#MicroblogMondays: "The Blue Castle" -- on stage!

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will know of my longstanding (almost lifelong) love for all things Lucy Maud Montgomery -- and that my favourite novel written by her is not the most famous, "Anne of Green Gables," but a toss up between "Rilla of Ingleside" (set on the World War I homefront in PEI, featuring Anne's teenaged daughter Rilla) -- and "The Blue Castle," a standalone book published in 1926 and notable for being the only Montgomery novel set entirely outside of Prince Edward Island, in the Ontario area of Muskoka (known today as "cottage country").  I first read "The Blue Castle" when I was about 12, and have re-read it many times since then (and reviewed it on my blog, here, here, here and here). .

So when I heard that that a theatrical version of "The Blue Castle" -- and a musical, to boot! -- would be performed over two weekends in July in Leaskdale, Ontario, where Montgomery lived from 1911 to 1926 (about an hour away from where I live),  at the church where her husband was once minister, I knew I HAD to see it. Happily, dh agreed to indulge me :)  and I ordered tickets for a Sunday afternoon (yesterday) matinee (preceded by an afternoon tea in the church basement).  

I first visited Leaskdale in June 1984 with my parents, en route back to Manitoba from attending my convocation at the University of Western Ontario in London, and visiting my future dh and his family in Toronto. We were actually headed to see the small town northeast of the city where my great-grandfather was born in 1871, and where my great x3 grandparents and their youngest daughter are all buried in the cemetery of an old stone church outside of town. En route, I spotted a sign indicating a turnoff ahead that would take us to Leaskdale, where there was a historic plaque marking the one-time home of  L.M. Montgomery.  I begged my dad to make the slight detour -- and happily, he complied. It didn't take us that far out of our way, and I was thrilled.  :)  The house was privately owned then, but there was a plaque by the side of the road. We asked a man cutting the grass outside if he minded if we took a photo of the house (he didn't -- he probably saw visitors like us all the time), and so my album from that trip includes a photo of me, beaming at the camera from in front of the house.  

In the years since then, the house and the nearby church where Montgomery's husband preached were purchased by the L.M.Montgomery Society of Ontario, declared a national historic site, painstakingly restored, and opened to the public. The house is now open for tours during the summer, and by appointment at other times of the year. The church hosts special community and Montgomery-related events throughout the year, and includes a small gift shop in the basement. Dh & I were last there in August 2014, not long after I lost my job, to tour the house and attend a performance of a one-woman show, "Maud of Leaskdale."  I wrote about it here. (And here are a few articles with more information about it: here, here and here.) 

It was lovely to be back in the land of Maud (as she preferred to be called), and to drive through the lush green countryside to get there.  :)  The tea and play were both sellouts, and I was able to say hello to several people I recognized from my L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group, including one who was part of the cast!  I thought the play was an original production, but it was actually written and first produced in 1993 (!). 

Me and Maud :) 
in the lovely garden adjacent to the church in Leaksdale.  

As this article notes, presenting the play in the confines of a church, without wings or a backstage, presented a few challenges, but the director and cast adapted marvellously.  We both enjoyed ourselves hugely, including dh (I explained the main characters and plot points to him in advance).  There were obviously some cuts and tweaks made to adapt the story for a stage environment and compress it into two hours(ish), but the overall story and vibe remained true to the book. And the music and singing was wonderful!  The show is still on this coming weekend, if you happen to be in the Toronto area and can get tickets!  

(Back in 2022, a film adaptation of the novel was announced -- I wrote about it here.  However, I have not heard anything further about it, and I suspect the project is on hold or has been cancelled.)  

Today is our 41st (!) wedding anniversary, so it was like an early anniversary outing/present (especially for me!).  We will go out for dinner later this evening, though. 

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

It's always something....

I was already doing a lot of thinking about travelling -- and then (on the same day, in late June) both Jess and Grumpy Rumblings had travel-related posts that really resonated with me.  This post is the result!  (Be forewarned, it's a long one!) 

All my life, I've dreamed about travelling to places I've only read about or seen on the movies or TV. My ancestral homelands of England, Scotland, Ireland and Sweden rank high on the wish list. So does Italy -- besides being married to an Italian, I've been fascinated by Pompeii ever since I read a story about a boy and his dog and the volcano, as a schoolkid. And other places, especially in Europe. (Ukraine/Russia too, especially given my Ukrainian heritage -- but that was not an option for the first 30 years or so of my life, given the Cold War -- and I fear that window of opportunity has closed again...)   

My family took a few big roadtrips when I was growing up (including a particularly memorable one when I was 14, to the west coast and back), but most of our vacations were spent staying with my grandparents in Minnesota, or visiting family & friends, or camping with friends.  Europe (or even Disneyland) was beyond our budget. 

These days, we're somewhat more financially well off than my parents were. But when we were both working, vacation time was at a premium, and -- since all of my family is 1000 miles away -- we wound up spending a lot of it with them (and still do). We've made a few trips over the years, with them and (sometimes) just the two of us, mostly within Canada and the northern U.S.  

Once we retired, and our vacation time was unlimited (if not our budget...!), it seemed like it was finally time to spread our wings a little and visit some of those places we'd talked about.  

BUT.  

I know I've written about all this before on this blog, but to recap:  

2015:  Dh got the bright idea to sell our house and move across the city to a condo. Which meant a mad scramble to fix up our house (a little, if not a full-scale reno), get rid of a LOT of stuff, and find a place to live that we could both agree on. That consumed a good part of late 2015/early 2016. 

Summer 2016:  Newly settled into our new condo, we did take a cross-country driving trip, from Toronto to Iowa (via Michigan/northern Indiana/northern Illinois) to attend my family reunion there, and then north via Minneapolis to spend some time with my parents & sister in Manitoba, before heading home again through northern Ontario.  (Look under July and August 2016 for posts from that trip.)  Once we got there, it was full speed ahead to Older Nephew's wedding that fall. 

Spring 2018:  Younger Nephew's wedding -- and FIL's cancer diagnosis. Spending time with him became our priority, and especially dh's.  We didn't even get to Manitoba that summer. FIL died in August. 

January 2020:  My 59th birthday. "Next year," I vowed, "I will spend my birthday on a warm beach somewhere." 

Well, you all know what happened just a few months later...! January 2021 rolled around, and no one was going anywhere, for quite a while... 

Most pandemic restrictions had lifted by the time summer 2022 rolled around -- but I wasn't able to go anywhere (even to Manitoba) then either, because I was dealing with a couple of health issues -- one longstanding, one new -- which culminated in almost-back-to-back surgeries for my eye and my gallbladder in July and August.   

Meanwhile, BIL's health had begun to deteriorate, and rapidly so, starting in late 2022/early 2023. He & SIL needed increasing support, for rides to medical appointments, and (especially) caregiving backup for Little Great-Nephew.  His liver transplant in July 2023 was a success (thank goodness!), but he still wasn't able to do much for quite a while, and so we continued to be on call for support for quite a while. 

I had high hopes that this might be the year we FINALLY got to take that big trip. For one thing, it was our 40th wedding anniversary in July -- what better incentive for a celebratory splurge of a trip, right??  (Not IN July -- too hot, too busy/crowded, almost anywhere we would want to go  -- but maybe September/October?)(Whose bright idea was it to get married in early July anyway??  lol)  

First step:  getting our passports renewed before they expired in May.  That took some doing, but we finally had them in hand by late May.  Meanwhile, I was looking at travel packages and asking friends what they'd recommend, etc. I thought about this a LOT, poking around the Internet, turning the various options over and over in my mind... 

When I brought the subject up earlier this year, in a general way, dh was on board ("yeah, sure, whatever you want...").  And I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it since then a few times too. But when I finally sat him down in early June and asked him to commit to some specifics ("if we're going to do it, we need to get something booked NOW..."), he got this deer-in-the-headlights look on his face -- admitted he hadn't really been thinking about it at all (! -- men, right??) -- and then confessed that he really wasn't keen on international travel right now, with everything happening in the world (our country's deteriorating relationship with the U.S., the security of Europe in flux, the continuing war in Ukraine, what's happening in Gaza...).  Maybe next year? 

I get it.  The world is a scary place right now. But. I'll admit:  I was not happy. I pointed out that I'm 64, he's 68. My knees are already not in great shape. We're not getting any younger...!  If not now, WHEN??  How many more good years do we have??

He did say we could definitely plan a trip for somewhere in Canada this fall.  (I probably don't have to explain why travel to the U.S. is off the table for the foreseeable future...)  We agreed we'd like to return to Nova Scotia (we went there for our 25th anniversary in 2010), spend a little more time there -- and maybe hit P.E.I. this time around while we're at it (a longtime bucket list destination for me)(and maybe a bit of New Brunswick along the way).  And he agreed that we could go somewhere warm this January for my 65th birthday. :)  (I'm thinking the Caribbean.... )

But -- first things first. By the time we had this conversation, it was almost time for us to head to Manitoba. I resolved that planning and booking a fall trip would be a priority when we returned.  (I'm much more confident about planning a trip within Canada, and it's easier to do at short notice too.)

Nothing is booked yet. Why? 

It's been busy since we got back. I did have intentions of booking something this week. 

BUT THEN:  

• Nova Scotia and Newfoundland (another potential destination both of us would really like to visit) are getting hammered right now by forest fires -- including some that are fairly close to the capital cities of Halifax and St. John's. Even if the fires didn't affect where we wanted to go (in terms of roads blocked, etc.), there will likely be lots of smoke to deal with. (Lots of other fires burning in other areas of Canada right now too, sadly...) 
• AND NOW -- Air Canada flight attendants are going on strike!!!  The airline is already starting to cancel flights. They expect to be completely grounded by the weekend. There IS WestJet (we only have two major Canadian national airlines -- which is part of why it's so damned expensive to travel within this country) -- but they will quickly be swamped, I'm sure. I have a great deal of sympathy for the flight attendants' grievances -- but...!  (Needless to say, I'm very glad our trip to Manitoba was in July...!) 

To quote the late great (also childless) Gilda Radner, "It's always something...!"  

Of course, the strike could be over quickly (especially if they go to binding arbitration, which is highly likely) -- and the fires could be brought under control by the time we want to go anywhere. Who knows??  But there are still a lot of unknowns to deal with right now. 

I'm sure some of you are reading this and thinking "Excuses, excuses... just go for it!"  To be honest, while I like the IDEA of travel -- and I almost always love it when we get wherever we're going -- I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to the process of getting there. I do kind of enjoy the research -- but actually making decisions, making all the necessary arrangements -- I get quite uptight sometimes.  I don't have a lot of anxiety about flying itself (although I've never had to fly anywhere for more than 5 hours -- to Seattle -- and most of that was over land, not an ocean! -- so that could change, depending on the destination...!) -- but I do get VERY anxious when going online and booking something. It's a lot of money at stake (even just to fly from Toronto to Winnipeg), and I feel like there are so many little decisions have you make along the way through the booking process -- and so many opportunities to screw up, lol.  

(I used to have a great travel agent -- I told her what we wanted and the dates, and she came back with some choices and took care of everything for me.  But once I lost my job, the travel agency fee seemed like one expense we could do without -- plus by then, everyone was booking their own travel online -- especially for simple travel, which is what we usually did and do -- Toronto-Winnipeg direct -- no transfers involved -- easy-peasy. But the idea of booking a flight to Europe -- and then planning and coordinating an itinerary, making reservations at hotels and B&Bs, sight unseen, etc. -- seems pretty daunting. Which is why I was thinking a tour might be the way to go, particularly for a first trip there.)  

One other reason I've been procrastinating:  I was hoping we'd hear from dh's cousins about a cottage weekend, if there's going to be one, so we could plan around that. We've gone there with BIL & SIL every September for the past four years, and really enjoyed it -- and we've usually had an invitation or at least a "save the date" email by now. I know it's been a busy summer for them too, though, for a number of reasons, and I am hesitant to reach out to them (even though there are other reasons I would like to do so), because I don't want to make it seem like I'm hinting/angling for an invitation...!  But I feel like the minute I book anything, they'll ask us, you know?? 

Anyway -- I'm wondering if maybe I should downscale my expectations (again...!) and maybe just suggest to dh that we do a road trip to Ottawa (about 4-5 hours away). (We were there with BIL & SIL in early October 2017.) There's lots to see and do there, and I've been dying to get back there, just the two of us, and do a little ancestor hunting in the area. :)  It would be easy enough to cancel/change a hotel reservation if something else came up in the meantime (much easier than cancelling or rebooking flights...!). 

Montreal would also be do-able -- together with Ottawa (it's only about 2 hours away from there) or on its own. I was there overnight on business, 30-ish years ago, but didn't really get to see much of the city then. 

We could also go to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a few days -- we haven't been there since our anniversary in 2017, and it's always such a great place to get away. The Shaw Festival offers great theatre all summer/fall long, and also runs a couple of Christmas-themed theatre productions in November & December -- A Christmas Carol and White Christmas.  That might be a fun way to get into the holiday spirit. :) 

I'm sure all these places are busier this year than usual, because so many people are staying at home/travelling within Canada right now -- but hopefully it would be a little less busy in the fall once kids go back to school, etc.  

Sigh... decisions, decisions....!  

If you've read this far, thank you!  (I do some of my best thinking on paper/screen, lol.)

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.)

July was a blur! -- including our 40th (!) wedding anniversary and two weeks in Manitoba with my family.  (How is it August already?) 

This month, we: 

• Went to the bookstore for a browse and to buy some birthday cards (July 3rd). 
• Drove to our old community on July 4th for a cemetery visit with Katie, haircuts, food court lunch, walking & shopping at the mall. 
• I enjoyed a few hours of rare "me alone at home" time later that evening when dh (along with BIL, the nephews, and their cousins/cousins' kids on their mom's side of the family) attended a stag/bachelor party dinner for their cousin's son (27, same age as Katie would have been), who's getting married in August.  
• Celebrated our 40th (!!) wedding anniversary on July 6th by going out for a very nice dinner -- and then coming home to watch "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" on TV (and laughed ourselves silly, lol).  
• Went to the local mall to walk & shop (July 8th & 29th). 
• Took a few bags full of books & clothes to the thrift store (July 9th). 
• Went to the nail salon for a pedicure (July 10th). 
• Travelled west to spend two weeks (July 12th-27th) with my parents & sister. While there we: 
• Made multiple trips to the local grocery store. Dh & I certainly indulged in treats while we were there (as the scale will attest...!), but we also stocked up on some of our usual, relatively healthy snacks -- sparkling water (instead of pop), pretzels and Greek yogurt.  
• Had cheeseburgers, fries and ice cream at the very popular local drive-in (twice), which has been operating for more than 60 (!) years (albeit it was sold by the family who originally owned it a few years back). 
• (I) Had lunch at a local restaurant with a friend who drove out from the city for a visit. 
• Did a LOT of waiting around for my mother, who notoriously marches to her own drummer/schedule -- sleeps half the day and prowls around most of the night. :p  Most mornings, she was not out of bed before noon (albeit she would sometimes spend part of that time reading her phone/tablet in bed). (If she did get up before noon, more often than not, she would head back to bed after being up for a half hour or so).
• Played cards every single night we were there, as well as a few games of dominos. My dad LOVES both!  (Dh not so much, lol, but he still played.) 
• Were royally entertained by visits from Little Princess #3 (and her mom, PND). 
• Celebrated my dad's 86th birthday, and my parents' 65th wedding anniversary, with cake & coffee with PND & family and a few of the neighbours in my parents' garage. (It would have been the back yard, but it looked like rain.)  
• We offered to take my parents out for dinner on both occasions, but the most they felt like doing was takeout hamburgers & fries from the local drive-in (!). (See above.) 
• Kept the windows closed, more often than not, because of the poor air quality caused by smoke from the forest fires several hundred miles north.  :(  My sister bought air purifiers for herself & our parents, and I chipped in for half of Mom & Dad's.  Sad to see the normally gloriously blue, sunny sky a dull, overcast grey.  :(  
• Went grocery shopping the morning after our return (July 28th), and restocked our rather bare refrigerator & cupboards. ;)  
• Picked up a prescription at the drugstore (July 29th) and then another prescription the next day! (July 30th) . 
• Had my upper lip waxed and brows (or what remains of them, anyway...!)(the left one in particular is pretty sparse...) shaped and tinted at a local Sephora, in advance of dh's cousin's son's upcoming wedding. (July 30th) 

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished just 1 book in July (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2025 books"). (Too many distractions while at my parents'!):  

• "Miss Buncle Married" by D.E. Stevenson, for my D.E. Stevenson group. (Original 2015 review here;  April 2025 review here;  most recent review here). 

This brings me to 21 books read in 2025 to date, 47% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 5 (! -- sigh...) books behind pace to meet my goal.  :) 

Current reads: 

• The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson. (Re-)Reading this one in advance of my D.E. Stevenson group's chapter-by-chapter reading & discussion, which starts Aug. 4th and runs through mid-October. (My original 2015 review here). Currently 12% 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, 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.
• "A Place of Greater Safety" by Hilary Mantel, the current slow read with Footnotes and Tangents, which began May 5th and runs for 20 weeks (until Sept. 15th). Currently 59% completed. 
• "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...! 

Did not finish: 

• "Living the Life Unexpected" by Jody Day. My online discussion group recently finished its year-long, chapter-by-chapter read of this CNBC classic -- the 5th (!) time I've read it (or tried to read it), or the earlier version of it ("Rocking the Life Unexpected").  This time around, however, I only managed to attend about half the meetings (and read the corresponding chapters). I'm choosing to mark this as "did not finish" this time around, and will start fresh if/when the group restarts and I join in the discussions again.  
• "DNF"  should not cast any doubt on whether this is a worthwhile read, because it is!  and the fact that I've previously read this book multiple times all the way through (plus parts of it at other times) should vouch for that.  :) 
• Most recent review, with links to earlier reviews, here.

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:  
• "Drive Your Plow (Over the Bones of the Dead)" by Olga Tokarczuk.(August). 
• "The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands" by Mary Seacole. (September) 
• "The Secrets of Blythswood Square" by Sara Sheridan. (October) 
• For my D.E. Stevenson group:  This list of upcoming books should keep us busy through 2025 or even into early 2026!  (A couple of the books are ones we covered shortly after I first joined the group back in 2014 -- you know you've been around for a while when....!)  
• 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:
• "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe -- starts Sept. 29th, for 5 weeks. 
• "The Blue Flower" by Penelope Fitzgerald -- starts Nov. 3rd, for 7 weeks. 

(Simon is a big fan of the late great Hilary Mantel, and the other books he's selected were all ones that she loved, so he figured they would probably be worth reading!) 

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

• "The Resilience Myth" by Soraya Chemaly 
• "Marble Hall Murders" by Anthony Horowitz 
• "The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus" by Emma Knight 
• "The Summer of Naked Swim Parties" by Jessica Anya Blau 
• (This is one of those books that I just HAD to buy because of the title...!  lol) 
• "Dare I Say It" by Naomi Watts 
• "Uptown Girl" by Christie Brinkley 
• "That Librarian" by Amanda Jones

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

Watching: 

• "Coronation Girls" on PBS on Canada Day -- a documentary about a group of 50 Canadian teenaged girls, who were chosen by Canadian businessman Garfield Weston to attend Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in London in June 1953 -- how their lives have unfolded since then, and the return trip that 12 of them -- now in their late 80s! -- made to England 70 years later, in December 2023 (including a special surprise visitor to a tea party!).  Just wonderful, and reminded me a little of my own life-changing trip to Ottawa when I was in Grade 12.  
• "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" on TCM on July 6th (our 40th wedding anniversary). I've seen this one several times since I was a teenager, albeit not recently, and it was so much fun. We laughed ourselves silly. ("Life of Brian," which I saw when it first came out in 1979, was on after that, but I couldn't stay awake until the end. And I think "Holy Grail" is the much better and funnier movie anyway!) 
• The LiveAid 40th anniversary documentary series on CNN, which is bringing back a lot of great memories! (Final episode airing on Sunday night!) 

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: Stats as of July 31st:  
• Heardle 60s: 74.7% (743/995, 295 on first guess), down 0.5% from last month. Max. streak: 15.
• Heardle 70s: 77.8% (571/734, 322 on first guess), up 0.2% from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s: 40.0% (241/602, 88 on first guess), up 0.6% from last month. Max. streak: 5.
• Heardle 90s: 31.7% (223/703, 54 on first guess), up 0.3% from last month. Max. streak: 5. 
• NYT Connections:  
•  By June 30th, I'd completed 337 games and won 85% of them, including 172 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 8 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  And I increased my maximum winning streak to 45!  :)   (Current streak at 2!)  
• By July 31st, I'd played 368 games and won 86% of them, including 189 "perfect puzzles," including 8 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (unchanged from last month).  Maximum winning steak:  45.  Current streak: 7. 

Following:  

• I recently started following Canadian Returnee on Substack (who also posts from the American perspective as American Refugee). They hold dual Canadian/American citizenship and recently returned to Canada from living abroad (in Hong Kong, and possibly elsewhere). I appreciate the broad, thoughtful perspective they bring to our current cross-border issues.  

Eating/Drinking:  

• As I've mentioned before, we achieved our goal of lowering our cholesterol levels in late January, after less-than-stellar bloodwork last fall earned us both serious chats with our family doctor -- and we've been trying to maintain/improve on those numbers (and lose/keep off some extra pounds) since then, by continuing to eat healthier and move at least a little more.    
• This goal took a bit of a hit this month (big anniversary dinner out, travelling, two weeks at my parents' house)(my dad never met a pound of butter he didn't love, lol) -- and I guess that was to be expected. (And how often do I get "home" to see my parents -- or to celebrate my wedding anniversary -- and a "milestone" one at that??) 
• We weighed ourselves the morning after we got home (not recommended...!), and again this morning (Friday = our usual weigh-in day), with better results. I ended the month 1 pound heavier than when it began -- which is not too bad, all things considered...!  Overall, I've lost about 12 pounds since our chat with the doctor last October (dh has lost more than 20), and almost 24 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight a few years ago. 
• Steaks and sides at the local Keg (Canadian steakhouse chain) on our 40th wedding anniversary -- including a slice of their famous Billy Miner Pie for dessert (described in this post). (The portions are HUGE, but we ordered one and asked for two spoons, lol.) 
• Homecooked (by my dad) meals at my parents' house included waffles for brunch, pickerel, pork tenderloin, and new potatos, carrots and yellow wax beans from the local farmers' market. 
• Chicken caesar wrap with fries for lunch with an old friend, at a local bistro in my parents' town.  
• Great cheeseburgers, fries and soft-serve ice cream at the local drive-in in my parents' town (which has been there for more than 60 years!). 
• Breakfast sandwiches at Tim Hortons at the Toronto and Winnipeg airports (egg, cheese and sausage on an English muffin). 
• Other notable recent takeout meals include soup & pizza slices from the local supermarket takeout counter, and wood oven thin crust pizza. 

Wearing:  Shorts or capris, and short-sleeved T-shirts and tank tops.  :)  Also, I wore sundresses for both our wedding anniversary dinner out and my dad's birthday party.   

Buying (besides books, lol): 

• 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...!    
• New dress shirt for dh (to wear to his cousin's son's wedding -- all his old dress shirts were yellowed around the cuffs and collars!).  
• A couple of new tops from Reitmans. 
• A few things for the great-niblings (on sale), as well as a couple of tops for me, at Old Navy. 

Wondering:  What happened to July?? 

And: Which of the two dresses I bought should I wear to the upcoming wedding??  (I STILL haven't made up my mind...!  Decisions, decisions...) 

Prioritizing:  Trying to get through my daily to-do list (even if everything on it doesn't get done) before starting other projects. 

Trying:  Not to fret if I don't get through my inbox ever day. And to pare down my inbox and delete old/unread messages on a more regular/frequent schedule! 

Anticipating: Seeing the nephews and their families this weekend at BIL's!  Also, seeing some of dh's cousins at his cousin's son's wedding, coming up soon.  

And: Spending some time remembering our Katie on her special day, also coming up soon. 

Noticing/Enjoying:  Clean windows!  The window washers hadn't reached our side of the building before we left to see my parents. We still have to do the balcony doors ourselves, but the other two windows look great! (They DO make a difference!)  

Wanting: To get to the gelato shop, sooner vs later...!  (Haven't been yet this summer!)    

Appreciating:  Sleeping in my own bed again!  lol  

Loving:  Spending time with my parents -- but also loving coming home again! 

Hoping: August is not as hot and humid as July was...! (But I won't hold my breath...!)  

                              

Feeling: Grateful to be able to spend time with my parents (even when they're driving me nuts...!).  (Nevertheless...!:)  Glad to be home again.  Aware of quickly the year is speeding by (and how many things I want and need to be done that still need doing...!).   

#MicroblogMondays: Post-vacation odds & ends

I just got back from two weeks with my parents and sister last night and have had NO time to put together a proper post -- but I've been collecting a few odds & ends -- and since it's #MicroblogMonday...!  

• Many of the "annoying things and small pleasures" described in past posts about family visits -- including this one, this one, this one -- still apply. ;)  
• Also annoying:  the weather there. We alternated between extreme heat/humidity and cold/rain, with some forest fire smoke thrown in for good measure (air quality health index of 10+ -- out of 10, i.e., dangerous, on several days). "Sunny Manitoba" is one of the province's mottos/marketing slogans, but (sadly) it was decidedly not that this time around...!  :(  
• The weekend I landed at my parents' house was the 40th anniversary of LiveAid.  I didn't know until later that they were showing the entire concert again on YouTube -- I was pretty busy that day anyway, but I was sorry I'd missed it. 
• LiveAid happened exactly one week after our wedding.  I remember watching parts of the concert on & off that day from our hotel room in Calgary, where we were just wrapping up our honeymoon in Banff & Jasper (as well as a day at the Calgary Stampede, lol), before flying to Toronto to start married life together. 
• I've enjoyed watching the four-part LiveAid documentary series that CNN has been showing on past few Sundays. (Fourth & final episode coming up this weekend!)  Lots of great memories (but yikes -- some of those people have aged!). (But then again, so have I...!  lol)  
• A recent post from Grumpy Rumblings included a link to an article about "cinema's greatest scene" -- the singing of "La Marseillaise" from "Casablanca," my all-time favourite movie. The article is 10 years old, but it's a brilliant and thorough analysis and worth a read, especially if you're a fan! 
• I recently learned that our former family doctor of 28 years, who retired 11 years ago, died a few weeks ago.  Too late for us to attend the visitation or funeral  :(  but I would have loved to be there and tell his wife (who was his nurse) -- again -- how much we appreciated their care.  
• Doc appeared in several of my posts over the initial years of this blog, including my "1998 memories" and "The Treatment Diaries" series, and this post from 2014, where I wrote about saying goodbye to him before he retired. 
• As you will read here (gift link),  not only was he a heck of a good doctor, he was a Major League Baseball player and had four World Series rings!! -- two from his time as a relief pitcher (1964 St. Louis Cardinals and 1969 New York "Miracle" Mets), and two in his role as the Toronto Blue Jays team doctor. (His nickname was "Dr. Baseball,"  and his two sons made a documentary short film about him by that name! -- you can find it online.)  He also had an engineering degree, pre-medicine!  
• Since I wrote about the passing of my high school English teacher in late June, my classmates & I learned about the deaths of not just one but TWO classmates (less than two weeks apart from each other) -- both from forms of cancer. :(  Both were my classmates in junior high as well as high school (at that time, there were four K-9 schools in our town, as well as a couple of K-6 schools and two high schools).  They're not the first to go, and they certainly won't be the last (cough!) -- but seriously, aren't we too young for this to be happening?? 

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

Annoying things & small pleasures

 Annoying things: 

• No one (very few people, anyway) remembered it was our wedding anniversary. Our FORTIETH anniversary!  :(   
• (Small pleasure:  ALI bloggers & other childless friends came through for me and made me feel better.  Thank you!)  
• Older Nephew was rear-ended while driving home from work one night recently, and is now suffering from whiplash, requiring physio (which, happily, seems to be helping some). The driver who hit him was a young girl, freshly licensed -- and looking at her cellphone while behind the wheel. (Are you surprised?  : p )  
• There was enough damage to his car (a 12-year-old hand-me-down from BIL) that it's basically a writeoff. BIL is on the hunt to find him a new one.
• We've all heard that you shouldn't drink and drive, but PLEASE, don't text or otherwise look at your cellphone while you're driving, too!  
• The water spout in the shower cubicle in the master ensuite bathroom has been dripping for months now... and (as a result) so has the drain. It's been getting worse lately. You can HEAR it dripping (although I've found that laying a piece of paper towel over the drain at night stops the noise... no way I could sleep with that going on!).  I shone a flashlight though the grate where the water goes down, and it looks like there's a bit of a clog forming. Ugh.  :p  I have had "CALL PLUMBER" on my to-do list for eons now (there are a couple of other things we need them to do too, in both bathrooms), but we're just too busy right now, so it's going to have to wait until we get back from our trip west. 
• (Not the annoying thing:) Dh tried on his suit -- for the first time since his dad's funeral 7 years ago, I think -- and it fit! It was pretty snug before, but he's lost some weight, and he will need to wear a suit to his cousin's son's wedding in August. (Weddings here are NOT casual dress!)  
• Related annoying thing: we checked his dress shirts (he had a few nice ones in the closet, left over from his work days), and they ALL had yellowing around the collar & cuffs. (!)  We bought him a new white one at the mall earlier this week. 
• Not enough sunshine lately.  :(  

Small pleasures:  

• We did have a lovely anniversary dinner.  :)  We had steaks, something we don't have too often these days, and wine -- and we had dessert:  Billy Miner Pie, which is kind of a signature dish for this restaurant chain:  mocha ice cream on a chocolate cookie crumb crust, drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrup and sprinkled with slivered toasted almonds.  Yum!  (I don't know what tomorrow's weekly weigh-in will look like -- but it was worth the splurge!)  
• We took four large shopping bags full of books to the thrift store this week (mostly ones I have cheap e-versions for).  I was keeping count as I filled the first two bags (44 books), but I forgot to count how many were in the last two bags -- but you get the idea...! I do hate letting go of books   :(  but my bookshelves were getting awfully cluttered, so I knew it was time to do a cull...!  and my shelves look much neater. (For now anyway...! lol)  
• Window washing (the accessible outside windows of the building -- whatever's on the balcony is our responsibility) is currently underway! (Clean windows make me happy! :)  ) 
• Pre-vacation pedicure this afternoon. :) 

#MicroblogMondays: 40 years (!)

(NOT a microblog post, lol.)  

Yesterday was our 40th (!!) wedding anniversary.  (How did that happen??) 

Despite the significance of 40 years -- nothing to sneeze at, especially these days -- it was a very quiet, low-key kind of day, for a number of reasons:  

First, whose bright idea was it to get married in early July?? -- the hottest time of the year, right after Canada Day and the 4th of July in the U.S., when everywhere you might want to go is swarming with tourists, and hotel prices are at their peak??  (Speaking from experience...!) 

As an aside:  I actually wanted to get married on June 16th. 16 has long been one of my favourite/lucky numbers, I grew up hearing that June was the perfect month for a wedding, and from the time I was a teenager, at least, June 16th was a date in my head for my wedding -- AND, June 16th fell on a Saturday in 1985! -- AND both the chapel & reception venue we wanted were available that day!  

But my mother was working then (part-time, but...), as a teacher aide at an elementary school, and classes didn't end until the very end of June -- and she said a June wedding would be one way to send her to an early grave (sure Mom, lay on the guilt...!). (She did say the same thing about a Christmas wedding, lol -- which I also suggested as a very pretty time of year to get married -- so much of your decorating already done for you, right?)  So I took the first available date after June ended, which was July 6th.  

Which was just as well.  It was one of those summers (especially when you're in your 20s) when all your friends and cousins (and your parents' friends kids, and cousins' kids, etc.) are getting married.  There were were wall to wall weddings (and the corresponding showers, etc.) -- a friend from high school, my cousin, my second cousin, the cousin of one of my bridesmaids (I knew her too), and the same bridesmaid herself got married that summer (in August). Even if my parents or I weren't invited to all of these weddings, or couldn't go to them, a lot of people who came to our wedding were going to those ones too.  

I wrote to my first-year university roommate to tell her the date -- I was considering asking her to be a bridesmaid too --  and she actually called me up (which she rarely did -- long distance was expensive back then!) and said, "Well, kiddo, we've both picked the SAME WEDDING DAY!"  I suppose it was inevitable, with all the weddings going on, that there would be a conflict with someone...! So we didn't get to attend each others' weddings!  (She & her husband -- a guy I'd introduced her to! -- wound up splitting a few years later.)  

Another reason we didn't do much on/around our anniversary this year is we'll be heading west to see my family soon -- and there's lots of stuff we need to get done before we go. Even if crowds and pricing weren't a factor, a looming travel deadline and a long to-do list made it difficult to do too much else besides dinner out. 

We didn't think much about it at the time, but we got married the same year (and same month!) that my parents were marking their 25th anniversary!  My dad's family (my aunts & uncles, and his cousins) have always made a big deal out of significant wedding anniversaries and often held big parties of some sort for 25, 40, 50 and onward. Even though we were up to our necks in wedding plans, they relentlessly pressured me and my sister about what we were going to do for Mom & Dad's 25th? (!)  They proposed "surprising" my parents by showing up at the house en masse (!).  

Of course you couldn't just have a horde of people show up and not be prepared to feed them! (and I knew my mother would kill me if I knew this was going to happen and the house wasn't clean...!)  -- so we told our parents & my mother arranged for some food. (The guests did bring some food with them too, but it would not have been enough on its own.) I made a special solo trip home to be there (even though we'd just spent a ton of money on a wedding and a honeymoon a few weeks earlier, dh had only just started working and I was unemployed), and we planned the party date so that I could also attend my friend/bridesmaid's wedding on Aug. 9th.  

Since then, my parents' milestone anniversaries have always taken precedence over ours.  When their 40th rolled around, my sister & I hosted a dinner/dance for them, with about 100 friends & family members attending. We did the same for their 50th (minus the dancing, since we found most people just wanted to chat anyway), and we were planning a come-and-go tea in the church basement for their 60th before the pandemic intervened. Travel restrictions meant I couldn't be there at all for the day, so my sister wound up serving cake & coffee in the backyard to about a dozen neighbours, and that was it.  They will be marking #65 (!) while we're there -- no big parties planned this time around (and many of the people who insisted we needed to have a party, and attended them, are either gone, or would have difficulty coming now), but we will find some way to celebrate. 

To her credit, when we started planning the 50th, my sister said, "Are we doing a combined 25/50 party, or just 50?"  I felt uncomfortable taking the spotlight away from Mom & Dad, so 50-only it was (although my sister bought me a corsage and dh a boutonniere too, and several people brought us anniversary cards too). 

When I think about it, we celebrated my maternal grandparents' big anniversaries with them, too. I remember a family dinner for their 40th -- we all dressed up -- with cake & coffee at the house later. A few of the neighbours may have dropped by. We held a big come & go tea in the church basement on their 50th, with lots of distant family travelling to be there.  We put an even notice in the weekly community newspaper (common practice there), and lots of local friends & neighbours came too.  By the time their 60th came around, they were living at the seniors home, but we still had a lot of family come to celebrate.  We served cake & coffee and played bingo with the residents in the community room. We didn't advertise, but somehow word spread and several people from town came by anyway to wish them well.  

I went to several big anniversary parties for aunts, uncles & cousins on my dad's side (and missed many others, because of distance). On mom's side, I flew solo to Minneapolis in May 2014 to attend my uncle and aunt's 50th anniversary party. I'm very glad I did, because it was one of the last times I saw him before his death last year and I got to see a lot of other people I hadn't seen in a long time too. 

I don't know if dh's parents did anything to celebrate their 25th anniversary. His mom died a few years after that. FIL & stepMIL celebrated their 25th anniversary with a big party/dinner with family & friends at a nearby restaurant. FIL died just before they hit 30.  A few of the aunts & uncles have had parties to celebrate their milestone anniversaries, especially the 25th, but it generally doesn't seem to be the big "must do" thing that it is in my dad's family. 

So, celebrating anniversaries has long been a "thing" in my family. (Maybe not so much in dh's.)  Obviously, we have no children or grandchildren to organize anniversary celebrations for us, or make a fuss over us, or remind people that it's a big anniversary for us.  Or even to take a photo of us.  If we have any anniversary photos of ourselves, it's because we've taken them ourselves -- with a self-timer, in the old camera days, or as a "selfie," with our cellphones now. The results are often less than stellar, lol -- but we have a lot of laughs along the way! I have, very occasionally, asked a waiter to take our photo -- and they are always happy to oblige -- but dh doesn't like doing that.  

It's up to us to celebrate ourselves. 

But I've never felt comfortable with the idea of hosting our own anniversary party, and I know dh feels the same way. (Which is not to say we don't appreciate a little recognition or fuss made over us, now & then...!) We have sometimes gone out for dinner with BIL & SIL on our anniversary (and on theirs) -- and I did suggest to dh that we could invite BIL & SIL, and perhaps dh's two cousins who were in our wedding party, and their partners, to come out for dinner with us -- and maybe the nephews and their families too.  Yes, it would have been expensive, but your 40th anniversary only rolls around once, right? But dh preferred to keep it to just the two of us. He doesn't even like telling the restaurant staff that it's our anniversary either (even if it might result in a freebie or two. 

There have been some years when we've done more than just going out for dinner.  We've sometimes spent the night at a swanky downtown hotel, and/or gotten theatre tickets.  We've spent a couple of anniversary weekends in Niagara-on-the-Lake (a favourite getaway spot -- albeit, again, very crowded and busy -- and expensive!! -- especially at this time of year!).  We spent a couple of anniversaries at "cottage country" resorts (on Lake Simcoe, and near Huntsville), one in Stratford, and one in Kingston.  We spent our 25th anniversary at the theatre ("Rock of Ages" -- an 80s rock musical -- how appropriate, lol) and spent the night at the King Edward Hotel downtown -- and then spent a week in September driving around Nova Scotia.  (I've written about many of these trips & celebrations on this blog -- and while I haven't tagged each individual reference, you can find some of those posts here tagged/labelled "our wedding anniversary".)  And we will probably take some kind of trip again later this fall. (I will probably write more about that in another post, down the road.)  We've sometimes been in Manitoba with my family for our anniversary, and I remember at least one time that my mom got a cake for us then. 

(But it's generally up to ME to propose/express a preference about what we should do, do any research & planning involved, and make any necessary reservations...!  I generally don't mind -- I'm enough of a control freak that I would certainly want my say on any major decision making in that regard, lol -- but it's exhausting sometimes...  Just once in a while, I'd like to leave all the decisions and planning up to dh. But I know if I did that, nothing would ever happen...! -- and I suspect I'm not alone among wives in that respect...!) 

As I said, it's up to us to celebrate ourselves. And if we were waiting for anyone else to make a fuss over us on our big day, we would have been sadly disappointed.  Would have been?  Okay, I'll admit it -- I was/am feeling a little irritated... Okay, pissed off.  I changed my cover & profile photos on Facebook to shots from our wedding, as I usually do -- and got a few "likes" and comments there -- but I had to wonder whether anyone would have remembered the occasion if I hadn't done that. 

Sunday is my usual day to call my parents -- and I was wondering/hoping that maybe they might call ME this time around.  Nope, I had to call them -- and neither of them said one word about it being our anniversary. (I didn't prompt or hint at them either.)  I know my mom will probably call and apologize when she does remember (it's not the first time this has happened -- although I don't think they've ever forgotten my birthday!).  I did think my sister (my maid of honour) might call -- she sometimes does on our anniversaries -- but, silence.   

While some of dh's relatives liked or commented on my FB photos, there was no flurry of "happy anniversary" posts on his family's WhatsApp groups or text groups, as there often is when someone is celebrating an anniversary or a birthday or other special occasion. Of course, it's usually the parents or kids who proudly post about the special dates in their parents' or kids' lives. We don't have anyone to do that on our behalf. 

What *really* rubbed some salt in the wound:  dh's cousin in Italy did post "happy anniversary" wishes on WhatsApp -- for her parents (dh's uncle & his wife), who were celebrating THEIR 50th anniversary that very same day (!).  Now, I certainly do not begrudge them the anniversary wishes -- and 50 does outrank 40...! -- but let's just say I waited a while before I added my own "likes."  (But I did not leave a comment.)  I'll admit, I can be a little petty sometimes (lol -- I come by it honestly -- there was NO ONE who could hold a grudge like my grandmother and/or her older sister!!).  I wanted to see if anyone would clue in and mention that someone ELSE was celebrating a significant/milestone anniversary the same day too...!  I thought SIL might add something to the effect that we were celebrating a big anniversary too (particularly since, to her credit, she did privately text me & dh earlier with best wishes), especially when she added her own congratulations to the chain -- but she did not. 

All the ranting/whining above aside (lol) -- I was (am!) proud and happy to have reached this milestone, and so very thankful for dh and the good life we've built together these past 40 (!!) years... with its share of ups & downs, to be sure, and without the children or grandchildren we once assumed would be ours -- but a very good life, nevertheless. We've agreed to another 40 more (at least).  ;)    

It was a very quiet, low-key kind of day. It was horribly hot & humid again -- peak temperature was 34C/40C humidex -- that's 93F and 104F -- so we mostly stuck close to home and air-conditioned comfort, lol.  We exchanged cards (as we always do).  But later in the day, we dressed up a bit (I wore a sundress) and went out for dinner at a local steakhouse. We hadn't been there since well before the pandemic began. (And holy cow, the prices have sure gone up since the last time we were there...!)  

And then we came home -- and watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" on TMC, lol.  I've seen it several times since I first saw it as a teenager -- but not in a while.   haven't laughed that much in a long time. (I needed that!)   

And that was about it.  We're hoping to take a trip later this fall, when the weather is not so hot and the crowds have thinned out a bit (we hope..!).  Where, exactly, hasn't been settled, but we have some ideas... 

Please celebrate the people in your lives, on the meaningful dates in their lives (and maybe "just because" too). Especially the people who don't have kids, or husbands/partners.  They may not have had weddings and all the attendant celebrations surrounding those, and anniversaries to mark afterwards, and/or baby showers and gender reveals (and then kids' birthdays and baptisms and first communions and confirmations and graduations after that). But we all have birthdays, and we've all done other things in our lives that are worth celebrating: education achievements, new homes, new jobs, promotions, retirements... Trust me, it means a lot when you make the effort.      

Past posts about our wedding anniversaries here.   

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.)

May -- the Victoria Day long weekend, at least -- is traditionally regarded as the kickoff to summer in Canada.  This doesn't necessarily mean the weather will be summer-y!  The rule of thumb, at least in the parts of Canada where I grew up, is you don't plant your garden before Victoria Day, because frost is still a distinct possibility.

By mid-May, I'd abandoned my long sleeves & cardigan. The Friday of the Victoria Day long weekend was sunny, warm and humid enough for dh to turn on the air conditioning. I optimistically wiped down the balcony furniture and hopefully pulled out my capris & sandals... only to have to put my long pants & socks back on again (and consider turning the heat back on!), when the weather turned grey, chilly and rainy on Sunday (and mostly stayed that way for the rest of the month...!). In fact, it hadn't been this consistently cold in late May since 1967!!  Thankfully, slightly warmer temperatures (if not the sun itself) returned just before the end of the month.  

This month, we: 

• Drove to a bookstore about a half-hour north & east of us on Sunday, May 4th, to attend a book signing by an old friend. (I wrote about her book here.)  
• Went to the mall to walk & shop (May 5th, 13th, 20th & 27th). 
• Spent most Friday mornings this month with SIL & Little Great-Niece at BIL & SIL's house. 
• Some explanation: SIL has been taking care of her granddaughter (Little Great-Niece) two mornings a week, since her mom returned to work part-time last summer.  The other grandmother takes care of her the other three workdays.  Both parents mostly work from home, and the office space in their small townhouse is simply not big enough for both of them, let alone LGNiece and SIL too -- so Younger Nephew started going to the office at his parents' house to work!  Then LGNiece learned to climb stairs (lol) and kept heading up to see what her mother was doing!  So Younger Nephew started bringing LGNiece to his parents' place instead. So far, she's left her dad alone to work -- at least, more than she did with her mother!   
• We wanted to spend some time with LGNiece (as we did with LGNephew #1 before he started school), but didn't want to add to an already-crowded situation by going to  Younger Nephew's townhouse, even though it's not very far from us. Visiting at BIL & SIL's house, however, is a different situation!  
• And so, we joined SIL & LGNiece for a walk to the nearby park on May 9th, then returned to the house for tea & snacks. Younger Nephew also came downstairs for a few minutes to say hello (one of the perqs of working remotely!).    
• Went for a walk around the neighbourhood on May 16th, with SIL & LGNiece (it rained overnight, so it was too wet to spend much time at the park), then back to the house, where BIL (who had the day off work) grilled hot dogs for us all for lunch (including Younger Nephew).  
• It was raining AGAIN on May 23rd, so we mostly played in the basement. :) 
• We missed going to the park with SIL & LGNiece on May 30th (they'd already been by the time we got there), but had fun playing in the back yard with the water table & helping SIL water her tomato plants. 
• LGNiece is much fonder of the women in her life -- happily, including me! -- than the men (not including her daddy)!  It took her a long time to warm up to her nonno (BIL), and for some unknown reason, she is afraid of poor dh (!) who is generally a kid magnet. "I don't want you here," she will sometimes tell him with 2-year-old frankness. She has shown some signs of thawing, but I think it's going to be a long, slow process...!  (But then, when we first started going over to SIL's to visit him (after being largely absent from his life during the worst of the pandemic), LGN #1 used to hide behind his nonna's legs when he saw us coming! -- and he certainly came around!)  
• After visiting SIL & LGNiece on May 9th, dh & I went out for an early Mother's Day brunch (his idea!). :)  Then to Reitmans (women's wear shop), Chapters (bookstore) and then home. 
• Went to the bank on the morning of May 21st to arrange an RESP (registered education saving plan) for Little Great-Nephew #2 (as we've done for the other two great-niblings).  
• A signature from Older Nephew's Wife/the mom was required within three business days -- so dh called her and we drove up there (about an hour, one way) after lunch (takeout pizza slices from the supermarket). (Dh called SIL too, to see if she'd like to come along, but she was busy.)  
• We only stayed for half an hour or so, but we got to spend time with the baby and take turns holding him.  Also got to see the dog -- albeit I think he was a little miffed that I was holding the baby and not petting him, as I usually do when I'm there, lol.  (LGN #1, of course, was at school.)  The baby is such a happy, smiley little guy, and we hadn't seen him (or LGN #1) since Easter. (Still haven't seen LGN #1 since then!  :(  )  DAY MADE.  
• Had my first mani-pedi of the year/season on Friday, May 23rd!  :)  (The salon was PACKED and I immediately put my mask on when I walked in... for the fumes, as well as the germs, lol.)  
• Went with SIL to a lovely bridal shower on May 25th. The wedding is in August;  the bride is marrying the son of a cousin of dh & BIL's, and all of the female cousins & remaining aunts on that side of the family were there. The groom is the same age as Katie would have been -- his mom's pregnancy and mine briefly overlapped. (Her baby shower happened shortly after we'd announced my pregnancy, and I received almost as many congratulations as she did!)  Not sure how I'm going to feel about this one...!  But I did have a pretty good time at the shower!  

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Also right now:  

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

• "Miss Austen" by Gill Hornby. (3.5-4 stars; my review.) 
• "A Burning" by Megha Majumdar (the June selection for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club). (3-3.5 stars;  my review.) 
• "Anne of Windy Poplars" by L.M. Montgomery (called "Anne of Windy Willows" in the U.K., with some text variations). My L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group started reading & discussing this book together on Jan. 6th;  we just finished this week! (Previous review here;  most recent review here. 4 stars..) 

This brings me to 16 books read in 2025 to date, 36% of my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 2 books behind pace to meet my goal.  :) 

Current reads: 

• "Rules For Visiting" by Jessica Francis Kane (the July pick for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club -- just started;  currently 6% completed).  
• "A Place of Greater Safety" by Hilary Mantel, the current slow read with Footnotes and Tangents, which began May 5th and runs for 20 weeks (until Sept. 15th). Currently 17% completed. 
• "Miss Buncle Married" by D.E. Stevenson, for my D.E. Stevenson group.  Our group discussion began on April 21st, and I'll count this as another re-read once we're finished (in July). I've read the book twice before on my own (once in 2015 and again prior to the start of our group read & discussion -- see above! Currently 52% completed.  (Original 2015 review here;  most recent review here). 
• "Living the Life Unexpected" by Jody Day.  I'm once again taking part in a chapter-by-chapter group read of this CNBC classic!  The most recent Zoom meeting covered Chapter 10.  This is the 5th (!) time I've read this book, or the earlier version of it ("Rocking the Life Unexpected").  (Most recent review, with links to earlier reviews, here.)  
• "L.M. Montgomery and Gender," an essay collection edited by E. Holly Pike & Laura Robinson. Slowly working my way through, in between the other books...! 

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

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

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

(Simon is a big fan of the late great Hilary Mantel, and the other books he's selected were all ones that she loved, so he figured they would probably be worth reading!) 

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

• "On Freedom" by Timothy Snyder 
• "Look for Me There" by Luke Russert 
• "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver 
• "Missoula" by Jon Krakauer 
• "Whale Fall" by Elizabeth O'Connor 
• "Table for Two" by Amor Towles 
• "Paris Undercover" by Matthew Goodman 
• "Why We Act Like Canadians" by Pierre Berton 
• "Rental House" by Weike Wang
• "Isola" by Allegra Goodman 

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Watching: 

• "Miss Austen" on PBS Masterpiece, which began May 4th and ran for 4 episodes, based on the novel by Gill Hornby (see "Reading," above). 
• "The Handmaid's Tale" (the sixth & final season, which wrapped up earlier this week!). My thoughts here!   
• NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs -- at least until the Winnipeg Jets & Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated in the second round (sob). :(    Cheering for the Edmonton Oilers as the finals (against the Florida Panthers) get underway -- a rematch from last year!  (Even so, I do think hockey in June is pretty ridiculous...! -- the season never went this long when I was growing up -- but then, the league was much smaller then...!)  

Playing:  

• Heardle Decades: Stats as of May 31st:  
• Heardle 60s: 75.2% (708/941, 276 on first guess), down 0.3% from last month. Max. streak: 15.
• Heardle 70s: 77.8% (527/677, 299 on first guess), down 0.3% from last month. Max. streak: 18. 
• Heardle 80s: 38.8% (212/547, 77 on first guess), up 0.6% from last month. Max. streak: 5 (up from 4 -- fist increase since May 2023!).
• Heardle 90s: 31.4% (204/650, 48 on first guess), up 0.5% from last month. Max. streak: 5. 
• NYT Connections:  
• By April 30th, I'd completed 276 games and won 83% of them, including 140 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 6 where I got the most difficult/purple category first.  And I maintained my maximum winning streak at 30!  :)   
• By May 31st, I'd played 307 games and won 85% of them, including 156 "perfect puzzles," including 6 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (unchanged from last month)  And I ended the month by matching my maximum winning streak of 34! (On to 35!  lol)  

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 last fall earned us both serious chats with our doctor. We'll be doing more bloodwork later in the year to check again -- so we've continued our efforts to eat healthier -- reduce portion sizes, cut back on fatty & processed foods (fewer casseroles, more chicken and beans/lentils), eat more fruits, vegetables and fibre, snack less (and make better snacking choices), and be at least a little more active. 
• Since then, I've continued to yo-yo a bit, but I still ended the month almost a pound lighter than at the end of April. (I'll take it!)  Overall, I've lost about 12 pounds since our chat with the doctor last October (dh has lost about 22), and 24 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight a few years ago. 
• As mentioned above, dh took me out for brunch on the Friday morning before MDay -- the same place where we went on the Friday before Valentine's Day. ;)  (Much less busy! -- and less expensive than dinner out!)  We both had omelettes (ham & cheese for me), which came with home fries and toast. 
• The bridal shower menu on May 25th included a lovely salad with berries, chicken with roasted potatos and vegetables, and a creme brulee tart with berries. Plus a traditional Italian cookie table.  :) There was a mocktail bar with a large menu when we arrived, which was fun, and wine was served with lunch. Not quite as elaborate as some of the Italian showers I've been to, food-wise, but it no one starved, and the food was good! -- and it was a lovely setting (at a golf clubhouse) and all beautifully presented. The company was great too! 
• Notable recent takeout meals: soup, pizza slices and teriyaki rice bowls from the supermarket takeout counter;  wood-oven thin crust pizza, and Swiss Chalet rotisserie chicken. (Trying to avoid the stuff that's really calorie & fat-laden!) 

Wearing:  Earlier in the month, with the weather (finally!) starting to warm up, I put away my long-sleeved shirts in favour of shorter sleeves, and by the Victoria Day long weekend, I was wearing yoga capris and a tank top and ready to bring out my denim capris & sandals!  Alas (as I mentioned at the beginning of this post...!), it turned chilly and rainy and I had to bring out my long pants, socks and cardigan again!  :(  (boo, hiss...)  I finally got to bring out (and wear!) the capris earlier this week, when milder (if not sunnier) weather finally returned! 

Buying (besides books, lol): 

• More Canadian products (or, failing that, international) products (vs American -- you can probably guess why...! It's not always easy, though, given how intertwined our two countries' economies & supply chains are...!).  
• Cute summer outfits for the great-niblings (including matching Canada Day T-shirts from Old Navy, lol). 
• For myself:  some black denim shorts (Old Navy), and some soft, colourful 100% cotton T-shirts (Gap).  
• Also for myself, from Reitmans (Canadian women's wear chain):  two shirts & a pair of white linen pants, plus a couple of pairs of yoga pants (all on sale). I wore the linen pants with one of the tops (black linen -- couldn't find a link for it to show you?) to the bridal shower on May 25th, mentioned above.  
• Not just one but two dresses at Laura (another Canadian women's wear chain).I'll wear one of them to a wedding in August and save the other for another wedding next year. 
• The first one I tried on (which I sadly couldn't find a link for?) was absolutely gorgeous, and looks great on me (if I do say so myself...!) -- navy blue, short, fitted, sleeveless with a portrait collar, and some ruching and a rhinestone embellishment on one side. Simple and classically elegant. The only drawback is the fabric is a bit heavy, and might be a bit hot for an August wedding. But I could not resist it. :) 
• As backup, I also decided to get another dress I really liked  ;)  -- it's a much lighter fabric, also navy (background) with a floral print (pink & plum tones), sleeveless, high-low hemline and a fuller skirt. Here's a link. :)  

Anticipating (nervously):  Our next visiting to the dentist (!), in mid-June. I've been anxiously obsessing about my front teeth ever since I took a(nother) fall in mid-April.  I'm 98% sure all is well, but I will feel much better once the dentist has had a look! 

Appreciating: The lack of extreme heat & humidity so far (while still hoping for some more sun than we've had to date!). It's been very hot & humid out west where my parents are, and there have been some terrible forest fires that have affected the air quality where they live.  One fire, in a "cottage country" part of the province, got within six miles of my cousin's place. So far, they're okay! (They don't live there year-round, but they do spend a fair amount of time there, particularly in the summer.)   

Noticing:  It's staying lighter outside a lot later these days! -- sunset isn't until almost 9 p.m. now (and it will keep getting lighter until the solstice, later this month! (It's also getting lighter a lot earlier, too!)  And I'm noticing more (and more colourful) sunsets again, too!  :) 

Speaking of which...! 

 

Enjoying:  Sunsets, again!  :)  Yes, I know, the sun sets every day, year round!  But it seems like they're not as noticeable (or as pretty) during the winter! And we do get some pretty great views of them from the windows & balcony of our condo!   

Wondering: Why my eyes have been so dry lately??  (especially when it's beginning to get more humid outside!) I'm going through eye drops like crazy (and they're expensive!). 

Trying:  Not to worry too much about getting through my emails every day -- prioritizing the urgent/most interesting ones, and letting some of less important ones sit on the back burner (or go altogether!). 

Wanting: To start making plans for the next few months, for a trip west to see my family, for our upcoming wedding anniversary -- and hopefully for a nice trip somewhere later in the fall!  (Now to corral dh and get him to help me make some decisions...!!) 

Loving:  The weekly photos Older Nephew's Wife posts of LGNephew #2 every Friday. (She often posts others during the week, of the baby and his big brother -- but always one on Friday marking how many weeks old the baby is)(now 23!).  And he always has a huge smile on his face too!   

                              

Feeling: Glad that winter is finally behind us!  Looking forward to the summer, to our wedding anniversary, and to going "home" in July to see my parents (and to celebrate a significant anniversary for them!).