Category — Friday Blog Roundup

I’m not a big shopper this time of year — we don’t have gifts to buy — but I normally love to browse the book deals on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday. I almost always find something on my TBR. I keep a spreadsheet of every book purchase (of course, I do), and so many of them take place in late November or December.

But this year, there was nothing. I mean, there literally wasn’t a special one-day flash sale. There were just the sale books that had been the sale books all week, just like every other week. The e-book dealers (at least in the US) skipped the big sale weekend.

I mostly buy physical books rather than e-books, so maybe it’s just as well. But it was a bit of a bummer. Even when I don’t buy anything, I like the lists to see what books make it on.

*******

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.

The Next 15,000 Days posted her Christmas wish, and it’s super simple to give it. You just have to send her an email. Tell her about yourself. Anything you want. Where you’re from, whether you read her blog, what you’re looking forward to this year. It’s the season of connection.

A day or two late reading this, but Middle Girl jumps back through the decades, starting with age 7 because she is currently 57. In little snippets, she talks about one thing she remembers from each decade. It’s a lovely exercise to look back on what was occupying your heart at various stage of life.

The roundup to the Roundup: Where did the book sales go? 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 November 28 – Dec 5) 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 a good week because the kids came home and I could smoosh them in person. I love it when they’re here, and Quentin is beside himself with excitement.

It’s so hard anticipating that they’re going again in a few days because it’s so hard when they go.

I’m happy that they’ll be home again a few weeks later for winter break. But it doesn’t make the leaving any easier for me.

*******

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:

• “Hope vs. Optimism” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Whoa! Infertile Phoenix moved a very far distance. I love this: “But it is done and I am proud. I saved myself once again. I saw what wasn’t working. I saw the direction things were headed, and I made major changes. Did I want to do all of that work? Not at all. Not any of it. But I did it anyway.” There is a lot of power in saving yourself and making things happen.

Lastly, Finding a Different Path explains how she can instantly recall the age of her sofa because they were “part of our ‘things we can have because we’ll never have children’ campaign.” It’s funny how we can date things through these random associations. The simple objects that we see in other people’s homes can carry enormous stories.

The roundup to the Roundup: Good break. 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 November 21 – 28) 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 hotel we stay at has horses on the property. We parked facing the corral, and when we went to our car after we checked out, a horse was standing in front of our car, patiently waiting for us on the other side of the low fence. It motioned with its head to one of the treat boxes.

“We have to give it treats,” I told Josh.

There are about six of these treat boxes attached to the corral fence, and you can purchase a handful of treats from what looks like a gumball machine for a quarter. The first machine was broken, but the horse slowly followed us around the corral until we found a working machine. We placed the treats in the nearest box, and it happily started eating.

But the sounds of the treats hitting the wooden box brought over other horses. No worries. Our horse patiently motioned with its head to the next box over. We bought more treats, dropped them into the new box, and it happily went back to eating. Except that the other horses soon joined our horse. No worries again. Our horse patiently sighed and motioned to the next box with its head. We followed it three times.

Horses are so smart.

*******

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.

The Road Less Travelled talks about attending a six-year-old’s birthday party. She writes: “If you had told me, 27 years ago this month (and still reeling from heartbreak of pregnancy loss), that 27 years later I would find myself in a party room at a retro video game arcade, surrounded by some 20 excited kids aged 6 and under, plus their young parents — and even having some fun while doing it — I never would have believed you.” Life takes funny twists and turns, and we never completely know what we’ll feel until we’re feeling it. A great reminder. (And sending a lot of good thoughts that the Purell took care of everything else.)

Lastly, on the topic of not knowing how something will go until you’re going through it, All & Sundry writes about how divorce (and this year, in general) is different from what she expected. I love this: “And this is life, it unfolds the way it does against our wishes sometimes. I can’t change what is so I have to work with it. There are a lot of wonderful things going on and I have to lean into gratitude while still feeling the grief.” Sending a big hug.

The roundup to the Roundup: Smart horses. 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 November 14 – 21) 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.

Guess who is phasing out of baby food? Quentin Aeneas is now a big boy, and we’re weaning him onto adult food. He likes it because Quentin pretty much likes everything with the exception of birds. He passionately hates birds and still growls whenever he hears one, which is about 30 times per day. And then he looks at me as if to say, “Am I wrong?” And I respond, “I know. Birds are the worst.”

He still loves Josh so much and gets excited when he comes home. Bedtime is the best. That makes him so excited that he has to popcorn around in a circle and yank all of his hay out of his bowl. Just because. And then run through it because there is that much joy in his heart.

He is super patient when I’m doing yoga, and though he often talks to himself, he never begs for his vitamin C cookie until I’m finished and closed the iPad. He loves the weekend when we share an apple for breakfast. And while he will eat carrots, peppers, and cucumber on his own, he likes an audience when he eats lettuce, and he’ll sometimes wait until I can sit down with him to begin eating, even if it means waiting a long time.

But best of all, he loves having his head rubbed, and he finally does what I loved so much about Beorn: He rests his head in my palm while I stroke between his eyes. I love to watch him get blissed out and then become so happy that he has to run around in a circle to let it all out.

Be yourself, Quentin!

*******

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:

• “On the Road with Those Who Get It” (The Next 15000 Days)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Another blogging milestone. No Kidding in NZ reached 15 years of blogging. I love this thought: “Thanks for reading, being here, writing in parallel on your own blogs, being part of my No Kidding life. I’m not sure how much longer I will continue, as blogs seem to fall out of favour, and readers dwindle. But if I can reach one new person, it’s worth continuing.” It is about reaching one person at a time. And very happy to be one of those people who have learned from you.

Lastly, Middle Girl writes about meeting up with her cousin, whom she hadn’t seen in decades due to divorce. She explains: “While we are close in age, we have people and experiences in common, the second half of our childhoods and a large chunk of our adulthoods were spent in separate worlds. Her memories and my memories did not align.” It’s a story with a bit of a twist, and it brings out thoughts on family and the meaning of those ties.

The roundup to the Roundup: Eternally happy Quentin Aeneas. 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 November 7 – 14) 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.

A long time ago, especially when the kids were little, I loved switching the clock back in the fall. Spring was awful, but we got an extra hour of sleep in the fall. Not on Sunday — on Sunday, they would wake up at their normal time. But on Monday, they would sleep in. And by Tuesday, we would all be adjusted to the new time.

That is not what happens to my body anymore. Sunday morning is fine. By Sunday evening, I’m exhausted at a ridiculously early hour according to the clock. So it says 10 pm, but my body thinks it is 11 pm, so I am falling apart. This continues on longer and longer into the week. This year, I was still struggling with the time change on Wednesday. Wednesday! Or maybe I notice it more than I do when I travel because we do not have the distraction of seeing and doing new things.

In any case, not a fan of time changes anymore. 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:

• “Where Do I Belong?” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Road Less Travelled’s blog is now an adult. She writes, “18 years ago tonight, after the last trick-or-treater departed and we turned out the porch light, I hit ‘post’ on my very first entry here.” Go over and congratulate her on hitting the milestone.

Scientist on the Roof asks about splurge dreams, what task you would hire out if you had disposable income. I’ve solved the personal stylist thing by buying 20 of the same shirt. You never have to think of what you wear when you only have one look 🙂 It made me think about my splurge dream, and it would probably be a personal assistant to make the phone calls I don’t want to make or take care of tasks that always seem to linger on my to do list. It’s fun to think about.

Lastly, Jewish IVF had bad news both before and during her beta. She writes about this end of an era: “Unlike all the other failed transfers, I can’t comfort myself with a resolve to try again soon. This was our last embryo and there are no more chances.” Sending a huge hug.

The roundup to the Roundup: Not great at falling 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 October 31 – November 7) 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.