Tuesday, September 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.)

August (and the entire summer, really) went by too fast.  We spent the first 9 days of the month with my dad (three weeks total, beginning in July), and I still feel like I'm trying to get back into the swing of things here...!  Now it's September, school is returning next week, and we are rapidly barrelling into fall... 

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

  • Visited my 87-year-old dad in Manitoba (and wound up staying an extra week for a total of three, July 18th - Aug. 9th):  
    • Visited Dad several times daily in the hospital, until he was able to come home, a few days after we got there.  
    • Took Dad to several medical and other appointments. 
    • Helped him with some banking and other admin tasks related to my mom's estate and the sale of the house (which closed on July 1st). 
    • Fetched things and made meals for Dad (who has mobility issues and uses a walker). 
    • Made umpteen trips to the local Co-op grocery store, and two to the weekly local farmer's market (fresh local garden vegetables, yummmmm!).  
    • Made two side trips during those outings to the local drive-in restaurant  (a local institution for 60+ years!) for ice cream, including one on Aug. 7th in tribute to our Katie (since we couldn't be home to visit the cemetery and carry out some of our usual traditions there).  
    • Played Saturday night TV bingo with Dad on three consecutive Saturday nights (a family tradition dating back about 50 years!) -- and card games just about every night we were there too!    
    • Welcomed a number of visitors, including Parents' Neighbours' Daughter, the Little Princess and her two older (not-so-little anymore) sisters, and PND's parents;  (other) former neighbours from the house, and one of my cousins on my dad's side, whom I hadn't seen in about 25 years.  :)  
    • Helped Dad to choose and purchase a niche at the local cemetery and organized the interment of Mom's ashes there, with a few close friends present (Aug. 8th).  Arranged for lunch back at Dad's apartment afterward. 
    • Sat on hold with the airline for 2+ hours to change our tickets and extend our stay an extra week (was not able to do it online, for some weird reason??).  
      • Flew back home on Sunday, Aug. 9th, one week later than originally scheduled. 
  • Back home:  
    • Went grocery shopping and picked up some soup and/or pizza slices for dinner/lunch (Aug. 9th, 10th, 11th, 17th, 24th & 31st).  
    • Spent a few hours with the Little Great-Nephews, and stayed with them while SIL went for an appointment (Aug. 11th). Returned for visits on Aug. 19th & 26th. 
      • Visited the Little Great-Nephews AND the dog (yay!) at their grandparents' house while their parents were at a wedding, and stayed for dinner. (Aug, 29th) 
    • Shopped and walked at the mall (amid hordes of tourists and back-to-school shoppers...!). (Aug. 12th, 18th & 25th). 
    • Activated a new bank card at the ABM/ATM, browsed at the bookstore and picked up a birthday card, picked up a few more groceries at the supermarket, and picked up a prescription at the drugstore. (Aug. 14th) 
    • Got some cash at the ABM/ATM, bought a new CO2 detector at Canadian Tire (and installed it when we got home) and browsed at the bookstore (Aug. 21st).
    • Drove to the mall in our old community for haircuts with our longtime stylist, walking & shopping (Aug. 28th). Also stopped at the cemetery and changed Katie's niche decorations to a fall theme.  :)  

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Also right now:  

Reading: August was a highly productive reading month for me, for whatever reasons?? (Not complaining!)  I finished 7 (!) books in August -- the most I've read in a single month in a very long time, I rhink!  (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2026 books").  Year to date, I've read 25 books,  reached 63% of my Goodreads Challenge goal, and am currently 1 book behind schedule to achieve it by year end.  
Current reads: 
  • "The Forsyte Saga" by John Galsworthy. After mulling it over (see this post!), I accepted a commenter's suggestion to do a readalong together!  Currently 69% 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 (2025), 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. ;)  
A few recently purchased titles (all in digital format, mostly discounted ($5-10 or less) or purchased with points): 

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Listening:  

Following: A couple of new people on Substack (how many Substack/newsletter subscriptions is too many??).  

Watching: 
  • Too much Game TV (game show network), Cash Cab and Judge Judy (good Lord, she's obnoxious...!), while visiting my Dad...!  (Thanks but no thanks...!)  
  • CFL football and Toronto Blue Jays baseball games (also Dad's viewing choices, but far preferable to the Game Show Network!  lol)  We've continued to watch some Jays games since returning home (they've been doing well again, after a bad start to the season..! -- hoping to make the playoffs...!). 
Playing:  
  • Heardle Decades: I didn't have much time for the daily Heardles while we were in Manitoba, but since we got back, I've also added Super 60s, 70s & 80s Heardles to the list, which include more obscure/album cuts! Here the stats (as of Aug. 31st):  
    • Heardle 60s: 74.4% (982/1320, 398 on first guess), up 0.1%. since July 31st. Max streak: 21. (Current streak: 9) 
    • Heardle Super 60s: 43.8% (7/16, 1 on first guess). Max streak: 5. 
    • Heardle 70s: 74.7% (793/1062, 445 on first guess), down 0.3% from July 31st.. Max streak: 18. 
    • Heardle Super 70s: 61.1% (11/18, 7 on first guess). Max streak:  3. 
    • Heardle 80s:  41.4% (380/917, 154 on first guess), up 0.1% from July 31st. Max. streak: 6.
    • Heardle Super 80s: 50.0% (9/18, 3 on first guess). Max streak: 4. 
    • Heardle 90s: 33.0% (335/1016, 86 on first guess), up 0.1% from July 31st. Max. streak: 9. 
  • NYT Connections: 
    • During July (up to Aug. 2nd), I completed 717 games, won 90% of them (unchanged since June 30th), including 385 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, and 20 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (unchanged since Dec. 31st). Maximum winning streak:  45 (unchanged since June 30th, 2025).  Current streak to that point: 18..  
    • As of Aug. 31st, I'd played 746 games and won 90% of them (unchanged since Aug. 2nd), including 400 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, and 22 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (an increase of 2 since Dec.  31st). Maximum (and current!) winning streak: 47! (an increase of 2 since June 30th, 2025). 
Eating/Drinking:  My eating habits took a nosedive while we were away... I may have some explaining to do to my doctor when I have to redo my bloodwork this fall, particularly re: my cholesterol levels (gulp)...! 
  • Over the past almost-two years (since some less-than-stellar bloodwork results for both of us in fall 2024), we've been trying to eat healthier and lower our cholesterol levels -- and avoid having to take (more) medication. Results have been mixed (initially good, less so more recently...), and it's been a struggle to maintain momentum. 
    • I'm up 0.6 pounds this month, since we returned home. Overall, I'm down 15 pounds since late October 2024 -- close to my lowest weight in more than a decade -- and 27 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight  (in August 2021). 
      • (Dh  has gained a little weight back this summer, and is currently down about 14 pounds overall since fall 2024.)
  • Takeout meals included the usual pizza slices, soup and teriyaki rice bowls from the supermarket, and rotisserie chicken from Swiss Chalet. (It's gotten a little boring lately, to be honest -- but it's not easy finding takeout meals that are (a) cheap-ish -- especially lately! (b) not too horrible in terms of cholesterol and (c) something dh & I can agree on...!)  
  • My dad gets meals delivered directly to his building from a subsidized community meals program for seniors -- and since dh & I are also seniors, we can get them too, when we're there!  They're available every week day -- the menu is published a month in advance -- and dad gets them several times a week (as do many seniors in his building). It's not exactly gourmet fare, but it's tasty, balanced, and filling, always including a protein, starch, veggies or salad, dessert and a bun (often homemade) -- all for the grand price of $7.50 (Canadian) -- plus a few dollars extra delivery fee.  Not bad!  
Not eating:  Lettuce from the U.S. ( = fewer salads lately, since so much of our produce comes from there...!), since the cyclospora parasite outbreak there...!  Happily, the supermarket where we shop recently stocked some local/Ontario organic lettuce! -- I'm enjoying it while it's still in season!

Wearing:  I WAS wearing lots of shorts, tank tops and T-shirts... but I'm shifting back towards short sleeves vs tank tops again, and I even dug out my capri yoga pants earlier this week (vs shorts), as the weather has been slightly cooler recently.  

My sister loaned me a really cute (and very comfortable) black sleeveless dress with a tiered skirt and a zipper down the front to wear to our Mom's committal service at the cemetery. (I'd brought a pair of black capris and a top with me, just in case, but this was nicer!) 

Appreciating:  The cooler temperatures and lower humidity! (if not the recent lack of sunshine...) 

Buying (besides books, lol):  Cute fall clothes for the great-niblings (from Old Navy and Carters/Oshkosh).  I also bought a few tops for myself at Old Navy, as well as a burgundy & navy-striped soccer shirt with a white collar at the Gap outlet (why are so many women's shirts these days cropped??), and a cute burgundy "rugby" sweatshirt at American Eagle.    

Noticing: The days/hours of light are already getting shorter...  :( 

Wondering:  Whether we're getting an invitation to dh's cousin's cottage this fall??  We've been there with BIL & SIL every fall for the past five years, and they've usually asked us well before now.  However, they DID have ALL the cousins there in May (16 of us!! -- which was really very generous of them!!), and I know they've had a very busy summer. I wouldn't blame them if they wanted some cottage time to themselves! 

Loving:  Getting more books read this month! 

Feeling: (Still) Tired.  A little "blah."  Glad to be back home and to spend some time with the LGNephews.  (Missing:  Little Great-Niece -- we haven't seen her since Easter!!)  A little sad that summer is drawing to a close (already! -- I guess it's because we were away for three weeks, but it seems to have been really short this year...!).  But... 

Anticipating/Looking forward to: Fall, which is generally a lovely time of year here (if not what follows later...!).  Also looking forward to: kids returning to school (if not all the hype and last-minute-rush to enjoy the last of summer), and having fewer people crowding the stores and malls during the week!  lol  We're planning to go out for brunch on or around the first day of school to celebrate!  ;)  

Coming up in September: Older Great-Nephew heads back to school (to Grade 2!!). And World Childless Week. 

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