This blog is officially an adult on Friday.

When I started writing it, I thought it would be amazing if I could keep it going for a year or two. But I kept it going for 18 years — 5 posts per week, every week, with very few exceptions.

Building on last year’s post, there are now over 5,700 posts and over 85,000 comments. I cannot begin to calculate how many hours have been spent on this space. I have been writing this blog for 36% of my life. For 90% of the twins’ lives.

I am so grateful to everyone who reads it — for the relationships I built over these 18 years. For the voices who have come and gone (and sometimes come back again). Thank you. For being here.

I felt so many feelings reading this New York Times article on hanging out with friends as an adult. That used to be the activity — the request. “Do you want to come over and hang out?” But now it’s going to dinner or seeing a show or going on a walk.

When you’re a kid with limited funds and modes of transport, hanging out with friends feels natural. But adults are often used to doing scheduled activities with one another … “Often, we don’t think something is beneficial unless it’s productive.”

I also like the idea suggested in the article of meeting on a park bench, creating a neutral third space where people can arrive and leave whenever they need.

I miss long afternoons on someone’s sofa, doing our homework, talking, and just… well… hanging out.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I love finding old emails when I’m searching for something, and this substack reminded me of the pure pleasure that comes from re-reading old thoughts. If you haven’t excavated your Gmail account recently, follow their instructions, search for a term or phrase, and see what pops up. It’s as good as the memories feature on Facebook for bringing you back to the moment.

P.S. Go down to section V in the substack for their recommendations/instructions for search.

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

After celebrating my birthday for the past three weekends, it felt selfish not to set aside a single weekend for Josh. I am not a man, and I am not in his head, but it seems like there are many fewer complicated feelings about Father’s Day than there are about Mother’s Day, which is lovely if it’s true. I’d like him to have an uncomplicated, relaxing day of appreciation because I really appreciate Josh and told him so in a card.

We are a card family. Cards are the highest form of gift you can give, and they must be homemade. The front is a picture — either a visual depiction of an inside joke or a heartfelt reminder of something important to the receiver — and the inside is a long message stating in no uncertain terms how much you mean to the other person.

I keep all of mine.

And sometimes re-read them when I need them.

That’s what we’re doing today.

At some point, my Facebook header disappeared, though I don’t know when because you don’t often go onto your own page (vs. read your feed). That picture was from the Harry Potter set; it had been up there since the kids were eight. It’s still on my phone, but as I scrolled to get it, I passed a picture of myself talking to a raven named Branwen, and I decided to use it instead.

I was surprised by people’s reactions to the picture, and the only explanation I have is that we secretly all love birds.

The picture is part of a set of seven or so photos in which I am animatedly conversing with Branwen, inviting her to return to the US with us, where I promised her many Corvidae friends. She did not take us up on our offer. When we returned to the Tower of London a year later, she would not leave her sunny patch of grass on the other side of a barrier and say hello despite my best efforts to coax her into a second conversation.

A sad tale of unrequited bird love.

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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:

• “Plans Change, So Let Us Thrive” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

I loved this story from Finding a Different Path about what she found while clearing out her yard. “Where did these lovelies come from? And how did they end up in a very bizarre, hidden, out-of-the-way area? It was a moment where I was dumping detritus, and BOOM! Gorgeous hidden treasure.” Click over to see the gorgeous pictures.

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ looks back on the early years, and muses on how remembering it is different from living it. She writes: “I can and do remember that without pain – which is, if you might recall, how I define ‘getting over it’.” Those moments never leave you, even if the pain itself changes from sensory to a memory.

The roundup to the Roundup: We are all secret bird lovers. 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 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.