#MicroblogMondays: Odds & ends

• Re: the sad discovery of the bodies of 215 unidentified children buried in unmarked graves on the grounds of a former Indian residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia... I was watching the news last week, about the debate in the House of Commons on this discovery, and... there it was! (eyeroll) I give you Erin O'Toole, Leader of the Opposition/Conservative party:  "As a parent, it's devastating to think that 215 children were buried by their school and lost for decades." Ummm, how about as a human being?? (He may not be the only one to have made that remark, but this is the only such comment that I've found in the news stories so far.) 
• I know the news of the birth of Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor this past weekend has sent some of my loss/infertility/CNBC friends into a tailspin. These celebrity birth announcements don't affect me *quite* the way they used to... and yet I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a little bit envious/wistful. Lilibet's grandmother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was just six months younger than I am -- and I can't help but think about how much she would have loved being a grandmother. And about how so many of my peers are becoming grandmothers these days... 
• On a somewhat related note, we've been spending an hour or two with SIL & Little Great-Nephew, one or two mornings a week lately. (He takes a nap after lunch, so mornings are better than afternoons for visits.) His shyness around us is starting to wear off -- but it's clear that Grandma/Nonna and (especially!) Grandpa/Nonno are his favourites! 
• Our stay-at-home order officially ended on June 2nd (it's been in place since mid-April -- although we were also under a stay-at-home order from mid-December through mid-March before that!) -- but just about everything remains closed, aside from essential retail (supermarkets, pharmacies, etc.) and restaurant takeout. We were told that, under stage one of a new, staged reopening plan, some things (including outdoor dining, and non-essential retail at 15% capacity) would begin to reopen on or around June 14th, depending on whether certain metrics were met. Not all of the metrics -- such as case numbers and ICU capacity -- have been made public, but we already met the vaccination target (60% of adults with one vaccine dose) some time ago. 
• Today we heard that things will start reopening on Friday -- three days earlier than expected. Fingers crossed that people stick to the guidelines, and this doesn't trigger Wave/Lockdown #4...!  (especially with the Delta/B.1.617 variant from India beginning to make the rounds locally...) 
• The province had 525 new cases today -- the lowest number since last September. 
• If things continue to go well, case levels remain low and higher vaccination levels are met (70 per cent of adults with one vaccine dose -- which we've already exceeded -- and 20 per cent of adults with two doses), we could enter stage 2 of the reopening 21 days later, around July 2nd. That stage includes reopening of personal care services (with masks worn) -- including haircuts!!  (Let the countdown begin!! lol) 
• We heard today that the 20-year-old son of one of dh's cousins is recovering from COVID-19. He went to a friend's house to hang out -- the friend works part-time at a local supermarket where there have been several known cases -- and both of them came down with it. Fortunately, his case was not serious. He had a bad cough and a fever for several days. He holed up in his room at home and his mom brought him his meals on paper plates. His parents have both had their first vaccines, and they and his sister all tested negative. 
• 
  My parents are booked for their second doses of Pfizer at the end of the month.  Dh & I should be getting our second doses around the same time (of what, we're not quite sure yet -- first doses were AstraZeneca, and we have the option of getting that -- assuming supplies hold -- or an mRNA vaccine. Government communication re: how/when/where/etc. to book second doses is clear as mud here right now, as per usual -- eyeroll -- and everyone is scrambling).
• It seems like we went almost straight from winter to summer, with no or very little spring in between. Our temperatures the past few days have been above 30C/87F, with humidex values in the high 30s/near 100F.  (The normal temperature at this time of year is about 22C.)  There must be a happy medium...!  

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.