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

*******

For whatever reason, I still had free access to the New York Times mini until about a week ago. It didn’t shut off for me when it shut off for everyone else, and I secretly hoped that my account had slipped through some crack and would go unnoticed for years. Not the case. It was a sad day when the little lock appeared on the mini.

I tried a handful of other mini crossword options — Washington Post, LA Times, Apple News, etc — but the closest one I’ve found to the New York Times mini is Crossherd. The clues feel like New York Times clues, even if the interface looks different.

*******

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.

Flying is usually my chosen superpower (not that anyone is bequeathing me with superpowers). I used to think that invisibility would be a close second, but I could also see a lot of issues with invisibility, and I wouldn’t actually want to overhear conversations.

But more and more this year, I’ve been thinking that optimism would be a more useful superpower. I’m not talking about ostrich-like head-in-the-sand optimism (which, apparently, ostriches do not do). I’m talking about hearing all of the facts and still holding hope that things will be okay.

It has been a hard year to have hope.

It is so much easier to get swept up in the chaos — everything feels in flux, and it has been a long time since I’ve read the news and felt any positive emotion. So it feels like a superpower to be able to see everything happen and still feel like everything will be okay.

So while I would still choose the ability to fly — it just feels so useful — always being able to access hope would be a close second.

Many months ago, we were in Deerfield, MA, and we decided that we’d watch The Holdovers during winter break. We had never seen it, though it had been on my TBW list for a long time. Winter break was the perfect time for a holiday movie, right?

So there we were, all snuggled up and ready for movie night, when we learned it had left streaming a week earlier. WHY WOULD THEY REMOVE A CHRISTMAS MOVIE BEFORE CHRISTMAS? That is probably the only time someone would want to watch a Christmas movie.

The ChickieNob quickly pointed out that it was probably in the library (it was) and we could borrow it (we could). Of course, we now need to rig up a way to watch the DVD.

The lesson of this story: Don’t wait to see things on streaming sites because they pull them off.

*******

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.

Finding a Different Path is getting rid of things, which both weighs on and lightens the heart. She writes, “Even all these years later, to get rid of something someone bought us for a baby that never was feels somehow ungrateful. Logically we know that’s not a thing, but emotionally it feels icky.” I get that. Objects hold meaning, including nursing chairs.

Lastly, Not a Wasted Word gives an update on stressful, annoying, and happy things. The change in packaging (and formula?) for a beloved product resonated with me. I don’t do well with any change, but I especially don’t do well when I need to find a new product because a random manufacturer threw a curve ball. The “improvement” is rarely an improvement for the user.

The roundup to the Roundup: Streaming sites confuse me. 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 19 – 26) 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’ve been holding onto a Dan Harris post since this summer because it had a lot of advice that spoke to me. Nothing new, just well-said. It’s a nice set of advice if you are navigating difficult moments or feeling overwhelmed by the news (either from the larger world or more personal) or just remembering that it’s best to never worry alone.

Passing it along to you in case you can use it, too.

There was a Wall Street Journal article making its way around the internet about a group of friends who started something they called “admin night.” Once a month, they got together and committed to taking things off their to-do list. Filling out forms, balancing their checking account, or dealing with the insurance company. The tasks everyone puts off because they’re unpleasant to do. She writes:

Right away we marveled at how productive we were. Having friends hammer away beside you, faces lighted by the same bureaucratic glow, somehow makes dreaded tasks manageable. Little projects postponed for years—closing a checking account, updating a will—become approachable when you’ve got a squad. We even start sharing wisdom: how to roll over a 401(k), how to get that refund. (Guessing a CEO’s email address, we’ve found, can be surprisingly effective.)

It’s a brilliant idea, and it clearly works for this group, but I think it would only work if everyone committed to the night — whether or not they have any tasks to do. It’s something I’ve noticed a lot on group calls. There are the people who show up every time (or almost every time), and the ones who only show up when they need the call. Life happens, of course, but group calls or group gatherings don’t work unless people prioritize them.

What do you think?