Category — Friday Blog Roundup

Oh tampon manufacturer, do you not understand how little I want to find a new tampon this late in my menstrual cycle life? I have like… what? Maybe a handful of periods left. And you are going to make me read up on tampons and test out new products? At this stage of life? I am too old for new tampons.

I was given no warning. I went to buy tampons, and there were none of my tampons. I went to a second store and third store (okay, I sent Josh to a second store and a third store)—nothing. I finally Googled said tampons and stared at the search results in disbelief. I needed to complain about the situation in real time, and I clearly still need to talk about how annoyed I am to adjust to a new tampon this late in life.

But adjust I must.

Thanks for nothing, tampon manufacturer.

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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:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Uterus Monologues has a post on motherhood after miscarriage. Wow—this insight blew me away: “When you have a baby, people are drawn to you, everybody checks in, everyone has questions (Name? Weight? How was the birth?). Whereas when you lose a pregnancy people retreat.” Yes. I also love the do’s and don’ts at the end.

Jewish IVF is at the doctor for an endometrial biopsy when a woman enters the waiting room after an ultrasound. She writes: “I saw a lady coming out from the back with an ultrasound picture in her hand. The good kind. The 5-week bubble holding an infinite amount of joy. As she was shoving other things into her purse, waiting in line to make a follow up appointment, it waved around like a flag of hope.” It’s about the silent good thoughts we think for one another.

Guinea pig mothers have to stick together. I cannot resist linking to Lucifer the guinea pig. So cute, Slaying, Blogging, Whatever.

I was glad to have a heads up about the end of Us from The Road Less Travelled. I read the book, but I don’t remember everything. It’s a hard show to watch (and a hard book to read): baby loss, marriage difficulties, and how we change over time. It’s a little easier to watch with the warning as well as her unique insight into a particularly moving scene: “What I didn’t expect was bursting into sobs near the end, when Douglas, Connie and Albie embrace in a group hug in Albie’s college dorm room … but it also hit me (as it still does, from time to time) that it was one of those moments I’ve missed out on and will never experience with my own daughter.”

The roundup to the Roundup: New tampon blues. 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 June 25 – July 2) 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.

My 15th blogoversary AND 850 (really 750—remember, the misnumbering) Roundups falling in the same week? That feels like symmetry somehow.

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I was super excited to see Us on Masterpiece. David Nicholls is a fantastic writer, and this book holds a special place in my heart because I read it in Glasgow. How often can you remember exactly where you were or what was happening when you read a book? Almost never, right? But I remember walking through Glasgow and then curling up in a chair in the hotel, reading this story about a family coming apart. The moment I heard about this production, I put it in my calendar. I was going to watch it on June 20th, come hell or high water.

And then the television stopped working. Like five minutes into the first episode.

Isn’t that what you expected to happen? I mean, I clearly didn’t, but that’s the only way this story can go.

Luckily, I have the PBS app, so I can watch the episode by plugging the phone into the television until service can be fixed. Well worth it because the director and actors did a fantastic job capturing the story and moving it from page to screen.

*******

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.

I love this post by Jewish IVF because sometimes the small wins are the biggest wins. In some ways, they’re the most important wins, and people rarely notice them. They are celebrated quietly, and this post is a reminder they should be celebrated loudly. Getting started is hard. She writes: “I’m equal parts embarrassed and proud. I’m ashamed that it took so long to actually do it … and I’m proud I finally took a step over the hump of the mental wall that was preventing me from starting.” Congratulations on jumping over the mental wall.

Much Ado About Nothing has a heartbreaking post about the aftermath of broken trust. And a second layer: “And then when I didn’t have all the pieces, instead of coming clean he made my brain work like a detective to put everything in order.” There are no good answers to her enormous questions, but we can all abide with her.

Lastly, Infertile Phoenix wrote an amazing post about building the life she wanted. All the hard steps along the way, and where she ultimately ended up. And I love this—”I thank my children every day. I had picked out a boy’s name and girl’s name and so I thank them both out loud quite often. We don’t get to be together on Earth in this lifetime, but I feel our love and their guidance as they bring me closer to myself, to others, and to my true purpose for being here: to be of service to my community.” What a gorgeous way of honouring a whole life.

The roundup to the Roundup: 15 years and 850 Roundups. Us on Masterpiece is really good. 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 June 18 – June 25) 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.

Basement school has come to an end. At least, it has come to an end for the summer. School ended with a whimper on an asynchronous day, so the kids weren’t certain they needed to be there or not. They went anyway and started their summer work until they ran out of note cards. That sort of sums up life.

Remote school has been easier in many ways and harder in others. Just like a regular school year. They are so lucky that they have technology and each other. Really, three cheers for technology—the real star of remote learning.

Though I’m sad that I can no longer stand on the basement stairs and dance like a robot off-camera during their classes. I’m sure they’re sad, too.

*******

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:

• “Relatable Words from Others” (Infertile Phoenix)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Searching for Our Silver Lining writes about how we process death, and how it leads to how we feel after a loss. “The idea that death is anything other than awful, scary and to be feared is something Western culture struggles with. Which is massively unhealthy, particularly with how it influences the grieving processes.” Instead, she uses an experience to teach her children how to grieve. They come through the death feeling everything they need to feel with support.

The Road Less Travelled is desperately seeking a vaccine in Canada. (It reminds me of February/March.) A full day of searching leaves her back at square one. Sending a hug because this process is so frustrating.

Lastly, Infertile Phoenix’s post begins: “Hearing other people’s stories is a privilege. Being there for people when they are at their most vulnerable is a big responsibility.” Yes. (Or in Jerry Maguire-speak, you had me at hello.) But it’s that final line that really hooked my heart: “I’m doing what I want. I’m living my life, not anyone else’s.” Yes, you’ll have to read the whole post to figure out how she gets from A to B.

The roundup to the Roundup: School is out for summer. 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 June 11 – June 18) 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 am totally pro-Lilibet as a name. Have always found it sweet on Queen Elizabeth II, and I love that it has found a new home. At the same time, I would truly hate it if anyone honoured me by naming their child after any of my nicknames. I’m not sure why. Maybe because personal nicknames (as opposed to common nicknames, such as Bill for William) are often affectionate and tied intimately to a moment in time and story. It’s too close to wearing someone else’s clothes… for life.

So both love it and find it sweet and would never want someone to honour me in this manner.

So… um… hands-off my nicknames. Like Smelly Melly. That one is all mine.

*******

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.

No Kidding in NZ has a beautiful post about how we leave a mark on the world through our relationships. She writes, “It seems weird to say this, but I know my cousins will mourn me, as I will mourn them. Even if what they’re really mourning is the end of those happy days of our shared childhood. That will be enough for me, I think.” I don’t think that’s weird at all. I think it’s lovely.

Perhaps death was on a lot of people’s minds this week because Scientist on the Roof also wrote about what it means to be alive. She asks: “The real question is – am I going to live life as much as I can, do things, be ALIVE? Or am I going to be, like Backman puts it, in the death’s waiting room, always waiting, always fearful?” It’s a wonderful reminder to get out of the waiting room and acknowledge how lucky we are to exist.

Lastly, Finding a Different Path is defining “okay.” She is not in a good place, and she explains: “It reminds me of the days in the throes of infertility and adoption, where I wanted to look okay from the outside but my insides didn’t match at all. Which was exhausting, and lonely.” Wishing true okayness in the future.

The roundup to the Roundup: Lilibet. 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 June 4 – June 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.

It averages out to about once per year that I skip writing the Roundup for some reason. And this week is going to be that one time this year because writing the Roundup may mentally break me today.

First and foremost, I didn’t read a lot this week because it was a shit week. Like… really shit week. And the idea of opening my feed reader right now and reading everything to find the stuff that sticks with me feels… impossible. And yet I don’t want to clear my feed reader without reading, so… I’m going to make next week’s post the one thing I bookmarked from this week as well as everything I read next week. Which will include posts written this week.

Because I can.

I know that’s a really simple, true sentence, but my brain didn’t go there immediately. It first went to the I-want-to-cry-because-I-cannot-do-this-thing-I-need-to-do-now place, and then reality kicked in and I realized that nothing would happen if I didn’t write the Roundup.

So I’m doing my work today, and then I’m mentally shutting down and practicing some version of self-care until Monday. I am going to deep breathe and go on indoor walks and read books and have a long cry. Reboot. And go back into my brain on Monday. I’ll see everyone then.