I, Too, Get Cold When It Is 72 Degrees Outside
As my husband and I were out for our daily constitutional, an older lady in a fabulously bright pink jacket was walking down the sidewalk towards us. I stepped off the sidewalk to give her a two-metre bubble, and said “Oh! I LOVE your pink jacket!”
My husband said I sounded exactly like Buddy the Elf, which put me in mind of the old Twitter game, back when Twitter was fun and not a toxic cesspool of inhumanity, where you would describe your personality using three characters from popular culture. Mine are, without a doubt, Sally Allbright, Monica Geller, and, obviously, Buddy the Elf.
What Day Is It Even
To familiarize the students with new health and safety protocols, and to ease all the teens back into the classroom after a nearly six-month hiatus, last week the boys went back to school, one morning each. Grade Tens were in on Tuesday, Elevens on Wednesday, and then nothing after that until classes resume tomorrow. Add that to a long weekend in which my husband miraculously did not work and a visit to my parents for an early birthday celebration for my younger son, and I am more confused than ever about the days of the week. I feel really discombobulated, more so than normal. I mean, today is MONDAY. And it’s also a holiday. And it’s also freezing cold, complete with icy rain, in a “hello, it is now fall” kind of way. So far, the snow has held off but it’s COLD. I’m glad I “harvested,” as I am pretty sure my herb garden is not going to survive this.
It’s Sweater and Boot Season
There are a few warm and sunny days in the forecast, but mostly we are transitioning back to socks, boots, and sweaters. Despite my reticence to say goodbye to summer, it’s kind of fun to go through my sweaters again, after a whole two months without them. Shopping my closet, that’s my game.
Also matching my masks to my outfits.
Whoa-oh-oh It’s Magic
I have a beautiful Pandora necklace that is probably ten years old; I haven’t worn it for years as it had completely tarnished and blackened. It hung in my jewelry box, and, frankly, I forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago, when it caught my eye.
I looked up easy ways of cleaning silver and discovered the most amazing, incredibly simple way of doing it. First, line a bowl with aluminum foil and set the piece of silver in it, making sure it’s completely touching the foil. Bring water to a rolling boil on the stove, measure out the boiling water, and add one tablespoon of baking soda for each cup of water. Pour that mixture over the silver and wait for the magic to happen!
You can actually see the chemical reaction take place, you can smell the sulphur. I left it all to sit until the water cooled enough for me to put my hand in to take out the necklace, so probably 25 minutes. Rinse off the silver, and voila.
Magic! Or, more accurately, SCIENCE.
Pandemic Reading
This was incredibly eye-opening, terrifying, sad, and yet very hopeful. I actually didn’t know who Trevor Noah is, as I have never watched The Daily Show, but I’m glad it was recommended to me.
Oh, this was so good. I have always loved “slice of life” books and this one, set in Jerusalem, is an incredible look at female friendship with one of the most complicated political backdrops. Warning: this is not a CHEERFUL story, but it is incredible, so well-written. I resented doing literally anything else but reading this until I finished it. Fun fact: the author used to live in Calgary! Why? Who knows! But she did.
I know so many women who loved this immeasurably. I really loved the messaging, I admire her humanitarian work, and a lot of it resonated deeply with me. However, I did not love the writing style. I wasn’t at all surprised to see that Elizabeth Gilbert is her friend and mentor, as their styles are very similar.
I was one page into this when I realized I had read it before, back in 1998 when I was in grad school and someone lent it to me to take a break from economics texts. It was certainly worth a reread though! It’s good to have 22 years of a different perspective.
Photos taken before the weather change! Hope you have a great week, everyone. Stay safe. xo
Boots and sweaters make up my favorite type of clothing. I also like vests and light jackets. I wish that fall and spring were longer so that I could wear this type of clothing longer.
No where near fall here, that’s for sure. But yes, Spring and Fall could last much longer and it wouldn’t hurt my feelings too much. I’m glad you were able to un-tarnish your necklace; it’s very pretty. But I absolutely love the gold one you had on in the previous pictures.
I am not surprised that I love the three characters that describe you. So fun. I am not big on social media and now I feel joyous that I have missed that toxic cesspool known as Twitter. 😉
Love the silver cleaning tip. I do not accessorize much but it might come in handy at some point. I guess one of my characters would have to be a non-accessorizing, non-herb growing type. I am afraid of who that might be.
I laughed at how you resented things that interrupted you from reading. I imagine if I re-read a book from 1998 I would not realize I read it before since that was SO LONG ago. That was the year Lad was born.
Cold weather ALREADY? Noooo!
I’m thinking one of my characters might be Carla from Cheers. Not that anyone asked, but you got me thinking. Carla – sarcastic and I don’t think she was the accessorizing type. 😉
That is a neat science project.
I just got back from my morning walk drenched in sweat. It’s not even that hot, it’s just super humid.
I love that mask – the black one with the flowered pattern!
I love Sally, Buddy the Elf and neurotic Monica Gellar. 🙂
I’d done that same science experiement; it’s magical!!
Boots and sweaters, oh my!