Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I adore this story about how Penn and Teller did a magic trick, and it’s a really good reminder that most things you’re impressed with require an extraordinary amount of time to accomplish.

It’s two-fold: The hours put in learning sleight of hand to get the correct card chosen and the months put in having the grass regrow.

But mostly, I love Teller’s quote: “Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.” It’s something to keep in mind whenever making a comparison.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.

So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.

These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from March.

You Are Fatally Invited (Ande Pliego): I have found you the perfect beach read. This is a solid thriller about a writing retreat turned murder retreat. Each chapter is short enough that you’ll keep saying to yourself, “Just one more.” Not all of the crimes seem murder-worthy, but I could suspend those thoughts and go along for the ride. Looking forward to this author’s next book.

The Rachel Incident (Caroline O’Donoghue): This is one of those books that I kept seeing on other people’s lists, but I didn’t know anything about it. It was an exceptional book. Amazing and stunning and emotional. You will remember being in your twenties and trying to figure out the world. This book transports you.

Famous Last Words (Gillian McAllister): I always enjoy her books, though this one had a few inconsistencies that threw me off (character’s hands are tied in one scene, and we’re told they’re not tied in another, etc) because you think you’re being clever noticing and then they’re just editing oversights. It moves quickly and would make a great beach read.

Claire, Darling (Callie Kazumi): It has another name outside the US (Cuckoo), which is perhaps too large a clue? It was super engaging writing with a not very engaging plot. I kept wanting to pick it up, but there were zero surprises in the end. Which may be your cup of tea – a lite thriller.

All the Other Mothers Hate Me (Sarah Harman): While I don’t know if I’d ever want to spend actual time with the main characters — Florence or Dylan — they were fun to encounter on the page. It’s a super fast read and a good distraction from doomscrolling. It reminded me a little bit of a Bella Mackie book.

What did you read last month?

I’ve always been a solve-the-pain-of-losing-a-pet-by-adding-another-pet person. If you read back, you can see that we got Truman soon after Cozy, Linus soon after Truman, and Beorn soon after Linus. My heart hurts so much that my instinct is always to run and place that love in a new receptacle rather than sit with the pain.

But this time, I need to sit with the pain until the kids come home so they can be part of the decision-making process. That is probably a healthier way to process emotions. I still spend a lot of time thinking about guinea pigs and watching Beorn videos, but we will have a few weeks before we add to our family again.

We use Chewy because it’s convenient — pigs go through a lot of bedding — but we’ve become brand loyalists after our experience with Beorn. I commented that I had just opened a package of his medical feed a few hours before he died, and the Wolvog told me that if I let Chewy know, they would refund perishables. So Josh let Chewy know, and they refunded the order and sent flowers and a note. Who does that? A business that lives by its values and puts animals first.

I’m grateful to everyone who commented here or on Facebook. I have been very lonely this week. It helps to know other people are thinking about him, too.

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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.

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:

• “18 Years in 18 Words” (Bereaved and Blessed)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Swistle opens her comment section for “restorative complaining.” She explains, “This, combined with the significant knee-recovery setback, combined with the absolutely execrable U.S. government and its daily doses of excrement, has led me into a bit of a Misery Era.” Misery Era pretty accurate describes this time, and sometimes you need to vent it out.

All and Sundry gives an update that includes the loss of her cat. I think when you lose a pet, your eye is drawn to anyone else mentioning they lost a pet. But this is also a lovely post about hospice and the importance of being there at an end. This part stayed with me all week: “I miss her so much and I miss how we would love her together as a family, you know what I mean if you have family pets. The love you shower onto the pets is also shared love, maybe a way to show love among each other that’s easier when you’re a teenager or even grumpy-feeling spouses. I love you Callie is also I love us.” Go over and read the whole post.

I also marked Bereaved and Blessed’s 18 years in 18 words. Congratulations on reaching this enormous milestone.

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ is slowing down (not stopping) blogging because she has a lot on her plate at the moment. She explains, “Because there’s a lot going on in my head at the moment, and I don’t want to write it all down for public consumption. And it’s hard thinking of topics to write about when my every thought is about another issue.” Sending her a lot of love.

The roundup to the Roundup: I miss my sweet pig. 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 April 11 – April 18) 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.

When we woke up on Sunday morning, we could tell it would be the last day. Beorn had been progressively getting worse — he had been to the vet twice in the past week — and while he could swallow water, he couldn’t swallow his critical care.

We debated taking him to an emergency vet about an hour away (most vets don’t specialize in guinea pigs), but as he rested in my arms, I realized that the kinder thing would be to help him go. The infection hadn’t responded to three rounds of antibiotics. He looked so exhausted.

So we held him from a little after 9 am until after 8 pm. That still wasn’t enough, but we wanted him to feel loved for every second of his last day on earth. So we stroked him and listed all of the people who loved him. He FaceTimed with the kids a few times — that was really the only time he perked up when he heard his best friends’ voices. But mostly he rested in our arms and got head rubs and back rubs. We thanked him for helping us through the pandemic and the kids leaving for college. And we told him he was the best pig in the world.

Around 7 pm, he started having seizures. We told him we were so sorry that we didn’t know the solution, and he rested between convulsions and snuggled deeper into my arms. A little after 7:30, he died. He let out one long last breath, then went still and sank a little deeper into my arms. We FaceTimed the kids so they could say goodbye, too, and we gave him last kisses on his head from each person who loved him.

Holding someone I love so deeply, who I needed so badly, and helping them go hurt a lot. It was such an impossibly hard thing to do but it was maybe the most important eleven hours of our relationship. I feel so grateful that we got to be with him until the end. That he was cuddled until the end.

The house feels very empty. I’m still cleaning up his things, but entering the living room and not seeing my pig breaks my heart over and over again. He was my best companion, my always friend, and it is hard to go through the day without him.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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The best pig in the world died last night. I’m not ready to write about Beorn, but he was loved up until his last second on earth, and we continued to hold him and tell him he was loved long after he passed.

I am really really really sad right now.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.