Right now

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

Well... March sure was... ummmm... INTERESTING... wasn't it?? Today marks 20 days since I've left the house/condo!! -- three weeks tomorrow!

Reading:  You would think that, with all this extra time at home, I would have read a gazillion books in March. I read TWO.  :p  (And I basically squeaked in under the wire with #2, which I deliberately chose because it was short & finish-able within two days.)  Too much time spent on the cellphone and laptop, scanning social media & news sites, and watching CNN & CBC News Network, instead of reading books... my attention span is shot.  :p  My bad. :(   (But hey... I think we're all entitled to get through this however we can, right?) 

The two books I read: 

• The Cult of Trump by Steven Hassan (earlier in the month -- reviewed on this blog & tagged "2020 books")
• State of the Union by Nick Hornby (review to come soon) 

So far this year, I've read 11 books.  I'm currently at 37% of my Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge goal of 30 books, and (despite slacking off this month) I'm still 4 books ahead of schedule.

Current read(s):  

• Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover by Ruth Marcus. I started this earlier in March -- and it's very well written & reported. But I've kind of lost my taste for heavy/political stuff at the moment and so have set this one aside for now. 

I haven't been inside a bookstore in about three weeks :(  (normally it's 2-3 times a week!)... but here are (some) of the recent purchases/additions to the TBR pile I made before things shut down (that I haven't read yet)(not counting e-book purchases -- which are mostly books I already own, or owned in the past):  

• The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson 
• The Apprentice by Greg Miller 
• Hitler's Stolen Children by Ingrid Von Oelhafen & Tim Tate
• The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John 
• The Peanuts Papers edited by Andrew Blauner

Watching:  Needless to say, we didn't get anywhere near a movie theatre this month. Also needless to say, we're been watching LOTS of TV news (on CNN, CBC News Network, and CTV News Channel). Still haven't done any catching up on Netflix...

Listening: To the most recent episodes from The Full Stop -- one (#11) related to Mother's Day (which was just celebrated in the U.K.) and another (#12) related to coping with the global pandemic we're all currently living through. (And it's available in both audio-only & video formats!) 

I've also added Brene Brown's new podcast, Unlocking Us, to my podcast queue -- although I have yet to listen in (or to read her books, for that matter...!).  I know many of you have found her work helpful and highly relevant to coming to terms with loss, infertility &/or childlessness.  

Following:  I often struggle to come up with something for this category... I'm making up for it this month!  

• I started following Chasten Buttigieg, the husband of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, on Twitter toward the end of Pete's campaign, and recently started following him on Instagram as well. He has such a great personal story, aside from his role as Pete's spouse, a wonderful sense of humour, and I can see why his students loved him as a teacher.  (And he's only 30 years old!!)(I am OLDER than his mother!!)  Since coming off the campaign trail (and into social distancing mode), he's been doing regular Instagram Lives with special guests that have included Mandy Moore (one of Pete's major celebrity supporters) and Connie Schultz, journalist and wife of Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (who has a great social media presence herself). I think he would have made (and may someday still make?) a great First Gentleman (or maybe even a public officeholder himself! -- he clearly has a flair for campaigning!). :) 
• An online friend shared a post in her Instagram Stories from a Calgary-based home cleaning company called gocleanco... and now I'm hooked, lol. Their Instagram page is aimed at a millennial audience (the owner offers occasional webinars on "Adulting 101," i.e., how to clean your house properly) and includes a whole bunch of fascinating videos & tips on how to deep clean & disinfect just about everything in your house (so important right now with the COVID-19 pandemic), using a mixture of hot water, bleach and... Tide laundry detergent (powder -- NOT the liquid form!)??  (Who knew, right?) I think I've done an OK job of housecleaning over the past 35 years (lol), but there's always room to learn & improve... and there's something mesmerizing (for me, anyway) about watching filthy stuff getting clean again (& seeing the before & after photos, side by side!).  I may try a few of her tips!  
• Also on Instagram, the McMichael Gallery (the gallery specializing in Canadian art, where I hold a membership) has been running brief videos featuring their Executive Director, Ian Dejardin, talking about the paintings in the McMichael's collection that he's been thinking about and why. Dh & I have attended a couple of Ian's lectures at the McMichael and he is both extremely knowledgeable and eloquent. I learn so much from him! (And he's from Britain, so he delivers it all in one of those wonderful, soothing accents, lol.)  As one commenter said, "Who else can listen to Ian talk forever??" 

Drinking: Lots of fluids, including 2-3 comforting cups of tea every day, lol. Not as much alcohol as you might think. ;)  Even though our liquor & beer stores remain open as designated "essential services" (lol!!). 

Eating:  Obviously, we haven't done any eating out since about the second week of March. :(  We haven't done any ordering in or takeout either. We started stocking up on staples as soon as it became apparent what was coming, and so far, we've been doing OK, with occasional forays to the supermarket (by dh) to get more milk and bread (and anything else he finds that we might be able to use). He loves grocery shopping, and still prefers to get our own vs ordering for pick up or delivery, which apparently can take up to a week right now (!) because the demand is so great. He scrubs his hands well when he gets back & wipes things down with Lysol before putting them away. 

Our refrigerator freezer compartment is not that huge, but we've managed to stuff it full of cans of frozen concentrated orange juice, a variety of meat (a few packages each of chicken breasts, pork chops and ground beef), frozen veggies and a selection of convenience foods (chicken pot pies, lasagnas, chicken strips and fish fillets). Dh grew up eating a lot of beans, chickpeas and lentils with rice or pasta, and we've stocked up on those things too. Our diet could use more fresh fruits & veggies, but we're not going hungry anytime soon. 

Buying (besides books, lol):  Not much opportunity for shopping right now, other than groceries...!  I suppose I could shop online & get things delivered, but I've tried hard not to get into that habit, even pre-COVID... just WAY too convenient!  Plus I feel a bit guilty having someone out there putting themselves at risk to deliver my packages (albeit they are still working and earning income). I have bought & downloaded some e-books to my Kobo and my cellphone Kindle app. (I prefer the Kobo, but some of the titles I want to read in e-format are only available on Kindle.) 

Wearing:  Yoga pants have always been my retirement uniform ;) but I did at least wear jeans when we left the house. And since we haven't been leaving the house, I haven't put on my jeans in almost three weeks! (Or a bra, for that matter, lol.) Hopefully the jeans will still FIT when this is all over...!

Wanting:  A HAIRCUT. :p  We usually get them every six weeks, which would put us due for trims right around Easter. That's still almost two weeks away... and I'm already starting to feel shaggy. I don't think I even have any hairclips/barrettes around the house I could use to keep my hair out of my eyes (I've been wearing my hair short for years now!). I do have a plastic hairband, & I may have to dust it off & use it before the hair salons open again...! 

Trying:  To stay busy and positive, despite all the doom & gloom we see onscreen. 

Missing:  Little Great-Nephew. :(  (And the dog, lol.) I have a bag full of Easter goodies that I was collecting for him, pre-COVID -- an Easter-themed onesie, a board book, a stuffed chick. We're planning to drive over there later this week & leave the bag on the porch. And maybe ask if they can bring him to the window so we can see him & wave to him. 

Loving: The good-news stories of kindness & generosity & heroism that I've been seeing, as well as the bad/sad/tragic/eye-rolling/enraging ones. 

Feeling:  Extremely thankful that, even if I have to live through a global pandemic, I'm doing it with my dh beside me, in our cozy condo, with plenty to eat (& plenty of toilet paper, lol), and plenty to read and watch. Thankful for the miracles of modern technology that keep us all connected and entertained.