Things never go how you imagine while sitting on the sofa at home. I assumed that prom shopping would be a heinous experience, moving from store to store and ending up with disappointing clothing for too much money worn once and then moved to the back of the closet to be forgotten for the next ten years.

Until we sell it in a garage sale.

But what happened was that we looked at some dresses online to make a game plan and then went to the mall. We walked through a department store to go to our game plan store and noticed that they had a lovely formal dress section that we did see online. We went to our game plan store, tried on a few dresses that were too large and casual, and then doubled back to the department store.

ChickieNob tried on three or four dresses, fell in love with two, and settled on one. It was slightly too long, but instead of hem it, we bought a new pair of shoes on sale because the dress was under budget. She loves the dress and shoes; they are both re-wearable because they’re more classic formal dress and shoes than straight prom-y fare. She could wear both well into adulthood because they’re timeless.

The Wolvog went directly to the department store, tried on a single suit, and purchased said suit, which fit perfectly and needed no altering. He already had a shirt, tie, and shoes. We paid for everything with bonus money from last year, and his clothes also came in under budget.

Why did I spend multiple nights worrying about this? Because things usually don’t go this way. My fears were based on what people posted online, and it sounded like this would be a frustrating, expensive exercise. That wasn’t our experience, though I’m not sure why. I know I won’t remember this next time we have a task to do. I will assume that it will be difficult, expensive, and frustrating and worry about it ahead of time because that’s just how my brain works.

I forgot (once again) that it’s NIAW. It’s funny because National Infertility Awareness Week felt like the most important week of the year many years ago. And now I end up forgetting until I see someone post online.

And at the same time, on Sunday night, we started the new season of Schmigadoon, which once again follows Josh and Melissa through… infertility. We exchanged glances when they ended up at the reproductive endocrinologist’s office in the first episode (before taking a side trip to Schmicago). It’s funny how seeing any reference — especially a reference with your names on it — can emotionally take you right back to the spot.

Two ends of the experience spectrum.

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

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Every so often, I enter a new stage of life and join many online communities — from bulletin boards to Facebook groups — to glean information. Most of the time, I remain in those groups because the group drifts apart long before I finish that stage of life.

But it’s different from all the college groups I’ve joined over the last year. I no longer need to stay in them once the twins commit somewhere except to pass backward information to someone in the group. Therefore, I’ve decided to remain active in the groups despite not benefiting from them. Because it’s a comfortable space full of now-familiar names. Still, most people I know at the same stage are leaving the groups now that the life change is behind them.

Do you drop out of groups once an event is finished, or do you allow the group to drift apart with time, staying there long after you need the group?

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.

A tiny productivity idea that stuck with me this week: Instead of setting an exact time to do X, you put a “no later than” deadline.

For instance, if you usually get to work by 9 am, and you know it’s feasible, instead of telling yourself that you need to be there at 9 am and feel stressed out as you watch the minutes tick down, you tell yourself that you need to be there no later than 9:30 am. You’ll mostly hit that 9 am mark because you know it’s when you usually get to work. And sometimes you’ll get there early. And sometimes you’ll get there between 9 am and 9:30 am, and you’ll be okay because you hit the goal — no later than 9:30 am.

The idea is to give yourself some leeway to the goal so you don’t get stressed out about the goal itself vs. doing the thing that takes you to the goal. You can set goals like, “I’m going to write more than two pages today,” if you can generally achieve five pages. Everything you do over those two pages becomes extra. Reaching the goal becomes less stressful, but the same amount of work gets done.

What do you think?

I lost my blue Twitter checkmark yesterday. It was not a huge loss for someone who only uses Twitter to check if other sites are down or if people see the same bug. But it snipped one of my final threads to my work at BlogHer, keeping only the relationships because the site no longer exists. I was offered verification many years ago, and they made it very easy. So… goodbye, little blue mark.

It’s kind of weird to miss a job, but I really miss BlogHer.

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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:

• “No Kidding Lessons from a Book About Fear and Danger” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Next 15000 Days has a post that begins with a beautiful poem. She captures a sweet moment at a pool. She writes, “It felt so good to smile at the child. For a whole decade, I was so heartbroken that I couldn’t smile at anyone. Especially not a child.” And I love the lesson learned at the end of the post.

Lastly, No Kidding in NZ unpacks a recent visit with her teenage niece — one who is also navigating health issues. I think a lot of times when we think about parenthood, we think about those baby/toddler years. But teens are part of the package, too. She writes, “But it was a good reminder too that it is not easy at all to be a parent. And I will admit, after they left yesterday I enjoyed curling up on the couch with my ipad, reading a book, then having a bit of an afternoon nap on a warm autumn Sunday afternoon.”

The roundup to the Roundup: Goodbye, little blue checkmark. 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 14 – April 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.