Category — Friday Blog Roundup

If you peruse the “guinea pig tricks” online forums as I do because MY PIG IS A BRILLIANT, PUZZLE-SOLVING MACHINE, you know that pea flakes are one of the tools you use to train your pig to be an adorable, curious, trick-performing lump of pure love. Pea flakes are dehydrated, flat peas, and other guinea pig parents promised that they were catnip for pigs.

The bag with the best label art at Chewy only came in an 8-ounce size. Not a problem. Our pig was going to love these flakes, and we were going to be thrilled that we had a stash of flakes equivalent to about 6 bags of dehydrated blueberries at Trader Joe’s.

I couldn’t wait to open the bag when it arrived. I had talked about these pea flakes with Quentin nonstop. I had to deliver the goods.

He hated them. Absolutely hated them. Took them in his mouth and buried them in his bedding and then urinated on them. I tried breaking them into smaller bits (hard to do because they’re already tiny) and mixing them with his dried food. He ate around them and then dumped out the remaining flake dust on the ground. I even pretended to eat one while I said, “Mmmmmm, this is great people food.” But the pig refused to try it. He liked taking them in his mouth, allowing them to dangle from his lips, and then dropping them. Just to waste them.

I’m glad we committed to housing a mountain of pea flakes.

*******

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.

In Search of Motherhood broke my heart (which was, admittedly, already broken, too) with her post about a lie we tell our kids. She writes: “Tomorrow I will lie to my children. I will tell them that they are safe, that the terrorist attack can’t happen at our shul or at their Jewish day school, that our security is tops.” It is on my mind every single day, and it is exhausting and depressing.

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ writes about a book from one of my favourite authors — David Nicholls. It is admittedly in third place, but third place David Nicholls is eons beyond other writers. She writes, “How nice to see ourselves reflected in a book in a calm, non-histrionic way, when childlessness was not the central feature of the book, but it was a very present, talked about, and acknowledged feature that contributed to the richness of the characters and story.” You Are Here is a great book if you’re looking for something that will transport you (and maybe transform you?)

The roundup to the Roundup: Quentin rejects pea flakes. 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 March 13 – March 20) 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 need to make a note for myself for next year: my body has a hard time adjusting to whatever we call the time change last weekend. The beginning of daylight savings? The end? I am a little fuzzy on the details.

I’m fine in the fall. (Is that the end? The beginning?) I take my extra hour of sleep and run with it. But spring is a different story.

I am fine on Saturday into Sunday when we lose an hour. But I wake up ten or more times per night from Sunday into Monday. I wake up a handful of times from Monday into Tuesday. And I’m usually okay-ish by Wednesday. But those two days are brutal for sleep, regardless of what time I go to bed.

This makes no sense because I have an easier time handling time changes when we travel than I do the spring time change. It’s just one hour. How could my body possibly know the difference when there is a wide range of times that I go to sleep or wake up?

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As always, when it’s Friday the 13th, I say that it’s Friday the 13th. It’s Friday the 13th.

*******

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:

• “Snowflakes Bouquets” (The Next 15000 Days)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Road Less Travelled has a post about holding her tongue. When her nephew’s wife tells the story about a high-risk pregnancy in her family. She writes: “I don’t want to be the dark shadow, the voice of doom. And so often, these things DO turn out all right. Most people do get their ultimate happy ending. But I’m living proof that sometimes (more often than most people think or want to imagine) they don’t.” It is hard to hold that balance. Sending good thoughts to the whole family.

Lastly, on the same theme, All & Sundry talks about the questions that open the door to conversations you don’t necessarily want to have, and how those answers grow easier with time. She explains: “At first it felt too intimate somehow, like I was letting someone have a real good look at a fresh wound and having to be like, Oh no it’s fine! … Now it just feels like a fact of me, like having brown eyes and three tattoos and preferring whole milk to skim. Also I am divorced, and I live alone.” Go for the profound thoughts. Stay for the kitten stories.

The roundup to the Roundup: Daylight savings woes. 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 March 6 – March 13) 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.

Every night, I sum up my day in one sentence in my bullet journal. I have a separate one for work, so I try to keep it about non-work things. But because work takes up such a large chunk of the day, I sometimes stare off into space, trying to think of something remarkable to put in that space.

Each notebook spans one or two years, so sometimes when I’m stuck, I’ll peek back and see what I wrote on that day the year before. That happened this week, and I realized it had been almost one year since I lost Beorn. March 2025 was marked by vet appointments, worry, small wins, and big setbacks. He died in April.

I miss his furry face every day. Quentin has a very different personality, and I love that personality, but Beorn was my pandemic pig. He was cautious and quirky. He was my best companion.

My heart hurts when I think about it too much.

*******

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:

• “Twenty Years Since the Glacier Taught Us to Breathe Again” (The Next 15000 Days)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Finding a Different Path is going glamping. The post is about the vacation, but it’s also about finding and trying something new that fits who you are and stretches you into new spaces. This made me laugh: “It’s something different, but not too scary. It sounds like all the best parts of being in the woods and being in a fancy hotel. I’m excited to try the least rugged camping ever.” Have a great trip!

Lastly, The Road Less Travelled writes about being childless and motherless. It’s a very moving post. She writes: “Mom’s funeral reminded me of just how precious it is to be surrounded by people who share your memories and experiences… not just parents and children and siblings, but extended family members and friends too.” She give me a lot to think about, and I’m holding her in my heart.

The roundup to the Roundup: Almost a full year without Beorn. 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 February 27 – March 6) 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.

Purim crept up on me this year. When the kids were little, I started Purim planning and baking by January. But we stopped our big baking sprees during the pandemic, and now it’s just two kinds of cookies baked over one weekend. Apparently, this weekend. I just didn’t know until I turned the calendar and saw, “Oh, I should get on that.”

It’s natural for things to ebb and flow, to be super important at one point in your life and less important at others. But there is something bittersweet about seeing something that once took up a lot of my mental bandwidth between winter and spring shrink down in size. On one hand, it leaves me with more time to bother the guinea pig and teach him new tricks. On the other hand, I miss the chaos of packing dozens of boxes with treats.

Happy Purim next week if you celebrate.

*******

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:

• “Lichtblicke” (Elaine ohne Kind)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Woulda Coulda Shoulda is back with an update. There is a lot of illness dealt with in the post, but her words stayed with me for the story about the hairdryer towards the end. Especially this: “Believe me when I tell you that I had examined the handle and the intake multiple times, always concluding it must be immovable, always following that conclusion with a hearty round of self-flagellation for my inability to FIX IT. It may not be a sign from the universe—or maybe it is; I rule out nothing at this point—but I just couldn’t see the solution, until I did.” May accessible solutions reveal themselves for all problems.

Lastly, I deeply appreciated A Separate Life’s breakdown of cruising — its pros and cons. I have never been on a cruise, and it was helpful to see it written out in this way to judge whether cruising is for me. So many people just say, “Go, you’ll love it!” but what they mean is that they love it. And this was helpful for a person to judge whether they would love it. So thank you.

The roundup to the Roundup: Purim baking this weekend. 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 February 20 – 27) 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.

Every afternoon or evening, I walk indoors and watch 20 minutes of The Crown. I’ve been doing this since the beginning of the pandemic, though it hasn’t always been The Crown on a continual loop. I’ve watched muted first-person walking videos on YouTube and listened to audiobooks. I’ve watched documentaries. But for the most part, it has been either all six seasons of The Crown, sometimes interspersed with the single season of One Day.

I am in the final episode of the final season of The Crown, and it’s time to make a decision. Do I jump back to the beginning and watch a young Elizabeth age over the next few months? Or do I pause and mentally jump back to college with the start of One Day? I’m going to have to make a decision this afternoon.

I don’t know what I’ll pick. I guess it will become a walk-time decision.

Is there anything you continuously rewatch?

*******

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 has a post about managing your boundaries and energy, something I am terrible at doing and often feel frustrated with myself over. These words made me feel less alone: “But it’s really hard when there are several active crisis rings in my life, and I’m at a different place in each of them. As are my family and friends. There are no rules or maps for navigating that. And no extra spoon/energy allocations for any of us.” I’m sending a hug but also a big thank you for voicing this.

Lastly, the Barreness talks about feelings around a complicated situation. What happens after a death when you were estranged from the person? When that person stands for things you find abhorrent? She writes: “Short term: We give. We continue to give and give as that is what makes sense to us. Kindness and love.” It’s a hard situation, and as she says, they are muddling through.

The roundup to the Roundup: The joy of rewatching something. 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 February 13 – 20) 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.