Thursday, October 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.)

September was pretty quiet, with nothing much special going on.  (How is it already October?)  The weather was very hot, early on (with a really wild storm one afternoon that had me taking cover in the walk-in closet, as hail pounded against our windows!), but it's cooled off nicely (happily, not TOO much yet!).    

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

  • Shopped and walked at the mall (Sept. 1st). Returned there on Sept. 23rd, after avoiding the place for several weeks around the start of the school year! lol  (Also, we were busy!)  And returned again on Sept. 29th. 
    • Stopped en route home at the drugstore to pick up prescriptions. (Sept. 1st & 29th) 
  • Spent a few hours with both Little Great-Nephews & their grandma (SIL) (Sept. 2nd).   
    • Continued weekly visits with Younger LGNephew & SIL since Older LGNephew went back to school. (Sept. 9th & 15th)
    • Stopped en route home at the supermarket to pick up some soup or pizza slices for lunch. (Sept. 9th)   
  • Browsed at the bookstore with a tea latte in hand (hadn't had one of those in a while...!). :) (Sept. 4th & 11th)
    • Stopped at the supermarket for a few things on the way home. (Sept. 4th) 
  • Went grocery shopping, and picked up some soup or pizza slices for lunch. (Sept. 7th, 14th, 21st & 28th). 
  • Went out for brunch on the first day of school hereabouts (Sept. 8th -- see "Eating/Drinking," below). 
    • After brunch, went shopping for a new dishwasher (!) (and found one!).  I'm happy to report we are very pleased with it, too! :) 
  • Drove into the city (midtown) for dentist appointments (Sept. 16th). (Dh had to return a few days later for a filling -- I stayed at home then.)   
    • Stopped at the supermarket en route home to pick up some pizza slices for lunch. 
  • Went over to BIL & SIL's (Sept. 22nd morning):  BIL needed to take his car to the dealership for some repairs, and asked dh to follow him in his car and then bring him back to the house (after which BIL headed off to work in his work-supplied truck).. The LGNephews were both sick, so their mom kept them home (and took them to the doctor later)  :(  but SIL made cappuccinos for the two of us while they were gone, and we had a nice chat over those and some delicious lemon biscotti she'd found at Costco.  :)  
    • Picked up a few things at Staples and Dollarama later that afternoon.  

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Also right now:  

Reading:  I finished 4 books in September (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2026 books").  Year to date, I've read 29 books,  reached 73% of my Goodreads Challenge goal, and am currently on track to achieve it by year end!  

Read this month: 
Current reads: 
  • "We Chase Shadows" by Richard Osman. #2 in the "We Solve Murders" series. 47% completed. 
  • "Anna and Her Daughters" by D.E. Stevenson, with my DES group. We started Sept. 7th and will finish in early/mid-November;.  (Last read 2x in 2022;  my reviews here and here.)  42% completed.  
  • "The Children’s Book" by A.S. Byatt -- a "slow readalong" with Footnotes & Tangents, which started Sept. 4th and will end Dec. 18th.  27% 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): (No links this time, sorry!) 
  • "1929" by Andrew Ross Sorkin
  • "Enshittification" by Cory Doctorow
  • "The Everest Mystery" by Julie Summers & Jacob Hemmleb
  • "Wreck" by Catherine Newman 
  • "The Shampoo Effect" by Jenny Jackson 
  • "American Struggle" by Jon Meacham
  • "She Wanted More" by Poorna Bell 
  • "A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever" by Rob Reiner 
  • "You With the Sad Eyes" by Christina Applegate 
  • "The Astral Library" by Kate Quinn 
  • "The Typewriter and the Guillotine" by Mark Braude 

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Watching: 
  • "The Marlow Murder Club" (season 3) on PBS (began Sept. 6th & will end on Oct. 11th;  four of six episodes featuring two of three storylines aired to date), based (in part) on the third book in the series by Robert Thorogood, "The Queen of Poisons" (reviewed here). 
    • The first two episodes/first storyline once again played up the "mom" angle for Becks and Tanika (which is non-existent in the books). However! In episode 2, Becks asks DC Alice Hackett why she joined the police force.  Alice tells her that her aunt was a police officer, and she looked up to her when she was growing up. Judith chimes in that her great-aunt was so important to her too -- and they clink glasses and make a toast: "To aunts and great-aunts!"  (Hear, hear!!)  
  • "Marble Hall Murders" on PBS (began Sept. 6th; will end on Oct. 11th -- four of six episodes aired to date), based on the book by Anthony Horowitz (reviewed here). I love these books, and I love the very clever adaptations -- particularly Lesley Manville as the heroine, book editor Susan Ryeland. 
  • "Trespasses" on PBS (began Sept. 20th and will end Oct. 11th -- two of four episodes aired to date), based on the book by Louise Kennedy (reviewed here). The scenery (outside the city of Belfast) is gorgeous, the atmosphere is suitably drab and oppressive, the period details are spot-on (including a great 1970s soundtrack!) and there's some amazing casting, including Gillian Anderson (Agent Scully!!) as Cushla's alcoholic mother Gina, and Tom Cullen (Lady Mary's lover Tony Gillingham in Downton Abbey!) as Michael. The actress playing Davy's mother Betty McGeown is a dead ringer for Canadian actress Megan Follows, best known as THE best-ever Anne of Green Gables!
    • I'm very glad I read the book first.. I'm generally not bad at deciphering accents -- most British TV shows are no problem for me -- but these Irish accents are pretty thick!  I really had to listen carefully, and it was hard to understand the dialogue, especially early on.
Playing:  
  • Heardle Decades: (as of Sept. 30th):  
    • Heardle 60s: 74.6% (1006/1349, 408 on first guess), up 0.2%. since Aug. 31st. Max streak: 21.  
    • Heardle Super 60s: 55.6% 25/46, 6 on first guess), up 11.9% since Aug. 31st. Max streak: 5.  
    • Heardle 70s: 74.6% (813/1090, 454 on first guess), down 0.1% from Aug. 31st.. Max streak: 18. 
    • Heardle Super 70s: 55.3 61.1% (26/47, 14 on first guess), down 5.8% since Aug. 31st. Max streak:  3. 
    • Heardle 80s:  42.2% (399/945, 161 on first guess), up 0.8% from Aug. 31st. Max. streak: 6.
    • Heardle Super 80s: 38.9% (23/47, 9 on first guess), down 1.1% since Aug. 31st. Max streak: 6 (up from 4).. 
    • Heardle 90s: 32.7% (342/1045, 88 on first guess), down 0.3% from Aug. 31st. Max. streak: 9. 
  • NYT Connections: 
    • 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). . 
    • By Sept. 30th, I'd completed 776 games, won 90% of them (unchanged since Aug. 2nd), including 417 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, and 22 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (unchanged since Aug. 31st). Maximum winning streak:  52 (an increase of 5! since Aug. 30th).  (I will admit to using hints at times...!)  
Eating/Drinking:  
  • Over the past two years (since some less-than-stellar bloodwork results for both of us in October 2024), we've been trying to eat healthier and lower our cholesterol levels -- and avoid having to take on another prescription. 
    • Results have been mixed -- initially good, less so more recently. It's been a busy, stressful year (starting on Jan. 1st, when my mom basically dropped dead while I was there visiting), and as a result, my diet has not always been the best (often more about what's available/convenient than what's healthiest). 
    • I'm heading back to the blood lab on Monday (Oct. 5th) to get my levels checked (6 months-ish after my last bloodwork) -- wish me luck...!! (I'm not overly confident...!) 
    • I'm down 0.6 pounds this month. Overall, I'm down more than 15 pounds since late October 2024 -- close to my lowest weight in more than a decade -- and more than 27 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight  (in August 2021). 
      • (Dh  has gained a little weight back this summer, but is currently down more than 20 pounds since fall 2024.)
  • Takeout meals this month included the usual pizza slices, soup and teriyaki rice bowls from the supermarket, Swiss Chalet rotisserie chicken, and our favourite wood oven thin-crust pizza. (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 that appeals to both dh & I!)  
  • Went out for brunch at a local brunch place on Sept. 8th --  first day of school hereabouts! -- because we're retired, and don't have any kids or grandkids to see off -- and also because this is a great place for brunch -- nice atmosphere and good food. I had the scrambled eggs with bacon (crisp, the way I like it), potatos and sourdough toast;  dh had a western omelette, also with potatos and toast. 
Wearing:  I WAS wearing lots of shorts, tank tops and T-shirts at the beginning of the month... but the weather has turned cooler recently, so I've shifting back towards short and then long sleeves vs tank tops.  I even had to bring out a sweatshirt on one recent evening! and I've been wearing slippers around the house too (vs bare feet). I traded in my shorts for capri yoga pants around the house, and I suspect longer pants are just around the corner...!   

Buying (besides books, lol):  Stuff for the great-niblings' Halloween goodie bags. We'll bring them when we see them for (Canadian) Thanksgiving (the weekend after this one coming up). 

A new KitchenAid dishwasher! (This post explains why!) We went shopping and bought it on Tuesday, Sept. 8th (after brunch);  it was delivered and installed and the old one removed and hauled away on Sept. 14th. The installers were polite, cheerful and efficient.  Appreciating that the new machine is ultra-QUIET (yay!)!  It also seems to have a little more room in the tub (including a shallow third rack near the top) and it cleans and dries very well!  So far we are very happy with its performance!  

Prioritizing/Trying: To read more books (to spend at least a few minutes a day reading a chapter -- or more), and do less scrolling/fewer news stories & opinion pieces.  
 
Wondering:  How to time our next few haircuts between now & Christmas?  (I normally like to get a trim every six weeks, and we're just about due...)  

Wanting: A little more sunshine. It's been grey & overcast (again) these past few days.  :(  

Noticing: Lots of noise coming from the hallway/neighbouring units again lately... a wailing toddler kittycorner from us, who is particularly noticeable every weekday morning around 8 AM (presumably when Mommy heads off to work), and several barking/yelping/whining dogs. I like dogs, but this drives me crazy after a while -- I suspect some of them are being left alone for long periods of time while their owners are out -- one reason why I never wanted to get a dog, especially when we were working!  Poor things! Sigh... 

Not noticing:  A lot of fall colours (yet!). 

Loving: The glimpses of yellow and orange and red that I am starting to see on the treetops, just these past few days... 

Missing:  Being at dh's cousin's cottage this fall, and the pretty fall colours there! We've been there the past several years for a weekend in September, and so I've been seeing photos in my Facebook and Google Photo memories.  They've been busy, so we didn't get an invitation this year. They DID have ALL of dh's cousins on that side of the family there in May (the ones in Canada, anyway), but it's gorgeous there in the fall!   

Enduring: Seasonal allergies (ugh!) -- for almost the entire month!! -- sneezing, irritated eyes, post-nasal drainage, leading to a scratchy/ticklish throat, resulting in coughing (through the night) = fatigue... I had a look at my datebook notes from the same time last year and realized I was dealing with exactly the same thing then too...! -- although I think it's worse this year...!  :p  (I've taken note for September 2027...!)  

Feeling: A little sad that winter is fast approaching (much as I enjoy fall). A little bored. (I am rarely bored, but I feel like we've been stuck in our routines a little too much lately...!). I feel like we haven't done much that is different or fun lately, and I'm getting an itch to go somewhere, even for just a weekend. 

Coming up in October: (Canadian) Thanksgiving (Oct. 12th -- likely to be spent at BIL's). Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day (Oct 15th/Month). The annual meeting of owners for our condo corporation (we recently changed property managers -- this should be interesting...!). The start of the figure skating season, with the first two of six Grand Prix circuit events. Bloodwork to check my cholesterol (wish me luck...!), and optometrist check-ups. My 19th (!) blogoversary (!!).  And (of course), Halloween.  :)  We don't get any trick or treaters in our building, but I'm looking forward to seeing photos of the great-niblings!  :)  
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