605th Friday Blog Roundup

When the state of the world and the churning hate being pumped into the atmosphere are bringing you down, there is only one way to combat the negative: Purchase a copy of Steel Magnolias.

I talked the ChickieNob into watching it with me this week. She has grown up hearing me quote this movie all the time, so she sort of knew all the characters before it began. She loved it despite trying hard to hold the movie at arm’s length.

That movie (and the play, too) are sort of like Hallmark cards.  You know how most of the time, you just pick a card that feels pretty much on-target?  That’s other movies.  But Steel Magnolias is like finding the perfect card that says exactly what you’re trying to say but can’t put into words.

I love this movie so much.  I love its take on female friendships and mother-daughter relationships and the ways we grow and change.  I love that it can still make me cry, every single time.  I love that it says everything I want to say about the strength of women.

I’m keeping it on my phone for the time being.  Whenever the negativity starts bringing me down, I will queue it up and watch five minutes of M’Lynn and Ouiser and feel better about the world.

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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:

• “Privilege in the Infertility World” (No Kidding in NZ)
• “Near Misses” (My Path to Mommyhood)
• “Some Things That Bothered Me Lately” (My Path to Mommyhood)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Wild and Precious Life has a moving post about leaving her house and moving far away.  This is where she lived when her lost children were conceived, and where she lived when they died.  The space contains all those memories and serves as a tangible tie to S and G.  My throat tightened up reading the listing of memories.  She writes, “Where R and my sister and I laid in a jumble and passed out the day after my month in the hospital was over and our babies were really and forever gone.”

You must read A Woman My Age’s post about race and being a black woman.  “I’ve been raised to keep my mouth shut and avoid conflict.  Whether that’s because I’m female or because I’m a black female, it doesn’t matter.  Dress nice, speak nicely and keep money in your pocket or otherwise they will think you’re stealing.  That’s what my mother taught me.  And unconsciously, I’ve been training my son to do the same.”  It is such a powerful, powerful post.

Lastly, No Baby Ruth has a follow up after her MTHFR diagnosis.  While it’s good that she knows that she’s homozygous for C677T because it can affect more than fertility, she feels the weight of the diagnosis and wonders if she has it in her to continue on this family building path.  Again, for anyone who thinks getting a diagnosis makes things straightforward and simple, this post becomes a must-read so they can think again.

The roundup to the Roundup: Steel Magnolias is sometimes all you need.  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 July 22nd and July 29th) 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.