Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Right now

Right now...* 

*(A (mostly) monthly series/meme.  Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first (similar) "The Current" post, here.)

Today is Canada Day... and let's just say it's hitting a little differently this year. We're generally not a nation of ardent flag-wavers -- our patriotism is a much quieter variety than that of our neighbours to the south. But I think that is starting to change because of (cough!) recent events... and make no mistake, we are very proud of our country, our unique history and culture. And today especially, we celebrate that!  

June flew by... and here we are, halfway through 2025 already!)  The weather gradually warmed up -- and then got REALLY (dangerously!) hot & humid last week, just after we officially welcomed summer -- albeit it's been cloudy/overcast  more often than not -- there still hasn't been quite enough blue sky & sunshine for my liking (hopefully a few weeks in sunny Manitoba will help remedy that...!).  We also had to contend with several days of smoke haze and poor air quality -- the results of massive forest fires out west, in Manitoba & Saskatchewan.  :(  

This month, we: 

  • Ran several errands on June 2nd:  deposited a cheque at the bank ABM, picked up dh's prescription at the drugstore, and had a browse (and bought some Father's Day cards) at the local mega-bookstore. 
  • Went to the mall to walk & shop, June 3rd, 10th, 17th & 24th. 
  • Returned to the mall in our old community on Friday, June 6th, for haircuts & shopping, with a brief stop at the cemetery (shrouded in smoke from the wildfires 1000+ miles away in Manitoba & Saskatchewan...!) to visit Katie. (Did not get to visit Little Great-Niece at SIL's, which we would usually do on a Friday.) 
    • Stopped at the supermarket en route home to pick up a few things plus some pizza slices for lunch.  
  • Went to the nearby park and then had tea & snacks with SIL & Little Great-Niece on the mornings of Friday the 13th (!) and Friday the 27th. 
    • Stopped off at the nearby supermarket en route home on the 13th to pick up a few things plus some pizza slices for lunch. 
  • Also spent Friday morning, June 20th, at SIL's. LGNiece was there as usual, and Older Nephew's Wife arrived a while later with both LGNephews -- she dropped off LGNephew #2 with us and then took LGNephew #1 for his regular checkup with the family doctor.  When they returned, we took LGNephew #1 and LGNiece to the nearby park to play, and when we got home, BIL brought them both Happy Meals for lunch from McDonalds (before heading back to work).  A good time was had by all! (But we were both exhausted!  lol)  
  • Went to BIL's for a barbecue with them, the nephews & their families, on Saturday, June 14th (before Father's Day). All was well until the presents came out. (Ouch.)  But it was lovely to spend some time with them all, especially Little Great-Nephew #1 -- we hadn't seen him since Easter ( = 2 months!).  (He's now a kindergarten graduate!)   
  • Headed downtown (through morning rush hour traffic!) for 9 AM dentist appointments on Wednesday, June 18th. (Lesson learned:  Our next appointments will be at 11 AM!  lol) 
    • Returned on Monday, June 30th (for 10:45 AM!  lol) for two fillings (mine). Ugh!  
  • Went to Costco on June 25th for the first time in YEARS to try to renew our long-lapsed membership. (The girl at the entrance blanched when she scanned my card and saw the date it expired!)  I forgot to change the address on our membership when we moved here (in 2016!), and thus I never received the renewal notice. By the time I realized this, it had long expired. We didn't shop there a lot (even when we had more storage space at the house!) -- partly because dh loathes the place, lol -- but a membership does come in handy from time to time! And while they are not Canadian, they are well known for treating their employees well (stepSIL has worked at a Costco for many years), which is good to see!   

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 4 books in June (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2025 books"):  
This brings me to 20 books read in 2025 to date, 44% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 2 books behind pace to meet my goal.  :) 

Current reads: 
  • "A Place of Greater Safety" by Hilary Mantel, the current slow read with Footnotes and Tangents, which began May 5th and runs for 20 weeks (until Sept. 15th). Currently 34% completed. 
  • "Miss Buncle Married" by D.E. Stevenson, for my D.E. Stevenson group.  Our group discussion began on April 21st, and I'll count this as another re-read once we're finished (in July). I've read the book twice before on my own (once in 2015 and again prior to the start of our group read & discussion -- see above! Currently 84% completed.  (Original 2015 review here;  most recent review here). 
  • "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 Zoom meeting covered Chapter 11.  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.)  
  • "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. ;)  
(Simon is a big fan of the late great Hilary Mantel, and the other books he's selected were all ones that she loved, so he figured they would probably be worth reading!) 

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


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Watching: 
  • The NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs -- at least until the Winnipeg Jets & Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated in the second round (sob). :(    Cheered for the Edmonton Oilers vs the Florida Panthers, the eventual winners for the second year in a row.  :(   (Even so, I do think hockey in June is pretty ridiculous...! -- the season never went this long when I was growing up -- but then, the league was much smaller then...!)  
  • Canadian Football League (CFL)  football (especially if my beloved Winnipeg Blue Bombers are playing).  I really don't pay a lot of attention to football -- dh watches more than I do -- but if football is going to be on the TV, I would much rather it be the Canadian variety! (And I've felt that way for decades!) 
  • Canada Day fireworks from our condo windows/balcony. Today is Canada Day, but we've already been seeing fireworks every night since Friday (!).  Tonight's should be the peak, though!  
Playing:  
  • Heardle Decades: Stats as of June 30th:  
    • Heardle 60s: 75.2% (729/969, 288 on first guess), unchanged from last month. Max. streak: 15.
    • Heardle 70s: 77.6% (548/706, 310 on first guess), down 0.2% from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
    • Heardle 80s: 39.4% (227/576, 81 on first guess), up 0.6% from last month. Max. streak: 5.
    • Heardle 90s: 31.4% (214/678, 50 on first guess), unchanged from last month. Max. streak: 5. 
  • NYT Connections:  
    • By May 31st, I'd played 307 games and won 85% of them, including 156 "perfect puzzles," including 6 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (unchanged from last month)  And I ended the month by matching my maximum winning streak of 34!  
    • By June 30th, I'd completed 337 games and won 85% of them, including 172 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 8 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  And I increased my maximum winning streak to 45!  :)   (Current streak at 2!)  
Following:  

Eating/Drinking:  
  • As I've mentioned before, we achieved our goal of lowering our cholesterol levels in late January, after less-than-stellar bloodwork last fall earned us both serious chats with our family doctor -- and we've been trying to maintain/improve on those numbers (and lose/keep off some extra pounds) since then, by continuing to eat healthier and move at least a little more.    
    • The numbers on the scale have continued to yo-yo a bit, but I still ended the month another full pound lighter than I was at the end of May. (I'll take it!)  Overall, I've lost 13 pounds since our chat with the doctor last October (dh has lost more than 20), and 25 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight a few years ago. 
  • Notable recent takeout meals: soup, pizza slices, teriyaki rice bowls and rotisserie chicken from the supermarket takeout counter; and Swiss Chalet rotisserie chicken. (Trying to avoid the stuff that's really calorie & fat-laden!) 
Wearing:  Went from capris & T-shirts to shorts and tank tops!  lol  

Buying (besides books, lol): 
  • More Canadian (or, failing that, international) products (vs American -- you can probably guess why...! It's not always easy, though, given how intertwined our two countries' economies & supply chains are...!).(
    • Dh does most of the grocery shopping these days (got into the habit during the pandemic), and isn't quite as careful as I am when it comes to checking labels, etc.!  lol  
  • Plane tickets to see my family out west in July! (Ouch! -- flying within Canada is ridiculously expensive.)  
  • More cute stuff for the great-niblings, from Old Navy, Children's Place and Carters/Oshkosh. 
  • Two pairs of denim capris from Old Navy -- one faded blue, one white (plus a couple of T-shirts). I didn't really NEED new capris, but they were on sale half price ($25 each), so I couldn't resist. The legs are a "skinny" fit -- a bit snugger than I like -- but they're high-waisted, fit me great and felt very comfortable!  
  • Assorted PJs/nightgowns for me & my sister, with a chicken/rooster theme (which is a "thing" in our family), from La Vie en Rose (Canadian lingerie/swimwear chain). Here's a link to one of the pieces (a nightgown)., and you can see some of the others in the collection at the bottom of the page, under "You might also like..." (I did NOT buy them all!  lol -- although it was tempting!).  I've had my eye on these designs for a while, and they finally went on sale!  Half price!  
  • Shoes to go with the new dress(es) I bought for an upcoming family wedding in August. (I wrote about them here.)  
Smelling: It's summer, and (between heat waves) we've had the balcony door open on nice days. Cue the cannabis smells wafting in...  ugh...  :p  

Anticipating:  A busy time ahead, as we count down to our trip west to see my parents, coming up soon!  Also anticipating:  a night at home to myself later this week, when dh, BIL & the nephews attend a stag dinner for their cousin's son (ahead of his wedding in August -- the one I bought the new dress(es) and shoes for!).  

Prioritizing:  The things on my to-do list that need to get done before we leave.  

Hoping: That the ache in my jaw and sensitivity in my teeth & gums (both upper and lower on the right side of my face) disappear soon -- a hangover from my dental appointment yesterday...! (described here). 

Noticing:  My right hip has started bothering me in recent weeks. It started several weeks after my latest tumble (which happened in mid-April), so I don't think it's connected to that. I'm wondering whether I've been overusing it somehow to compensate for my frequently wonky left knee?  Sigh. Getting older sucks sometimes...!  
 
Enjoying:  Having a quiet day at home together... nothing (or very little) open, no calls to go anywhere, less online activity to follow than usual. (Looking forward to another quiet day on Friday = 4th of July in the U.S.!).  

Wondering:  If we'll get to see the great-niblings before we head west? 

Trying:  (and failing!):  To keep on top of my email inbox lately.  I'm not sure it will be any better while we're at my parents' house -- I know from experience that my time is not my own while I'm there...!  (I do check and open anything that looks urgent/important.)  

Wanting:  To treat ourselves to our first gelatos of the summer (haven't been yet!), preferably before we head west.  Today would be perfect for that -- except our favourite gelato shop is closed for Canada Day. Oh well, there's still time...!  

Appreciating:  The amazing country I live in (this year more than ever!).  

Loving:  Seeing lots of photos and videos of the great-niblings on social media & in our family text group, posted by their parents. (I think I wrote something similar for this category last month!  lol -- but it really is a day brightener!)(And I'm glad that it IS a day brightener, and not a source of angst, as it might have been, years ago, when I was deep in grief...!)  
                              
Feeling: Grateful to be Canadian. Grateful for a long and mostly happy marriage (significant anniversary coming up soon).  Grateful for the good life we've built together, even if it hasn't included the children we wanted.  Grateful for my extended family and friends ("real life" and online!).  Grateful for an air conditioning system that's working again! (lol) 

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