Right now

Right now...* 

*(an occasional (mostly monthly) meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current"). (Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first "The Current" post, here.)

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

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

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

Among other things we did this month, we: 

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

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Also right now:  

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

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

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

Current reads: 

• "The Windsor Knot" by S.J. Bennett, the January pick for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club (previously read in 2021 and reviewed here).   
• "Miss Buncle’s Book" by D.E. Stevenson, for my DES fan group. We began reading this together on Oct. 7th, and will finish in mid-December. I'll count this as a re-read then. (Original 2015 review here;  most recent review here.) 
• "Living the Life Unexpected" by Jody Day.  I'm once again taking part in a chapter-by-chapter group read of this CNBC classic!  The most recent meeting covered Chapter 3.  This is the 5th (!) time I've read this book, or the earlier version of it ("Rocking the Life Unexpected").  (Most recent review, with links to earlier reviews, here.)  
• "The Mirror and the Light" by Hilary Mantel (book #3 in the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy) -- part of a year-long "slow readalong" hosted by Simon at Footnotes & Tangents (which participants have dubbed "Wolf Crawl,"  lol) -- about 40 pages per week.  :)   
• We started during the week of July 21st.  I chose to focus on some of my other books over the late summer/early fall, and as a result, was 9 weeks behind the posted reading schedule at one point (erk).  I've been doing a bit of catching up, and am currently about 8 weeks behind, at about 51% read. We will finish at the end of December. 
• Simon will be repeating the Cromwell Trilogy slow readalong in 2025 for paying subscribers. I highly recommend the experience! (and am considering whether I'm up to another round of it myself...!). (Yes, I'm nuts...!)  Details here!  
• "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy (!). As I wrote here, I needed another book club/readalong obligation like a hole in the head  ;)  but nevertheless, I'm taking part in a year-long readalong of this book, hosted by Simon at Footnotes & Tangents -- a chapter a day for a full year, which began Jan. 1, 2024. (And I'm really enjoying it!)  Currently at about 92% read.  
• If you've ever thought about reading W&P, Simon will be repeating the readalong in 2025 for paying subscribers -- and I highly recommend the experience! (and yes, I'm probably doing it again!). Details here!  
• "L.M. Montgomery and Gender," an essay collection edited by E. Holly Pike & Laura Robinson. Slowly working my way through, in between the other books...! 

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

• My L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group is reading assorted short stories by the author right now.  We'll begin a new book in January (to be announced soon). (I love LMM, and her books are usually fast, easy reads -- but I have to admit, it's nice to have a bit of a break to catch up on other reading!) 
• For my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club: 
• "Others Like Me" by Nicole Louie. (Not a book club selection, but Katy Seppi has said she will be interviewing the author in January!) 
• "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang (February). 
• For my D.E. Stevenson group:  This list of upcoming books should keep us busy through 2025 or even into early 2026!  (A couple of the books are ones we covered shortly after I first joined the group back in 2014 -- you know you've been around for a while when....!)  
• Peter West (the one DES book my group has NOT read together, in its 25+ years of existence! -- likely start January 2025) 
• Miss Buncle Married (original 2015 review here).
• The Two Mrs. Abbotts (original 2015 review here).
• Crooked Adam
• The Four Graces (original 2015 review here). 

• Footnotes and Tangents slow readalongs in 2025 -- besides repeats of the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy and "War and Peace" for paying subscribers (as mentioned above) -- will include:
• "The Siege of Krishnapur" by J. G. Farrell -- starts Jan. 6th, for 9 weeks. 
• "A Place of Greater Safety" by Hilary Mantel -- starts May 5th, for 20 weeks. 
• "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe -- starts Sept. 29th, for 5 weeks. 
• "The Blue Flower" by Penelope Fitzgerald -- starts Nov. 3rd, for 7 weeks. 
• Other books on my priority TBR list: 
• "We Solve Murders" by Richard Osman. (Because, obviously...) 
• "What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust" by Alan Bradley (Flavia de Luce #11).  
• "Bury Your Dead," by Louise Penny (#6 in her Three Pines/Inspector Gamache murder mystery series, and the next one I haven't read).  
• "I'm Sorry for My Loss" by Rebecca Little & Colleen Long (which I've written about here, here and here -- but still haven't read myself!  lol) 

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

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

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Watching:  

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

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

Playing:  

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

Following:  

Eating/Drinking:  

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

Buying (besides books, lol):  

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

Wearing: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No grandkids? (Welcome to my world...)

Last weekend's Globe & Mail had a really interesting -- and intelligent -- article ("Baby boomers are adjusting to a new retirement normal: No grandchildren") and accompanying 21-minute podcast about the growing numbers of would-be grandparents and their childless/free adult children, and the grief some of them are feeling about their lack of grandchildren. (You can find the podcast at the link above, or on any of the major podcast platforms -- it's called The Decibel, Jan. 19th episode.)  The reporter, Zosia Bielski, describes herself as childfree by choice, and has written other interesting articles about population and generational issues. 

I didn't realize it at the time, because I'm a digital-only subscriber, but the article was featured prominently, with the feature photo taking up most of the front page of the Saturday/weekend edition. It's generated a huge amount of reader comments (now closed to further responses).  (As usual, BEWARE THE COMMENTS!) 

The focus is on adult children choosing to be childfree, and their (Boomer) parents' reactions to that choice. There's no mention of the fact that not all boomers are parents to begin with (and thus will never be grandparents either). (Ahem!)(Late-stage Boomer/early GenXer here...!)  

But (surprisingly! and happily) our "not by choice" segment does get mentioned in both the article and the podcast. Laura Carroll, who literally wrote the book on pronatalism ("The Baby Matrix" -- which I read & reviewed here) and Therese Schecter, who filmed the wonderful documentary "My So-Called Selfish Life" (both childfree by choice), are among those interviewed. 

Part of me was rolling my eyes as I read, thinking, "Oh, boo-frickin'-hoo -- welcome to our world! -- At least you got to be a parent!" -- right? 

But there's a LOT here that will) sound familiar! 

*** *** *** 

There was also a live Q&A with the reporter earlier today (Jan. 23rd). (Beware some of the comments there too...!) 

One reader asked "How are baby boomers who were expecting to fill their time being a grandparent figuring out what to do in their senior years instead?"  I thought Bielski's response was really interesting (particularly the part that I've highlighted in boldface): 

I think baby boomers, as boomers, are primed to change the script and chart their own course. This is an active cohort, a fit cohort, with disposable income and ample opportunities to fill their retired time. It's an adjustment, to be sure, but a necessary one if caregiving for g-kids is no longer in the mix.  

I think it's a uniquely North American question: how do we fill retirement time? Can we imagine Italians grappling with that question? (by the way, Italy registered its fewest babies since 1861 in 2022). 

We have to question why we invest so little in our off time, in the years post-career. Why does retirement terrify so many North Americans -- the "filling of time"? And why is it even more terrifying without grandkids to fill the void? 

These questions are even more relevant as birth rates decline and grandkids aren't a guarantee.

(Dh & I often get asked, "What do you DO all day??"  Dh came up with what I think is the perfect response:  "Whatever we want!"  lol)   

Bielski was also asked (in part)(and I'm itching to correct the spelling errors in the original...! lol):  

I think we have to accept that a new normal has evolved - get married later- decide on the question of children , while consciously deciding if that is the right individual/ couple choice. Looking at other's in our social group, those with adult children who have chosen not to parent are bothered - inflicting their values on their kid's. There are lots of opportunities to use one's grandparenting energy on other youths , why not direct oneself there?

Bielski's response (in part -- boldfaced emphasis mine):  

You're pointing to other opportunities to nurture -- other people, other children. And I think that is gradually coming to pass, in some families. The question is whether the rest of us can expand our thinking, our notions of family and fulfillment, and allow these people their ways of adapting to "new normals."

Yes!   

Long weekend odds & ends

• Good grief -- I got a few spam comments recently & went into my spam folder to see if there were any more. There were 14 (!!) dating back to 2008!!! through to 2018. Seriously??  Most of them were one-word comments or brief phrases (e.g., "Perfect!" or "Amen!"). I don't check my spam folder very often, but I know I've checked it since 2018...! Blogger must have been cleaning out their servers or something...?? 
• It's the first day of school for most kids hereabouts -- and I am bracing myself for the onslaught of posts and photos on social media. (They've been trickling in from friends in the U.S. since early August! but the next few days will bring the bulk of them.)  
• As I've done for the past few years -- even though it's supposed to be a very hot, humid day outside! -- I plan to get out on the balcony for at least a little while this afternoon with a glass of iced tea and my current book ("Tom Lake" by Ann Patchett).  
• It's been a real whirlwind of activity around here lately! 
• We've been trying to spend as much time as possible with Little Great-Nephew before he starts school next week (a week later than "the big kids"). I suspect we will be over to BIL's every day this week that we can -- i.e., today & Thursday. Wednesday, his mom is taking the day off work because they have an "interview"/"meet the teacher" appointment at his school, and Friday is her usual day off.  We are going to miss him!  :(  
• Last Wednesday, the two of us, BIL, SIL & LGN, and half a dozen or so of the cousins on dh & BIL's mom's side of the family -- all either retired or on vacation -- had lunch together (at one cousin's house). We totally stuffed ourselves and had a LOT of laughs. 
• On Sunday, we headed up to Older Nephew's house for a barbecue with BIL, SIL, the nephews & their families, and SIL's family. SIL's two brothers and their partners/families had not yet met Little Great-Niece, and Older Nephew thoughtfully invited us to come too. It was a very hot, humid day, so I spent most of it in the air-conditioned comfort of the house -- albeit it's not a huge house, and with 17 people (!)(14 adults and three small children) crammed in, it still got pretty warm in there! lol 
• At the Wednesday gathering, one of the cousins who was there issued an impromptu invitation -- to all the cousins, not just those there that day -- to gather at her house on the Labour Day Monday holiday for a party (including a dip in their pool, for those who wanted one).  A Labour Day weekend cousins' gathering was an annual tradition for many years, pre-pandemic, but we haven't had one since 2019, for obvious reasons. 
• A few people already had other plans or commitments, but almost everyone eventually showed up at some point during the afternoon, and a good time was had by all. 
• It was another incredibly hot, humid day (peaking at 33C/41C humidex -- that's 91F & 106F) -- and we spent 98% of it outside (in the shade, but still...!).  I drank almost six bottles of water over almost six hours -- there was plenty of alcohol to be had, and I did have one vodka shot/"Lemondrop" but otherwise abstained -- but I still felt absolutely wilted.  Still feeling somewhat out of sorts this morning. :p  
• Something else that came out of the Wednesday lunch:  a new family WhatsApp group. (We already have one for dh's cousins on the other side of the family.)  Some of the older cousins are less tech-savvy than the youngsters -- one just got her first smartphone recently! -- but they have all taken to it like ducks to water, and our phones have been constantly pinging since then.  I haven't minded so far because the conversation is generally pretty funny, lol.  (And I'm sure the novelty will soon wear off!)(I hope??)  
• I told the cousin who started the group that she'd created a monster!  lol  
• I spent 4+ hours on Saturday afternoon making salads and goodies to take to both weekend gatherings -- and then another half hour mopping the floor after a small accident with some sticky stuff.  After that, I took my second shower of the day! 
• (I'm not used to all this socializing!  lol -- especially after so much pandemic-induced isolation!)  
• Plane tickets are now booked for a trip west to see my parents & sister for a week in October. Happily, I lucked into an Air Canada sale (even though we were going, regardless of ticket prices). I can't remember the last time I paid under $1000 (Canadian dollars) round trip for two to Winnipeg (including taxes & seat selection fees)!! (It can easily be double that, especially at Christmastime!) 
• Travel within Canada is horribly expensive. :p  It's a BIG country, spanning six time zones (here's a post I found that describes how long it would take you to drive!  depending on what route you want to take), and there are really only two main airlines to choose from:  Air Canada and WestJet (as well as a few smaller regional carriers).  It's a shame, because it discourages people from seeing other parts of their own country (which is pretty amazing!).  I know many people here in the Toronto area who have been to Europe, the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean -- but never outside of Ontario (with the possible exceptions of Montreal/Quebec City).  
• I find it SO STRESSFUL booking travel these days. It's so expensive, and there are so many choices/decisions you have to make while doing it. I'm always afraid that I'm making the wrong ones (and that that's going to come back to bite me later).  :(    Anyone else feel this way??  
• I had a fabulous travel agent for years -- I never actually met her; I only ever dealt with her over the phone! -- but once I lost my job, and online booking became the thing to do, I stopped calling her (and paying the agency fees).  I still think about her now & then, though -- always enjoyed chatting with her;  she had a lovely voice!  If I was ever doing a more complicated trip than Toronto-Winnipeg, though, I would probably consult a travel agent again! 
• Back in 2014 and newly unemployed/retired, I wrote a post called "Kicking the bucket (list)," rejecting the idea that I needed a "bucket list" of retirement goals and activities to tick off. I thought about it when I saw this piece in the Washington Post recently:  "Why you should swap your bucket list with a chuck-it list."  (Gift link.)(The chuck-it list is the brainchild of the author's father -- who calls it by a somewhat saltier term, lol.)  

#MicroblogMondays: "This timeline is the only one we've got"

I've been thinking some more about the New York Times article I cited in a recent odds & ends post:  "I Fantasized About Multiple Timelines, and It Nearly Ruined My Life,"  which muses on the Oscar-winning movie "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (which I have not yet seen), and the idea of the multiverse, of multiple possible lives and alternate universes. (I was also reminded of "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig, reviewed here.)

Next month, it will be 10 (!) years since dh lost his job and subsequently retired;  it will be 9 years for me in July.  It will also be 7 years next month since we sold our house and moved into our condo here. One of the main reasons we did this was to be closer to dh's brother, his wife and the nephews as we aged, thinking that, as we have no children, they would form an important part of our support network  -- and it would be easier for them to help us out now & and then if we were 10 minutes away versus the previous 45+. 

As it turns out, while they've certainly been there for us (especially when we first moved and were setting up our condo and finding our way around here), more and more frequently these days, it's been the other way around:  we've been the ones providing support to them.  We've been there to help out with the nephews' weddings & new babies (hunting out formula and children's Tylenol, for example). We've dropped by at least once a week to play with Little Great-Nephew (and give SIL, his primary daycare provider, a bit of a break), and stayed with him ourselves whenever needed.  (We even dog-sat when Little Great-Nephew was born and both his parents and grandparents were at the hospital, so that the dog wouldn't be left alone for too long.)  We've taken both BIL & SIL to various medical appointments, and dh has helped BIL & the nephews move furniture, etc.  

This isn't going to change anytime soon -- and in fact, we may be called upon for help even more often in the days, weeks and months to come. As I've alluded in other posts, BIL has developed a serious health condition over the past year-plus. :(  Dh has been taking BIL to some of his appointments (or we've been staying with LGN so SIL can accompany him to others).  We've been taking them to family gatherings, so that BIL doesn't have to drive. 

I wish BIL's health was better. I wish things were different... but they're not. And that's life. We can't control these things, and we can't predict the future. If my pregnancy with Katie taught me anything, it was that we are NOT in control of the universe... and that we make the best decisions we can with the information we have at the time. 

I will admit, I'm (still) not wild about the community where we now live -- but being closer to family these past 7 years, being able to help the nephews launch families of their own, spending so much time with Little Great-Nephew these past few years, and now being able to support BIL & the rest of the family through this challenging time -- I wouldn't have it any other way. We don't know what will happen tomorrow or a week or month or year or 7 years from now.  All we can do is make the most of what we have right now. And help each other out along the way, while we're at it.  

As the NYT article concluded, we can mourn the sad things that have happened, and wish that they hadn't happened, that things had worked out differently. "We can joke or wonder whether we’re in the wrong timeline. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that this timeline is the only one we’ve got."  

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

#MicroblogMondays: Spring forward?

It's the first day of spring!  :)  

And last week's time change ( = "spring forward" an hour) has been kicking my butt. :p  I've been sleeping in late(r) almost every morning -- and still feeling groggy when I do get up. (Thankfully, I can sleep in late, because, retirement!  ;)  ) 

I know there are arguments about which time system is better -- standard or daylight savings time? I lean slightly towards preferring standard time -- but I wholeheartedly support making one or the other permanent.  Just pick one and stick with it, year round -- no more back & forthing! 

What do you think? Does the time change bother you?  Would you like to see permanent daylight savings time? Permanent standard time? 

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

#MicroblogMondays: Dh to the rescue! :)

Little Great-Nephew is sick -- again, for the second time within the past month. :(  His mom sent his dad (Older Nephew) a pathetic little video of him this morning, laying on the couch, saying in a croaky little voice, "I not feeling good." :(  :(  :(  (Older Nephew sent it to his parents -- BIL & SIL -- and SIL sent it to us.)  He is running a temperature. :(  

BIL called dh, begging him/us to keep an eye out for children's Tylenol. (He himself actually drove to the next town over to look for some -- when he was supposed to be at work!)  Dh, of course, adopted it as his mission for the day.  ;)  

And of course there is NO children's Tylenol (or Advil, for that matter) to be found anywhere.  :(  When it does come into stock, people buy it all up and hoard it or give it to friends & neighbours who are also looking. Hospitals, emergency rooms, urgent care centres, doctor's office are all swamped with children who are sick with all kinds of viruses right now (covid, RSV, flu...).  And of course, mask mandates continue to be non-existent, and no one is wearing them,  ANYWHERE (including schools). :p  I am furious with our provincial government(s -- because I know this is happening across Canada, not just in Ontario) for not taking action. 

Anyway -- I suggested to dh that he was more likely to find it at a small/hole-in-the-wall/independent pharmacy than at one of the large chain stores. There are two such stores near us. The first one he went to didn't have any, but the pharmacist suggested he try a compounding pharmacy in the area, and gave him directions. Dh drove there -- about 8 km/4 or 5 miles away -- and they made up a small bottle for him with the very last of their supply of ingredients. (I don't know how much children's Tylenol costs these days, but I'm willing to bet he paid close to double the usual cost.). He came back to the condo to pick me up, and we headed up to where Older Nephew & his wife & LGN live, about an hour away. 

LGN's mom laughed when she saw us on her doorstep. "You didn't have to drive all the way up here!"  she said. (That's BIL & dh for you...!) "We'd do anything for LGN," dh told her.  She actually DID have some children's Tylenol (!) -- albeit it would not have lasted her indefinitely. What we brought her will get used. 

"I have fever," LGN announced matter-of-factly when he saw us. (His mom took his temperature again while we were there -- 38.5C, about 101F). But he was playing with his toys and he seemed happy to see us. The dog, of course, was ecstatic. :)  We stayed for about half an hour -- LGN's mom made me a cup of tea and we chatted and I petted the dog while dh played with LGN -- and then headed home again. 

It was a nice afternoon for a drive in the country... we got to see LGN (and the dog!) and reassure ourselves he was (relatively) okay, and do a good deed (albeit a slightly unnecessary one, lol).  You can do stuff like this when you're retired -- and when it's your only little great-nephew, and you're a doting childless great-auntie & great-uncle -- how can you not??  :) 

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

Odds & ends

• It's the first day of school here (for most kids, anyway)... and for the FIRST TIME (that I can remember, anyway), alongside the numbing flood of first-day photos from my parenting friends, I've been seeing memes from some of the pregnancy loss and childless accounts that I follow, recognizing that for some of us, today can be a tough reminder of what we've lost and/or what we'll never experience. Progress? 
• Dh & I marked the day by going for gelato and a bookstore browse this afternoon... there were more people at the store than we expected, but it was still blissfully peaceful compared to our summertime visits...!  ;) 
• After we got home, I took my book and sat out on the balcony for a while, reading. We may be in for some thunderstorms overnight, but right now, it's perfect weather outside -- partly cloudy, 25C/76F, with just a touch of humidity. Ahhhh!  
• For the second summer in a row, CBC Radio One aired Sunday morning reruns of "The Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean," one of Canada's best and best-loved storytellers, who sadly died in 2017, far too young, at 68.  (I've written a few times here about the show and how much dh & I both loved it, most notably here.) The last show for the summer was broadcast on Sunday (and I'm hoping they'll do it again next year...!). The story of the week centred around sister & brother Stephanie & Sam and their memories of spending time on Cape Breton Island with their grandmother, and ended with Stephanie raising a glass and saying "Here's to Grandma."  I immediately burst into tears. I may be 60 years old, and she will have been gone 22 years next month, but I still miss my wonderful grandma. :(  
• I often find myself crying over Vinyl Cafe stories. "You did it again, Stuart," I will say as I reach for the Kleenex. 
• Half-listening to a CNN news item about hurricane Ida yesterday morning... more than a week later, and many affected communities are still without power -- no refrigerators for food, no air conditioning (among other hardships). I didn't catch the entire interview with this one woman, but my ears pricked up when I heard her saying something about basic needs not being met, and "as a parent, I just can't imagine..."  Hmph. I'm NOT a parent, and I just can't imagine either...!  
• Speaking of "as a parent," Kate Kaufmann, author of "Do You Have Kids? Life When the Answer is No" (reviewed here) now has a regular column about childlessness on the Psychology Today website. It's called (wait for it)... "Unapparent."  :)  Her most recent column, "The Childless Are Worthy to Be Seen and Heard," is all about World Childless Week (which is next week!), featuring an interview with WCW founder Stephanie Phillips. Have a look!  

#MicroblogMondays: Me time!

I'm enjoying something very rare for me these days: a few hours of "me time," alone, at home.  It's BIL's birthday; he's on vacation this week, and he asked dh to come out with him this morning to take some stuff up to Older Nephew's new house and then for a takeout lunch somewhere -- something they can do again, now that they're both fully vaccinated! They'll be gone for a couple of hours, and I am basking in the solitude. 

I suppose some people think that, being childless, dh & I have lots of "me time" to do whatever we like. Well, yes, we do -- more so than a lot of parents, obviously.  But there's "couple time" and "me time" with dh in the house, and there's "me at home alone time" -- there's a difference -- even if I'm doing the exact same things today while I'm at home alone as I would be if dh were here!  There's something about having the entire house/condo to yourself for a while - to be able to turn the TV to whatever channel you please (or off completely), without asking someone else if they mind, to make yourself lunch without the other person asking you what you're having and is there enough for them too, to not be bound to someone else's timetable... 

When we lived in our house, even though it wasn't a huge house, there was space for us to spread out and be apart, if we wanted to -- one of us in the living room or kitchen, the other in the spare bedroom/office upstairs, for example. We still do that sometimes in our condo -- but of course, when you have just 874 square-feet, all on the same level, you're never very far away from each other.  (Despite having increasing difficulty going up & down the stairs in their split-level house, my mother insists that being able to spend time on a different level from my father has saved her sanity, especially during this pandemic, lol.)  

Even before we retired and moved into a condo, and even pre-pandemic, dh & I spent a lot more time together than most couples we know. When we were working (in the same downtown office tower), we tweaked our schedules so that we could drive to the commuter train station together, ride the train into work together, and then meet up at the end of the day and make the reverse trip home together (although there were several nights during the month when one or the other of us had to work late and the other person would head home alone to get dinner started).   Not being plugged into the parent networks in the neighbourhood or local schools or kids' sports, etc., neither of us had much of a social life outside of work or each other. The few non-work friends we did have, as well as family members, were/are spread out across a vast metropolitan area, which made getting together during the week difficult.  

When I used to scrapbook, I would sometimes head to a local scrapbook store and spend a Saturday afternoon working on my pages, sometimes with a friend and sometimes by myself.  And sometimes, if I had a day off,  I'd take the train into the city to go shopping at the Eaton Centre mall by myself.  I'd stop at Starbucks before getting on the homeward bound train and sip my latte and enjoy the view as the train wound its way along the lakeshore. 

Most adult women I know get some "me time" by hopping in the car to run errands or go to the supermarket or the mall by themselves.  That's not an option for me, because (although I have a driver's license), I don't drive.  I've never been a very confident driver (looonnngggg story...), dh has always driven us wherever we needed to go, and I haven't practiced in years. We had a standard transmission car the first few years of our marriage -- and, living in the city, where we could walk or take the subway or streetcar many places, we didn't use it a whole lot (and I would have been a nervous wreck trying to drive in the city anyway...!). Even when we moved to the suburbs and got a car with automatic transmission, it had just become habit for dh to get behind the wheel, and he's always been willing to drive me anywhere I needed to go.  I did start practicing again while I was pregnant -- there was no way I was going to be stuck in the house with a baby while on maternity leave! -- and then -- well, you all know what happened there, and driving got pushed back on my list of priorities again.  

After losing my job/retiring, I started seriously considering investigating some refresher/confidence building lessons -- and then we moved, and then COVID-19 came along and...  (I know -- excuses, excuses...!). I think I would have felt more comfortable trying to drive around Old Community than where we live now -- but, here I am, and I recognize that I really do need to get back behind the wheel again and shed my dependence on dh in this respect.  I don't think you'll ever see me out on the 401 (the major highway/freeway that runs east-west through the north end of Toronto) -- but I'd be happy to build up enough confidence to be able to drive myself to the supermarket and pharmacy and bookstore and to BIL's house, if I had to do it myself. We live on a major rapid transit bus route that connects to the subway system (and passes by the supermarket, pharmacy and bookstore en route), and there's a stop directly outside our building -- but it's not an ideal way to go grocery shopping, right? (I did enough of that when I was a student...!)  

 Anyway. It's a rare "me alone at home" day, and I am enjoying it. :)  

Do you feel like you get enough "me alone at home" time? 

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

Of COVID & coffee

I mentioned on Facebook recently that I hadn't been in a Starbucks since the pandemic hit last March. A friend (who lives in a different province) commented, "Wow, your lockdown must be pretty tight. I go to Starbucks at least twice a week for my favourite Chai latte."  I responded, "They're open (for takeout anyway) -- we just haven't gone."  

I try not to be too judgmental about other people's choices during this pandemic -- but I've been thinking about that exchange since then, and what it says about the pandemic and about the different attitudes and ways of coping that people have about it. 

Being retired (and yes, being childless), I know dh & I are EXTREMELY fortunate right now, compared to some of our peers. We don't have jobs and commutes and coworkers to contend with. Or parents nearby to look in on and grocery shop for and take to medical appointments. Or kids to contend with or worry about, or grandchildren to babysit. (Oh, that we had grandchildren to babysit...!)  For the most part, we don't HAVE to go out (and expose ourselves to the virus), unless we really want or need to.  

And so we generally don't, unless we need groceries, prescriptions or personal care items. (Dh prefers to choose his own groceries versus ordering online for delivery or pickup, but we try to plan as much as possible to minimize the number of trips he makes -- generally once a week.)  Even when more things were open, we didn't go a whole lot more places. We haven't been inside a restaurant to eat (or even on a restaurant patio, when they were open -- although dh does go for takeout on Saturday nights) or in a mall to shop since last March. We haven't seen much of our adorable Great-Nephew, especially since the cold weather arrived ( = indoor visits), even though it's (figuratively) killing us not to, when he's so close by.  

Probably the one thing we've indulged in most (aside from haircuts every six weeks, when it was allowed) was trips to the bookstore, when it opened again last summer after the initial lockdown. Even so, we didn't go nearly as often (nor stay as long) as in pre-COVID times. Our closest Starbucks is in the same space as the bookstore;  pre-COVID, we used to go there first, get our coffee/tea latte and then stroll around, browsing the bookshelves and sipping our drinks.  

The bookstore isn't open right now (curbside pickup only), but when it was (this past summer/fall), no food or drinks were allowed. (You obviously can't wear a mask and drink coffee at the same time, and masks are mandatory.) The after-hours divider/barrier between the coffee counter and the bookstore stayed up all the time now, so you couldn't easily move from one part of the building to the other. You could go in one door for a browse in the bookstore, or you could go in the other door to the Starbucks and pick up something to drink (&/or to snack on), and take it outside or home -- but not both. 

Obviously, there's nothing stopping us from going into Starbucks for a coffee, as my friend does. It remains open, even though the bookstore is not. I've asked dh a few times, as we left the bookstore, if he wanted to duck in there and pick up something to take in the car with us. He said no. 

I was fine with that. We'd already spent a half-hour in the bookstore. We didn't really NEED his short mild coffee or my tall non-fat English breakfast tea latte, or the additional exposure to the baristas and other patrons in the now-socially distanced lineup (or to spend $7 on something we could make when we got home for a fraction of the price, for that matter...!).  

Mel had a post recently about a "pandemic risk budget" -- a system set up by some housemates to protect themselves from COVID-19. Obviously, anything we do outside the security of our own homes is risky, to some extent.  And how much additional risk we're obligated or willing to take on will vary from one person to the next. 

But it seems foolish to try to pretend that COVID-19 doesn't exist, and that we can still do all the things we would normally be doing and go all the places we would normally go without taking on some element of risk (even when we're all wearing masks and sanitizing our hands as we enter stores and trying to stay at least six feet apart while we're in there).  Just because a store or restaurant is open doesn't mean we should go in there, unless we really need to.  The more you go out, the more stores you go in & out of, the more restaurant patios you dine out on (when the weather allowed it), the more people you interact with or share the same space with (even briefly), the more risk you expose yourself to. 

Maybe dh & I are suckers for spending most of the past year sitting at home on our butts, when we could have been out shopping and eating on restaurant patios and having fun like so many friends & family members seem to be doing (judging from the photos we've seen on social media). (Sometimes I feel like we are.) 

But we've been asked (told!), by our governments and health officials, to stay at home as much as possible and minimize contact with people outside our own households. I guess we all have to decide how to spend our pandemic risk budgets -- what's most important to us and what's not, beyond the basics of food & prescriptions. For dh & me, that doesn't include Starbucks (much as I love their tea lattes).  

I try not to fault people when I hear they've been to the mall (when the mall was open), or to someone's house or yard, or to the beach or a pool party last summer, or to a friend's cottage up north. (I try not to get pissed off when I hear voices & laughter in the hallway outside our condo unit door -- not so much because of the noise factor -- although that can bug me too! -- but because someone on the floor has clearly had visitors, when we're not supposed to be in each other's homes.)  I know that, for the most part, most people are doing the best they can in a very difficult situation. 

It's been a hard year. It's HARD staying at home all the time and not seeing people. (Even when you're introverts like me & dh.)   

But I think it would be a whole lot harder watching someone I love get sick from COVID-19. (Or worse.) Or getting it myself. Or knowing that someone close to me got sick, because I just had to have that Starbucks latte. 

It's a pandemic, people.  It's not a normal situation, so I'm not sure why some people still keep trying to act like it is. 

Friday night odds & ends

•  All day yesterday, I kept looking for Mel's Friday blog roundup. I usually read it on my phone as I'm eating breakfast -- but it wasn't there. I kept checking during the day, and still nothing. I thought, "Gee, that's odd -- Mel hardly ever misses a roundup!"  Then it finally hit me:  IT WASN'T FRIDAY. (lol) The days all run together sometimes when you're retired, and even more so in COVID times...!  (The round-up was there as usual this morning.) 
• My gynecologist appointment was Wednesday... when we got home, my family doctor's office returned my call about flu shots & asked if we could come Friday morning. We said yes. But Fridays are usually housecleaning days for us. Thursdays we do laundry (if there's going to be lint flying around, it might as well happen just before we vacuum, right?  lol).  So we did the laundry Wednesday night and cleaned on Thursday, by which time I had no idea what day it was anymore...!
• We recently discovered that CBC-TV has been showing "Downton Abbey" reruns, late on weekday afternoons. Some days it's on for an hour, sometimes an hour & a half and sometimes two hours (two episodes). (I suspect the episodes have been trimmed a bit to allow for commercials that weren't shown on PBS, or the original-original BBC showings -- but, whatever! -- I'll take it, lol.)  We stumbled on to an episode just before the end of season 1, and we're now early in season 3.  I started watching later in the series when it was on PBS (although -- thanks to my friends' chatter in the office and online, I was already pretty familiar with all the characters and the main plotlines...!), and we caught up on several previous seasons during a PBS marathon weekend ;)  but we have yet to see the earlier episodes of season one. It's a great distraction from things like COVID-19 & U.S. elections & fibroids (although we just came through the episode about the Spanish flu pandemic earlier this week...!). Dh -- who used to scoff & roll his eyes and then head off to bed early while I watched -- is now completely hooked!! (lol)  
• Lyz Lenz had a great article in Glamour last week:  "The Power—And Threat—Of Mothers Like Amy Coney Barrett."  The subhead reads:  "In America, “motherhood” is a credential for a certain kind of mother. The bad mothers are the rest of us."  (Waving wildly:  Hello... And those of us who aren't mothers at all...?? Where does this leave US?) (There is one brief mention in the article of "women who are not mothers.")  I really like Lenz's writing and her argument is bang on -- as far as it goes -- but I do wish she'd stretch her logic just a wee bit further, and spare more than a single thought for those of us who aren't mothers at all when she talks about the deification of motherhood (but only certain types of mothers). 
• That said, it's a great article & worth a read. Sample passages: 
• "She’s a mother, so you can trust her. She’s a mother, so she must be good. Never mind that motherhood should not be a factor in a person’s job interview. No, it should not be used against someone. It is also not a qualification."
• "But in touting the motherhood of Coney Barrett, Republicans haven’t just insulated Coney Barrett from Democrats’ questioning. They also remind the public that a woman’s worth is primarily a measure of her reproductive capabilities."
• "America has long lauded this certain kind of mother—white, successful, walks into church holding hands with her husband, has dinner on the table at 6 p.m., with a circle of children around her. Most mothers in America do not look like this." 

#MicroblogMondays: Annoying things & small pleasures

Annoying things: 

• Still spotting. :p  (Going on four weeks now.) And feeling vaguely PMS-y, and tired.  Both dreading & looking forward to my gynecologist appointment on Wednesday, and to getting some possible solutions for getting rid of these fibroids (hopefully for good!). 
• Another gloomy day outside. It's 10:30 a.m. as I'm typing this and I'm still in my pajamas, which gives you an idea of what kind of day it is and the kind of mood I'm in...! 
• People who (still!!) aren't taking this pandemic (and the need to wear masks and maintain social distancing) seriously. 
• The amount of time it's taking me to finish my current book. (It's well-written, but it's about the Trump presidency... need I say more??! lol) 

Small pleasures: 

• Being able to stay in my PJs until late in the morning (one of the perqs of retirement...!)(not to mention retirement during a pandemic, lol -- not much chance of having people drop by unexpectedly to visit, etc....!). :) 
• Chatting (via Zoom) with several different groups of ALI & CNBC friends on the weekend.  There is strength & comfort in numbers!!  
• Also: sitting in on a Zoom discussion about L.M. Montgomery's "The Blue Castle," along with 60+ (!) other LMM academics & "kindred spirits"/fans.  Most of it will be posted on YouTube (although the conversation continued for another half hour or so after the recording was turned off). 
• Dh surprised me with some Lindor chocolates on his last trip to the grocery store. :) 
• Admiring the beautiful fall colours in the treetops behind the townhouses in back of our condo building. 

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

Corona (not the beer)

Mel posted about the coronavirus, and how hard it is to know just how worried we should be. I thought I would expand a bit on my (already overly lengthy, lol) comment on her post.

Over the past 15-20 years, I've had brushes with SARS (Toronto was the epicentre of the North American outbreak in 2003) & the H1N1 flu scare in 2009 -- so I’m feeling a bit of deja vu here. The new coronavirus (covid-19) does seem to be more widespread, though, with the potential to affect many more people.

I am not overly concerned (yet) -- but I am trying to remember to wash my hands more frequently & all those other common sense things we really should be doing all the time anyway. (Who knew we touched our faces so often, right??)  Both Purell & face masks vanished from the drugstore shelves several weeks ago when the virus was first reported in China (there were reports of people buying up cases of both to send to relatives there), but so far, no panic buying of food & other supplies in the supermarkets, etc. (a blogging friend posted a photo on social media of the completely empty store shelves at her local Walmart store in Minnesota!).

We don’t have a lot of space here in our condo to buy & store food in bulk, and our refrigerator freezer compartment is not that big. But right now the freezer is full of meat and other stuff -- and we just did our weekly shop so I feel fairly well stocked up.  (I've always liked to keep a fairly well-stocked pantry, but dh doesn't see the point, particularly when space is limited. He prefers to just go out & buy whatever we need when we need it. But what if you're quarantined and can't go out?  Or the stores run out of things?)  I just bought a new bottle of Lysol spray cleaner and a cannister of Lysol wipes a few weeks ago, as all this started unfolding. And I did buy a new bottle of Tylenol and some cold pills at the drugstore today (the ones I had in my medicine cabinet had passed their expiry dates).  And another bottle of Immune for my essential oils diffuser, and an Immune rollerball from Saje, lol.

We don’t have an actual emergency box or kit put together -- but we do have a lot of the recommended items on hand.  After the big power blackout of August 2003 (which affected much of eastern North America), I bought a hand-cranked radio with a built in flashlight. I also vowed not to give up my landline (WITH a corded phone), after too many people told me their cordless phones were useless without power, and their cellphone battery eventually died.

We missed the effects of the big ice storm here in Toronto over Christmastime 2013 -- but I was visiting my parents last October for (Canadian) Thanksgiving -- just in time for a major blizzard/ice storm, which knocked out the power (and thus also the heat) for 27 hours. We also lost water, cellphone AND landline service. We were just lucky it was -2C outside and not -20C or worse! I bought a few more flashlights, batteries & a case of bottled water for our condo after that one, lol. My sister has been house hunting and says she never wanted a fireplace before this, but now she’s feeling like it might not be such a bad thing to have, lol.

One thing I started doing in 2009 when H1N1 was a concern was wiping down all the things I touch most frequently, at home (and at the office, when I was working), at least once a week, with a Lysol or Clorox wipe -- door handles, light switches, phones, remotes, keyboards, etc. And you know what? -- the number of colds I’ve had since I started doing that has dropped dramatically! (Not completely, but noticeably.) I’ve been doing that as part of my regular weekly cleaning routine since then, but I may step up the frequency a bit over the next while, depending on how things shake out.

All through SARS & H1N1, we continued to ride public transit into work, winding our way through the commuter crowds in Union Station and up the PATH (the underground concourse that connects all the big office towers in downtown Toronto).  Being retired, we no longer have to go out every day and cross paths with literally thousands of people every day -- although we do go out, several times a week, to shop, mall walk, have lunch, etc. -- we'd get pretty bored/stir crazy if we didn't!  But it's nice to be able to avoid the larger crowds and limit our exposure to germs -- and to have the option to stay home if we want.  SIL & I are scheduled to attend the Elton John concert downtown in late March (along with about 20,000 other people...!), which would also entail a subway trip downtown & back. I guess we'll worry about that closer to the time.

How is the coronavirus affecting you (or not)?