Category — Friday Blog Roundup

I ruined a show for myself. We started watching Mare of Easttown, and I loved the first episode. Josh commented that the SNL sketch he had seen suddenly made a lot more sense, and he showed it to me. But the sketch contained at least one spoiler, so I assumed it contained other spoilers. Like the murderer.

I was upset and decided to Google to see if the sketch contained the ending, and one of the first hits was a post that said it didn’t but the murderer was… And listed the ending. In the Google preview. So I now definitely do know the ending, one episode in.

I’m not sure what I’ll do now. I definitely wasn’t in the mood to watch it anymore that night. But maybe it’s worth watching just to see how the story unfolds?

I hate when people post or say spoilers. Especially mysteries.

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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:

• “The Odds” (March Is for Daffodils)
• “Pronatalism and Those ‘as a Parent’ Comments” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Finding a Different Path has done what we all wish we had done: Tell solicitors to take her off the “get a student loan for your child” list. Seriously. I cannot tell you how many baby product offers or formula coupons I got in the mail that were salt in the wound. Cheering her on and wishing I had thought to do the same thing.

I remember the television show The Road Less Travelled writes about. I think I saw one episode before I turned it off. I had a fertility clinic in my real life; I didn’t need a fictional one in my relaxation time. But I like the heads up because I will probably also avoid Virgin River.

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ has a post about the upcoming World Childless Week and provides links to old posts that touch on some of the topics that will be discussed during that week. So I link to one post, but you get dozens of extra links, too. Lots to read.

The roundup to the Roundup: Spoilers suck. 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 August 27 – September 3) 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.

This is the final weekend before the twins return to school for the first time in 18 months. It’s with a lot of mixed emotions. They are excited to see friends, they are nervous about the workload, and they are terrified about how the pandemic stuff will play out.

Actually, all of us are terrified about the pandemic stuff. (Their friends are awesome, and the workload is what it is.) It feels like there is a lot of stuff still up in the air, so it’s a little nerve-wracking to send them to the building when we’re told they’re still working on a mask-off-lunch plan. We are lucky that our area has a high vaccination rate and requires masks, but I still want to know how they’re going to stop the spread if everyone is eating indoors.

It’s kind of amazing how school-from-home now feels normal and school-out-of-the-home feels really strange. I will cry on Monday because I always cry on the first day of school. (And sometimes on the second, but I usually pull my shit together by the third.) But I’m glad they’re getting back together with friends and teachers. Hoping it’s a good year.

*******

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:

• “Why Is Big Media Asking Mothers to Speak for Childless Women?” (Yael Wolfe via Medium)
• “Is Taboo the Right Word Any More?” (The Uterus Monologues)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Family Building With a Twist returns with a bittersweet update post (To be fair, she warns you with the title.) about a very hard year; navigating the pandemic and losing her husband. She writes: “I try really, really hard to keep it all together, but I have also learned to let myself be vulnerable and to be seen as vulnerable.” Even if you see a person daily on Facebook, there is something different about a blog post. I’m glad she came back to talk.

Finding a Different Path has a book recommendation for anyone feeling burnout. Instead of describing the book, she pulls out some great quotes and allows the book to do the speaking. Such a great idea.

Lastly, I have The Uterus Monologue’s post about miscarriage for this week. I agree—speaking about miscarriage openly has always only been a first step. The subject is somewhere between hidden and commonplace; but her bigger question remains: “Perhaps what we need to ask ourselves isn’t so much why we aren’t talking about miscarriage, but why we aren’t listening.” Conversation has always been a place to establish this is a problem. Now we need to talk about what we’re going to do about it via science and policy.

The roundup to the Roundup: Back to school. 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 August 20 – August 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.

We finished Schmigadoon! last weekend. It has been such a bright spot of happiness this summer. I started getting texts about the show the day the first episode dropped because the main characters are named Melissa and Josh, which seems as good a reason as any to start watching a show. But it quickly became a family ritual to re-watch the previous episode each Thursday night and the new episode each Friday night.

After we watched the final episode, ChickieNob and I bought all of the music and turned it into a playlist because each episode got its own album. (That was kind of annoying.) I moved Cinco Paul singing, “To the Right” to the end of the list because it didn’t fit with the rest of the music. (ChickieNob added the song because it made her laugh.) It is nice to have this thing that makes me feel happy whenever I listen to it.

My two favourite songs are “With All of Your Heart” and “Tribulation,” but all of them are so good.

*******

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.

*******

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:

• “#MoreHarriets (please!)” (The Road Less Travelled)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Anabegins pretty much sums up the feeling of this summer. She writes: “I’ve been sensing an undercurrent of despair throughout my virtual and real life social circles. I feel it too. It started slow & behind the scenes and is now full-force, doom spiral level that I have to consciously decide to push aside so I can get through this hour, this day, this LIFE.” And how we all need a good wallow to get through this.

Cup of Jo also touches on the reality of this summer. She writes, “It was so weird that we all thought we would have one shared experience, but instead ended up having a completely different one, all together.” So true.

I also liked The Road Less Travelled’s post about #MoreHarriets, which is “about the importance of childless/free role models, and the importance of representation in life choices generally.” Go over to read the quotes she pulled out.

Lastly, Jewish IVF is starting FET #8 and found an error in the protocol. She explains: “I took out my notes from 2019 and confirmed that I’m right. Then I went back to the blog post where I wrote even more notes, and confirmed again.” The conversation turned up another error, and the timeline needed to be reworked. It’s a team approach with multiple sets of eyes on the cycle. And a good reminder to take notes and use your blog as a backup note space.

The roundup to the Roundup: Schmigadoon! 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 August 13 – August 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.

We celebrated Beorn’s first birthday last weekend. We gave him the whole weekend because it’s not every day that your best friend turns one. We kicked off the festivities with a croissants and coffee breakfast in his honour on Saturday morning, and ended the two-day party with a watermelon “cake” (chocolate chip cookies for the humans) and blowing out the candle. We made the wish on his behalf.

I think he had a good time. He definitely enjoyed the extra treats. He always gets all of the attention anyway, so it was hard for him to distinguish what was normal excessive attention and cooing and what was birthday excessive attention and cooing.

Look at that face!

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It’s Friday the 13th. I don’t know why I have a compulsion to always type that whenever the Roundup coincides with Friday the 13th. As you were.

*******

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.

*******

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:

• None… sniff…

Okay, now my choices this week.

Pocobrat has a short poem that I love. Time running away, indeed. Maybe I also connected with the meme embedded with it.

A Blank New Page has started a blog. She begins: “When we got married, my husband and I talked about the possibility of not being able to become a parent. What a weird and hypothetical thought.” And I love this phrasing: “facing a blank new page in my life … It scares me because I have to decide myself which way to go, what role I want to take in life, I have to define for myself what it means to be a woman.” Scary but also amazing. And I can’t wait to read this blog and see the page fill up.

Bereaved and Blessed writes about a family tradition of giving a painting to mark a moment. I think this is brilliant, especially as someone who does not like to receive actual flowers. She writes, “The Monet, along with two other fine art prints that my parents gave us, to celebrate Molly and Abby’s births, also have been a wonderful reminder of my Mom and Dad’s love and generosity.” But the best surprise is what happens when she shows up at her new job. Love this post.

Lastly, Infertile Phoenix has a hard day around a lot of children at a work event, but she locates the source for the pain. She explains, “It’s not the kids. It’s never the kids. … It’s the moms. It’s my sadness that I never got to be a mom and never got to have mom friends. It’s the camaraderie that I will never share.” The post is deep insights from a hard day.

The roundup to the Roundup: Beorn’s birthday. Friday the 13th. 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 August 6 – August 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.

Our county has returned to its mask mandate. Most of us never stopped wearing masks, so the news was met with more of a shrug than anything else. Last week, we wore masks by choice. This week, we wear masks because we’re told to wear masks. In the end, we wear masks.

But here is the thing: No one can tell that you are slowly eating a Wilhelmina mint behind that mask. It’s just your delicious, little secret.

Secret mint consumers, unite.

*******

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.

*******

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:

• “No Shame in Stepping Away” (Finding a Different Path)
• “New Rooms” (The Next 15000 Days)

Okay, now my choices this week.

No Kidding in NZ recounts a conversation she had with someone asking why she didn’t have kids. She writes: “In glorious hindsight, as I write this, I wish I’d just said that it doesn’t really matter whether I wanted children or not, because the outcome is the same.” It’s the push and pull between how much you tell, especially with someone you don’t know well.

Lastly, Infertile Phoenix ties together infertility and the pandemic, reminding people of everything they knew 18 months into infertility and how we can apply that to the exhaustion we’re feeling 18 month into COVID-19. There are a lot of similarities in the two events: “I felt lonely, sad, confused, frustrated, devastated, and angry. I was isolated from my peer group.” So true—and it won’t be like this forever. In some still-unknown way, it will be different.

The roundup to the Roundup: The masks that never left are back. 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 30 – August 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.