Monday, May 1, 2023

Right now

Right now...* 

*(an occasional (mostly monthly) meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current"). (Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first "The Current" post, here.)

Pandemic diary/update: April marked 37 months (3 years plus, entering the 4th (!) year) of the COVID-19 pandemic. (And no, it's NOT "over"...!)  

"Why aren’t we hearing about COVID waves anymore? Because COVID is at ‘a high tide’ — and staying there," the Toronto Star reported recently.  Subheading:  "The first Omicron wave has left us numb to the continuing presence of the virus. But hospitals are dealing with a “steady stream” that’s hurting the system." 

"COVID hospitalizations in Canada are about six times higher today than they were at the lowest point of the pandemic...  while COVID hospitalizations this year and last have proven less erratic, they have remained at significant levels," the article says.  One nurse quoted in the article says, “It’s no longer a tidal wave. It is a steady stream.”  

Back in March, the National Advisory Council on Immunization (NACI) released its recommendations on spring booster shots. Given the previous "six months since your last shot" guidance, I figured we were due for our next shots in early May.  HOWEVER -- unlike previous rounds of covid vaccines, this round is being targeted at those considered most at-risk -- i.e., seniors or those with compromised immune systems, etc.  The vaccine clinic attached to our family doctor's office sent out emails announcing bookings are available for those 65+ and high-risk individuals. Dh (recently turned 66) is eligible -- I (a mere youngster of 62) am not.  :(   (I am considering trying to book an appointment for myself when I book his soon, just to see what happens...!) 

On the personal pandemic front: We remain covid-free (knocking wood, loudly...) -- and while we have ventured out more often lately, we're still being very careful (more so than most people we know).  We still mask in stores and other public places and when we're around Little Great-Niece (for now, at her parents' request), albeit we usually don't in smaller/family settings. 

On top of dh's solo trips to the supermarket for groceries (about once a week), for occasional takeout lunches & dinners, and to see/help out his brother, we: 
  • Saw Little Great-Nephew 3 times: we stayed with him for most of the day on April 4th when his grandparents went to a lengthy medical appointment, again on the 18th, and also for a shorter time on the 25th. 
  • Also saw Little Great-Nephew -- and Little Great-Niece, and both sets of their parents (the nephews and their wives) -- at BIL & SIL's for dinner on Good Friday. (It feels like a long time ago now...!)
  • Headed downtown on the subway for the first time in 3+ years (!) to (FINALLY!) see "Hamilton"!  
  • Went to the supermarket together -- on the Thursday before the Easter long weekend, no less! -- and to ToysRUs on an errand for BIL. 
  • Returned to our old community on Easter Saturday for haircuts and to pick up some favourite food items that we can't get locally, and stopped by the cemetery with some Easter/springtime decorations for Katie's niche. 
    • When we got back home, we picked up BIL & SIL, and headed over to dh & BIL's aunt's condo for coffee with her and her daughters and son-in-law (dh & BIL's cousins). 
    • After that, we stopped by Walmart briefly and then at the supermarket for some takeout for diner, which we ate at BIL & SIL's. 
  • Attended a funeral home visitation for dh's cousin's mother-in-law on Easter Monday, and stopped at the bookstore on the way home for a quick browse.  
    • Returned to the bookstore on April 27th to shop for birthday cards for the nieces-in-law and a Mother's Day card for my mom. 
  • Attended ANOTHER funeral home visitation for the MIL of ANOTHER one of dh's cousins on Sunday afternoon (April 30th).   
    • Celebrated dh's aunt's birthday later the same day with her daughter and her family (dh's cousin), as well as BIL & SIL. 
  • Had coffee with BIL & SIL once, and stopped by briefly after supper another evening.  
  • Shopped at the drugstore twice (both times on a Thursday = Seniors Day! = 20% off all regular-priced items).  
25 years ago in April (1998), I was basking in excited congratulations from family, friends and finally co-workers, as I revealed my pregnancy -- but still dealing with spotting, including a trip to the emergency room at the hospital, where I had my first ultrasound (and my first experience with the infamous dildocam!) -- and learned that I had something called a "bicornuate uterus." I relived my pregnancy & loss experiences in a series on this blog in 2008, 10 years after the fact... here are the April-related posts:    
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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 4 books in April (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged "2023 books").  
This brings me to 17 books read to date in 2023,  38% of my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. :)  I am currently (for the moment, anyway...!) 3 books ahead of schedule to meet my goal. 

Current read(s): 
Coming up: Most of my book groups have their next reads plotted out for a few months in advance -- and listing them here helps me keep track of what I should be reading next. ;)  
  • For the Notes from Three Pines (Louise Penny mysteries) Readalong:  The next book for discussion has not been announced, but it's logical to assume that it's book #3, "The Cruellest Month" (which I read this month). The first two books were covered in mid-February and mid-March, and I'd assumed we'd be discussing this one in mid-April, but so far, no word on this one...??  
  • Also: 
    • "Funny Girl" by Nick Hornby. I see a TV adaptation (inexplicably retitled "Funny Woman") will be starting on one of the channels we get in mid-May, so I'm going to TRY to read the book before then. I've read & enjoyed several Hornby novels before. 
A few recently purchased titles (mostly in digital format, mostly discounted ($5-10 or less) or purchased with points):  
Also of note on the reading front:  I've had a NetGalley account for a couple of years now (prompted by a friend who told me about it) but never actually used it to request any books, until this past week. I got an email promoting Ashley Audrain's new book, "The Whispers," available to the first 200 members requesting it. Amazingly enough, I was granted access. Supposedly there is a way to download a copy to my Kobo e-reader, but I still haven't been able to figure out just how to do it. (I may need to get my sister's techie boyfriend involved...). From what I can tell, I have to download Adobe Digital Editions to my laptop, download the book there and then transfer it from my laptop to my e-reader -- but when I try to download ADE, I get a message that "This app is not available for your device." I did download the NetGalley app to my cellphone, and it's available there but yikes, the teeny tiny (unchangeable) type...!  

Anyone else use NetGalley? 

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Watching: We've recently been watching "Lucky Hank" with Bob Odenkirk. I must confess, we never watched "Breaking Bad" or "Better Call Saul" (I know, I know...!), but he's been awesome in everything else I've ever seen him in. It's a very black comedy about academia and midlife crisis, almost painful to watch at times -- but it's really good. (Set in Pennsylvania, but filmed in/around Vancouver?!)  

We also watched a four-part CNN documentary this past month about the Heaven's Gate cult, which committed mass suicide in 1997. I've always found the footage of the cult members and (especially) their leader rather creepy to watch (and that hasn't changed), but I've always found the subject of cults and how people get caught up in them fascinating, and overall, it's an interesting program. (One of the people interviewed was Steve Hassan, an ex-Moonie who wrote a book that I read & reviewed here a few years ago related to cults and to the -- *cough!* -- current political situation in America.  ;)  ) 

And... for all that I don't generally watch a lot of sports, I've been watching the NHL Stanley Cup (hockey) playoffs, which began mid-month. (I AM, after all, Canadian!  lol)(More accurately:  dh has been watching. I've been glancing up from my book or laptop now & then.)  I generally don't get too interested in the playoffs until/unless one of "my" teams is in it, and/or until the later rounds.  But... the long, lamented, local Toronto Maple Leafs, who last won the Stanley Cup in 1967 (and no, that is NOT a typo -- it was 56 years ago and dh was 10 years old, and he remembers it well!)... actually WON their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, on Saturday night!!  The last time they made it past the first round was 19 years ago, in 2004 (!). (It's been 30 years since a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.)  Alas, my beloved Winnipeg Jets have already been eliminated in the first round by the Las Vegas Golden Knights. :(  I will be thoroughly sick of hockey by the time this all wraps up, sometime in mid/late June (!! -- it never went this long when I was growing up...)...  but for now....  ;)  

Listening:  I've been enjoying the daily Heardle challenge(s) -- until, in mid-April, I learned that Spotify -- which bought Heardle only last July (!) -- will be shutting the game down after May 4th (!!).

So far as I know, this will not affect the "Heardle Decades" knock-off versions of the game, which are powered by Soundcloud and not Spotify. I've always done much better on those versions anyway (especially the 60s & 70s!).  

Current Heardle/Decades stats as of April 30th:   
  • Heardle (original/all decades, which will be shut down after May 4th): 24.4% correct (66/270, 19 on the first guess), down from last month. These will be my final stats from this game. Maximum streak: 3. 
  • Heardle 60s:  79.8% (178/223, 85 on first guess), up from last month. Max. streak: 14. 
  • Heardle 70s:  68.5% (159/232, 84 on the first guess), up from last month. Max. streak: 13. 
  • Heardle 80s:  38.2% (29/76,  15 on the first guess), up from last month. Max. streak: 4. 
  • Heardle 90s: 32.1% (70/218, 20 on the first guess), down slightly this month. Max. streak: 4. 
Eating/Drinking:  Dh's aunt's Italian Easter bread (cuculi). Yum!

Takeout dinners on Saturday nights this month included wood-oven pizza, teriyaki rice bowls, soup, and -- for the first time since October 2021! -- our favourite chicken fingers/strips and fries from Jack Astor's (bar & grill/casual dining chain), lol.  (I'd sworn off them because of my gallstone issues, but since I no longer have a gallbladder...!).  

We had dinner with the nephews & their families at their parents (BIL & SIL)'s house on Good Friday. The menu included salmon, roasted potatos & veggies. We picked up a fruit plate and apple pie at the supermarket for dessert. 

For Easter dinner for two (and tons of leftovers for the days afterward!), we picked up a small pre-cooked ham from the supermarket, which we warmed up in the oven. (Not quite as good as the hams my parents cook from scratch when we're there, but not bad either!)  To go with it, we had some mixed veggies, and I made scalloped potatoes for the first time by myself (I've helped my mom do it in the past) -- they turned out very well!  And we bought an apple pie for ourselves too, which we warmed up for dessert (also lots of leftovers for the next few days, lol). :)   

Buying (besides books, lol):  I took advantage of an Easter sale and purchased two Ancestry DNA kits  for my mother & me (which JUST arrived). (Dh & my dad weren't interested, and my sister is dead set against doing it.)  They're on their way here.  My mother has been wanting to do hers for a while now (ever since some friends and one of her cousins did theirs) and nagging me about it. ;)  Genealogy is one of my big interests, but I've been a little reluctant about getting into the DNA thing -- one big reason being that I know I have at least one first cousin out there who was surrendered for adoption 50-ish years ago by one of my relatives. Don't get me wrong, the more the merrier when it comes to cousins -- but I have no idea what the birth parent's other children know about this other sibling, and I feel like it would be just my luck that s/he would pop up out of the woodwork, and then I would be in a very awkward position. But I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there...! (And since this was my mother's idea, maybe I'll insist that SHE gets to make any awkward phone calls...!  lol) 

Any hints/advice to offer on getting the most out of this experience?  

Towards the end of the month, I got spring fever and ordered a couple of new T-shirts (that I didn't really NEED..!) from Cleo and Old Navy.  :)  

Wearing:  We had a mid-month warm spell that lasted several days and had me shedding my long sleeves, long pants and socks & slippers for capri leggings, short sleeves and bare feet. (Then the temperatures dipped, and it was back to long sleeves and socks, lol.)  

Noticing:  There have been a lot of birds (or at least one or two very busy ones!) swooping up past our windows lately, often with things in their beaks (and sometimes perching on the rails of our balcony). I suspect they're building a nest on one of the balconies nearby, or perhaps the penthouse suite terrace. (I said to one of them through the window, "You're welcome to stop here, but don't get any ideas about moving in!"  lol) Fun to watch!  and another sign of spring!  :) 

Another sign of spring:  the fine green mist that suddenly appeared on the trees mid-month, as the leaves started budding out. (Which has also brought another round of dh's seasonal allergies -- not quite so nice...!) 

Enjoying:  The wonderful connections I've made through blogging and elsewhere online.  :)  

Wondering:  What Little Great-Nephew was whispering to himself while sitting on the potty when we were babysitting him recently??  lol  I could hear him whispering to himself, but couldn't make out what he was saying. It was so cute -- I like to think he was giving himself a pep talk!  lol  (He's been doing really well with the potty lately!)

(Sorry for the proud auntie digression -- I know potty training is one of the last subjects you'd expect to encounter on a blog about childless living!  lol -- but yes, poop still happens -- and sometimes childless aunties are the ones who have to clean it up!  lol)  

Wanting: The Leafs to finally win that Cup!! (And then the Jets!) (A girl can dream...  lol....)  

Trying:  To stay on top of my emails and delete or file them more regularly. (I had almost 10,000 emails in my inbox recently...!) 

Worrying:  About BIL's health issues, and the impact it's having on the rest of the family, including dh, SIL & the nephews.  :(   

Hoping:  For a good outcome for him... 

Waiting:  To see how this all plays out over the next several weeks/months (and whether I'm going to be able to get home this summer to see my parents & sister...!).  

Prioritizing: Supporting them all right now through this difficult time (even if it means our own stuff gets put on the back burner...). 

Appreciating:  Our own relative good health, even more these days (knocking wood...!). 

Loving:  Cozy evenings at home, curled up on the sofa with my laptop or a good book -- especially Friday nights, when the laundry is all done, the house is freshly cleaned and we're both tired but looking forward to the weekend. Dh reminds me now & then that "every day is the weekend when you're retired!" and there's some truth to that -- but on the other hand, most of the other people in our lives are still working, and there's still something about the weekend that I appreciate!  

Feeling:  Glad that winter (finally!) seems to be over...! (albeit the weather is still a tad grey & chilly...!)  Impatient for nicer weather to arrive. Anxious about BIL. :(    
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1 comment:

  1. MaliTuesday, May 02, 2023 11:21:00 PM

    Like you, I appreciate the weekend too. DH doesn't really distinguish. What is it about men? lol
    Now I'm wondering what LGN was whispering too. lol
    Hope you find some interesting things with your DNA and it doesn't cause any issues.
    And I've just started Lucky Hank too. I had just finished Better Call Saul, which was brilliant. (I think I might like it better than Breaking Bad.) He's a great actor.

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