Right now...*
*(A (mostly) monthly series/meme. Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first (similar) "The Current" post, here.)
March had a few spring-like moments -- we had the balcony door wide open on THREE glorious days -- one mid-month and two this week, when the temperature reached a whopping 18-21C (64-70F). There was also one day when it was so foggy that I couldn't see past our balcony (it was the day of Little Great-Niece's birthday party, which made driving there -- down a couple of winding country roads! -- ummm, INTERESTING...!).
But for the most part, the weather stayed pretty wintry/blustery -- a few snowstorms, freezing rain, and chilly temperatures, including one morning when the windchill was -22C/-8F (brrrr...). And SO grey and gloomy!!
Needless to say, I am SO DONE with this long, cold, snowy, grey winter!!
Some of the things I/we did this month include:
- Bought groceries and takeout pizza slices or soup for lunch at the supermarket (March 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th).
- Walked and shopped at the nearby local mall (March 3rd, 10th & 24th).
- Drove with BIL & SIL through thick fog (as mentioned above) to Little Great-Niece's birthday party (March 7th). A good time was had by all. :)
- Drove to midtown Toronto for dental cleanings and checkups (March 12th -- all was well!).
- Went to BIL & SIL's on Sunday afternoon (March 15th) for coffee/tea and to spend some time with our two little great-nephews, who were there while their parents went out. :)
- Had an abdominal ultrasound (new screening program for aortic aneurysms offered by Ontario Health to seniors) and mammogram (March 16th).(Stopped off at the supermarket en route home for groceries.) Both came back fine.
- Did not go to the mall during spring break week (lol) but braved the crowds and went to the bookstore instead for a for a browse (March 17th).
- Stopped at the drugstore en route home to pick up a couple of prescriptions and a few other things too.
- Went for bloodwork at a nearby lab to check my cholesterol levels (March 20th). (Gulp.) (The lab is usually packed, but there were just two people in the waiting area when I arrived?? It was spring break, so I'm thinking everyone who might usually be there was in Mexico or Costa Rica, lol.)
- Since I'd had to fast for 12 hours and hadn't had anything to eat, we went out for brunch immediately afterwards, (See "Eating," below.) It was spring break, and by the time we left, the restaurant was PACKED!
- Then we went to a nearby Canadian Tire and picked up a couple of air filters, for both the HVAC unit and the Dyson air purifier/humidifier. (We originally planned to go to a few more stores, but it was cold, windy, grey & dreary, and there was freezing rain -- so we just headed home, where it was warm and cozy!)
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Also right now:
Reading: March was not a great reading month for me (too many distractions...!): I finished 1 book (reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads & StoryGraph, & tagged "2026 books" Year to date, I've read 6 books, reached 15% of my Goodreads Challenge goal, and am currently 3 books behind schedule to achieve it by year end. Current reads:
- "The Forsyte Saga" by John Galsworthy. After mulling it over (see this post!), I accepted a commenter's suggestion to do a readalong together! Currently 18% completed.
- "The Four Graces" by D.E. Stevenson -- re-read/readalong/discussion with my D.E. Stevenson group, which began Feb. 23 and will conclude in late April/early May. Original 2015 review here; most recent review here. (Currently 56% completed.)
- "Childless: A Woman and a Girl in a Man's World" by Fabiana Formica. This one is beautifully written, but slow going, and I was reading it (or trying to...!) at Mom & Dad's last summer, where there were a lot of distractions. I've put it aside for the moment to focus on other reading priorities, but I've completed 33% to date.
- "L.M. Montgomery and Gender," an essay collection edited by E. Holly Pike & Laura Robinson. Slowly working my way through, in between the other books...!
Coming up: Most of my book groups have their next reads plotted out for a few months in advance -- and listing them here helps me keep track of what I should be reading next. ;)
A few recently purchased titles (all in digital format, mostly discounted ($5-10 or less) or purchased with points):
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Watching: Actually watched a lot of stuff this month!
- "Finding Your Roots" (season 12) on PBS, Tuesday nights, which began in January. Lots of reruns on lately, though -- I'm not sure if the season is over yet, or whether they're saving the last few episodes for ratings sweeps month, or...?
- The Oscars! (mentioned in this past post).
- "The Forsytes" on PBS. This started on March 22nd, and I've seen two episodes (of six) so far. I am glad I started reading the book by John Galsworthy, because (even though I'm far from finished), it's helped me grasp who's who and how they're all related a lot faster, I think. But, as I speculated in this previous post, this series is not a strict adaptation of the novel: I would actually call it more of a prequel (I saw a post on social media that called it "fan fiction," and that would work too!). Most of the characters and storylines echo those in the book (or are heading in the book's direction).
- There are lots of modern touches (rebellious women in very un-Victorian makeup, and colour-blind casting in some supporting roles, for example). There are also a couple of lesser characters who appear to have been invented just for the show (e.g., the Carterets, Jo's office friend Isaac)
- On its own merits, it's... entertaining. If you enjoy a glossy soap opera featuring family rivalries, forbidden romances, handsome actors and pretty actresses, and sumptuous sets and costumes, tune in...!
- "The Count of Monte Cristo" airs on PBS immediately following "The Forsytes" on Sunday nights. (It also started on March 22nd = two episodes of eight aired to date). I have not read the 1844 novel it's based on, but the storyline is pretty well known today: just before his marriage to the lovely Mercedes, young French sailor Edmund Dantes (Sam Claflin) is falsely accused of treason and spends 15+ years in a grim prison fortress on an island off the coast of Marseilles. While there, he connects with the old prisoner in the neighbouring cell, the Abbe Faria (wonderfully played by Jeremy Irons), who tells him about a fabulous treasure buried on the island of Monte Cristo. Together they plot their escape, and Edmund vows to find the treasure and take revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment. I'm enjoying it so far!
- "Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe:" I wrote a recent post about this.
- Curling! The Brier (Canadian men's curling championships, in St. John's, Newfoundland), followed later in the month by the women's world championships in Calgary, and then the men's in Ogden, Utah (which began this past weekend and continue through this week). Dh & I wound up watching a lot of games, especially the ones involving Manitoba/Canadian teams. (It also gave me something to talk about with my dad when I called him, since I knew he would be watching too!)
- World figure skating championships, from Prague last week. Network TV coverage was pretty scanty (a two-hour summary on NBC on Saturday night, and one hour on CBC on Sunday afternoon, none of it live -- grrrr....) -- but happily, I was able to access live feeds of all the events (totalling about 8 hours a day, for four days straight!, plus the gala exhibition on Sunday morning) via CBC's Gem streaming service on my laptop. (You can view Gem on some smart TVs -- but apparently our 11-year-old Samsung is not smart enough! lol).
- "Henry David Thoreau," a 4-part documentary by Ken Burns, airing over the past two nights on PBS. Really interesting, and the footage of Walden Pond, etc., was so pretty -- but I'll admit I was struggling to stay awake the last half hour! (till 11 PM).
Playing:
- Heardle Decades: (as of March 31st):
- Heardle 60s: 74.2% (899/1212, 361 on first guess), up 0.3% from Feb. 28th. Max streak: 21. (up 1 from 20 -- I went for 22, but got tripped up on "Hole in My Shoe" by Traffic...!)
- Heardle 70s: 75.3% (720/956, 401 on first guess), up 0.1% from Feb. 28th. Max streak: 18.
- Heardle 80s: 41.8% (338/809, 124 on first guess), up 0.2% from Feb. 28th. Max. streak: 5.
- Heardle 90s: 33.4% (304/911, 80 on first guess), down 0.1% from Feb. 28th. Max. streak: 9.
- NYT Connections:
- As of Feb. 28th I'd played 563 games and won 89% of them, including 300 "perfect puzzles" with zero errors, including 18 where I got the most difficult/purple category first. Maximum winning streak: 45 (unchanged). Current streak: 12.
- By March 31st, I had 594 completed games, won 89% of them (unchanged since Dec. 31st), including 317 "perfect puzzles," including 18 where I got the most difficult/purple category first (unchanged from Dec. 31st). Maximum winning streak: 45 (unchanged since June 30th). Current streak: 3.
Listening:
- To the Stingray 80s music channel. They've been playing the B-52s "Love Shack" a lot lately, and I am here for it, lol. That song always makes me want to get up and dance. :) "Rock Lobster" and "Planet Claire" were staples at university dorm parties in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
Following:
Eating/Drinking:
- Over the past 18 months, we've been trying to eat healthier and lower our cholesterol -- and avoid having to take (more) medication -- since some less-than-stellar bloodwork results for both of us in fall 2024 and then again (for me) last November (2025, as mentioned in November's Right Now post).
- I repeated my bloodwork in mid-March and the results showed improvement -- just one cholesterol measure out of normal range (and even that one was better than it had been). Our family doctor's staff relayed the message to keep up the low-fat/high-fibre diet and exercise, and we'll check again in another six months. Reprieve!!
- I'm in a bit of a plateau lately: I ended March 0.2 pounds less than when the month started. Overall, I'm down a little more than 14 pounds since late October 2024 -- close to my lowest weight in quite some time -- and a little more than 26 pounds from my heaviest-ever weight (in August 2021).
- (Dh is down about 20 pounds overall since fall 2024.)
- At Little Great-Niece's birthday party (March 7th -- postponed a week because she was sick!), we feasted on pasta in alfredo sauce, sliders, sausage with peppers and potatos, rice balls (arancini) and salad. And cake, of course. :) (It was a huge cake, and we all went home with a big chunk!) (Not quite low-cal or low-fat...! But delicious!)
- After bloodwork on the morning of Friday, March 20th to check my cholesterol levels (and fasting for 12 hours prior), we went out for brunch, at the same place we went to in early February (thanks to a birthday/condolence gift card from a friend). Dh had an omelette, while I had scrambled eggs -- with bacon! lol (Yeah, I know... but they make great bacon! and I figure it will be a while before we're back, and before I need to have my bloodwork checked again!)
- I'd kind of forgotten it was still spring break here... there were still a lot of empty tables when we arrived around 9:30 AM, but by the time we left, nearly an hour later, the place was PACKED!
- We indulged in takeout pizza slices or soup from the supermarket, once or twice a week, for lunch and/or dinner. Saturday night takeout dinners this month included teriyaki rice bowls from the supermarket, and rotisserie chicken (baked potato on the side for me; fries for dh) from Swiss Chalet.
Wearing: I was occasionally able to switch to a lighter-weight spring/fall jacket this month (vs my usual down-filled winter jacket), and go without slippers over my socks inside the house occasionally. Progress?
Buying (besides books, lol):
- Stuff for the great-niblings' Easter baskets.
- A new water-resistant spring jacket from Reitmans (black, waist length -- and on sale!).
Trying: To call my dad, if not every day, then every other day. We usually don't have a lot to talk about, but that's not why I do it...!
Appreciating: What my sister & her partner are doing for my dad. They've been there almost every weekend since Mom died, keeping him company, going through closets and taking stuff to the dump and/or the local thrift shop, taking him to see potential apartments, etc. (Also feeling a bit guilty because I live so far away and can't be there more often. I do chip in financially as needed. )
Planning: Our next visit there, likely for sometime in May.
Wanting: This winter to be OVER, already...!!
Hoping: For better weather and sunshine, soon!
Feeling: Glad that it's (finally!) spring (even if it doesn't quite feel like it yet...!). A little dazed at how quickly the days, weeks, and this year generally so far are passing by. Missing my mom. :(
(Couldn't think of what to write for a few of the usual categories, so I just deleted them, rather than delay posting!)
