Category — Friday Blog Roundup

Every time you think the world is a dumpster fire and humans are awful awful awful, you see a news story that spins your brain 180 degrees. (I mean, not literally. That would be horrific! Your brain spinning in your skull.)

Apple announced new features coming to iOS including door detection: “Door Detection can help users locate a door upon arriving at a new destination, understand how far they are from it, and describe door attributes — including if it is open or closed, and when it’s closed, whether it can be opened by pushing, turning a knob, or pulling a handle. Door Detection can also read signs and symbols around the door, like the room number at an office, or the presence of an accessible entrance symbol.”

THIS IS AN AMAZING WORLD.

Or live captions, which generates captions in real time that are on the device. So it can tell you what people are saying in a Zoom call or FaceTime call. Or you can use it if you’re sitting in the same room having a conversation. Do you know how life-changing this will be?

People — they’re awful awful awful but sometimes they invent really amazing things.

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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.

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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:

• “Apparently Friday the 13th Isn’t an Unlucky Day At All” (InStyle)
• “I’m Retiring from Aunthood” (Yael Wolfe)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Grumpy Rumblings shares a post they wrote a long time ago that is still relevant today: the idea of doing something vs. doing more. They explain it as: “People who do something small sometimes get yelled at for not trying to reform an entire system.” If you can’t do everything and fix the entire problem in one fell swoop, then what you did do was worthless. Or worth less.

Bio Girl writes a letter to her son as he enters the teen years. The Internet is amazing because we get to see people grow up and change. In our corner of the blogosphere, we often hear more about life before birth — we know the hope that goes into building the family — so I love hearing about that life continuing. And this line made me weepy: “So whatever your age, I love you in that moment – and I ache, just a little, for all those moments past with my very favorite person. So if I try to pick you up today, just let me – so I can believe I can still hold you, if I really tried.” Yes to life moving too quickly.

Lastly, I love Infertile Phoenix being grateful for what she is not doing — moving. She begins: “I’m. Not. Moving!!! My boyfriend reminded me of this today as we were not packing. I have moved five times in the last six years.” Home is a place and a feeling. I like the twist on the saying.

The roundup to the Roundup: People invent amazing things. 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 13 – May 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.

It’s Friday the 13th. I have no clue why I need to say that every time the Roundup coincides with Friday the 13th. As you were.

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The twins finally finished exams. They were pretty giddy by the time the final one rolled around. It was one they had together, so they studied at the same time. I snuck into the ChickieNob’s room to take a surprise photo, which is apparently “annoying” and “distracting.” But they ignored me and allowed me to take a less blurry one of them studying together because they also know that I’m pretty much a mess about them leaving in a year.

The Wolvog had to make a game for the portfolio section of one of his exams, and it’s so much freakin’ fun. It’s a geography game, and I’m terrible at it. But I love playing it while I cook dinner and announcing my low score to everyone. He told me he would put the game online once he gets his grade back.

It feels like everything is speeding up.

*******

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:

• “We Thought You Were Done With It” (A Blank New Page)
• “The Route to Madness” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

PocoBrat has a post about the Mother’s Day blues; how she feels about this holiday that keeps rolling around on the calendar, year after year. She writes: “For one thing, I did not grow up with this holiday although it is now widely celebrated in India too. And then, I always think the apostrophe should go over the plural version—it feels more inclusive and more in keeping with the socialist and anti-war origins of the day.” It’s a holiday that comes with a lot of baggage.

Hopelessly Infertile and Surrounded by Fertiles also writes about Mother’s Day. She points out that it has grown in size over the years. “I can handle Mother’s Day. One.Day.Of.Mothers.Day. What I find much more challenging was this year’s three day Mothers Day weekend extravaganza.” I also found that Monday became a fourth day, with people asking about Mother’s Day. Without end, indeed.

Lastly, JewishIVF talks about her pregnancy and these last days before the birth. I definitely identified with this: “I might also be channeling my anxiety about everything coming up toward this particular worry – hoping everyone is safe and healthy and that everything goes smoothly with an easy recovery.” Yes, to all of that, may it be an easy delivery and happy first days.

The roundup to the Roundup: Friday the 13th. Exams finished. 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 6 – May 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.

It feels a tad on the nose to leak an abortion ruling on the same week as Mother’s Day. (Congratulations, ladies! We’re forcing you into motherhood if you get pregnant!”) But… here’s the thing. We knew this was going to happen. We knew it was going to happen because a ruling was coming this summer, and all signs pointed to this outcome. We knew it was happening when the Court skewed heavily right due to Trump pushing through Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination and confirmation. I mean, even without knowing the future, we knew this was a strong possibility when Trump moved into office. So I’m not shocked. Sad, of course, frustrated, angry, worried. But not shocked at all.

*******

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.

Cup of Jo has an essay about infertility with a line that hits home: “I saw my gynecologist. She checked for cysts with an ultrasound but found none, told me spotting was common, and said to return in six months if I still wasn’t pregnant. I knew she was wrong, though I wanted her to be right. I wanted everything to be fine so I could have our baby.” Almost every single one of us has a story of “I knew something was wrong, but I was told just to wait.” But what I related to was that idea that we want our doctor to be right. We want that waiting to fix something. There is so much I love about this essay, especially the ending. It isn’t what you expect, and I’m grateful she left the story open.

Lastly, not an IF-related story, but one that resonated deeply. Inkle is a game studio, best known for their game 80 Days. They have a new game out called A Highland Song. They wrote this week about storytelling through letters that applies deeply to blog writing and the comment box. And I love this: “A Highland Song is always going to be a game about being on your own, in a place much bigger than you for which you’re ill-prepared. But even if you’re alone, you don’t need to be lonely. We all carry a universe of voices inside our heads, and there’s plenty to explore inside, as well as out.” Gorgeous.

The roundup to the Roundup: Sad but not surprised. 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 29 – May 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.

I have already completed my arc from excited (a puzzle game!) to not excited (oh… this is feeling like work), so we’re not joining along. But in case YOU were looking for something to do because there are only so many Wordle spinoffs one can play daily, A.J. Jacobs has released a puzzle hunt.

Tell me if you try it. We got stuck on the passphrase and then distracted by more library holds coming in.

*******

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:

• “Telling an Infertile Person You’re Pregnant” (Finding a Different Path)
• “How To Tell Someone You’re Pregnant” (Stirrup Queens) — thanks, Mali!

Okay, now my choices this week.

This brings up one of my favorite things that happened once upon a time on blogs. One person would post something, and then response posts would pop up on other people’s blogs. And you could jump around the internet, reading different points of view. So on that note…

Finding a Different Path has a post about how to tell someone infertile you’re pregnant. She has examples of the best way and the worst way, pulling from the various ways she has been given news over the years. The “worst way” is… awful. Plus I love this advice: “Have a hypothetical conversation — ‘how would you want me to tell you my news?’ — ahead of time.”

Aaaaaand… No Kidding in NZ riffed on the same topic, but covering slightly different ground: the feelings that bubble up after the fact. She writes, “People who should know better judge us, even if we react perfectly decently. (See Jess’s post for an example of this.) We judge ourselves too, sometimes even more harshly.” And ooooof, her worst one is awful, too.

Kveller has a piece about how the mikveh fits in with infertility. This may be too niche a topic, but it resonated a lot with me. Infertility wasn’t my first time going to the mikveh, but it was definitely a point of return. And she describes it perfectly: it’s a resetting.

Lastly, The Road Less Travelled reminds us in a roundup of news that it’s National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). Which I had forgotten, even though I clearly haven’t forgotten infertility. This is the only mention I’ve seen of it this week. Which feels odd.

The roundup to the Roundup: Go hunt some puzzles. 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 22 – April 29) 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.

COVID cases are on the rise, which means it must be time to get rid of masks. Amirite? Especially in small, enclosed spaces such as cars and buses and planes. We can use those forms of transportation to get to other small, enclosed spaces, such as bars, where we can all hang out, maskless, and lament how COVID cases on the rise. Whatever should we do?

If Year 1 was scary and Year 2 was frustrated, Year 3 of the pandemic feels ridiculous. We know what works. We know what we need to do to keep cases down and continue with — for the most part — normal life. And yet we seem incapable of doing what we know works. We’re like toddlers screaming that we’re not tired while we have a meltdown and fall asleep on the floor.

Luckily, one-way masking still works, even if its effectiveness is reduced. I’m keeping my mask on — for myself, for the immunocompromised, for the people who can’t or are too young to get a vaccine.

*******

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.

Finding a Different Path makes a surprising connection with a student’s parent. It was a great conversation about infertility and adoption, and she ends with this thought: “It was a moment that left me feeling connected and understood. Our experiences were different, but with a thread of commonality.” Here is to the connections we make along the way.

A Separate Life muses on a line in Richard Osman’s book about how we once knew each other’s handwriting. Yes! It’s a strange thing to miss, but I knew all of my friends and family member’s handwriting. That number has shrunk considerably. There are still people whose handwriting I can identify, but for most of the people I interact with on a regular basis, I have no clue what their handwriting looks like.

Lastly, I held this over from the missing Roundup: Bereaved and Blessed breaks down 15 years of blogging with each year’s defining word. It’s an amazing look back at a writing life, and it would be fun to retroactively return to each year and figure out the overriding feeling of your own posts. Congratulations on reaching a huge blogging milestone.

The roundup to the Roundup: Thankful for masks. 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 8 – April 22) 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.