Same as the last two years, I am not writing my blog right now because I need to navigate the twins returning to college. Unlike the last two years, I didn’t aim to rerun a post from the same date, years earlier. Instead, I used a random date generator, and then took the closest post to that date, which is why you may see posts about winter in the middle of the summer.

I scheduled these posts so the blog wouldn’t be empty, and I could have space to process my feelings. A cop-out, but forgive me. Having them go is really, really hard. I need mental space to feel what I am feeling, help the kids through the transition, and sit in the quiet for a moment on the other side.

My parents almost named me something else. They had picked out a different name–something somewhat similar–and were leaning towards it when they realized how kids could make fun of the name. They picked Melissa instead because nothing rhymed with it, it wasn’t the subject of an embarrassing song (unless you count the Allman Brother’s “Sweet Melissa”), and it couldn’t be shortened or lengthened into something disgusting.

They wanted kids to work for their torment-able material.

I mentioned this to the secretary of my grad school program and she immediately responded with “Melissa; she’ll kiss ya. That rhymes.”

And indeed, it does.

Shit.

Read the whole post here.

Same as the last two years, I am not writing my blog right now because I need to navigate the twins returning to college. Unlike the last two years, I didn’t aim to rerun a post from the same date, years earlier. Instead, I used a random date generator, and then took the closest post to that date, which is why you may see posts about winter in the middle of the summer.

I scheduled these posts so the blog wouldn’t be empty, and I could have space to process my feelings. A cop-out, but forgive me. Having them go is really, really hard. I need mental space to feel what I am feeling, help the kids through the transition, and sit in the quiet for a moment on the other side.

I am admitting all of this here for two reasons even though this embarrasses me tremendously. (1) It could help someone else who is going through the same thing and (2) I want to reflect one day how far I’ve come because I do have a lot of hope that things will change.

I have been conducting my life out of the preschool library. By this point, I consider the end seat at the table my own and if need be, I would pee on it like a squirrel monkey to mark my territory. I spent the morning writing notes to my niece and friends on my new pink stationary. I read a book. Made some phone calls. And told myself that tomorrow would be the day I’d leave the building. And then I promptly felt ill and decided I would wait until the morning to make a concrete decisions.

I have not actually left the twins at preschool yet.

Read the whole post here.

Just as in past years, I am going to do reruns for a week or two at the beginning of September. The twins are going back to college soon, and I feel myself emotionally burrowing inward. I think about it all the time. It’s the first thing I think about in the morning, and it’s the last thing I think about at night. We’re entering our third year, and I feel the same.

I scheduled posts that you may not have seen in many years (or missed altogether), and I looked in the draft folder and pulled out a bonkers story I never posted. I’ll be back when I feel better.

*******

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.

Apron Strings for Emily has a very moving post, an open letter for World Childless Week to her dog Kirby, who died six months ago. Maybe it’s because Beorn is always on my mind, but this post made me start crying for a dog I never met. I sobbed at this: “Maybe you heard or saw it, but after your last breath, I broke out into sobs. All I kept saying was, ‘My baby! My baby boy is gone!’ I felt my whole world crumble underneath me.” Sending a huge hug over an enormous loss.

Lastly, The Barreness is back with a health update. She needs to be hyper-conscious, and it spills over into every minute of the day. I thought this was profound: “I have found myself looking at people and wondering what it is like to walk in their life, eat what they eat, socialize like they do. I have found myself so much more serious and introspective. I used to identify with Tigger and now I am a cross between Piglet and Eeyore.” Sending a lot of good thoughts to her, too.

The roundup to the Roundup: Super sad about the end of summer break. 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 August 22 – 29) 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.

This is a monthly series, published near the end of the month summarizing what I found, ate, watched, googled, and felt this month. New categories added from time to time.

Books Added to My TBR (e.g., books I just learned about that I’m excited to read… maybe)

• The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer (Ragnar Jonasson)
• One of Us (Elizabeth Day)
• Caller Unknown (Gillian McAllister)
• The Magician of Tiger Castle (Louis Sachar)
• Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth)
• Seduction Theory (Emily Adrian)
• A Beginner’s Guide to Dying (Simon Boas)
• Loved One (Aisha Muharrar)
• O Caledonia (Elspeth Barker)

Notable Meals (new recipes, old favorites, and restaurant items we ate this month)

• Adjusted this cucumber salad to remove the fish sauce and add cubes of tofu
• Potatoes dauphinoise
• Trader Joe’s appetizers for dinner

Television, Movies, and Music (watching and listening)

• Season 2 of the US Traitors. The US Traitors is infinitely less interesting than the UK Traitors because people enter already knowing things about the other people because they were on reality television shows. In the UK, at least in the first three seasons, everyone entered as strangers.
• We started Murderbot, which is pretty funny. We’re a few episodes in.

Added To My Ongoing Mix Tape

• “Children’s Crusade” (Sting)
• “Solfeggietto in C Minor” (Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s piece played by Tzvi Erez)

Tabs I Left Open (things I Googled and left up on the screen)

• Warby Parker glasses
• The Threatened Swan (two people I knew were going to Amsterdam)
• Weasley family (could not remember Bill – up until 1 pm running through men’s names until I finally googled it)
• Seasoned baked potato wedges with ranch (Nitty Gritty)
• Finger puppets from Folkmanis
• Mrs. Meyer’s fall multisurface cleaner options
• Agafia Lykova’s Wikipedia page
• Pictures from the defunct Fred Flintstone Park in South Dakota
• An article about Xando, the defunct restaurant that merged with Cosi. I could not remember the name of either place
• Menu for a fish restaurant opening in DC this fall that I want to take the Wolvog to when he’s home for Thanksgiving
• An article about visiting Framlingham Suffolk

Micro-Joys

• We went to hear Tituss Burgess perform, and he brought people up to the stage for a Q&A session in the middle of the concert. One woman mentioned that attending the concert was her birthday gift, and everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to the woman. She burst into tears. It made me happy to see someone else so happy.
• While Josh was at a conference, I gave myself a special treat book for while he was away. These are books I save up to read when I need a book I know will be a really good book. This time, it was Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz.

Mood

• Super sad that the kids are going back to school soon.

What about you? Let me know what you’re eating, seeing, listening to, googling, feeling this month.

I lost my copy of The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman, and it’s all my fault.

Back in March 2024, I decided to re-read His Dark Materials. I was near the end of the first book when I told Josh I was doing this, and he commented that he had never read the books but maybe would now because he knew how much I loved the story.

I wasn’t ready to go on to the next book, so I took my copy of The Subtle Knife off the bookshelf and put it… somewhere.

Over a year later, Philip Pullman announced the final book in the series — The Rose Field — would be published in October. Amazing news and what great timing — I needed something that would make me feel good, and I decided I’d start again, go in chronological order, and finish up The Secret Commonwealth right before the publication of the final book.

Except I couldn’t remember where I put The Subtle Knife. I’ve checked all bookcases, drawers, and book stacks in the house. I think everyone is a little gleeful because I hid the book to hoard it for myself. And now I don’t have it.

Joke is on them: We’ll have to purchase a new copy. In the meantime, I started with The Collectors, skipping Once Upon a Time in the North, continued with The Book of Dust, and then restarted The Golden Compass again.