Category — Friday Blog Roundup

Josh and I slipped away to the beach last weekend. We chose the beach based on the community caseload. We chose the hotel because they had super restrictive COVID-19 protocols. We chose the activities based on the weather. We lowered our expectations, and the vacation rose up to meet us.

I felt my body relax as we sat in the car, facing the ocean, protected by the wind with good books and lime tortilla chips. I felt my shoulders lower and my stomach unclench. We rode bikes through the wildlife refuge, looking for raccoons. We ate ice cream in the room and watched episodes of White Lotus on a tiny screen.

On the last day, I decided that seeing a cormorant would be good luck. Josh thought he saw a cormorant, but he didn’t stop the car, so we decided it didn’t count. As we were leaving the beach, we saw people gathered near a stream, photographing something. Josh pulled over, but only I got out of the car, slipping on my mask and pulling out my binoculars.

I went to the edge and saw that while the people were all photographing a heron, there were also two cormorants paddling around. One took off right when I got there, and the other swam around aimlessly like it was trying to decide whether or not to leave as well. “Is it a cormorant?” I checked with a man standing nearby. He looked over at the black bird. “Yes, a cormorant.”

“I love you, cormorant,” I called out to the bird.

The man gave me a look and moved away.

I’ve learned a lot of things during the pandemic, but maybe the most important one is to spread love, not germs. Even to cormorants.

*******

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 in order 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. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Pics and Posts has a lovely reminder to get through stressful times. I agree with her: “I’m convinced that besides the loss and trauma of this moment, much of our sense of overwhelm and anxiety comes from our rush to normal—exacerbated by our not taking time to sit with and process our grief.” Finding those quiet moments of peace in the storm.

In Quest of a Binky Moongee has a post about a moment she never thought she’s see. Her friend has a similar journey of donor eggs and a gestational carrier, and they finally got a chance (thwarted initially by the pandemic) to bring their kids together. She writes, “I think about all the heartaches that the both of us had and how long and how twisted our roads were. The two people who didn’t know whether we’d become mothers have the privilege to see our children play together.” Such a beautiful moment captured.

Lastly, I missed this post by The Barreness last week and only read it this week. She talks about going in for a host of medical exams and the feelings they raised; especially the gynecological exam. She explains: “I know that a lot of my feelings are surfacing from my IF days, when I had most of the people from my county in my vagina, looking around and giving opinions. I can put on a mask, swallow pain, discomfort and make little jokes to deflect real feelings… but I am not so okay with doing that anymore.” She also has questions — go over and see if you’ve experienced something similar.

The roundup to the Roundup: I love cormorants. 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 November 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.

Remember how I told you less than one year ago that we got a new toaster, and I didn’t want to learn how to use it? Well, I managed to only use it a handful of times. One of those times was last week. It was the day that the bread caught fire.

I got off a call, started to help a co-worker with a task, and hopped up to make myself some toast while I waited for a response. I sat down and started to work again for about two minutes, when I sniffed the air. It smelled like smoke. And then I looked over my shoulder and the toaster was filled with flames.

FILLED WITH FLAMES.

FLAMING BREAD.

All four pieces were on fire. And I didn’t know what to do. I opened the door to the toaster. That was not a good idea. I slammed the door to the toaster closed and unplugged it from the wall. The fire continued. Every fire alarm went off. The twins ran in and opened the windows and doors. Smoke filled the kitchen and traveled through the house, making everything smell like ash. I finally grabbed flour to throw on the fire (this, I read afterward, would have been a bad idea), but the fire went out on its own, deprived of oxygen. I stood there and stared at the burnt toaster with its burnt toast.

The saddest part was that I wasn’t even that into the idea of toast. It just seemed like a simple thing to make.

I’ve long suspected that there was something wrong about the toaster. It made a weird clicking sound whenever someone used it. So I guess the lesson here is to trust your instincts and not trust new toasters.

*******

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 in order 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. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “On My Way” (A New Blank Page)

Okay, now my choices this week.

InfertileHonesty answers the question: How long will IT take? (I really loved her title.) This is brilliant: “Once I crossed the seven year mark though, the truth began to shimmer – anything that doesn’t feel right and doesn’t seem to be working for me – Well, it’s because it isn’t right and it isn’t working for me. Period. That’s all and that’s it.” You’ll have to read the whole post to understand how she reached that point and what happened next. And totally excited by her end note.

Finding a Different Path has been in a funk and is trying to get out. She hit an enormous cry moment (though the arm injury looked painful!), but came out of it with deep knowledge of how to become unstuck as well as this brilliant thought: “Remember how good your body is at making you stop completely when you don’t.” Very true.

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ talks about family trees, and how sometimes the interesting paths of those trees aren’t straight up and down but instead diagonal or side to side. It was an interesting reminder to stop always thinking in straight lines.

The roundup to the Roundup: Scary toaster fire. 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 November 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.

I am writing this inside a very cold house. At least, it’s cold to me, but I’m always cold, so take it with a grain of salt. The furnace stopped working, and we’re waiting for a team to come install the new furnace because our current one has passed on to furnace heaven. Or, at the very least, it is not worth fixing because it is almost 40 years old.

It could be worse. This could be January instead of November. We could live in a colder area. I bought long underwear last year so we could visit with my parents outside, and I’m currently wearing both the top and bottom under my clothes. (That may be a little dramatic, but I’m cold even when the heat is on.) I’m trying to console myself with the idea that it could be worse, but it doesn’t make it any warmer in the house.

The one silver lining is that everyone was certain that I had just turned on the heat wrong because I always turn on the heat incorrectly. But this time, it was actually the furnace and not me.

For the win!

*******

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 in order 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. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Who Deserves My Kindness and My Time?” (The Next 15000 Days)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Infertile Phoenix unpacks some Halloween weekend wonders. She experiences two surprising things, and it leads her to this thought: “It’s moments like these (Halloween doesn’t hurt anymore? And my mother and I are talking frequently?) that remind me that I don’t know the future and that’s okay.” It’s great to have those reminders when things feel bleak. We don’t know the future, and we may end up feeling peace with a situation down the line.

Hopelessly Infertile and Surrounded by Fertiles has a post about how we use the word “friend.” Social media has changed the noun, making us label (and perhaps think about) people differently. She writes, “Today someone tried to make me feel bad because my problems aren’t as severe as other people’s. Since I wasn’t actually attempting to complain about my problems, I don’t feel actually feel bad.” As we change the meaning of the term “friend,” are we also changing how we behave as a friend?

Lastly, A Separate Life has a collection of thoughts, including finding a folder in her mother’s things with stories about her childhood and family. She writes, “It is a reminder of how important it can be to write down our memories, even if we think those around us might already know these things. Perspectives are always different, and they might have forgotten.” So true. Stories are precious. Record them.

The roundup to the Roundup: It is very cold in this house. 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 October 29 – November 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 posted a story about Beorn on Facebook and the loveliest thing happened:

I need to kvell about my pig. Beorn went over to his empty hay ball, tapped it with his nose, and looked at me. THAT IS COMMUNICATION, PEOPLE. I filled his hay ball while he popcorned around me, clearly happy that I had understood him. There may not be an honour roll for guinea pigs, but if there was, my pig would be at the head of the class. #proudpigmum

(Whatever. People kvell about their kids and no one bats an eye. I’m going to kvell about my pig. My pig is amazing and pure love.)

People started chiming in with times their cats or dogs or chickens communicated with them. Like chickens who say, “good night” and cats that let you know the water dish is empty. I love these stories about animals.

*******

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 in order 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. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

In Quest of a Binky Moongee gives life to a maternity dress she didn’t get to wear. When a friend gets pregnant, she realizes she can give her the dress to wear. She writes, “It almost feels like she is not only going to wear this dress for herself, but for me and for her other friends who didn’t/don’t ever get to carry our own babies.” I love this. It’s a beautiful dress and a beautiful story.

Not a Wasted Word perfectly sums up the feeling that accompanies an abnormal cycle or perimenopause: destabilizing. She explains: “I’m hoping that tomorrow my period will just come already and I’ll feel better. But maybe it won’t. The truth is, I have no idea what to expect anymore, physically or emotionally, and it’s incredibly destabilizing.” Cycles can be hard enough. Having them unpredictable takes it to another level.

Lastly, The Road Less Travelled just celebrated her 40th anniversary! It’s such a huge milestone (and it comes with a great story and picture) that you have to go over and celebrate with them.

The roundup to the Roundup: Beorn communicates with me. 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 October 22 – October 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.

Josh and I went on a book date because I had a panicked reaction to all of the book shortage reports. (I am the media’s target audience.) Yes, I know that I often read e-books and those copies will still be available. Yes, I know I can check the books out of the library, or borrow them from a friend. Yes, I know that the book shortage may not impact the books that I want to read or buy. I know all of these things. I panicked anyway.

“How will I know what sort of reading mood I’ll be in come January? I barely know what reading mood I’m going to be in next week,” I wailed.

So we went to the bookstore and bought books. Because there is a chance that I will read through the several hundred books on my TBR, and I want to be prepared.

*******

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 in order 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. In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• “Views” (A Blank New Page)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Family Building With a Twist writes about being dragged down by entropy. She writes: “And I know: I’ve been through a lot in the last year and should cut myself some slack or give myself some grace. But at some point, you have to stop making excuses and step up (woman up?).” And I LOVE the end of the post—one flower at a time, indeed.

Infertile Phoenix writes about when the world feels like too much and not enough. My favourite part is when she eats some cookies because we all need small, good things. She explains: “There’s still a pandemic, inflation, a shipping crisis, and climate change, but I also enjoyed my cookies. I don’t know how I endured infertility. I couldn’t enjoy the little things back then. I don’t know how I got through those years.” That is how you make it through hard things—moment by moment.

Lastly, Scientist on the Roof sums up the mood of the moment. I think a lot of us are feeling this type of frustration. Especially the swing from “everything is okay” to “everything is not okay,” and how it seems to happen so quickly lately. She writes, “I find the disconnect between anticipation and reality so jarring, it is sometimes (always?) better to just not to put much time into looking forward to things.” It’s so hard not to anticipate, but it is also the root of so much frustration.

The roundup to the Roundup: I now have all the books. 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 October 15 – October 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.