Right now

Right now... (an occasional meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current"):

Reading:  I ended 2017 without reaching my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 24 books. I read just 17, or 71% of my targeted 24. Just before Christmas, I started reading Jann Arden's new book, "Feeding My Mother," which is based on her social media posts about dealing with her mother's Alzheimer's disease. It didn't seem quite the thing to be reading while visiting my aging parents, though...!  so I picked up "It's All Relative:  Adventures Up & Down the World's Family Tree" by A.J. Jacobs. It's about his efforts to host the world's biggest family reunion, based on the premise that we are all cousins -- right up my alley, right?  But my Christmas holiday was busier than I had planned, and I am still wading my way through it. Hoping to do better in 2018! 

Watching:  I plowed through all 10 episodes of season 2 of "The Crown" on Netflix before Christmas holidays, and thoroughly enjoyed it. :)  Looking forward to season 2 of "Victoria" on PBS, which starts Jan. 14th!  And both the U.S. and Canadian figure skating championships are coming up over the next few weekends... 

Listening:  To the whirring of our humidifier... We bought it when we first moved in here, because (in the dying days of winter), we found our new condo incredibly dry. (The house had been dry too, but we'd invested in a drum humidifier that was attached to our furnace -- not an option here.)  Also, we'd just invested in some expensive new furniture, and had been advised to maintain humidity levels at an optimum 40-50%.  Despite the promise of "quiet technology" on the box, I found the new humidifier pretty noisy, even on the lowest setting. And once summer arrived, the humidity in here rose naturally, so we put the humidifier away. But it's winter again, and the humidity in our condo was just 21% when we got back from Christmas holidays, so I dusted off the humidifier this weekend & we've been running it on & off since then. So far, the highest we've managed to boost the humidity has been to 38% (and that was after cooking). Progress? 

Eating:  Dh & I recently discovered President's Choice vegetable spring rolls at our local supermarket.  We try to limit them to a once-a-week treat for lunch.  ;)    

Wearing:  Sweatshirts with my yoga pants, since the cold temperatures kicked in -- warmer and cozier than T-shirts (even the long-sleeved variety). (And slippers as well as socks -- the laminate floors in our condo are lovely, but they can also get COLD!!)  I bought a couple of sweatshirts from the Gap last year that I really like -- soft, comfortable fabric, nice colours (love the blue in particular). The only thing I don't like about them is they started pilling after just a couple of washes. I did get them relatively cheap on sale -- but the Gap generally is not cheap & you would expect better quality for the prices. :p  

Buying (besides books, lol):  I will be shopping for a new essential oils diffuser this week. Ours conked out just before we left for Christmas vacation. I'm a little annoyed, since it was only a little over a year old, and we didn't use it at all during the more humid summer months. I've been surprised at how much I've enjoyed it -- essential oils always seemed a little "woo-woo" to me, and while I'm still somewhat skeptical of all the claims made by about how they can cure this or that condition or improve your health, etc.,they do smell nice, certainly much better than synthetic commercial scent products.

Wanting:  A manicure/pedicure... it's been a while since my last salon visit!  And it's still a while yet until Younger Nephew's wedding -- I will definitely be getting it done then... 

Experimenting:  Just before we went home for Christmas, I had my eyebrows waxed and tinted at the Benefit Brow Bar at a local Sephora. I've been waxing my brows on & off for years, since I was in my teens, and it's gotten so that they don't really need much shaping anymore -- just clearing up the underbrush at bit. In fact, my left brow has started getting alarmingly scant -- one of the hazards of aging, I'm told. That alone wouldn't be so bad, but my eyebrows, like the hair above them, are turning GREY. Which makes it look like they are even thinner and more sparse than they really are.  I have learned to embrace my grey hair, but grey eyebrows? That's where I draw the line, lol.

So I decided to cough up the extra money and try tinting my brows as well as cleaning them up. I was pretty pleased with the results. I can't generate extra hair, but adding some colour to the hair that is there does help some, and I can enhance that with a pencil or powder when I feel the need (although I dislike the very heavy drawn-on look that seems to be so popular right now -- the girl who did my brows finished then off with powder and it was way too much, IMHO. I took it off as soon as I got home). 

The tint is semi-permanent and should last for a couple of months. I'm going to do it again a few weeks before Younger Nephew's wedding this spring. 

Loving: All the bright sunshine we've been getting lately -- if not the very cold temperatures that have come along with it...!  (Reminds me of home! -- i.e., the Canadian Prairies, where I grew up!) 

Enduring:  Yet another visit from Aunt Flo, after an absence of 146 days. (At least she had the grace to wait until after Christmas to show up...!) Back to square one in terms of counting down to menopause... (with my 57th birthday coming up shortly...!)   

Feeling:  CRAPPY (but gradually starting to improve), after coming down with a nasty cold on Boxing Day. :p  Plus enduring Aunt Flo at the same time...!) 

Admiring: Our Christmas tree -- and trying to decide when we should take it down for another year.  As I mentioned in a previous post, because of my heritage, I feel like I COULD keep it up until Ukrainian Christmas (Jan. 6th-7th)  or even as late as St. Knut's Day on Jan. 13th. But we will probably take it down before the weekend. 

Contemplating: The blank pages of my Filofax and wondering what events will fill its pages in 2018... 

Considering: What I want to do on my birthday (coming up shortly....).