#MicroblogMondays: Tales from a trunk

I LOVE these kinds of stories!

In 1986, Richard Payton came into possession of an old chest, found in a home in North Hollywood, where the owner had passed away. Inside, he found a vintage wedding dress and shoes from 1934, photos, letters, and an old Bible. 

Payton's cousin, K.C. Thompson, tried on the dress. It fit perfectly. Payton gave it to her and she wore it several years later on her own wedding day.  Curious, she began researching the dress's original owner. She identified that first bride as Ellen Prince, born in Alpena County, Michigan, in 1912.  

“When I wore it, I got the sense that this woman didn’t want to be forgotten,” Thompson told the Alpena News in March. “She wanted to go home. I feel like I am the custodian of her life. I’m so curious to know more about her, and I hope the people in Alpena will help me return Ellen home. That is where I believe she belongs, at home with family. All of these family heirlooms belong with her family.”

The heirlooms were priceless to her great-nephew, George Light, who was thrilled to receive them -- minus the wedding dress, which he agreed Thompson should keep. (She hopes to eventually donate it to a museum in the Alpena area.)  He remembers Prince as a committed teacher, active in her church, who loved to host her family at Christmastime. 

“Ellen may not have been a blood relative of mine, but she is special to me, so getting these things to George was important,” Thompson told the newspaper recently. 

Ellen Prince had no descendants -- she never had children. But her life, her story and her memory are being remembered, honoured and preserved -- by her extended family, and by a curious stranger with an unusual connection to her. 

Never doubt the impact your life can have on others, even when you are childless! 

Read the whole story -- the original article and the followup! (The photos of the wedding dress are gorgeous!) 

Thanks to Kathleen Guthrie Woods  of 52 Nudges and Life Without Baby for sharing this story on social media!  (K.C. Thompson is Kathleen's relative!) Kathleen has a book coming out later this month called "The Mother of All Dilemmas."  I have already pre-ordered a copy for my phone's Kindle app and can't wait to read it! 

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

Odds & ends

• In case you missed it here (and I will admit, it was buried in the middle of a very long post, lol):  dh & I celebrated Canada Day on Thursday with BIL & SIL... by getting our second vaccines!!  (Moderna, after getting AstraZeneca the first time around on April 5th). We will be considered fully vaccinated on July 15th. What a relief!!  We went out for ice cream together afterwards at Dairy Queen (went through the drive-thru and ate in the car in the parking lot). We got to see Little Great-Nephew too.  :)  
• I started feeling tired and achy in the evening and had a lousy night. (Dh too.) Just aching all over and feeling like crap. Finally got up around 5:30 a.m. and took two ibuprofen (which I probably should have done before I went to bed...!).  Broke out in a sweat, but felt a little better... then tough again during the day (checked my temperature and it was 100.9F in the early afternoon)... then a little better in the late afternoon/evening. Arm/shoulder is still sore this morning, but overall, much better! 
• Older Nephew & his wife managed to snag appointments yesterday, and Younger Nephew & his wife will be getting their second shots next weekend. :)  
• Dh & I had phone consultations with our family doctor a few days ago -- as we did almost exactly a year ago, in lieu of our annual physicals. The office/clinic where he works is still not seeing patients personally unless absolutely necessary, although they hope to reopen more fully in August. Both of us were running out of our prescription medications and needed renewals on our prescriptions (which he sent directly to our local pharmacy).  
• It's been two years since we last had bloodwork done, so he emailed us requisitions to have that done (there's a lab where we can have it done just down the street from us). Crossing my fingers that there won't be any dramatic changes! 
• I mentioned that we had both had AstraZeneca for our first vaccines and had appointments for the second later in the week, where we would probably be getting Moderna. (We did.) Basically, he said we did the right thing by getting the AZ when it was offered to us, and that the Moderna would be a good choice for the second shot, that studies to date have shown that "mixing" AZ with an mRNA vaccine provides very effective protection with not much more than the usual side effects. I told him I would tell my mother that he approved, lol.  
• Italy won its quarter-final EuroCup soccer game against Belgium on Friday afternoon. The game ended before 5 p.m. -- just in time for Friday afternoon rush hour in our predominantly Italian-Canadian community (our building is on a main thoroughfare -- although, thankfully, we face the back of the property!) -- and the barrage of honking car horns went on (and on... and on... and on...) for more than FOUR HOURS. (It finally died out around sunset... just in time for the fireworks to start...! -- It's Canada Day weekend here.)  Even dh -- who enjoys watching the games, and revels in being here among his paisan -- was getting annoyed after a while. Especially when we both were still feeling the effects of our vaccinations the day before...!  (If this is what it's like for a EuroCup quarter final, heaven help us when the World Cup rolls around...!) 
• This was the scene a few days ago when Italy won a previous game... and this is what it looked like around 9:30 p.m. last night, as things were starting to die down.  This is in the old village, about 2 km (1 mile+) from where we live (closer as the crow flies...), where there are several cafes/patios where people gather to watch the games on TV.  (There are several mid-rise condo buildings in the area -- including one where dh's aunt lives -- and we actually looked at a few of them... yikes!! I pity the poor residents...!) Local traffic was blocked for hours. We're still under gathering size restrictions and mask mandates here, but you wouldn't know that from these videos...!  And how many of these people/kids do you think are fully vaccinated??  
• Something that is really starting to irk me: Younger Nephew & his wife have been married for three years now... we know they want kids and also that there are factors that might make that difficult. Every now & then (and at least two or three times, the last time we saw them), BIL &/or SIL will get a mournful look on their face, shake their heads and sadly say something like, "I really hope she gets pregnant soon"  or "I hope they're not going to have any issues," etc.  I said to dh, "I want to say, 'You do realize who you're talking to, right?' "  I won't, because they've always been good to us and generous about including us in things and sharing their kids & grandson with us -- and of course there is no one cheering more for the kids to have a family than dh & me -- but...!  
• I am feeling a little heartsick over what's happened in British Columbia this past week. The small town of Lytton, in the province's interior, endured three consecutive days of the hottest weather ever recorded in this country -- and then on day 4, the whole town went up in flames from a wildfire. People had just a few minutes' notice to evacuate, and at least two of them didn't make it out alive. The Washington Post even wrote about it. 
• Fan-girling here:  The writer Joyce Maynard shared a new article on Facebook that Elle magazine just published about her, and I shared it on my own FB news feed. I mentioned what a profound impact her book "Looking Back" had on me as a pre-teen, and I also mentioned her mother Fredelle Bruser Maynard's lovely memoir "Raisins and Almonds." (I mentioned both in a 2010 blog post, here.) I'm "friends" with Joyce on FB (along with 5,000 other people...! -- I don't know her personally), and somehow she saw and actually commented on my post, saying how happy it made her that I remember her mother's book. :)  
• The article is worth a read. I especially loved this line: “I think it’s useful to consider how many terrible things can happen, and you can still have a wonderful life,” Maynard says.

Reading challenge mid-year checkup

Since 2021 is already halfway over (eeekkkk.... seriously??!), I thought it might be timely to check in on the status of my Goodreads Reading Challenge and other reading goals. :)  In my 2020 Reading Year in Review post last December, I wrote: 

• Since I reached 30 books fairly easily this year (by mid-August), I've decided to increase my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal modestly to 36 books ( = 3 books per month on average) for 2021. 
• This year, I reached 36 books by late October. I also reached the 36-book mark in October 2019, my best reading year since I started keeping track (50 books total).  So we'll see how I do in 2021...! 

I thought it might be cool if I could reach my goal of 36 books for the year by the end of June. For a while there, I thought I might do it -- but after blazing through 9 (!) books in May, I only managed to finish 2 in June, for a total of 34 books, year to date. Close, but no cigar, lol.  Still, 34 books so far (94% of my goal) is pretty amazing.  While I didn't quite make 3 books in June, I'd still like to keep to that 3 books per month goal for the rest of the year, if possible. I read 50 books in 2019 -- the most I've read in one year since I started tracking/taking the challenge on Goodreads in 2016 -- and while I'm not going to change my Goodreads goal midyear, I think that will be my unofficial target for the rest of the year, and 2-3 books per month for the rest of the year will help me get there. :)  

I didn't set any other "official" reading goals for 2021.  But back in January, I wrote a post (responding to a post of Mel's) about tackling my TBR (to be read) pile by making a "TBR priority list."  I wrote: 

Some of the books I've been meaning to get to for quite a while now include "Us Against You" and "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman (after reading & loving "Beartown" for my library book club), "The Huntress" by Kate Quinn (after reading & enjoying "The Alice Network" for my library book club -- and she has a new book coming out soon too... gahhhhh...), "My Dark Vanessa" by Kate Elizabeth Russell (which I keep putting off, even though several people I know have read it & rated it highly, because it sounds... dark... and I need to be in the right frame of mind to tackle something like that), and "Maisie Dobbs" by Jacqueline Winspear, which By the Brooke recommended to me a long time ago.  ;)

"Anxious People" was the pick for my "Clever Name" book club this month (review here), so I did get that one read. But that's the only one I can cross off that particular list (which has, in the meantime, grown longer, lol). 

Dh is off Goodreads again (eyeroll). His goal was 24 books, which he blew past long ago. His last recorded total was 62 books so far this year, but the true number would be much higher than that. 

Did you set any reading goals for 2021?  How are you doing with them? 

Right now

Right now...* 

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

Pandemic diary/update: (And once again, this section is almost a post unto itself...!) June was Month #15 going on 16 (!) of living with the COVID-19 pandemic.  

After hitting an all-time one-day high of 4,812 on April 16th (shortly after the most recent lockdown/restrictions began), daily new case numbers here in Ontario have (thankfully!) been steadily declining. Yesterday, the province reported just 184 new cases -- the lowest since Sept. 10th, 2020.  The seven-day rolling average of new cases fell to 268. Hospital/ICU numbers have also declined.

This is due in part to the success of the latest lockdown/restrictions/staged reopening process -- but also undoubtedly because of our rapidly rising vaccination rates. Vaccinations began rolling out (very slowly) to the general public in March, and the second round, which also got off to a bit of a slow start in May, is now going gangbusters. As of yesterday (June 30th), 67.5% of all Canadians had received at least one shot, and 29.2% were fully vaccinated. Here in Ontario, 67.4% of the total population have received one dose of vaccine, and 32.6% are now fully vaccinated. (Among adults 18+ in Ontario, those figures are 77.7% and 39.3%, respectively.)  

Initially, the wait between first and second shots was pegged at 16 weeks -- then it was lowered to 12 weeks. By mid-June, with the new Delta variant of the virus starting to spread, the province decreed that anyone who had had an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) could get their second shot after just 8 weeks. Those of us who had AstraZeneca, however, still had to wait 12 weeks, whether we were getting AZ or an mRNA shot for our second dose. People were not happy about that -- and so within days, the wait time was shortened to 8 weeks for AZers too.  Dh & I had our first AstraZeneca shots on April 5th... as a result, people who got their first shots of Pfizer in May, long after we did, were getting their second shots before we were even allowed to try to book ours!  One more round of ups & downs for us AZers to endure...!  

To date, most Canadians have received Pfizer or (to a lesser extent)AstraZeneca, because initial shipments of Moderna were delayed. Now it's the other way around:  vast quantities of Moderna are flooding into the country, while the latest Pfizer shipments have been delayed, creating a Pfizer shortage.  Of course, those of us who took AstraZeneca for our first shots are now being urged to choose an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) for our second.  (And how privileged are we, to have the luxury of choice??) (Early data on "mixing" has been promising, but there hasn't been a lot of it to date.)  To make things even more interesting, Moderna has not yet been approved here for use among children aged 12-18 (but Pfizer has).  As a result, many clinics are reserving what little Pfizer is currently available for the 12-18 age group. But because Pfizer became "THE" vaccine by default (when Moderna was not available and AZ fell into disfavour), many people are now outright refusing Moderna at vaccination clinics -- even though it is essentially the same thing as Pfizer -- running the risk of unused vaccines going to waste...!!  You can't make this stuff up...! 

Anyway! -- If you read my blog regularly, you know I've posted (*cough* -- whined, lol) about how difficult it's been to book second shots -- and I'm almost hesitant to post this because, I don't want to jinx myself (lol) -- but later this afternoon, dh, BIL & SIL & I will be going to get our second vaccinations at one of the big centres, about 20 minutes from where we live. 

Last week, I'd called the drugstore where we got our first shots (& were registered for a second), but was told they were only giving AstraZeneca;  they didn't have any Pfizer yet. By then, we'd decided we'd rather have the Pfizer (if only to stop my mother from complaining, lol).  SIL told me she'd been on the provincial booking portal and seen lots of appointments available at this particular site, but they wouldn't say whether they were offering Pfizer or Moderna (BIL was hesitant on the Moderna). I decided to have a look for myself, and when I saw all those appointments available, I thought, to heck with waiting, I don't care if it's Moderna, and booked for me & dh. Phoned SIL and she promptly booked for the exact same time for her & BIL, lol. I said, "If the drugstore comes through with Pfizer before then, we can always cancel," but they haven't -- and we didn't realize at the time that basically there wasn't any Pfizer to be had anywhere for people 18+. 

So, today is the day! and I can't think of a better way to celebrate Canada Day!!  After two weeks, i.e., by July 15th, we will (finally!!) be considered fully vaccinated.  (This gives a whole new meaning to the term "two-week wait," doesn't it??)  My parents received their second vaccinations earlier this week (yay!!), and my sister and her partner will get theirs early next week.  

Our most recent stay-at-home order, which began April 8th, officially ended as scheduled on June 2nd. However, other restrictions remained firmly in place until June 11th, when -- certain thresholds re: vaccinations, new cases, ICU numbers, etc. being met -- some things began to reopen, including larger gatherings, outdoor dining and some non-essential retail (at 15% capacity), after what some have called one of the longest and most stringent lockdowns in the world. 

There's supposed to be a mandatory 21 days until the next stage of reopening is allowed to proceed, to ensure new case/ICU numbers remain low and we reach certain vaccination levels. For example, stage 2 was scheduled for Friday, July 2nd, assuming (among other criteria) 70% of all adults with first vaccinations and 20% with second shots. As usual, however, our premier simply could not resist the opportunity to score some political points by reopening before the long weekend (eyeroll)(Canada Day) -- and his wife and four daughters were nagging him about wanting to get their hair and nails done (eyeroll again) -- and so Stage 2 reopening began a few days early -- i.e., yesterday, Wednesday, June 30th -- which includes hair and nail salons and malls (all at reduced capacity). (Yes, I know I've been whining about my own hair, lol -- but even though I desperately want a haircut, I don't believe that's sufficient reason to reopen earlier than health officials recommend.) 

Stage 3 reopening is currently scheduled for around July 21st -- although we've already exceeded the required vaccination levels required, and some people are pushing for an earlier reopening there too (which would include indoor dining and other indoor activities, including casino reopenings and larger indoor gathering limits).  Health officials, however, want the government to stick to the established timeline. Guess we'll see...!  

On top of dh's usual (once or twice weekly) trips to the supermarket for groceries and for takeout dinners on Saturday nights, this month, we've been to BIL's six (6) times to spend time with SIL & Little Great-Nephew -- once or twice a week (generally mid-morning, as LGN takes a nap in the afternoon after lunch). 

Dh also helped BIL & Older Nephew move some stuff from BIL's house to the kids' new home, about 45-60 minutes north, after they took possession on June 1st. They've been having some work done (installing a new kitchen and some built-ins in the family room, de-popcorning the ceilings, installing new flooring in the upstairs bedrooms and painting), and won't be moving in until later in July.  

Otherwise, we've continued to stay close to home (both by edict and by choice).  Unfortunately, we are part of an increasing minority: for example, EuroCup soccer is HUGE in the predominantly Italian community where we live, and there were HUNDREDS of people jamming the streets, celebrating, in the old downtown/village area last Saturday afternoon, after Italy won its do-or-die game against Austria... in direct violation of gathering limits, not a mask in sight (and how many of them do you think were two weeks past their second shots??).  Dh went to pick up our takeout dinner around 5 p.m., while the game was still on -- the restaurant's recently reopened patio was packed, with a long lineup waiting outside, and there were massive lineups at all the other restaurants & stores he passed by.  And later, as we ate our dinner, we watched as several groups of young people, unmasked, made their way from the parking area to one of the neighbouring townhouses, toting cases of beer and platters of food -- obviously headed to a party. Sigh... I know it's summertime, people want to be out & about, things ARE getting better -- but IT'S NOT OVER YET!! 

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

Also right now:  

Reading: I read 2 books in June (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged "2021 books"):

• "Emily of New Moon" by L.M. Montgomery -- which my L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group began reading & discussing together on June 14th. :)  If you're an LMM/Emily fan, come join us! -- we're only a few chapters in! 
• "Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman (for my "Clever Name" virtual book club). 

This brings me to 34 books read so far in 2021 -- 94% of my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 36 books (!!). I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 17 (!) books ahead of schedule. :)  (Dh stopped tracking his reading on Goodreads -- again! -- with his most recent total at 62 books (!), but likely much higher.)  

Current read(s): 

• "Summerhills" by D.E. Stevenson (chapter-by-chapter group read with my DES online fan group). 
• "Emily of New Moon" by L.M. Montgomery (chapter-by-chapter group read with my L.M. Montgomery Readathon Facebook group, as mentioned above). 
• "The Menopause Manifesto" by Dr. Jen Gunter. 
• "Hungry" by Grace Dent (the July pick for the Gateway Women/NoMo book club).

Coming up: 

• "Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family" by Amanda Jette Knox (July's pick for my  "Clever Name" virtual book club). 

Did not finish:  

• "Poisoned" by Jennifer Donnelly (June's pick for the Gateway Women/NoMo book club). This was billed as a feminist take on an old fairy tale (Snow White). Fantasy is generally not my genre of choice, but I enjoy taking part in book club discussions (and I've been introduced to some great reads through them that I might not have picked up otherwise) -- so I downloaded this book to my e-reader and started reading. But I found it difficult to get into -- and there were other, more alluring books waiting in the wings to be read (some for other book clubs too). I rarely abandon a book once I start it (and who knows, I may pick it up again at some point in the future), but I just couldn't get interested, and so I've set this one aside. Your mileage may vary...! 

A few recently purchased titles (in both paper & digital formats, discounted or purchased with points):   

• "Me & Mr. Darcy" by Alexandra Potter 
• "A Girl From Yamhill" by Beverly Cleary 
• "A Bigger Field Awaits Us" by Andrew Beaujon 
• "Let Love Rule" by Lenny Kravitz 

Watching: 

• I didn't watch minute by minute, but I kept tabs on the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs series between my beloved Winnipeg Jets and the legendary Montreal Canadiens earlier this month -- in which the Jets lost all four games played (best of 7). I guess there's always next year...!  (The Canadiens are facing the Tampa Bay Lightning in the finals -- game 3 tomorrow/Friday night!)
• Aside from figure skating, I'm generally not that interested in watching sports. I'll watch hockey now & then (I am Canadian, after all, lol), but personally, I think hockey in June/July is ridiculous. ;)  Nevertheless, I have followed the Jets since they were part of the WHL back in the 1970s. I vividly remember the day they became part of the NHL... that sad, sad day they left Winnipeg, and the ecstatic day they returned.  If I had to pick one team that I would call "mine," they would be it. :) 
• I finished watching season 4 of "The Handmaid's Tale."  We've gone waaaayyyyy beyond the original Atwood novel, and there was a lot of wish fulfillment going on, lol -- especially in the season ender! Not sure what they'll do in season 5 -- and there will be a season 5 -- but I will still be watching...!  
• After reading "Us" by David Nicholls recently (reviewed here), I enjoyed watching a two-part (four-hour) screen adaptation on PBS Masterpiece this month. Great New York Times review here! (And I blogged about how it affected me, here.)
• We wound up watching all four hours (!) of "KISStory" on A&E Biography on Monday night, lol.  I was not a KISS fan back in the day -- as regular readers of this blog will recall, I was a huge Bay City Rollers fan when I was in my early/mid-teens in the mid-1970s -- around the same time that KISS first began topping the charts -- and, back then, BCR & KISS fans HATED each other with a passion. ;)  (BCR fans were mostly young girls;  KISS fans back then were mostly young males.)  But what can I say -- they're kind of like the wallpaper -- they've always been there (they were part of my youth too, and they've been around almost 50!! years now...), some of their songs really are kind of catchy, and I feel almost kind of affectionate about them these days. Anyway, I enjoyed watching.  
• There was a rumour, when I was at university in the late 1970s/early 1980s, that KISS had played the residence auditorium where I attended so many dances/socials/parties -- several years earlier, in the early/mid-1970s, before they hit the big time. Years later, someone did some digging -- and it was true! It was the fourth show on their very first tour in 1974. (They were a little too weird for Winnipeg at the time and got booed, as well as picketed, lol.)  

Listening:  Dh has been listening to the Stingray Seventies music channel lately for some variety from  the classic rock channel we usually listen to. Obviously, there is some overlap -- but you get more of the sappy/silly stuff that gave Seventies music a bad name here (lol), along with the good stuff. Still, it's fun when you can instantly recognize a song from the first few bars and sing along to (almost) every word, even if you haven't heard it in a very long time...!  

Buying (besides books, lol):  Not much!  Most non-essential retail outlets here (aside from supermarkets and drugstores) could only offer curbside pickup until June 11th, when they were allowed to reopen with limited capacity. We figured they'd be swamped when they first reopened, and so have not ventured anywhere yet. Malls just reopened yesterday, as part of stage 2. We may bite the bullet and head there soon -- my cellphone is literally starting to fall apart (splitting along the seams), and I desperately need one with more memory, so... 

Eating/Drinking:  Our usual rotation of favourite takeout choices, including amazing thin crust/wood oven pizza, spaghetti rapini agli e olio, rotisserie chicken, chicken fingers and fries... and a trip through the McDonalds drive-through, one night when we were desperate, lol.  

A couple of times, en route home after visiting SIL & LGN, we've swung by the supermarket for some takeout soup or pizza for lunch -- I wait in the car while dh puts on his mask and goes inside, and we warm things up in the microwave when we get home. (In pre-covid times, we'd go for lunch there together and then do the grocery shopping.) 

Wearing:  Mostly denim shorts & tank tops, now that the hot, humid weather is here.  

Trying: To stay cool amid a wave of heat & humidity -- but not to complain too much about it, since it's nowhere near what people in British Columbia/the U.S. west coast (Seattle, Portland, etc.) have been dealing with (at least we have air conditioning!! -- many of them don't, since they just haven't needed it in the past).  On Tuesday, it was 49.6C (!!!) in Lytton, a small town in the interior of British Columbia -- a full 21 degrees hotter than normal.  (That's 121F, and hotter than the all-time record high in Las Vegas!!) They broke the all-time Canadian heat record (set in 1937), three days in a row! 

Then last night (Wednesday), the entire town was evacuated with about 10 minutes notice, then engulfed by wildfires.  :(  Other towns in the province are being flooded, the result of mountain icecaps melting in the extreme heat.   

Please don't try to tell me that climate change isn't real.  :(  

Wanting:  What else? -- a haircut!!  lol  (Friday will be 16 weeks since the last one!)  I called the salon in our Old Community where our regular hairdresser of the past several years is now working -- or was supposed to start working, anyway, right around the same time as the last lockdown kicked in...! -- and left a message yesterday afternoon, begging for appointments ASAP.  

Celebrating:  I'm happy to report that I got a call back from the salon a few hours later, and we are now booked for haircuts, late Saturday afternoon, July 10th!!  (Dh said he would take an appointment at midnight if that was the first one available, lol.)  I CANNOT WAIT!!! 

Feeling: Sick & tired of this pandemic (and my pandemic hair!!)... but hoping that we'll soon be able to start safely spreading our wings a little more... 

#MicroblogMondays: Group hugs and Kleenex

(SPOILER ALERT)  

I watched the second and final episode (two parts, four hours) of the screen adaptation of David Nicholls's novel "Us" on PBS Masterpiece last night. (I read the novel last month, reviewed here -- and Mel mentioned it in the latest Friday Roundup.)  The New York Times had an interesting review/story about the show, how it was filmed (pre-covid) and the experience of viewing it during the pandemic. Travel wish fulfillment, anyone? (Quote from the article:  “Rather than a love letter to Europe,” Nicholls said ruefully, “the series became a love letter to leaving the house.”)

I thought it was extremely well done -- the author wrote the screenplay, which probably helped -- especially the scenes involving  the couple's first baby, Jane. The scenes at the hospital had me in tears, which I expected. And the scenes involving that precious little box of memories -- Connie, alone in the house, opening the box;  curious little Albie, pulling it off the shelf;  Douglas offering it to Connie in the end, asking only for copies of the photos. 

What I didn't expect was bursting into sobs near the end, when Douglas, Connie and Albie embrace in a group hug in Albie's college dorm room. It was a big emotional payoff for the entire story -- the family together at last in a moment of genuine love and emotion, before heading their separate ways -- but it also hit me (as it still does, from time to time) that it was one of those moments I've missed out on and will never experience with my own daughter. (The big family group hugs, in the college dorm room and/or elsewhere.)

One of so many moments. 

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

"Anxious People" by Fredrik Backman

Perhaps a book titled "Anxious People" is not the greatest reading choice when you have anxious tendencies yourself  -- at first glance, anyway, lol. I have to admit I felt a little jittery at times as I read this book. Something about the staccato prose, the repetition, and reading about the personal anxieties of some of the different characters (particularly Zara). 

But I was compelled to read "Anxious People" for several reasons -- first, because it's been on my "to-read" list for quite a while;  second, because it's by Fredrik Backman, who wrote "Beartown," one of the best books I read in 2019 (review here);  third, because it was the June pick for my "Clever Name" online book club. (We'll be meeting via Zoom to talk about it tomorrow.)  

And finally, because one of my friends, in her review on Goodreads, wrote: "Read this book. Stick with it. Seriously won’t regret. There. That’s my review. LOL."

And so I stuck with it -- even though I will admit I struggled a bit, particularly through the first half/two-thirds of the book. There are so many different characters featured (many of them unlikeable -- especially at first), with different back stories, and the time frames shift back and forth between the present and the past. It was hard to keep track and remember all the details -- especially after a day or two or three away from the book.   

But I will admit -- like "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig (review here), this book slowly grew on me, and ultimately won me over.  The closer I got to the end, the more I wanted to keep reading.  Huge props to the author for how he drew together all the different storylines, wove connections among the different characters (who slowly became more likeable as the book went on), and resolved some outstanding questions/mysteries. (I may have to re-read the book just to make sure I caught them all.)  There are some wonderful messages about mental health and kindness, too. 

Oh yeah -- the plot (lol): as the book jacket blurb explains, it's "a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined."  

The Goodreads description adds:  "Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths."  

I think that's enough information. :) 

I wound up rating "Anxious People" 5 stars on Goodreads. Maybe more like 4.5, rounded up -- it did give me some jitters, after all.  ;)  But my friend was right. I am glad I stuck with it. :)  

This was Book #34 read to date in 2021 (and Book #2 finished in June), bringing me to 94% of my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 36 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 17 (!) books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2021 tagged as "2021 books." 

#MicroblogMondays: Odds & ends

• Vaccine update: So (to recap) it’s been a full week since we (finally!) became eligible for our second shots... and we haven't heard anything from the Rexall pharmacy where we had our first shots, aside from an email  last Monday, asking us whether we'd prefer AstraZeneca again, or Pfizer. Meanwhile, I’ve been on the provincial & regional portals at least once a day to see if we could book anything there right away/earlier, but I've had absolutely no luck. (Our appointment booking system is ridiculous.)
  • Today, I called the Rexall pharmacy where we got our first shots (11 weeks ago today) and spoke to a pharmacist. She said they ARE doing AZ shots right now (!) -- but they have NO Pfizer in supply. They think they MIGHT get some next week.  
  • After that, I tried calling the Shoppers Drug Mart where we get our prescriptions filled -- and could not find a way to talk to a real live person. (eyeroll) I eventually found a website showing all the local Shoppers (it's the country's biggest drugstore chain and there are 3 or 4 within an easy drive) that are doing vaccines and indicating what they have available. Most of them say they have AZ -- but NOBODY seems to have Pfizer right now.  
  • Then I remembered there was a news story this weekend that this week's Pfizer shipment has been delayed (!) -- and so all the provincial clinics that have been offering Pfizer are using Moderna instead – and some people are turning up their noses at that. (You can’t really blame them, after being jerked around with AZ so much!) 
  • There has been a sudden influx of stories encouraging people to take the Moderna -- it's (essentially) exactly the same as Pfizer.  There ARE a few smaller pharmacies in the area that are listed as offering Moderna.  I am tempted to try for that -- but I'm afraid my mother -- who was supremely pissed off when we took AstraZeneca as our first dose, and is the main reason why we asked for Pfizer for our second shots -- would freak out over that too. (eyeroll)   Dh is inclined to wait & see if the Rexall gets any Pfizer by next week -- and if not, then look for Moderna shots elsewhere. Sigh... It will be 12 weeks since our first shots next Monday, and we just want to get these second doses DONE. 
• Sunday was Father's Day. Stores reopened last week, but we knew they'd be swamped with pent-up shoppers, and weren't anxious to join them just yet.  And so, for the second Father's Day in a row, I used a blank notecard as a makeshift card for dh (thank heaven for my obsession with pretty paper and notecards, lol -- and that I didn't get rid of all of them when we moved...!) and called my dad, and that was about it. (Dh's dad/my FIL died in August 2018.)  I told dh dinner was his pick, which turned out to be... macaroni & cheese??  (Whatever turns you on, right?)  
• Also on Sunday afternoon: another fabulous gathering of Childless Elderwomen, hosted by Jody Day of Gateway Women. Recordings of this and other past gatherings are available on the Gateway Women website. If you haven't attended/watched one yet, you are in for a treat!  :)  These sessions are timed to coincide with the seasonal solstices/equinoxes;  next one will be in September, during World Childless Week. :)  
• Jody also appeared on another podcast recently, this time in conversation with Sara Avant Stover. Excerpt, link to the full podcast and transcript available here. (I haven't listened to the podcast yet, but I did read the transcript.) 
• Interesting first-person article (by a pregnant woman) in the Toronto Star:  "Why the image of a glowing, round-bellied ‘earth mother’ is not as benign as you might think." If maternity shoot photos (including Beyonce's) are triggering for you, you might want to pass on reading this one, but there are some thoughtful observations here. Sample passage: 

Part of the problem with this sort of glorification is that it allows us, as a society, to avoid taking concrete actions to materially support what we glorify, as if the praise and the pedestal are support enough. Just as saying “being a mom is the most important job in the world” doesn’t make that job pay — and yet still makes us feel like we’ve somehow supported mothers — so revering rosy-cheeked, round-bellied, earth-mother images makes us feel like we respect what pregnant people do for society, without actually having to do anything tangible to support them...

The other problem with glorification is that it always has a flip side — for every revered virgin, there is a whore: opposed to the untouchable virgin on her pedestal, the whore is reviled and desired, but never glorified; she is intended, in fact, to be disposable. This two-sided coin of glorification and vilification — of the virgin and the whore, the earth mother and the welfare mom — leaves little room for real women living real lives, little room for humanity.

(I would suggest that perhaps the flipside of the revered earth mother is not the welfare mom, but the much-vilified childless/free woman??) 

• The New York Times had a really interesting piece on "Why American Women Everywhere Are Delaying Motherhood." Among the reasons cited:  prioritizing education and careers; the high costs of child care and housing; high levels of student debt; better access to birth control, which allows women today to control their fertility and their lives more than their mothers could;  lack of meaningful support from governments and workplaces; and today's high-stress "intensive parenting" style, which places greater demands on parents. 
• 
  Even more interesting, however, was the comments section, where (among other great points) quite a few women took the article to task for not mentioning one huge unmentioned reason:  the lack of suitable partners to have children with (and why aren't people asking MEN about why THEY are delaying fatherhood??).  I normally caution "beware the comments section!" (and there are always a few that make you roll your eyes and throw up your hands...!), but I actually found the discussion here pretty fascinating.   

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