple weeks of nail biting, wondering how long you’ll need to spend on hold with customer service just to get from point A to point B.

I can accept that reality in so many facets of life. But not vacation time.

*******

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:

• “A Delightful Recommedation” (Finding a Different Path)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Barreness begins with a story about a lost purchase, and it becomes a frame for things feeling small and close-in when she wants to see the path forward. She writes: “I am finding that my sights are set to a myopic level as of late. I am having a hard time seeing past the present.” It captures the frustration of the moment.

The Road Less Travelled is remembering her daughter, who would have been 24 years old this year. She begins by realizing what was happening in her life when she was 24. Job, marriage, new apartment — it is hard thinking about what her daughter didn’t get to experience. She writes: “My baby girl would be 24 later this year, in November, had she been born on or close to her due date. She never drew a breath, but her presence still looms large in our lives.” Abiding with her.

Lastly, Dear John has a powerful post about feeling like she’s in a state of waiting, even though she knows that what has happened has already happened. She tells him, “A few weeks ago, I felt like you were near – like you had your hands on my shoulders. I don’t feel you any more though. Maybe that feeling will return.” It’s a moving piece on loss.

The roundup to the Roundup: Staying home. 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 5 – 12) 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.

Near the beginning of the pandemic, ChickieNob and I started walking daily to first-person treadmill videos. There are a billion out there. You just Google “virtual walk + name of place,” and YouTube spits out dozens of options. Usually we walk somewhere we know. Occasionally we walk somewhere we’re going. (This was super useful when we got to Belgium and could navigate to various places because we walked past them in the video — strange.) Most of the time, we mute the video and listen to an audio book at the same time.

But a few weeks ago, we tried walking to a television show. So just walking indoors, but replaying the fourth season of The Crown while we walked. First and foremost, it is such an enjoyable way to spend a half hour. I rarely think about how much time has passed because I’m into watching the show. Secondly, I’ve discovered that I walk so much faster when we walk to television shows. I shaved between one to two minutes per mile when we walk to a television show vs. the walking videos. Even when we put the walking videos on 1.5x the speed. It’s really strange. Margaret Thatcher just makes me walk very very quickly.

It’s a nice discovery.

*******

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 has a thought-provoking post. She walks the line between showing both truths — the happiness and the occasional sadness of living childfree after infertility. She writes: “Rationally and logically I might be at peace with my life, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t still have ouch moments, feel some of the emotions that we all feel from time to time, or worry about the future without children.” We are complex and need to create space to honour all feelings, as they come.

Lastly, Jewish IVF talks about how it has been a rough summer. I love this thought about seeing other people’s posts: “This is only filtering out one piece of it that has contributed to my mood. I need to remember the converse when scrolling through other people’s filtered reality skewed to the positive.” Her friendship questions at the bottom hit home. I think we are shown (via media and curated social media) a story about friendship that simply isn’t true for many people. It’s another post that stuck with me for a long time after reading.

The roundup to the Roundup: Walking quickly in place without leaving home. 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 29 – August 5) 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 think the thing I missed most about being home (and not traveling) these last 2.5 years is overhearing conversations. I mean, yes, I travel to see specific things or to experience other cultures. But the thing I missed about travel were observing other people or catching snatches of conversations. You can’t re-create that from home.

Or hearing Hebrew from a stranger. Obviously easier if you’re living in Israel, but we had a few wonderful moments on the trip when I’d catch a word — on the Grand Plaza in Brussels or a train car in Cambridge — and I’d perk up, twisting my head like antennae shifting to point in the correct direction. I missed that.

Now that we’ve figured out masked travel, it feels do-able again. Something I couldn’t imagine even post-vaccine last summer.

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Thank you to everyone who celebrated the Roundup anniversary by posting links last week. You can see all of the posts here. Not too late to add your own.

*******

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:

• “Things With Secret History” (Finding a Different Path)
• “With Childlessness, the Related Losses Multiply” (Childless by Marriage)
• “The Ends of Eras” (Stirrup Queens) — thank you, Jess!

Okay, now my choices this week.

Finding a Different Path has a post drawing a parallel from COVID-test weirdness to pregnancy tests that let you know you were just a little pregnant. Her results were kind of positive. Then kind of negative. Did she have COVID? Who knows. (Though she behaved as if she did to protect others.) The point I nodded at: “Why must all the medical things fall under, ‘huh, that’s a mystery,’ for me?”

Infertile Phoenix has a post about getting rid of teaching stuff, which is just as hard as getting rid of the baby stuff because it’s all tied together. She thought she would be able to use her knowledge on her own child. She writes: “I cried because I didn’t get to raise my children. I cried because I’m so good at teaching, but it literally doesn’t cover my bills. I cried because it’s the end of the semester, it’s hot, I’m sad, and I’m just plain worn out.” But three cheers for taking back the space and getting rid of things that are weighing you down.

Lastly, The Road Less Travelled has a great summary of a series of posts by Anne Helen Petersen on being without children and building relationships with kids amongst other related topics. I especially like how she captured and unpacked AHP’s final piece, “How to Show Up For Your Friends Without Kids — and How to Show Up For Kids and Their Parents aka How to Be in a Community.”

The roundup to the Roundup: What I missed from travel. Thank you for celebrating the Roundup. 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 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.

I warned you that it was coming and gave you homework. It’s the 16th anniversary of the Friday Blog Roundup, and to celebrate, I asked you to find two posts: (1) one of yours that I highlighted here that you also love and (2) someone else’s post (from any time period) that you think everyone should read. So drop them in the comment section below. As well as anything else you’ve loved from the last four weeks.

Thank you for being here weekly. This ongoing series has framed my week for 16 years, and I’m grateful for all of your 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:

• “Gone” (The Barreness)
• “Losses and Last Resorts” (No Kidding in NZ)
• “Happy 31st birthday, sLOVEnia!” (The Next 15000 Days)
• “Hello, Summer!” (Finding a Different Path)

Okay, now my choices this week.

A bunch of longtime voices have returned.

Much Ado About Nothing has an update. She left her job for a new one that appreciates what she brings. She writes, “I know what my experience is worth, and I demanded it. I went in like a badass version of myself I haven’t felt like in a long while, and I refused to be nervous and intimidated.” I love that.

Are You Kidding Me is back — same site though the blog has a new name: Dear John. She is writing letters to her husband who died earlier this year. They are raw and moving and her latest one made me sit still for a few minutes after reading. She is selling her husband’s things, and she writes: “It’s so difficult to give up your stuff. I don’t want it here any more, but it feels like letting you go too soon. You don’t need the stuff, and you would definitely be in favor of getting rid of it. But it makes me cry.” Abide with her.

Lastly, My Lady of the Lantern returned to close her blog. She explains: “I have never wanted to abandon a blog without telling that I was going to abandon it. I found it irksome when some of my favourites just stopped posting one day, and then never returned. And I don’t want to do the same. So as of today, I think I can safely say that I no longer feel the urge to blurb here.” I’m grateful for the closure and the final thoughts.

The roundup to the Roundup: It’s the 16th anniversary of the Friday Blog Roundup. 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 June 24 – July 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.