A few midweek odds & ends

• Annoying thing:  I received an email from Air Miles Canada yesterday, noting that there hadn't been any activity in my account in more than 21 months. They informed me that unless I accumulated some more points, cashed them in or transferred them to another collector (at a cost of 15 cents per mile) by end of day Dec. 29th, they will suspend my account -- and I will lose the 8,200+ air miles that I've painstakingly accumulated over the past 30 (yes, 30!) years.  (It's not a huge amount... but I've earned every one of them!) 
• Ummm, hello... pandemic??  There were long stretches of time in 2020 & 2021 when there wasn't much to leave the house for, even if I'd wanted to. Cumulatively, Ontario's stores & restaurants were closed longer than almost anywhere else in the world -- so there weren't many places I could go to spend money and accumulate points, even if I'd wanted to. And of course, travel anywhere was restricted for most of that time as well. 
• Plus, many of the places where I used to shop and accumulate points either don't have outlets in this community (versus our former one -- our regular supermarket there, for example, offered Air Miles -- and still does, I think? -- but has no stores in our vicinity) -- or they aren't affiliated with Air Miles any more.   
• I WAS NOT IMPRESSED.  :p  
• I had a look at what I could get with the miles I have. There wasn't a lot I could do with them in terms of travel -- not that we're very keen on travel at the moment anyway. I looked to see if they would cover our plane tickets home for Christmas (a relatively short trip) -- and the answer was no.  :p  
• So -- I wound up cashing in about 6400 points on a Kitchen Aid stand mixer (metallic chrome and stainless steel). I've always wanted one, but just made do with a hand mixer. It should be here within four weeks -- in time for me to do some Christmas baking, maybe?  ;)  
• A couple of weeks ago, we returned to the mall for the first time in eons in search of two new carry-on suitcases for our trip. (We found them.) I also found a new black purse at Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) -- the first purse I've bought since the pandemic began. My current purse, a black Baci, which I started using early on in the pandemic (or possibly just before it began? -- late 2019/early 2020), was starting to look kind of ragged around the edges (which I found incredibly puzzling, given the simple fact that we haven't really GONE anywhere for the past 2 & 1/2 years...!). The zipper has also started jamming with increasing frequency. 
• Anyway, I bought the new purse (this one) and brought it home, but decided to keep using my old/current one until after we got back from our trip west (since by now I'm very familiar with what's where, etc., and figured that would help me get through airport security faster). For the time being, I decided to stash my new one in the plastic bin where I keep all my spare handbags. 
• Needless to say I was embarrassed to find not just one, not just two, but THREE MORE/OTHER never-used black purses stashed there (plus a couple of brown, beige and white ones for good measure...!). Oops. I tend to be quite picky about my purses -- I like them large (but not TOO large, because then I'll fill it up, and I don't want to weigh myself down or throw out my shoulder...), with lots of compartments and pockets for stashing/organizing my stuff -- so when I see something I like, I tend to buy it, because I can sometimes go for quite a while before I see something that suits me. 
• With four (!) black purses to choose from, I decided to put the newest purse aside for now and instead use a black Vince Camuto that I bought pre-pandemic. It has three compartments, which I like -- albeit not quite enough pockets to suit me. (The others had fewer compartments but more pockets... sigh...)  I've transferred my things over from my old purse, and we'll see how this one works out...!   
• Two other past purse-related posts: here (2010) and here (2019). 
• More brilliant writing and analysis from Yael Wolfe: not just one but TWO amazing pieces in the same week!  
• First, she acknowledges the painful fact that, not only is it possible we might not get what we want, "You Deserve It…and You Still Might Not Get It."  "What makes us worthy when external validation fails us?" she muses in the subheading.  (Her conclusion: "You have to know your worth in your heart and be satisfied with that." Sometimes easier said than done, of course...) 
• More recently, she pondered the question of "Why Childless Women Inspire Superstitious Sentiment:  Are you sure it’s all part of God’s plan?"  Trust me, you really need to read the whole thing -- but here's a taste of what she has to say:  

If you want to make someone uncomfortable, tell them that you’re childless. Tell them you wanted a child quite badly but it “just didn’t happen” and watch them squirm.

I never uttered these words with the intention of making someone uncomfortable, mind you. But sharing my story and seeing people consistently respond in this manner has been fascinating. As far as I can tell, there is little else that makes people as uncomfortable as hearing someone admit they are childless by circumstance... 

The problem is, our grief is eclipsed in a moment like this by someone else’s feelings. You see, a childless woman never enters a space alone. Along with her comes a companion that people who were able to become mothers don’t want to acknowledge: the precarious uncertainty of life.

And no one — absolutely no one — wants to be reminded of that.

• (And if you think that simply being childless makes people uncomfortable, try telling them you're childless after loss... that you never got that "rainbow baby" that everyone assured you would happen for you and make everything better -- not that any child needs the burden of that role in life, of course...!)