Weekend odds & ends

• It's the weekend, and the last few days have been GLORIOUS in terms of weather, with mostly sunny skies and temperatures ranging between 26C & 29C (!!)(that's about 79F-84F).  Today is supposed to reach 27C (81F). Our balcony door has been open all day, every day, for the past several days. 
• At the same time, it's rather unnerving. It's only mid-April, and this is definitely NOT NORMAL weather for us at this time of year. (The 29C high the other day broke the previous record of 27C set in 1977.)  
• Still, we're enjoying it while it lasts. Tomorrow's forecasted high is 25C/77F -- but Monday is supposed to be rainy and 11C/52F, while Tuesday is calling for just 7C/45F and rain or even (gulp) snow flurries, with an overnight low of -1C/30F...! 
• Elon Musk does it again (eyeroll):  "Twitter Takes Aim at Posts That Link to Its Rival Substack."  Two days after Substack unveiled a Twitter-like service for its users, Twitter took steps to restrict engagement with Substack links on its platform. As the article points out, "targeting Substack largely affects independent writers, some of whom depend on Twitter to drive readers to their work... The changes by Twitter on Friday meant that Twitter users could still share links to Substack newsletters, but blocked other users from liking or resharing those links." 
• I follow several writers on Substack, and support half a dozen wonderful feminist writers' newsletters with paid subscriptions, including Jessica Valenti, Jill Filipovic, Anne Helen Petersen and Lyz Lenz. Their voices are needed right now more than ever.  Many of them are understandably up in arms over this move, and have encouraged their readers and subscribers to help them spread the word. Happy to do so here!  :)  
• And speaking of disappointment with tech companies:  I just found out that Spotify -- which purchased the "Name That Tune"-like game Heardle only last July, less than a year ago -- is shutting it down (!!!), as of May 5th (last day to play: May 4th). I'll admit I was not hugely successful with it, since most of the songs it uses are way past my reference eras...! -- but I enjoyed it nevertheless, and I find it incredibly irritating that they're relegating it to the trash heap less than a YEAR after they bought it. :p 
• I have, however, had much more success with the knock-off Heardle Decades games (especially the 60s & 70s versions), and I hope these will continue...
• This piece in the Guardian, from Nicola Slawson ("The chasm between mothers and childless women is widening"), has been the subject of much discussion in some of the CNBC forums & social media accounts that I frequent. Some are objecting to her "blame the patriarchy" comment, saying it lets women (i.e., mothers) off the hook for their bad behaviour towards other women (childless women). What do you think? 
• (Patriarchy debates aside, there are some great points made here.)  
• Some responses/reactions from readers. 
• In a similar vein, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett muses on "fertility privilege" in the Guardian.  (She doesn't seem to be a fan of the term.) 
• Content warning: The article ends with a couple of blurbs about Cosslett's baby (!)(speaking of fertility privilege...?!). (The column IS titled "The Republic of Parenthood," and this is not the first time she's done this.) I appreciate that she's using her platform to shed a light on the flipside of parenthood, i.e., infertility and childlessness -- but the abrupt shift from infertility & childlessness-related matters to mommy talk seems strangely tone-deaf and inappropriate.
• A few reactions I've read also point out that Cosslett quotes several mothers in her piece, but no childless women (apart from Elizabeth Day, whose own article provided the inspiration for Cosslett's, who remains hopeful of becoming a mother someday). 
• Beware the comments! 
• Another great article from Carolyn Hax, advice columnist from the Washington Post, on a familiar topic: what Jody Day calls "the friendship apocalype of childlessness," once our friends start having children. 
• Lori (Lavender Luz) Holden is mentioned in an extensive article about open adoption in Chatelaine magazine. 
• From the New York Times:  "Have Eggs, Will Travel. To Freeze Them." Subhead/blurb: "Faced with the high cost of egg-freezing in their home countries, some women are going abroad for a better deal, and a vacation."
• I must admit, I was somewhat taken aback to read one woman's comment: “It was really fun to turn this physical experience into a vacation and an opportunity to celebrate or explore or do something fun."  FUN? Vacation?? "Celebrate???" (Personally, I would hold off on the celebration until I had a live, healthy baby to take home with me...) 

"Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story" by Bono

There were a couple of memoirs released late last year that I've been dying to get into, and I was happy to finally pick up "Surrender:  40 Songs, One Story" by Bono, lead singer of U2, who is almost as well known for his activism as his music.  

I know it seems to be fashionable these days to scorn U2, and that many people (often younger people) seem to regard them as pretentious, establishment/corporate rock. (I can remember, years ago, watching Bono glaring intensely into the camera in a video -- I think it was for "With or Without You"? -- or possibly Steve Van Zandt's "Sun City" -- or maybe both (lol) -- and yelling at the TV screen, "For Pete's sake, Bono, LIGHTEN UP!"  lol)  

But I was reminded as I read that the band was very much rooted in the punk rock/New Wave movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s -- the music of my high school/university years -- and music that I loved. (Also the "glam rock" era that preceded it -- David Bowie, Marc Bolan, etc.)  The band members were all born in 1960 & 1961, and so are all about the same age as me, give or take a few months (Bono -- born Paul David Hewson -- was born May 10, 1960). They all knew each other as high school students -- the school they attended was unique for that time and place:  it was not only non-denominational but also co-educational, i.e., boys AND girls! -- and they first assembled as a band the same week in September 1976 that Bono started going out with his future wife, Alison (Ali) Stewart. 

I remember first taking notice of U2 as a university student in the early 1980s, when I heard -- and loved -- "I Will Follow" and "Gloria." (Have a look at the videos -- OMG, they were BABIES!!  lol  -- but then, so was I!)(Also note that U2's "Gloria" is not the same "Gloria" as the song by Van Morrison & Them -- which was also covered by Shadows of Knight (or is it the other way around??) -- or the one by Laura Branigan, lol.)  These days, U2's songs are kind of like the wallpaper -- they've been around for so long now (40+ years!!), we take them for granted -- but back then, their sound was fresh, exciting, unique, anthemic, urgent, hypnotic... that bell-like guitar was like a clarion call. (I can almost always tell a U2 song within a couple of seconds of the intro.)  I wound up with a few of their albums in my collection (including "The Joshua Tree" and "Rattle and Hum" -- which now belong to Older Nephew -- as well as "best of" collections on CD), although I have yet to see them in concert.

This is a fairly lengthy book (the hardcover version is almost 600 pages) and it took a while for me to get through -- longer than I had anticipated, actually. (I started reading on March 16th! -- and as I read, I watched my Goodreads Reading Challenge stats dwindle from "3 books ahead of schedule" to 2 and then 1...!)  Perhaps it could have been just a WEE bit shorter? (To be fair, I've also had some other things going on these past few weeks...)  Length aside, the content is dense too:  there's a lot packed into every chapter. 

But it's all well written and highly entertaining throughout. Bono definitely has the Irish gift of the gab. ;)  Each of the 40 chapters is titled after a U2 song (generally, thematically appropriate to the subject matter included) -- hence, the subtitle "40 Songs, One Story." The story unfolds more or less chronologically, with occasional jumps back into the past and ahead into the future.  

The book covers a lot of territory: Ireland, America, Africa, politics, faith, activism, family, growing up, marriage, grief and loss (Bono's mother, Iris, died suddenly when he was just 14 years old,), art and the artistic process, aging, and so much more.  There's lots of name dropping, and lots of memorable vignettes. To name just a few: having a bad hair day at Live Aid... Mikhail Gorbachev dropping by to visit with a gigantic teddy bear in tow... landing in Berlin just as the wall was coming down, and heading off to join the party -- only to realize it was a pro-wall protest instead (!)...  mistakenly handing his trademark blue-tinted Dolce & Gabbana glasses to Pope John Paul II -- and then watching the Pope try them on (!)... passing out in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House during a dinner party with the Obamas.... getting a personal tour of Liverpool from Paul McCartney (which Bono likens to getting a tour of the Promised Land from Moses)... 

If you're not a Bono/U2 fan, my endorsement of this book probably won't change your mind. But I think if you picked it up and read it, you might be pleasantly surprised. 

Despite my caveats about length and the time to get through it -- 5 stars on Goodreads.  :)   (And can I confess? -- I closed this book actually wishing there was more of it to enjoy!) 

Check out this excellent 45-minute interview Bono gave to CBC Radio's Tom Power last November. (Tom is from Newfoundland, as you can probably tell from his accent!)  We get a bonus story around the 33-minute mark about faith and Paul McCartney that's not in the book. :)  

This was Book #14 read to date in 2023 (and Book #1 finished in April), bringing me to 31% of my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 2 books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2023 tagged as "2023 books."  

Well, what do you know??

My understanding is the opt-out option for holidays such as [Voldemort] Day is becoming much more common in the U.K., but it continues to be relatively rare here in North America (so far).  Thank you, Pandora! 

Have you run across any similar marketing opt-outs? 

Recuperating!

 Last week was looonnggggg, very busy and very tiring!  

• (Last) Monday (April 3rd):  Dh spent several hours at the car dealership, waiting while a regular service check was performed. The brakes also had to be replaced. (Ouch!) 
• He also stopped on his way back home to see how his brother was doing. 
• Tuesday:  SIL took BIL for a lengthy medical appointment -- which meant we were up at 5 a.m. and at their house before 7:30 a.m. to stay with (and play with) Little Great-Nephew -- who was slightly more naughty/mischievous than usual (!)(but still really very good). Didn't get back home until 2:30 p.m. 
• Wednesday was an at-home day, but we were busy doing several loads of laundry. 
• I also received an email from my best friend from my working days:  her longtime partner has inoperable cancer.  :(  I tried to think of at least some small thing I could do or send to help, and wound up ordering something from Edible Arrangements to be delivered to her the next day.  
• Thursday: BIL & SIL had more medical appointments that took up most of the day. Thankfully, LGN's mom took the day off;  otherwise, we would have been on tap for another long day of babysitting. (We love the little guy, but he can be pretty tiring!!)  
• Instead, we spent the morning housecleaning.  
• I also spent half an hour on the phone when my friend called to thank me for the delivery.
• In the afternoon, we masked up and braved the mobs at the supermarket (all shopping for the upcoming long weekend) to pick up some things to take to BIL's on Good Friday, as well as for our own dinner on Easter Sunday. 
• At BIL's request, we also swung by ToysRUs to look for and buy a portable playpen/play yard that they can use for Little Great-Niece when she visits. 
• Good Friday:  We headed over to BIL & SIL's for dinner with both of our nephews, their wives and the kids (Little Great-Nephew and Little Great-Niece).  BIL's spirits were boosted considerably to be surrounded by his family and especially his grandkids... he made several comments about how wonderful they were, thanking the parents for this "beautiful gift" -- comments that would have wounded me deeply at one time, but (given the state of his health right now) I was able to (mostly) let it slide. Overall, we had a really nice time. 
• I did have a few other "ouch" moments, watching Younger Nephew's Wife open Little Great-Niece's Easter presents -- including lots of adorable tiny pink outfits from SIL and Older Nephew's Wife (as well as us!). She really is a cutie, though.  ;)  I got to hold her again for a while and she didn't fuss once. :) 
• Little Great-Nephew is still not overly impressed with his baby cousin (lol), but took several curious peeks into the playpen where she was laying while we had our meal, and even generously offered her some of his Easter chocolate. (But he was happy to take it back when we explained that she wasn't big enough to eat chocolate just yet, lol.)  
• Saturday got off to an early start with a 7:30 a.m. phone call from BIL (always an early riser and always surprised to find that we're not up yet! lol).  
• Later that morning, off we went, back to our old community, where we dropped by the cemetery with some Easter/spring decorations for Katie's niche, then for much-needed haircuts. And then to one of our favourite food stores to stock up on some items that we can't get hereabouts, before we headed back home. 
• Back at our condo, we put away the groceries, changed clothes, got back in the car and drove over to pick up BIL & SIL, and then to dh & BIL's aunt's condo. Earlier in the week, she'd called to say she'd been baking some traditional Italian Easter goodies and had some set aside for them. Her two daughters (dh's cousins) and one of her sons-in-law were there too, and we all had a nice visit over coffee. 
• After that, we went to Walmart to pick up a few things, and then to the supermarket for some takeout for dinner, which we brought back to BIL & SIL's to eat. 
• Finally got back home, exhausted, around 6:30 p.m. 
• Easter Sunday/Yesterday:  We were very happy to spend a quiet day by ourselves, lazing around at home!  We heated up a little pre-cooked ham, which was fine, and I made scalloped potatoes to go with it that turned out extremely well (yum!), and warmed up an apple pie for dessert. And dh flipped back & forth between the Masters golf tournament and the men's world curling championships final in Ottawa. 
• I called my mom. 
• I had a text from Parents' Neighbours' Daughter (PND) -- with an ultrasound photo!  Yes, she is expecting a THIRD baby, in August! -- a little brother or sister for the two Little Princesses (who will be almost 9 & almost 12 when their sibling arrives). (Yes, this one was a surprise! -- PND is now 39.)  She actually told us all at Christmastime, shortly after her pregnancy was confirmed -- but has not made any public announcements yet (albeit one will be forthcoming soon). 
• This morning, BIL & SIL had another lengthy (and early!) appointment -- so dh & I got up at 5 a.m. (!), aiming to be at their house when Older Nephew dropped off Little Great-Nephew for the day, around 7 a.m.  However, as I was gulping down my breakfast shortly after 6 a.m., Older Nephew called: both LGN and his mom are sick this morning, and he was staying home to take care of them both. :(  Disappointed not to get to see LGN -- but also glad we have another day to recuperate from a very busy week! (even if it did get a very early start!) 
• We do have to go out later:  dh's cousin's mother-in-law passed away last week, and visitation at the funeral home is today -- afternoon & evening sessions. We were going to attend in the evening, but now we'll go this afternoon.  
• Dh's birthday is tomorrow!  The agenda (and dinner menu) are entirely up to him. The weather is starting to get warmer and is supposed to hit 20C (!)/68F), so plans may include our first gelatos of the season.  :)  And the forecast is calling for 27C/81F on Thursday. (This is NOT normal...!)  

Here's to a quieter week ahead...!  Have a good one, everyone!  :)  

Easter weekend odds & ends

• The deluge of ads and marketing emails has begun. (eyeroll)  Voldemort Day (That Day That Shall Not Be Mentioned) is still more than a month away... And we haven't even gotten past Easter yet...! 
• In my inbox on Tuesday:  "For Baby and Mom: Matching Sweaters." (Banana Republic) 
• Wednesday: "Celebrate Mom --  Your Original Influencer" (Indigo/Chapters) and "Every Mom is Unique" (The Bay) 
• Yes, it's the Easter long weekend. Dh & I have sometimes been left to our own devices on this holiday, but we're going to BIL & SIL's for Good Friday dinner tonight (fish), along with the nephews, their wives and the kids (Little Great-Nephew and Little Great-Niece). Chocolate has been purchased for Easter baskets for the little ones :) (well, for Little Great-Nephew, anyway...! -- along with other goodies).  And we've bought a ham and the ingredients to make scalloped potatos like my mom's for our own Easter Sunday dinner (as well as an apple pie for dessert). In between, on Saturday, we're getting much-needed haircuts, bringing some springtime/Easter decorations to the cemetery for Katie's niche, and dropping by dh's aunt's condo. She's promised dh some traditional Italian Easter baked goodies like his mom used to make. :)  
• A long but excellent article from The New Yorker:  "Living in adoption's aftermath:  Adoptees reckon with corruption in orphanages, hidden birth certificates, and the urge to search for their birth parents." Paywalls may kick in, but I was able to read this for free. 
• I haven't had a hysterectomy, but there's a lot in this essay from the New Yorker that I could relate to. If fibroids, heavy periods and/or hysterectomy have been part of your story, you'll probably relate to. (The writer is childfree by choice, but nevertheless struggled with the loss of her uterus.)  
• The setting is Australia, and the subject of the story is childfree vs childless, but there's still a lot of good, relevant stuff in this article about people without children forming their own social groups. 
• Also from Australia: Donna Ward (whose book "She I Dare Not Name" is a wonderful read -- I reviewed it here) is speaking out about the social and financial disadvantages that older, single, childless women experience -- and research backs her up. 
• From Chatelaine (Canadian women's magazine): "I Made The Difficult Choice Not To Have Children Because Of My Mental Illness."  Subhead: "We considered children, but are still only a family of two. We’ve decided that’s a good thing. But sometimes I wonder if that’s enough. If I’m enough." 
• Sara Petersen, who writes about "momfluencer" culture in the Substack newsletter "In Pursuit of Clean Countertops," examines the connections between puppies, post-partum depression and literary theory -- also some thoughts on Big Life Moments and how expectation doesn't always measure up to reality. Sample passage (boldfaced emphasis is the author's):  

Girls and women are taught to prioritize and mold their lives around Big Life Moments from the jump. First Crush. First Period. First Heartbreak. First Sex. First Love. First Job. Marriage. Motherhood. Menopause. It makes sense to me that a person conditioned to make meaning from their lives by working towards Big Life Moments would also be uniquely prone to feeling hollow, disappointed, or even depressed when asked to experience those Big Life Moments in real time. Conversely, it’s difficult for me to even conceptualize a life that isn’t organized into a series of disparate milestones or chapters.

#MicroblogMondays: Worth the wait :)

Three years ago today!

I had a chuckle this morning. I had a look at my Facebook memories, and saw this screenshot from my email, posted exactly three years ago today, along with the glum caption, "Well, there goes Hamilton." ☹

And I chuckled, because we FINALLY -- 3+ years later! -- made it to "The Room Where it Happens" yesterday! 

The Princess of Wales Theatre in downtown Toronto, specifically (where I've previously seen productions of "Beauty and the Beast," "Chess" and "The Book of Mormon") -- where "Hamilton" is (finally!) back, playing to packed audiences. 

Yesterday was: 

• 1,254 days -- almost three & a half years! -- since I first bought tickets to see "Hamilton" (on October 26, 2019). 
• 1,136 days since the last time I rode the subway to downtown Toronto (for a mammogram)(albeit we drove through the area recently, taking BIL & SIL to an appointment).  
• 1,094 days since all remaining performances of the run that had barely begun in late February 2020 were cancelled (on April 3 2020 -- see the image, left).  
• 1,058 days (almost 3 years) since we were originally supposed to see "Hamilton" (on May 9, 2020). 
• Almost 950 days since Mirvish Productions announced that "Hamilton" would return (late August 2021). 
• About 9 months since "Hamilton"'s return was confirmed (in June 2022). 
• 167 days (more than five months) since I got new tickets (October 17, 2022). 

The pandemic might have thrown a wet blanket over my excitement about getting tickets and the prospect of going-- it wasn't the thrill it was, the second time around -- but, happily, it didn't diminish our enjoyment of the performance.  :)  The show itself was definitely worth the wait.  The "And Peggy" touring company cast (one of three out there right now) put on a fabulous show. It was a Sunday afternoon matinee, and the title character was played by an understudy. He was good -- but to be honest, I found the character of Aaron Burr far more interesting -- and the actor/singer who played him frankly blew poor Hamilton out of the water. (George Washington was pretty fabulous too... and King George III provided comic relief, lol.)  

I knew Hamilton's son died in a duel -- and yes, I cried then -- but I wasn't prepared for "Dear Theodosia" -- or all the talk about "legacy" (I knew the line "who lives, who dies, who tells your story" -- but I didn't know it was Washington who sang it). As we left the theatre and came outside into the bright sunshine, I had to take off my mask to blow my nose (having wiped my eyes inside, lol).  

(I have a few friends here who have already seen it and didn't think it lived up to the hype. They complained that it was hard to follow the lyrics, and the story. I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of rap/hiphop, but in this case, I thought it worked well. I'll also admit I might be more well versed in American history than some Canadians -- albeit I think many of us are probably better acquainted with American history than our own country's, (no) thanks to the overwhelming influence of U.S. culture here.)  

I was slightly nervous about the subway ride downtown, given a recent increase in violent incidents on the transit system (not to mention the risks posed by the ongoing pandemic...), but both trips (going there and coming home) were uneventful. We wore our masks for almost 6 hours straight, taking them off only for the short walk from the subway station to the theatre (and vice-versa), and to pop a mint in my mouth during intermission.  

I've missed going to the theatre. It's something we both enjoy doing (dh thoroughly enjoyed this one too) -- and I thought we'd be doing more of it in retirement than we have -- albeit we did see a few shows, pre-covid. Here's to many more to come!  

Local press reviews:  

• Toronto Star: "‘Hamilton’ is back in Toronto and it really is that good" 
• The Globe & Mail:  "Hamilton’s return to Toronto proves well worth the wait"

"Hamilton," at last!!  

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

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: Mid-March marked 36 (!!) months -- THREE YEARS -- of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. (On to YEAR FOUR!!)  As I said last month -- there's no sense that things right now are much worse... on the other hand, I have no confidence they're a whole lot better either. It's really hard to tell these days, in the absence of robust reporting. :(   There certainly continues to be a dearth of masks being worn in the stores we've been in lately (albeit I have noticed a few more than usual recently, which I chalked up to cold & flu season).  

Marking the occasion, the Toronto Star recently published a "three years later, here's where we stand" article. 

Early in March, the National Advisory Council on Immunization (NACI) released its recommendations on spring booster shots. Given the previous "six months since your last shot" guidance, I had figured we were due for another round in early May.  HOWEVER -- unlike previous rounds of covid vaccines, not everyone will be offered a spring booster: the vaccines will "probably" be limited to people at risk of developing severe disease if they become infected with the virus -- mostly seniors or those with compromised immune systems, etc.  The definition of "high-risk individuals" would NOT include me (and I am NOT happy about that!).  :(  It *would* include dh -- "those aged 65 to 79, particularly if they have no history of a previous COVID infection" (he will be 66 soon). (Not all doctors agree with this guidance, as the linked article points out.)  

March was also 25 years (!!) since I learned I was pregnant, back in 1998. (I wrote about that time here on my blog, 10 years later, in a series of posts:) 

• Late February/Early March 1998: Pregnant! & unaware 
• Sunday, March 22, 1998: Two blue lines!!
• Tuesday, March 24, 1998: (Finally) Pregnant!!
• March 27-April 5, 1998: Mom visits

On the personal pandemic front: We remain covid-free (knocking wood, loudly...) -- and we while we have ventured out a little more often lately, we're still being very careful (more so than most people we know).  We still mask in public places and when we're around Little Great-Niece (for now, at her parents' request), albeit we usually don't in smaller/family settings. Further incentive to stay home:  it was March break, mid-month -- even pre-pandemic, we always stayed close to home then to avoid the mobs of people everywhere! 

On top of dh's solo trips to the supermarket for groceries (about once a week), and for occasional takeout lunches & dinners, we: 

• Saw Little Great-Nephew 5 times: once at home (Older Nephew's house), and four times at his grandparents' house (including once when we spent most of the day taking care of him while his grandparents were out for a lengthy medical appointment). 
• Met Little Great-Niece at home (Younger Nephew's house) when she was one week old, and saw her at her grandparents' place a week later. :)  
• Dh met up with a couple of his cousins at BIL's house on a recent Saturday afternoon. 
• Stopped at the drugstore twice to pick up diapers and formula for Little Great-Niece on Seniors Discount Day (20% off regular-priced items on Thursdays!). 
• Went to the supermarket with dh twice. 
• Went shopping at Michaels, Chapters (bookstore -- twice) and the Carters/Oshkosh children's wear store (twice). 
• Served as dh's navigator when he drove BIL & SIL to an appointment in downtown Toronto. Spent a couple of hours hanging around waiting for them. 

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

Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 3 books in March (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged "2023 books").  

• "Oscar Wars" by Michael Schulman. You all know I love me some Oscars!  lol -- and my goal was to finish this book before this year's ceremony on March 12th. I did it!  (My review.)   
• "Killers of a Certain Age" by Deanna Raybourn, which I originally read in December & reviewed here. It's the March pick for my Gateway/Lighthouse Women NoMo Book Club, to be discussed on March 18th. (My latest review here.) 
• "A Fatal Grace" by Louise Penny (Inspector Gamache #2), for the Notes from Three Pines Readalong online discussion on March 22nd.  (My review.) 

This brings me to 13 books read to date in 2023,  29% of my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. :)  I am currently (for the moment, anyway...!) 2 books ahead of schedule to meet my goal. 

Current read(s): 

• "Surrender:  40 Songs, One Story" by Bono. 
• "Living the Life Unexpected" by Jody Day.  Re-reading (for the 5th time, I think!) and discussing one chapter per month (for the second time) with a group of other childless women within the private online Gateway Women (now called Lighthouse Women) community. If & when I/we complete the full 12 chapters, I'll count it as a(nother) re-read. (I missed the mid-March meeting where we covered Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 is coming up in mid-April). (My most recent review -- with links to previous reviews -- here.) 
• "The Empty World" by D.E. Stevenson, together with my D.E. Stevenson group. I will count this as a re-read once we're finished, in late April. (My original review here.)  
• "Anne of the Island" by L.M. Montgomery, with my LMM Readathon Facebook group.  I will count this as a re-read when we're finished at the end of May. (My original review here.) 
• "The Menopause Manifesto" by Dr. Jen Gunter. (I will re-start this one... someday...!) 

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

• For my Gateway/Lighthouse Women NoMo Book Club:  The group is on hold at the moment, looking for a new co-host. 

• For the Notes from Three Pines Readalong:  
• It hasn't been formally announced, but I'm assuming that book #3, "The Cruellest Month" will be the next Louise Penny read??  and that the discussion will be in mid-April? 

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

• "Pineapple Street" by Jenny Jackson (paperback) 
• "The Patriarchs" by Angela Saini (hardcover) (recommended by Jody Day of Gateway Women) 
• "Newsroom Confidential" by Margaret Sullivan 
• "The Twist of a Knife" by Anthony Horowitz 
• "Agatha Christie" by Lucy Worsley 
• "Breasts and Eggs" by Mieko Kawakami
• "This Time Tomorrow" by Emma Straub 
• "Bleed" by Tracey Lindeman 
• "Women Without Kids" by Ruby Warrington 
• "The Mitford Affair" by Marie Benedict 

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

Watching: 

• The Oscars.
• A lot of curling (!) -- it is well covered on the sports channels here, and dh has become quite a fan. During March, we had the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (women's national championships), the Brier (men's national), and the World Championships (women's in Sweden, and then men's in Ottawa).  
• Our prime minister's wife, Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, took U.S. First Lady Jill Biden to a local curling club to meet some high school students and watch them demonstrate how the sport is played, when she and President Biden visited Ottawa recently.  :)  (The art exhibit they visited later at the National Gallery debuted last year at the nearby art gallery where I have a membership.)  
• The World Figure Skating Championships, from Saitama, Japan, last weekend. (Next year, they'll be in Montreal!)  
• Not watching: March Madness basketball. U.S. college sports do not interest me in the least (although, to be fair, neither do Canadian college sports, lol -- although they do not get even a fraction of the media coverage & fan interest that their American counterparts do). 
• Funny March Madness story for you: some years back, I remember vaguely wondering why the Americans were suddenly so interested in Yukon?? I kept hearing all these TV announcers talking about "Yukon, Yukon, Yukon."  It finally took a written headline for things to click and for me to realize they hadn't suddenly taken an inexplicable interest in a remote northern Canadian territory (neighbour to Alaska) -- they were actually talking about the University of Connecticut ("UConn") and its basketball team!!  (lol)  Different frames of reference...!  
• Still not watching (despite my best intentions): "Magpie Murders" (PVRd from PBS after reading the book), or anything after the first two seasons of "The Crown"...! 

Listening:  I'm still enjoying the daily Heardle challenge(s), including some of the decades versions -- although (as you'll see from the stats, I do MUCH better on the 60s & 70s versions than the others...!). Current stats as of March 31st: 

• Heardle (original/all decades): 25.4% correct (61/240, 17 on the first guess), down from last month. 
• Heardle 60s:  78.9% (153/194, 77 on first guess), same as last month. 
• Heardle 70s:  67.5% (137/203, 84 on the first guess), down slightly from last month. 
• Heardle 80s:  34.7% (17/49,  6 on the first guess), up from last month. 
• Heardle 90s: 32.8% (62/189, 20 on the first guess), down this month.  

Eating/Drinking:  Not well enough lately, I think. :p  We've resolved to try to do better (again...!) and eat more veggies & fruits and use frozen convenience foods a little less often. I'm browsing Pinterest for ideas for new things we could try to make.  

Takeout dinners on Saturday nights this month included McDonalds (! -- chicken nuggets for me, a spicy McChicken sandwich for dh and we shared an order of french fries), rice bowls from the supermarket takeout counter, Swiss Chalet rotisserie chicken (with a baked potato for me, fries for dh), and our favourite wood-oven pizzas.

Buying (besides books, lol):  

• Easter goodies for Little Great-Nephew and Little Great-Niece.  :) 
• Quite a while back, I was on an online cleaning & organizing forum and mentioned that I was trying to figure out a better system to organize & store all the boxes & bottles (detergent, bleach, dryer sheets, steam iron, etc.) sitting on the floor of our laundry closet.  Someone suggested I get a wheeled cart to put them all in, and at first I rejected the idea. I didn't think one would fit in the limited space available.  
• Then I saw an article about how some readers are using these three-tiered wheeled carts from IKEA to keep some of their favourite reads or "to be read" books handy. The cart in the photos didn't look too huge and I thought something like that might work for the laundry closet.  
• Dh LOATHES IKEA (lol) and refuses to go there. There are several stores in the Greater Toronto Area -- including one just a few miles down the road from us -- but the last time I was in an IKEA was, sadly, was more than 30 years ago.  (I suppose I could have ordered a cart online and had it delivered, but I wanted to have a look at it "in real life" before I bought one.)  
• Then I saw that Michaels (arts & crafts supplies store) had essentially the same thing for the same reasonable price ($49.99 Canadian) -- and so I recently had dh take me to our local Michaels (he waited in the car) and emerged with the box under my arm. It was fast and easy to assemble, fits perfectly along the laundry closet wall and holds most of the items that previously cluttered up the floor.  The washer door will not open or close with it sitting there -- although I like to leave my washer door open anyway, to help prevent mould buildup (it's a front loader, with the dryer stacked on top) -- but all I have to do when we're doing laundry, or want to vacuum or mop the floor, is roll the cart out, and then roll it back in when we're done. Easy peasy. :)  (See the photos below.) 

A glimpse inside my laundry closet --
new cart at right, stocked with supplies. 

A closer look at the cart, 
stocked with detergents, bleach, dryer sheets,
vinegar, steam iron, etc. 

Wearing: Towards the end of the month, the weather warmed up enough that I was able to switch from my winter down "puffer" jacket to a zippered tweed jacket, which seemed like progress?? (Albeit I had to return to the down jacket again on a recent day that was particularly nippy...!) 

Noticing:  Sunsets, again!  I know they don't go away during the winter months, but they seem to be less visible/noticeable, for some reason.  Here's a recent one, taken from one of our windows:  

A recent sunset view. :) 

Appreciating:  Our healthcare system -- which is under strain at the moment, but still manages to provide a high standard of medical care to the vast majority of people, and at no cost for most things. (Exorbitant hospital parking fees (excepted, lol.)  

Enjoying (while it lasts...!):  This isn't from March -- but the sky is blue, the sun is shining this morning (April 1st) and it's currently 14C/57F (forecasted high of 16C/61F!)(albeit it's going back down to -6C/21F overnight...!).  We currently have the balcony door open!  :)   

Wondering: How long it's going to take me to adjust to the time change from earlier this month??  I'm still wide awake at the time we normally head off to bed, and feel groggy when I wake up, often 8:30 a.m. or later (unless we need to be somewhere and have an alarm set).  (Insert red-faced icon here.) 

Wanting: To see more of Little Great-Niece than we have so far. But that's not in our control -- and we should be getting to see her on the Easter long weekend...!  :)  

Prioritizing: Being there for BIL & SIL right now and helping them out however we can.  

Hoping:  That our upcoming trek downtown (of which I will write more later), via subway, will be uneventful. Our local public transit system has always been extremely safe, but there's been a lot of crime on there lately, fuelled by staff cuts, fewer passengers since the pandemic began, and increasing numbers of homeless and mentally ill people who have been taking shelter in stations and on the trains. The last time I took the subway was to one of the downtown hospitals to have a mammogram done in late February 2020... well, you all know what happened next and why I haven't been back since...!  (I had another mammogram last year, but I arranged to have it done at a local clinic.)  

Trying:  To put more reminders of things I need to get done on my phone... they seem to help! 

Worrying:  About BIL's health problems -- and the impact it's having on SIL -- and on dh.  :(   

Realizing:  That it's possible BIL's health problems may preclude us from going home to see my family this summer -- which would make it the FOURTH summer in a row, and the FIFTH in six years. (The last time we spent time there in the summer was 2019. FIL was ill and died in summer 2018;  2020 & 2021 -- well, you know what was happening then...!  And last year I was dealing with my own medical issues and procedures.)  But I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there... 

Loving:  Spending time with Little Great-Nephew (while we still can, before he starts school this fall). (Yes, I know, I often say this, but it's true!)  

Feeling:  Tired of the never-ending winter-ish weather/impatient for spring. (The few tastes we've had this month have been far and few between and generally don't cut it...!)  Tired from the time change. Tired from more than the usual number of early morning wake-up calls -- to take BIL to appointments, to stay with LGN, to attend our own appointments, etc.