#MicroblogMondays: Was that you, Mom??

My mother loved chocolate. You could say she was an addict. There was always chocolate around our house when I was growing up.  Most of all, there were KitKat bars. Mom loved all kinds of chocolate, but KitKats were her favourite, and she had at least one finger of a bar every night before she went to bed (and often more). She had a stash in a kitchen cupboard (high up, so the smallest visiting Little Princess couldn't reach them), and more in the pantry, when she died in January. Whenever she travelled to the States (her home country), she took a stash with her. Mom was a proud American, but she always said the KitsKats there aren't the same, the Canadian bars are better. :)  (Apparently the KitKats in the UK -- where the treat originated -- are best, but she never got to find that out for herself. If & when I ever get to the UK, I am definitely doing a taste test...!)  

Santa always filled Mom's Christmas stocking with KitKat bars. The minister of her church had the inspiration to serve mini-KitKats (Halloween treat size) at the lunch after her funeral, which made everyone laugh when they saw them. I told her Mom would have loved it. 

So naturally, I thought of my mom when I heard this recent item on the news. They say you can't take it with you... but given that this happened not too long after Mom's departure from earthly existence, I really have to wonder...!  

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Personally, I like KitKats, and I will often tuck one (usually a chunky bar) into my purse for a snack whenever we're flying somewhere -- but my favourite bars have always been pure milk chocolate -- Aero (which also originated in the UK) -- and Jersey Milk -- a Canadian classic which (horrors!) has apparently been discontinued.  :(  My favourite chocolate indulgence these days is Lindt/Lindor milk chocolate balls (large or small). How about you?)  

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

Annoying things & small pleasures

Annoying things: 

• The opthalmologist I saw last Thursday encouraged me to start using lid wipes again to keep the bacteria that contributes to rosacea at bay. I'd stopped using them (on the advice of my optometrist) when my eyes were giving me so much trouble last fall. They contain tea tree oil, and the optometrist thought they were exacerbating the issues I was experiencing.  We eventually got the problem under control, and all has been well since then. 
• So I used the wipes again on Friday morning (the day after I saw the opthalmologist), and there was some mild irritation. I chalked it up to the dilating drops I'd received the previous day, which left my eyes feeling somewhat raw and strained.  But within hours of using the wipes again on Saturday, my eyes promptly became very irritated, and the lids red and puffy. Not quite as bad as they'd been last fall, but not great either. 
• So I stopped using the wipes, AGAIN (probably for good this time...!). I'll be seeing the optometrist for a follow-up in about two weeks' time, but until then, I increased my use of the topical ointment she'd prescribed for me last fall (from once to twice a day, which is what I started out with when I was having issues last fall). 
• They're not quite 100% yet, but my eyes ARE looking and feeing somewhat better again. Thank goodness!  
• Realizing the new TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's "The Testaments" (a sequel to "The Handmaid's Tale") is only available on a streaming network (Disney Plus, which we do not have).. (I watched "The Handmaid's Tale" on the Bravo channel, which we get on cable. It was/is also available on the Crave streaming network). 

Small pleasures: 

• Getting a surprisingly (relatively) good deal on airfares for our next trip to see Dad. 
• Checking out new potential ancestors for dh via Ancestry DNA's ThruLines and common ancestors features. (An easy way to lose a few hours!  lol)  
• Sunshine!! Two days this week!! It's been horribly grey for so long ( = annoying thing). Clear, sunny weather in the winter/early spring can often mean it's cold outside -- and it has been that! -- windchill was -15C when we woke up Tuesday morning! -- but it's somewhat sunny and milder today -- we have the balcony door partly open -- and it's supposed to start warming up over the weekend and into next week. (It's ABOUT TIME!!) 
• Artemis II.  :)   I got choked up when Jeremy Hansen announced the crew wanted to name a newly mapped crater after Commander Reid Wiseman's late wife Carroll. (I think everyone did!)  That group hug after the announcement...  :)  
• Also Artemis-related:  I had a good giggle when I read that the crew broke out some maple cream cookies during the time they were incommunicado on the far side of the moon.  :)  
• Small annoying Artemis-related thing:  I was sadly disappointed by the lack of Pink Floyd references I saw on social media regarding Artemis's trek to the dark side of the moon  ;) --  (although when I posted a complaint about this on Facebook, a cousin promptly responded to by posting this meme to my feed...!  Thanks, F.!)  

Pre-Christmas annoying things (and a few small pleasures)

 Annoying things: 

• I was trying to comment on a WordPress blog recently -- and when I hit "publish," up popped a note from WordPress:  they had blocked my password and I had to create a new one?!  This took some doing, but I finally managed to change my password (grrr...). 
• Related annoying thing:  My comment disappeared into the ether, and had to be recreated.  

• I went to the nail salon last week to have the gel/shellac polish on my toes removed. I've been going there for occasional manicures & pedicures since we moved here, almost 10 years ago now. My SIL goes there too and suggested it to me when I asked her for a referral. It's near where she & BIL live, and the prices are pretty reasonable.  (She & I ended up in pedicure chairs side by side the day before Older Nephew's wedding rehearsal, totally unplanned!) 
• Back story:  I'd had a pedicure in late September, just before we headed to dh's cousin's cottage for the weekend. I had asked for just a regular pedicure with regular enamel polish  -- but the nail tech pushed (hard) for me to have a shellac/gel pedicure. "It lasts much longer! You don't have to sit under the dryer for as long!"  she pointed out brightly. 
• (What she didn't point out:  it was more money, and thus = potentially a larger tip for her.) 
• I didn't really CARE if the polish lasted longer;  I just wanted it to look decent for the weekend. I don't get pedicures very often, and I like being able to remove the polish myself once it starts to chip and look ragged. Plus I am not entirely comfortable with the unnecessary UV light exposure. 
• Anyway, she talked me into it (eyeroll), and brought out a polish that she said was very close to the regular polish I had already picked out. Annoying thing/Spoiler alert:  it was not. I had picked out a teal blue;  the polish I wound up with was more of a teal green. It was nicely done, but not quite what I had wanted -- and obviously more expensive -- and I left feeling a little annoyed that I hadn't stuck to my guns and gotten what I really wanted. 
• While at the cottage, I stubbed the toes on my right foot on the leg of our bed -- TWICE.  
• I didn't think much about it until about a month later, in late October, when I was in the shower. My nails had started to grow out from the nail bed, and while I was lathering up my feet, I noticed a black spot on/under the nail of my right second toe.  I have no idea how long it had been there -- I mean, how often do you look closely at your feet?  Plus I obviously didn't have my glasses on in the shower. Most of the spot was (of course) UNDER the polish -- which I could not remove myself (grrr....). 
• The logical explanation, obviously, is that it's a bruise from when I banged my toe on the bed leg at the cottage a month earlier. (I had a previous black toenail after hitting my toe on the corner of a wall, some years ago. It turned totally black, lasted for months before eventually fading away -- and my nail eventually fell off. Thankfully, it did eventually grow back.) 
• EXCEPT.  I couldn't help but think of the younger brother of my best friend from high school. He died of melanoma at the far-too-young age of 40, leaving a wife and two young boys, as well as his parents & four sisters. It started -- you guessed it -- under the nail of one of his toes. He thought he just had some weird sort of nail fungus. By the time he checked it out with his doctor and they figured out what it actually was, it had spread, and it was too late. :(  
• We had checkups scheduled with our family doctor in late October, and I showed the spot to him. He was pretty sure it was a bruise too, but since he was referring me to a dermatologist (for other reasons), he suggested I have that doctor check it out. (And that I should get the polish fully removed before I went.)  
• So last week, I headed back to the nail salon. I explained, both over the phone and at the counter, that I wanted my gel/shellac polish removed. They could trim my nails, remove the dead skin, etc., but I did not want more polish, even clear. 
• Wouldn't you know it? I got the very same nail tech. And this time, she started in on the hard sell for a paraffin wax treatment. "The skin on your feet is very dry... the paraffin helps seal in the moisture. I really recommend it,"  she said. 
• I've had paraffin treatments before, and I knew she was going to keep pushing, so once again I caved and said yes. 
• She brought out a plastic bag filled with liquid wax. It was HOT, As she squished it over my foot and slipped a terrycloth bag over the plastic, I felt like the bottom of my foot was burning. "It's HOT... please, take it off!" I said.
• She did NOT take it off. "It won't burn you, the temperature isn't hot enough," she assured me brighly, as she put the other bag of liquid wax over my foot -- which was also hot. 
• I was honestly afraid my feet were going to be burned. They weren't -- my feet are fine -- and she did do a nice job on cleaning up my feet and smoothing down the rough spots -- but I wasn't particularly happy. I didn't have enough change to leave even a 10% tip  (I had enough for a larger tip on the regular pedicure I thought I would be getting...!), and frankly, I didn't feel like she deserved one.
• The girls there don't wear nametags, so I'm not sure who else I could ask for. I'm debating whether to ask my SIL, or just try to find a different salon, maybe one closer to where we live. I've been happy with the service and the results in the past;  I just don't appreciate the hard upsell.  :p   
• The kicker?  When I got to the dermatologist's office this week, I COMPLETELY forgot to ask him about it!  (eyeroll) 
• In my defense, he was a busy guy & spent no more than five minutes with me before sailing out of the room and on to his next patient. Sigh. 
  
  
• I found a typo in this year's edition of the annual Christmas letter that I send out with some of my cards. (I mean, I used to be my department's go-to editor & proofreader...!) 
• Related annoying thing:  Of course I found it AFTER I had put the cards into the mail...!  
• Not only that -- what I THOUGHT I had written ("The trip we’d hoped to take didn’t materialize, but maybe next year…!") turned out to be "The trip we'd hoped to take didn't maternalize...").  Freudian slip??  :p 

• You may or may not recall that we had some plumbing repairs done in late August that turned out to be far more complex (near-disastrous, in fact) -- and WAY more expensive -- than we had anticipated. 
• I wrote about this in brief, general terms at the time. To summarize briefly: We wanted a few things done, but my main concern was the water spout in the shower cubicle in our master bathroom. (Like the water spout in a bathtub, but in a standalone shower cubicle. Apparently it's a Canadian thing:  a lot of people refer to it as a "toe tester," lol.)  It had been dripping for months. The dripping sound was driving me crazy, and it was a constant battle to keep the mildew at bay. I figured all that was needed was likely to replace a rubber ring behind the tap handle. 
• I'd mentioned the issue at least twice to the plumber recommended by our property manager, who does the general plumbing repairs & maintenance for the building, both in person and in an email, but annoyingly, he never got back to me. I asked dh if I should try one more time or try someone else, and he said to try someone else. I did a bit of Googling, read some reviews, picked a name and called them up. 
• As I said above, what we wanted done turned out to be a LOT more complicated (and the bill was MUCH higher) than we'd anticipated. We weren't very happy with how it all unfolded (let alone the bill!!) -- but the good thing was that they did fix the dripping. (Eventually!) . 
• Since then, however, we've noticed the water runs nowhere near as warm/hot as it used to. Even when I crank the tap handle all the way over on the "hot" side, the best it gets is just nicely warm. Some mornings, it's just lukewarm. Also, the water pressure seems a lot weaker.  
• Note:  We have no issues with the warm/hot water anywhere else in the unit. 
• One recent morning (less than a week before we leave on holidays), dh emerged from the shower to tell me the water was cold.  Not freezing cold (yay?), but not even lukewarm -- like, barely tepid. 
• I got in the shower, turned on the water and stuck my foot under the spout (without turning on the actual shower). "Oh hell no," I said.  
• Luckily, we have a second bathroom, with a regular tub/shower unit. Dh had taken a few baths in there, and I'd used the tub to fill buckets and wash large items (like window screens), but in the almost 10 years we've lived here, we'd never tried out the shower...!  
• Well, no time like the present...!  
• The water was wonderfully warm and the spray was strong.  
• His cold shower was the last straw for dh:  he's resolved to call the plumber -- the building-approved plumber -- when we get back from Christmas holidays, and ask them to come have a look. They may be hard to get hold of sometimes, but they have done a good job for us before, and their prices have been very reasonable.
• We are definitely NOT calling the other guys back -- even though it's really their issue to fix...!  
  
  
• A to-do list that never seems to get any shorter...!  (especially as we head towards Christmas...!) 

Small pleasures: 

• The decorated Christmas tree, especially the lights.  
• Little Great-Nephew #2's first birthday party on Saturday!!  :)  
• I'm still lacking some stocking stuffers, but the great-niblings and Little Princesses are well taken care of.  :)  
• Heading west for Christmas in a few days' time too!  :)  

Annoying things & small pleasures

Annoying things: 

• The neighbour two doors down must have gotten a dog/puppy... because over the past few weeks, it's been yelping/whining, on & off, sometimes for hours on end. (Dh has gone out into the hall and pinpointed the unit where the noise is coming from.) It's annoying as hell to have to listen to, and it also breaks my heart to think of that poor pup, who has probably been left all alone for hours on end. We are on the verge of sending a complaint to the property manager. 
• By contrast, our next door neighbour has two dogs (and works full time), and another neighbour a few doors down the hall has a new-ish puppy too. We hardly ever hear a peep from them. 
• The mall has been significantly busier, even on midweek mornings before noon, these past few weeks. (Already! Six weeks away from Christmas!) 
• Of course, the last timewe were there was last Tuesday, i.e., Remembrance Day -- a holiday for government  workers, if not everyone. 
• I was standing in the checkout line at Old Navy when the mall PA system asked for the traditional two minutes of silence, and began playing a recording of "The Last Post." (It was exactly 11 AM.)  I was pleasantly surprised when, within a few seconds, everyone in the store had stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads while the music played. 
• However, when the music stopped, everyone started talking and ringing up items again -- not realizing that they were supposed to remain silent for two full minutes. They were kind of startled when the closing bars of The Last Post began again, after the two minutes were up.  I guess they get points for the initial recognition of what to do, but...! Is two minutes of silence really too much to ask in these crazy times?? 
• House humidity has plunged since the temperatures started dropping. We started up the humidifier last week, and while it doesn't hurt, I'm not sure it makes a significant difference either. 
• I don't mind the chillier weather, but the relentlessly gloomy, grey, cloudy sky is already making my mood plunge. :(   
• Hopefully, things will perk up a bit once we put up the Christmas tree, later this month! 
• I've been referred (by my optometrist) back to the opthamologist who did the surgery on my right eye, three summers ago -- this time to check out my left eye, which may or may not be developing a similar problem. :( 
• Also annoying:  I couldn't get in to see her until early February. I really feel like I need new glasses (more surgery or not) -- the ones I have are 11 years old (!) and getting rather scratched up, so I think I'm due for a new pair, if only for aesthetic reasons! -- but I guess I'll have to wait at least a few months longer for those... 
• I also managed to put a noticeable scratch right in the centre of my the left lens of my computer/screen glasses recently (which, come to think of it, are about the same age as my regular ones!). :p  So I may need TWO new pairs... sigh... 
• Further annoying thing:  After I wrote this blurb, dh checked the mail and there was a letter from the opthamologist's office, confirming my appointment. For APRIL. The optometrist's office had called with the February date a couple of days ago. 
• I've left a message with the opthamologist's office, asking them to confirm the proper date. (Based on previous experience with this office, it may be a few days before I hear back from them.) Sigh... 
• (Before all this started, I was hoping I could have new glasses by Christmas or January at the latest... at this rate, Christmas 2026 might be more likely...!)  

Small pleasures: 

• Buying and (since Remembrance Day is over) wearing some new holiday PJ tops from Old Navy around the house. I don't often buy the coordinating PJ pants;  I mostly wear black yoga pants around the house. Somehow that feels a step up from pajamas!  (Am I deluding myself?  lol)  
• Starting to accumulate a pile of presents for both Little Great-Nephews' birthdays (one soon, one just before Christmas), as well as all three great-niblings for Christmas. 
• If you'd told me 20-25 years ago that I could not only enter a children's clothing store without wincing but also scour the racks with positive glee, I never would have believed you. 
• (I will admit, the sight of tiny pretty holiday dresses for little girls still has the power to sting. But for the most part, I enjoy myself!)  
• Meeting up with a childless friend (whom I first "met" online) for tea a few days ago :) at the coffee shop connected to a bookstore, about a half-hour's drive north of us (and about a half-hour's drive south from where she lives). Dh agreed to take me there, and browsed for books and presents for Little Great-Nephew #1's upcoming birthday while she and I chatted. 

Small pleasures and annoying things

Annoying things: 

• (Much) more complicated plumbing repairs than expected -- leading to a much larger than expected plumbing bill (And the work is not done yet...!)  :p  Plus...! (see my next point): 
• A message from the condo corporation notifying us of a special assessment  (payable in two installments) to help cover roof repair costs plus the anticipated replacement of our rooftop "chiller" unit that provides air conditioning to the entire building.  
• (Me to dh:  "I guess it's a good thing we didn't plan a big trip to Europe this fall after all...!")  
• Waiting for a callback from the plumber to schedule the rest of the work we need to have done. 
• Back-to-school/off-to-college photo overload this week (with one exception, below ;)  ). 
• (I know I'm repeating myself here from recent previous posts.. let's just say I'm still working out my frustrations...!)  

Small pleasures: 

• A DRY, DRIP-FREE shower floor!!  
• Back-to-school photos of LGNephew #1 (Grade 1!!).  :)  
• Seeing a photo of my dad together with all of his remaining brothers & sisters (my aunts & uncles), celebrating my uncle's 90th (!) birthday.  :) (The oldest brother/uncle died a few years ago in his early 90s;  the remaining five siblings range in age from 78 to 94!) (My dad, at 86, is the YOUNGEST brother!)   
• A bit of "me alone at home time," while dh helps Younger Nephew & family move to their new house. (Nice to have, once in a while...!) 
• Catching up on my reading for one of my book groups (and looking forward to squeezing in afew books of my own choice soon...!).  
• Nearing the end of a project I've been helping an old friend with, on & off, for the past few years. She's so excited, and I'm so happy for her.  :)  
• Warmer (but not hot) weather. (Balcony door is open!) 

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: Annoying things, small pleasures, and other odds & ends

(A multipurpose post...!  lol)  

Annoying things: 

• It's been a busy week!  It feels like there's never enough time to get everything done on my daily to-do lists (especially with a vacation coming up soon...!)  I have days of unopened emails. (I have been checking, in case there's something truly important.)  
• I just got back from the dentist (boo, hiss...). We went for checkups about two weeks ago, where I discovered I had at least one cavity and likely two (the tooth beside it). Oh joy. :p  So it was back to the city this morning.  I barely felt the freezing injection (yay!), but the procedure itself was rather arduous. :(  Not painful, but a lot of tugging and pressure involved.  I felt limp as a rag but glad when it was over (at least until I saw the bill...!  -- thank goodness for dental insurance...!).  As I type, I'm still waiting for the freezing to wear off (it's almost gone!) to try out my new bite (i.e., lunch!).  
• Our building's air conditioning system decided to conk out last Tuesday during a recent heat wave -- one of the hottest days of the year so far (35C/44C humidex), amid record temperatures for June. Temperatures inside reached 80F (about 27C)(normally we keep the thermostat set at 74F. Our HVAC unit WAS running, but the air it was blowing was not very cool/cold. :p  We both felt pretty wilted (especially after three days of high temperatures and humidity, even when the a/c was running!), but ran the Dyson purifier fan, drank lots of fluids, and went to the mall for a few hours for respite. 
• Related small pleasure:  We bought a yummy rotisserie chicken at the supermarket on Sunday so that we didn't have to cook, and used the leftovers with salad to make light no-cook meals for the next two nights too.  

Small pleasures:  

• Kobo has been making some changes to its website recently... I'm not sure I like all of them, BUT I recently logged on and noticed changes to my wish list:  it's now sortable!  Newest to oldest added (which is how it was organized previously), alphabetical by title (but sadly not by author -- A to Z and Z to A), most to least expensive and vice versa. If I choose the "least to most expensive" option, I can see right away if any books on my list are on sale cheap, instead of having to scroll through the entire list. (And I have a very LARGE wish list...!)  
• After complaining (ummm, WRITING! lol) about my futile search for a pair of sandals to wear to a family wedding in August, I found (bought!) not just one but two pairs on a recent expedition to the mall! Both are silver (or silver-ish), flat or low-heeled, wide widths in my size, and feel relatively comfortably on my very wide foot! (I could actually get my foot into them!  lol) And both pairs were fairly reasonably priced too.  This one is silver with a one-inch chunky heel -- so it's not flat, but the heel feels substantial enough that I won't be teetering precariously in it. The other one is completely flat, but I think it's just dressy enough (particularly with the floral print dress I bought). It's "nude" -- gold-ish overtones vs pure silver, but I think it's silver-y enough. Anyway, that's a load off my mind!   

Personal stuff: 

• I recently, mostly, stopped wearing a mask in (most) public places, for the first time in 5 (-ish) years.  (Fingers crossed...!)  Dh has been foregoing masks for a while now, and I will admit, after five years, I was a little tired of putting on a mask and dealing with foggy glasses and a sweaty face -- especially at the mall, when (on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning, which is usually when we go) there were so few people around anyway. 
• I still keep a couple in my purse just in case, and I still put one on if I'm somewhere where there's a lot of people and/or the air circulation doesn't seem very good, etc. And we'll definitely be wearing them at the airport and on the plane west to see my family in a few weeks' time!  
• I found out this week (via my high school graduating class's Facebook page) that our English teacher (in both Grades 10 & 12, as well as our yearbook advisor) passed away last week. Mr. P. was 80. Not only was he our teacher, he had been a student at the same high school himself in the early 1960s, and later went on to become principal -- essentially devoting the better part of his life to the school and the community. He was an excellent teacher -- as evidenced by the hundreds and hundreds of comments on a community FB page I joined, and on the funeral home obituary.  He taught several generations of students from the same families -- their parents, their kids, their aunts, uncles & cousins.  Decades later, he still remembered their names, their stories, their family members. He was, in short, legendary. 
• I added a comment myself, and enjoyed scanning the others, and seeing many familiar names from my past. 
• I didn't know, but learned from one commenter, that Mr. P. was reluctant to accept the principal's job, and only did so on the condition that he could still carve out some time to continue teaching.  
• One former student recalled running into Mr. P. at the grocery store -- who glanced at her shopping list, and pointed out that she'd misspelled an item. (I'm sure she made his day, lol.)  
• And I was particularly amused to read one from a former student (obviously younger than me) whose first year of high school was Mr. P.'s last before retirement in 2010. He recalled Mr. P. addressing a student assembly on the first day of classes, and compared him to Dumbledore at Hogwarts, lol. 
• My class is collecting money and will make a donation in Mr. P.'s memory to one or more of the charities mentioned in his obituary, and/or plant a tree(s) in his honour. 
• The memorial service was held Friday afternoon, and I watched the livestream (three cheers for the Internet!). It was held at the big church where my graduation took place (I don't know if that's still the venue these days). 
• One of the speakers was one of his four (!) sons -- who is also now a teacher AND a vice-principal at the same high school!  
• (I'll admit, as a childless person, it was a little tough hearing all the talk about children and grandchildren, generations of students from the same families, etc... It also stirred up a lot of memories from my school days. Most parents get to regale/bore (lol) their kids with those kinds of stories.  Who do I get to share those memories with??) 
• I've mentioned Mr. P, in several previous posts here -- in particular, this one from 2010 (in which I named him as one of the people who had the biggest impact on my life, outside of family), and this one from 2019, about memorable teachers in my life. 

 Recent reading/viewing: 

• Going through my archives, I stumbled onto this post from June 2015 -- 10 years ago. Very timely, given the recent death of musical genius Brian Wilson, and I decided to share it again. I'm betting you will want to listen to some Beach Boys music after reading it!  
• There was a fascinating/disturbing story in the New Yorker recently about children adopted from China, reconnecting with their biological families through DNA testing.  (I found the link in an ad post on Facebook, and was able to access it without a subscription.)  
• Jody Day's quarterly/seasonal Fireside Wisdom Zoom discussions with a fabulous panel of childless elderwomen (the "Nomo Crones") are always interesting and worth watching!  The topic this time around was menopause. The video of this session is now available on the Gateway Women website (under the "Childless Elderwomen" tab). Just be aware there is some frank/explicit discussion about sex.

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

#MicroblogMondays: Annoying things & small pleasures

Annoying things: 

• As I mentioned here back in March, I unsubscribed from the Washington Post:  my longtime subscription ran out in late May. I was sad to let it go (particularly since it was a REALLY good deal that I'll probably never get again...!), but I wanted to express my displeasure over some of the decisions made by the publisher, overruling his own editorial department on several occasions.  
• The annoying thing:  I thought I would be able to read at least a couple of articles every month for free -- but that doesn't seem to be the case. Every time I click on a link to a Post story, I get a pop up inviting me to re-subscribe (that will not go away, no matter where I click). Sigh.  
• Back around Eastertime, dh & I were at Canadian Tire (which, as any Canadian can tell you, sells a lot more than tires!) when we spotted a display of diapers, at a very reasonable price. We knew we'd be seeing Older Nephew & family over the holiday weekend, so we picked up a carton of diapers for Little Great-Nephew #2 (something I'm sure I could NEVER have imagined doing, 25 years ago!). I have a points card from the store, and used it then.  
• Annoying thing: I recently had an email from Canadian Tire land in my inbox. Header:  "Reminder: Stock up on diapers" (!!). Seriously?? (Reminder to self: Don't use your points card when buying baby-related stuff...!)   
• A lovely little Italian bakery/cafe/gelatoria in the heart of the original old village here that specialized in cannolis closed in mid-June with one day's notice. (The same family does still operate larger bakery/cafe, a bit further away from us.) It was a great/convenient place to stop and pick up some pastries en route to a family gathering -- and we went there once, pre-pandemic, just to sit and enjoy a couple of mini-cannolis and cappuccinos together. I was hoping to do it agai... (I need to learn not to put these things off...!)(The lemon cannolis were to die for...!) 
• Dental checkup later this week. :p  Fingers crossed that all is well...!  

Small pleasures: 

• Spending time with both nephews, their wives and kids (all the LGNs!) at BIL's on Saturday. We hadn't seen LGNephew #1 since Easter!  
• Not so much annoying as "ouch":  the moment when the Father's Day gifts came out.  :p  (Dh knew this would be a FDay celebration; it was his choice to be there!)  
• Longer days (until the solstice later this week, anyway...!) and nicer weather. (FINALLY!)  :) 
• Clearing most of my book club obligations for the next few weeks, and blazing through a book of my own choice (review here).  SO MUCH FUN.  

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

Annoying things & small pleasures

 Annoying things:  

• Not so much "annoying," but sad: smoke from the wildfires in Saskatchewan and my home province of Manitoba (1000+ miles away) has reached us. :(   it's not as bad (so far...!) as the smoke from fires in Alberta & British Columbia was, a few years ago, but it's noticeable.  The forecast has been for sun, but the sky turned grey & slightly hazy on Monday night and has stayed that way. 
• So far, the air quality index is not too bad (the weather sites rate the risk today as "moderate). I know it's a lot worse in northern Ontario, as well as Minnesota & Iowa, etc.-- not to mention outside the fire zones in those two provinces.  Mom & Dad are nowhere near the fires but they've had to keep the windows closed (the levels there are in the "dangerous" zone).  We're keeping ours closed too, and I've got the air purifier running, although the current inside reading is not too bad either. 
• Related annoying thing:  pollen.  Dh has been sneezing like crazy, and I've had to take a couple of antihistamines in the past few days too. Eyes have been feeling gritty and irritated for both of us. 
• No water! (for just an hour this morning, but still...)  The city has been working on the sewers outside our building, and we had our water turned off for a hour this morning while they did some "backflow testing" (we were notified well in advance). We set the alarm clock and got up early to take our showers and get the laundry going before then (Wednesday has been laundry day lately). They were out there all day, and it was noisy (and smelly! -- sewer gas) -- but it was only an hour of real inconvenience, so... 
• (Speaking of noise...) The cacophony from lawnmowers, weed whackers, and (especially!) leaf blowers!! (One downside of summer weather!)  
• Shoe shopping:  I am looking for a pair of dressy sandals (preferably silver, but navy would also do) to wear with the new dress(es) I bought for a family wedding later this summer. Easy peasy, right?  Well, no. 
• The biggest hurdle and main issue:  I have very wide/thick feet that are VERY hard to fit. (It's a common feature on my dad's side of the family, and it is f***ing annoying.)  I can't even slide (cram?) my foot into many shoes that are specifically designated "wide width."  
• I want something that's flat or low-heeled (not kitten heels or stilettos).  I actually HAVE a couple of pairs of dressy silver sandals that I bought and wore the nephews' weddings (gulp -- 7 and 9 years ago now!) -- but they both have heels that are slightly higher than I am comfortable with these days. Given the tumbles I've taken recently (in low/flat heeled shoes!), I do NOT want to tempt fate and embarrass myself in front of a couple hundred wedding guests! 
• Also, they are not especially comfortable -- but it seems that finding dressy silver or navy sandals with low heels that actually fit my feet AND are decently comfortable would be the equivalent of winning the Powerball lottery...!  I will wear them if absolutely nothing else turns up (and jus be very careful...!).  The good thing is I still have two months to look!  
• I received an email notice on May 22nd that Pocket is "saying goodbye" -- i.e., shutting down. (I should have known when they were bought out by Mozilla in 2017 -- a buyout never seems to bode well..)  Mali recommended it to me years ago and I've been using it ever since then to save/bookmark articles I've been reading.  (It's also been very handy to get around some -- not all, but some -- paywalled material.)  
• Apparently we can export our saved items.  But to where?? (Any suggestions/recommendations?) 
• Not seeing Little Great Nephew #1 since Easter (and his brother only once briefly, almost a month ago now).  :(  
• The flood of "last day of school," prom and graduation photos began a few weeks ago and will continue through to the end of June. Sigh... (I do enjoy seeing them -- to a point! -- but after a while, it gets to be a little too much...)  
• The cost of flying within Canada. (I just booked our tickets to visit my family in July. OUCH.) 

 Small pleasures: 

• (On the flip side of the above point...!)  Having a trip "home" to look forward to...! 
• Finding matching "Cousin Crew" T-shirts in all the right sizes for all three LGNs!  ;)  
• A free month's trial of Ancestry DNA's ProTools. I've been particularly interested in (and taking advantage of) its "enhanced shared matches" feature, which lets you see how your shared matches are related to each other. Most of us are distant cousins to each other, of course, but I've been able to clarify a few relationships in some cases, which has been a big help.  :)  
• I actually missed the deadline to cancel before I was charged so I guess I'm paying for a month (erk! -- annoying thing).  I'm not sure I'll subscribe long term -- I already have a regular Ancestry subscription (which is not cheap), and this is an add-on to that -- but I can definitely see periodically subscribing, doing a spurt of research and then unsubbing, like some people do with streaming services. 
• The wit & wisdom of Kermit the Frog, needed now more than ever...!  (Lucky graduates!) 
• One of my classmates actually sang "The Rainbow Connection" at our high school graduation ceremony. (This was 1979, not long after the original Muppet Movie was released.)    

#MicroblogMondays: Annoying things & small pleasures

(It's been a while since I did one of these... always easy to put together in a pinch, and I had NO idea what to write for #MM today...!)  

Annoying things: 

• Voldemort Day (i.e., yesterday). Enough said.  ;)  
• That said -- it wasn't too bad, compared to some years. Dh took me out for brunch -- on Friday, much less crowded!  -- and I spent a lot of the day online. I co-hosted a childless community text chat for an hour, and spent some time chatting there myself before and after my shift.  And then watched "Miss Austen" on PBS later that evening. 
• We emptied and cleaned out the humidifier, thinking we wouldn't need it any more, now that nicer weather is here (if not the summer humidity)(yet...!)... but it's been awfully dry in here. I wake up feeling like my eyelids are glued to my eyeballs -- I'm going through eye drops like crazy -- and I have to keep putting on hand lotion, because the backs of my hands are so itchy. Sigh.... 
• I accidentally dropped a picture frame on our coffee table while dusting, and it left a small gouge.  Likewise, our dining table has a lot of small, fine scratches on it. Dh scolds me for fretting about stuff like this -- they're 9 years old!  they've been well used!  scratches and dents are going to happen!  But it makes me sad. (Also, we paid a lot of money for this stuff! Sigh...)  
• Our personal banker called us on Friday, when we were out, and we didn't get his message until later in the day. So I called him back this morning -- which went to voice mail -- and left a message, including our home phone/landline number and also my cellphone number.  He called again a few hours later -- but he called dh's cellphone. (Which he also had on file, but still...!) WTF??  I know he enjoys talking to dh when we go there to see him -- both finance guys, both Italian -- but seriously??  Needless to say, I was not amused.
• I'm behind on my Goodreads reading goal for the year.  :( 

Small pleasures: 

• It's been nice enough outside to have the balcony door open all day, most days. Yay!! 
• It's been staying lighter outside for longer again.  :)  
• I'm noticing more sunsets again!  Yes, I know, the sun sets every night ;)  but it seems to be more noticeable (and prettier!) from spring through fall.  
• Buying cute outfits for the great-niblings. :)  
• Getting out new (renewed) passports! (I got mine almost two weeks ago and dh's FINALLY arrived today. Not sure why his took so long;  I sent them in the same package.)  

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

Annoying things & small pleasures

 Annoying things:  

• It's Blue Monday today. I've written about Blue Monday (and its origins) in the past, and while it's basically a made-up event, it seems more appropriate than ever this year, due to an unfortunate convergence of Martin Luther King Day in the U.S. with that "other" most un-MLK-like event in the U.S.  'Nuff said. 
• Also, it's a chilly grey day here, with late morning temperatures of  -12C, windchill factor -16C. It could be worse: at the same time, where my parents are in Manitoba, it was -31C and -43C windchill. (And they moved today's events in Washington DC indoors because the forecast was -5C??)
• (Maybe more like like "alarming"?)  Politics, current events, etc. I am something of a news junkie, but I've had to turn the channel a lot lately, because I can literally feel my blood pressure rising. I said to dh, "I think I understand a little more about how Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland must have felt back in the 1930s."  :(  
• Two related annoying things:  (1) Mark Zuckerberg removing fact-checking from Meta platforms -- (not) coincidentally just as You-Know-Who was preparing to take office in the U.S. --which (2) has prompted a bunch of my friends to start exploring alternatives to FB & IG on other platforms (and some outright leaving altogether). (WhatsApp, which some have suggested as an alternative, is also owned by Meta, albeit it has the advantage of being encrypted.)  
• I'm not at the point of leaving Meta (yet -- too many friends & relatives on there, too many FB groups I'm active in, including a family group that I co-moderate) -- but maybe it's a good thing I haven't had a lot of time to spend on its sites lately anyway??  
• Trying to find another forum, especially for the groups I belong to, and one that everyone can agree on, is maddening. (How many new apps is this aging late Boomer/early GenXer supposed to install and learn how to use??)  A lot of people are moving over to BlueSky because of the even more maddening things happening on X/Twitter -- but for all its merits, BlueSky is not really an alternative to FB/IG, and certainly not conducive to private group chats. 
• Speaking of BlueSky -- as I was in this post -- I had a flood of new followers over the Christmas holidays -- again, most of them people I do not know or follow, and most of them men. I went in this week and started blocking them, and now I feel much better!  lol  
• My left eye has been twitching lately -- on & off, for well over a month now (maybe almost two). I was complaining about it to dh recently while we were watching the news, and he joked that I have to stop stressing out about the Orange One, because he's going to be around for another four years. I said, "Come to think of it, this DID start around mid-November...!"  Hmmm.... 
• Dh went out to get groceries this morning and brought me back some soup for lunch. And of course my sweater sleeve caught the spoon as I was reaching over to silence a spam call on his  phone (while he was in the kitchen) -- and almost the whole thing wound up on the placemat, tabletop and floor.  (And I was hungry!!)  SIGH... I wound up having toast with peanut butter instead.
• I've noticed that the most recent box or two of teabags I've bought (Tetley) is now being made from flimsier (presumably cheaper) cardboard. And the teabags themselves are now being made from a different material. I haven't been quite as satisfied with my tea lately, and I'm wondering it that's why? (It's quite possible they've changed the composition of the actual tea itself too, I suppose.)  Shrinkflation, grrrrr..... 
• I did some Googling and found this on Tetley Canada's website: "Notice some of our Orange Pekoe packs looking a bit different? Don't panic! We're still serving up the same great tasting tea you know and love... As part of our dedication to sustainability, we've upgraded our Orange Pekoe packaging. Our sleeker and more compact carton design means less packaging waste and all Orange Pekoe teas now utilize plant-based tea bags!"  Hmmm.... 
• Little Great-Nephew #2 is one month old and we STILL haven't seen him!!  :(  We left for Manitoba right after he was born and were away for two weeks. BIL told us because we'd both been sick and because we'd been flying, we were in "quarantine" for two weeks. (!) (Even though we'd both worn masks at the airport & on the plane.) Not BIL's idea, the parents' (!). They were not at all like that when LGN #1 was born -- but of course that was pre-pandemic. (Hoping this weekend may be the time...!) 
• Back home for two weeks now, and still feeling tired and overwhelmed by all the stuff that we let slide while we were sick/away.  :p   
  
• SO DRY in our condo unit (despite running the humidifier constantly -- albeit not at top speed -- too noisy!). I can probably count the number of times the humidity has cracked the 40% mark since we got home on the fingers of one hand (with some to spare). It was below 30% when we returned, and is often below 30% when we wake up in the morning. Constantly applying hand lotion, lip balm and eye drops. 

Scary thing: 

• Repeat bloodwork to check our cholesterol levels, booked at the nearby lab for the end of the month. If the numbers haven't declined since the last bloodwork was done in late September, we're getting meds prescribed -- and neither of us wants another prescription...! 

Small pleasures: 

• Spotting a box in my parents' crawlspace with my name written on it in a corner I don't often enter, while hunting for gift wrapping supplies -- which turned out to contain some books and other items I'd been hunting for for several years now. I was THRILLED -- I'd feared they'd been sent to the thrift store by mistake. I couldn't bring everything home with me this time around, but I did pack: 
• My four university residence yearbooks (including one with photos of dh in it!). 
• Not just the two or three I remembered, but FIVE paperback novels by D.E. Stevenson that I'd bought at a used bookstore on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg in the early 1980s. (Proof that I'm a longtime fan!  lol) I posted about it on my DES fan group, and the other members were almost as thrilled as I was! (The titles were The Baker's Daughter (my favourite), The House on the Cliff, Shoulder the Sky, The Blue Sapphire and Green Money.) 
• Another paperback novel that I'd read as a teenager and LOVED: "The Distant Summer" by Sarah Patterson (daughter of British novelist Jack Higgins), who was just a teenager when she wrote it (published in 1976). It's what would be called a "young adult" novel these days -- set in World War II England, and beautifully written. It appears to be the only novel she ever wrote. (What a pity.) 
• Not in the box, but I also found and brought home my copy of "Nancy Drew and the Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes" by Carolyn Keene. I bought it with the allowance money I'd saved, while on an Anglican Church Junior Auxiliary bus trip to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, when I was 7 or 8 (late 1960s). Cost: $1.59 at KMart.  It's the one Nancy Drew book I wanted to save. :) 
• My (TV) broadcast news demo reel from journalism school. (I graduated -- gulp -- 40 years ago.) I don't recall what they called the format -- it looks a little like a VHS tape, but it's not VHS, or a format you could play on your VHS at home (assuming you still have one, and it still works!).  I doubt there's a newsroom in the country (in North America? in the world??) that uses that technology anymore. But I brought it home with me. I figure SOMEONE might be able to digitize it for me. I'm sure it would be both a cringe and a hoot to see what's on it!  
• Also in the box: other books, as well as a few old photo albums (one mostly empty, and one exclusively devoted to photos from concerts my friends & I had attended. Faded 50-year-old snapshots of the Bay City Rollers, anyone?? lol). 
• My sister pointed out a couple of other boxes in another dark corner of the crawlspace that had my name on them. They were too hard to access just then, and it was towards the end of our visit -- but I will definitely drag them out and go through them the next time I'm there.  (Still hunting for the box that contained my diaries, journals, holiday postcard collection, teenage fan fiction and other early writings/embarrassing stuff, lol.)   
• Returned to the dentist on Jan. 8th for my twice-postponed checkup and cleaning (not really a pleasure, lol). The dentist said one of my lower left teeth still seems a TINY bit loose, but it's better than it was when I took that tumble in December, and the others he noticed seem to have firmed up. He'll continue to keep an eye on things. The hygienist was not my usual one (she's away on vacation), but told me everything looked good and to keep doing what I was doing. 
• My knees -- which were KILLING me from going up and down stairs in my parents' SPLIT LEVEL house! -- are starting to recover...! 
• Finding some cute new clothes for the great-niblings at the mall. :)  
• Cashing in on my birthday discounts and other offers from various retailers. 
• Annoying thing:  realizing I had a discount from the mega-bookstore, AFTER I spent my Christmas gift card from dh there! Grrrr....
• Small pleasure:  I guess I'll just have to go back and buy some more books, right??  Why let a good discount go to waste? lol

Pre-Christmas annoying things & small pleasures

REALLY annoying thing:  I took a tumble today (no stairs involved this time, though) & banged up my face.  :(  :(  :(    Just before Christmas, of course...! (Just call me Klutz Kringle.)  It could have been worse, I guess, but combined with my rosacea/redness (see "Other annoying things," below), let's just say I've looked better. 

 

We had dentist appointments in the city today -- got there early and parked in a lot near both our dentist & optometrist. I left dh in the car to head to the optometrist's office (right across the street from the lot) to get some lid/lash wipes for my eyes. Most of the lot is surrounded by a low fence, but I headed for the street through a narrow gap between a parked truck and a concrete planter. 

 

And tripped, went flying, and fell. Bit my lip and banged my left cheekbone. (Big red bruise/abrasion. A few small cuts/abrasions on both my palms, too, and I later discovered a mildly skinned left knee under my jeans.)  Can't remember if I knocked off my glasses, but the lens on the left side got all scratched up with gravel (fortunately, on the outside edge, side, so I can still see OK, but...!) -- and I could see the lens had come a little loose from the frame.  

 

I picked myself up, dusted myself off and went back to the car to inspect the damage. (Poor dh! He felt so guilty that he hadn't come with me!)  I was a pretty pathetic sight, and needless to say, I was pretty shaken up. I had some wet wipes in my purse, so I wiped off my face with them (dirt, bits of gravel & some blood -- almost entirely from where I bit my upper left lip). Felt my teeth with my tongue and they were all still there and all seemed intact, thank goodness. I thought, well, at least I can get the dentist to check them out!  Put on a mask (thank goodness I had one with me; it hid just about all the damage) and headed for the dentist. 

 

I told the woman at the desk what happened and asked if she had a cold pack I could use. Took off my mask to show them and boy, they jumped into action. She got me a cold pack and asked the dentist to come see me right away. My hygienist took me into her little cubicle and had me lay down in the chair with the cold pack on my face. The dentist came in & poked around my teeth, and he got me some Advil. He said he didn't see any damage (thank goodness!);  a couple of the bottom teeth were maybe just a LITTLE loose, but he felt they'll be OK over time. He did say sometimes when you take a blow to the face like that, teeth can sometimes discolour or die (!) but we'll keep an eye on it and cross that bridge if/when we get there.  

Both he & the hygienist said they didn't think they could (or should) do the full exam & cleaning today;  my lip was already swelling up. I told him it felt like when he puts freezing in for a filling!  So now I have to go back next week! (so long as I'm feeling better & the swelling has gone down). They will probably do some X-rays then, just to make sure all is well. They just let me lay there, holding the cold pack on my face, while dh had his appointment. (His dentist -- a super nice man who has also done work on me -- came in to say hello and ask how I was before we left.) 

After we were done, we headed over to the optometrist's office. I kept my mask on and got my wipes, and then asked if he had a couple of minutes to look at my glasses. I explained to him what happened and showed him my glasses (while keeping my mask on!). He fiddled with them, had me try them on three times until he was satisfied with the fit. He said to come back & see him if I want to replace them. The lenses ARE 10 years old;  I broke the frames about 6 years ago and luckily was able to replace those and use the same lenses -- but I've been thinking that even if my prescription hasn't changed, it's probably time for a new pair (don't you think??).  Dh's glasses are almost that old too, and he's been itching for new ones.  So I may make appointments for us when we get back from Christmas. (They'll be fine for now.) 

 

We stopped at a drugstore on the way back to the car and I bought a cold bottle of water -- I drank some but  mostly held the bottle to my face, like an ice pack. When we finally got home, I washed my face and put some witch hazel and polysporin on my bruises, and I've been using an ice pack, on & off. It looks a little better than it did, but still not great. Hopefully I'll be mostly better before we head west to see my parents! (I suppose I could always use some makeup to cover up or at least minimize the bruising.)   

 

Dh told me it was on the news that U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell tripped and fell today too. I said, "Yeah, but he's 82!"   

We have haircuts on Friday. I told dh that I'm going to tell our stylist that my fat lip is the result of a filler injection gone bad, lol.  

*** *** *** 

Other annoying things: 

• Hitting "mark all as read" (as in ALL the unread emails in my inbox -- and there were a LOT) instead of marking one particular email as UNread. Grrrr.....
• The Canada Post strike (now in its 4th week -- going on since Nov. 15th! -- and not looking like it will be resolved anytime soon...) -- which means I probably won't be sending out Christmas cards for the first time I can remember since I started doing it as a kid (probably ever??). Or receiving any either -- one of my great pleasures at Christmastime (although, granted, there have been fewer and fewer every year in recent years...).  
• My rosacea has been acting up again, especially since it turned colder. I think the lack of humidity in our condo has a lot to do with it (although we've been running the humidifier constantly). I don't mind the fine lines and grey hair that comes from aging, but people used to rave about my beautiful skin, and I took pride and comfort in that -- so this is a real blow to my ego! 
• In the latest installment of "Adventures with my Kobo E-reader,"  lately, when I try to sync my reader and download my latest purchases, the sync progress seems "stuck" on "Updating books."  
• I've waited up to half an hour or 45 minutes before cancelling the sync -- and then tried again, two or three minutes later. Weirdly, I've found that often does the trick -- it almost immediately starts downloading my books and completes the sync! (Knocking wood...!) Definitely better than signing out of my account and then back in again -- and then having to download all the books I want downloaded all over again, so they're ready to read when I want them! -- but still annoying...! 

Small pleasures: 

• A photo on Instagram of Little Great-Nephew with Santa!  :)  
• Stopping to take a peek at Santa myself whenever I'm at the mall. Always a day brightener!  
• Having our Christmas tree up and decorated, and the extra light it gives off at a dark & gloomy time of year. 

#MicroblogMondays: Small pleasures & annoying things

Small pleasures:  

• Finishing a book this weekend!  :)  
• Weather that's (still) mild enough to allow us to keep the balcony door open during the day. :)  
• Still being able to wear my capris & sandals when we go out. :)  
• Watching the leaves on the trees gradually turning colour. 
• Getting some new photos texted to us of Little Great-Niece. :)  

Annoying things:  

• Football.  :p  (Sorry, dh, but between college games, NFL & CFL, it's on ALL THE TIME right now, and I have absolutely NO INTEREST in it!) 
• (Small pleasure/revenge:  Figure skating season starts soon!!  lol)  
• The numbers on the scale that either refuse to budge or head in the wrong direction.... :p  
• Having to figure out what's for dinner. Every. Single. Night.  :p  Once in a while, I have a decided preference, but a lot of the time, I haven't got a clue (and neither does dh...!). All I know is I'll be hungry...!  lol  
• Not enough hours in the day sometimes... 
• Not being able to come up with anything different to post for #MicroblogMondays. ;)  

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

#MicroblogMondays: Recuperating!

Long time no see/write!  (Seems like it to me, anyway!)  I've been in Manitoba visiting my aging parents for the past two weeks, and we just got back home last night (and I'm still pretty exhausted today!). As you can imagine, from my absence from this space (and others online), I didn't have a lot of time to write while I was there. I barely glanced at my email, and I am SO far behind on so many things. 

(Despite family time and helping my parents taking precedence, I did bookmark some of the articles & blog posts I did get to read, and hope to share some of them with you soon.) 

It was our first summertime visit "home" since 2019.  Many of the "annoying things and small pleasures" described in this post as well as this one still apply. ;)  On the "annoying things" side of the equation, a few new points: 

• It was horribly hot & humid for most of the time we were there. Fortunately, my parents' house has air conditioning. 
• UNfortunately, we had a running battle with my mother over the air conditioning. She hates it running constantly and complains she's cold, and will often just get up and nudge the thermostat temperature upwards until the a/c cuts out. (My sister will often do the opposite when Mom is not around...!)  She'll also do the same thing late at night when the rest of us are in bed -- so that we'll wake up in a warm, stuffy room (windows closed, because the a/c WAS running when we went to bed...)  with no air circulating from either the vents or the windows. (Grrrrrrr.....).    
• My parents continue to bicker -- and complain about each other to us -- which is tiresome, awkward and annoying for those of us who have to witness it.  :(    
• My American-born mother insisted on watching the Republican National Convention on TV (despite loathing Donald Trump). Even if she was in the basement family room, we could still hear the TV upstairs, because she had it on top volume. Ugh.  
• It's summertime in Manitoba -- ergo, there were mosquitos, lol.  :p  But because it was hot & humid, I wasn't outside a whole lot, and certainly not out in the grass, where they tend to lurk -- so I didn't get too many bites.
• Despite my sister's threats that she was not going to help with any gardening this year, my dad still planted half his garden space. (Even more annoying thing:  he dug up the first new potatos for dinner -- last night, AFTER we left...!). 
• We still got enlisted into helping my mom water her hanging baskets and planters full of flowers every night after dinner -- three baskets and two planters in the front, one hanging basket and two planters in the back, one full 2-litre pop bottle of water on each hanging basket and 1/2 bottle on each planter.  
• My parents' over-the-range microwave oven/fan died just before we got there.  :(  Granted, it WAS 40 (!!) years old (!!) -- they bought it not long after they moved in.  And it was well used! 

Small pleasures:  

• My sister proposed we buy our parents a new microwave/fan as a combined birthday/wedding anniversary present. She took measurements, did some online research and found a Frigidaire model for a reasonable price (their oven & refrigerator are also Frigidaires). 
• Annoying thing:  there were none to be found in the city, and to special order one would have taken two weeks.  
• Small pleasure:  BUT, there was one in stock at a Home Hardware store in another small town, about a 40-minute drive away. Road trip!  Dad called a woman he used to work with, whose son is an electrician, and he came over two days later to install it. Yay!  
• We celebrated my dad's 85th birthday while we were there, with cake & ice cream in the backyard with PND & family and some of the neighbours.  
• PND was too busy to join one of our card games :(  but she did pop by with Little Princess #3 (11 months old and adorable) at least every other day.  The two older Princesses (now almost 13 & 10!!) also came with them a few times. 
• Visits with a cousin, who drove up for the afternoon from my mom's hometown in NW Minnesota (1.5-2 hour trip, depending on time at the border), and a longtime friend, who drove out from the city to have lunch with me.    
• My sister & I drove into the city for a few hours one afternoon to shop:  she needed a new dress and makeup for a job interview.  
• Dad's barbecued steaks & potatos (sliced french-fry style into a foil pie plate with onions, topped with butter, covered with foil and cooked on the grill -- YUM!! -- I have so missed that...!).  
• Several visits to the local drive-in (a local fixture for 60+ years! -- albeit no longer owned by the original family) for ice cream.

One very BIG pleasure started off as a very annoying thing:  the morning we were leaving to go there,  I woke up (very early) to find a message from the airline (Air Canada, if you're curious):  our flight had been CANCELLED (!) -- and they would be in touch re: rebooking.  

After I peeled myself off the ceiling (!), I found another message that they had, in fact, booked us on another flight -- slightly different flight number, but leaving and arriving at exactly the same times that morning as our original flight. Well, that was a relief.  We had to download new boarding passes, and discovered (annoying thing) that we were now in Zone SIX -- i.e., we would be among the last to board. Dh immediately started fretting about whether there would be room in the overhead bins for our suitcases by the time we were allowed on the plane. We were also now in seats D & F -- we usually book seats together. "Maybe the person in seat E will let us sit together," dh mused. (If not, no biggie.)  

When we got to the gate/waiting area at the airport, I noticed there really didn't seem to be a huge lot of people waiting. I speculated to dh that perhaps this was a smaller plane, that maybe they'd had to rebook people on multiple planes and we just happened to luck into the one that left at exactly the same time as the originally planned flight. 

The first three zones were allowed to board -- and then they announced zones 4, 5 & 6 all together.  Dh took off like a shot with our suitcases (lol), leaving me trailing behind, struggling to put my mask back on after showing my face to the gate personnel.  

I walked onto the airplane, and HOLY COW. This was, by far, the nicest plane we've ever been on.  Instead of six seats in each row (three on one side of the aisle, three on the other), there were two and two. The seats were wide, and made of leather, or a leather-ish material, with wide armrests and drink holders. The tilt-back mechanisms were automated, and there was also a footrest that popped out when you pushed a certain button. There was plenty of room in the overhead bins for our carry-on luggage. There were no screens to watch, but as compensation (?!) we were offered free wi-fi.  We also got free snacks (which used to be standard, but haven't been offered in quite a while). The aisle was wide enough for two people to stand in, side by side.  And behind us were two rows of seats, facing each other in a "quad," with a table in the middle.  

"Enjoy the nice seats," the captain said at the end of his welcome message. Believe me, we did!  

Dh later overheard one of the flight attendants chatting to some people across the aisle and behind us:  apparently this particular plane was not part of the regular fleet -- obviously, it got pulled into use as a substitute for our original plane. It's normally used as a charter by corporations and sports teams (e.g., the Toronto Maple Leafs, Raptors, Blue Jays...). Those spacious seats obviously come in handy when you're dealing with big, tall, professional athletes, right?  

I doubt we'll ever get a ride like that again, but we sure enjoyed it while it lasted...!  

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

#MicroblogMondays: Small pleasures & annoying things on Canada Day

Small pleasures: 

• A long weekend (Canada Day). :)  (Even when you're no longer working!) 
• Empty roads and (mostly) empty parking lots and stores, even when they're open. 
• Weather that is, today, just right! -- not too hot ( = Saturday), not too cloudy/chilly ( = yesterday). 
• Spending time with family.  
• Being absorbed in a good book.  :)  
• Finding not just one, not just 2 but SIX items on your (admittedly large!) e-book wishlist for sale (between $1.99 and $3.99)!!   Total bill (including tax): $20.98. 
• Mentioning to dh's cousin (during a conversation about burial vs cremation yesterday (!) -- how cheerful, right??) that we have a cremation niche at a cemetery near our old community -- and having her nod and say, "Of course, you'd want to be close to Katie." I don't think I'd ever heard her say our daughter's name before. That, and the fact that she recognized/acknowledged WHY we would buy a niche there!   

Annoying things:  

• Politics and politicians (on both sides of the border...!).  :p   ('Nuff said.)  
• Realizing that I got slightly sunburned on my nose, arms & shoulders after spending hours outside yesterday (on a mostly cloudy day -- and I WAS wearing sunscreen on my face!).  
• The numbers on the scale continuing to slowly creep upward...  :(  
• Being told by several of dh's cousins (after dh let it slip that we've rarely been inside a restaurant since the pandemic began) that "oh no, you need to live your life" and "it's just a cold, especially if you've been vaccinated." Sigh... 

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

#MicroblogMondays: Annoying things & small pleasures

 Annoying things: 

• MDay ads & marketing, reaching a fever pitch this week. Bah, humbug... 
• The master bathroom sink, which has always been sluggish, but always responded to a dose of baking soda & vinegar followed by hot water, clogged up a week ago Thursday (April 25th) and refused to clear.  
• Related annoying thing #1:  Called the plumber who handles the overall plumbing systems for our building on Thursday morning. He told me he'd try to come that day and, if not, would call me on Friday to arrange another time. He didn't show up all weekend :p -- but when I messaged him on Sunday, he did apologize and came early Monday morning.  
• Related annoying thing #2:  Paying him $250 (plus tax!) for half an hour's work (!!).  
• Related small pleasure:  Having a functioning second bathroom sink to use in the meantime...!!  (A second bathroom was not high on our list of "must-haves" when condo shopping, but this is not the first time we've been VERY glad we have it!)  
• There were a LOT of long faces around here last Saturday night/Monday morning:  The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the first round of Stanley Cup playoffs, in overtime, on Saturday night. I don't know how many times they've wound up playing Boston in the first round of playoffs -- when they've made the playoffs! -- and lost, but it's been a LONG time since they've bested Boston and gone on to the next round. 
• My beloved Winnipeg Jets were knocked out of the first round by Colorado. :(  
• There are still two Canadian teams left in the playoffs (Vancouver & Edmonton -- who are playing each other!). A Canadian team has not won the Stanley Cup since 1993 (31 years ago).  :(   
• The last time the Leafs won the Cup was in 1967 -- 57 years ago!! (My husband was 10 years old at the time and remembers it well!)   
• Someone in the neighbourhood blasting music at top volume on Sunday afternoon... it was mild enough that we had the balcony door open, but we had to close it (and we could still hear it faintly through the closed door/windows).  Hopefully this is not a preview of things to come this summer...!  
• How many guys (including my own dh.) are simply not getting the "man vs bear" debate going on right now (and why so many women are saying they'd choose the bear). One friend pointed out on FB that she probably wouldn't be in the woods by herself anyway (true for me too -- lots of things could happens beyond the whole man vs bear thing, right?). Another (a former blogger), lives in an area where close encounters with bears are not uncommon sight -- but, she added, "They never followed me off busses. Nor demanded I smile, nor catcalled me or slipped roofies in my drink." Exactly. 
• The price of books these days -- including e-books!  (All prices quoted Canadian prices/dollars.)  Hardcovers are now about $40, paperbacks $25. Current or recent e-books seem to start around $15 (minimum) lately, and are often priced at $18-20 or more. I keep a (very long!) wish list, consult it frequently, and snap up copies when they're on sale for for $5 or less. (Annoying thing:  It seems like the bargains have been further and fewer between lately.)  
• Example: I'm dying to read "Prophet Song," but it's not in paperback yet -- the hardcover is $40 and the ebook is not that much cheaper at $32 (!). (For an EBOOK!!) Seems kind of ridiculous.
• Example:  "The Postcard" by Anne Berest has been on my wishlist since it was published. Hardcover, $40. The ebook is $31. (!) The paperback just came out -- $29. (I caved and bought a copy -- I get a 10% discount with my Plum points card. But I still think it's ridiculous.
• Example: Barbra Streisand's memoir -- which, admittedly, has a pretty hefty page count -- is $63 (!!) for the hardcover!!  The e-version is $22 (which does seem more reasonable by comparison, albeit still slightly ridiculous for an ebook, I think...!). (No paperback yet.)  
• (Yes, I know the library exists...!  ;)  ) 

Small pleasures: 

• Our new vertical blinds! :)  (Why didn't we do this years sooner??)(The pandemic, for one thing...)
• Milder weather, finally!! (although not always sunny skies...).  
• Italian pastries with my tea for the last few days -- takeaway goodies from dh's uncle's 90th birthday party this past weekend. 
• Getting dressed up and putting on makeup (for the party -- I wouldn't want to do it every day anymore, but once in a while, it's kind of fun...!). 
• Putting on a pair of pants I hadn't worn in a while, and having them still fit!  ;)  
• Having a good hair day, too!  

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

#MicroblogMondays: Sad things, annoying things & small pleasures

Sad things:  

• My beloved uncle & godfather passed away recently, not long after his 81st birthday. He was my mom's younger brother and only sibling -- my only uncle on that side of the family. He'd just turned 81. His health had not been good in recent years and, as my cousin/his son told me when I messaged him, "he kind of ran out of gas."  :(  I hadn't seen him since summer 2016, but we've talked on the phone and I've kept up with him & his family through social media and through my mom, who spoke/speaks with them regularly. I am going to miss him. :( 
• I told my mom I like to think he's joined my late grandparents and other family members (including my Katie, of course) at that big kitchen table in the sky (which looks suspiciously like my grandmother's old kitchen, only bigger), where the coffee pot is never empty and the laughter just keeps on going.  :)  ❤

Annoying things:  

• Waking up (AGAIN -- 4th time in two weeks) at about 7:15 a.m. to a tapping noise coming from the bathroom walls (or ceiling?).  Dh went upstairs a while later and tapped on the door of the unit above ours, hoping to speak to the tenant (we know it's rented) and find out if she'd been in the shower or???  but no one answered the door. :(  
• The property manager came by last week, notified the unit's owner and was able to go in and run some water through the pipes, and while we could hear the faint sounds of water running (as we sometimes do -- and that's to be expected, I think), we didn't hear any tapping/dripping noise this time. There's not much she can do until/unless we actually see signs of water damage. (And the ceiling of our shower cubicle is tiled, so it may be quite a while before anything shows up, if this is what's happening.)  Sigh... 
• Knowing that I need to tackle cleaning the shower cubicle again, soon...!  (One of my least favourite chores! -- although I always appreciate how it looks when it's done!) 
• Certain politicians (on both sides of the border...!).  :p   
• Unrelenting grey skies these past several months (including this morning). 
• Small pleasure:  The rare days when we see blue sky & sunshine! 
• Not being able to think of something more original/interesting for a #MM blog post.  ;)  

Small pleasures:  

• Spending a full day last week with Little Great-Nephew, who was on spring break from junior kindergarten.  Exhausting, but so much fun!  :)  
• Seeing BIL in a good mood, and more like himself than he has been in a very long time.  :)  
• Knowing that he & SIL had a nice holiday with his & dh's cousin and her husband in the Caribbean.  :)  
• A trip down Yonge Street in Toronto last week, from the 407 to our optometrist's office midtown. The traffic can be miserable (and it wasn't great), but it was a gorgeous day outside (18C!! -- I left my jacket in the car for the short walk from the parking lot to the office), we had the windows rolled part way down, and it was fun/interesting to see all the changes that had taken place even just since our last trip along the same route a few months ago.  
• (Annoying/sad thing:  SO. MANY. CONDO BUILDINGS!!  going up!! =  entire blocks of stores and other small businesses being demolished...!)  
• No significant changes in my vision since my last visit!  :)  
• Taking Easter/spring decorations to the cemetery for Katie's niche. 
• Driving around our old community afterwards (to kill time before an appointment nearby). We didn't go past our old house, but we did drive down some streets we hadn't been on in quite a while. 
• Easter chocolate. :)  I bought some for Little Great-Nephew's Easter goodie bag (Little Great-Niece is still too little for candy) -- and some for us to nibble on too.  Both Lindor milk chocolate eggs, and Cadbury mini-eggs.  :)  
• The prospect of lunch with an old friend later this week. She messaged me on the weekend that she'll be in town and did we have time to get together on Thursday? 
• Annoying thing: I responded yes, proposed lunch and a place to eat -- and still haven't heard back from her. :p  
• Looking at my cellphone wallpaper:  a photo from Little Great-Niece's recent first birthday party,  of her sitting on the couch beside Little Great-Nephew (her cousin), who is playing a game on his tablet and studiously trying to ignore her (lol!!)  as she leans over to see what he's doing.  I think it's one of my favourite photos I've ever taken. 
• Trying a new recipe for dinner last night:  easy chicken tetrazzini (using Campbell's soup for the sauce!).  Very gooey and very rich (definitely NOT low-cal!!), but pretty good!  :)  (Lots of leftovers too!)  
• The first day of spring is tomorrow!!  

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