823rd Friday Blog Roundup

Chanukkah started last night. I am notorious for missing lighting the chanukkiah several nights each time the holiday rolls around. (Fun fact, all chanukkiahs are menorahs, but not all menorahs are chanukkiahs.) In my defense, you have to keep it up eight nights in a row, and keeping a streak going eight times is hard. But we’re not going anywhere, clearly, so I have zero excuse this year. It may be my first time using every single candle in the box.

The only thing I like about this holiday (it really is my least favourite holiday) are sufganiyot, which are jelly doughnuts. There are places around here that are making sufganiyot, but I can’t really justify going out for a doughnut. And I don’t make doughnuts. So we’ll skip sufganiyot this year. I don’t think anyone cares.

I’m sort of hoping that one day the twins decide they love Chanukkah, and they drag me into the spirit of celebrating it. But four people meh about Chanukkah means that we all stay meh about Chanukkah for another year.

But I will light the chanukkiah all eight nights. I think.

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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:

• “Twilight” (Infertilityhonesty)
• “A Tribute to Mrs. Patmore” (The Road Less Travelled)

Okay, now my choices this week.

I had the tribute to Mrs. Patmore by The Road Less Travelled on my list for this week. She touches on all of the people Mrs. Patmore nurtures and mothers throughout the many seasons of Downton Abbey. She’s one of our favourite characters, and I loved reliving the show through this lens. She is the heart of that kitchen, and she cares about everyone who moves through it.

The Next 15000 Days has a very tiny and sweet post about the point of the valleys of life. They make you notice those peaceful moments.

Lastly, By the Brooke writes about the day after the ten year anniversary of Eliza’s birth. She explains: “One thing about writing about grief is that it is really hard because it always seems to come out as More Than or Less Than. Even when it’s exactly what I’m feeling in the moment that I write it down, in the next moment (or the next day) it feels like Too Much or Not Enough to really describe what I’m feeling.” Yes to that. You can’t hold it or describe it because it’s too nuanced to be captured completely and conveyed to another person.

The roundup to the Roundup: Will I remember to light the chanukkiah all eight nights? 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 December 4 – 11) 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.