Josh and I have a hot date planned in December to renew my library cards. Plural. Because that’s how I roll. I belong to more libraries than you have fingers to count them, and they all have different renewal dates. Some are indefinite — set 100 years in the future. Others need to be renewed every two years.

So off we go, driving to all the libraries with cards that expire in December and renewing them at the desk because it’s impossible to renew over the phone.

Pre-COVID, I had big plans to collect cards from all of my reciprocity libraries and then get a portrait done surrounded by my cards. (Dream big.) But that plan fizzled during the lockdown. Maybe returning to the buildings to renew will spark it again because one of my big retirement plans is fundraising for the various libraries in my stuffed wallet.

Just kidding: I crocheted a special bag to hold all of my library cards.

And that sums up December.

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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:

• “Another Take – Why I Don’t Have a Gratitude Practice” (Afterward Honesty)

Okay, now my choices this week.

Infertile Phoenix is happy and sad at the same time. Holidays have a way of doing that. She writes: “As resolved as I am about my CNBC situation and as happy as I am in the awesome life I’ve created for myself, it still hurt to see proclamations of gratitude for what I will never have: a family of my own.” Sending a hug.

Grief Is the Word writes about a grief hierarchy; a branch of the Pain Olympics. She explains: “ I’ve often felt a sense of being a fraud while speaking of my own losses, my own grief, particularly when in the company of someone who has suffered miscarriages or been through the trauma of IVF. All I have to offer as my story is emptiness.” She has a powerful final line, and I hope she reaches that day.

Lastly, The Uterus Monologues unpacks a recent study about conceiving after a miscarriage. This is so true: It’s mind-boggling “how much high-stakes decision-making we’re expected to do – as people going through pregnancy loss or infertility, but also as women more generally – without adequate information about the ways our bodies do and don’t work.” Research matters.

The roundup to the Roundup: I learned a lot about websites this week. 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 18 – 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.

I love Erin McKeown’s substack (and music!). It always makes me think. A recent issue was about things they have never done, including a particular drink from 7-11. In their circle of friends, “Slurpee” came to mean something a person hadn’t done.

We all began to use the term “slurpee” for a common cultural thing that someone had never done. We had endless afternoons, sitting in the back of my truck carefully cultivating our personal slurpee lists. At the time, some of my slurpees included never having seen “star wars,” never having worn a bikini, and never having kissed a girl.

I usually think about “I’ve nevers” as things I’d like to do one day. As in, I’ve never been to Australia. The underlying message is that I’m thinking about it because I would like to do it. And I’ve thought of “I’ve nevers” as things I’m truly proud I’ve never done. Like… rob a bank. But I’ve never thought of “I’ve nevers” as this thing in between: Not a bad thing (robbing a bank) and not an aspiration (Australia), but just things I haven’t done and have no intention of doing, even if someone gave me the opportunity.

What are your Slurpees?

The Wolvog was about to submit a few college applications when the lights went out. Nothing was happening outside, weather-wise, so I assumed it was a glitch and the lights would be back on in a moment. At least, I hoped they would. I had soup bubbling on the stove.

But the lights didn’t come on, and the bubbles in the pot slowly stilled.

We sat in the living room, scrolling through Twitter, trying to figure out why we were spending the evening sitting around an electric lantern. It turned out that a plane flew into one of the transmission towers, knocking out power to over 100K people in the DC area. They had to secure the plan to the tower to rescue the people inside. It had to be terrifying to be 100 feet off the ground, unable to get out.

First responders rescued the people, and we got our power back before midnight. Our refrigerator thermometer was still within the food safety window, so the only thing lost was the soup. They canceled school yesterday because they were still restoring power to the area. What a bizarre evening.

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

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Poor Beorn is not a fan of Thanksgiving. The cooking sounds like many other holidays, but there are fewer bits and pieces he’s given while I’m prepping things because potatoes are not a guinea pig’s friend. And we had potatoes three ways (mashed potatoes, cottage fries, and balsamic sweet potatoes). Still, he enjoyed the parsley leftovers and the ends of celery. But it was a little heartbreaking to watch him stand on his hind legs, his face hopeful, as he wheeked at me in the kitchen to give him a bite of whatever I was chopping.

How was your Thanksgiving?

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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.

Two weeks ago, one of my favourite authors — Anthony Horowitz — was doing a virtual reading at Politics and Prose, interviewed by Shari Lapena. Usually, I would never make room for a mid-day event. There was too much to do, and I didn’t need convincing — I had already purchased his latest book.

But my schedule opened up, and I could take a lunch break and log in.

For one hour, I had the pure joy of hearing an author I like speak in the middle of the day. I made tea and ate chocolate and took a freaking hour for myself. I may go another 365 days without doing something like this, but I accomplished it once this year, and I’m calling that a win.