#MicroblogMondays: Small pleasures & annoying things

Small pleasures: 

• The windows of our condo building were recently professionally washed (they generally get done at this time of year) -- and then this past weekend, I washed the outside balcony door/windows and ALL the inside windows myself.  (We even took off the screens & cleaned them in the bathtub.) Clean windows make SUCH a difference to my mood (especially when the sun is shining through them!).  I keep stopping what I'm doing to admire them all over again, lol.  :) 
• (I'm embarrassed to admit this was the first time in the five years we've lived here that I've done the inside bedroom & office windows. I don't think the previous owners had washed them either -- meaning they hadn't been washed since they were installed while the building was being constructed, 6-7 years ago. Erk.  You might *think* they're not that dirty, but trust me, they are!) 
• Another small pleasure: using my nifty new squeegie kit, as recommended by my housecleaning guru at @gocleanco on Instagram, lol.  Our condo windows are floor-to-ceiling, and I was very happy to use the extension pole and not have to get up on a stool to reach the window tops!!  -- especially outside on the balcony! (We're four storeys up.)
• Weather that's nice enough to leave the balcony door open all afternoon -- especially since it follows a spell of extreme heat & humidity. 
• Getting to spend time with Little Great-Nephew. We've been going over to see him one or two mornings a week (mostly outside) since mid-May (when his mom returned to work after maternity leave and SIL retired to look after him), and I think he's finally starting to get used to having us around. :)  (We go mid-morning because he usually takes a nap after lunch.) 
• Bonus small pleasure: we will sometimes swing by the nearby supermarket after our visit and pick up some of their delicious soup or pizza for a takeout lunch. We used to have lunch there once or twice a week, pre-COVID, and it's a treat to enjoy their fare again! 
• Looking forward to visiting the bookstore again soon, now that non-essential retail has been allowed to reopen (at 15% capacity, as of Friday). (Restaurant patios were also allowed to reopen, but we have no desire to visit one yet, at least until we're both fully vaccinated.) 
• Knowing we will be getting fully vaccinated sooner versus later:  those of us who received our first shots of AstraZeneca may now get our second shots (of either AstraZeneca or an mRNA vaccine) 8 weeks after the first -- versus the previous 12-week interval, which itself was stepped up from the original 16-week wait. (We had our first AZ shots on April 5th, 10 weeks ago.) People who got Pfizer or Moderna were allowed to start booking second shots after 8 weeks last week. Appointments open this morning --wish me luck! (We're already on a wait list at the pharmacy where we had our first shots, but it's unclear how the new accelerated schedule will affect that. I'm going to call them -- or try to, anyway...!)   

Annoying things: 

• My mother, who wasn't very happy about us getting AstraZeneca for our first shot, and is now lobbying/nagging us to take the Pfizer for our second shot. Sigh... (and eyeroll...!). 
• The new, shorter timeframe for vaccinations was implemented to help ward off new cases of the highly contagious and lethal Delta (Indian) variant of the COVID-19 virus, which is now making inroads hereabouts -- just as we're coming out of Wave/Lockdown #3 and things are (finally) starting to gradually reopen after a very long lockdown. It's kind of a race against time to get more people fully vaccinated/protected before Wave #4 is triggered...  
• People who are acting like the pandemic is over, now that a few restrictions have been lifted (as of this past weekend).  (It's not. See above, and see this article.) You give some people an inch, and... I know, it's been a very loonnngggg 15 months, but... 
• My COVID hair. ;)  Okay, I know I sound like a broken record (you've all heard this song from me before...!), but it's the ONE THING about this pandemic (other than not seeing family) that I've found hard to endure -- especially now with the warmer weather. (Southern Ontario's hot, humid summer weather was what prompted me to cut my thick, heavy, shoulder-length hair short when I was in journalism school, 38 years ago, and it's been short ever since then.) 
• I haven't had a haircut in 13 weeks (I usually go every 6 weeks like clockwork);  hair salons will not reopen until stage 2 (at reduced capacity, with masks worn). That won't be until early July, at least 16 weeks after our last trims (and who knows how long it will be after that until we can get an appointment?? -- our regular hairdresser only works three days a week too...). Previous record was 17 weeks (after our first lockdown last year);  it was 12 weeks before this last haircut (after Lockdown #2 ended but before Lockdown #3 kicked in). 
• My parents recently went to the dentist for the first time since the pandemic began. Even before then, my dad knew he needed some work done -- but he was not prepared to be told that he now had a mouthful of cavities, and fixing it all was going to require several thousand dollars' worth of work over several more visits. :(  Don't put off those preventative care appointments, people!! 
• We went to visit Little Great-Nephew last Monday morning, and he had a bit of a cold -- runny nose, etc. When we went back on Wednesday morning, he was fine -- but his dad (Older Nephew) was home from work and feeling miserable with a cold.  And then Thursday morning, dh woke up sneezing and sniffling (and still is...)!  (We're pretty sure it's just a cold and not... anything else.) When he talked to BIL this weekend, HE had a cold too!!  LGN sure is adorable -- but he's a little germ magnet/superspreader, lol.  
• 
  Blogging drought: after a productive (possibly record -- I haven't checked) month in May, with 24 posts published, I've slacked off. This is my first post since #MM last Monday. I just haven't been feeling the muse. I haven't even had any book reviews to write, lol. Which brings me to... 
• Reading drought:  well, not exactly a drought. I have started three books over the past two weeks for three different book clubs/reading groups, but haven't finished one yet. I read 9 books in May, and I know that's not going to happen every month. Still, it would be nice to get at least one finished soon... 

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