It may or may not be International Blog Delurking Week. The first full week of January (January 1 – 7, 2023) is when we’re supposed to slither out of the reading closet and check in with an “I’m here” comment. I don’t know if anyone does this anymore. In the olden days, people would pop out of the woodwork. Nowadays, not so much.

So let’s see what happens.

So welcome to International Blog Delurking Week. I make a badge every year to mark the occasion, giving you full permission to right-click and grab it for your own.

My reward for remembering to do this (when I could have just as easily forgotten) is that you have to delurk for this worldwide holiday, which is super serious and important. Right?

It is relatively easy. Leave a comment in the comment section below, admitting that you’re here. You can raise your hand and meekly acknowledge that you’re here with a simple, one-word “here” comment; or you can proudly raise your hand and tell us all a bit about yourself (my preferred method); or you can tell me the last good book you read (see, I’m trying to make it easy for you by even providing a comment prompt). The point is that I want to know about the people who read me since there is a huge discrepancy between the number of readers in actuality and the number of readers I actually know are reading. Or a tongue-twister like that.

And that’s all you have to do to celebrate.

So (clears throat to nudge you along), who is here?

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

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Back when the kids were in Kindergarten, one of the other parents commented that our kids would be the class of 2023. 2023? That was ridiculously far away. Nothing to worry about.

Except the calendar page has flipped, and suddenly we’re in that year, months away from graduation. I know that winter break isn’t the halfway point — we’re still in the second grading period — but it emotionally feels like the halfway point. Like we crossed onto the other side of a line, and we’re now standing on the same side of graduation. I am so proud of them for the people they’ve grown up to be. And I am so sad to be on the other side of the line, looking at that endpoint.

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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 that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

ChickieNob and I impulsively cut our hair this week. You could not tell the difference with my hair except that it looks 30% less rat’s nest-like. I told our hair cutter that I was okay with three, four, or whatever inches, and she opted to go with the “four” option, unsure of what I meant by “whatever” inches.

I like that it dries faster, and I can use less gel. I do not like that it’s still grey, but I’m also not doing anything about that.

The ChickieNob’s hair, on the other hand, looks like Princess Kate’s, falling in soft waves past her shoulders. I want her hair. Or, at least, my brown hair back. I didn’t appreciate the brown when I had it.

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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:

• “The Great Parent-No Kidding Divide” (No Kidding in NZ)

Okay, now my choices this week.

A Blank New Page writes about a friend’s child who opened her eyes to how she is woven into many people’s lives. She writes: “This Christmas realized that I actually have a good place in this family world. Of course, I am not like a mom. But I can give my full attention to the little people, as an older friend, without being distracted by my own children, and I realized this Christmas that I have a very special place in the lives of these little gorgeous people.” What a great gift.

Infertile Phoenix is once again navigating people asking her if she has kids. Unlike before, it isn’t bothering her, especially because she realizes why people are possibly asking it. She explains, “I think I probably give off a pretty maternal vibe, which is why people ask. I’ve always said I was born to be a mom. But I’m not a mom. Obviously. And I’m learning to be okay with that.” Moreover, she loves the life she has built, no small thing.

Lastly, Dear John has a moving post about how her daughter processes her first Christmas without her father vs. how A is processing her first Christmas without her husband. We all grieve the same person differently, and sometimes our grief doesn’t make sense (or does make sense) to the other people in the equation. She writes, “I still miss you, even if S finds holidays easier without you. I don’t blame her. But it’s painful to say that. It feels disloyal, even though it’s true.” Sending a hug.

The roundup to the Roundup: You cannot tell that I got a haircut. 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 December 23 – 30) 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.

For the past two years (2020) and (2021), I set reading goals tied to the year — 20200 pages and 20210 pages. As of December 22nd (which is the date GoodReads last updated my reading stats), I hit 18,099 pages with 51 books, missing my 2022 goal of 20220 pages. I will probably finish one more book before the end of the year, but I will still be behind’s last year’s reading count.

I’m kind of shocked that I fell so far beneath last year’s page count (22,402 pages). But it is what it is.

I set 20230 as a goal for 2023.

My favourite things I’ve read this year:

• The Last Party (Clare Mackintosh)
• The Mirror Visitor Quartet (books 1 and 2) (Christelle Dabos)
• The Bullet That Missed (Richard Osman)
• The Other Side of Night (Adam Hamdy)
• Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone (Benjamin Stevenson)
• Upgrade (Blake Crouch)
• A Line To Kill (Anthony Horowitz)
• Murder Before Evensong (Richard Coles)
• How To Kill Your Family (Bella Mackie)
• Death and Croissants (Ian Moore)
• The Marlow Murder Club (Robert Thorogood)
• The Heights (Louise Candlish)
• The Appeal (Janice Hallett)
• Mouth to Mouth (Antoine Wilson)
• The Violence (Delilah Dawson)

What is on your list of favourite reads this year? (Feel free to list movies or television shows if books are not your thing.)

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

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As a non-Christmas celebrator, I love hearing what other people did, ate, received, gave for the holiday.

So tell me, what did you do, eat, receive, or give? Which is a bigger deal in your world — Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? And what is your favourite way to spend the day after?

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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 that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.