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.)

November was grey & chilly, and went by in a blur. The first half of the month was a build-up to Little Great-Nephew #1's birthday party. After that, I was ready to launch full speed ahead into holiday season preparations -- and then I came down with the nastiest cold I've had in a while (since last December, anyway...! -- see this post!). Bah humbug. :(  I like to think I no longer hate November, as I once did when I was still working -- but it's clearly still not my favourite month!  

This month, we: 

• Got our annual flu & covid shots (at the same time)(Nov. 1st). 
• Went with dh to the supermarket for groceries and takeout soup or pizza slices for lunch (Nov. 3rd, 10th & 17th). 
• Mourned the sudden loss of my 65-year-old cousin. (Nov. 3rd) 
• Headed to the local mall for walking & shopping (Nov. 4th & 11th). 
• Stopped at the drugstore en route home to pick up a prescription, and at the supermarket for takeout soup for lunch (Nov. 4th). 
• Stopped at the bank ABM for cash, and at the supermarket for takeout pizza slices for lunch, en route home (Nov. 11th). 
• Drove with dh into midtown Toronto to check in (again!) with my optometrist, Nov. 5th.   
• Stopped en route home for takeout soup for lunch from the supermarket. 
• Drove out to the mall in our old community for haircuts, lunch & shopping (Nov. 7th). Stopped at the cemetery on our way there (swapped out the Halloween decorations on Katie's niche for Christmas ones), and at M&M Foods for a few things on the way home.  
• Stayed cozy inside during the season's first snowfall, all day Sunday, Nov. 9th (!). 
• Went to a local imaging clinic on Nov. 10th for bone mineral density scans. Both I AND dh had them done!  I'd had one done previously, about 10 years ago;  this was dh's first. 
• Drove 30-45 minutes north to meet up for coffee with a childless friend I first met online, who was driving about the same distance south!  We picked the coffee shop within a local bookstore, so that dh (my chauffeur, lol)  could browse there while we chatted.  : )  
• Stopped at the drugstore en route home to pick up a prescription. 
• Attended Little Great-Nephew #1's 6th (!!!) birthday party (Nov. 15th), at a retro video arcade about an hour north of where we live (in a small town not too far from where Older Nephew & family live). Picked up BIL & SIL and drove up together; headed back to Older Nephew's house afterward to open presents. Chaotic but fun. 
• Stopped at the supermarket en route home for takeout.   
• Went to the nearby lab for bloodwork (ordered by our family doctor), after fasting for 12 hours -- then drove straight to our favourite breakfast spot for omelettes & home fries!  ;)  (Nov. 18th) 
• Got sick for the rest of the week (and then some...!). :( 
• Put up the Christmas tree!  :) (Nov. 29th) 

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 2 books in November (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2025 books"). 

• Crooked Adam by D.E. Stevenson -- an initial readthrough before a group read/discussion with my DES fan group. (3 stars;  my review.) 
• "I Am Half Sick of Shadows" by Alan Bradley, the December choice for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club. (4 stars; my review.) 

This brings me to 35 books read in 2025 to date, 78% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 5 books behind pace to meet my goal.  :) 

Current reads: 

• Crooked Adam by D.E. Stevenson, together with my DES fan group (after initially reading through it myself). I'll count it as a re-read when we finish, on or before Feb. 3 (2026). 37% completed. 
• "The Blue Flower" by Penelope Fitzgerald -- a slow readalong with Footnotes and Tangents, which started Nov. 3rd and runs for 7 weeks, through the week of Dec. 15th. I am currently behind schedule, with 33% read. :p  
• "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, 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:  
• "How To Kill Your Family" by Bella Mackie (January)
• "Ex-Wife" by Ursula Parrott (February) 
• "The Safekeep" by Yael Van der Wouden (March) 
• "You Are Here" by David Nicholl (April) 
• For my D.E. Stevenson group:  
• The Four Graces, likely beginning in mid-February 2026 (original 2015 review here). 

• Footnotes and Tangents slow readalongs for 2026 include:
• "Midnight’s Children" by Salman Rushdie (January–March) 
• "Regeneration" by Pat Barker (April–May)
• "The Inheritors" by William Golding (June)
• "Treacle Walker" by Alan Garner (July)
• "The Children’s Book" by A.S. Byatt (September–December)

(Not sure I will be doing all of these?  "War & Peace" and Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy will also be available again to paying subscribers who are interested! I did both in 2024, and highly recommend the experience!) 

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

• "The Bully Pulpit" by Doris Kearns Goodwin 
• "A Truce That is Not a Peace" by Miriam Toews 
• "The Impossible Thing" by Belinda Bauer 
• "Girl on Girl" by Sophie Gilbert 
• "At a Loss for Words" by Carol Off 
• "For the Love of a Son" by Scott Oake 
• "Erasing History" by Jason Stanley 
• "What We Can Know" by Ian McEwan
• "Endling" by Maria Reva
• "Flesh" by David Szalay
• "Softly, As I Leave You" by Priscilla Presley 

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Watching: 

• The World Series!! Game 7 on Saturday night, Nov. 1st -- our Toronto Blue Jays vs the Los Angeles Dodgers, here at home in Toronto. Alas, the Jays came within two outs of winning the game and the series, but lost to the Dodgers, 5-4, in 11 innings. Some called it the best/most exciting game/World Series of baseball ever played.  
• Figure skating: I watched parts (if not all) of most of the Grand Prix events this month on TV and/or livestream, including Skate Canada in Saskatoon (ended Nov. 1st); NHK in Osaka, Japan (Nov. 7-9);  Skate America in Lake Placid, New York (Nov. 14-16); and the Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, Finland (Nov. 21-23). 
• The final is coming up in Nagoya, Japan (Dec. 5-8). 
• (Parts of) Grey Cup 2025 on Sunday, Nov. 16th in my "home city" of Winnipeg (and the CFL Western division final in Regina on Nov. 8th). Grey Cup is like the Super Bowl of the Canadian Football League -- but much older, and (dare I say) better.  ;)    
• This year's edition featured the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who defeated the Montreal Alouettes.
• Despite feeling sick the entire week, I managed to stay awake long enough every night to watch Ken Burns's six-part opus about "The American Revolution" on PBS. (I promptly headed off to bed as soon as it was over!) He's certainly a master of storytelling. 
• It's sad to think we'll likely see less of his work in the future because of the American government's defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 
• I also stayed awake to watch "The Great Escaper" on PBS last Sunday night, starring Michael Caine as a 90-year-old WWII veteran who slips away from his retirement home and makes his way to France for the 70th anniversary of D-Day in 2014, encouraged by his wife (Glenda Jackson, in her final film role before she died).  It's based on a true story that I remember reading about at the time and thinking, "This would make a great movie!" and they did a wonderful job. :)  

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: Stats as of Nov. 30th: 
• Heardle 60s: 73.7% (829/1113, 327 on first guess), up 0.1% from last month. Max. streak: 15.
• Heardle 70s: 76.3% (651/853, 368 on first guess), same as last month. Max. streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s: 41.2% (295/716, 107 on first guess), up 0.5% from from last month. Max. streak: 5.
• Heardle 90s: 33.0% (269/814, 72 on first guess), up 0.4% from last month. Max. streak: 5. 
• NYT Connections: 
• By Oct. 31st, I'd completed 459 games and won 88% of them, including 241 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 12 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  Maximum winning streak: 45 (unchanged). Current streak: 16. 
• As of Nov. 30th, I'd played 489 games and won 88% of them, including 257 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 13 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  Maximum winning streak: 45 (unchanged). Current streak: 2. 

Listening:  Turned on Stingray's holiday music channel while we were decorating our tree this weekend.  :)  I love Christmas music (just not too early...!).  

Following:  

Eating/Drinking:  

• Unfortunately! -- after valiantly trying to eat better, lose weight and maintain the lower cholesterol levels we achieved last January (2025) (after less-than-stellar bloodwork results in fall 2024 earned us both serious chats with our family doctor), we both registered higher-than-acceptable cholesterol numbers again on our most recent bloodwork. :(  I have a phone appointment on Dec. 3rd  to discuss the results with him, and I am bracing myself for yet another prescription in my future. Sigh...  :(  
• I ended the month exactly the same weight as when it (eyeroll, boo, hiss...). Overall, I'm down 11+ pounds since this time last year (dh has lost about 22), and a little over 23 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight a few years ago. (It ain't hay... but I guess it wasn't enough to keep my cholesterol levels at bay... :(  ) 
• We also indulged in some of our usual takeout meals for lunch once or twice a week (pizza slices, soup), plus Saturday night dinners, including teriyaki rice bowls from the supermarket, and Swiss Chalet's annual Festive Special (1/4 rotisserie chicken with choice of sides, stuffing, cranberry sauce, bun-- and five Lindor chocolate truffles! lol).

Wearing: My collection of holiday-themed waffle-weave shirts from Old Navy, brought to the forefront of the closet again.  :)  

Buying (besides books, lol):  Christmas presents!  Also presents for both Little Great-Nephews' birthdays (LGN#1's was in mid-November, LGN#2's is coming up just before Christmas). This was mostly during the first half of the month, as I've been sick since then...! 

Noticing: How early it gets dark now (definitely before 5 PM).  :( 

Appreciating:  The extra light the Christmas tree gives off! 

Wanting/Hoping:  To be rid of this cold, sooner vs later...! 

Trying: To get to bed earlier while I haven't been feeling well. 

Wondering: Whether the cold was actually covid?? I tested negative, but the fact that we ALL got sick all at once, and the way it's been hanging on, makes me wonder... 

Prioritizing: Getting my Christmas cards & (most of) my Christmas shopping done before we head west for Christmas, later in December. 

Anticipating: Another prescription in my near future (re: my elevated cholesterol levels).  :(  

Enjoying:  The lull in the news, notifications, numbers of emails in my inbox, etc., over the past few days, as the U.S recovers from its turkey coma!  lol  

Loving:  While I do NOT love November, I have much warmer feelings towards December!  lol  Love the Christmas lights, music, and festive spirit I am already seeing! 

                           

Feeling: Not 100%, physically, but hoping for a better December!  Looking forward to Little Great-Nephew #2's first birthday and then to heading west to spend Christmas with my family! ❤ 

#MicroblogMondays: Really annoying thing: Sick :p

I guess it's a good thing I had fun at Little Great Nephew #1's birthday party (a week ago Saturday). 

Because I have been SICK, all this past week, with a horrible cold, the worst I've had in a while. 

I ran a temperature, 100F at one point, I had a stuffy head and a horrible cough that rattled my chest, shredded my already-raw, sore throat and left my diaphragm/ribs feeling sore, and I even coughed up a little blood at one point. I went from feeling a scratch in my throat on Monday afternoon, to feeling pretty lousy by Tuesday afternoon, and like utter crap for almost the entire rest of the week. I think I can safely say I'm feeling somewhat better (started feeling less crappy over Friday/Saturday) -- but I am still far from 100%. I am coughing less (and it's a lot looser), but I have not been sleeping well, even propped up on pillows, and I have NO stamina. I have not left the house in a week. 

Dh hadn't talked to his brother all week, so he called him on Saturday night. Guess what?  Dh, BIL, Younger Nephew, his wife & LGNiece all feel fine. But all the rest of us -- LGN#1 (the birthday boy) & #2 (still not even a year old), Older Nephew, his wife, her mother, and his (SIL), have all been sick too, all week long. :(  (Not sure about any of the other partygoers?)

LGN#1 missed the entire last week of school, including his actual birthday (he was so disappointed -- they announce the kids' birthdays on the PA system, and he was looking forward to that). SIL even lost her sense of taste. I never lost mine, but I didn't have much of an appetite for most of the week. (The ultimate indignity? When I weighed myself on Friday, I had GAINED a pound. Go figure...)  I tested myself for covid on day 3 -- negative -- and we both had our covid & flu shots two weeks ago -- but now I'm wondering if maybe it was covid after all? 

I suppose it's par for the course, after spending a couple of hours with 20 small children (plus parents), no masks -- not to mention taking a swig of water from the wrong water bottle (oops, and EWWW...). (One of the perqs of childlessness: less exposure to these kind of situations/germs!)

Still, I wouldn't have missed the party!  And better now, I guess, than a month from now,,,! 

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here. 

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.)

October was busy month!  The weather turned colder, the leaves on the trees (finally) turned colour, we (eventually) turned on the heat, and I reluctantly donned long pants, long sleeves and socks. :)  We spent some quality time with family on a couple of occasions, too.  

This month, we: 

• Went with dh to the supermarket for groceries and takeout soup or pizza slices for lunch (Oct. 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th). 
• Celebrated (Canadian) Thanksgiving with dinner at BIL's, together with the nephews, their wives and kids (Oct. 11th).  :) 
• Drove into midtown Toronto to our longtime optometrist's office (Oct. 15th). Both of us were suffering from dry, itchy eyes, and mine had become gritty and blurred and the lids puffy and red. I looked like I'd been crying for weeks.  :p   
• The earliest I could get an appointment with our usual doctor was mid-November (!), but his associate was able to see us on Oct. 15th.   
• We both walked away with prescriptions for drops and ointments (and were very impressed with her). She made comments and asked questions that clearly indicated she'd read my file!
• Stopped at the drugstore en route home to fill the prescriptions. 
• Returned for a follow-up visit on Oct. 22nd (and will be back again on Nov. 5th). Stopped at the drugstore en route home again to fill ANOTHER prescription...!  
• Headed to the mall for walking & shopping (Oct. 7th, 14th & 21st). 
• En route home on Oct. 21st, stopped briefly at Canadian Tire, Chapters (bookstore) and the supermarket for takeout pizza slices. 
• Spent a sunny fall afternoon at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, where I have a membership. Toured the exhibits, strolled over to the artists' cemetery on the property (resting place for six of the Group of Seven, as well as the McMichaels themselves), had tea and some yummy lemon loaf in the cafe, and enjoyed the beautiful fall colours. 
• Had lunch and spent the afternoon at Younger Nephew's new house along with his parents (BIL & SIL) and Older Nephew & his family (Oct. 25th). :)  
• Stayed up late several nights (really, REALLY late, one night in particular...!) watching the World Series! (See "Watching," below.)  
• Drove out to our former community for our annual checkups with our family doctor (Oct. 30th).
• Went for brunch before heading home (see "Eating").  
• Marked 18 years writing this blog (!!!) (Oct. 31st).

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Also right now:  

Reading: This was a good reading month!  :)  I finished 6 (!) books in October -- probably my best reading month in a long time! (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2025 books"). 

• "We Solve Murders" by Richard Osman (the November book for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club).  (4.5-5 stars, my review)  
• "The Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley.(4.5-5 stars; my review)
• "The Two Mrs. Abbotts" by D.E. Stevenson. Chapter-by-chapter reading & discussion with my D.E. Stevenson group, which started Aug. 4th and runs through mid-October. (3.5-4 stars; my review here.  Original 2015 review here;  most recent review here).  
• "Deliver Me From Nowhere" by Warren Zanes. (4 stars;  my review.) 
• "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, part of another "slow readalong" with Footnotes and Tangents. Started Sept. 29th, finished Oct. 27th (5 weeks). (3 stars, my review.)  
• "The Safekeep" by Yael van der Wouden.  (4 stars;  my review.) 

This brings me to 33 books read in 2025 to date, 73% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 4 books behind pace to meet my goal.  :) 

Current reads: 

• "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, 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:  
• "I Am Half Sick of Shadows" by Alan Bradley (December) 
• "How To Kill Your Family" by Bella Mackie (January)
• "Ex-Wife" by Ursula Parrott (February) 
• "The Safekeep" by Yael Van der Wouden (March) 
• "You Are Here" by David Nicholl (April) 
• For my D.E. Stevenson group:  This list of upcoming books should keep us busy through 2025 or even into early 2026!  (A couple of the books are ones we covered shortly after I first joined the group back in 2014 -- you know you've been around for a while when....!)  
• Crooked Adam. Our group read will begin on Nov. 3rd and end on or before Feb. 3 (2026).  I have never read this one, and we've never tackled it during my 11 years with the group! so I'm looking forward to it!  
• The Four Graces, likely beginning in mid-February 2026 (original 2015 review here). 

• Footnotes and Tangents slow readalongs for the rest of 2025 & 2026 include:
• "The Blue Flower" by Penelope Fitzgerald (starts Nov. 3rd, runs for 7 weeks). 
• "Midnight’s Children" by Salman Rushdie (January–March) 
• "Regeneration" by Pat Barker (April–May)
• "The Inheritors" by William Golding (June)
• "Treacle Walker" by Alan Garner (July)
• "The Children’s Book" by A.S. Byatt (September–December)

(Not sure I will be doing all of these?  "War & Peace" and Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy will also be available again to paying subscribers who are interested!) 

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

• "The Man Who Ran Washington" by Peter Baker & Susan Glasser 
• "Rotten" by John Lydon 
• "Rosalind Franklin" by Brenda Maddox 
• "Gimme a Crisis" by Howard Green 
• "On the Hippie Trail" by Rick Steves 
• "Gone to an Aunt's" by Anne Petrie 
• "Q: A Voyage Around the Queen" by Craig Brown 
• "The Art Spy" by Michelle Young 
• "Murder on the Marlow Belle" by Robert Thorogood 

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Watching: 

• The World Series!! I normally don't pay a lot of attention to baseball, BUT, the home team (not just for this city but the entire country), i.e., the Toronto Blue Jays, made it into the playoffs -- beat the fabled New York Yankees in the first round in early October...then won the American League title vs the Seattle Mariners, and are now in the World Series vs the LA Dodgers. Game 7 of 7 is TONIGHT, here in Toronto. (eeekkkk....)  
• I couldn't help but think of our longtime family doctor, a legendary pitcher who possessed four (!) World Series rings from three different teams, and who died earlier this summer. He must have been smiling somewhere...  
• The Jays, of course, were back-to-back World Series champions in 1992 & 1993, and I remember staying up way too late on work nights watching! 
• This time around, we lasted 15 innings until 2 AM (!) for Game 3 in Los Angeles -- the second-longest World Series game ever played, 18 innings (!) -- before going to bed (!) (before things finally wrapped up around 3 AM!).  And then we got to stay up late again (not QUITE so late, thankfully...!) the next night -- and three more nights this week after that!  
• I went to one of the victory parades for the Jays' previous victories -- I think it was the one in 1993 -- with my boss on our lunch hour, as it was held on a work day and the parade route was not too far from our office. It was so crowded by the time we got to a spot, not too far from the SkyDome (it will never be the Rogers Centre to me), that we couldn't see a thing except the tops of some players' heads in their convertibles as they passed by. Oh well. 
• We stopped at a street vendor en route back to the office to get a hot dog for lunch -- and I think I got food poisoning because I was sick to my stomach later that afternoon. I've been wary of street vendors ever since then...!  
• One of dh's cousins and another cousin's husband had a pair of season tickets in those days & were present for the World Series games played at home, including the winners. Occasionally they'd give regular season tickets to other cousins, and dh & I went a couple of times (although we haven't been to a game in decades). The seats were in the nosebleed section, and we always got totally sunburned (with the retractable roof open), but it was always a fun day out nevertheless. 
• We also got tickets and took my parents when they came to visit one year, early in our marriage -- and dh memorably took Younger Nephew when he was about 11 or 12 and got tickets through his Little League team -- his older brother had a karate tournament that afternoon, so his parents were busy there. He spent Friday night with us, and then he & dh took the commuter train into the city to the game the next afternoon. (His parents & brother picked him up later that evening.)  It was his first Jays game, he was totally enthralled, and dh was tickled to be able to share that moment with him.  
• Figure skating: It's Grand Prix season (heading into the Olympics in Milan in February), and so far, two competitions have been held, in France and in China. Skate Canada is this weekend, in Saskatoon. I don't watch the Grand Prix events religiously, or at least as much of each competition as I used to (and, needless to say, the World Series is taking precedence this weekend...!), but between U.S. & Canadian TV coverage and the CBC's online streaming, I've been able to watch at least some of the events.  
• Upcoming events include NHK in Osaka, Japan (Nov. 7-9),  Skate America in Lake Placid, New York (Nov. 14-16), and the Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, Finland (Nov. 21-23). 
• The final will be in Nagoya, Japan (Dec. 5-8). .  
• I watched the first episode of "The Gold" on Masterpiece Mystery (PBS), earlier this month, but forgot it was on the second week. Oh well, it was a little confusing anyway -- so many characters to keep straight, trying to decipher all the different accents...!  Interesting (true!) story, though!
• I watched the first two episodes of "House of Guinness" on Netflix with SIL & dh's cousin's wife while at their cottage in September, but haven't watched any more episodes on my own. (Yet?)   

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: Stats as of Oct. 31st: 
• Heardle 60s: 73.6% (797/1083, 319 on first guess), down 0.4% from last month. Max. streak: 15.
• Heardle 70s: 76.3% (629/824, 356 on first guess), down 0.5% from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s: 40.7% (281/690, 101 on first guess), up 0.6% from from last month. Max. streak: 5.
• Heardle 90s: 32.6% (257/788, 68 on first guess), up 0.5% from last month. Max. streak: 5. 
• NYT Connections: 
•  As of Sept. 30th, I'd played 428 games and won 88% of them, including 220 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 10 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  Maximum winning streak:  45 (unchanged). Current streak: 30. 
• By Oct. 31st, I'd completed 459 games and won 88% of them, including 241 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 12 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  Maximum winning streak: 45 (unchanged). Current streak: 16. 

Listening;  Someone down the hall from us has a new baby. How do we know? There was an "It's a Boy!" balloon fastened to their door.  And we occasionally hear him crying or babbling. Fortunately, not too often and we're far enough down the hall that it's not too loud! (I don't think I would have handled this anywhere near as well, 25-ish years ago..!) 

Likewise -- another neighbour has a new puppy!  We know because (a) we occasionally hear him barking and (b) we've run into them entering or exiting the elevator, and were introduced.  :)  Likewise, it's not often enough or loud enough to be annoying. He's an adorable little golden doodle/ball of fluff, and even if he was more annoying than he is, you can't be too mad looking at that cute little face!  

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 (in fall 2024) earned us both serious chats with our family doctor. We've been trying to maintain/improve on those numbers (and lose/keep off some extra pounds) since then, by eating healthier and moving at least a little more.    
• I ended the month 0.6 pounds heavier than when it started (boo, hiss...). But overall, I'm down about 12 pounds since this time last year (dh has lost more than 20), and a little over 24 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight a few years ago. 
• We just saw our family doctor for checkups a few days ago, and will be doing some new bloodwork soon, so we'll see what the cholesterol numbers have to say...! 
• We brought out the crockpot on Oct. 5th for the first time since last spring for easy chicken & dumplings. (The first time I made this, it was pretty salty, so I now use low-fat/low-salt soups & broth, and go easy on the added salt.) 
• We celebrated Thanksgiving at BIL & SIL's with our nephews and their families on Oct. 11th. Like last year, they ordered dinner from the local supermarket:  turkey breast, mashed potatos and a root vegetable medley with gravy and cranberry sauce. There was lasagna (traditional tomato & meat sauce along with a pesto option for me) from another local eatery, SIL made salad and stuffing from a box, and the nephews brought pies for dessert. It wasn't quite my family's usual turkey dinner, but it wasn't bad either, and we continued to eat turkey for the next two days (!) -- SIL sent us home with plenty of leftovers!  (The kids were both having dinner the next day with their respective in-laws and did not take any, so...!)  
• Lunch at Younger Nephew's new home on Oct. 25th included pasta alfredo, pork tenderloin, roasted potatos & root vegetables, salad, and an apple cake and melon for dessert. Yum! 
• We stopped off at our favourite local brunch place, en route home from our annual check-ups with our family doctor on Oct. 30th, for omelettes & home fries (Western for him, ham & cheese for me). 
• We also indulged in some of our usual takeout meals for lunch once or twice a week, plus Saturday night dinners, including rice bowls, soup and pizza slices from the supermarket, and Swiss Chalet (rotisserie chicken with baked potatos).

Wearing:  I finally caved and had to abandon my capris & sandals, mid-month, for longer yoga pants/jeans, socks and shoes. :(   I've still been wearing short-sleeved T-shirts, but I've had to put on a cardigan over them lately...! 

Buying (besides books, lol):  Continued to purchase Canadian products (or from Canadian companies), as much as possible ;) (albeit I will admit I'm not as much of a purist as some people seem to be...!).  

Plane tickets to be with my family at Christmastime. (Ouch -- travel within Canada is NOT CHEAP, especially at holiday time...!)   

Ordered my "Favourite Things" box (formerly known as the Advent Calendar) from my favourite sterling silver jewelry maker.  :)  I'll get it in late November. 

Canadian Tire gift card as a housewarming present for Younger Nephew & family. (It sells a lot more than tires, lol -- it's kind of a combination Home Depot/Walmart/auto supply store.) 

Started stocking up on presents for the great-niblings' upcoming birthdays (both Little Great-Nephews -- one in mid-November and one just before Christmas) and for Christmas. 

Found a cute Christmas-y photo frame and placemats at Homesense.  

And I already bought my Christmas cards!  Saw some I liked at Shoppers Drug Mart and decided to grab them while I could!  (Fingers crossed that Canada Post doesn't go on strike again...!)

Noticing:  ...in the shower, a few days ago, a weird black spot on the edge of my right second toe nail/cuticle. It almost looks like I put a black dot there with a Sharpie. There's gel/shellac polish on the nail, so it's hard to see just how big the spot is, and whether it extends under the polish/nail as well.  

I initially panicked -- the brother of my high school best friend died at age 40 from melanoma that started under one of his toenails and spread before they figured out it was more than just a weird nail fungus. :(  And then I wondered whether it was some weird reaction to the gel polish, or the UV light they use to cure/dry it. (I don't normally get gel polish, but the nail tech talked me into it... it was more money, of course = bigger tip for her.)  

But then I remembered that I stubbed my toe -- more than once! -- on the leg of the bed at the cottage when we were there a few weeks ago. I don't remember if it was that particular toe, but I remember one of my other toenails turning black/purple before fading -- and eventually falling off completely -- after I banged it once, years ago. It was several months before that bruise faded and the new nail began to grow in. The more I look at it, the more I think that's probably what it is.  

Anyway, I've been referred to a dermatologist for rosacea issues (related to the eye issues I've been having lately) :p so I will get the polish removed before my appointment (in mid-December) and ask him to have a look while I'm there. (I showed my family dr when I was there a few days ago, and he said it didn't look like a melanoma to him, more likely a bruise, but to definitely ask the dermatologist.)  

Wondering:  Whether I'm going to need more eye surgery (on my left eye this time). :(   Hoping that won't be the case...! 

Prioritizing: Taking care of my eyes, taking all my meds & drops, etc. 

Anticipating: Getting our flu and covid shots tomorrow morning.  And being tired, after staying up late watching the World Series tonight, the time change tonight, getting up early to drive to the clinic, and the effects of the shots themselves, lol.  (I guess I could have timed things better -- we could have gotten the shots next weekend too -- oh well...!) 

Enjoying: The beautiful fall colours (which finally made an appearance, mid-month!), and the morning light on them. 

Appreciating: Being Canadian (more than ever...!).  

Loving:  Seeing photos of the great-niblings in their Halloween finery before heading out for trick-or-treating.  :)  

 

Trying: Not to dwell on things, especially things that aren't in my control. 

Wanting: A Blue Jays victory tonight (and it wouldn't hurt if it was at a decent hour...!  lol).  

                              

Feeling: A little dazed by how quickly the year has gone by so far/is going...!  Sad that the time change will bring darkness with it even earlier in the evening from now through the winter solstice. A bit stressed, thinking of all the things I need to do before we had west to see my family at Christmastime.  Thankful that I'm retired, and that year-end stuff at work is no longer among those things...!  

#MicroblogMondays: End of summer blues

Maybe it's because it's suddenly the end of summer -- and I feel like we didn't have much of a summer at all. (Like, WTF happened??) Between the heat & humidity, the smoke, and the two weeks at Mom & Dad's, the buildup to the wedding we attended and Katie's day, it's gone by in a blink. (And yes, I know it's technically still summer until mid-September, but you know what I mean...!)  

Maybe it's because August holds a few too many grief and loss reminders:  Katie's day, the recent wedding of her second cousin (the same age as she would have been), the "anniversary" of FIL's death in 2018 (which I wrote about here, here and here)...  

Maybe it's because there was a sudden flood of back-to-school and off-to-college photos from American friends on my social media feeds today, reminding me of the photos that were never taken... (They weren't the first back-to-school photos I've seen -- they started earlier this month -- and they won't be the last -- I expect to keep seeing them through mid-September -- but they were noticeable!) 

Maybe it's because I realized that there are just two weeks left before the kids head back to school here -- and we still haven't gone for gelato yet this summer. :(  Or washed the balcony door/windows. Or done any of a number of other things I've wanted & needed to get done this summer. 

Maybe it's because the hordes of back-to-school shoppers were out in full force when we were at the mall last week, making it far busier than usual -- and I'm debating whether it's worth braving the crowds to go there again this week? 

Maybe it's because I'm reading reports that covid is on the rise again (and we didn't get our boosters this past spring -- the one date they were offered at our family doctor's office didn't work for us, and it looked like I wouldn't have qualified for one anyway, since I'm under 65 (!) and they tightened up the eligibility guidelines... hoping things will be different for the fall...). 

Maybe it's because the on-again-off-again Air Canada flight attendants' strike is continuing (despite the fact that they were ordered back to work), meaning a significant trip this fall to mark our 40th wedding anniversary is becoming less and less likely. 

Maybe it's because Little Great-Nephew #2 is suddenly sprouting teeth (and perhaps consequently, was crankier than his usually smiley self when we saw him recently) -- and his big brother (LGNephew #1) is on the verge of losing his first (!), as he enters first grade at school (!), reminding me of how quickly they're growing, and of the little girl who never got to grow up at all. 

Maybe it's because dh's allergies were acting up in a major way this weekend -- and thus HE was crankier than usual too. 

Maybe it's because the overall state of the world is so dark and crappy right now. (I don't think I need to list all the reasons why I feel this way;  you all probably know.)  What kind of a world are we leaving those adorable little great-niblings? 

Maybe it's because I had a lousy sleep last night -- partly because the joint where my left big toe meets the rest of my foot was sore, giving me flashbacks to when I had gout, four years ago (also in August!). It's not red or hot or swollen, as it was then (yet?), but I've been taking some ibuprofen as a precaution. 

Maybe it's because I was up more than a pound from the previous week (WTAF?!) when I weighed myself last Friday -- and almost 3 pounds from my pre-vacation weight. I'm basically back to where I was in March. :(  Still better than I was when we got the cholesterol lecture from our family doctor last October, and certainly better than my all-time heaviest weight -- but still a setback from the progress I'd been making. 

Maybe it's because I've recently had to back out of a couple of things I had previously committed to, and have been feeling incredibly guilty about it. 

Maybe it's because I'm so far behind on my Goodreads goal, with books I need to read and want to read piling up around me. 

It's been more than 40 years since I had to return to a classroom, but (as you can probably tell by now...!) it feels like I've had a bad case of the end-of-summer blues these past few days. 

On the bright side (because I don't want to be a complete downer here): 

Our 5th annual cottage weekend with BIL & SIL, dh's cousin & his wife (and, this year, another cousin too), is on for late September. :)  Something to look forward to! 

I started looking at places within driving distance where we could take a getaway for a few days in September or October. 

I had a lovely Zoom call with some online friends this weekend. Always a day brightener!  :)  

The extreme heat, humidity and wildfire smoke/poor air quality of the past few weeks seems to have broken:  it's a glorious 21C/23C humidex this afternoon (69F & 73F, respectively) with a nice, slight breeze, and our balcony door has been wide open all day. FINALLY!! 

Dh saw that I was in a blue mood and took me for gelato this afternoon. Wouldn't you know it? Our favourite gelato shop is closed on Mondays. We went to Dairy Queen for Blizzards -- again, lol. We've decided we'll try again for gelato soon -- like, maybe the Tuesday after Labour Day, when all the kids HERE will be heading back to school. ;)  It will be a welcome distraction -- something to look forward to -- (and an excusable reason to drown my sorrows in gelato, lol). 

How are you feeling as the end of summer approaches? 

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here. 

#MicroblogMondays: Annoying things, small pleasures, and other odds & ends

(A multipurpose post...!  lol)  

Annoying things: 

• It's been a busy week!  It feels like there's never enough time to get everything done on my daily to-do lists (especially with a vacation coming up soon...!)  I have days of unopened emails. (I have been checking, in case there's something truly important.)  
• I just got back from the dentist (boo, hiss...). We went for checkups about two weeks ago, where I discovered I had at least one cavity and likely two (the tooth beside it). Oh joy. :p  So it was back to the city this morning.  I barely felt the freezing injection (yay!), but the procedure itself was rather arduous. :(  Not painful, but a lot of tugging and pressure involved.  I felt limp as a rag but glad when it was over (at least until I saw the bill...!  -- thank goodness for dental insurance...!).  As I type, I'm still waiting for the freezing to wear off (it's almost gone!) to try out my new bite (i.e., lunch!).  
• Our building's air conditioning system decided to conk out last Tuesday during a recent heat wave -- one of the hottest days of the year so far (35C/44C humidex), amid record temperatures for June. Temperatures inside reached 80F (about 27C)(normally we keep the thermostat set at 74F. Our HVAC unit WAS running, but the air it was blowing was not very cool/cold. :p  We both felt pretty wilted (especially after three days of high temperatures and humidity, even when the a/c was running!), but ran the Dyson purifier fan, drank lots of fluids, and went to the mall for a few hours for respite. 
• Related small pleasure:  We bought a yummy rotisserie chicken at the supermarket on Sunday so that we didn't have to cook, and used the leftovers with salad to make light no-cook meals for the next two nights too.  

Small pleasures:  

• Kobo has been making some changes to its website recently... I'm not sure I like all of them, BUT I recently logged on and noticed changes to my wish list:  it's now sortable!  Newest to oldest added (which is how it was organized previously), alphabetical by title (but sadly not by author -- A to Z and Z to A), most to least expensive and vice versa. If I choose the "least to most expensive" option, I can see right away if any books on my list are on sale cheap, instead of having to scroll through the entire list. (And I have a very LARGE wish list...!)  
• After complaining (ummm, WRITING! lol) about my futile search for a pair of sandals to wear to a family wedding in August, I found (bought!) not just one but two pairs on a recent expedition to the mall! Both are silver (or silver-ish), flat or low-heeled, wide widths in my size, and feel relatively comfortably on my very wide foot! (I could actually get my foot into them!  lol) And both pairs were fairly reasonably priced too.  This one is silver with a one-inch chunky heel -- so it's not flat, but the heel feels substantial enough that I won't be teetering precariously in it. The other one is completely flat, but I think it's just dressy enough (particularly with the floral print dress I bought). It's "nude" -- gold-ish overtones vs pure silver, but I think it's silver-y enough. Anyway, that's a load off my mind!   

Personal stuff: 

• I recently, mostly, stopped wearing a mask in (most) public places, for the first time in 5 (-ish) years.  (Fingers crossed...!)  Dh has been foregoing masks for a while now, and I will admit, after five years, I was a little tired of putting on a mask and dealing with foggy glasses and a sweaty face -- especially at the mall, when (on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning, which is usually when we go) there were so few people around anyway. 
• I still keep a couple in my purse just in case, and I still put one on if I'm somewhere where there's a lot of people and/or the air circulation doesn't seem very good, etc. And we'll definitely be wearing them at the airport and on the plane west to see my family in a few weeks' time!  
• I found out this week (via my high school graduating class's Facebook page) that our English teacher (in both Grades 10 & 12, as well as our yearbook advisor) passed away last week. Mr. P. was 80. Not only was he our teacher, he had been a student at the same high school himself in the early 1960s, and later went on to become principal -- essentially devoting the better part of his life to the school and the community. He was an excellent teacher -- as evidenced by the hundreds and hundreds of comments on a community FB page I joined, and on the funeral home obituary.  He taught several generations of students from the same families -- their parents, their kids, their aunts, uncles & cousins.  Decades later, he still remembered their names, their stories, their family members. He was, in short, legendary. 
• I added a comment myself, and enjoyed scanning the others, and seeing many familiar names from my past. 
• I didn't know, but learned from one commenter, that Mr. P. was reluctant to accept the principal's job, and only did so on the condition that he could still carve out some time to continue teaching.  
• One former student recalled running into Mr. P. at the grocery store -- who glanced at her shopping list, and pointed out that she'd misspelled an item. (I'm sure she made his day, lol.)  
• And I was particularly amused to read one from a former student (obviously younger than me) whose first year of high school was Mr. P.'s last before retirement in 2010. He recalled Mr. P. addressing a student assembly on the first day of classes, and compared him to Dumbledore at Hogwarts, lol. 
• My class is collecting money and will make a donation in Mr. P.'s memory to one or more of the charities mentioned in his obituary, and/or plant a tree(s) in his honour. 
• The memorial service was held Friday afternoon, and I watched the livestream (three cheers for the Internet!). It was held at the big church where my graduation took place (I don't know if that's still the venue these days). 
• One of the speakers was one of his four (!) sons -- who is also now a teacher AND a vice-principal at the same high school!  
• (I'll admit, as a childless person, it was a little tough hearing all the talk about children and grandchildren, generations of students from the same families, etc... It also stirred up a lot of memories from my school days. Most parents get to regale/bore (lol) their kids with those kinds of stories.  Who do I get to share those memories with??) 
• I've mentioned Mr. P, in several previous posts here -- in particular, this one from 2010 (in which I named him as one of the people who had the biggest impact on my life, outside of family), and this one from 2019, about memorable teachers in my life. 

 Recent reading/viewing: 

• Going through my archives, I stumbled onto this post from June 2015 -- 10 years ago. Very timely, given the recent death of musical genius Brian Wilson, and I decided to share it again. I'm betting you will want to listen to some Beach Boys music after reading it!  
• There was a fascinating/disturbing story in the New Yorker recently about children adopted from China, reconnecting with their biological families through DNA testing.  (I found the link in an ad post on Facebook, and was able to access it without a subscription.)  
• Jody Day's quarterly/seasonal Fireside Wisdom Zoom discussions with a fabulous panel of childless elderwomen (the "Nomo Crones") are always interesting and worth watching!  The topic this time around was menopause. The video of this session is now available on the Gateway Women website (under the "Childless Elderwomen" tab). Just be aware there is some frank/explicit discussion about sex.

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here. 

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.)

(Note: I omitted a couple of regular categories this month because I was drawing a blank as to what to write in them...!  But I added a few, and this post is plenty long as it is, I think!  It's all good...!) 

April went by in a blur.  On the negative side: politics! (Federal election on April 28th, and weeks of campaigning before that.)  On the plus side:  dh's birthday, and Easter with the family (including the great-niblings).  And by mid/late April, it was FINALLY starting to feel like spring!! 

Pandemic diary/update: After five (!) years (!), I've decided not to continue monthly pandemic updates, since there really hasn't been anything new to write about in a long time. (Which doesn't mean that covid isn't still out there.)  I'm still masking -- most of the time -- in stores, malls and other such indoor public spaces, especially if/when there are lots of people around -- and I intend to keep on doing so (there are plenty of germs floating around to be concerned about right now besides covid, too!).  (I'll admit, though, I'm not QUITE as much of a stickler about it as I was a while ago.)  

Dh has not been masking when he goes out by himself for a while now, and increasingly, he hasn't been wearing the ones I've handed to him. He does say he intends to keep masking on airplanes, though.

If our covid-free status changes (and I'm knocking wood, LOUDLY, that it won't...!) I'll write about it, and I'll continue to share any articles of interest on the topic that I run across.    

This month, we: 

• Went to the mall to walk around and shop once a week, usually on Tuesday mornings (April 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd & 29th). 
• Had passport photos taken (April 3rd). 
• Stopped en route home from the mall at the drugstore postal outlet on April 8th to mail our tax returns! & buy some large envelopes. 
• Returned the next day to arrange to courier our passport renewal applications to Ottawa (current passports expire in early May), then went to the bookstore for a browse. 
• Returned to the post office AGAIN on April 19th to courier our passport renewals BACK to Ottawa, after they were returned to us (on April 17th -- one week after they were originally sent) -- we both forgot to sign the forms in one spot. (Oops!)
• (I checked the tracking on the package -- it got to Ottawa and I notice my credit card was charged the fees for both passports, so I guess they're being processed!)  
• Attended a celebration of life for a friend from our pregnancy loss support group (April 6th). (Maskless.) 
• Went with BIL & SIL to BIL & dh's cousin's house on April 12th. He's an accountant and does BIL & SIL's taxes every year. BIL & SIL brought takeout lunch -- and we were happily surprised that the cousin's daughter was home from school in the UK!  As always, a great visit (my own klutziness notwithstanding...). 
• Went to the bookstore and then stopped at the drugstore en route home to pick up a prescription (April 16th). 
• Voted at an advance poll for the April 28th federal election (on April 18th/Good Friday). 
• After dropping our passport applications at the post office on Saturday, April 19th, braved the crowds at the supermarket to pick up a fruit tray to take to BIL's for Easter dinner the next day. 
• Spent the afternoon/early evening of Easter Sunday with BIL & family. Aside from a brief but (thankfully) relatively civil argument about politics and the upcoming federal election, it was a great afternoon, and we had a lot of fun with the three great-niblings -- who all showed up wearing the "Egg Hunting Squad" T-shirts I'd put in their Valentine's Day goody bags!  (Little Great-Nephew's was a little too small/tight! -- erk! -- but he still wore it!)  Needless to say, I was tickled!! (We got some really cute group photos too!) 
• Stopped at the drugstore, en route home from the mall on April 22nd to pick up another prescription. 
• Returned to our old community for haircuts on the afternoon of April 25th (with a stop at the cemetery to visit Katie en route). It was later in the day than we would usually go (but we were desperate, lol), so we didn't hang around the mall afterward to shop (trying to avoid the worst of the Friday afternoon traffic), although I did duck into the dollar store and drugstore for a few minutes while dh was getting done. 

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 3 books in April (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2025 books"):  

• "Miss Buncle Married" by D.E. Stevenson ( (re)read in advance of our DES group chapter-by-chapter discussion, which began on April 21st. (3.5-4 stars;  original 2015 review here;  latest review here.) 
• "Can’t We Be Friends" by Denny S. Bryce & Eliza Knight (the May book for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club). (3 stars;  my review.) 
• This book -- which I've decided not to name here (!), as the author is a personal friend.  I don't want to tempt fate by naming her and the book, and then having her (or mutual friends) stumble onto this blog, if/when they Google the book. However, the link posted here goes to my review on Goodreads, and I've also reviewed it on StoryGraph. (4 stars, explanation & review link also posted here.) 

This brings me to 13 books read in 2025 to date, 29% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) on track to meet my goal.  :) 

Current reads: 

• "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! (Original 2015 review here;  most recent review here). 
• "Anne of Windy Poplars" by L.M. Montgomery (called "Anne of Windy Willows" in the U.K., with some text variations). My L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group started reading & discussing this book together on Jan. 6th. (Previous review here.) Currently 60% completed. 
• "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 8.  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. ;)  

• For my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club:  
• "A Burning" by Megha Majumdar. (June) 
• "Rules For Visiting" by Jessica Francis Kane (July) 
• "Drive Your Plow (Over the Bones of the Dead)" by Olga Tokarczuk. (August) 
• "The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands" by Mary Seacole. (September) 
• "The Secrets of Blythswood Square" by Sara Sheridan. (October) 
• For my D.E. Stevenson group:  This list of upcoming books should keep us busy through 2025 or even into early 2026!  (A couple of the books are ones we covered shortly after I first joined the group back in 2014 -- you know you've been around for a while when....!)  
• The Two Mrs. Abbotts (likely starting in mid-July -- original 2015 review here).
• Crooked Adam
• The Four Graces (original 2015 review here). 

• Footnotes and Tangents slow readalongs planned for 2025 include:
• "A Place of Greater Safety" by Hilary Mantel -- starts May 5th, for 20 weeks. 
• "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe -- starts Sept. 29th, for 5 weeks. 
• "The Blue Flower" by Penelope Fitzgerald -- starts Nov. 3rd, for 7 weeks. 

(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!) 

• Culture Study (Europe): next book TBA. 

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

• "Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live" by Susan Morrison 
  
• "The Age of Magical Overthinking" by Amanda Montell 
• "The Small and the Mighty" by Sharon McMahon 
• "Cue the Sun!" by Emily Nussbaum 
• "Right-Wing Women" by Andrea Dworkin 
• "So Now What?" by Lana Manikowski 
• "Missing Persons" by Clair Wills 
• "The Life Impossible" by Matt Haig 
• "The Stolen Queen" by Fiona Davis 
• "The Certainty Illusion" by Timothy Caulfield 
• "Caledonian Road" by Andrew O'Hagan 

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Watching: 

• "Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light" on PBS (in six parts). In discussing the book after I finished it last December (my review here), I told my fellow readers at Footnotes & Tangents, "I held it together at the end until Rafe (Sadler, Thomas Cromwell's protege and essentially his adopted son) started crying" -- and that was the point where I lost it while watching the final episode as well. Both book & filmed version are absolutely amazing feats of storytelling, and Mark Rylance (as Cromwell) and Damien Lewis (as Henry VIII) are superb. I don't give ratings here to the things I watch, but this one would definitely get 5 stars.  
• "The Handmaid's Tale" (the sixth & final season!). Currently up to episode 6 (of 10).  This show is even harder to watch than it was when it first began -- especially given current events! I continue to wonder just how many times June can pop in & out of Gilead/New Bethlehem, lol.  I can see the arc of the storyline gradually beginning to bend towards Margaret Atwood's 2019 sequel, "The Testaments," which I read and reviewed here, and which is also being turned into a series (in which Ann Dowd will reprise her role as Aunt Lydia). I'm hoping they don't stray too far from the book in that one either. 
• Too much pre- and post-election coverage (mostly on CBC/CBC News Network). ;)  (At least THAT's done!)  

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: Stats as of April 30th:  
• Heardle 60s: 75.5% (688/911, 266 on first guess), down 0.5% from last month. Max. streak: 15.
• Heardle 70s: 78.1% (505/647, 287 on first guess), down 0.3% from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s: 38.2% (198/518, 72 on first guess), down 0.7% from last month. Max. streak: 4. 
• Heardle 90s: 30.9% (192/622, 42 on first guess), up 1.1% from last month. Max. streak: 5. 
• NYT Connections:  
• By March 31st, I'd played 246 games and won 84% of them, including 123 "perfect puzzles."  And I increased my maximum winning streak from 21 to 30! 
• By April 30th, I'd completed 276 games and won 83% of them, including 140 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 6 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  And I maintained my maximum winning streak at 30!  :)   

Following:  NHL playoff hockey ;) (particularly when the Toronto Maple Leafs or Winnipeg Jets are playing!) -- albeit not religiously. 

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 doctor. We'll be doing more bloodwork later in the year to check again -- so we've continued our efforts to eat healthier -- reduce portion sizes, cut back on fatty & processed foods (fewer casseroles, more chicken and beans/lentils), eat more fruits, vegetables and fibre, snack less (and make better snacking choices), and be at least a little more active. 
• Since then, I've continued to yo-yo a bit, but I still ended the month 1.4 pounds lighter than at the end of March. (I'll take it!)  Overall, I've lost a little over 11 pounds since our chat with the doctor last October, and about 23 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight a few years ago. 
• For dh's birthday (April 11th), we indulged in his choice:  takeout California Sandwiches -- a treat we hadn't permitted ourselves since our chat with the doctor about diet and cholesterol last October -- as well as red velvet cupcakes for dessert. (I stuck a candle in dh's, lit it and had him blow it out.) 
• (I can only ever eat half of my chicken cutlet sandwich in one sitting -- they are HUGE. I saved the other half for dinner two days later.) 
• BIL & SIL brought takeout Portuguese chicken, potatos, rice and veggies from a local restaurant to BIL & dh's cousin's house for lunch (really tasty!), after which the cousin (an accountant) went to work on BIL & SIL's taxes while the rest of us visited. 
• For Easter dinner at BIL's we had pasta alfredo, barbecued steak, lamb & sausages, potatos with peppers, sauteed rapini, corn, and salad.  Two kinds of pie for dessert, plus fruit. 
• Some (other) notable recent takeout meals: soup, pizza slices and teriyaki rice bowls, all from the supermarket takeout counter, and takeout rotisserie chicken (with a baked potato for me, fries for dh). (Trying to avoid the stuff that's really calorie & fat-laden!) 

Wearing:  I'm still wearing long-sleeved tops, yoga pants and socks inside the house -- and slippers still too, on most days. But the weather HAS been gradually warming up, especially later in the month, and there have been several days when I've been able to venture outside in just a denim jacket (and I might not have even needed that!). I even wore a short-sleeved T-shirt to the mall this past week, no jacket!  Hopefully I'll be able to bring out the capris & sandals within another few weeks!      

Buying (besides books, lol): 

• More Canadian products (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...!).  
• Goodies for the great-niblings' Easter baskets/bags, including clothes, stickers, little rabbits that hop around after you wind them up, and (of course!) chocolate (for the two older kids at least!). 
• I've continued to buy stuff for them since Easter too ;)  including matching Canada Day T-shirts from Old Navy. 
• Several pretty tank tops for summer at Reitmans (a Canadian women's wear chain, which has fairly reasonable prices). There's a store near where I live, but they also just opened a large new one at the nearby mall we frequent (yay!). I used a gift card dh gave me for Christmas to pay for part of it (even better!).  
• (I also had my eye on this pretty blouse that I thought would be perfect to wear to an upcoming bridal shower in May -- but alas, they were sold out of my size, both in-store and online.)  

Mourning:  The demise of Hudson's Bay Company (HBC, or just "the Bay"), which has been around since 1670 (!! -- not a typo!) and played a critical role in my country's early exploration and development (with a particular interest in the fur trade). The Bay department stores, along with Eatons, was one of the pillars of the Canadian retail experience when I was growing up. Hudson's Bay was purchased by an American private equity firm several years ago... and you can probably guess the rest of the story. :(  They've closed several stores in recent years (including the magnificent century-old Bay store in downtown Winnipeg -- which, happily, is being renovated and repurposed for mixed use -- unlike the big Eatons store a few blocks away, which was, sadly, torn down completely), even before this announcement -- and now all the rest will soon be closing (as well as Canadian Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off Fifth stores, owned by the same parent company). 

It's not unexpected -- over the past 20-25 years, Canada has lost Eatons, Simpsons, Sears Canada and Nordstrom Canada (not too many years after it entered the market here). It's been a few years since I've been to the flagship store at Queen & Yonge in downtown Toronto (which was at one time a Simpsons store), but I was often there on my lunch hour when I worked downtown. There aren't any Bay stores close by us now, but I always took a quick walk/browse through the (much smaller) store at the mall in our old community whenever we were there for haircuts.  The last time I did so, a few months ago, there were (sadly) a lot of bare shelves and few customers (or staff, for that matter).

I miss department stores. :( 

Procrastinating: I need to call a plumber about a few fixes in both bathrooms. The tub faucet in one bathroom is totally stripped -- has been for more than a year now -- just goes round and round and is difficult to turn off completely, which has rendered that tub/shower completely useless. Thankfully, the spout it is not dripping (right now) -- unlike the same fixture in the master bathroom glassed-in shower enclosure, which has been dripping for MONTHS now, and is creating a lot of mildew on the tiles and caulking, which I am constantly wiping and scrubbing with Clorox. :p  

The sink in that bathroom is also starting to drain more slowly (again -- despite dosing it with baking soda & vinegar, followed by hot water after a few minutes), and I'm afraid it's going to plug up completely -- which is what happened last year right around this time. We called the plumber who takes care of the common plumbing structures in the building then, and he got it draining freely again. I actually asked him to look at the tub/shower faucet then -- he did, but he didn't have the right part to fix it, and said he would get back to me. 

Of course you know what happened -- crickets.  (He was actually back here again with the property manager a few months later, flushing taps after the city turned off the water main for repairs -- and I mentioned it to him again then and asked him to give us a call and let us know when he could come. Again, crickets.)  Do I try calling/messaging him AGAIN and give him one more chance?  Or take my chances with a completely unknown plumber?  (Sigh.) (Why didn't one of the nephews become a plumber?? lol)(One of dh's cousins is actually a plumber! -- but we don't know him very well, and geographically, he's way on the other side of the city/region.) 

Anticipating:  Starting to think about whether we should plan a trip this fall to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary (which is actually in July) -- where we should go (likely somewhere in the UK/Europe), how we should do it, etc.  -- i.e., group tour? pre-package self tour? (dh's cousin's wife recommended the experience they had via Costco Travel last year  -- they did London, Dublin & Paris with their kids) -- or try to plan something out ourselves?? I feel confident figuring things out for travel within Canada, and even to most places in the U.S. -- but Europe, an ocean away, seems positively daunting.  

Also feeling somewhat anxious about the prospect of travelling so far away, at a time when the world is in such a state of upheaval, and the economy is in such a state of flux.  Fall seems like such a long time away; who knows what things will be like then??

But there's never an ideal time, is there??  -- plus (ahem) we're not getting any younger -- if we ever want to see some of these places, we need to do it sooner vs later...!   (Decisions, decisions...!) 

Appreciating/Enjoying:  The days when the weather is nice enough that we can once again open our balcony door, even for a while!    

Trying (and mostly failing...!): To get to bed a little earlier! (Especially if we need to set an alarm and get up early!) When we were working, we were up every morning before 5 AM, so 10 PM was bedtime, with few exceptions. Dh often still turns in early, but lately I've been up till 11, 11:30, 11:45... (I still draw the line at 12 midnight!).    

Noticing: The leaves on the trees are starting to bud out!  (Yay!)    

Hoping: That the weather continues to improve. (Some more sunshine would be great, even if the temperatures take a little while to warm up...!) 

Loving:  Any time we can spend with the great-niblings.  :)  (Never enough, of course...!) 

                              

Feeling: Relieved that all the electioneering is FINALLY over!! (Hopefully for another few years...!)  Relieved that spring FINALLY seems to be on its way!