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Tuesday, October 1, 2024

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.)

September was...nice.  :)  The weather was mostly nice, we had a lovely cottage weekend, saw some friends, spent some time with family (albeit never enough with the kids, lol). (But where has this year gone??)  

Pandemic diary/update: September was month #54 since the covid pandemic began in March 2020 -- now in Year FIVE. :(   And we continued to hear about people we know coming down with covid -- many of then for the first time, others for the second, third or more. I've heard of several seniors/care homes, including one in the town where my parents live, that were closed to visitors & new admissions because of the high number of covid cases. Again. :(  

We (still!) remain covid-free (knocking wood, loudly...), and we continue to mask in stores, malls and (most) other indoor public spaces hereabouts, especially where there are a lot of people around. (Well, I do -- I know dh has been slacking off again, whenever I'm not around to hand him a mask...!) 

This article in the Atlantic, from earlier in the month, explains why you should still be testing (and getting an updated vaccine). (Gift link.) 

Among other things we did this month, we: 
  • Spent a pleasant (albeit slightly chilly -- I had to borrow a sweater!) afternoon on the Sunday (Sept. 1st) of the Labour Day long weekend with dh's aunts, uncles & cousins (and their kids and grandkids)(on his dad's side) at his cousin's home. They have a large house & property, including a swimming pool, and the kids had a blast. A little too much back-to-school and parenting chatter for my comfort, but it was nice to see everyone, including one cousin and her family who were visiting from Australia! 
  • Went shopping for supplies before our cottage weekend at the supermarket and butcher shop, and picked up a new board game to play from the mega-bookstore (Sept. 5th). 
  • Spent a hugely enjoyable weekend at dh's cousin's cottage (Sept. 6th-8th), for the 4th year in a row. The weather did not co-operate -- it was mostly grey, drizzly and increasingly chilly -- so there were no boat rides and I never even made it down to the dock on the waterfront once (although dh ventured down there briefly a couple of times).  But we were still able to get out for a couple of walks (where we saw a lot of deer!) and onto the deck for some hotly contested games of corn hole!  (lol)  Inside, we had the fireplace going, the men watched umpteen games of U.S. college, NFL & CFL football (far too many for my liking...!), we played a lot of board games -- and, of course, we ATE!  (lol) (See "Eating/Drinking," below!)  
  • Met up with a half-dozen women from the Childless Collective community (Sept. 14th) -- most of them locals, but one visiting from Washington State with a friend!  We had lunch on the patio at a restaurant near where I live and had a lovely time!  
  • Took part in a webinar for World Childless Week with Michael Hughes of the Full Stop podcast on Sept. 16th:  "What Can We Learn From Our Family History?" 
  • Browsed at our recently renovated/reorganized mega-bookstore (but didn't buy anything) and then at a nearby women's wear store (Sept. 17th). 
  • Spent a morning at the mall (Sept. 18th), walking, shopping and having lunch. Bought a few things for the great-niblings :)  as well as a T-shirt at Old Navy and a cookie scoop at Kitchen Stuff Plus for myself, and a couple of things at the drugstore.  
  • I spent three Thursday evenings this month taking part in a Zoom webinar series sponsored by the Ontario Genealogical Society's Toronto Branch, about.... land registry records in Ontario, lol.  Maybe not the most fascinating topic, but well presented, and having three sessions allowed time to go through the structure in detail and reinforce what we'd learned from week to week.  Hoping to be able to (eventually!) look into the relevant records for my ancestors. (I'll be doing another OGS webinar series in October about writing about your family history.)  
  • Headed back to our old community on Sept. 25th for a visit to our family doctor. We couldn't book physicals until late October (I guess he only does them on certain days?) and I told the girl on the phone that we would need our prescriptions renewed before then, so this was a visit to do that. 
  • Went to the drugstore with dh on Sept. 26th to pick up his prescription and a few sundries -- taking advantage of his Seniors Day 20% discount!  lol  
  • Headed back to our old community (again) on Sept. 27th for a cemetery visit, followed by a trip to the mall for lunch, haircuts and some shopping/walking.  Picked up a few Halloween goodies at the dollar store there for Little Great-Nephew & Little Great-Niece. 
  • Went with BIL & SIL on Sept. 28th to visit stepMIL & family. We used to go fairly regularly, even after FIL died in 2018, but not that often since the pandemic began, and we hadn't been there since January (erk!)(although we did see stepMIL at dh's uncle's birthday party in late April). Her grandson is now 16, just got his G1 (learner's permit/restricted driver's license) and is almost 6 feet tall! 

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 3 books in September (reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2024 books").  
This brings me to 27 books read so far in 2024, 60% of my 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books.  I am currently 6 (!) books behind schedule to meet my goal. :(   

Current reads: 
  • "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert (October book for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club) (also a Barren Bitches Book Tour selection from October 2008, the early days of this blog! -- discussed here;  related post here). Currently at about 62% read. 
  • "Living the Life Unexpected" by Jody Day.  I'm once again taking part in a chapter-by-chapter group read of this CNBC classic!  The most recent meeting covered Chapter 2. This is the 5th (!) time I've read this book, or the earlier version of it ("Rocking the Life Unexpected").  (Most recent review, with links to earlier reviews, here.)  
  • "The Mirror and the Light" by Hilary Mantel (book #3 in the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy) -- part of a year-long "slow readalong" hosted by Simon at Footnotes and Tangents.  We started during the week of July 21st.  I chose to focus on some of my other books over the past couple of weeks, and as a result, I'm currently about 6 weeks behind the reading schedule (! -- gulp...), at about 29% read -- hoping to catch up, eventually...! We will finish the group read at the end of December. 
  • "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy (!). As I wrote here, I need another book club/readalong obligation like a hole in the head  ;)  but nevertheless, I'm taking part in a year-long readalong of this book, hosted by Simon at Footnotes and Tangents -- a chapter a day for a full year, which began Jan. 1, 2024. (And I'm really enjoying it!)  Currently at about 80% read.  
  • "L.M. Montgomery and Gender," an essay collection edited by E. Holly Pike & Laura Robinson. Slowly working my way through, in between the other books...! 
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) Substack Readalong: The last discussion was for book #3, "The Cruellest Month," posted in June 2023 (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 the next one on my to-read list! 
  • Other books on my priority list: 
    • "The Marlow Murder Club" by Robert Thorogood.  Hoping to have this one read before the TV version begins airing on PBS on Oct. 27th.   
A few recently purchased titles (mostly in digital format, mostly discounted ($5-10 or less) or purchased with points):

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Watching:  
  • On YouTube, on Sept. 3rd, a conversation between two amazing Canadian authors:  Louise Penny & Alan Bradley, marking the launch of Bradley's new book.   
  • "Moonflower Murders" on PBS, the adaptation of the Anthony Horowitz novel, which I just finished reading (see link to my review, above). So far, I've seen 3 of the 6 episodes, and I'm enjoying it hugely.  :)   
Listening:  To Heardle Decades: Stats as of  Sept. 30th: 
  • Heardle 60s: 76.5% (550/719, 219 on first guess), down 0.1% from last month. For some reason, the stats for my current/maximum winning streak are now listed as the same as the total number of games won (i.e., 550).  Before this, my maximum streak was 15.
  • Heardle 70s: 79.7% (366/459, 205 on first guess), down 0.3% from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
  • Heardle 80s: 41.1% (137/333, 55 on first guess), down 0.3% from last month. Max. streak: 4. 
  • Heardle 90s: 26.4% (115/436, 24 on first guess), down 0.1% from last month. Max. streak: 4. 
Also:  I haven't been listening to a lot of podcasts lately, but I did listen to Stephanie Joy Phillips, founder of World Childless Week, on New Legacy Radio with Christine Erickson, live on Sept. 3rd. (The episode is available as a podcast to listen to.)  

Following:  My stats for the New York Times Connections game!  I've been playing Connections for a few months now (and I'm even in a Facebook group with one of my mother's cousins and a couple of her friends, where we share our daily results with each other), and in early September, they started a new feature where you could check your daily stats!  They go back to June 15th.  You can even check your "mistake distribution," which shows how many mistakes/unsuccessful attempts you used (you get up to 4).  

The first set of stats they gave me showed that I'd completed 38 games, and won 76% of them, including 19 "perfect puzzles" (with zero errors) -- not bad, eh?  My maximum winning streak then was 8.  

By the end of September, I'd completed 64 games and won 77% of them, including 33 "perfect puzzles" (i.e., more than 50%!) and a maximum winning streak of 13 (and counting...!).  :)   

Eating/Drinking:  
  • Not enough fruits & veggies lately, I think...  :(  
  • Plenty of pork! lol  We went to a family gathering at dh's cousin's on Sept. 1st, and BIL suggested that, as our contribution to the eats, the four of us should chip in and buy a "porchetta" (which could sometimes be an entire whole roasted pig, but generally means a large, seasoned pork roast) from a local Italian butcher shop. We picked it up from the butcher on our way to the party.  BIL vastly overestimated the quantity needed (typical...!), and everyone wound up taking a package of leftover pork home, which we had for dinner a couple of days in a row before throwing out the rest!  
  • At dh's cousin's cottage, the menu included lasagna (store-bought -- pesto for me, tomato sauce for everyone else), hot dogs, fettucine (alfredo sauce for me, tomato sauce for everyone else, made from cherry tomatos from our hostess's garden), sausage with potatos & peppers, breaded veal cutlets -- and homemade gnocchi!  
    • Our hostess realized she hadn't brought enough frozen gnocchi with her -- but she did have lots of potatos -- so we made our own!  I even helped by etching each little dough nugget with a fork to create ridges that would help hold the sauce. There are lots of different sauces you can use for gnocchi, but we just panfried them with melted butter and fresh sage, topped with freshly grated parmesan. Yum!  
    • We also indulged in alcohol more than we usually do. A couple of glasses of (white) wine on both Friday & Saturday, and I also had a cooler on Saturday afternoon. I declined wine for Sunday lunch. I was feeling pretty tired by then, and I wanted to stay awake!  lol 
      • Unfortunately, I woke up on Monday with what looked to me like gout in the big toe of my left foot -- the same place where I previously had a (much worse) case of gout three years ago. It was slightly sore and a little red, particularly in the morning. I took ibuprofen, tried to keep the foot elevated, drank black cherry juice and used ice occasionally. It was mostly better by the time we saw our doctor last week, and seems to have pretty much cleared up now -- fingers crossed...! 
  • Had my usual fish & chips for lunch on the patio at the Pickle Barrel with several women from the Childless Collective on Sept. 14th. 
  • Takeout:  The usual soup & pizza slices from the supermarket, generally once or twice a week; takeout teriyaki rice bowls (also from the supermarket), Chinese food from Mandarin; Swiss Chalet takeout rotisserie chicken with a baked potato (I can never eat the whole thing, but the leftovers made good sandwiches the next day!); and California Sandwiches.
Buying (besides books, lol):  
  • Some new sterling silver earrings from my favourite local jewelry artisan. 
  • Some new clothes for Little Great-Nephew & Little Great-Niece, including Halloween-themed T-shirts. 
  • A new T-shirt for me from Old Navy. 
Wearing:  Still wearing shorts, capris and sandals (and enjoying them while the good weather lasts...!) -- although I had to pull on a hoodie, long yoga pants and socks while we were at the cottage!  But I think the days of sleeveless blouses and T-shirts are done for another year... 

Enjoying/Loving:  The drop in extreme heat & humidity. :)  

Appreciating:  Dh's cousins' generosity and hospitality in inviting us to their cottage (for the 4th September/October in a row).  We always enjoy their company!   

Noticing: It's getting darker outside a lot earlier lately (and the time hasn't changed yet!).   

Also, the fall colours seem to be taking their time to pop out...! Still not too evident hereabouts... just a tinge of yellow or red here & there... 

Also:  It's early October and the air conditioning is still kicking in! (??)  It hasn't been particularly warm, but it HAS been slightly humid, on & off.  

Trying:  To read at a little bit every night before turning out the lights (if not earlier in the day too).  

Prioritizing:  Book club reading first, then my own picks. 

Wondering:  When we should head home for Christmas holidays? (Time to book our tickets soon!) 

Wanting: Another pedicure soon, before shoes & socks weather returns...!  (Maybe next week, before Thanksgiving?)  

Hoping:  For good results from our upcoming bloodwork (at least, nothing worse than last year's results??).  

Anticipating: Spending some time with Little Great-Nephew this weekend.  He'll be spending the day at his grandparents' house while his parents attend a wedding downtown.  Younger Nephew might be bringing Little Great-Niece over then too.  :)  

Also: Seeing them all the following weekend for (Canadian) Thanksgiving. We've spent the last several Thanksgivings in Manitoba with my family, since we weren't able to get there during the summers, but since we were there this summer (finally!), we'll be staying here. (Back west for Christmas!) 

Feeling:  (Mostly) Happy with life at the moment.  :)  
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