I’m working on making a game, and it’s really hard.  It’s hard to find the story in something that isn’t linear.  It’s hard to write in code.  But mostly, there is something I want to do with the game that would make it better for a larger audience, but it’s really hard to do, and I’ve been trying to give myself permission to not do it.  Because it’s hard.

And I’m not a fan of hard.

Lifehacker had an article about making doing hard things a family affair, and I assume the same would go for forming a “hard thing” group of adults and promising to each other that you’re going to stick with what you decide to do.

But here’s the thing: Those articles never tell you “how” to stick to that hard thing.  Just that you need to push through and stick with it.  I get that the specific answer will be different depending on the project, but I’ve yet to find a good piece of advice that helps me get past the realization that I could trim something down and do it in an easier manner but stick with the harder route anyway.

Currently, I’m still pushing through because it feels like the right thing to do, and I’ll always wonder if the game would have been better if I had made it the original way.  I’ve reached out to friends to set up a “hard thing” group so I have people to talk me out of quitting.  But damn, it’s hard to stick to something hard when you know that there is nothing stopping you from choosing the easier route.

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

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This was supposed to be a happy post.  I was going to tell you about how we marched in the Capital Pride parade this weekend.  It was my first time marching in a parade vs. watching from the sidelines, and it was fun and overwhelming and emotional.  We waved and danced and blew kisses to hundreds of thousands of people.  The ChickieNob and I tucked rainbow flags into our hair, and the Wolvog zig zagged across the route, passing out candy to the crowd.  It was an enormous party.  I have never been cheered on by a crowd, and we left that night with our bodies buzzing from all the excitement.

And then we woke up, and Orlando had happened.

The amazing high to the lowest low; both defy words.  Our hearts are with the families of the victims at Pulse, and with the entire community.

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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 posts.

The most magical town in the world is only an 8 1/2 hour drive from my home.

It’s not far from the American Museum of Magic (about 45 minutes apart). Colon is also home to the Magic Get Together in August, the long-running magic convention.

I like real magic almost as much as I like imaginary magic.

Road trip?

Updated at the Bottom

You may think that the next Roundup is the 600th one, and I get why you may think that. I mean, you know, 600 usually follows 599. But years ago, the Roundups got misnumbered by 100, and it took another year or two before anyone noticed. So the next Roundup is actually the 500th Roundup, which feels more like a milestone number, nu?

I’ve come up with something properly celebratory that I think you’ll enjoy, and I’ve scheduled it for July 1st. Why July 1st? Because (1) I wanted to actually write a normal Roundup for the 500th one, (2) my blogoversary is coming up at the end of June, and (3) the anniversary for the Roundup is coming up in the beginning of July. So mash all those facts together, and I set it for July 1st.

Hope you enjoy it…

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Last chance.  This is it.  On sale a few more days.  Life from Scratch has been chosen for an Amazon promotion.  It’s currently only 99 cents — a fraction of a cup of coffee.  So… pick up a copy for yourself or gift to a friend and get your beach reading set?

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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 in order 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.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None.  There were no second helpings last week.  Sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

Twangypearl the Elastic Girl has an update about parenting after adoption, and getting used to a new normal.  She muses, “Maybe we’re programmed to forget when we have to, so we can be preoccupied by new things? Maybe information that is no longer relevant for your survival is fogged over.”  I especially loved the image she included with the post.

Empty Arms, Broken Heart has a post about being a mum to a 16-year-old boy through adoption.  People assume that she must have been a teenage mother to have a child this old, and she unpacks how she feels about that assumption as well as wonder what to say.  It’s an interesting look at how our brain always goes toward default settings, despite our rational understanding that there are a multitude of ways of building a family.

Lastly, The Road Less Travelled has a beautiful post about how her daughter, Katie, should be about to move off into the world.  Through the years, she has always been able to picture what her daughter would have been doing at each age.  But now, the memory of her daughter moves into an unknown world.  It’s a bittersweet post about how we are always tethered to the living, and how, like all parents, even those who are grieving those who aren’t here, need to release their children to find their own path.  It’s really a gorgeous post.

The roundup to the Roundup: Celebrating the 500th Roundup milestone on July 1st.  Life from Scratch is on sale.  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 June 3rd and June 10th) 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.

Update:

Since you asked, the Truman update.  He started wheezing again yesterday morning, so the vet decided to put back in the first medication, since that was clearing up his respiratory problems before we stopped it to take the new antibiotic.  So now he is on two antibiotics, water via syringe, and critical care, a meal supplement.  His breathing is getting better this morning.  And he’s still eating while on the second antibiotic, which is good.  He’s also nudging my hand for a backrub while he eats his critical care, which is also classic Truman. (Why just eat a meal when you can combine a meal AND a massage?)

He smells.  Actually, “smells” doesn’t really cover it, but I’ll spare you the graphic description I was about to pull out of my pocket.  His eye is still oozing white gunk, his head still tilted to the side.  But he is stumbling around his cage like he’s drunk, a step up from the numerous days where he has barely had energy to open his mouth for my syringe of water.  He’s eating a bit of food along with the meal supplement, and he has managed to gnaw through a few of his beloved cookies.  It feels like we’re working our way back to somewhere good.

I’ve never really been in love with the term “fur baby” but… that is what he is.  He is my baby.  I mean, he is the actual replacement for the human child I was supposed to have, and I treat him as I would a human baby.  The ChickieNob refers to him as my third child, and sometimes mutters that he is my most important child.  But he’s just the one who needs me the most; who is wholly dependent upon me for every one of his needs.

People keep joking this week that I clearly need another kid, and I know they don’t mean harm from it.  Plus it’s hard to back pedal out of that conversation train when the person responds that they did try to add a child to their family but weren’t successful.  I get it.  It’s uncomfortable, and I’m not trying to make people uncomfortable.  I agree with them — clearly, based on the way I treat my guinea pig like a third child, I should have had another child.

But I don’t need to explain to all of you how that cuts into my heart when it’s already feeling swollen and raw.

Anyway, thank you for abiding with me.  I’ve told Truman that there is a lot of love from around the world flowing his way.  He mostly just looks at me blankly and then stumbles around, knocking into everything because he has no sense of balance.  But I like to think that he understands.

Some pictures from last night’s tummy time:

You can still see the head tilt, but at least he’s up and about.