Last Friday, we added a new member to our family.

Quentin Aeneas Chamisha is 5 1/2 weeks old; a very talkative, mellow tri-colour Teddy guinea pig. We brought him home last weekend, and he immediately started running around his cage, jumping from hay bowl to food dish to vegetables to toys, excitedly chattering as he checked out each item again and again.

He’s a little skittish because he’s a baby, but he’s slowly understanding the routines and has stopped jumping with every sound. He loves cuddling 100% of the time, though he’ll nip you or tug on your shirt if he needs to get down to pee.

His name. Quentin means five or fifth, and he came to our family in the fifth month and is our fifth family pet. His second middle name — Chamisha — means the same thing (five), and we usually call him Mish-Mesh (which means “apricot,” but sounds like that middle name). His first middle name, Aeneas, comes from Greek and Roman mythology/poetry, just because we like it.

It is hard not to have Beorn, and I often accidentally call Quentin “Beorn,” but we love Quentin in his own right. And it’s nice to have a baby again.

I thought this was a very lovely list, and I recently used it to get over some bruised feelings and then passed it along to someone else going through a disappointment. I think if the goal is to get through the bad feelings and enter into a better emotional space, this list is perfect. If the goal is to fix the situation, prove you were right, or go back in time and do something else, this list will not help.

So go in with just the goal to feel better.

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

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Rebecca Solnit had a piece in the Guardian on climate change, but I think the dek applies to all news right now: “So much is happening, both wonderful and terrible – and it matters how we tell it. We can’t erase the bad news, but to ignore the good is the route to indifference or despair.”

The problem is outlined in the first paragraph: “We are hemmed in by stories that prevent us from seeing, or believing in, or acting on the possibilities for change.”

I went from not reading opinion pieces to sticking to heds and deks for news coverage to taking nights skipping the news entirely, beyond email alerts, because it felt like all bad news. And while Solnit is correct, we cannot erase the bad news, she is also correct that we cannot leave people in a perpetual state of hopelessness. Celebrating the small wins, highlighting the work that can be done, spotlighting people making a difference helps balance out the reality of those other stories. Because I think Harvey Milk had it right when we think about the power of hope to drive change.

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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.

Many years ago, to streamline packing for trips, I drafted a master packing list. The list contains everything I need for any kind of trip, and it even includes things I commonly have with me as a reminder to check my purse before we leave on a trip. (Hello, Tylenol refill, I’m thinking of you.)

Before each trip, I duplicate the list and remove anything not needed for that particular trip. For instance, my passport and boarding pass if we’re not flying. I go through the clothing section of the list, putting in specific amounts for socks or a sweater I want to remember to pack.

Everything else is collected together, and then, as I place the item into the bag, it gets crossed off the list. This all began when I forgot to pack pants and socks on two separate trips.

The master list changes over time. If I wish I had something on one trip, I add it to the list immediately so I don’t forget it on the next one. Life changes and the beach toys were removed from the list while masks and hand sanitizer were added post-COVID.

If you don’t have a master list, start making one today. Maybe it will help you get organized for your next trip.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids [near home dwelling]
And everyone telling you be of good cheer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year

Apologies to whoever wrote that song, but the most wonderful time of the year is summer because the kids are almost home for three months. I can bother them and smoosh them and make them go on ice cream road trips with me.

I really love having the kids close by. And while I know August will be hard as the summer winds down, right now, we’re on the cusp of it starting. So only blue skies.

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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:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Scientist on the Roof writes about not connecting with a story. I’ve been going through this a lot lately — though it rarely happened before — where I start a book, and I’m even enjoying a book, but I cannot connect with the book. When that happens, I move it back to the TBR. I wonder if there is something about the news cycle and the state of the world that is causing this to happen more than usual. I agree with her: “I do firmly believe that, for maximum impact, you have to read a book at the right time.”

Lastly, The Road Less Travelled marks 50 years since she lost her grandmother. If we count birthdays, it makes sense to count deathdays. She explains, “This was my first real experience with the death of a person close to me.” Sending a hug for a hard anniversary.

The roundup to the Roundup: Kids are almost home. 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 9 – May 16) 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.