Pre-Christmas annoying things (and a few small pleasures)

 Annoying things: 

• I was trying to comment on a WordPress blog recently -- and when I hit "publish," up popped a note from WordPress:  they had blocked my password and I had to create a new one?!  This took some doing, but I finally managed to change my password (grrr...). 
• Related annoying thing:  My comment disappeared into the ether, and had to be recreated.  

• I went to the nail salon last week to have the gel/shellac polish on my toes removed. I've been going there for occasional manicures & pedicures since we moved here, almost 10 years ago now. My SIL goes there too and suggested it to me when I asked her for a referral. It's near where she & BIL live, and the prices are pretty reasonable.  (She & I ended up in pedicure chairs side by side the day before Older Nephew's wedding rehearsal, totally unplanned!) 
• Back story:  I'd had a pedicure in late September, just before we headed to dh's cousin's cottage for the weekend. I had asked for just a regular pedicure with regular enamel polish  -- but the nail tech pushed (hard) for me to have a shellac/gel pedicure. "It lasts much longer! You don't have to sit under the dryer for as long!"  she pointed out brightly. 
• (What she didn't point out:  it was more money, and thus = potentially a larger tip for her.) 
• I didn't really CARE if the polish lasted longer;  I just wanted it to look decent for the weekend. I don't get pedicures very often, and I like being able to remove the polish myself once it starts to chip and look ragged. Plus I am not entirely comfortable with the unnecessary UV light exposure. 
• Anyway, she talked me into it (eyeroll), and brought out a polish that she said was very close to the regular polish I had already picked out. Annoying thing/Spoiler alert:  it was not. I had picked out a teal blue;  the polish I wound up with was more of a teal green. It was nicely done, but not quite what I had wanted -- and obviously more expensive -- and I left feeling a little annoyed that I hadn't stuck to my guns and gotten what I really wanted. 
• While at the cottage, I stubbed the toes on my right foot on the leg of our bed -- TWICE.  
• I didn't think much about it until about a month later, in late October, when I was in the shower. My nails had started to grow out from the nail bed, and while I was lathering up my feet, I noticed a black spot on/under the nail of my right second toe.  I have no idea how long it had been there -- I mean, how often do you look closely at your feet?  Plus I obviously didn't have my glasses on in the shower. Most of the spot was (of course) UNDER the polish -- which I could not remove myself (grrr....). 
• The logical explanation, obviously, is that it's a bruise from when I banged my toe on the bed leg at the cottage a month earlier. (I had a previous black toenail after hitting my toe on the corner of a wall, some years ago. It turned totally black, lasted for months before eventually fading away -- and my nail eventually fell off. Thankfully, it did eventually grow back.) 
• EXCEPT.  I couldn't help but think of the younger brother of my best friend from high school. He died of melanoma at the far-too-young age of 40, leaving a wife and two young boys, as well as his parents & four sisters. It started -- you guessed it -- under the nail of one of his toes. He thought he just had some weird sort of nail fungus. By the time he checked it out with his doctor and they figured out what it actually was, it had spread, and it was too late. :(  
• We had checkups scheduled with our family doctor in late October, and I showed the spot to him. He was pretty sure it was a bruise too, but since he was referring me to a dermatologist (for other reasons), he suggested I have that doctor check it out. (And that I should get the polish fully removed before I went.)  
• So last week, I headed back to the nail salon. I explained, both over the phone and at the counter, that I wanted my gel/shellac polish removed. They could trim my nails, remove the dead skin, etc., but I did not want more polish, even clear. 
• Wouldn't you know it? I got the very same nail tech. And this time, she started in on the hard sell for a paraffin wax treatment. "The skin on your feet is very dry... the paraffin helps seal in the moisture. I really recommend it,"  she said. 
• I've had paraffin treatments before, and I knew she was going to keep pushing, so once again I caved and said yes. 
• She brought out a plastic bag filled with liquid wax. It was HOT, As she squished it over my foot and slipped a terrycloth bag over the plastic, I felt like the bottom of my foot was burning. "It's HOT... please, take it off!" I said.
• She did NOT take it off. "It won't burn you, the temperature isn't hot enough," she assured me brighly, as she put the other bag of liquid wax over my foot -- which was also hot. 
• I was honestly afraid my feet were going to be burned. They weren't -- my feet are fine -- and she did do a nice job on cleaning up my feet and smoothing down the rough spots -- but I wasn't particularly happy. I didn't have enough change to leave even a 10% tip  (I had enough for a larger tip on the regular pedicure I thought I would be getting...!), and frankly, I didn't feel like she deserved one.
• The girls there don't wear nametags, so I'm not sure who else I could ask for. I'm debating whether to ask my SIL, or just try to find a different salon, maybe one closer to where we live. I've been happy with the service and the results in the past;  I just don't appreciate the hard upsell.  :p   
• The kicker?  When I got to the dermatologist's office this week, I COMPLETELY forgot to ask him about it!  (eyeroll) 
• In my defense, he was a busy guy & spent no more than five minutes with me before sailing out of the room and on to his next patient. Sigh. 
  
  
• I found a typo in this year's edition of the annual Christmas letter that I send out with some of my cards. (I mean, I used to be my department's go-to editor & proofreader...!) 
• Related annoying thing:  Of course I found it AFTER I had put the cards into the mail...!  
• Not only that -- what I THOUGHT I had written ("The trip we’d hoped to take didn’t materialize, but maybe next year…!") turned out to be "The trip we'd hoped to take didn't maternalize...").  Freudian slip??  :p 

• You may or may not recall that we had some plumbing repairs done in late August that turned out to be far more complex (near-disastrous, in fact) -- and WAY more expensive -- than we had anticipated. 
• I wrote about this in brief, general terms at the time. To summarize briefly: We wanted a few things done, but my main concern was the water spout in the shower cubicle in our master bathroom. (Like the water spout in a bathtub, but in a standalone shower cubicle. Apparently it's a Canadian thing:  a lot of people refer to it as a "toe tester," lol.)  It had been dripping for months. The dripping sound was driving me crazy, and it was a constant battle to keep the mildew at bay. I figured all that was needed was likely to replace a rubber ring behind the tap handle. 
• I'd mentioned the issue at least twice to the plumber recommended by our property manager, who does the general plumbing repairs & maintenance for the building, both in person and in an email, but annoyingly, he never got back to me. I asked dh if I should try one more time or try someone else, and he said to try someone else. I did a bit of Googling, read some reviews, picked a name and called them up. 
• As I said above, what we wanted done turned out to be a LOT more complicated (and the bill was MUCH higher) than we'd anticipated. We weren't very happy with how it all unfolded (let alone the bill!!) -- but the good thing was that they did fix the dripping. (Eventually!) . 
• Since then, however, we've noticed the water runs nowhere near as warm/hot as it used to. Even when I crank the tap handle all the way over on the "hot" side, the best it gets is just nicely warm. Some mornings, it's just lukewarm. Also, the water pressure seems a lot weaker.  
• Note:  We have no issues with the warm/hot water anywhere else in the unit. 
• One recent morning (less than a week before we leave on holidays), dh emerged from the shower to tell me the water was cold.  Not freezing cold (yay?), but not even lukewarm -- like, barely tepid. 
• I got in the shower, turned on the water and stuck my foot under the spout (without turning on the actual shower). "Oh hell no," I said.  
• Luckily, we have a second bathroom, with a regular tub/shower unit. Dh had taken a few baths in there, and I'd used the tub to fill buckets and wash large items (like window screens), but in the almost 10 years we've lived here, we'd never tried out the shower...!  
• Well, no time like the present...!  
• The water was wonderfully warm and the spray was strong.  
• His cold shower was the last straw for dh:  he's resolved to call the plumber -- the building-approved plumber -- when we get back from Christmas holidays, and ask them to come have a look. They may be hard to get hold of sometimes, but they have done a good job for us before, and their prices have been very reasonable.
• We are definitely NOT calling the other guys back -- even though it's really their issue to fix...!  
  
  
• A to-do list that never seems to get any shorter...!  (especially as we head towards Christmas...!) 

Small pleasures: 

• The decorated Christmas tree, especially the lights.  
• Little Great-Nephew #2's first birthday party on Saturday!!  :)  
• I'm still lacking some stocking stuffers, but the great-niblings and Little Princesses are well taken care of.  :)  
• Heading west for Christmas in a few days' time too!  :)  

Odds & ends

• Well, the federal government has ordered Canada Post workers back to work as of today -- but the post office is warning that it will take quite a while to deal with the backlog of incoming and outgoing mail.  Too little, too late for Christmas cards & packages. The strike began more than a month ago, on Nov. 15th. I didn't even buy any cards this year, because I knew these things sometimes tend to drag on, and I didn't want to knock myself out trying to get them done (at an already busy time of year) when they might not even be able to be sent until well into the new year. 
• So for the first time in my adult life, I'm not sending a Christmas card. Not sure anyone will miss it!  (lol) but I always enjoy doing them and look forward to getting them in the mail (although the number I get has been dwindling over the years).  I posted about this on Facebook. (I'm guessing some of our friends & relatives outside of Canada probably didn't even know there was a strike going on.)  
• A few people have urged me to send out cards/letters (even via email) in the new year instead. I might, but it definitely wouldn't be until after the new year...! 
• I'm feeling a lot less foggy from my cold today -- but still coughing a lot (which has kept me awake at night for the last several nights). So I called our dentist's office this morning to rebook my rebooked appointment for tomorrow -- one less thing on my to-do list to deal with! I'll now be going there in early January. 
• The bruises and scrapes from my tumble last week are also fading, and should be just about gone by the time we fly to see my parents. (I haven't told them about what happened. "Why stir the pot?"  my sister said when I asked her if I should.)  
• Jody Day flagged this Substack post, saying "Sue Fagalde Lick NAILS it about the complex emotions on the effort/cost of sending gifts when you're a solo elderwomen... and the tiny amount of recognition or reciprocity we often see..."  (Partnered and/or younger childless women too, but I recognize it's especially difficult when you're solo and older!):  "Santa, I need some help over here!" 
• Jody also wrote a piece for the World Childless Week website that a lot of us might need/want to read right about now: "No Room At The Inn For People Without Children." 
• Y.L. Wolfe about being a perennial outsider in her new (and aptly named) Substack "On the Outside."  Needless to say, I could relate...!
• From the Life Without Children Substack: "Tears, Sweat and Blood — Seeking an Answer to Unexplained Infertility." Subhead:  "How an ancestor helped to solve the eternal question, ‘Why me?’ " 

Pre-Christmas annoying things & small pleasures

REALLY annoying thing:  I took a tumble today (no stairs involved this time, though) & banged up my face.  :(  :(  :(    Just before Christmas, of course...! (Just call me Klutz Kringle.)  It could have been worse, I guess, but combined with my rosacea/redness (see "Other annoying things," below), let's just say I've looked better. 

 

We had dentist appointments in the city today -- got there early and parked in a lot near both our dentist & optometrist. I left dh in the car to head to the optometrist's office (right across the street from the lot) to get some lid/lash wipes for my eyes. Most of the lot is surrounded by a low fence, but I headed for the street through a narrow gap between a parked truck and a concrete planter. 

 

And tripped, went flying, and fell. Bit my lip and banged my left cheekbone. (Big red bruise/abrasion. A few small cuts/abrasions on both my palms, too, and I later discovered a mildly skinned left knee under my jeans.)  Can't remember if I knocked off my glasses, but the lens on the left side got all scratched up with gravel (fortunately, on the outside edge, side, so I can still see OK, but...!) -- and I could see the lens had come a little loose from the frame.  

 

I picked myself up, dusted myself off and went back to the car to inspect the damage. (Poor dh! He felt so guilty that he hadn't come with me!)  I was a pretty pathetic sight, and needless to say, I was pretty shaken up. I had some wet wipes in my purse, so I wiped off my face with them (dirt, bits of gravel & some blood -- almost entirely from where I bit my upper left lip). Felt my teeth with my tongue and they were all still there and all seemed intact, thank goodness. I thought, well, at least I can get the dentist to check them out!  Put on a mask (thank goodness I had one with me; it hid just about all the damage) and headed for the dentist. 

 

I told the woman at the desk what happened and asked if she had a cold pack I could use. Took off my mask to show them and boy, they jumped into action. She got me a cold pack and asked the dentist to come see me right away. My hygienist took me into her little cubicle and had me lay down in the chair with the cold pack on my face. The dentist came in & poked around my teeth, and he got me some Advil. He said he didn't see any damage (thank goodness!);  a couple of the bottom teeth were maybe just a LITTLE loose, but he felt they'll be OK over time. He did say sometimes when you take a blow to the face like that, teeth can sometimes discolour or die (!) but we'll keep an eye on it and cross that bridge if/when we get there.  

Both he & the hygienist said they didn't think they could (or should) do the full exam & cleaning today;  my lip was already swelling up. I told him it felt like when he puts freezing in for a filling!  So now I have to go back next week! (so long as I'm feeling better & the swelling has gone down). They will probably do some X-rays then, just to make sure all is well. They just let me lay there, holding the cold pack on my face, while dh had his appointment. (His dentist -- a super nice man who has also done work on me -- came in to say hello and ask how I was before we left.) 

After we were done, we headed over to the optometrist's office. I kept my mask on and got my wipes, and then asked if he had a couple of minutes to look at my glasses. I explained to him what happened and showed him my glasses (while keeping my mask on!). He fiddled with them, had me try them on three times until he was satisfied with the fit. He said to come back & see him if I want to replace them. The lenses ARE 10 years old;  I broke the frames about 6 years ago and luckily was able to replace those and use the same lenses -- but I've been thinking that even if my prescription hasn't changed, it's probably time for a new pair (don't you think??).  Dh's glasses are almost that old too, and he's been itching for new ones.  So I may make appointments for us when we get back from Christmas. (They'll be fine for now.) 

 

We stopped at a drugstore on the way back to the car and I bought a cold bottle of water -- I drank some but  mostly held the bottle to my face, like an ice pack. When we finally got home, I washed my face and put some witch hazel and polysporin on my bruises, and I've been using an ice pack, on & off. It looks a little better than it did, but still not great. Hopefully I'll be mostly better before we head west to see my parents! (I suppose I could always use some makeup to cover up or at least minimize the bruising.)   

 

Dh told me it was on the news that U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell tripped and fell today too. I said, "Yeah, but he's 82!"   

We have haircuts on Friday. I told dh that I'm going to tell our stylist that my fat lip is the result of a filler injection gone bad, lol.  

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Other annoying things: 

• Hitting "mark all as read" (as in ALL the unread emails in my inbox -- and there were a LOT) instead of marking one particular email as UNread. Grrrr.....
• The Canada Post strike (now in its 4th week -- going on since Nov. 15th! -- and not looking like it will be resolved anytime soon...) -- which means I probably won't be sending out Christmas cards for the first time I can remember since I started doing it as a kid (probably ever??). Or receiving any either -- one of my great pleasures at Christmastime (although, granted, there have been fewer and fewer every year in recent years...).  
• My rosacea has been acting up again, especially since it turned colder. I think the lack of humidity in our condo has a lot to do with it (although we've been running the humidifier constantly). I don't mind the fine lines and grey hair that comes from aging, but people used to rave about my beautiful skin, and I took pride and comfort in that -- so this is a real blow to my ego! 
• In the latest installment of "Adventures with my Kobo E-reader,"  lately, when I try to sync my reader and download my latest purchases, the sync progress seems "stuck" on "Updating books."  
• I've waited up to half an hour or 45 minutes before cancelling the sync -- and then tried again, two or three minutes later. Weirdly, I've found that often does the trick -- it almost immediately starts downloading my books and completes the sync! (Knocking wood...!) Definitely better than signing out of my account and then back in again -- and then having to download all the books I want downloaded all over again, so they're ready to read when I want them! -- but still annoying...! 

Small pleasures: 

• A photo on Instagram of Little Great-Nephew with Santa!  :)  
• Stopping to take a peek at Santa myself whenever I'm at the mall. Always a day brightener!  
• Having our Christmas tree up and decorated, and the extra light it gives off at a dark & gloomy time of year. 

#MicroblogMondays: Bah humbug? Or hohoho?

It's December. It's Christmastime. Quite possibly my favourite holiday of the year. 

But... 

I'm trying, but I'm not feeling the joy yet. :p  

• I like to put the tree up on the first weekend of Advent, if possible. It's still not up.  Dh has had a bad cold for the past few days (wouldn't take a covid test, and it's probably too late to do it anyway...), and he's miserable.. and I need his help to assemble the tree and haul the boxes of ornaments upstairs from our storage locker in the parking garage. Maybe tomorrow... 
• I have more shopping to do, and we usually go to the mall on Tuesdays, but likely not tomorrow, because, see above. 
• I'm feeling the itch to do some Christmas baking -- but we're trying to lose weight a lower our cholesterol. Sigh...
• I haven't bought any Christmas cards yet. (Those of you I send cards to, take note!)  Canada Post is on strike -- has been for almost 3 weeks now. It seemed kind of pointless to buy cards when I'm not sure if or when I'm going to be able to send them out. I don't think I've EVER NOT sent cards out at Christmastime (and I started doing my own when I was a teenager, I think?).  
• We haven't had a single flake of snow yet (which always makes things feel a bit more Christmas-y). 
• (On the other hand, the Muskoka region/cottage country, about two hours north of us, and western New York State, across Lake Ontario, have been WALLOPED over the past few days. We're talking 100-140ish cm/50-60 INCHES in some places.  There has to be a happy medium, right??)
• (Maybe I should be careful what I wish for?!  lol)  
• BIL & SIL are heading off to Florida this week with his & dh's cousin and his wife. We were invited to go along, but declined -- not a good time, for various reasons -- but a week in the sun would have been nice... (perhaps another time...). 
• For reasons anyone reading this blog likely understands, I am feeling nervous about Older Nephew's Wife's impending due date, and hoping/praying/crossing all the crossables that everything goes well for both mom & baby.  

On the bright side: 

• I enjoyed the American Thanksgiving weekend. :)  I'm Canadian, so I wasn't celebrating (and dh's cold put a damper on things) -- but there was a definite lull in online activity and, as a result, I was able to catch up on a lot of reading (both online & off). 
• I did put up my Advent calendar. :)  I bought a new one two years ago. It's a Christmas tree with velcro strips on it, and little "ornaments" (backed with velcro). I love "hanging" a new ornament on the tree every morning.  :) 
• I bought some cheerful new seasonal placemats (woven, with red and white checks and Christmas trees) that make me smile every time I put them on the table. 
• My favourite sterling silver jewelry maker personally delivered my box of her specially curated Favourite Things 2024 yesterday -- 12 carefully curated and beautifully wrapped surprises (including several pieces of her jewelry, as well as things she loves from other local craftspeople) -- such a great treat for myself!  
• (It used to be an "Advent Calendar," with 24 packages... obviously, that was a LOT of work for her to put together -- and more expensive for us to buy -- so she downsized last year to just 12 days' worth of goodies.  It's still worth it!)

Are you feeling the Christmas/holiday spirit yet? 

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.)

November was mostly grey and gloomy (as November usually is...!). But grey skies aside, for a month that I have historically NOT had a good relationship with (lol) it wasn't too bad -- some fun family time, some hints of Christmas coming... (Also, it went by pretty fast! How is we're almost at the end of the year?? And Christmas??) 

Pandemic diary/update: November was month #56 since the covid pandemic began in March 2020 (now in Year FIVE). :(   We (still!) remain covid-free (knocking wood, loudly...) -- although dh came down with a nasty cough/cold within the past few days (and brushes off my suggestion of testing...). We continue to mask in stores, malls and (most) other such indoor public spaces hereabouts, especially if/when there are lots of people around. (Well, I do -- I know dh has been slacking off, whenever I'm not around to hand him a mask...!) 

On top of the usual worries about seasonal colds, flu and covid, we now have to worry about H1N5 (avian/bird flu). Canada had its first confirmed case this month -- a teenager in British Columbia, who wound up in critical condition in the hospital. They're not sure about the source. 

Among other things we did this month, we: 

• Went to Chapters (bookstore), Carters (children's wear), Reitmans (women's wear) and Shoppers Drug Mart on Nov. 4th. 
• Back at Chapters and Shoppers on Nov. 13th. 
• Went to the mall on Nov. 5th to walk & shop for a few hours (and escape the U.S. election news coverage, lol). (Regretfully bypassed the pizza place and had a healthier lunch when we got back home. Maybe in January we'll treat ourselves, if we get a good report on our cholesterol levels...!)  
• Returned on Nov. 12th, 19th & 26th to do the same. (Each time we went, the mall got busier and busier... and we had to park further and further from the entrance!  lol -- the holiday madness has begun...!).  
• Headed back to our old community on Nov. 8th:  took Christmas decorations to the cemetery for Katie, had lunch at Tim Hortons in the food court in the mall, then had haircuts and did a bit of walking & shopping. (We'll be back in mid-December for trims, before heading west for the holidays.) 
• I attended a "baby sprinkle" on Nov. 9th for Older Nephew's wife -- i.e., a small shower to celebrate their second baby, due by scheduled C-section just before Christmas. There were about 20-25 women & children total -- including a half-dozen of her friends and a couple of her cousins  -- all in their early 30s, all either having babies (two other pregnant women there) or thinking about it.  
• Needless to say, I mostly stayed away from them!  lol  I wound up spending a lot of time playing with Little Great-Nephew ("I'm a professional at Lego," he told me, as I helped him assemble his latest project, lol) and Little Great-Niece, and taking photos of them to show dh later.  We didn't play any dumb games (yay!), it was at Older Nephew's MIL's spacious house so there was plenty of room to walk around (and escape, if necessary! lol), and the food was really good (see "Eating," below). (I even managed to (mostly!) make good choices!  lol)  
• Bonus: BIL drove me & SIL to the shower, and came to pick us up again later -- at the same time as Younger Nephew came to pick up his wife and Little Great-Niece. I suggested that they could drive me home, since they live quite close to us, and thus save BIL & SIL a longer trip home. LGNiece kept saying, "Aunt Lori! Aunt Lori coming! Aunt Lori here! Aunt Lori!"  all the way out to the car and then half the way home, lol.  MADE MY DAY.  :)  
• A week later, on Nov. 16th, we headed up to Older Nephew's house with BIL & SIL to celebrate Little Great-Nephew's 5th (!!) birthday party. Younger Nephew, his wife & Little Great-Niece came too, and we all had such a good time together. :)  
• We got a last-minute invitation to dinner (along with BIL & SIL) to dh's cousin's for dinner (the same cousins who have the cottage we've been to the last couple of years in the fall). Her parents were also there. Prime rib, potatos au gratin (I had a small helping), sauteed rapini, salad and tiramisu for dessert (small piece).  This cousin's wife loves to cook and entertain. Lucky us!  :)  

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 1 book in November (reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2024 books").  

• "The Christmas Orphans Club" by Becca Freeman, for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club for December. (I read this one earlier this year -- and suggested it would be a good December pick for the group! -- and reviewed it here.  My most recent review here.) 

This brings me to 32 books read so far in 2024, 71% of my 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books.  I am currently 9 (!) books behind schedule to meet my goal. :(   (Too many distractions this month, plus I'm (still) trying to catch up on my Hilary Mantel reading -- see below!) 

Current reads: 

• "The Windsor Knot" by S.J. Bennett, the January pick for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club (previously read in 2021 and reviewed here).   
• "Miss Buncle’s Book" by D.E. Stevenson, for my DES fan group. We began reading this together on Oct. 7th, and will finish in mid-December. I'll count this as a re-read then. (Original 2015 review here;  most recent review here.) 
• "Living the Life Unexpected" by Jody Day.  I'm once again taking part in a chapter-by-chapter group read of this CNBC classic!  The most recent meeting covered Chapter 3.  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.)  
• "The Mirror and the Light" by Hilary Mantel (book #3 in the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy) -- part of a year-long "slow readalong" hosted by Simon at Footnotes & Tangents (which participants have dubbed "Wolf Crawl,"  lol) -- about 40 pages per week.  :)   
• We started during the week of July 21st.  I chose to focus on some of my other books over the late summer/early fall, and as a result, was 9 weeks behind the posted reading schedule at one point (erk).  I've been doing a bit of catching up, and am currently about 8 weeks behind, at about 51% read. We will finish at the end of December. 
• Simon will be repeating the Cromwell Trilogy slow readalong in 2025 for paying subscribers. I highly recommend the experience! (and am considering whether I'm up to another round of it myself...!). (Yes, I'm nuts...!)  Details here!  
• "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy (!). As I wrote here, I needed another book club/readalong obligation like a hole in the head  ;)  but nevertheless, I'm taking part in a year-long readalong of this book, hosted by Simon at Footnotes & Tangents -- a chapter a day for a full year, which began Jan. 1, 2024. (And I'm really enjoying it!)  Currently at about 92% read.  
• If you've ever thought about reading W&P, Simon will be repeating the readalong in 2025 for paying subscribers -- and I highly recommend the experience! (and yes, I'm probably doing it again!). Details 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. ;)  

• My L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group is reading assorted short stories by the author right now.  We'll begin a new book in January (to be announced soon). (I love LMM, and her books are usually fast, easy reads -- but I have to admit, it's nice to have a bit of a break to catch up on other reading!) 
• For my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club: 
• "Others Like Me" by Nicole Louie. (Not a book club selection, but Katy Seppi has said she will be interviewing the author in January!) 
• "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang (February). 
• 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....!)  
• Peter West (the one DES book my group has NOT read together, in its 25+ years of existence! -- likely start January 2025) 
• Miss Buncle Married (original 2015 review here).
• The Two Mrs. Abbotts (original 2015 review here).
• Crooked Adam
• The Four Graces (original 2015 review here). 

• Footnotes and Tangents slow readalongs in 2025 -- besides repeats of the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy and "War and Peace" for paying subscribers (as mentioned above) -- will include:
• "The Siege of Krishnapur" by J. G. Farrell -- starts Jan. 6th, for 9 weeks. 
• "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. 
• Other books on my priority TBR list: 
• "We Solve Murders" by Richard Osman. (Because, obviously...) 
• "What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust" by Alan Bradley (Flavia de Luce #11).  
• "Bury Your Dead," by Louise Penny (#6 in her Three Pines/Inspector Gamache murder mystery series, and the next one I haven't read).  
• "I'm Sorry for My Loss" by Rebecca Little & Colleen Long (which I've written about here, here and here -- but still haven't read myself!  lol) 

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

• "How the Light Gets In" by Joyce Maynard
• "Democracy Awakening" by Heather Cox Richardson 
• "Demagogue for President" by Jennifer Mercieca 
• "Abortion" by Jessica Valenti
• "Margo's Got Money Troubles" by Rufi Thorpe 
• "One Nation Under Guns" by Dominic Erdozain 
• "Eyeliner" by Zahra Hankir 
• "How to Age Disgracefully" by Claire Pooley 
• "Palace Rogue" by William Coles 
• "North Woods" by Daniel Mason 
• "All the Colors of the Dark" by Chris Whitaker 
• "We Oughta Know" by Andrea Warner
• "James" by Percival Everett
• "All Fours" by Miranda July 

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Watching:  

• "The Marlow Murder Club" on PBS, adapted in four parts from the Robert Thorogood novel, which I started reading before the first episode aired on Oct. 27th (and finished just after that). 
• Nice as it was to see Rita Tushingham back onscreen after so many years (I remember watching her and Lynn Redgrave in "Smashing Time" when I was a kid), her character was not in the book, and she seemed to be there only to provide a few brief moments of comic relief, even though she received prominent billing in the credits.  It does bug me when TV does stuff like that!  
• "Wolf Hall" on PBS, based on the books "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies" by Hilary Mantel, both of which I read earlier this year (click on links for my reviews).  The first of six episodes aired on Oct. 27th;  the last will air Dec. 1st (tonight!). I am hugely enjoying this.  Mark Rylance is wonderful in everything I 've ever seen him in (and this role, as Thomas Cromwell, is no exception), and Damian Lewis makes a great Henry VIII, both charming and menacing. It really brings the books to life! 
• An adaptation of "The Mirror and the Light," the final book in the Cromwell Trilogy (which I'm reading right now -- see "Reading," above), with most of the same cast members, will begin airing in March 2025. Looking forward to it! 
• Ken Burns's new two-part/four-hour documentary about Leonardo da Vinci, shown on PBS on Nov. 18th & 19th. 
• Too much American/election-related news (CNN).  :p  :(    
• The 111th Grey Cup, championship game of the Canadian Football League, featuring my beloved Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who went down to defeat versus the Toronto Argonauts, in Vancouver. (Kind of the Canadian version of the Super Bowl, but with slightly different rules, less glitz and a much longer history.)  
• Missed the pre-show, which apparently featured an interview with Prince Harry (!), in town to promote his Invictus Games, which will also be held in Vancouver, in February.  (This article from People magazine says he was at "Toronto's Grey Cup"   -- it was actually in Vancouver.) 

Listening:  To the Eighties Stingray channel a little more lately. (Trying to boost my 80s Heardle scores!  lol)  Soon:  Christmas music!  :)  

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: Stats as of Nov. 30th: 
• Heardle 60s: 76.5% (595/778, 238 on first guess), down 0.1% from last month. Max. streak: 15.
• Heardle 70s: 78.8% (406/5151, 227 on first guess), down 0.3% from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s: 40.1% (156/389, 58 on first guess), down 0.8% from last month. Max. streak: 4. 
• Heardle 90s: 27.9% (137/491, 27 on first guess), up 1.2% from last month. Max. streak: 5 (up from 4!). 
• NYT Connections: 
• At the end of October, I'd completed 95 games and won 78% of them, including 46 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors and a maximum winning streak of 15.  :)   
• By Nov. 30th, I'd completed 125 games and won 79% of them, including 62 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors and a maximum winning streak of 15.  :)   

Following:  

Eating/Drinking:  

• More beans and lentils, more fresh fruits & veggies, fewer convenience foods, fewer cookies, since getting our cholesterol readings...!  I'm not cutting out sweets entirely, but we've definitely cutting down/back!  and I'm down a little over 4 pounds so far.  :)  More bloodwork to come in January (and hopefully not another prescription)! 
• That said...!  I can't say we've really been depriving ourselves either...!  
• The food at the baby sprinkle/shower on Nov. 9th was really good, mostly catered from a local Italian restaurant.  Lots of charcuterie/appetizers (I just had some pita bread & hummus). There was chicken piccata (which I had) and beef (which I didn't), along with little roasted potatos, rapini and asparagus, green salad (had all of those), spring rolls and chicken fingers (for the kids, mostly). Huge sweet table for dessert. I had a small piece of the cake (strawberry filling), one cookie and some fruit.  
• Older Nephew's wife is a great cook :)  and we had a nice birthday dinner for Little Great-Nephew on Nov. 16th:  orecchiette pasta with rapini, followed by baked boneless chicken thighs, potatos & (more) rapini (plus birthday cake, of course -- and yes, despite the diet, I did not turn down a piece!).  :)  
• We had dinner at dh's cousin's house (the one with the cottage), along with BIL & SIL and the wife's parents on Nov. 23rd. It was a spur of the moment invitation (I had one hour to get ready to go!):  she had a large prime rib roast she wanted to use, and cooked it along with potatos au gratin (delicious!), sauteed rapini and a salad. SIL brought a tiramisu (from the supermarket) for dessert. I had a small helping of the potatos and tiramisu. (Sigh!) 
• Takeout: The usual soup from the supermarket takeout counter, once a week or so; a pizza slice for dinner (ditto, Nov. 15th), a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket (Nov. 24th), which created some leftovers for another dinner and lunches! and a chicken teriyaki rice bowl  (also from the supermarket takeout counter, Nov. 30th). 

Buying (besides books, lol):  

• Christmas and birthday presents, including things for dh, Little Great-Niece, Little Great-Nephew and his baby brother, who will be arriving soon...!   
• A black peacoat from Old Navy (in-store). I didn't really NEED a new winter coat (and the sleeves were a bit long -- but that's the story of my life...), but I don't have anything that's even semi-dressy anymore, and it was 40% off an already-low price. I wound up paying about $47 for it!  I also bought a new black tuque to match. 
• (It's a "tuque," NOT A "beanie!"  lol -- at least, it is here in Canada!  I always cringe whenever I hear anyone referring to it as that! -- although, sadly, I am hearing more & more Canadians use that term too. It just sounds WRONG to me!)  
• A couple of pretty "textured lace" scoop-neck tops in different colours, also from Old Navy (online purchase, on sale). 
• A pretty metal snowflake photo frame, and some Christmas-y placemats (two different patterns) for the table at Homesense. 
• Skin care and cosmetics at 30-50% discounts from Clinique's website. (I don't wear a lot of makeup these days, but there's a family wedding coming up next year and a lot of my makeup -- even the stuff that survived last spring's purge -- is pretty old, so this was a great opportunity to restock a few of my favourites!) 
• (And I HAVE been buying a lot of ebooks in Kobo's Black Friday sales these past few days, lol. Some of the titles listed above are ones I bought then!) 

Wearing: 

• Fall/winter jackets (sigh...) 
• Eased into my sizeable collection of seasonal/winter/Christmas-themed PJ tops from Old Navy by the end of the month!  :)    

Enjoying:  The lull in online activity/emails these last few days ( = fewer distractions!), as Americans celebrate their Thanksgiving!  

Appreciating:  Retirement!!  Never more so than this month, as HALF A MILLION Swifties (and their chaperones) descended on downtown Toronto to attend one of six Taylor Swift concerts at the Rogers Centre/SkyDome between Nov. 14th and 23rd.  I don't get downtown much these days, but I've been there (when I was working) when other big events have been happening -- and the congestion (on the roads, on transit and in the downtown area generally) has been absolutely and increasingly brutal since I retired (endless construction and roadwork). No thank you! (But I'm glad everyone who was able to get tickets had a good time!)    

(Still) Trying: (as noted in "Eating," above)  To make better food choices and be a little more active = lose some weight and lower that cholesterol!  (I'm already taking prescriptions for high blood pressure and a sluggish thyroid -- I do NOT want to add another one!)  

Noticing:  Down 4+ pounds on the scale (so far!) since our visit to the family doctor on Oct. 23rd (4+ weeks ago), where our cholesterol levels were flagged. I need to lose a whole lot more, but hey, it's a start...!    

Hoping:  To lose a few more pounds before we head west to my parents for two weeks over Christmas/New Year....! (Especially since I'll probably gain a few back while we're there...!) 

Remembering:  The small mall that opened in the town where we were living in late 1978/early 1979, when I was in Grade 12/senior year of high school -- which recently announced it will be closing its doors at the end of December. (I heard this from my cousin's wife, who grew up in another town nearby. I asked about it on my high school class's Facebook group, and a classmate there directed me to a news story online.)  

• I got a part-time job there before it even opened, at the Woolco store, which was one of the two anchor stores at one end of the mall -- a Safeway supermarket was at the other -- stocking shelves, pre-opening, and then working in the hardware department (!! -- lololol...).  I continued to work there over the summer of 1979 and as seasonal staff during December that year (home from university early and feeling at loose ends), and also had another part-time job at a clothing store in the mall (Mariposa) the next summer (1980). My sister also worked there, at a photo studio/camera shop, and at two different restaurants there.  The end of an era... 

Prioritizing: Christmas shopping!  Rounding up stocking stuffers in particular.  Still trying to figure out what to get for a few people... 

Wanting: To get the Christmas tree up soon!  I was hoping to do it this weekend, but dh is miserable with a cold right now, so I decided to drop the subject for a few days until he's feeling better...!  (I can do most of it myself, but I need his help with a few things, particularly getting the boxes of decorations from the storage locker in the parking garage and bringing them upstairs.)  

Anticipating: The arrival of Little Great-Nephew #2, in mid-December!  

Wondering:  Whether we'll be able to see him before we leave for the holidays? 

Also:  When the Canada Post strike will end, and whether I'm going to get Christmas cards sent this year?? I haven't bought any yet, because it seemed kind of pointless until I knew whether I was going to be able to send them out. I don't think I have ever NOT sent Christmas cards out, since I started doing them for myself as a teenager/young adult.  

Loving:  Seeing more and more Christmas lights and decorations as we drive through the nearby neighbourhoods at night.  Gets me in a festive mood!    

Feeling: A little nervous about Older Nephew's Wife and the impending arrival of Little Great-Nephew #2 (as I always am whenever someone I love is expecting).  Glad November is over. (It's not as bad as it once was, but it's still not my favourite month...!)  Looking forward to (more) Christmas-y things in December, and spending time with my family!  

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.)

Pandemic diary/update: November was Month #32 (going on #33) of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although our medical system is currently swamped with a triple whammy of covid, flu and RSV, there (thankfully!) have not been any huge increases in the covid stats provided. (On the other hand, there haven't been any significant improvements either...)  The provincial government announced today that it would extend the distribution of free rapid covid tests (which was supposed to end later this month) until June (2023). 

Since June 16th, the government has cut back on its data reporting from daily to weekly (on Thursdays). :(  Certain data categories (such as new case numbers and test positivity rates) are no longer reported. (And of course, the numbers we ARE getting are vastly under-reported). My main source of covid data is the Toronto Star, which tracks the currently available stats here, updated weekly.  Among the latest stats (last updated Dec. 1st):  

• Hospitalizations (people in hospitals testing positive for covid) decreased from 1,969 on Nov. 1st (peak numbers for the month) to 1,210 on Dec. 1st, up 1.1% over the previous week. Low point was 1,174 on Nov. 24th. 
• There were 131 patients with COVID-19 in Ontario's ICUs testing positive for COVID-19 or there for COVID-19 related illness on Nov. 1st, and 118 on Dec. 1st, down 9.2% over the previous week. Peak was 146 on Nov. 13th;  the low point was 117 on Nov. 29th.   
• There were 10 deaths on Nov. 1st, 27 on Nov. 30th and 20 on Dec. 1st. Peak was 39 on Nov. 3rd. The most recent 7-day average was 13.3, up 4.5% over the previous week. (Total pandemic deaths reported: 15,269.) 
• On Dec. 1st, 87.3% of Ontario's total population has had at least one vaccine, 84.0% had at least two, but just 52.5% had received a third dose. (No stats are provided for fourth or fifth doses.)  These numbers have remained mostly static for months now.  

On the personal pandemic front: This was a busy month for us! We remain covid-free -- although we had a close call...!  We are still masking in public places (albeit we usually don't in smaller family settings). On top of dh's solo trips to the supermarket for groceries (about once a week), and for occasional takeout lunches & dinners: 

• We visited SIL & Little Great-Nephew at BIL & SIL's house several times -- including our (mostly) regular Wednesday morning visits on Nov. 2nd, 23rd and 30th. 
• We also dropped by one Saturday morning (Nov. 5th) when both nephews were there to change their tires to winter/snow tires -- they store them in BIL's garage. LGN came with his dad. :) 
• We stayed with LGN there for several hours one Monday morning (Nov. 14th) when both SIL & BIL were feeling sick and needed to rest, until his mom could come pick him up. 
• And (although I'm nudging into December territory here...!) we were there again today for four hours (!) while BIL took SIL to a medical appointment in the city  LGN refused to take a nap (!) but was otherwise really good as gold (as usual!).  
• We went to the supermarket together 3 times. (I haven't spent much time in supermarkets over the past 2.5 years, and frankly, it's a little daze-inducing -- especially at the clip dh races up & down the aisles...! I keep telling him to slow down! --  I'm a browser at the best of times, and I want to take it all in and reorient myself, lol.)(He tells me I'm cramping his style, lol.)   
• On Nov. 4th, we went shopping at Carters/Oshkosh and ToysRUs for LGN's birthday present(s), and also popped in to a kitchenware store, the local mega-bookstore (which was PACKED) and the drugstore (ditto). 
• We got our fifth covid shots (bivalent boosters) AND our flu shots at a clinic run by our family doctor's office in our old community on Nov. 5th. 
• We made the one-hour trip to Older Nephew's house on Nov. 7th to bring an ailing LGN some children's Tylenol that dh had made up at a local compounding pharmacy.  :) 
• We ventured into our old neighbourhood in midtown Toronto for dental checkups & cleanings on Nov. 10th. :p  
• We attended a party with dh's mom's side of the family on Nov. 12th -- without masks (!) -- after which at least one attendee tested positive for covid. (Fortunately, not us!) 
• We visited the drugstore, Mark's Work Wearhouse (clothing), Reitmans (women's clothing) and Chapters (megabookstore) on Nov. 15th. (See "Buying," below.) 
• Dh took BIL to the hospital for a procedure on Nov. 17th (although he couldn't be in the room with BIL and wound up waiting mostly in the car for several hours!).
• We returned to Older Nephew's house on Nov. 18th for LGN's 3rd (!) birthday party with BIL, SIL, the nephews and their wives.  All of us took (and passed!) covid tests in advance. 
• We made a trip to Canadian Tire (which sells much more than tires!) on Nov. 28th to buy a new pre-lit Christmas tree, after our previous one conked out on us! (see "Buying," below)  
• Stopped in at the drugstore again on Nov. 30th en route to see SIL & LGN to check up on one of dh's prescriptions, and picked up a few things while we were there. 

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 5 books in November (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged  "2022 books").  

• "Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier (November's pick for the Gateway/Lighthouse Women NoMo book club.) (My review.) 
• "The Palace Papers" by Tina Brown. (My review.)  
• "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery (chapter-by-chapter group read with my LMM Readathon Facebook group, which began in early July and finished mid-month). (My original review as a solo reader, and my re-review, now that we're done.) 
• "Navigating the Messy Middle" by Ann Douglas. (My review.) 
• "The Light We Carry" by Michelle Obama. (My review.) 

This brings me to 46 books read so far in 2022, which brings me to 102% of my 2022 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway) 5 books ahead of schedule. :)  

Current read(s): 

• "Etta Lemon: The Woman Who Saved the Birds" by Tessa Boase (alternate title: "Mrs Pankhurst's Purple Feather: A Scandalous History of Birds, Hats and Votes")(the December book for the Gateway/Lighthouse Women NoMo book club).  
• "Sarah Morris Remembers" by D.E. Stevenson (with my DES book club. I'll count this as a re-read once our chapter-by-chapter group discussion is finished in December). (My original review.) 
• "The Menopause Manifesto" by Dr. Jen Gunter. 

• Within the private online Gateway Women (now called Lighthouse Women) community, we have two groups discussing Jody Day's book, "Living the Life Unexpected" -- one group that's more conducive to UK/European/Australasian time zones, and mine, which is mostly North Americans. Since January, we've been meeting on Zoom to discuss one chapter per month, and we recently discussed Chapter 10 together. If/when we complete the full 12 chapters -- likely early in the new year -- I'll count it as another re-read. :)  

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 D.E. Stevenson group:  
• "The Empty World" (after Christmas) 

A few recently purchased titles (mostly in digital format, mostly discounted ($5.99 or less) or purchased with points):  

• "Talking to Canadians" by Rick Mercer (for points) 
• "Funny Girl" by Nick Hornby (for points) 
• "The Secret Guests" by Benjamin Black (for points) 
• "The Spectacular" by Zoe Whittall (for points) 
• "Killers of a Certain Age" by Deanna Raybourn 
• "Dinners With Ruth" by Nina Totenberg
• "Counterfeit" by Kirstin Chen
• "The Appeal" by Janice Hallett 
• "Carrie Soto is Back" by Taylor Jenkins Reid 
• "The Diamond Eye" by Kate Quinn 
• "Downton Shabby" by Hopwood DePree
• "Like a Rolling Stone" by Jann S. Wenner 

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Watching: The last two episodes (9 & 10) of season 5 of "The Handmaid's Tale." One more season after this, and then the same producers will begin work on adapting "The Testaments," Atwood's 2019  sequel to "The Handmaid's Tale" (reviewed here)!  

Coverage of the U.S. midterm elections, earlier in the month (mostly on CNN). 

The 109th Grey Cup -- the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL), in which the Toronto Argonauts defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Regina, Saskatchewan, by one point!  I was cheering for the Bombers -- as I have since childhood (as much as I pay attention to these things, which isn't a lot...!) -- but I was not UNhappy that the Argos won. The CFL is a much bigger deal out west than it is here, and in a market where more people follow the more glamourous NFL than the homegrown league, they need the win and the publicity more than the Bombers!  

The Grand Prix of figure skating -- several events this past month;  finals next weekend in Turin, Italy. 

World Cup soccer -- well, dh is watching, lol. Italy did not make it there this year (gasp!! -- the locals are NOT happy!  lol), but Canada did!! for the first time in nearly 40 years!! (and I think that was the first time ever then?). They didn't win a single game, and only scored one goal total  -- they've now been eliminated -- still, it was great to see them there! :)  

We finally got around to watching a documentary about Gordon Lightfoot, "If You Could Read My Mind" (also the title of one of his most famous songs). He recently turned 84 (! -- he's older than my dad, in fact!!), and that beautiful crystalline voice is mostly gone -- but he still packs them in at Massey Hall every year in downtown Toronto (he was the last act to perform there before it closed for renovations a few years ago, and the first one back when it reopened last year) -- and in his prime, he had few equals as a singer-songwriter. (He was also something of a Canadian sex symbol when I was growing up in the '70s, lol.) If you're in Canada, you can stream it on CBC Gem.  

(Someone on the show called his "Song for a Winter's Night" "the most Canadian song ever." I'm not sure about that, lol -- but I do love it!)  

(NOT watching: After reading the book, I PVRd "Magpie Murders" on PBS, but haven't watched any of the episodes yet...! And I STILL haven't progressed beyond the first two seasons of "The Crown"...!) 

Listening:  I'm still enjoying the daily Heardle challenge(s), including the decades versions -- although (as you'll see from the stats, I do MUCH better on the 60s & 70s versions than the others...!). Current stats as of Nov. 30th:  

• Heardle (original/all decades): 30% (36/120) correct, including 9 on the first guess. 
• Heardle 60s:  82.7% (67/81), including 36 on the first guess. 
• Heardle 70s:  67.8% (59/87), including 38 on the first guess. 
• Heardle 80s:  45.1% -- (37/82), including 14 on the first guess. 
• Heardle 90s: 34.1% --  an improvement from last month's 31.5% and 26.7% in September!  -- (28/82), including 7 on the first guess.  

Eating/Drinking:  This was a good eating month. :)  

• The catered menu at the party celebrating dh's cousin's marriage and forthcoming baby included lasagna (which I couldn't have, because of my tomato allergy), tortellini in cream sauce (which I could), chicken cutlets in mushroom sauce, potatos, mixed vegetables, salad, and an amazing array of fresh fruits and desserts. (We all went home with plates full of leftover cannolis and biscotti.)   
• LGN's mom/Older Nephew's wife -- who is a great cook! -- also had quite a feast for us all for LGN's 3rd birthday party mid-month, including homemade gnocchi and alfredo sauce (in deference to my tomato allergy), sausages with potatos and peppers, and a delicious salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. The cake was an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. :)
• And for Saturday night takeout recently, we had that uniquely Canadian treat, available only at this time of year -- a Festive Special from Swiss Chalet!  lol  It's a quarter chicken (white or dark meat, cooked on a rotisserie), served with dipping sauce, stuffing, cranberry sauce, a dinner roll, choice of french fries, potatos or salad, and a small box of Lindor chocolates. (In the past, the special included mini-Toblerone bars instead of Lindor chocolates.)  This year, the meal also includes a $10 cash voucher, redeemable at a future visit.  
• I'd never heard of Swiss Chalet before I came to Ontario -- it was the first place Future Dh & I went for dinner when I first arrived in London (Ontario) for school in May 1983 -- and while it has a presence in other provinces now, it still seems to be a mostly Ontario thing. Despite the name, there's not much that's "Swiss" about it -- although years ago, the waitresses used to wear dirndl dresses! It's a chain of  "family" restaurants, with a reasonably priced menu which, although it has expanded more in recent years, has always specialized in rotisserie chicken. 

Buying (besides books, lol):  This was an expensive month...!  

• Plane tickets home for Christmas.... ouch!  Much more expensive than our Thanksgiving trip ('tis the season, I guess...!). I'm not sure non-Canadians realize just how expensive it is to travel within Canada (which seems such a shame, being a disincentive for Canadians to travel more within our own country... going to Florida, or Las Vegas, or New York City, etc., is often cheaper, and I know many people here who have been to those places regularly, but never been to Halifax or Banff or Vancouver). There are only two major national domestic carriers (Air Canada and WestJet), so they have a virtual monopoly.  Dh once did a rough estimate of just how much money we've spent going back & forth to Manitoba to visit my family, over the past 37 years -- generally twice a year, summer and Christmas. OUCH. We could have done a LOT of other travelling (or other things) with that money... but... you can't substitute time with family (and, these days, aging parents)... or at least I can't. I know people who haven't been "home" to visit their families in years, but that's just not me. 
• I bought myself a new Advent calendar. It's marketed for children, but I'm a big kid myself when it comes to Christmas (lol), so...! I've had another one for years that I love -- a felt tree, with grommets to hang little felt, looped ornaments on -- but they easily fall off, which is something of a nuisance. With this one, both tree & ornaments have velcro on them!  -- so we'll see if it works out better! 
• I also treated myself (once again!) to an "Advent calendar" from my favourite sterling silver jewelry maker -- one beautifully wrapped surprise to open every day for the 24 days leading up to Christmas -- including jewelry pieces (bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings) she's created especially for this project, plus other items from local craftspeople that she loves. It's a pricey splurge -- but a bargain at less than half the full cost of paying for all 24 items individually. I missed the first one she did in 2020, but got one last year (and posted about it here several times during the holiday season!), and it was a wonderful present to myself!  "Opening a lovely new surprise every morning was a real boost to the spirits, and I only wish I had bought one [in 2020], the first time it was offered. I highly recommend the experience! (and if jewelry isn't your thing, there are lots of other cool advent calendars out there for cheese, wine, perfumes, cosmetics -- and chocolate, of course!),"  I wrote here. 
• Presents for LGN's birthday. :)  I ordered him a counting book -- "Dozens of Dachshunds" (I knew even if he didn't like it, his mom would!  lol) -- and we bought him some clothes. 
• Christmas presents. :)  So far, I've bought something for SIL, something for my sister -- and a pawprint ornament kit for Older Nephew's dog, lol.  It's a start...!   
• I took advantage of a Black Friday/Cyber Monday week sales to do some online shopping:  I ordered my Christmas cards, stocked up on my favourite foot cream from L'Occitane. and bought a couple of Tile tracking tags to try out in our luggage. :)  
• Pre-Black Friday, I ordered some holiday-scented essential oils for my diffuser and some lip balm online from Saje. 
• Dh actually let me drag him into Mark's Work Wearhouse, which carries women's clothing but is primarily known for men's casual and workwear. We walked out with two pairs of sweatpants and two long-sleeved tops. (Yay me! lol)  Wearing jeans (especially for extended periods of time) is irritating the eczema on his legs :(  -- and it's a LITTLE too chilly outside now to be wearing shorts!  lol  He wears flannel PJ pants around the house (he has several pairs, most of them plaid or otherwise patterned), but I suggested he might want to get some dark-coloured sweatpants to wear outside the house for trips to the supermarket, etc. 
• And we wound up having to buy a new (artificial) Christmas tree (as described here). 

Wearing:  Despite my qualms about the risks in attending dh's cousin's party on Nov. 12th (well founded, as it turns out...!), it WAS fun to get (relatively) dressed up for the first time in eons, and put on makeup (ditto!).  I wore dark blue Lucky Brand jeans and a black camisole under a pretty floral print blouse that I got on the sale rack at Zara for just $14.99, pre-pandemic, and had never worn. Of course I forgot to take photos. One of the cousins did take a photo of dh & me as we were leaving. I was hoping he might send it to us, although he hasn't yet...! 

And... I've been wearing my Old Navy waffle-weave Christmas PJ tops around the house since mid-month!  (I've assembled quite a collection over the past few years, and ordered a few new ones this year too!)  I wore one of my newest ones, with big Christmas trees on it, today when we were babysitting LGN, who seemed fascinated by it.  :)  (The top by itself doesn't seem to be available anymore, but here's what it looks like.  :)  ) 

Noticing: How much earlier it's getting dark outside now, since the time change earlier this month -- like, around 5 p.m. :(   And of course it's going to keep on getting darker until we reach the winter solstice later in December. 

Appreciating:  Our new Dyson humidifier/purifier (which we bought last month). It's gotten a lot chillier and dry-er over the past month, and the humidity in our unit has been as low as 37% some mornings (we haven't been leaving it on overnight, although we might eventually have to...!).  It's been fun playing around with the settings -- we can do it remotely on an app too! -- and so far the maintenance/refilling has been a breeze. 

Enjoying:  The extra time we've been able to spend with Little Great-Nephew this month.  :)

Wondering:  Whether he will remember any of this when he gets older??  (He's 3 now... I remember a few things from when I was 3...!)

Wanting:  More time to get everything done that needs doing this month...!! 

Prioritizing: Christmas stuff... especially since we'll be heading west in just a few weeks' time (eeekkkk....!!)!  

Contemplating:  Whether I have time to do any Christmas baking this year?? (Not that we need it...!) 

Hoping:  To get to the mall next week to do some much-needed Christmas shopping...!  We haven't been to the one I'm thinking of since the pandemic hit (and I can count the number of times we've been to any other malls since then on the fingers of one hand...!). 

Trying (and failing!): To think of something to write for this prompt!  lol   

Loving:  Our Christmas tree... the extra lights on the tree really brighten up the room (especially when it gets so dark so early now...!).  

Feeling: A little depressed by the advent of early darkness and colder weather -- but looking forward to the holiday season, and to going "home" for Christmas!  Thankful that November doesn't suck quite as much as it once did (lol).