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542nd Friday Blog Roundup

I am currently writing this on a cocktail of three allergy medications, so I’d like to apologize in advance if it’s complete gibberish.  None of the three allergy medications actually make a difference, but I’m scared to test that theory and stop taking them.  I am a liquidy, itchy mess on them.  Who knows how much I’d ooze across the grocery store without them.

A side note: do you know how bizarre Sherlock is in a Benadryl haze?

I need the trees to stop with their pollen making.  Please, trees.  Do it for me.

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

Okay, now my choices this week.

I had The Empress and the Fool’s heartbreaking post, Mother to Son, bookmarked for this week.  As much as it is about loss, it is also about the deep love that she has for her son.  She writes with such grace and beauty: “It was my privilege to feed and protect you, to watch you grow, to share this symbiosis, your cells with my cells in an ancient dance. I just wish I could have loved you from the outside.”  It is a moving tribute, one I wish she never had cause to write.

A Little Bit More has a post that shares a story of a poor decision from her childhood that illustrates how a single moment doesn’t define a whole person.  After reading about another child’s tantrum on Facebook, she tells a story about her own tantrum, explaining the impulse behind it.  And she asks important questions about public shaming — not posts that ask for advice but ones where the sole purpose is to shame the child for mistakes made.

Today’s the Day has a post about the concept of ancestors when you’re an adoptee.  It’s a post that runs so deep that I can’t really do it justice by writing about it, but I really really really (yes, it needs three reallys) think everyone should read this post.  Because you need to be witness to such an important moment of a single voice stating her truth, and it will make you think.  I promise.

Lastly, while there were many excellent NIAW posts this week, Resolve already rounded those up.  I wanted to highlight The Polka-Dot Umbrella’s post about not participating in NIAW.  It made me smile because it reminded me of that scene in Dead Poet’s Society where Robin Williams asks the boys to walk around the courtyard, and one uniquely expresses himself by not walking.  The non-walkers, or the non-writers in this case, are so important, too.  She calls it a grumpy post, but I’m grateful she wrote it and spoke up for the people who aren’t comfortable speaking up.

The roundup to the Roundup: My allergies are killing 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 April 17th and 24th) 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.

12 comments

1 sharah { 04.24.15 at 7:33 am }

Don’t forget to back up your phone pics and contacts. M broke his phone screen yesterday and was a little panicky that he had lost his pictures. Luckily not, but could have been prevented with a better backup.

2 JustHeather { 04.24.15 at 3:14 pm }

I am so sorry for your allergies!! Usually I am right there with you and all the other allergy sufferers, but for some reason, I haven’t been bothered (yet!) this year. Birch will be in full bloom soon, I’ll get back to you then. 🙁
Have you tried other medications? I know I’ve tried several different ones before I found one that works best/better for me.

3 Lori Lavender Luz { 04.24.15 at 3:27 pm }

I’m sorry you are suffering. xoxo

4 torthuil { 04.24.15 at 3:31 pm }

I hope you feel better soon! Great posts in the round up this week. My heart aches for A’s loss. I liked UnPregnant Chicken’s NIAW post: http://unpregnantchicken.com/2015/04/niaw-you-are-not-alone/

5 Amber { 04.24.15 at 5:14 pm }

Sorry your allergies are kicked into high gear. I wanted to say thank you for the time you take to recognize bloggers and sharing their great posts. I always enjoy being pointed toward such great posts.

6 Rachel { 04.24.15 at 8:53 pm }

Thank you for the mention!! I hesitated over that post because I really don’t like to get involved in parenting issues like this … But it just seemed so wrong that I could t keep it in.

My allergies are also killing me! They’re saying it’s going to be the worst year for allergies that we’ve had in decades. Yikes.

7 createdfamily { 04.25.15 at 12:08 am }

Fellow allergy sufferer here. I hope you have relief ASAP!

8 Elisha { 04.25.15 at 12:21 pm }

Hoping you are feeling better so that you can enjoy your weekend :/ I would like to share with you my post for #NIAW. I never would have dreamed it would have gotten as many views as it did. I think it’s because no matter where we are in our path to parenthood, we can all relate. But beware, you might need a box of tissues while reading. http://waitingforbabybird.com/2015/04/20/you-are-not-alone-flying-together-with-broken-wings/

9 earthandink { 04.25.15 at 9:22 pm }

Okay trees, knock it off. Or, at least, hurry up. We probably don’t want them knocking it off because fruit and leaves and so forth.

I hope you feel better!

And thanks for the openthread mention. Thank you!

10 loribeth { 04.25.15 at 9:25 pm }

Sorry you are suffering. 🙁 Benadryl is fast & effective, but boy, does it knock me for a loop. :p I only take it if I’m having a bad food reaction (and thankfully I haven’t had one of those in quite a while). Claritin works pretty well for my environmental allergies, and it’s non-drowsy, thank heavens!

11 Mali { 04.26.15 at 1:45 am }

Yuck, allergies are miserable. Hope you feel better soon.

I wanted to highlight Jess’s post “You are not alone (but it sure can feel that way)” in which she talks about how she eventually learned to focus on the similarities in our journeys, rather than the differences, to find a community. I think it is such an important message. http://mypathtomommyhood.blogspot.co.nz/2015/04/you-are-not-alone-but-it-sure-can-feel.html#comment-form

12 MissingNoah { 04.26.15 at 6:24 pm }
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