Sunday, March 1, 2026

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.)

For a short month, February was a LONG month! (It has long been my least-favourite month!)  It included 23 consecutive days of sub-zero temperatures (which began in January) and lots of snow, (more than we've had in quite a few recent winters) -- although it did warm up briefly, mid-month (with temperatures hovering just above zero -- which triggered snow mixed with rain, sometimes freezing rain...!).  

On the personal front, I am still struggling somewhat to get back to "normal," after my mother's death on New Year's Day and an unexpected full month away from home.  (Perhaps related to or adding to this feeling of abnormality/being out of routine, I binged on the Olympics for two solid weeks. ;)  )

And the month ended in disappointment when Little Great-Niece's birthday party was cancelled at the last minute, because she was running a slight fever the day before. :(  (To be rescheduled, possibly for next weekend.) Better safe than sorry, I guess (remembering Little Great-Nephew #1's birthday party in November, which became a super-spreader event...!).  But we've hardly seen anyone all month long, and we were SO looking forward to it (dh especially).  :(   (At this rate, the great-niblings will get their Valentine's Day goodies for Easter...!)

Spring can't come soon enough...! 

Some of the things I/we did this month include: 

  • Bought groceries and takeout pizza slices or soup for lunch at the supermarket (Feb. 2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd).  
  • Walked and shopped at the local mall (Feb. 3rd, 10th, 17th & 24th).
  • Went for brunch at a new restaurant, using a gift card a friend sent me for my birthday (Friday, Feb. 6th). (See "Eating," below.) 
  • Browsed and picked up cards & other things for the great-niblings at the bookstore (Feb. 6th, 11th & 25th). 
  • Had lunch at BIL & SIL's with Younger Nephew, his wife and Little Great-Niece (Feb. 7th). Between sickness and the holidays, we hadn't seen Younger Nephew & family since Little Great-Nephew #1's birthday party in mid-November (i.e., almost three months!). That's the last time to date that we've seen anyone from the family, including BIL & SIL. :(  
  • Stopped at the drugstore to pick up prescriptions, en route home from doing other shopping (Feb. 11th, 23rd & 25th). 
  • Went to the bank (Feb. 25th).   
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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 4 books in February (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2026 books"  Year to date, I've read 5 books,  reached 13% of my Goodreads Challenge goal, and am currently 1 book behind schedule to achieve it by year end.  
Current reads: 
  • "Gimme a Crisis" by Howard Green.  Currently 13% completed.
  • "The Four Graces" by D.E. Stevenson -- re-read/readalong/discussion with my D.E. Stevenson group, which began Feb. 23 and will conclude in late April/early May. Original 2015 review here;  most recent review here. (Currently 12% completed.)  
  • "Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man's World" by Fabiana Formica.  This one is beautifully written, but slow going, and I was reading it (or trying to...!) at Mom & Dad's last summer, where there were a lot of distractions. I've put it aside for the moment to focus on other reading priorities, but I've completed 33% to date.
  • "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 my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club:  
    • "The Safekeep" by Yael Van der Wouden (March). (I read this one fairly recently, last fall, and will likely not revisit it, particularly since I'm not leading the discussion.)  
    • (Books for May & onwards to be determined...) 
  • For my D.E. Stevenson group:  
    • (Next books still to be determined...) 
A few recently purchased titles (all in digital format, mostly discounted ($5-10 or less) or purchased with points):  (Not adding links this time around...!) 

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Watching: 
  • "Finding Your Roots" (season 12) on PBS, Tuesday nights, which began in January. 
  • The Winter Olympics! (Constantly!  lol -- for two full weeks!! -- figure skating in particular, although I found myself watching all kinds of sports.)  
Playing:  
  • Heardle Decades: (as of Feb. 28th)  
    • Heardle 60s: 73.9% (874/1182, 350 on first guess), down 0.1% from Jan. 31st. Max streak: 20. 
    • Heardle 70s: 75.2% (696/925, 388 on first guess), down 0.7% from Jan. 31st. Max streak: 18. 
    • Heardle 80s:  41.6% (325/782, 114 on first guess), unchanged from Jan. 31st. Max. streak: 5.
    • Heardle 90s: 33.5% (296/883, 78 on first guess), down 0.5% from Jan. 31st. Max. streak: 9. 
  • NYT Connections: 
    • As of Jan. 31st, I had 535 completed games, won 89% of them, including 283 "perfect puzzles," including 16 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (unchanged from Dec. 31st). Maximum winning streak:  45 (unchanged).  Current streak:  12.  
    • By Feb. 28th  I'd played 563 games and won 89% of them, including 300 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 18 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (an increase of 2 since Dec. 31st). Maximum winning streak: 45 (unchanged). Current streak: 12. 
Listening:  The Stingray 80s channel played "Shelter" by Lone Justice the other day -- and now I'm down the Lone Justice rabbit hole on YouTube & Spotify. I had and loved their first two albums on cassette, which went to Older Nephew along with my vinyl collection, and both seem to be out of print, albeit there are used copies floating around. 

Following:  

Eating/Drinking:  
  • We've been trying to eat healthier and lower our cholesterol -- and avoid having to take (more) medication -- since some less-than-stellar bloodwork results for both of us in fall 2024 and then again (for me) last November (2025, as mentioned in November's Right Now post). I'm supposed to repeat my bloodwork in the spring.  
    • I ended February 0.2 pounds heavier than when I started -- could be worse!  Overall, I'm down 14 pounds since late October 2024 -- close to my lowest weight in quite some time -- and down 26 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight  (in August 2021). (Dh has gained a few pounds since Christmas, and is currently down not quite 18 pounds overall since fall 2024.)
  • We went for brunch at a new restaurant (Feb. 6th), thanks to an old friend who sent me a gift card for my recent 65th birthday and as a pick-me-up after my mom's death. Dh had an omelette and I had scrambled eggs with bacon (served crisp, as I like it!).  The ambience was lovely, the service was friendly and relatively prompt, and the food was hot and tasty, with generous portions. (The potatos, in particular, were excellent!)  We will be back!  
  • We also indulged in takeout pizza slices or soup from the supermarket, once or twice a week, for lunch and/or dinner. Saturday night takeout dinners included teriyaki rice bowls from the supermarket, rotisserie chicken (baked potato on the side for me;  fries for dh) from Swiss Chalet, and California Sandwiches (which are NOT exactly healthy, but delicious! lol).  
Wearing: Cropped henley sweatshirts from American Eagle (as mentioned in this post). :)  I loved the first one I bought (in light blue) so much, I've since bought a couple more in different colours (on sale).  So soft & cozy!  

Buying (besides books, lol): (and besides sweatshirts! lol -- see above):  Things for the great-niblings' Valentine's Day goodie bags, as well as LGNiece's 3rd birthday.   

Noticing: It's staying lighter, longer, outside these days. Progress?  

Trying: To call my dad more often, since we got back home. 

Wondering: When we should plan to head back west. I'm pretty sure we'll be back in mid-July (as usual), which will be Dad's 87th birthday (and would have been my parents' 66th wedding anniversary), but we should probably go before then to see Dad and help my sister with the house cleanout. (I'll chat with her about it soon...) 
                           
Feeling: Grumpy, isolated, a bit bored (and I'm not bored very often) and out of sorts -- still not back to some semblance of normalcy -- and very much done with winter!  :p  Hoping things start looking up soon...! 

(A few regular categories dropped this time around, because I couldn't think of anything to write for them, and I wanted to get this posted!)  
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