Sunday odds & ends

• My new little great-niece (A.) went home as planned on Wednesday night. BIL & SIL finally got to see her on Friday, after just a brief glimpse at her the night she was born (they weren't allowed to come into the maternity unit for some reason) -- BIL was chomping at the bit by then, lol.  She is doing well, and hopefully won't grow out of the newborn-size sleepers & diapers I bought for her before we get to see her!  
• We haven't been able to see her yet  :(  because I have been sick ALL WEEK LONG  :(  (albeit I am FINALLY feeling better today!).  (Two rapid tests, one Tuesday and one Saturday, both negative.)  We've been invited to takeout dinner at BIL's on Saturday night along with both nephews and their families, but we're hoping to visit her at home ourselves before then.    
• Thanks for all the congratulatory messages!  :)  
• If anyone tells you that "covid is over" (or "covid is just a cold," as one of dh's cousins assured me a while back)(!), send them Pamela's latest post about living with long covid  :(  (which also contains some thoughtful observations about how long covid is like infertility).  
• It was also her 16th (!) blogoversary! -- so go over and congratulate her too! 
• This article from The Atlantic would be a great one to hand to family members & friends, especially if/when you are newly grieving:  "What Losing My Two Children Taught Me About Grief."  (Subhead: "Never say “There are no words” to the grieving.")(My personal pet peeve in this vein would be "I can't imagine..." -- as I wrote here and here, among other posts...!). 
• I heard on the news this week that British Columbia just became the first province in Canada to make prescription birth control free of charge. Here's what's covered and how access will work. 
• I took birth control pills for more than 13 years, from when I was 21 until I was almost 35. I don't remember how often I actually had to pay, or much I paid for a package when I did pay, but I do remember that my long-time family doctor used to just hand me several packages at a time whenever I told him I was running low -- presumably the pharmaceutical companies gave him lots of freebies to dole out. He was my family doctor for about 10 of those 13 years, and I don't remember if I got freebies for ALL of that time,  but I'm sure he still saved me a bundle -- which, as a totally broke newlywed just launching a career, was very much appreciated. 
• My workplace medical plan provided prescription drug coverage -- but it did NOT cover birth control pills until well after I had stopped using them. It did, however, cover viagra before that. :p   
• Ali Hall on Medium has written several excellent pieces related to childfree & childless life, and this recent one was no exception: "People Without Kids Still Have “Skin in the Game” Just Ask Chelsea Handler" (subhead: "It scares me how much reproduction is a pre-requisite for some people to care about humanity"). 
• Also on Medium, related to the Chelsea Handler video (I'm not a huge fan, but it is quite funny in parts), by Rachel Presser:  "Why We Needed Chelsea Handler’s Declaration of Childfree Joy." 
• And: "Chelsea Handler Makes Video — Matt Walsh Has Meltdown" by Matt Mason.