Category — Friday Blog Roundup

And now this blog is really 18 years old. The space has become an old friend as much as the people who read it. I am glad that I started it, glad I continued it, and I can’t really imagine ending it, even though sometimes it feels like there should be a day that I stop typing.

But that’s a decision for another day.

Today, I’m just marking 18 years.

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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:

• “Birth Mom Wants to Be Called Mommy & That’s Not OK with Me” (Lavender Luz)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Road Less Travelled has good news: She is about to become a great-aunt again. It is super happy news (or, as she says, full of “gleeful anticipation“), but it also comes with a little pregnancy anxiety. I don’t think you can go through what we went through and fully relax with anyone’s pregnancy. Send her a big congratulations.

Lastly, sometimes it feels more commonplace to find complaint posts on the internet, so I especially loved A Separate Life musing about how lucky she is to live where she lives. And, of course, the pictures are beautiful.

The roundup to the Roundup: 18 years of writing this blog. 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 14 – 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.

At some point, my Facebook header disappeared, though I don’t know when because you don’t often go onto your own page (vs. read your feed). That picture was from the Harry Potter set; it had been up there since the kids were eight. It’s still on my phone, but as I scrolled to get it, I passed a picture of myself talking to a raven named Branwen, and I decided to use it instead.

I was surprised by people’s reactions to the picture, and the only explanation I have is that we secretly all love birds.

The picture is part of a set of seven or so photos in which I am animatedly conversing with Branwen, inviting her to return to the US with us, where I promised her many Corvidae friends. She did not take us up on our offer. When we returned to the Tower of London a year later, she would not leave her sunny patch of grass on the other side of a barrier and say hello despite my best efforts to coax her into a second conversation.

A sad tale of unrequited bird love.

*******

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:

• “Plans Change, So Let Us Thrive” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

I loved this story from Finding a Different Path about what she found while clearing out her yard. “Where did these lovelies come from? And how did they end up in a very bizarre, hidden, out-of-the-way area? It was a moment where I was dumping detritus, and BOOM! Gorgeous hidden treasure.” Click over to see the gorgeous pictures.

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ looks back on the early years, and muses on how remembering it is different from living it. She writes: “I can and do remember that without pain – which is, if you might recall, how I define ‘getting over it’.” Those moments never leave you, even if the pain itself changes from sensory to a memory.

The roundup to the Roundup: We are all secret bird lovers. 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 7 – 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.

The birthday celebration continues this weekend. It felt like too much pressure to put all my big feelings on a single day, so we spread the celebration over multiple days. Actually, if I’m being honest, it’s multiple months. But it’s a big birthday. It has been so nice to have it spread out, I think I’ll do this every year.

This weekend, we’ll do the cake (a nutella cake!) and dinner.

*******

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 asks a question within her update: “What do you miss the most from your childhood home?” Most of the things I love my parents still have and use, but I miss my grandmother’s thimbles. We used them as fancy metal drinking cups for Barbie and Andy Gibb. Tell her what you miss.

The Road Less Travelled also made me nostalgic with her post about her happy place. It reminded me of the first time I went into Borders. It was the largest bookstore I had ever entered, and it didn’t matter that other bookstores contained all of the books I wanted. More books equaled more exciting.

Lastly, Dear John updates her late husband on home improvement projects, but it’s the ending about the trip that stuck with me. She writes, “I wish you were here to do the driving – you were always more confident, even if you had no idea where you were going. I’ll have to manage. But it would be easier if you were here to do it for me.”

The roundup to the Roundup: Birthday celebration continues. 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 May 31 – June 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.

Every morning this week, I woke up and immediately thought, “I only have X days until my birthday.” It would be fair to say that I have been highly aware of my birthday this year. It felt a little bit like when you know there is a spider in the room, and you’ve determined that you’re going to wait for someone else to take care of it, but you sort of can’t stop yourself from tracking the spider… it was that except in birthday form.

I saved an Anthony Horowitz book to read. There will definitely be French fries, amusement park rides, and wishes made.

*******

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:

• “#MicroblogMondays: Information Overload vs Creativity” (The Road Less Travelled)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Barreness gives an update on her parents. My heart hurt for her when I read this note about her mother: “I am often her therapist explaining how things are not ever going back to how they were and that this is the new normal. She asks again hours later, like I am that magical fridge that you open the door to and new things appear.” It is a really really really hard situation, and she could use a kind word. So please go over and let her know that she has people holding her up as she does this hard work.

Lastly, Scientist on the Roof has a post that felt very familiar, in that this is how I process stress, too. But I love this so much: “I keep telling myself – this is not like grad school. I can quit. I can look for another job … Or maybe I’ll just do the best I can and let things be what they will be.” It’s hard to get to that place of acceptance, so sending deep breaths.

The roundup to the Roundup: Birthday weekend. 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 May 24 – May 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 won a Goodreads giveaway for the 4th time! While I won the first three (1, 2, and 3) pretty close together, it has been years since I won a giveaway. This time, it’s for the new Peter Swanson.

Seeing that “Congrats — You are a Giveaways Winner!” subject line makes me feel like a life winner. Like the book universe dropped a crown on my head and declared me the luckiest lady on the planet. It is such a high that I keep the email in my inbox and peek at it whenever I need a pick-me-up during the day.

I get that hundreds (thousands?) of people win Goodreads giveaways daily, and many have won them more than four times over the years, but this week, I feel book lucky, which is one of my favourite luckies to be.

*******

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:

• “18 Years” (Born Still But Still Born)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Finding a Different Path made a list after her divorce of what she’d want in an ideal partner. The story has a happy ending, and she found someone who hit 18 of the 20 traits. But what made this story even sweeter is what happens when you give someone time (and a lot of hints), and they end up fulfilling #19, just because they love you.

Lastly, By Lisa With Love writes about her child entering the double digits. But growing up also brings up other thoughts and she writes: “It feels very much like my grief after my two pregnancy losses. It’s almost like the grief for the loss of what might-have-been is heavier than the loss of what-cannot-be-any more.” It’s a moving post, and I’m glad she’s back with an update.

The roundup to the Roundup: Goodreads winner x 4. 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 May 17 – May 24) 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.