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

*******

I learned from a BBC article that cafes used to be called penny universities. For the cost of a penny, you could get a cup of coffee and sit and learn about local politics, world news, or general gossip.

I love this idea of knowledge being accessible. We wanted more people to be educated. To hear the news. Sure, there was a cost in the sense that you needed to pay a penny — which, on average, was about 1/10th of a person’s daily wage — but I’m paying a lot more than a 10th of my salary on each kid’s education.

*******

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.

While I’m fairly neutral about cleaning in the real world (love a clean space yet would rather read than clean), I have realized that I love cleaning games. Someone recently passed along a link to a game where the whole point is to shelve imaginary books. You are cleaning up a library. And I thought, wow – this sounds fantastic.

It is like the game 2025, which involved organizing items into lists. Cleaning up a screen? Heavenly!

I’m not sure what this says about me — that I am deeply interested in cleaning games while less interested in actual cleaning that will make my living space better.

I started leaning toward the “buy now” decision after hearing from people after I wrote the cell phone post (thanks, Internet people!). And then on Monday afternoon, the NYT announced Tim Cook was stepping down. A new twist! Do I purchase now before too much change happens with the new guy? Do I wait and see if the new guy brings better options or prices? Who knows the best move?

*******

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’s post made me teary. It’s a beautiful life they have together, and she graciously explains what helps and what absolutely doesn’t help her as they face down a terminal diagnosis. Please go over and read all of her beautiful words: “We couldn’t have it all. We knew that. We couldn’t have children. And we’re not going to have an old age together … But we have had a lot. After not having children, we made the choice to accept it, and live. And our life together is not over yet.” Sending an enormous hug.

Lastly, Infertile Phoenix talks about change. Changing your life DOES take a lot of work. And I agree with her that is why a lot of people don’t do it. Why they stay in unhealthy situations. She writes: “Living in my children’s house without my children was not an option for me. Not if I wanted to stay alive. I am that serious. Staying married when I could be lonely by myself was also not what I wanted for myself. I deserved more than that.” I’m glad she took control and made those changes for herself.

The roundup to the Roundup: Trying to time a phone purchase. 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 17 – 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.

I underlined a passage in Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. The main character asks her mother how she made adulthood look so easy and effortless. The house was clean and orderly, the kids were cared for, and the mother worked full-time. The mother points out that what her child perceived wasn’t how the mother remembered things, but she tells her daughter her little secret:

“Whenever I was reaching my wits’ end, I would pause for a moment and do you know what I would do?” Her voice lowered to a conspiratorial register. “I would imagine I was being watched.”
I opened my eyes and frowned at the tiles on the bathroom floor. “Watched?”
“It’s lonely, you know. Housework. But it felt a bit less lonely when I pretended I had a little audience sitting on the couch with me. Watching me vacuum or take out the trash. Cheering me on!” (page 191)

We know that the daughter will become an influencer in the future, so she clearly took her mother’s advice one step further to get an actual audience cheering her on, rather than just an imaginary one. But it was a strange phrasing: Being watched. That you pull your shit together and present the best version of yourself because people will know if you don’t.

It gave me pause when I was reading.

I have been trying to make a conscious effort to weekend better. I’m sure it won’t stick — life has a way of getting in the way of plans — but we’ve been able to string together a few weekends in a row of watching soccer, reading books, visiting friends or family, and eating uncomplicated meals. I felt so much better after we did it once that I’ve been trying to build it in, week after week.

It feels like weekends keep coming up as a theme. There was a piece on how weekends are important because everyone is off at the same time, so it’s a way to cement your network. And another in the Times on French Sundays, as opposed to British Sundays, which sound close to American Sundays.

The author writes:

One of my favourite expressions in French is faire la grasse matinée. It means “to lie in”, but translates literally as “to have a fat morning”. And that is truly the way to do it. This Sunday, why not give the French way a go? Turn off your alarm, go for a stroll with no destination in mind, stop at a coffee shop (no matter how cold the weather is, you must sit outside) and watch strangers go about their business. Go on, eat two croissants instead of just one. Dilly-dally.

That sounds lovely. Yes.