July 2021: Month in Review
Summer is my least-favourite season of the year, nevertheless, here is what happened during this month which I consider the height of summer.
July Excursion: Second Dose
I woke up on Saturday, July 10th late - we had slept in til like, 11:00 then had a leisurely breakfast. We had no plans for the day, maybe a nice walk through the park. I finally get around to checking my phone and see a text message from actually 3:46 AM - I was eligible to book my second vaccine!!
So then we are on to furiously booking an appointment and lo and behold, there was one available for that very night at 6:50 PM! We take it, and next thing my day has turned upside-down with the excitement of getting my second dose much sooner than expected. What a thrill! I'm very grateful.
The vaccine itself went very smoothly, I had an excellent person named Simran who gave me my shot and my arm wasn't nearly as sore as it was the first time around.
That being said, I did experience some pretty extreme side effects. Sunday (day 1) I was in a lot of pain, very achy and felt like my very skin hurt somehow. By Monday I was very feverish and had to take a half day sick off work. I improved from there for the rest of the week though I did feel more fatigued than usual.
Weirdly, a couple weeks later there was one Sunday where I just felt off and spent the whole day resting on the couch watching TV, I suspect a latent side effect.
If you're reading this and freaking out, please let me note that I still feel this was worth it and would do it again if it was recommended. Also, I am an exceptionally and notoriously slow healer no matter what is happening to me health-wise, so I'm not surprised I had a slow recovery.
Most-liked Chore: Updating Emergency Preparedness Kit
I get the impression that we sometimes tend to conflate emergency preparedness with survivalism. The latter approach to life tends to be distinctly masculine (a la Ron Swanson, Dwight Schrute, etc), and in its extremism tends to taint the concept of emergency preparedness, especially, I think, for people who don't identify as men. Much like having an emergency fund* saved up, having an emergency preparedness kit is really a way to honour yourself, your safety and wellbeing. You are worth taking care of in times of emergency you know?
With this in mind, every year before my birthday at the end of August, I make it a goal for us to go through an update our earthquake kit/emergency preparedness kit.
Updating our emergency preparedness kit is always fun. We often end up eating tins of canned fruit and veggie baked beans before they expire, making for some random summer meals. We run around testing out our flashlights and battery-operated radio and endlessly debate the optional location for our emergency kit. I stuff in sprigs of dried rosemary for protection among our candles and first aid kit, little bits of emergency magic that my spouse patiently tolerates. You know, normal life stuff. We make a night of it and its somehow less scary and dare I say, mildly entertaining.
*For education on emergency funds, I turn to Canadian financial expert Melissa Leong.
Least-liked Chore: Alarmist Strata Memos
Living in a strata has presented all sorts of things hitherto unknown for my spouse and I in terms of responsible home ownership. We regularly get memos and newsletters from our strata, and the latest warned of exploding toilets and the importance of getting water detection alarms.
Wait, what?
Okay, so apparently there is this brand of toilets, Crane toilets specifically, that are known to have sudden failures where the tank splits in half and all the water floods out. We were advised to replace such toilets if we have them (thankfully we do not) and install water detectors. I didn't even know water detectors are a thing but apparently they are and you can get them for a decent price at hardware stores. You put then next to your toilet or areas with high water use (dishwashers, laundry rooms) and they will beep or send you a notification if water starts to leak out. So now we are trying to set those up.
July Recipes
I mentioned in the June roundup that we were preparing to have guests over again! Here is one of my menus that we used to host my in-laws. They are not vegetarian, so making a satisfying, tasty meal for those who usually eat meat was heavy on my mind.
We don't have a grill so we just did this on our tiny little indoor George Foreman-style grill (don't worry, we managed not to grill our feet) and this worked quite well!
Chickpea and Feta Couscous Salad
We recently made this again for ourselves and I subbed out all of the cumin and turmeric called for with Turkish Baharat from Copper Spice Co. in Edmonton - d e l i c i o u s.
Kale + Fennel Salad with Lemon Dill Dressing
Rosemary Rosecco to drink, refreshing and tasty!
July Quote
I feel most like walking, reading, and musing by myself now after three long months of enforced, external exerting and extrovert living.
- from Letters Home by Sylvia Plath
