#MicroblogMondays: Odds & ends

• 
  (Once again, odds & ends for #MM -- but hey, it's what I've got right now...!  In no particular order:) 
• It's our Thanksgiving long weekend here, and we enjoyed a nice dinner at BIL & SIL's on Saturday with the nephews & their families. 
• The Halloween goodie bags I assembled for the great-niblings were a hit!  LGNephew #1 exclaimed over the Robert Munsch book I'd chosen for him ("Boo!")  and gave me a big hug (awww...), and he and LGNiece donned their Halloween deelybobbers -- LGNephew #2 was less enchanted, lol. LGNephew #1 changed into his new glow-in-the-dark Halloween PJs to wear in the car before they left, and LGNephew #2 was sporting one of the new onesies I'd bought for him in photos posted by Older Nephew's wife the next day.  Success!!  (On to shopping for birthdays and Christmas...!  lol)  
• Still not a lot of autumn colours to be seen hereabouts! -- especially when I look at photos taken at this time of year in years past. I think it's because we had such a warm September -- no frosts to date (although we came close a couple of mornings last week!).   
• I was sad to hear the actress Diane Keaton had died at age 79 (what??!).  
• I know Woody Allen is considered completely politically incorrect/taboo these days -- but I came of age watching his movies, many of them co-starring Diane Keaton, and I still love many of them:  "Annie Hall," "Love and Death," "Play it Again Sam," :Manhattan" (yeah, it's creepy seeing him with a very young Mariel Hemingway -- but that Gershwin score! that gorgeous black-and-white cinematography!!). 
• "Annie Hall" came out just as I was heading into my last year of high school -- and the "Annie Hall" look was HUGE that year. With the money I'd earned that summer working part-time at the local drive-in movie theatre and an antique shop, I bought a new Annie-esque outfit (mostly at Fairweathers at the long-gone Unicity Mall) that I wore to my first day of school that fall:  a plaid knife-pleated skirt that fell below the knees; black thigh-high, high-heeled boots;  a white shirt, black men's tie, salmon-pink sweater vest, and grey flannel blazer. (I think I still have the tie!)
• I loved so many more of her movies too: "The Godfather" movies with Al Pacino (one of her (other) famous lovers);  "Reds," with Warren Beatty (ditto)(which I saw on my 21st birthday at a grand old movie palace in downtown Winnipeg -- en route out, I begged the theatre manager for one of the posters, which hung in my dorm room for the rest of my university career);  "Baby Boom" with the incredibly sexy Sam Shepard (although I imagine I would find the plot pretty wince-inducing these days...!);  "Something's Gotta Give" with Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves;  "The First Wives Club" with Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler....   
• Keaton never married, but she adopted two children, a daughter and a son, when she was in her early 50s. (!) They would be in their 20s now, I think. 
• About 20-25 years ago, she was making a movie that was partly filmed in the small Manitoba town where my parents live. My mother told me that Keaton went in to the local Co-op grocery store with curlers in her hair (!), and the young checkout girl, not knowing who she was, asked her for her Co-op number (lolol).  I hope Keaton was as tickled by that story as we were. Hollywood pretentious she was not.  :)  
• Jennifer Aniston, poster girl/heroine for those of us who tried and didn't succeed at having the children we wanted, talks about that time in her life (among other things) in Harpers Bazaar UK's November issue. 
• Aniston previously spoke out on these matters in Allure's December 2022 issue.  I wrote about it (and the reaction to it in the CNBC community), here and here. So grateful for her honesty! 
• Nicole Chung -- who was adopted -- writes in The Atlantic about "When Adoption Promises are Broken." What happens when open adoption arrangements are not honoured? 
• As someone who knows a major cleanout of her parents' home of 40+ years (after 65+ years of marriage) is coming sooner vs later, I appreciated this Substack post from Catriona Innes of "Crocuses in the snow":  "When possessions hold memories, how do we choose what to throw away?"
• Simon Haisell at Footnotes & Tangents has announced 5 new slow readalongs for 2026, plus the return of both "War and Peace" and "Wolf Crawl "(Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy). (I took part in both W&P and Wolf Crawl in 2024, and highly recommend the experience!) I'll likely be reading along with at least some if not all of these! 
• Back in late August, drowning in back-to-school/off to college/empty nest social media posts from my mom friends, I read an article from The Atlantic about "How Parents Hijacked the College Dorm" -- and, in response, wrote a lengthy post reminiscing about my own college dorm rooms (vintage 1979 photo included!).   
• This past week, Anne Helen Petersen at "Culture Study" did a deep dive into the subject with Meagan Francis (who wrote The Atlantic article):  "What's Really Going on With Those Elaborate (Parent-Decorated) College Dorm Rooms?" The conversation was fascinating (photos included!), and so are the comments!  I believe it's not (currently?) paywalled. 
• As an avid genealogist, I absolutely loved this story when I first stumbled onto it in the New York Times three years ago (already?!):  "‘Downton Shabby': A Commoner Takes on an English Castle."  (Gift linked article.  And there's a book by the same name!)   Here's the lede: 

People who search genealogy websites often find birth and marriage records, newspaper clippings, faded photographs or maybe a long-lost relative.

Hopwood DePree found a 60-room English manor.

• It's not QUITE a "castle" -- but it's a 50,000 square-foot mansion (!), with some sections dating back to the 1400s (!). Hopwood Hall had been abandoned and derelict for decades -- but when he flew from his home in California to England to see it, Hopwood DePree recognized its value and its potential -- and he's rallied the community to save and restore the property.  
• This past week, I found a series of related video shorts from Ancestry.com on YouTube, featuring Hopwood DePree and Hopwood Hall.  Here's a link to the first episode.  They're also reposted on his Facebook & Instagram accounts, which I'm now following! 
• (I haven't looked at everything yet, but apparently, the estate is currently embroiled in some sort of dispute over the land surrounding the house that's delayed further progress on the restoration. Hopefully it will be resolved soon!) 

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

Right now

Right now...* 

*(A (mostly) monthly series/meme.  Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first (similar) "The Current" post, here.)

September was a busy month (when are we not busy these days??), with mostly good weather (yay!). Younger Nephew moved into a new house, LGNephew #1 started Grade 1 (!), his little brother (LGNephew #2) was baptized (and we weren't there to see it  :(  ),  we (finally!) got the balcony windows washed (just in time for winter...!), and we spent another lovely weekend with dh's cousins at their cottage. 

This month included: 

• Dinner at BIL's (and some one-on-one time playing with Little Great-Niece), after dh spent the afternoon helping him and Younger Nephew move some stuff over to their new house. (Sept. 2nd) 
• (Dh) Helping with the move and setting things up at the new house the next day (Sept. 3rd). He & BIL came to get me later in the afternoon and took me over (in rush hour traffic...!) to see the new house and have some dinner. Younger Nephew's MIL brought LGNiece over (she'd had her all day) along with some food, which we all enjoyed. (SIL now goes there to take care of LGNiece two days a week, so we haven't seen her since then. :(  )  
• Brunch, gelato and then a browse at the bookstore (Sept. 4th), postponed from the first day of school (on the 2nd, when dh was helping Younger Nephew move). 
• More plumbing work (Sept. 8th, after a previous/expensive round in late August).  :p  (Hopefully the last needed for a LONG time...!) 
• Lunch and grocery shopping with dh at the supermarket (Sept. 8th, after the plumbers left!). 
• More grocery shopping (and takeout soup/pizza slices for lunch)(Sept. 15th & 29th). 
• Shopping/walking at the local mall for the first time since mid-August (avoiding back-to-school shoppers...!), Sept. 9th;  and again on Sept. 16th, 23rd & 30th.  
• Picked up dh's prescription at the drugstore en route home on the 9th. 
• Withdrew cash at the bank on Sept. 11th to put in a card for LGNephew #2's baptism gift (on Sept. 14th). 
• Took it to BIL's house the next day for them to deliver (since we weren't invited. :(  )
• Brunch (again) on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 14th (while LGNephew #2 was being baptized).
• Washing the balcony windows!! (Sept. 17th) (They look SO good!!) 
• Haircuts, lunch and a bit of shopping at the mall in our former community (Sept. 19th). 
• Browsing briefly at the bookstore and buying a board game there to bring as a hostess gift for our cottage weekend. (Sept. 24th) 
• Manicure & pedicure, then grocery shopping at the supermarket for supplies for our cottage weekend (Sept. 25th). 
• Our 5th annual fall weekend at dh's cousin's cottage with BIL & SIL, the couple that own the cottage and another cousin (Sept. 26th, 27th & 28th). 
• Visited Petroglyphs Provincial Park en route there. Very interesting! 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Also right now:  

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

• "A Place of Greater Safety" by Hilary Mantel, the most recent slow read with Footnotes and Tangents, which began May 5th and ran for 20 weeks through Sept. 15th. (3-3.5 stars;  my review.)  
• "The Secrets of Blythswood Square" by Sara Sheridan, the October selection for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club. (3.5-4 stars;  my review.) 

This brings me to 27 books read in 2025 to date, 60% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 6 books behind pace to meet my goal.  :) 

Current reads: 

• "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, the current "slow readalong" with Footnotes and Tangents. Started Sept. 29th, runs for 5 weeks. 4% completed to date. 
• "The Two Mrs. Abbotts" by D.E. Stevenson. Chapter-by-chapter reading & discussion with my D.E. Stevenson group, which started Aug. 4th and runs through mid-October. (My original 2015 review here;  most recent review here).  79% completed to date. 
• "Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man's World" by Fabiana Formica.  This one is beautifully written, but slow going, and I was reading it (or trying to...!) at Mom & Dad's, where there were a lot of distractions. I've put it aside for the moment to focus on other reading priorities, but I've completed 33% to date.
• "L.M. Montgomery and Gender," an essay collection edited by E. Holly Pike & Laura Robinson. Slowly working my way through, in between the other books...! 

Coming up: Most of my book groups have their next reads plotted out for a few months in advance -- and listing them here helps me keep track of what I should be reading next. ;)  

• For my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club:  
• "We Solve Murders" by Richard Osman (November) 
• "I Am Half Sick of Shadows" by Alan Bradley (December) 
• For my D.E. Stevenson group:  This list of upcoming books should keep us busy through 2025 or even into early 2026!  (A couple of the books are ones we covered shortly after I first joined the group back in 2014 -- you know you've been around for a while when....!)  
• Crooked Adam. (I have never read this one, and we've never tackled it during my 11 years with the group! so I'm looking forward to it!)  
• The Four Graces (original 2015 review here). 

• Footnotes and Tangents slow readalongs planned for 2025 include:
• "The Blue Flower" by Penelope Fitzgerald -- starts Nov. 3rd, for 7 weeks. 

(Simon is a big fan of the late great Hilary Mantel, and the books he selected for 2025 were all ones that were either written by her or ones that she loved -- so he figured they would probably be worth reading!  2026 selections to be announced soon...) 

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

• "Endling" by Maria Reva 
• "When the Going Was Good" by Graydon Carter
• "Run for the Hills" by Kevin Wilson 
• "So Far Gone" by Jess Walter
• "Wild Dark Shore" by Charlotte McConaghy 
• "Stone Yard Devotional" by Charlotte Wood 
• "A Different Kind of Power" by Jacinda Ardern 
• "Little Bosses Everywhere" by Bridget Read 
• "The Correspondent" by Virginia Evans 
• "Detective Aunty" by Uzma Jalaluddin 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Watching: 

• "The Marlow Murder Club" on PBS Masterpiece Mystery. The second season began on Aug. 24th and ran for six weeks, through Sept. 28th. I provided some thoughts on the first episode in my recent review of "Death Comes to Marlow" (which forms the basis of the first two episodes), here. 
• Pronatalism alert:  Annoyingly, the TV show injects a lot of content about families and motherhood/mother-child relationships into the scripts that is not present in the books (and generally not at all relevant to the plot). (Judith, the main character, is childless.)  
• Watched the first two episodes of "House of Guinness" on Netflix with SIL & dh's cousin's wife at the cottage last Saturday night. Pure (and often ridiculous/over the top, lol) soap opera, set in 1860s Dublin, based (very loosely, I am sure...!) on the real-life Guinness family of brewers. I enjoyed it enough that I will probably look for the other episodes to watch on my own!  

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: Stats as of Sept. 30th:  
• Heardle 60s: 74.0% (779/1053, 309 on first guess), down 0.4% from last month. Max. streak: 15.
• Heardle 70s: 76.8% (610/794, 348 on first guess), down 0.3% from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s: 40.1% (264/659, 96 on first guess), unchanged from from last month. Max. streak: 5.
• Heardle 90s: 32.1% (244/759, 63 on first guess), unchanged from last month. Max. streak: 5. 
• NYT Connections: 
•  By Aug. 31st, I'd completed 398 games and won 87% of them, including 205 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 9 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  Maximum winning streak: 45 (unchanged). 
• As of Sept. 30th, I'd played 428 games and won 88% of them, including 220 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 10 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  Maximum winning streak:  45 (unchanged). Current streak: 30. 

Following:  

• 
  

Eating/Drinking:  

• As I've mentioned before, we achieved our goal of lowering our cholesterol levels in late January, after less-than-stellar bloodwork (in fall 2024) earned us both serious chats with our family doctor. We've been trying to maintain/improve on those numbers (and lose/keep off some extra pounds) since then, by eating healthier and moving at least a little more.    
• This goal took a bit of a hit over the summer -- as weight loss efforts often do.  While you might be out and about more/a little more active, you're also likely socializing and eating out more! (a few examples of that below...!) 
• I ended the month 0.4 pounds lighter than when it began. (I'll take it...!  lol)  Overall, I'm down about 12 pounds since our chat with the doctor last October (dh has lost more than 20), and a little over 24 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight a few years ago. 
• We've slacked off a bit lately (eating out a bit more) -- but we'll be seeing our family dr again for checkups (and, I'm sure, more bloodwork!) in late October -- so we've been trying to get back on track..! 
• We went out for brunch not just once but twice this month (and had omelettes both times -- ham & cheese for me, a Western for dh): 
• We'd planned to go for brunch on Sept. 2nd (first day of school hereabouts) -- because we can!  but those plans were upended when dh had to help Younger Nephew move. So we did it on Sept. 4th instead, followed by gelato ;)  and a browse at the bookstore. 
• We went again on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 14th, while LGNephew #2 was being baptized. 
• We ate very well at dh's cousin's cottage this weekend! The menu included barbecued hamburgers and sweet potato fries for lunch on Friday; chicken and veggie skewers on the grill for Friday supper;  excellent steaks and potatoes for Saturday night dinner, pasta & beans with sausage for Sunday lunch. Indulged in some wine and coolers to drink, and made a stop at the local ice cream shop for some Kawartha Dairy ice cream on Sunday afternoon before we all headed home. (I had the salty caramel truffle -- it was excellent!).  
• We also indulged in some of our usual takeout meals for lunch once or twice a week, plus Saturday night dinners, including soup and pizza slices from the supermarket, and veal & chicken cutlet sandwiches from California Sandwiches.

Wearing: (Still!) Enjoying my capris, sandals and short-sleeved T-shirts, while I still can...! 

Buying (besides books, lol):  This was an expensive month (and not for good reasons...!):   

• Paid for (more) plumbing repairs (Sept. 8th) -- hopefully the last for a LONG time...! (The bill for this round was, at least, substantially less than what we'd paid for "stage one," a week or two earlier in August...!).  
• Around the same time, we were notified of a "special assessment" on our condo unit, to help cover the cost of roof repairs (already done) as well as replacement of the rooftop "chiller" unit that provides air conditioning to all the units (and has broken down at least twice in the past two years during heat waves). 
• We've already had a previous special assessment, not too long after we moved here, to help rebuild the reserve fund (after it was drained by the completely useless now-former property managers who ran the building when it first opened -- robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak...). 
• Many owners in our building are up in arms, saying they won't pay (ummm, sorry, but that's what you signed up for when you bought the condo...!). There was an owners meeting/town hall last week with the board and property manager to discuss the matter. All owners were "strongly encouraged " to attend.
• Dh & I did not. I'm very conflict-averse (or maybe I'm just a coward, lol).  
• (I can't help but think of what happened in December 2022 at a condo building near the mall we frequently shop at -- a building we actually had on our list of potential places to look at (but never did), early in our search.  :(  I don't think I posted about this event at the time -- we were at my parents' house for Christmas then -- but you can read about it here, here and here.)  
• Obviously, we're not HAPPY about coughing up several thousand dollars (in two installments), on top of the monthly fees we already pay (AND the plumbing repairs we just had done...!)  -- but if the work needs doing, the work needs doing -- and as owners, it's our shared responsibility to ensure it gets done and to pay for it. 
• We do question, though, why both the roof and the chiller unit need replacing already, when the building is only about 10 years old??  (Did they use the absolute cheapest materials when they built this place??)  
• We also think the board/property manager could have communicated better with us up front while the repairs were going on, and when a/c was breaking down, just what was going on, and that this might be a possibility... 
• Gave LGNephew #2 cash in a card for his baptism on Sept. 14th (despite the fact we were not invited...!)(!). 
• Couldn't resist a pretty new blouse for myself from Reitmans... 
• ...or some new V-neck T-shirts from both Gap and Old Navy outlet stores.  :)  
• Started gathering stuff for Halloween goodie bags for the LGNiblings. :)  So far, each bag includes both Halloween and Christmas-themed PJs, a T-shirt, a book, a plastic Halloween tumbler (from the dollar store), jack-o'lantern deelybobbers (ditto), and a chocolate lollipop from Purdy's Chocolates (get 'em started on the good stuff young, lol),  
• Continued to purchase Canadian products (or from Canadian companies), as much as possible ;)  (albeit I will admit I'm not as much of a purist as some people seem to be...!).    

Prioritizing: My book club obligations, versus my own reading picks (tempting though some of them may be -- "The Impossible Fortune," I'm looking at you...!)// 

Noticing: Problems with my vision. Both eyes have been incredibly dry and irritated these past few weeks (no matter how many eyedrops I put in them), and recently, they've been itchy and gritty, and the eyelids red and irritated (allergies?). The left eye in particular has been irritated and the vision has frequently been blurry lately (but sometimes it clears and it's better??).  Either my vision is deteriorating (hopefully it's just aging, and the Saltzmann's nodules I had surgically removed three years ago from my right eye have not returned...??), my glasses need replacing (lots of scratches, etc., which certainly don't help matters), or (most probably) a bit of both. My glasses, after all, are 11 years old (!) -- they've served me well!  I liked them, and still do, but I think it's time for new ones. 

At my last visit to the optometrist (more than a year ago), he told me to come back when I turned 65 (i.e., January) -- presumably so he wouldn't have to charge me for the visit. (It's free for seniors 65+ in Ontario.) I may try to get in to see him earlier than that, though.  

Enjoying/Appreciating:  The nice fall weather (even if it's not exactly normal... and even though it's delayed the arrival of the fall colours a bit...!) 

Wondering: When our doctor's office will be running its fall vaccine clinics for covid & flu shots?  

Anticipating:  Getting to see the great-niblings on our upcoming (Canadian) Thanksgiving long weekend (if not before that...).  :)  We last saw LGNiece on Sept. 3rd (at her family's new house! -- almost a full month ago now...!), but haven't seen the two LGNephews since Aug. 16th ( = almost two full months).  :(  

Loving: Shopping for things for them. :)  Cute outfits for little girls still have the power to give me occasional pause, but I am glad that, for the most part, I can visit a children's wear store or department these days without feeling overwhelming sadness for what might have been... 

 

Trying:  To let things slide a little, re: my overflowing inbox & never-ending notifications. Trying to remember that I don't HAVE to look at/read everything...!  

Wanting/Hoping: (Still!!) To book a getaway of some sort, somewhere, before the end of the year...! (The days go by so quickly, and I often don't have the bandwidth to do the necessary research, let alone actually book something...)  

                              

Feeling: Disbelieving that we're into October, and the final few months of 2025, already!  Thankful that the weather has been so nice. But also: apprehensive, because it's not usual for this time of year....!  A little sad about the big changes that I know are coming for my family, as my aging parents (finally!) begin considering new housing options, after 40+ years in their current (split-level!) home. 

#MicroblogMondays: I love October :)

If I hate November (as I have often moaned in this blog over the years...!), I think I can safely say that, on the flipside, I love October.  Especially when it's like this October has been (so far, at least!). The temperature late this afternoon reached 26C with a touch of humidity making it feel like 28C (78F & 82F, respectively) -- not especially normal for this time of year, perhaps, but nice, just the same.  We have had the balcony door wide open for most of the day. 

Overall, the weather this month has been pretty good. Even if it's been a touch chilly some days (and certainly in the morning, with the thermometer hitting close to freezing some days -- we've had to turn the furnace on, and yes, it HAS been running!), it's often been clear & sunny as compensation.  It's gloriously so today. :)   

And the colours! It felt like the leaves took their time to start changing colour this year, but this past week, they've started popping out, big time. Dh & I drove back to our old community on Sunday afternoon, to get our covid & flu shots at our family dr's office, and I was kept busy trying to snap some photos out of the (unfortunately dirty...!) car window. I've posted a couple below.   

October is also Thanksgiving for us Canadians, and with all due respect to American readers, personally, I think the timing is so much better than late November. It's closer to harvest season (hereabouts, anyway), the weather is better, it's not so close to Christmas, and there's no Black Friday the next day to send you rushing out to crowded malls.  ;)  (Not quite so much football, either, lol.) You won't see vast hordes of Canadians jamming the highways and airports to get "home" for the holiday, but if family happen to be nearby, they often do gather to share a good meal and visit. We got to spend the Sunday of the Thanksgiving weekend with BIL & SIL, our nephews and their families. We had the meal (mostly) catered, and a good time was had by all.  :)   

25 years ago, I'm not sure I would have written a post like this. October 1998 was the month I went back to work after the August stillbirth of my daughter -- only to have to leave work again, two days later, when my beloved grandfather died at age 86. Not quite a full year later, but still in October (1999), my wonderful Grandma followed him... and a few days after her funeral, while I was still at my parents' house, my aunt's husband died, less than a week after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 

I'm thankful that, these days (and certainly right now), I can enjoy October again. 

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

I am (still) a Prairie girl at heart -- but I have to admit, 
autumn in Ontario is spectacular!

Oh, those colours!!  

#MicroblogMondays: Thankful :)

Since we actually managed to make it "home" to see my parents this summer (after several years of not being able to get there then -- but usually compensating with an October visit to celebrate (Canadian) Thanksgiving), we reverted to the custom of previous years and spent Thanksgiving this year/this past weekend with dh's family, which these days means BIL, SIL. the nephews and their families. The official holiday is actually today, but we celebrated together yesterday (the nephews were with their wives' families on Saturday).  

SIL decided not to cook (much) this year and ordered a package deal from the catering counter at the local supermarket that was supposed to feed 10 people (we had 8 adults & 2 children). For $200 (Canadian) -- i.e., $20 per person -- we got: 

• 2 roasted boneless turkey breasts, 
• a choice of two side dishes (from a list of 13 -- we had mashed potatos and roasted root vegetables), 
• a large salad (choice of 3 -- we had Caesar salad), 
• 10 small buns, 
• gravy and cranberry sauce, and 
• 20 mini-cannolis for dessert (choice of 5 fillings -- we had ricotta/chocolate chip). 

SIL also made stuffing (from a boxed mix, which wasn't my Mom's, of course, but wasn't bad), sauteed rapini and a green salad, and the boys brought pies (apple, pumpkin and pecan).  It was all very good -- and, as dh said, "You would probably spend just as much or more to buy and cook all that food yourself!" Also, the portions were quite generous. We all took home leftovers! 

We had a good time, especially with the kids.  :)  The nephews took the great-niblings outside on the deck to play for a while, and dh & I took some really cute photos of them. :)  (A couple of non-human photos below.) 

Previous Thanksgiving-related posts here. 

SIL's pretty table centrepiece.
(Which we had to remove to make room for all the plates & food! lol) 

Part of the feast, before we all dug in. Doesn't it look colourful? 

Note the dog is sporting a festive Halloween collar.  :)  

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

I'm back! with more odds & ends...

• I'm back from spending last week (the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend and the week afterwards) with my parents and sister, who also had the week off work. Much of what I wrote in this post from last year still applies  ;)  although (happily) my parents didn't bicker quite as much on this visit, and we got to see more of Parents' Neighbours' Daughter and the newest Little Princess #3 (who was 7 weeks old by the time we left).  We didn't do very much, except eat and play a lot of card games (which made my father very happy!), but that's okay.  
• We'll be back at Christmastime. (I saw another deal -- which, incredibly, actually applied to flights over the holiday period! -- and booked our flights while we were still there. The price was not as good as when we went this time around, but no doubt it was a lot better than it would have been, had we waited.)
• I wrote about our flight home for my #MicroblogMondays post... after we got home and emptied our suitcases, I asked dh if he wanted to take them down to our storage locker, or leave them up here until Christmastime?  At the airport, he'd been adamant that next time around, we were going to bring ONE larger suitcase, and check it. But by then, he'd calmed down (and apologized), and said we'll try again -- if we can get them onboard with us, great, if not, well then, they'll have to be checked. (Famous last words??).  
• He also said, "Next time, we should probably get in line to board earlier." I just about fell over.  DUH... that's what I was thinking while we were sitting in the lounge, watching the line get longer and longer. (Even if we were in the last zone allowed to board, we could have been at the front of the Zone 5 group instead of the middle, if we'd headed over earlier...!)  And I ASKED him, more than once, if he wanted to get into line now, and he said no!  
• I reminded him of this, and he said I need to be more direct/explicit with him (like:  "Dh!  We need to get in line NOW if we're going to have any chance of getting our bags into those overhead bins." vs "Would you like to get in line now?")   
• This happens with us a LOT... I will think something is the best option, or I'll want to do something, but instead of asking directly or stating exactly what I think we should do, I'll "suggest" or ask him if he'd like to do this or that -- and he doesn't get the hint. 
• I don't think I'm the only woman in the world who does this either (especially of my generation)...!  It's hard to break a lifetime of conditioning -- don't rock the boat, don't make a fuss -- but I think I'm going to have to start trying...! 
• Katy at Childless Collective did an Instagram reel/post that's well worth watching, about how some people will draw attention to the fact that someone is childless "as a way to discredit them or to portray them in a negative light." 
• Case in point:  earlier this week, two senators in Australia's parliament were debating a bill related to child welfare, when this exchange took place:  
• Senator Hanson: "Minister, do you have children?"
• Senator Chisholm: "It's not really relevant to this discussion."
• Senator Hanson: "Well, the answer to the question is, if you have no children, you have no heart. You have no understanding of what you're talking about."  
• [She was reminded that personal comments were off limits.]  
• If you want to watch the exchange, here's a link. It starts around 13.04.30.  
• Says Katy:  "News flash: being a parent doesn't automatically give you a greater capacity for being empathetic, caring, or kind."  Amen!  
• Has anyone heard the song "The Girl That Never Was" by James Blunt??  Someone mentioned it was about baby loss. I have not watched the video (so I have not linked to it here) but I Googled the lyrics and... Oh. My.  (Have Kleenex handy.)  
• Sarah at Afterward Honesty Yoga is testing her new website and system via a free workshop on Sunday, November 12 at 2:00 pm ET, via Zoom: "Your Breath as a Resource: Using the breath to land in your body." 
• Says Sarah:  "We’ll be sampling basic, gentle breath practices that can assist us in settling into our bodies.  Some simple (and always optional!) movement will be incorporated.  Talk and background on the subject of breath will also be included.  The aim is to explore tools to take with you and use on your own if you choose.  The breath has been one of my most useful - and favorite - things to turn to through involuntary childlessness (and a lot of other things too!).  So this is the workshop I just had to start with." 
• To find out more about the workshops in general, and to check out Sarah's new website,  visit www.afterwardhonestyyoga.com .
• Deadline: If you're interested in participating in the test workshop, please email Sarah at sarahafterwardhonesty@gmail.com, no later than Nov. 1. 
• This article ("Testing My Fertility at the End of My World") was flagged by someone on a childless forum I'm on. Blurb below the headline:  "The pandemic robbed Millennial women of peak years of fertility. The least we deserve is a space to process the grief—and reimagine what can come next."  The author's essay is followed by links to other articles about "people walking new paths."  Sample passage:  

Since 2020, so many of us have watched our plans slowly leak through tightly grasped fists. We’ve had to spill out the ideas we once held about relationships, family, and career, but worse yet, we’ve had to do it without a real space to acknowledge the loss. Why aren’t we discussing what happens when we lose years of living and fertility to pandemics, careers, and dead-end relationships? And why are we still, while living on a rapidly dying planet, asked to be so hyper-fixated on following an old script of love, marriage, and a baby in a baby carriage?

There is no clear way to have this conversation. No elegant script for talking about the unsavory feelings that come up when you have to accept that your life is going to look different than you thought it would. When you realize that the timeline you had for yourself might need reworking. When you know that you may have to accept the responsibility of building a new reality to exist within. But buried within that uncertainty, there is beauty. There are buds, poised to bloom. There is the possibility to change our minds about what we thought we wanted, to accept the grief about the loss of time, and to build new dream castles.

•  The Globe & Mail had a great article about "Evolving the thinking on women who age alone." (Gift link.)  It's not specifically about women aging while single and/or childless, but there's still content to relate to and think about. Here's an excerpt from the introduction:  

The woman who lives alone has been not been viewed charitably throughout history, or today. If she’s divorced or widowed, she is pitied; if she’s chosen to live alone, defying traditional scripts of marriage and family, she’s a spinster condemned to loneliness in her latter years.

Unflattering depictions are numerous in popular culture. The Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby collects leftover grains of rice following a wedding and dies alone, her funeral unattended. Charles Dickens’ Miss Havisham parades around her dilapidated mansion in a wedding gown after being left at the altar. The cult documentary Grey Gardens follows the Beales, a mother and daughter duo who hoard feral cats and live in squalor at the edge of the wealthy East Hampton enclave.

Much less has been conveyed about older women’s actual experiences, especially those who thrive alone.

...new research on aging women is yielding a complicated picture of a significant demographic growing rapidly in Canada.

Although public health officials have been sounding the alarm for years on myriad health problems linked to loneliness in older age – depression, dementia, cardiovascular disease, shortened lifespans, even increased risk of death during heatwaves – more thinkers are beginning to challenge the narrative, drawing sharper distinctions between living solo, social isolation and loneliness, highly personal experiences too often treated as interchangeable, especially among elders.

#MicroblogMondays: Grateful

It's Thanksgiving Day (a long weekend Monday) here in Canada. I'm at "home" in southern Manitoba with my parents, sister & her partner, for the first time since last Christmas. It's not especially warm (12C = 54F) -- but hey, it's not snowing either!  ;)  and the sun is shining. Fall colours are still in evidence. Salads have been made, the turkey has been stuffed and is now roasting in the oven (and it sure smells good). There will be a card game later tonight. :)  

I'm grateful to be here. Grateful that our trip here went smoothly. Grateful that my parents (aged 82 and 84) are still hanging in there, and that I can spend some time with them. Grateful for our extended families. Grateful for my dh, and that our marriage has survived loss, infertility and the transition to permanent childlessness (among other challenges...!). 

Grateful for this blog, and for all of you who read it, comment and support me. Thank you! 

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.)

Pandemic diary/update: October was Month #31 (going on #32) of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. Late in the month, it was noted that we'd passed 1000 days since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the city of Toronto. 

So far, the predicted 8th (!) wave has not materialized... but the numbers have remained relatively high all summer long, and have not been trending in the right direction. On Oct. 20th, Ontario reported the highest weekly covid death count since early May (109, an increase from 67 the previous week); a week later, on Oct. 27th, there were 121 more deaths, the highest number since Feb. 9th, and wastewater readings suggest the prevalence of the virus is on the rise. (See the stats below.) There are lots of ominous warnings about new immune-evasive variants on the horizon (two of which are growing twice as fast as the current dominant BA.5 variant), children with RSV are swamping the already-swamped hospital emergency rooms -- and there are increasing numbers of flu patients as well. There are currently more COVID-19 patients in Canadian hospitals this fall compared to the same time period in previous pandemic years (see the chart) -- vaccine uptake has slowed -- restrictions are practically non-existent (doctors are calling on the government to reinstate mask mandates -- good luck with that...) --  and our healthcare system has been already struggling for months. "Canada is heading into a potentially brutal winter," a recent CBC News article began -- and they weren't even talking about the weather...! 

Since June 16th, the government has been reporting covid data weekly (on Thursdays) instead of daily. :(  The Toronto Star (my main source of covid data) has started a brand-new weekly stats tracking page -- but not all data categories that were previously reported are still being disclosed there :(  (and of course, the data we ARE getting is vastly under-reported).  If you look at the charts for the past two months, most of the categories tracked have remained more or less the same ( = no huge increases -- but no significant improvement either). Among the latest stats (last updated Oct. 27th ):  

• New case numbers & test positivity rates are no longer reported (on the Star's page, anyway -- not that they've been very accurate anyway, since PCR testing was limited/cut back at the peak of the Omicron outbreak in late December/early January). 

• Hospitalizations (people in hospitals testing positive for covid) increased from 1,361 on Oct. 1st to 1,921 on Oct. 27th, up 8.3% over the previous week and the highest reported hospitalization rate since Feb. 9th (8 months). Low point was 1,323 on Oct. 2nd;  peak was 1,954 on Oct. 25th. The graph shows a steady upward trend over the last two months. 
• There were 138 patients with COVID-19 in Ontario's ICUs testing positive for COVID-19 or there for COVID-19 related illness on Oct. 1st, and 148 on Oct. 27th, down 6.3% over the previous week. Peak was 168 on Oct. 23rd;  the low point was 120 on Oct. 9th & 10th.  
• There were 7 deaths on Oct. 1st and 29 on Oct. 27th. Peak was 33 on Oct. 26th. The 7-day average on Oct. 27th was 17.3, up 11% over the previous week. (Total pandemic deaths reported: 14,724.) 
• On Oct. 27th, 87.1% of Ontario's total population has had at least one vaccine, 83.9% had at least two, but just 52% had received a third dose. (No stats provided for fourth doses, which only became available to adults under age 60 in mid-July.)  These numbers have hardly budged over the past couple of months. 
• The new bivalent vaccines began rolling out to Ontario residents aged 70 and older on Sept. 19th, and to everyone else 18 and older on Sept. 26th. The guidance is that, at minimum, you should be at least three months out from your last dose/booster;  the recommended interval is six months. 
• Dh & I had our fourth vaccines/second boosters on May 11th, more than four months ago;  Nov. 11th will be six months. We have appointments to get our bivalent/fifth shots on Thursday (Nov. 3rd), together with our flu shots. So far, most people I've talked to who have had both at the same time have reported very few side effects... here's hoping! 

"The new numbers paint a stark picture of the growing toll of the virus, particularly amid an expected rise in hospitalizations beginning in the fall," the CBC said in its coverage of the most recent stats and trends (here -- see also this article from CTV). 

On the personal pandemic front: Dh & I continue to wear masks when out in public (even though we are not required to do so, and fewer and fewer people are). We remain more socially distanced than we used to be, and certainly more so than most people we know -- but we did get out a fair bit more this past month. :) On top of dh's solo (masked) 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 3 times. 
• We went to Michaels, Chapters (local mega-bookstore) and Shoppers Drug Mart on Oct. 4th, picking up birthday cards, stuff for Little Great-Nephew's Halloween goodie bag, and other odds & ends. 
• We flew west for a week with my parents on Oct. 8th, departing via Toronto Pearson airport and arriving at Winnipeg's Richardson airport (and vice-versa on the return trip home, Oct. 16th). (One week earlier, on Oct. 1st, the federal government dropped all remaining travel-related restrictions, including mandatory masking on trains and airplanes. We wore masks, but less than half of the other passengers did. Grrrr....) 
• While we were there, we went grocery shopping at the local Co-op store twice... but that was about the extent of our outings!   
• Parents' Neighbours' Daughter came over twice, once to play cards and once with the Little Princesses, and we stopped by there before we left to say goodbye (wearing masks). 
• Back home again, we went to Best Buy on Oct. 17th to buy a humidifier (see "Buying," below!). 
• I accompanied dh to the bank and to supermarket on Oct. 19th for the first time in quite a while. (I've missed that!)  We also picked up takeout pizza slices there for lunch.  :) 
• We returned to our old community on Oct. 21st for much-needed haircuts, a visit to the cemetery, and a swing by one of our favourite stores to stock up on frozen foods. 
• We had dinner at BIL & SIL's on Oct. 22nd with dh's/BIL's cousin, his wife and their teenaged son (the same ones who hosted us at their cottage a few weekends ago). 
• We headed into midtown Toronto on Oct. 31st (yesterday) so that our longtime regular optometrist could check out my eyes, post-surgery. (I was supposed to go about a month ago, but had a cold and had to reschedule.)  He was very pleased with the outcome. The change in my prescription (from what it was before surgery became necessary) is so minor that I don't even need new glasses! He said I could get new ones if I wanted -- my current pair is 8 years old! -- but I decided that was an expense I could postpone for now. Back again in six months! 
• En route back home, we went grocery shopping, and got a takeout pizza slice (dh) & soup (me) for lunch on our way out (we ate when we got home). 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 3 books in October (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged  "2022 books").  

• "BeWILDered" by Laura Waters (the October pick for the Gateway/Lighthouse Women book club: ) (My review.) 
• "Magpie Murders" by Anthony Horowitz. (My review.) 
• "Queen High" by C.J. Carey, the sequel to "Widowland," which I read (and loved) last year and reviewed here. :)  (My review.) 

This brings me to 41 books read so far in 2022, which brings me to 91% of my 2022 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway) 4 books ahead of schedule. :)  

Current read(s): 

• "Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier (November's pick for the Gateway/Lighthouse Women NoMo book club.) 
• "The Palace Papers" by Tina Brown (couldn't resist, in light of recent events!  lol). 
• "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 will finish in late November, after which I will count this as a re-read). (My original review.)
• "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. Unfortunately, I missed our calls for Chapters 7, 8 & 9. :(  Chapter 10 is coming up in mid-November. If/when we complete the full 12 chapters, 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 the Gateway/Lighthouse Women NoMo book club: 
• "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")(December) 
• 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): 

• "The Winners" by Fredrik Backman (the third and final book in the "Beartown" series). (This one was in paperback, discounted.) 
• I ordered a used copy online of "Black Roses," a 2013 novel that "Widowland"'s C.J. Carey wrote under her real name, Jane Thynne, which does not seem to be available in any format here in North America (although some of the sequels are)??   
• "Next Year in Havana" by Chanel Cleeton 
• "Still Just a Geek" by Wil Wheaton 
• "Flying Solo" by Linda Holmes 
• "Managing Expectations" by Minnie Driver 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

Watching: "The Handmaid's Tale," season 5 (just saw episode 8). Excellent performances all round (as usual), if somewhat improbable storylines. (I've said it before and I will say it again... how many times can June escape, or almost escape, Gilead??)   

Stanley Tucci's "Searching for Italy" is back!  We missed the first episode since its return, earlier this month, but PVRd it and caught up when we got back from visiting my parents. It featured Calabria, the area where dh's family (as well as Tucci's) emigrated from. SIL was beyond delighted that a bakery in her dad's hometown (a hop, skip and a jump away from Tucci's, and about 15-20 km down the road from dh's family's) was one of the places featured. :)  

I've been PVRing "Magpie Murders" on PBS (on at the same time as Tucci's show) and can't wait to watch (especially after reading the book! -- see above). 

Listening:  I'm still enjoying the daily Heardle challenge(s), including the decades versions. Current stats as of yesterday, Oct. 31st:  

• Heardle (original/all decades): 33.3% (30/90) correct, including 8 on the first guess. 
• Heardle 60s:  86.3% (44/51), including 23 on the first guess. 
• Heardle 70s:  70.7% (41/58), including 25 on the first guess. 
• Heardle 80s:  45.3% (an improvement from 37% last month!) -- (24/53), including 8 on the first guess. 
• Heardle 90s:  31.5% -- also an improvement from last month's 26.7% -- (17/54), including 3 on the first guess.  

Eating: Probably way too much while we were at my parents' house for (Canadian) Thanksgiving, but it was all FAR too good too resist!  lol  The usual turkey with my Grandma's bread stuffing recipe, gravy and mashed potatos... cabbage rolls (with & without tomato sauce)... cranberry sauce AND relish... turnips, peas and "Japanese" coleslaw (with ramen noodles). And a "salad" with Cool Whip, cottage cheese, miniature marshmallows, orange Jello and canned mandarin orange slices -- in Minnesota, where both my mother and this recipe came from, this is still defined as a "salad," lol.  (Basically this recipe, but with miniature marshmallows mixed in too.) And apple pie with ice cream for dessert. And, on another night, roast beef with mashed potatos & gravy. My gallbladder (or the absence thereof) was not affected -- yay! 

For our dinner with BIL, SIL and the cousins on Oct. 22nd (see above), BIL got us takeout from a local Portuguese restaurant, recommended by Younger Nephew. We had chicken, potatos and mixed vegetables, and it was all delicious! (There was also rice, but it was flavoured with tomato juice -- and I'm allergic to tomatos -- so I didn't have any of that.)   

Drinking:  Lots of tea! -- tis the season! 

Buying (besides books, lol):  "Hamilton" tickets! (Again!  lol)  -- albeit I had an account credit (from the first time I bought tickets, for a May 2020 performance that was cancelled by the pandemic) that covered the cost this time around.  

I didn't buy it directly, but I cashed in some of my Air Miles, under the threat of expiration, and ordered myself a KitchenAid stand mixer as a reward.  :)  It arrived a few days ago.  

Some Christmas PJ waffle-weave tops from Old Navy (ordered last weekend;  should be here by this weekend). I have amassed a small collection of these over the years, and love wearing them around the house through the holiday season -- and some are more generally winter-ish than specifically Christmas-ish, so I can wear them past Christmas as well...!

A new humidifier.

• At the house, we had one attached to our furnace, but we've found winters in our condo to be incredibly dry. (Last Christmas, we returned from visiting my parents to a hygrometer reading of 27% humidity!)  We bought a Honeywell humidifier when we first moved into our condo, but it was too noisy for my liking (not to mention a pain to clean and maintain), and after a winter or two, we sent it to the thrift store. 
• But colder, drier weather will be here again, very soon, and dh -- who has very dry, sensitive, itchy skin at the best of times -- has been dealing with an awful case of eczema lately -- and my recent vision issues are related, in part, to dry eye syndrome -- and proper humidity is one of the things that can help prevent covid (and other viruses) from spreading -- and so a new humidifier became a priority as soon as we got back from visiting my parents. 
• After doing some research (and being thoroughly overwhelmed by all the options), we wound up splurging (and I do mean SPLURGING!) on a combination humidifier/air purifier/fan from Dyson. I was won over by the idea of three appliances in one, the promise of quiet(er) technology, and also the promise that it would be easy to clean and maintain. Also appealing: it's high tech, with a a remote and a phone app! -- you can monitor the readings and adjust the settings even when you're out!  We've had fun playing around with the technology and the different settings. 
• (Plus -- we bought both nephews & their wives Dyson vacuum cleaners as a housewarming gift when they got their own houses. I figured if we could spend that much money on Dysons for them, we could get a Dyson appliance for ourselves!  lol) 
• So far, we haven't found it to be entirely quiet, especially when the fan is on auto mode (which is recommended) and it suddenly shifts into high gear -- but it's not too bad when adjusted to a lower setting. I've noticed it tends to show a lower air quality when we're cooking, and/or when I have my essential oils diffuser running... hmmm... 

Wearing:  Back to long pants, long sleeves (and/or a cardigan on top), socks AND slippers...!  :( 

Noticing:  Dh spotted a large coyote last Friday morning, in the marshy space between our condo building and the townhouse development behind us. We've had signs in the elevators & emails from the property managers, warning of several sightings recently. There are lots of small dogs in our building (as well as a few small children), so I hope the owners/parents are paying attention...!  

This isn't the first coyote sighting in our neighbourhood... we saw a few of them -- and heard them, howling in the nearby creek ravine, late at night! -- a few years ago, when the townhouses were being built. We also saw a deer then, and spotted foxes and even a beaver!) 

Appreciating:  The recent warm, sunny weather. Temperatures reached as high as 21C (about 70F) last week, and they're projected to reach 18C (about 64F) later this week! In November!! 

Enjoying:  The beautiful fall colours, which seem particularly colourful and long-lasting this year. They're past their peak in our neighbourhood, but we drove several miles down Yonge Street yesterday, into midtown Toronto for my optometrist appointment (see above), and the colours were just gorgeous. :) 

Wanting:  To get back to the art gallery where I have a membership... we haven't been there since just before covid hit, and the fall colours are always beautiful there!  

Hoping:  Our reactions to our bivalent covid/flu shots (scheduled for later this week) aren't too bad. 

Prioritizing:  Shopping for birthday and Christmas presents for Little Great-Nephew over the next few weeks... birthday #3 coming up mid-month!! (eeekkk!) 

Worrying:  Dh's cousin (also his godson) got married in August 2021, with only immediate family present, because of the pandemic. Ever since then, the cousins have been bugging him about when we're going to have a party to celebrate. The subject came up again at the recent funerals of two of the aunts, and shortly afterwards, an email went out: there WILL be a party on Saturday, Nov. 12th, at the groom's mom's condo's party room. Dh already told him we'll be there. 

Of course I've been fretting ever since then, with one eye nervously monitoring the rising covid rates. I know we can't NOT go (especially when everyone else will be there) -- BUT: how big is the party room, and how good is the ventilation? How many people will be there? (Dh's aunts, cousins & their families alone will amount to 40-50 people -- including several teachers and school-age kids.  Will the other side of this cousin's family be there? His wife's family? Friends?)  We'll be 9 days past our latest shots (the bivalent booster) and I, at least, plan to wear an N-95 equivalent mask when I'm not eating, particularly if it's a big party with lots of people we don't know. We'll probably be the only ones masking, but I don't care. I know my "never had covid" status is becoming increasingly rare, but I don't intend to give up the title without a fight...!  ;) 

(One thing that makes me feel better:  the "bride" is pregnant and due in February -- right around the same time as Younger Nephew's wife, in fact! -- so I can't imagine they won't want to be careful -- right? ) (On the other hand: with two pregnancies in the family, it's guaranteed that there will be baby talk in abundance. Sigh.) 

Trying:  To persuade dh to wear a N-95/equivalent mask more consistently when he goes out... often (especially if I'm not going out with him, or don't see him before he heads out) he just puts on a cloth mask. He claims he finds it difficult to breathe in an N-95. I mean, points for wearing a mask at all (he doesn't have to be persuaded that he should wear one), but it's a fact that cloth is at the low end of the scale in terms of effectiveness, and there are new variants afoot... we need all the protection we can get! (especially when the provincial government is doing absolutely zilch to help... but that's another post entirely...!) 

Loving:  Spending time with Little Great-Nephew. :)  I know, I sound like a broken record on the subject ;) but he's just so darn cute. :) We stayed with him last week for a few hours while SIL went out for an appointment -- took him to the nearby park, played in the leaves, came back to the house and watched TV and played with his puzzles and Legos and toy cars. He's so GOOD -- a little mischievous, maybe ;) (like many little boys!) but no real trouble at all. (Where was he when I was a teenaged babysitter??)  

Wondering:  How the heck is it NOVEMBER already?? (Still not my favourite month, but I don't dread it the way I used to when I was working!)  

Feeling: Thankful -- for getting home to see my family, for Thanksgiving dinners and card games and jigsaw puzzles, and for the promise of another visit soon at Christmastime. For dh & our own cozy little condo, and for the family we have here. For Little Great-Nephew, who never fails to brighten our day. :)  For beautiful fall colours and good books to read.  For 15 (!!) years of blogging!  For blogs and all the wonderful people I've met through them. :)