Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

Thursday, May 1, 2025

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. ;)  
(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!) 

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


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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!  

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Monday, April 1, 2024

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.)

March showed glimmers of spring!  There were even a couple of days when the temperature reached 18C (about 65F) and we were able to go outside in our shirtsleeves! But there were also (lots of ) days when it was grey, rainy and bitterly cold.  We had several days where it snowed -- which is to be expected in March in Canada! -- but always seems to surprise people when it happens. We got more snow on March 22nd -- about 10 cm, or 4 inches -- than we had the entire winter to date! 

Case in point:  Early in the month, there was an article in the Toronto Star noting that the city had experienced the warmest winter ever recorded (thanks to El Nino as well as ongoing climate change).... followed by another article noting that "This winter was warmest in Canadian records by a huge margin" (ditto). Sigh...

Pandemic diary/update: March marked FOUR YEARS (!) -- 48 months -- since the COVID-19 pandemic began -- and people around us still getting sick, many of them for the first time. :(   Mid-month, Older Nephew's Wife/Little Great-Nephew's mom came down with it, for the second time (they all had it around Christmastime 2021). We remain covid-free (knocking wood, loudly...), and continue to mask in stores and most other public places, especially where there are a lot of people (although there were a couple of exceptions this month).  

Among other things this month, we: 
  • Attended Little Great-Niece's FIRST birthday party on March 2nd, at her (maternal) grandparents' house, along with BIL & SIL, Older Nephew, his wife and Little Great-Nephew, and Younger Nephew's wife's sister and her family (18 people total).  
  • Had a consultant from Blinds To Go visit us at home on March 8th to help us pick out new window coverings (fabric vertical blinds), take initial measurements, provide an estimate and take a deposit from us. 
    • An installer came by briefly the following day to take exact measurements. The blinds are now on order. The material we chose was on back order, but we should have them ready for installation by early/mid-April.  
  • Spent the day with Little Great-Nephew at his grandparents' house on Monday, March 11th -- he was off school for the week on spring break. Fun, but tiring!!  lol  
  • Picked up LGN's grandparents (BIL & SIL) at the airport later that night, as they returned home from a well-deserved week's holiday in the Caribbean. 
  • Dropped by the house the next day for coffee (and to spend more time with LGN!)  and see vacation photos. 
  • Saw my longtime optometrist in midtown Toronto on March 13th for a regular checkup. He can see traces of the nodules that were surgically removed two summers ago, but assured me there's nothing to worry about, and he will continue to keep an eye on things. Otherwise, my eyes (and dh's) are fine! -- my prescription has changed very little -- I am still wearing the same glasses I got almost TEN YEARS AGO!! -- and I don't have to come back for another two years (after my 65th birthday -- GULP!) -- after which the cost of my eye exams will be covered by the provincial health plan. (Dh, at almost 67, is already covered.)(They used to be covered for everyone, but the government reduced funding in 2021. Boo, hiss...) 
  • Drove to our old community the next day (Thursday, March 14th) to see my family doctor & follow up on the red patch on my left cheek -- which is better than it was when I was there in February, but (annoyingly) still THERE. I also told him the topical gel he'd prescribed last fall for the rosacea in my T-zone really hasn't done much -- so he gave me a different prescription for a cream ointment to try for a month. It's two weeks later and the redness is still there, although it's a little better than it was before I started this latest regime. I'll give it another two weeks and then see if I need to make a follow-up visit. (The doctor said the next step would probably be a referral to a dermatologist.)  
    • Before heading there, we stopped at the cemetery to change out the decorations on Katie's niche from Christmas decor to an Easter/springtime theme.  :)  
  • Went for a browse at Chapters (bookstore) on March 19th, and picked up at tea latte for me & coffee for dh at the in-store Starbucks cafe on the way out. ($9+??! -- the same order would have been about $7, pre-pandemic...!).  
  • Had lunch in a restaurant at the nearby mall on March 21st with a high school friend who was in town for a few days.  (No masks involved!  But it was (surprisingly, and thankfully) not too busy, in both the restaurant and the mall generally.) 
  • Lost heat early on the morning of March 22nd and had to call in an HVAC technician to diagnose the problem. Fortunately, he was able to come later that morning, and managed to get it restarted (yay!). A replacement part is now on order and he (or one of his colleagues) will be back to install it when it comes. 
  • Returned to the mall on March 26th to walk around, shop and have an early lunch in the food court. Stopped at the drugstore on the way home to pick up a prescription. 
  • Spent the Saturday of Easter weekend (March 30th) at BIL & SIL's house with the nephews, their wives and the kids. A good time was had by all.  :)  
I also mourned the loss of my uncle & godfather, mid-month -- my mother's younger brother and only sibling, not long after his 81st birthday.  :(   

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 3 books in March (reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2024 books").  
This brings me to 9 books read so far in 2024, 20% of my 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books.  I am currently 2 books behind my goal.  :( 

Current read(s): 
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 the Notes from Three Pines (Louise Penny mysteries) Readalong: The last discussion was for book #3, "The Cruellest Month," posted June 7th -- no further posts/books since then.  I've continued dipping into the series on my own, between other book club obligations. Book #6, "Bury Your Dead," is the next one on my list! 
A few recently purchased titles (mostly in digital format, mostly discounted ($5-10 or less) or purchased with points): 

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Watching: 
  • Season 10 of "Finding Your Roots" on PBS. 
  • The World Figure Skating Championships from Montreal, the week of March 18th.  Broadcast coverage was limited (boo, hiss), but fortunately, I was able to watch just about everything I wanted to see on livestream on the CBC website! (I didn't get much else done on those days, but hey, it only happens once a year...!)  
  • Dh has been watching the world curling championships! -- the women's earlier this month, and now the men's, which just started this weekend. I've been watching a little with him too.  Curling is very popular in Canada, and Canadians have always done very well at the world level of the sport.  Both my parents (& especially my dad) used to curl, and they watch a lot of curling on TV. We started watching when curling became an Olympic sport -- I've never curled myself, but I was amazed at how much of the game I had absorbed through simple osmosis, and how much I could explain to dh about what was going on. These days, I'd say he was more knowledgeable about it than I am!  ;) 
Listening: We've been listening for -- but thankfully not hearing -- any more dripping/tapping noises from the bathroom since the last incident about two weeks ago. Fingers crossed!  The property manager suggested she could have a plumber cut a hole in the drywall wall and/or ceiling of our bedroom walk-in closet (!) to have a look and see if there was any visible water or water damage coming from the tub/shower drain directly above ours in the unit upstairs. Granted, that would be a lot easier than going directly through the tiled ceiling of our shower! -- BUT!!  Needless to say, we're not really keen to have to take everything out of the closet, clean up all the drywall dust and debris afterward, and then wait for it to be patched up again before we could put everything back in the closet! -- even though the building would pay for the exploration and for the drywall repair. 

To Heardle Decades: Stats as of  March 31st:    
  • Heardle 60s:  75.9% (413/544, 173 on first guess), down from last month. Max. streak: 15.
  • Heardle 70s:  82.2% (287/236, 128 on the first guess), down slightly from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
  • Heardle 80s: 44.7% (71/159,  26 on the first guess), up from last month. Max. streak: 4. 
  • Heardle 90s: 28.0% (76/271, 15 on the first guess), down from last month. Max. streak: 4. 
Following:  I've followed Connie Schultz on Facebook for a few years now. She's an Ohio journalist and the wife of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. A few months ago, I learned she has a Substack newsletter (doesn't everyone these days, it seems??), "Hopefully Yours," and I'm now a (free) subscriber. I just love her writing. :)  

Eating/Drinking:  There was a yummy catered dinner for Little Great-Niece's first birthday party, including two kinds of pasta (red & white sauces -- because of my tomato allergy, I could only eat the tortellini with alfredo sauce), porketta, fingerling potatos, veggies and caesar salad, as well as lots of pastries and fruit -- and cake, of course! (And we all took home a box full of leftover pastries, including ricotta & chocolate chip cannolis. Yum!)  

My mom mentioned they'd enjoyed chicken tetrazzini for dinner from the subsidized communal meals program where they get meals several times a week now. My sister found them an easy recipe and now my dad is making it at home too!  That prompted me to look up an easy recipe for us to try out., and it turned out pretty well! -- albeit, warning, it is pretty rich/gooey -- definitely not for the lactose intolerant and/or calorie-conscious...!  We used leftover Swiss Chalet rotisserie chicken. I would probably use a little more chicken than what we had left over -- also, probably more peas/veggies and more garlic seasoning.  

We had Easter dinner at BIL & SIL's last Saturday (March 30th) with the family:  they ordered in veal cutlets & pasta in tomato sauce (and made pasta with garlic & olive oil and a chicken breast for me). There were also grilled veggies, salad and fruit, and traditional Italian Easter sweet bread to go with coffee/tea, and SIL & I both indulged in a glass of white wine. The company was the best part of the meal, though!  

Takeout dinners this month included wood oven pizza, Swiss Chalet rotisserie chicken, and California Sandwiches (veal cutlet with tomato sauce for dh, chicken cutlet for me). 

Buying (besides books, lol):  
  • New vertical blinds for our three floor-to-ceiling/wall-to-wall windows, from Blinds To Go. 
  • New tires for our 8-year-old car. (BIL got dh a good deal from some friends who run a garage.) 
  • A couple of new T-shirts for myself from Lucky Brand. 
  • Goodies for Little Great-Nephew & Little Great-Niece's Easter bags.  :)  They both got books and bunny ear headbands (lol). LGNephew got a new colouring book and some assorted chocolate (including a big KinderEgg with a toy inside, which he loves);  LGNiece is too little for chocolate yet, so she got a few new T-shirts instead. 
    • I wasn't sure how the bunny ears would go over with LGNephew -- too babyish/girly? But he was thrilled!! (-- and thus, so was I!  :)  )
  • (and enjoying! lol)  Easter chocolate for us!  (lol)  We're partial to Lindor milk chocolate eggs and Cadbury Mini Eggs.  :)  
Wearing: It's frequently been chilly inside as well as outside this month -- so long sleeved shirts (often under a cardigan), socks and slippers have (still) been a must! 

Noticing:  The number on the scale going up again... .grrrr.... 

Trying:  To be at least a LITTLE more active, especially as warmer weather arrives...! (Note "Noticing," above... also "Eating" and "Buying" re: Easter chocolate...!)  

Worrying:  About my elderly parents, and (right now) especially my dad, who is having hernia repair surgery done soon.  I know it's a very routine operation and (assuming all goes well) -- because it's considered a "day procedure" -- he'll only be in the hospital for a few hours (which my mother thinks is horrifying) -- but he IS almost 85.  Luckily, my sister is able to take a few personal days and can then work remotely from their home while he recovers. As I've mentioned before, my parents live in a split-level house, and there are no bathrooms on the main level (where the kitchen, living room, laundry room & entryway are) -- and (so far, anyway) my mother has absolutely refused to consider moving. I guess we'll see what happens...!  

Prioritizing:  Family. My sister thinks she'll be able to handle Mom & Dad herself (on top of working remotely from their house) after my dad's upcoming surgery... but I've told her if she needs me to let me know, and I/we'll be there as soon as I/we can. 

Wondering:  How much longer Mom & Dad will be able to stay in their split-level house (despite my mother's refusal to consider moving)?  

Appreciating:  Our condo, the more I think about my parents' situation...! (Even with mysterious noises coming from above!  lol -- after all, plumbing emergencies happen in houses too...!)  

Wanting: More hours in the day (and more motivation!) to get things done...!  

Waiting:  To hear back from the HVAC technician about the new part for our HVAC unit, and for our new blinds to be ready for installation. 

Hoping: That my cousins will be able to arrange a Zoom link for my uncle's Celebration of Life service, so that those of us who can't make it there in person can still be there virtually. 

Loving:  Spending time with family (and especially the great-niblings) this month (at LGNiece's birthday party and for Easter).  

Feeling: Happy that spring is here! -- officially, anyway (lol).  But it looks like the weather is finally starting to change too, the skies are brightening up a bit, and that makes me very glad. :)  
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#MicroblogMondays: Easter goodies

We spent this past Saturday of the Easter long weekend at BIL & SIL's with the nephews, their wives, and Little Great-Nephew and Little Great-Niece. It was a very nice day -- busy and chaotic and a whole lot of fun. Lots of food and lots of laughs. 

(We spent yesterday/Easter Sunday recuperating!  lol -- There were a lot fewer emails in my inbox over the weekend, and I was happy for the chance to catch up on those, and on my other reading!)  

I will admit to a moment or two of wistfulness, looking at those two tall, kind, handsome young men (where have the past 35 years gone??), and their two beautiful children, knowing they're not my kids or grandkids -- and knowing that that is something we'll never have. I'll never be a mom, or a grandma. But I do get to be an aunt and a great-aunt. (And I've been able to dote on these kids in a way their other aunts & great-aunts, preoccupied with their own kids & grandkids, never have and never will.) That is pretty special too!  And I'm very grateful that BIL & SIL, and now the nephews, have almost always, right from the start, included us in their special holidays and celebrations. 

Two standout moments made the day extra-special for this very proud great-auntie: 
  • Among the stuff in the goodie bags I brought for LGNephew & LGNiece:  they each got a headband with bunny ears from the dollar store. :)  I was a little worried that LGNephew might think that was "for babies" -- he's gotten SO grown-up since he started school last fall! -- but he was THRILLED!  (And so was I!)  "BUNNY EARS!!"  he shouted gleefully as he pulled them out of the bag, and immediately put them on -- AND let me take his photo! :)  
  • LGNiece was wearing the Easter outfit I'd bought for her and included in her goodie bag for Valentine's Day. She looked adorable. (Of course she'd look adorable in anything, right?)  You can see part of the outfit in the photo below.  

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

Little Great-Niece, age 13 months. :) 
Easter ensemble courtesy of Great-Aunt Loribeth. :)
(If you look closely, you can see little bunnies & carrots on the skirt. 
There's also a bunny on the front of the shirt.) 
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Monday, March 18, 2024

#MicroblogMondays: Sad things, annoying things & small pleasures

Sad things:  

  • My beloved uncle & godfather passed away recently, not long after his 81st birthday. He was my mom's younger brother and only sibling -- my only uncle on that side of the family. He'd just turned 81. His health had not been good in recent years and, as my cousin/his son told me when I messaged him, "he kind of ran out of gas."  :(  I hadn't seen him since summer 2016, but we've talked on the phone and I've kept up with him & his family through social media and through my mom, who spoke/speaks with them regularly. I am going to miss him. :( 
    • I told my mom I like to think he's joined my late grandparents and other family members (including my Katie, of course) at that big kitchen table in the sky (which looks suspiciously like my grandmother's old kitchen, only bigger), where the coffee pot is never empty and the laughter just keeps on going.  :)  ❤

Annoying things:  

  • Waking up (AGAIN -- 4th time in two weeks) at about 7:15 a.m. to a tapping noise coming from the bathroom walls (or ceiling?).  Dh went upstairs a while later and tapped on the door of the unit above ours, hoping to speak to the tenant (we know it's rented) and find out if she'd been in the shower or???  but no one answered the door. :(  
    • The property manager came by last week, notified the unit's owner and was able to go in and run some water through the pipes, and while we could hear the faint sounds of water running (as we sometimes do -- and that's to be expected, I think), we didn't hear any tapping/dripping noise this time. There's not much she can do until/unless we actually see signs of water damage. (And the ceiling of our shower cubicle is tiled, so it may be quite a while before anything shows up, if this is what's happening.)  Sigh... 
  • Knowing that I need to tackle cleaning the shower cubicle again, soon...!  (One of my least favourite chores! -- although I always appreciate how it looks when it's done!) 
  • Certain politicians (on both sides of the border...!).  :p   
  • Unrelenting grey skies these past several months (including this morning). 
    • Small pleasure:  The rare days when we see blue sky & sunshine! 
  • Not being able to think of something more original/interesting for a #MM blog post.  ;)  
Small pleasures:  

  • Spending a full day last week with Little Great-Nephew, who was on spring break from junior kindergarten.  Exhausting, but so much fun!  :)  
  • Seeing BIL in a good mood, and more like himself than he has been in a very long time.  :)  
    • Knowing that he & SIL had a nice holiday with his & dh's cousin and her husband in the Caribbean.  :)  
  • A trip down Yonge Street in Toronto last week, from the 407 to our optometrist's office midtown. The traffic can be miserable (and it wasn't great), but it was a gorgeous day outside (18C!! -- I left my jacket in the car for the short walk from the parking lot to the office), we had the windows rolled part way down, and it was fun/interesting to see all the changes that had taken place even just since our last trip along the same route a few months ago.  
    • (Annoying/sad thing:  SO. MANY. CONDO BUILDINGS!!  going up!! =  entire blocks of stores and other small businesses being demolished...!)  
    • No significant changes in my vision since my last visit!  :)  
  • Taking Easter/spring decorations to the cemetery for Katie's niche. 
    • Driving around our old community afterwards (to kill time before an appointment nearby). We didn't go past our old house, but we did drive down some streets we hadn't been on in quite a while. 
  • Easter chocolate. :)  I bought some for Little Great-Nephew's Easter goodie bag (Little Great-Niece is still too little for candy) -- and some for us to nibble on too.  Both Lindor milk chocolate eggs, and Cadbury mini-eggs.  :)  
  • The prospect of lunch with an old friend later this week. She messaged me on the weekend that she'll be in town and did we have time to get together on Thursday? 
    • Annoying thing: I responded yes, proposed lunch and a place to eat -- and still haven't heard back from her. :p  
  • Looking at my cellphone wallpaper:  a photo from Little Great-Niece's recent first birthday party,  of her sitting on the couch beside Little Great-Nephew (her cousin), who is playing a game on his tablet and studiously trying to ignore her (lol!!)  as she leans over to see what he's doing.  I think it's one of my favourite photos I've ever taken. 
  • Trying a new recipe for dinner last night:  easy chicken tetrazzini (using Campbell's soup for the sauce!).  Very gooey and very rich (definitely NOT low-cal!!), but pretty good!  :)  (Lots of leftovers too!)  
  • The first day of spring is tomorrow!!  
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here. 

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Monday, February 19, 2024

#MicroblogMondays: What's saving my life right now?

Every year, Modern Mrs. Darcy asks her readers "What's saving your life right now?"  (Or at least keeping your head above water?)  

It was a very timely prompt -- if you've read some of my recent posts, you'll know the winter has been getting to me...!  Without looking at previous years' posts, here are a couple of things I could think of:   

  • Spending time with our great-nephew & great niece.  :)  Admittedly, it doesn't happen often these days, now that Little Great-Nephew is going to school -- but such a day-brightener when it does!   
  • ...and shopping for them. I had lots of fun assembling Valentine's Day goodie bags for them recently (still have to get Little Great-Nephew's to him...), and I've started collecting things for Easter too (bunny ear headbands, anyone??  lol), as well as for Little Great-Niece's upcoming FIRST birthday! (Yikes! -- already??)  (And the fact that I can do these things with only a few grief-y twinges shows how far I've come!)  
  • Getting out of the house once in a while. The pandemic really threw a monkey wrench into our usual routines outside of the house. We're still pretty cautious and try to avoid crowds (which we did even before the pandemic, lol) -- but we've realized there's no reason why we can't go out shopping or to the mall, etc., so long as we're masked -- and so we have been doing that a little more frequently lately.  I think we could even eat out once in a while too, although admittedly I'd feel more comfortable doing that on a patio in good weather, or during off-times when there will be fewer people.  We haven't really done much of that yet (aside from a few early lunches in the food court at the mall), but maybe when the nicer weather comes... 
  • Snow!  (Believe it or not! lol)  We've had very little snow this winter -- or other recent winters -- which is unsettling and upsetting in some ways. Who knew we'd be missing winter, right?  :(  There have been several articles recently about how the consistently warmer temperatures in recent years have been affecting traditional Canadian winter activities -- skating on backyard rinks and the Rideau Canal, skiing, tobogganing, etc. (not to mention moisture levels in the soil, which is critical for the success of crops during growing season) -- how winters are so different today than when we were children, and what's it going to be like for our own kids and grandkids (and nieces and nephews and greats)?  There's been a real sense of grief & loss. So seeing snowflakes in the air and snow covering the ground feels both special and right and NORMAL (even when it disappears a few days later).  (Admittedly, not everyone feels this way...  and it's easier to welcome some snow when you're retired and living in a condo -- i.e., you don't have to shovel it or commute through it to work!  lol) 
  • Blue skies & sunshine.  It's been mostly grey & gloomy outside, which has not been great for my mental health. The occasional days when the sun does shine (even if it means colder temperatures) make a world of difference! 
  • Our humidifier, moisturizer and lots of lip balm. It's very dry in our condo, even with the humidifier running constantly (albeit not at full blast, because it just gets too noisy then, despite Dyson's claims of "quiet" technology...!).  The humidity levels have only cracked 40% a couple of times since we got back from Christmas vacation, and more often hover in the low/mid-30s.  I've always had great skin;  people have always complimented me on it -- but apparently skin often gets drier with age, and it seems I'm not immune:  these days I've got some patches of dryness and rosacea on my cheeks/around my nose. It sucks. :(   My doctor prescribed me a topical gel, and I've been using it since last fall, but it hasn't really helped much.  
    • I recently bought a small jar of Clinique Redness Solutions cream to try, and I've actually seen some small improvements since I started using it last week, which makes me feel slightly better about looking in the mirror...!   
    • My favourite lip balm continues to be the (very pricey -- and the price has gone up by about $8 since I bought my last tube!! WTF??)  Sugar Advanced Therapy Treatment by Fresh.  
    • But I also really like this Smooch lip balm by K'Pure, which a friend introduced me to in recent years. :)   
  • Comfort food.  Lots of soups for lunch (our local supermarket has some good ones at their takeout counter takeout), roast or rotisserie takeout chicken, chicken & dumplings in the crockpot... I pulled out my mother's meatloaf recipe recently, which I hadn't made in years, and made mini-meatloaves in muffin tins, topped with a Dijon mustard/brown sugar glaze (I know most people use ketchup, but I can't have that because of my tomato allergy), served with garlic mashed potatoes. There were leftovers to put in the freezer too. Yum!  
  • Chocolate!  ;)  Dh & I traditionally exchange cards on Valentine's Day, but this year, there was also a small heart-shaped box of Lindor chocolates sitting on my night table when I woke up, along with the card. (He knows me well!)   
  • Books (of course!).  The latest S.J. Bennett novel (in the "Her Majesty the Queen Investigates" series) isn't available in North America yet, but I was able to snag a copy, and (as usual) it's such a pick-me-up.  :)  
  • Pretty new jewelry.  :)  Love me some new bling! (Even if I don't get the chance to show it off in public very often these days...!) 
  • Turning the channel on the TV -- away from the news networks, and onto some music. (Mostly classic rock and 70s channels!) 
  • Zoom chats with distant friends. :) 

Past posts on this subject here. 

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

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