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: December was month #45 (going on FOUR YEARS...!) since the COVID-19 pandemic began. While I did develop a cold during the week between Christmas & New Year while at my parents' house (which I still have...), we remain covid-free (knocking wood, loudly...), and continue to mask in most stores and other public places, especially where there are a lot of people. Hard data is difficult to come by -- but anecdotally, we know that case numbers are on the rise, and we continue to hear about others -- including friends & relatives, and friends & relatives of friends & relatives -- who have recently tested positive, many of them for the first time.  Among them:  my sister and her partner had covid for the first time in mid/late November, and BIL & SIL in mid-December. More than a month later, my sister still has a nasty cough. 

December was a blur.  It was a mad dash to the finish line, i.e., the airport on Dec. 16th, to head west to spend Christmas with my family.  We never seem to do a lot while we're there, but somehow, the days just go whizzing by...!  My online time was minimal, especially while we were there -- I am sooooo far behind on blog & Substack reading and commenting, and my inbox is overflowing with unread emails...  (Getting a better handle on all my to-do/want to do lists and regular routines, etc., will be one of my goals for 2024...!)    

Among other things this month, we: 

• Went with BIL & SIL on Saturday, Dec. 2nd, to visit a cousin who recently got the "all-clear" following surgery & treatment for cancer. Her brother also stopped by when he heard we were all coming, and a good visit was had by all. :)  
• Four days later, on Dec. 6th, we got a text from the cousin:  her daughter (a junior kindergarten teacher, who lives at home and was present for part of the time we were there, including hugs in greeting and goodbye) just tested positive for covid. :(  
• BIL & SIL also tested positive, 10 and 12 days after our visit (so not sure they picked up there from her, or from somewhere else in the meantime?). 
• Returned to the mall on Dec. 5th to return some things to Old Navy and do a bit more Christmas shopping. 
• Had an unmasked early lunch in the food court. 
• Headed back to our old community on Friday, Dec. 8th:  brought some holiday decorations to the cemetery for Katie's niche, got haircuts, and then headed to the local mall for a little more Christmas shopping. En route back home, stopped at the supermarket to pick up some takeout soup for lunch. 
• Went to the drugstore on Dec. 11th to pick up some prescriptions, buy some stamps at the postal outlet there and pick up a few other things I needed (including a few stocking stuffers for dh). 
• Flew west from Toronto to Winnipeg on Dec. 16th to spend Christmas with my family. 
• While in Manitoba, we made a few (masked) trips to the grocery store, drugstore, chicken restaurant for takeout, and a wholesale greenhouse operation for (gorgeous, CHEAP!) pointsettias for Mom. 
• Saw Parents' Neighbours' Daughter & one of more of the three Little Princesses almost every other day, including Little Princess #3, who is now 4 months old and adorable.  :)  (She's the likely source of my cold...! -- or possibly her next-oldest sister, Princess #2.)  

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 4 books in  December (reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2023 books").  

• "The Travelling Cat Chronicles" by Hiro Arikawa (the January pick for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club). (My review.) 
• "The House on the Cliff" by D.E. Stevenson (a chapter-by-chapter re-read with my DES group.).(My original review, and my most recent review.)   
• "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" by Taylor Jenkins Reid (March pick for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club). (My review.) 
• "Anne of Windy Poplars" (known as "Anne of Windy Willows" in the UK) by L.M. Montgomery, in advance of my L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group's upcoming read of the next book in the series, "Anne's House of Dreams." Discussion on that one will start on Jan. 15th.. (My review.) 

This brings me to 48 books read in 2023, 107% of my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. :)  

Current read(s): 

• "The Christmas Orphans Club" by Becca Freeman. (Recommended by Nora McInerny of Terrible, Thanks for Asking.) 
• "L.M. Montgomery and Gender," an essay collection edited by E. Holly Pike & Laura Robinson. Slowly working my way through...! 
• "Living the Life Unexpected" by Jody Day.  Re-reading (for the 5th time, I think!) and discussing one chapter per month (for the second time) with a group of other childless women within the private online Gateway/Lighthouse Women community. If & when I/we complete the full 12 chapters (early in 2024), I'll count it as a(nother) re-read. We will discuss Chapter 11 in mid-December! (My most recent review -- with links to previous reviews -- here.) 

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 my L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group: "Anne's House of Dreams." This is one that's near & dear to many loss mothers' hearts, including mine. Discussion will start on Jan. 15th.
• For my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club: 
• "Best of Friends" by Kamila Shamsie (February)
• "The Improbability of Love" by Hannah Rothschild (April)
• "Queen High/Queen Wallis" by C.J. Carey (May -- my earlier review here) 
• "All In" by Billie Jean King (June)
• For my D.E. Stevenson group:  This list of upcoming books should keep us busy through 2024, and into 2025!  (A couple of the books are ones we covered when I first joined the group back in 2014 -- you know you've been around for a while when....!)  
• Bel Lamington (beginning in January 2024). 
• Fletcher’s End
• Miss Buncle’s Book
• Peter West 
• Miss Buncle Married
• The Two Mrs Abbotts
• Crooked Adam 
• The Four Graces

• For the Notes from Three Pines (Louise Penny mysteries) Readalong: The last discussion was for book #3, "The Cruellest Month," posted June 7th -- no further posts/books since then.  I've continued dipping into the series on my own, between other book club obligations. Book #6, "Bury Your Dead," is on the horizon as one of my next reads...! 
• Here I go again...? (!)  Footnotes and Tangents is hosting a year-long readalong of Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" (!) -- a chapter a day for a full year, beginning Jan. 1, 2024. As I wrote here, I'm tempted -- although I realize I need yet another book club/readalong obligation like a hole in the head..! 
• (He's also doing a full-year readalong of Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell Trilogy, beginning with "Wolf Hall," also on Jan. 1st -- oh dear...) 

A few recently purchased titles (mostly in digital format, mostly discounted ($5-10 or less) or purchased with points):  

• "Adoption Unfiltered" by Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard and Lori Holden
• "Still Born" by Guadalupe Nettel 
• "The Librarianist" by Patrick deWitt
• "The Guest" by Emma Cline 
• "Wellness" by Nathan Hill 
• "Madonna" by Mary Gabriel 

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Watching:  I can't think of anything memorable that we watched during December...??

Listening:  

• To a lot of April Wine songs, following the death of its lead singer and guitarist Myles Goodwyn on Dec. 3rd, which I wrote about here. 

To Heardle Decades: Stats as of  Dec. 31st:  

• Heardle 60s:  76.9% (349/454, 152 on first guess), down slightly from the same as last month. Max. streak: 15.
• Heardle 70s:  81.3% (161/198, 91 on the first guess), about the same as last month. Max. streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s:  45.2% (33/73,  15 on the first guess), up slightly from last month. Max. streak: 4. 
• Heardle 90s: 32.6% (61/187, 13 on the first guess), down from last month. Max. streak: 4. 

Following: 

Eating/Drinking:  All the Christmas goodies that I only get once a year at Mom & Dad's, including  pickerel (walleye pike to you Americans), turkey, stuffing/dressing, gravy, cabbage rolls and perogies, nuts & bolts, shortbread, and those Canadian delicacies:  Nanaimo bars and butter tarts (gift links). :)  

Buying (besides books, lol -- and Christmas gifts!):  Not much! 

Wearing: Holiday-themed waffle-weave PJ tops from Old Navy. :)  And I pulled out my heavy winter jacket and boots to wear "home" to Manitoba -- but I didn't really need them, as they're having one of the mildest winters in years (so far...!), with barely enough snow to make it a white Christmas. 

Noticing:  How much milder/less snowy this Christmas season was, even in Manitoba, where (I've always told people) a white Christmas has always been practically guaranteed. Closer to home, Older Nephew built a backyard skating rink for Little Great-Nephew, but so far, it's mostly been just a pool of water... 

Enjoying:  Spending time with Parents' Neighbours' Daughter and the Littlest Princess (now 4 months old), who came to visit almost every day we were there. Also enjoyed the nightly card games (and even won a few...!).    

Trying:  (and failing!) To gently convince my parents (and my mother in particular) that they need to move from their overstuffed split-level  house with the big yard, into something smaller and more manageable (and less costly) to keep up. 

Appreciating: The comfort of my own bed!!   

Wanting: A return trip home this summer to celebrate my dad's 85th birthday -- which would be the first time we've made it there in the summertime since 2019!  

Wondering: What to do to celebrate my upcoming birthday...?  (I have a few ideas. Nothing elaborate!)    

Prioritizing: A trip to the supermarket today, to restock our fridge and cupboards, and visits this week to BIL & SIL's house:  Little Great-Nephew doesn't start school again until next Monday, and his parents had to return to work after being off over Christmas week, so he's there all this week!  

Hoping:  To wade through all the emails that have piled up over the past two weeks and weeding out my inbox...! 

Loving:  Being at Mom & Dad's and spending time with my family -- but also being back in my own space! 

Feeling: Glad to get 2023 behind us.  Hoping for better things in 2024.