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.)

March had a few spring-like moments -- we had the balcony door wide open on THREE glorious days -- one mid-month and two this week, when the temperature reached a whopping 18-21C (64-70F). There was also one day when it was so foggy that I couldn't see past our balcony (it was the day of Little Great-Niece's birthday party, which made driving there -- down a couple of winding country roads! -- ummm, INTERESTING...!).  

But for the most part, the weather stayed pretty wintry/blustery -- a few snowstorms, freezing rain, and chilly temperatures, including one morning when the windchill was -22C/-8F (brrrr...).  And SO grey and gloomy!!  

Needless to say, I am SO DONE with this long, cold, snowy, grey winter!! 

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

• Bought groceries and takeout pizza slices or soup for lunch at the supermarket (March 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th).  
• Walked and shopped at the nearby local mall (March 3rd, 10th & 24th). 
• Drove with BIL & SIL through thick fog (as mentioned above) to Little Great-Niece's birthday party (March 7th). A good time was had by all.  :) 
  
• Drove to midtown Toronto for dental cleanings and checkups (March 12th -- all was well!). 
• Went to BIL & SIL's on Sunday afternoon (March 15th) for coffee/tea and to spend some time with our two little great-nephews, who were there while their parents went out. :)  
• Had an abdominal ultrasound (new screening program for aortic aneurysms offered by Ontario Health to seniors) and mammogram (March 16th).(Stopped off at the supermarket en route home for groceries.) Both came back fine.  
• Did not go to the mall during spring break week (lol) but braved the crowds and went to the bookstore instead for a for a browse (March 17th). 
• Stopped at the drugstore en route home to pick up a couple of prescriptions and a few other things too. 
• Went for bloodwork at a nearby lab to check my cholesterol levels (March 20th). (Gulp.) (The lab is usually packed, but there were just two people in the waiting area when I arrived??  It was spring break, so I'm thinking everyone who might usually be there was in Mexico or Costa Rica, lol.) 
• Since I'd had to fast for 12 hours and hadn't had anything to eat, we went out for brunch immediately afterwards, (See "Eating," below.)  It was spring break, and by the time we left, the restaurant was PACKED!  
• Then we went to a nearby Canadian Tire and picked up a couple of air filters, for both the HVAC unit and the Dyson air purifier/humidifier. (We originally planned to go to a few more stores, but it was cold, windy, grey & dreary, and there was freezing rain -- so we just headed home, where it was warm and cozy!)  

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Also right now:  

Reading: March was not a great reading month for me (too many distractions...!):  I finished 1 book (reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2026 books"  Year to date, I've read 6 books,  reached 15% of my Goodreads Challenge goal, and am currently 3 books behind schedule to achieve it by year end.  

• "Gimme a Crisis" by Howard Green.  (4-4.5 stars;  my review.) 

Current reads: 

• "The Forsyte Saga" by John Galsworthy. After mulling it over (see this post!), I accepted a commenter's suggestion to do a readalong together!  Currently 18% completed. 
• "The Four Graces" by D.E. Stevenson -- re-read/readalong/discussion with my D.E. Stevenson group, which began Feb. 23 and will conclude in late April/early May. Original 2015 review here;  most recent review here. (Currently 56% completed.)  
• "Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man's World" by Fabiana Formica.  This one is beautifully written, but slow going, and I was reading it (or trying to...!) at Mom & Dad's last summer, 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:  
• "The Bandit Queens" by Parini Shroff (May)
• "The Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley (June). (I previously read and reviewed this one, here;  rated 4.5-5 stars.) 
• "The Hacienda" by Isabel Canas (July)
• "In Memoriam" by Alice Winn (August).  (I previously read and reviewed this one, here;  4-5-5 stars.)  
• "Young Woman and the Sea" by Glenn Stout (September)
• "The Wedding People" by Alison Espach (October). (I previously read and reviewed this one, here;  rated 4-4.5 stars.)
• "The Women" by Kristin Hannah (November)
• For my D.E. Stevenson group: Next books to be determined... 

• Footnotes and Tangents slow readalongs for 2026 include:
• "Regeneration" by Pat Barker (April 3rd – May 14th)
• "The Inheritors" by William Golding (June)
• "Treacle Walker" by Alan Garner (July)
• "The Children’s Book" by A.S. Byatt (September–December)

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

• "Having It All" by Corinne Low 
• "The Phoenix Pencil Company" by Allison King 
• "Let's Just Say it Wasn't Pretty" by Diane Keaton 
• "Say Everything" by Ione Skye 
• "A Cold Day for Murder" by Dana Stabenow
• "Best Offer Wins" by Marisa Kashino 
• "The CIA Book Club" by Charlie English 

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Watching: Actually watched a lot of stuff this month! 

• "Finding Your Roots" (season 12) on PBS, Tuesday nights, which began in January. Lots of reruns on lately, though -- I'm not sure if the season is over yet, or whether they're saving the last few episodes for ratings sweeps month, or...? 
• The Oscars!  (mentioned in this past post). 
• "The Forsytes" on PBS.  This started on March 22nd, and I've seen two episodes (of six) so far.  I am glad I started reading the book by John Galsworthy, because (even though I'm far from finished), it's helped me grasp who's who and how they're all related a lot faster, I think. But, as I speculated in this previous post, this series is not a strict adaptation of the novel:  I would actually call it more of a prequel (I saw a post on social media that called it "fan fiction," and that would work too!). Most of the characters and storylines echo those in the book (or are heading in the book's direction). 
• There are lots of modern touches (rebellious women in very un-Victorian makeup, and colour-blind casting in some supporting roles, for example). There are also a couple of lesser characters who appear to have been invented just for the show (e.g., the Carterets, Jo's office friend Isaac)   
• On its own merits, it's... entertaining.  If you enjoy a glossy soap opera featuring family rivalries, forbidden romances, handsome actors and pretty actresses, and sumptuous sets and costumes, tune in...!  
• "The Count of Monte Cristo" airs on PBS immediately following "The Forsytes" on Sunday nights. (It also started on March 22nd = two episodes of eight aired to date). I have not read the 1844 novel it's based on, but the storyline is pretty well known today: just before his marriage to the lovely Mercedes, young French sailor Edmund Dantes (Sam Claflin) is falsely accused of treason and spends 15+ years in a grim prison fortress on an island off the coast of Marseilles. While there, he connects with the old prisoner in the neighbouring cell, the Abbe Faria (wonderfully played by Jeremy Irons), who tells him about a fabulous treasure buried on the island of Monte Cristo. Together they plot their escape, and Edmund vows to find the treasure and take revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment. I'm enjoying it so far! 
• "Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe:"  I wrote a recent post about this.  
• Curling!  The Brier (Canadian men's curling championships, in St. John's, Newfoundland), followed later in the month by the women's world championships in Calgary, and then the men's in Ogden, Utah (which began this past weekend and continue through this week). Dh & I wound up watching a lot of games, especially the ones involving Manitoba/Canadian teams. (It also gave me something to talk about with my dad when I called him, since I knew he would be watching too!)   
• World figure skating championships, from Prague last week. Network TV coverage was pretty scanty (a two-hour summary on NBC on Saturday night, and one hour on CBC on Sunday afternoon, none of it live -- grrrr....) -- but happily, I was able to access live feeds of all the events (totalling about 8 hours a day, for four days straight!, plus the gala exhibition on Sunday morning) via CBC's Gem streaming service on my laptop. (You can view Gem on some smart TVs -- but apparently our 11-year-old Samsung is not smart enough!  lol).
• "Henry David Thoreau," a 4-part documentary by Ken Burns, airing over the past two nights on PBS. Really interesting, and the footage of Walden Pond, etc., was so pretty -- but I'll admit I was struggling to stay awake the last half hour! (till 11 PM). 

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: (as of March 31st): 
• Heardle 60s: 74.2% (899/1212, 361 on first guess), up 0.3% from Feb. 28th. Max streak: 21. (up 1 from 20 -- I went for 22, but got tripped up on "Hole in My Shoe" by Traffic...!) 
• Heardle 70s: 75.3% (720/956, 401 on first guess), up 0.1% from Feb. 28th. Max streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s:  41.8% (338/809, 124 on first guess), up 0.2% from Feb. 28th. Max. streak: 5.
• Heardle 90s: 33.4% (304/911, 80 on first guess), down 0.1% from Feb. 28th. Max. streak: 9. 
• NYT Connections: 
• As of Feb. 28th  I'd played 563 games and won 89% of them, including 300 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 18 where I got the most difficult/purple category first. Maximum winning streak: 45 (unchanged). Current streak: 12. 
• By March 31st, I had 594 completed games, won 89% of them (unchanged since Dec. 31st), including 317 "perfect puzzles," including 18 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (unchanged from Dec. 31st). Maximum winning streak:  45 (unchanged since June 30th).  Current streak: 3.  

Listening:  

• To the Stingray 80s music channel. They've been playing the B-52s "Love Shack" a lot lately, and I am here for it, lol.  That song always makes me want to get up and dance. :)  "Rock Lobster" and "Planet Claire" were staples at university dorm parties in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Following:  

Eating/Drinking:  

• Over the past 18 months, we've been trying to eat healthier and lower our cholesterol -- and avoid having to take (more) medication -- since some less-than-stellar bloodwork results for both of us in fall 2024 and then again (for me) last November (2025, as mentioned in November's Right Now post). 
• I repeated my bloodwork in mid-March and the results showed improvement -- just one cholesterol measure out of normal range (and even that one was better than it had been). Our family doctor's staff relayed the message to keep up the low-fat/high-fibre diet and exercise, and we'll check again in another six months. Reprieve!!    
• I'm in a bit of a plateau lately:  I ended March 0.2 pounds less than when the month started.  Overall, I'm down a little more than 14 pounds since late October 2024 -- close to my lowest weight in quite some time -- and a little more than 26 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight  (in August 2021). 
• (Dh is down about 20 pounds overall since fall 2024.)
• At Little Great-Niece's birthday party (March 7th -- postponed a week because she was sick!), we feasted on pasta in alfredo sauce, sliders, sausage with peppers and potatos, rice balls (arancini) and salad. And cake, of course.  :)  (It was a huge cake, and we all went home with a big chunk!) (Not quite low-cal or low-fat...!  But delicious!) 
• After bloodwork on the morning of Friday, March 20th to check my cholesterol levels (and fasting for 12 hours prior), we went out for brunch, at the same place we went to in early February (thanks to a birthday/condolence gift card from a friend). Dh had an omelette, while I had scrambled eggs -- with bacon!  lol  (Yeah, I know... but they make great bacon! and I figure it will be a while before we're back, and before I need to have my bloodwork checked again!) 
• I'd kind of forgotten it was still spring break here... there were still a lot of empty tables when we arrived around 9:30 AM, but by the time we left, nearly an hour later, the place was PACKED!  
• We indulged in takeout pizza slices or soup from the supermarket, once or twice a week, for lunch and/or dinner. Saturday night takeout dinners this month included teriyaki rice bowls from the supermarket, and rotisserie chicken (baked potato on the side for me;  fries for dh) from Swiss Chalet.   

Wearing: I was occasionally able to switch to a lighter-weight spring/fall jacket this month (vs my usual down-filled winter jacket), and go without slippers over my socks inside the house occasionally. Progress? 

Buying (besides books, lol):  

• Stuff for the great-niblings' Easter baskets. 
• A new water-resistant spring jacket from Reitmans (black, waist length -- and on sale!). 

Trying: To call my dad, if not every day, then every other day. We usually don't have a lot to talk about, but that's not why I do it...! 

Appreciating:  What my sister & her partner are doing for my dad. They've been there almost every weekend since Mom died, keeping him company, going through closets and taking stuff to the dump and/or the local thrift shop, taking him to see potential apartments, etc. (Also feeling a bit guilty because I live so far away and can't be there more often.  I do chip in financially as needed. )  

Planning:  Our next visit there, likely for sometime in May. 

Wanting:  This winter to be OVER, already...!! 

Hoping: For better weather and sunshine, soon! 

                        

Feeling: Glad that it's (finally!) spring (even if it doesn't quite feel like it yet...!). A little dazed at how quickly the days, weeks, and this year generally so far are passing by. Missing my mom. :(   

(Couldn't think of what to write for a few of the usual categories, so I just deleted them, rather than delay posting!)  

#MicroblogMondays: Olympic hangover

The Olympics are over, and I'm both sad -- and relieved. I love the Olympics, and I especially love the winter version -- there's figure skating!! (Plus curling, hockey and other good stuff to watch.) Our Canadian athletes usually do pretty well, and they came home with 21 medals -- not their best showing, but not bad either.  And it's a welcome distraction from the cold and gloom of February.  

But -- 17 days of wall-to-wall coverage does get to be a bit much after a while...!  (Although -- being in Canada, we did have excellent coverage through CBC and its partner cable networks, including several TSN and Sportsnet channels, as well as CBC's free Gem streaming service, which showed ALL the events.)  I feel like I haven't done much else, and am now even further behind on my to-do list than I was when we got back home, after a full month away in Manitoba over Christmas (which included my mother's sudden death & funeral).  

But as dh remarked near the end of the two weeks, "Sometimes I get bored with my regular routines... until I'm out of them!"  lol  I had to agree!  

How about you?  Sad or glad, or a bit of both? 

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

What's saving my life right now

I've been quiet here lately. Tomorrow is 7 weeks since my mother died, and it's almost 4 weeks since we (finally) returned home from Manitoba -- and I still feel like I'm trying to get a handle on things (and not quite succeeding, with emails and notifications and to-do lists piling up).  Aside from a few book reviews, I've been finding it hard to find things to write about here, much less the motivation to actually get them down on screen.   

It's not just my mom that I'm grieving, too. I lost six people my age or younger last year -- friends, cousins, classmates. Today would have been my friend R.'s 68th birthday. Friday, my cousin would have turned 66. Both of them died unexpectedly in November, and sometimes I find it harder to believe that they're both gone than that Mom's gone. (Mom was 84, after all.)  

Beyond grief, part of my malaise, I think, is just... February.  February has long been my least favourite month of the year -- and not much has happened so far to make me change my mind -- I've had a severe case of the midwinter blahs. We've had a lot of snow this winter, and we just went through a stretch of 23 consecutive days of sub-zero temperatures (the record was 40+, back in 1976) -- that's zero degrees Celsius, by the way, i.e., below freezing. (We woke up a couple of mornings last week to windchills in the -30C to -35C range and I thought I was back in Manitoba, lol.) 

The state of the world, as reflected in the nightly news, is depressing. (And not all because of the Orange One either... Case in point:  we just had a rare school shooting yesterday, in a small town in northern British Columbia.)  

So I was grateful to see Modern Mrs. Darcy's annual post last week, in which she asks readers "what's saving your life right now?" and lists some of the things that are saving hers.  It's a great yearly reminder at a tough time of year to look for the silver linings, the "glimmers" that remind us that for every winter, there is also a spring.  (Eventually...!)  :)  

Without consulting my past posts on this topic... here are a couple of my current lifesavers right now:  

• Heated car seats!  lol  (We've been using them a lot lately when we've been out!)  
• Our second bathroom. It often comes in handy ;)  but the reason I've included it here is that we've been using it to shower, ever since we got back from Manitoba.  The spray in our master ensuite shower has been both lukewarm and rather weak, ever since it was "fixed" last fall -- and our building's recent boiler issues haven't helped matters (and we've been procrastinating on calling the plumber to come look at it). It's a bit of a pain (the tub/shower is not as easy to get in & out of as our walk-in shower cubicle, obviously), but having a consistently strong, WARM spray has been very nice. :)  (We bought a no-slip bathmat for the tub, and there have been no slips while getting in or out since then.) 
• Spending time with the great-niblings. Always a day brightener. :) 
• Watching the Winter Olympics from Milan-Cortina (the figure skating in particular)(another reason why I haven't been here much...!). 
• Watching Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier win bronze in the ice dance final with their exquisite "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)" program. :)  
• This cropped henley sweatshirt from American Eagle. :)  I bought one on sale in light blue and it's so soft & cuddly that I bought another one in dark/navy blue. :)  I've been wearing one or the other constantly (especially during this frigid weather...!). 
• A gift card that one of my best friends from high school sent me for my recent 65th birthday. She lost both her parents a few years back, one after the other, and then her (adult) daughter in a car accident, so she knows something about grief. The card was for a (relatively) new brunch restaurant chain, with two outlets nearby, and we used the card last Friday. The ambience was lovely, the service was friendly and prompt, and the food was hot and good, with generous portions.  We will be back.  
• Starting a new D.E. Stevenson novel -- "The Four Graces" -- which I've read before, but this is one of my favourites of hers that I've read to date -- like a warm hug and a cup of tea. (A good cup of tea also being a lifesaver!)   

What's brightening your life right now? 

(Past "saving your life" 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.)

**Note:  This post is a LONG one, covering two months:  both December 2025 & January 2026.**

December was a busy month.  The cold I contracted at Little Great-Nephew #1's 6th birthday party in mid-November hung on for quite a while, and when I finally did start feeling semi-human again, I was WAY behind on getting ready for Christmas!  Then we headed "home" to my parents in Manitoba on Dec. 21st. My parents have needed more and more support in recent years, and my time is never my own anymore whenever I'm there. (It was more than a week after our arrival before I finally managed to get out my laptop and sit with it for a while, vs my phone, which I find impossible to type more than a sentence or two on at a time...)  I only had a few days before Christmas to finish my shopping, decorate the house (according to my mother's exact specifications), buy all the supplies we needed for Christmas Eve and Day dinners, make salads, etc.  My sister & her partner arrived from the city just before Christmas Eve and we all had a (mostly) nice couple of days together, until... 

January:  The new year did not begin well (to put it mildly):  my mother died suddenly on New Years's Day, just days before she would have turned 85.  :(   We extended our stay another two weeks, until Jan. 18th to deal with the funeral and its aftermath, and support my widowed father.  I turned 65 (and officially became a senior citizen!!) on Jan. 12th while still in Manitoba -- and my dad forgot it was my birthday. :(  (One of these years, I'll get that birthday-on-the-beach I've been fantasizing about...!)  Once we got back to Toronto, we were busy again, unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning, restocking the fridge and cupboards, taking down our own Christmas tree, etc.  

And now here we are, already in February...! (My LEAST favourite month!) 

Some of the things I/we did these past two months include: 

• Met with our financial advisor. (Dec. 1st)
• Made multiple trips/stops to the supermarket for groceries and takeout pizza slices and/or soup, as well as to the drugstore to pick up prescriptions and sundries. 
• Went walking and shopping at the local mall (Dec. 2nd -- first time since Nov. 11th, before I got sick! -- as well as Dec. 9th & 16th, and then Jan 20th & 27th). 
• Did some Christmas shopping and errand-running locally on a busy afternoon (Dec. 5th):  Michaels (photo frames, Christmas stuff), Carters/Oshkosh (presents for the kids), Chapters (ditto, plus some cards), supermarket and drugstore (dh picked up a prescription while I got some stamps for my Christmas cards at the Canada Post outlet). 
• Had shellac polish removed from my toes (the remnants of a late September pedicure), and a pedicure without new polish (Dec. 10th). 
• Drove out to the mall in our former community for haircuts, lunch & shopping (Dec. 12th & Jan. 23rd). 
• Stopped at the cemetery on our way there for a brief visit with Katie (both times).  
• Slipped in the bathtub and banged up the back of my left thigh, just above the knee (Dec. 14th). Noticed a big bruise on Wednesday, Dec. 17th. Fretted about it for the rest of the week, throughout my month in Manitoba, and then again following our flight back to Ontario on Jan. 18th...!  
• (Finally) Went to see our family doctor about it on Jan. 21st.  He agrees I banged it up pretty badly, but did not think the lingering aches & pains were the sign of a blood clot ( = what I was afraid of, especially after flying -- albeit just for 2-2.5 hours!).  He said it will probably need further time to resolve. (I was greatly relieved! -- and, oddly enough -- or maybe not?? -- my leg has felt a lot better since then!)
• Went to Staples for supplies and then to the bookstore for a browse and some gift cards. (Dec. 15th) 
• Consulted a local dermatologist about my rosacea (on the advice of my optometrist). Got two prescriptions, including one for a month's worth of doxycycline, and another for Rosiver cream (which I'll be using indefinitely). (Dec. 16th) 
• Stopped at the bank for some cash from the ABM (Dec. 17th). 
• Celebrated Little Great-Nephew #2's first birthday with the rest of the family at BIL's house (Dec. 20th). 
• Headed to Manitoba for Christmas (Dec. 21st). 
• Renewed my driver's license and health card and had a new photo taken (which will be used for both) at the local Service Ontario office on Jan. 19th, the day after we returned (and a week past my birthday -- which is when both cards expired -- erk!).  
• Took down our own Christmas tree -- on Jan. 21st! (erk!)  Definitely the latest we've ever done that!  
• Went to a local Italian restaurant for a belated birthday celebration (Jan. 23rd). (See "Eating," below.)  
• Spent some of my Christmas gift cards and used my birthday discount at the local bookstore (Jan. 28th).  :)  
• Headed up to Older Nephew's with BIL & SIL for lunch & some great-nephew (and dog!) spoiling. :) (Jan. 31st) 

While in Manitoba, we:  

• Played cards almost every night. My dad loves it and, as he said after Mom died, "It's something to do."  I think it helps keep his mind off things. 
• Also played TV bingo on Saturdays (and won!).  
• And did jigsaw puzzles, which Dad borrows from the local library. 
• Sister & I visited the library to return completed puzzles, get new ones and ensure Dad could continue using Mom's library card. (The librarians had already heard about Mom, and changed the card to his name. As I've said, gotta love small towns...!) 
• Made multiple trips to the local grocery store, as well as the drugstore, dollar store and ABM at the credit union, before and after Christmas. 
• Assembled and decorated the tree and the house to Mom's specifications (and then took everything down again after her birthday and funeral).  I've generally been the person in charge of decorating the tree (it's usually been up already by the time we got there), but I think this was the first tine I've taken it down since I spent a year living with Mom & Dad, 41 years ago!), 
• Helped Dad & my sister with Christmas dinners, including prepping and stuffing the turkey on Christmas morning, and doing cleanup, as well as other dinners later. (My mother stopped doing most of the cooking years ago, although she did make a salad for Christmas Eve dinner, and she & my sister made butter tarts together earlier in the month. She was still talking about making our traditional shortbread cookies after Christmas -- which, of course, never happened...)  
• I'm not sure what we'll be doing for Christmas 2026, but I'm already thinking I should set aside time to bake some of our traditional cookies. I did that for Christmas 2020 (during the pandemic), since I realized I wasn't going to get any otherwise...! 
• Made and fielded umpteen phone calls and visits to and from relatives, friends and neighbours after Mom died. 
• Planned & attended Mom's funeral, picked out her urn, delivered an outfit to the funeral home for her to wear on her final journey, wrote her obituary and posted details on social media. 
• Rebooked our flights home (originally scheduled for Jan. 4th; changed to Jan. 18th). 
• Visited a local lawyer with Dad & my sister to discuss Mom's will. 
• Began clearing out Mom's things from her closets, drawers, bathroom vanity, etc., and dropped some bags & boxes off at the local thrift shop. (My sister is continuing to work on this.)  
• Browsed through through some old letters, clippings, etc. that Mom's cousin's daughter brought with her from their hometown in Minnesota, as well as a box full that Dad produced from the garage!  Sorted them into piles according to sender and date (some written by my sister & me to our grandparents when we could barely print (!), some from my mom that I've saved for myself, some that I'll send to the writers' families). 

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 3 books in December and 1 in January (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2025 books" and "2026 books"   

• "The Blue Flower" by Penelope Fitzgerald -- a slow readalong with Footnotes and Tangents, which started Nov. 3rd and ended the week of Dec. 15th. (3-3.5 stars; my review.) 
• "How To Kill Your Family" by Bella Mackie (the January pick for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club). (4 stars;  my review.) 
• "The Impossible Fortune" by Richard Osman. (5 stars;  my review.)  
• "Ex-Wife" by Ursula Parrott (the February choice for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club). (3.5-4 stars, my review.) 

Current reads: 

• "You Are Here" by David Nicholls (the April selection for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club;  previously read in 2024 and reviewed here).  
• Crooked Adam by D.E. Stevenson, together with my DES fan group (after initially reading through it myself). I'll count it as a re-read when we finish, on or before Feb. 3 (2026). 96% completed (one chapter to go!). 
• "Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man's World" by Fabiana Formica.  This one is beautifully written, but slow going, and I was reading it (or trying to...!) at Mom & Dad's last summer, 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:  
• "The Safekeep" by Yael Van der Wouden (March). (I read this one recently and will likely not revisit it, particularly since I'm not leading the discussion.)  
• (Books for May onwards to be determined...) 
• For my D.E. Stevenson group:  
• The Four Graces, likely beginning in mid-February 2026 (original 2015 review here). 

• Footnotes and Tangents slow readalongs for 2026 include:
• "Midnight’s Children" by Salman Rushdie (January–March):  I was debating whether to take part in this one. Needless to say, when it began in early January, I was otherwise preoccupied.  :(    Hoping to tackle at least a couple of the other slow reads planned for this year, including.... 
• "Regeneration" by Pat Barker (April–May)
• "The Inheritors" by William Golding (June)
• "Treacle Walker" by Alan Garner (July)
• "The Children’s Book" by A.S. Byatt (September–December)

A few recently purchased titles (all in digital format, mostly discounted ($5-10 or less) or purchased with points):  (Not adding links this time around...!) 

• "Freedom" by Angela Merkel. 
• "Bone of the Bone" by Sarah Smarsh
• "Possession" by A.S. Byatt 
• "Elbows Up!  Canadian Voices of Resistance and Resilience" ed. by Elamin Abdelmahmoud
• "August Lane" by Regina Black 
• "Nesting" by Roisin O'Donnell 
• "Night People" by Mark Ronson 
• "Awake" by Jen Hatmaker
• "The Trouble With Fairy Tales" by Plum Johnson 
• "Bread of Angels" by Patti Smith 
• "Softly, As I Leave You" by Priscilla Presley & Mary Jane Ross 
• "We Breed Lions" by Rick Westhead 
• "The Smiling Land" by Alan Doyle 
• "John Candy" by Paul Myers 
• "Vagabond" by Tim Curry 
• "Book of Lives" by Margaret Atwood 
• "Sorry, Not Sorry" by Mark Critch 
• "Throwing Rocks at Houses" by Colleen Jones & Perry Lefko 
• "Future Boy" by Michael J. Fox & Nelle Fortenberry 
• "Paper Girl" by Beth Macy 

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

Watching: 

• Figure skating: I watched some of NBC's coverage of the the Grand Prix final in Nagoya, Japan, on Dec. 7th;  some of the U.S. & Canadian national championships in early January, while at my parents' house, and the European championships later in the month.  
• I can't believe the Winter Olympics start soon...! 
• Lots of curling! My dad is a big fan, and dh likes to watch too. I don't mind;  I've never curled myself, but I spent a LOT of time watching my parents at the curling rink when I was growing up, and I was amazed at what I was able to pull from my memory to tell dh about the sport when they started including it in the Olympics some years ago!  (It beats watching football!  lol)  
• (As I wrote in this post) We watched "Wicked" at my sister's house in Winnipeg the night before we headed home to Toronto from spending Christmas (and the aftermath) with my family. I thought it was OK, but to be honest, it didn't thrill me. 
• "Finding Your Roots" -- a new season on PBS, Tuesday nights, which began in January. 

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: 
• Heardle 60s: 
• As of Dec. 31st:  73.6% (840/1141, ?? on first guess), down 0.1% from Nov. 30th. Max. streak: 20 (up by 5 since Nov. 30th!).
• As of Jan. 31st:  74.0% (855/1167, 340 on first guess), up 0.4% from Dec. 31st. Max streak:  20. 
• Heardle 70s: 
• As of Dec. 31st: 76.0% (670/882, ?? on first guess), down 0.3% from Nov. 30th. Max. streak: 18. 
• As of Jan. 31st:  75.9% (681/897, 378 on first guess), down 0.1% from Dec. 31st. Max streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s: 
• As of Dec. 31st: 41.6% (309/742, ?? on first guess), up 0.4% from from Nov. 30th. Max. streak: 5.
• As of Jan. 31st: 41.6% (315/757, 113 on first guess), unchanged from Dec. 31st. Max. streak: 5.
• Heardle 90s: 
• As of Dec. 31st:  33.9% (269/814, ?? on first guess), up 0.9% from Nov. 30th. Max. streak: 9 (up by 4 from Nov. 30th). 
• As of Jsn. 31st:  34.0% (292/858, 78 on first guess), up 0.1% from Dec. 31st. Max. streak: 9. 
• NYT Connections: 
• By Dec. 31st, I'd played 520 games and won 89% of them (1% more), including 276 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 16 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (3 more than in November).  Maximum winning streak: 45 (unchanged). Current streak: 33. 
• As of Jan. 31st, I had 535 completed games, won 89% of them, including 283 "perfect puzzles," including 16 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (unchanged from Dec. 31st). Maximum winning streak:  45 (unchanged).  Current streak:  12.  

Listening:  I mostly use Spotify to listen to podcasts -- but last fall, I found a couple of playlists that reflected my tastes and reminded me of the songs & artists I used to listen & dance to in my youth. As a result, for the first time, I wound up with one of those year-end "Wrapped" reports in early December. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the entire thing again :p  but I did share the list of my top 5 artists on FB:  The Monks (their album "Bad Habits" became a cult classic when I was in university in the early 1980s -- but only in Canada, apparently, and Ontario especially), Joe Jackson, Squeeze, The Knack and Devo (lolol). My top genre was Power Pop, I listened for a grand total of 282 minutes, and my listening age is 62!  (You can read more about The Monks and "Bad Habits" here, here and here.) 

Following:  

Eating/Drinking:  

• Less-than-stellar bloodwork results in the cholesterol/lipid categories in mid-November (as mentioned in November's Right Now post, published in early December) left me certain that my family doctor was going to put me on (more) medication. But in a follow-up phone call on Dec. 3rd, he simply encouraged me to keep trying to get those numbers down, and said we'll retest in March. REPRIEVE!  lol  Was I relieved!! 
• (I may need to ask for a further reprieve, given that my stay in Manitoba was a little longer than I had anticipated -- and needless to say, diet was not the top of my mind...)  
• (To recap, we'd both had cholesterol numbers that were out of normal range back in fall 2024, but managed to wrestle them down by January 2025, by making a concerted effort to eat better and lose weight.  I will admit we've done a bit of backsliding on the diet front, albeit we are still eating better than we were in fall 2024.  We've both resolved to try to do better, again! in 2026.) 
• When I weighed myself mid-month (a few days after our return from Manitoba) for the first time since Dec. 19th, I was down 2 pounds! -- which was a pleasant surprise, given the fact that my diet was not exactly stellar while I was away. 
• On the other hand, I was more active than usual, doing things around the house -- including a lot of stairs...!
• I was down another 0.4 pounds the following week (this past Friday). 
• I ended January 2.8 pounds lighter than I was at the end of November. Overall, I'm down 14.2 pounds since late October 2024, and a little over 26 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight  (August 2021). 
• (Dh gained a few pounds over Christmas and is down not quite 20 pounds overall since fall 2024.)
• At my parents' house, we ate pretty well over the Christmas period (turkey and all the trimmings for Christmas dinner, with lots of leftovers stretching over the next few days, pork tenderloin another day, etc.) -- a little less so afterwards. There were butter tarts, but no shortbread cookies got made, although Parents' Neighbours' Daughter brought over a container of cookies, and we had several apple pies in the freezer, one of which we baked and had on New Year's Eve. 
• As I mentioned in this post, neighbours and friends brought over a lot of food after my mother died.  Not all of it was stuff I could eat because of my tomato allergy (hamburger soup, pasta dishes), but it all helped. A couple of things I remember:  
• We got a TON of buns -- many of them homemade. I think at one point we had something like 6 or 8 dozen buns in the house!  (My sister took some home and some went into the freezer.)  
• One of my dad's former coworkers brought over an entire home-cooked dinner one night -- a big chunk of excellent roast beef (from a cow from their own farm!), mashed potatos, really tasty gravy, veggies, two dozen homemade buns, and a dessert called Harvest Cake with thick caramel icing that was absolutely fabulous. The five of us (dad, me, dh, my sister & her partner) had it for dinner that night, and my sister took home leftovers that they had for dinner the next night -- but there was still enough for another full dinner for dh, Dad & me, as well as meat for sandwiches for lunch for a couple of days after that too.  
• A neighbour brought over an apple pie (warm from the oven) and homemade perogies (yum!).  
• One of Mom's good friends and a former coworker brought over two dozen buns, two packages of sliced deli meat (black forest ham and roast beef) and a package of two-bite mini-cupcakes (chocolate, Mom's favourite). 
• My parents get government-subsidized meals for seniors a couple of times a week -- and since my sister and I and our partners are all 55+, we can get them too whenever we're there.  They're available on weekdays -- eat in (at a local seniors residence), delivered or pick up. Dad prefers to pick up most days (gets him out of the house), but neighbours will pick up and deliver to him when it's cold & icy outside.  The meals are usually pretty tasty, nutritionally balanced and always include a protein (meat), starch (usually potatos or rice), veggies/salad, a bun and a dessert -- all for $7.50 (Canadian dollars).  Not bad!  They're ready for noon/lunch, but Dad prefers to refrigerate his and then heat it up in the microwave for supper. 
• We also had takeout a couple of times from local restaurants, including some really good chicken fingers, fries and coleslaw from one place, and a chicken caesar wrap with fries from another. 
• The chicken fingers come with honey dill sauce, a Manitoba specialty! -- albeit it's not something I grew up with;  it only became popular after I grew up and left the province. (One of these days, I'm going to bring a jar home with me! -- you can't find it in Ontario!) 
• Went to a favourite nearby Italian restaurant on Jan. 23rd for a belated 65th birthday dinner... I had a Caesar salad, orecchiette pasta with chopped sauteed rapini and crumbled sausage, and tiramisu for dessert.  (And a glass of white wine.) Yum!  (The portions were huge, so I took home leftovers for dinner the next day too!)  
• Older Nephew's Wife (who is an excellent cook!) made us a yummy orzo pasta with shrimp & cheese, airfryer chicken strips & potatos, and salad for lunch (Jan. 31st). 
• We also indulged in some of our usual takeout meals from the supermarket for lunch once or twice a week (pizza slices & soup), plus teriyaki rice bowls for occasional Saturday night dinners. We also indulged in Swiss Chalet's annual Festive Special before leaving for the holidays -- 1/4 rotisserie chicken with choice of sides, stuffing, cranberry sauce, bun-- and five Lindor chocolate truffles! lol.

Wearing: My collection of holiday-themed waffle-weave shirts from Old Navy, were brought to the forefront of the closet again during December, and I brought several of them with me to my parents' house for the holidays. Of course, I then wound up wearing them a whole lot more than I had anticipated, and well into mid-January, when we wound up staying longer than we had originally planned.  

I also wore my heavy winter coat and boots there, vs my lighter-weight (and shorter length) down jacket (and was glad I did!).

I hadn't brought anything with me to Manitoba to wear beyond jeans and yoga pants (now I know why the Royal Family always travels with a set of mourning clothes, just in case... although of course, they have servants to carry their luggage for them...!). Likewise, dh just had jeans and pajama pants.  We were considering an emergency shopping trip into the city to find something suitable to wear to Mom's funeral -- but then my sister dived into our mother's closet and found a pair of black twill pants for me. Size 12 (!) but they FIT!!  I had brought a nice grey sweater with me and I also wore that.  Dh wound up borrowing a pair of grey pants from Parents' Neighbours' Daughter's husband -- they fit perfectly too!  Thankfully, the small town/rural area where my parents live is pretty casual these days (I've seen people wearing jeans and even shorts at weddings there in recent years....!), and I don't think anyone would have faulted us even if we had worn jeans. 

Buying (besides books, lol):  Presents for both Christmas and Little Great-Nephew #2's pre-Christmas birthday. (Now I'm collecting things for their Valentine's Day goodie bags, as well as LGNiece's 3rd birthday, coming up in February.)  

Christmas gifts for my parents, sister & dh, as well as the three Little Princesses. 

Two lighter-weight sweaters with polo necks/collars from Old Navy (one black, one white) and a cropped henley sweatshirt from American Eagle, all on sale. 

A blouse and a sweater from Reitmans, using a Christmas gift card from dh and my birthday discount.  :)  

Noticing: The Rosiver cream prescribed by the dermatologist I saw in December appears to be more effective at dealing with rosacea than it was for covid.  ;)  (Look up the more popular name for it and you'll understand what I'm referring to! -- the "iv" in the name is a hint...!)  I have noticed an improvement in the redness and (minor) breakouts I was experiencing. Not perfect, but better.  Yay!  

Appreciating:  My parents' wonderful neighbours and friends, who brought tons of food over for us to eat after Mom died, and have been keeping Dad company (and keeping an eye out for him) since we returned home. 

Trying:  To get back to "normal" after a couple of pretty stressful months, including a full month away from home...!  And: to get at least one thing crossed off my lengthy to-do list that's piled up even further over the past month or two...!   

Hoping:  That this extreme cold spell ends soon.  (Brrrr!)  (Related:) Prioritizing:  Staying safe & warm. (It was the snowiest January on record in Toronto!). 

Wanting: A little more sunshine vs grey & gloom. (It IS clear and sunny today!) 

Wondering: How the rest of the year is going to unfold...

Anticipating: That this will be an expensive year...  :p  

• We still have another installment on the special assessment levied by our condo corporation to cover repairs to the roof as well as the parking garage -- and a new boiler has been ordered, since one of the two we use went kaput over the Christmas holidays, creating hot water shortages (!).  
• The master bathroom shower needs another look from a plumber (as detailed here.) (We've been showering in the other bathroom/tub in the meantime.)  
• We'll likely be back & forth to Manitoba a few more times than usual this year, for obvious reasons. (Flying within Canada is not cheap, and neither is driving -- and we certainly won't be driving until the weather improves...!)  
• My sister & I split the cost of Mom's funeral between us -- and there's still a plot or niche to buy and the interment of Mom's ashes to organize.  
• My heavy/warmest winter coat (which I mostly wear in Manitoba) is almost 20 years old and showing some signs of wear, and so is probably due for replacement soon. (Maybe next fall...) 
• I am going to need new glasses sooner vs later, and likely both regular and reading/computer glasses, since both are more than 10 years old and horribly scratched up. (Just waiting to see if I'm going to need more eye surgery, after I my opthomologist appointment in April -- backstory here.) 
• And... the springs on the door of our dishwasher have both snapped (first one, last year, then the other, this weekend -- made a horrible BANG that scared the crap out of us...!).  It still works (no leaks, we've checked!), but you have to lower the door VERY SLOWLY and not let it just drop, because it weighs a ton! -- and it came off one of the hinges this morning (we were able to rehinge the door and close it again, whew!).  Debating whether it's worth fixing vs just buying a new dishwasher. It was installed when the building was new (about a year before we bought this unit = about 11-12 years old), and the racks are also showing some signs of wear, although it's still cleaning the dishes well. (Knocking wood...!)
• (Any recommendations on dishwashers?  This one is a GE Profile, 23.5" door -- probably 24" wide total, including the frame, etc. We always had Kenmores at the house, but Sears Canada, where we bought them, is no more. The less noisy the better, since our kitchen/dining/living area is relatively small.)  

Enjoying:  Sleeping in my own bed again!  

Loving:  The big box of Lindor milk chocolates I got with my stocking on Christmas morning.  ;)  I've been limiting myself to one per day (there can't be THAT much cholesterol in one chocolate, can there??).  

                           

Feeling: Stunned by my mother's sudden death. (I know, she WAS almost 85, and I was lucky to have her for as long as I did, but..!). Sad (and guilty) to leave my 86-year-old dad by himself. Relieved that my sister is not that far away, and will be spending more time with him over the next while. (Nevertheless)  Glad to be home again. Also:  Disbelieving that I could actually be 65 years old (!!).  And: (partly) glad that my proudly Minnesota-born mother is not around to see what has happened there over the past month. She would have been heartbroken.  :(