Odds & ends

• My SIL (dh's brother's wife) is now retired!  (Sort of!)  She lost her longtime job three years ago. Since then, she's had a couple of different jobs, most recently as a receptionist at a nearby warehouse. She's been working in the front office, mostly by herself at the front desk, with very few drop-in visitors these days, and so (thankfully) she has been relatively safe from COVID-19 there.  Her last day of work was Friday. 
• I say she is "sort of" retired. She is taking this week off. Next Monday, her daughter-in-law/Older Nephew's Wife/Little Great-Nephew's mom is returning to work after her 18-month maternity leave.  And SIL is going to be taking care of her grandson (Little Great-Nephew). Of course, Older Nephew & his wife also just bought a house,  about an hour north of us here. They take possession in early June, and will move in there (and out of BIL & SIL's house) after doing some painting. One of them will bring Little Great-Nephew to his grandparents' house before heading on to work (both workplaces are closer to BIL & SIL's house than to their new home). (SIL said she would take care of her grandson, but she wasn't going to drive an hour one way each day to do it... I think that's fair!) Crossing my fingers for all of them that all these changes go smoothly!  
• Dh & I plan to drop by regularly this summer to visit (and provide some backup/relief, lol), once our stay-at-home order is lifted, the weather improves (so we can spend time outside) and SIL & Little Great-Nephew have settled into their new routines. Something to look forward to!  :) 
• COVID-19 vaccinations here are opening up to younger and younger age groups. Both nephews & their wives (all between the ages of 28 and 31) are now booked for their first shots -- they'll all have them before the end of the month. Yay!!  :)  
• We've noticed an influx of voices in the hallways lately, indicating guests coming and going and lingering at someone's door -- doubly annoying during a pandemic with a stay-at-home order in place (for the third time in a little over a year).  There's a couple down the hall who have a new baby (we can hear him/her faintly crying sometimes). Dh thinks that friends & relatives come over to see the baby -- they may or may not go into the unit but they stand out in the hallway and talk and admire the little one, and that's why we're hearing their voices so loudly & clearly. I guess that would explain what we've been hearing, but seriously?!  
• Credit to RESOLVE for hosting a great "Kitchen Table Conversation" on "The Many Perspectives of Living Without Children," moderated by actor and filmmaker Tracey B. Wilson and featuring Jobi Tyson from Tutum Global; Justine Froelker of Ever Upward; and Katy DeJong from The Pleasure Anarchist, talking about their childless lives.  Worth a look! 
• Several people have shared this fabulous New York Times article about a woman doctor who is doing some much-needed research on the endometriosis. I don't have endometriosis (that I know of?? -- I have sometimes wondered...), but I know some of you who do. This article is both infuriating (how common it is and how often women's pain has been dismissed), and inspiring. The stories in the comments are worth a read as well.
• I've written before about my interest in genealogy, and I loved this piece I found, "In praise of maiden aunts."  "...these maiden aunts, bachelor uncles, and childless couples often have fascinating stories, and sometimes had profound impact on our ancestors," writes author Andrew Searle Pang, who describes several examples from his own family tree in this article.  
• I wrote about one very important maiden aunt in my own family tree here.