Tag Archives: Summer

When you don’t know what to write… you do a list update

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Ok so it’s been a LONG time since I wrote a blog… and to be honest, I have been avoiding it… because what do you write that is even remotely interesting during a global pandemic when you’ve only left the house a handful of time in the last couple of months… and when there have also been lots of other big things happening the world that you also don’t feel qualified to write about…. yeah I was stuck too… but yet here I am sitting and typing, because I think it is important to write something… I need to something to do and I want to use my brain to escape and focus on some little wins we have had this year despite everything else that has been going on…. so in lieu of some wisdom I have learnt, or opinions on things I am only really just learning about myself I have settled on a list update.

I feel like the new format that I tried last year was a winner… so that’s what I am going to stick with, a seasonal update for those list items that haven’t been gifted a blog of their own… which at the moment is all of them I think… anyway, despite the very unusual first half of the year, we have actually managed to cross quite a few things off the list… so lets start at the beginning… January

JANUARY

Far our January feels like a long time ago… a lifetime even, and given that we are in week 2 of Melbourne’s Stage 4 Lock-down I am increasingly glad that I went hard with the list early on. In January 7 things were crossed off my list and 3 things from Isaac’s which is a pretty great way to start…

Despite the poor air quality and the horrible bush fires that were burning, we did some old school summer things… we played games… cards against humanity (no. 32 completed: 04/01), we coloured in (no. 36, completed: 06/01), I did the first puzzle I have done in a long time (no. 34, completed: 19/01) and we swam… specifically I did some laps (no. 56, completed: 29/01) and Isaac in Pa’s pool (no. 10, completed: 13/01).

January also had a lot of family time, we met the newest member of our family, another nephew for Dave and I and a cousin for Isaac (no. 29, completed: 27/01) and we started our resolution of more family updates well with a FaceTime call to NZ (no. 76, completed: 22/01).

Isaac and Dave went on a bike ride while we were at the beach (no. 18, completed: 24/01) and they also tested out his new little BBQ for a summer outdoor feast (no. 24, completed: 13/01). I managed to close my ‘move ring’, a gimmicky little feature of my watch, every day in January giving me my ‘perfect month’ (no. 57, completed: 31/01)… if only it was that easy!

February

February was a bit of a slower month for the list… but not a bad effort. Isaac crossed one thing off his list and I crossed three things off mine.

Two of my items worked nicely with my big thing of reducing my footprint environmentally as I finally used my beeswax wraps (no. 77, completed: 12/02)… I am still getting the hang of these, but I really love the concept… I also really love that my beeswax wraps were made by students at school. And on the same day, I unboxed my shampoo and conditioner bars (no. 93, completed: 12/02) that I had brought in NZ at Christmas, but had been waiting to use as I wanted to finish the shampoo I had in the bottle at home first. The shampoo bars are a hit… they took a little bit of adjusting, but I really like them and they are a good morning reminder of not using plastic for everything!

My other February list item was a bit of an adventure, after booking in a brunch in Ballarat I decided I could also book in a parkrun if I was committed to getting up really early for my drive there. I did commit… and just before our world got a little smaller I was able to be a park run tourist (no. 30, completed: 01/02), visiting Wallaby Track Parkrun, which was beautiful and it turns out very new which made it all that more exciting and worth it.

Also in Feb, Isaac, Dave and I met Isaac’s grandad at the traffic light park in Bayswater (no. 4, completed: 09/02)… also know as Marie Wallace Park. It is excellent! Miniature roads and road hazards… some local traffic and once you have done with that an old steam train and a huge adventure park… I don’t think this will be our only visit to this park. Although before we return we might need to practice some road rules with the toy cars at home… and if we practice we might even be able to upgrade our ride during lockdown and bring the balance bike next time.

So there you have it… Summer… pre lockdown freedom that feels like a myth right now… or maybe a goal… I am not really sure… but it’s been nice to reminisce…

Our Curious Life: Week 4

Posted in Family, Life, Our Curious Life, The List by

 

 

 

Ok… so I am slowly getting the hang of this weekly blogging thing… I am still a little behind in terms of publishing, but so far I am really enjoying it.  So how did week four pan out… well let me tell you.

Week four started with some goodbyes… our NZ fam headed back across the ditch.  It has been so nice being able to catch up with them over the last couple of weeks.  They remind me why family is family, we can go years without seeing each other, with just phone calls, emails and of course good old facebook, but when we do catch up it is easy and lovely… it’s the way it should be.  It’s been really nice to watch them with Isaac… the beginning of the next generation of George… and it has shown me that there is a heck of a lot of George in him…seriously… just check out these four…

On Tuesday Dave went back to work and I got to re-try being at home with out him… and I am pretty proud of how we managed… yep it has only been three days because Friday was a public holiday… but it feels very different from the end of term four last year.  There have been no phone calls in tears wanting him to come home, Isaac has been feed and changed and I have pumped, showered and eaten successfully all three days which feels like a win to me.  Of course it also helps that he is a little more interactive this time, and I had 6 weeks over summer with an extra pair of hands to help me get used to it and build up some confidence.  But I am not as terrified about this coming week as I was this time last week.

We got spoilt on Thursday with the worlds cutest vans, delicious bakery treats, flowers and cuddles and good chats with our friend Pheebs… she is a winner and a half.

And on Friday I didn’t struggle with Australia day as much as I usually do… I still feel the same about it and we should definitely change the date… but I think the fact that I didn’t have the day ‘off” as a holiday, it didn’t feel any different from other days, so I could let my self relax as I wasn’t ‘celebrating’.  We did use the day to swim in the pool at dad’s again… and this time I remembered to take a photo, so I was able to officially cross it off the list!

Oh and this week I also added Isaac’s hand and foot prints to my necklace… no. 72 on the list.

So there you go, week 4 over and out.

So Long Summer…

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Um… I know I was late to the party with my January post, but I can’t believe that I am already sitting here typing up a reflection for February… how does this keep happening? Time running away… faster and faster… It does seem fitting that I should be typing this so late tonight though… Right now it is 11:07pm and I have just got home from a wonderful evening with my friend Lisa.  An evening that we have used to soak up the last of the summer warmth as we sat outside and enjoyed delicious food and honest and refreshing conversation… the world needs more people like Lis.  After missing the heat of the day today being in an office for almost all of it, it was really nice to spend these last moments of summer outside and warm.  I am hoping that the end of summer doesn’t mean a quick end to the heat… and looking at the forecast, there seems to be some more ‘summer’ days to come… but hey!  This is Melbourne… consistent, appropriate weather is not our strong suit.

The end of summer also means the end of a month… so in my attempt to keep my list posts up to date, to reflect on things in the moment and to celebrate the little things it’s time to say thanks to February and give you all an update of the list adventures that it brought with it.  February has brought some super fun events:

And… My list game has stayed strong this month too… maybe not as strong as January… but not too bad considering it’s almost half a week shorter… and well… life…  But I have managed to cross another 5 things off the list and here they are:

30. Get a Haircut – completed: 03/02/2017
I know this doesn’t sound like a big achievement, but it was… even though I have previously confessed my love for my time at the hairdresser (in fact I have written about the hairdresser 3 times… that’s a lot for a topic that I don’t think about anywhere near as often)… my apparent blog love for the hairdresser has not equated to any kind of consistency over the past 12months… in fact, I did not do anything to my hair for almost all of 2016… in March last year I got a haircut… there was some rescheduling issues… I decided to be a little tight and now… fast forward to Feb 2017… my hair is crazy long and I am so ready for a life changing haircut (and by life changing I mean a small change that I can handle… and not much more).  So here we are… the first free appointment for my hairdresser in 2017 and I am back to me… regular standard long hair Emma… Rapunzel length no more… it was really really long… there is a picture hiding here if you want to check….

26. Have a spa of some sort – completed: 12/02/2017
You can’t really go to Daylesford and not visit the springs… well you can, and I did a number of times while living in Castlemaine, but when you are there for a romantic weekend away, you should enjoy it all I say… so we did, Dave and I visited the Hepburn Bathhouse and while it wasn’t quite a spa… it was kind of… it is beautiful, relaxing and the water is apparently magical… what more could you want for a spa.  Plus it was a good reason to cross something off the list… and I am unlikely to convince Dave to just go on a whim…

12. Go back to school – completed: 17/02/2017
My first call in this year and it feels good to be back.  I had been feeling a little nervous going back to school, there are lots of children… and sometimes just the presence of lots of children sends me to a sad place where I think about all that we should have had with Josh… going back to school was also the last ‘normal’ part of my life that I needed to go back to, so I felt like jumping this hurdle was kind of a big deal… but now it is done, I not only survived the day, but I also survived 2 hours of MacBeth and I think I may have finally worked out the story… so that is 2 wins.

44. Use my new outdoor reading chair – completed: 25/02/2017
For a little while now I have wanted a ‘relaxing chair’ for the backyard, somewhere I could just read or watch the world go by and for Christmas, my brother Dustin and his wife Jess fulfilled my wish.  They gave me a super cool, yellow outdoor chair. Since Christmas I have sat in my chair, I have looked at my chair, but until now… the last week of summer, I had not stopped to read in it… but that is also now rectified… I have sat in the chair and read and loved life… stopped for a little ‘me’ moment… I need to do this more… especially while the weather is still warm.

18. Go on a Picnic – completed: 26/02/2017
On Sunday, I not only had a picnic, but I picnic’d in style at the ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ at Rippon lea Estate and it was wonderful…  There was not a cloud in the sky, and because I am a lazy picnicer I had a food truck lunch on a picnic rug supplied by my lovely friend Annie and just enjoyed the day.  I also got to sing some Jazz standards with the Salvo Big Band for the first time in a number of years and I loved it.  I just loved the whole day… I loved singing, I loved eating, I loved seeing all the teddy bears, I loved the weather, I loved hanging out with Annie and the band… it was just a great day… Probably not the picnic I had imagined when I added it to the list, but a great picnic all the same.

So that’s the 5… I am really enjoying the simplicity of the list this year… just some good old fashioned fun… Oh and just like in January I have been really good at taking my photos and doing my one second video… so here is February in photos….

And one second video snippets:

February, I am sad that reflecting on you means that Summer is officially over, but I have really like you… thanks!

Thanks January…

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At the end of each year I find myself in a mad rush to make sure my pictures for each month are collated and sorted, that the list is as finished as it could possibly be… and that I have photos for all of them… and still have time to reflect and take it all in… but not this year… no, this year I am going to reflect as I go… granted I am already a little bit late for January… but it’s a great reason to have a ‘Thankful Thursday’ in February, plus it’s still summer so it’s ok if things are a little slow!  In fact, I think that’s why I haven’t gotten around to writing it until now… because my brain is still in denial that January is over… that summer is almost done… seriously it’s the middle of February… how did this happen?

This year I have been making an effort to cross things off my list asap… also to avoid the rush at the end of the year and it seems to be working out pretty well, a nice casual, but regular pace.  This year, even without my holiday heavy loading of the list that we saw in 2015 and 2016, I have still managed to cross off 8 things… which I think is pretty good, especially since January has also seen me return to real life, with all it’s work and life demands which I had really enjoyed living without since October.  8 things is pretty good though… Here is the run down:

99-img_152799. Clean out the Kikki.K Folders – completed: 05/01/2017
This felt good!  I love these folders, I love the order the bring, I love that everything has a spot and that they make sense… but I hate routinely going through them… so they had been left pretty much abandoned for a number of year… maybe as many as 7 years… too long!  But now they are clean, sorted and accessible… and I am really really really trying to keep them organised like this.  It really does make finding things much easier… but it is going to take some discipline.

23-img_099123. Swim in the ocean – completed: 06/01/2017
I feel like this is the first proper summer Dave and I have had in a few years, we have been in town and it has been hot which has meant heading down to our favourite beach spot, Inverloch, and getting in the ocean.  I really love swimming and I wish I didn’t let my laziness and the effort of getting ready for a swim and getting de-beached post swim stop me from doing this more often… I hope that this isn’t my only month that includes and ocean swim.

10-img_094610. Go back to park run – completed: 07/01/2017
It’s really good to be back!  I like that my exercise for the day gets done early, I like the stats and I love the community… At the moment I am still on restricted running, hopefully not for too much longer, but I am still there almost every week running for a minute and then walking for 5 and repeating until the 5kms is done… which at the moment is slow… but at least I am moving right? And hopefully I will just get quicker which will help me with no. 96… hopefully!

11-img_105811. Go back to work – completed: 11/01/2017
I was going to say that it was really good to be back here as well, which it is and it isn’t… but it is necessary.  As much as I have loved not working, having some routine and structure has been good for me, so in that sense it is good to be back… and equally it has been good to get my brain working on some stuff that isn’t all about me… plus I work with wonderful people, so it is nice to see them again too… maybe it is better to be back than I realised.

img_113097. Do some colouring – completed: 18/01/2017
I am all over this, this year… and I love it… It is much better for me that playing mindless games in front of the TV at night… and I get a nice little sense of accomplishment.  At the moment I am working through a colour by numbers book that my sister in law gave me, which is filled with patterned pages with no indication of the picture that lies within… just waiting for me to colour and work it out.  It is taking all my will power not to look at the back and find out what it will be… but it is worth it.

45-img_128645. Blow some bubbles – completed: 20/01/2017
Something so simple and so fun… all adults should have a go at this regularly… it is just fun… just really good fun.   Seriously… do it… don’t laugh, don’t roll your eyes, just go and get some bubble mixture and give it a go.  I prefer the giant bubbles because you can actually just swing around and make lots of perfect bubbles… but any type will do, just promise me you will give it a go… Oh and just FYI… this list item and the next one were done with the help of Pheebs and we enjoyed both equally.

85-img_128985. Try Daniel’s Donuts – completed: 20/01/2017
Rumour had it that Daniel’s Donuts contained the best donuts in the state… so what else could we do but check it out and confirm.  It turns out that without trying more wonderful donut places I can’t really confirm that they are the best, because I just don’t know… but what I can confirm is that Daniel’s Donuts are darn good and were worth the drive… plus there are lots of flavours to try… I had a white chocolate and raspberry one and it was amazing.

75-img_142775. Make a quiche – completed: 25/01/2017
At the end of last year I became a little obsessed with quiche… I think it was just because they are delicious… but I decided that they couldn’t be that head to make, and that I should have a go… so that’s what I did… Having your vegetarian brother over for a couple of weeks in a row also encourages you to expand you recipe range… so a vegetarian quiche not only fed Jake, but also crossed this off the list.

So there you go… 8 things done and dusted… This year I am also making a little one second video each day to go with my photos of each day, which is a bit of fun… so here is my month of photos:

jan2017

And my video:

January, you have been just wanted I needed, some relaxation, some routine and some fun… and I am thankful for you!

Summer Lovin’

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So even though I don’t have holidays over summer that doesn’t mean I haven’t taken the chance to enjoy some of the fun in the sun that summer encourages… It’s no secret that I love the beach… in fact sometimes I even think I might be a little obsessed with the beach, I can’t get enough of it… When I was younger my bedroom at home was even decorated in what I termed “beach colours” complete with blue walls and a yellow curtain… but now that I am older, I don’t get to go to the beach as often as I would like, so I like to make the most of it when I am there. But summer isn’t just about the beach, it’s just a nice month… a little more relaxed, a little more fun… the January effect… a little like what I was talking about in my blog about ‘New Beginnings’. Anyway, to make the most of my Summer Sun I have been using the weather to cross a few things off the list already… yep only 14 days in and there are already 5 things off the list… I know I have already blogged about my hobbit like adventure… but here are the rest…

No. 25 Blow some bubbles…
Thanks to a surprise gift from a very generous friend at work to help me cope with the loss of my recently dead computer, I was able to spend a few minutes at work blowing bubbles at lunch… and it was just as fun as I thought it would be. I love bubbles, they are just so pretty and fun and I don’t think there are anywhere near enough bubbles in my life. Seriously if you haven’t blown some bubbles recently, you should get on to it!

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No. 67 Visit a country town I haven’t been to before…
So even though it’s just around the corner from my usual holiday destination I had never been to Cape Paterson… but now I have… and like all good little towns it had a cute little pub which gave us a good feed for lunch… thanks Cape Paterson and Dave!

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No. 85 Have a milkshake…
Milkshakes are delicious… really delicious and there is nothing better than sitting in the sun with your Dad and Dave enjoying a super cold blue heaven milkshake…

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No. 90 Fly a kite…
A fun afternoon at the beach, with my retro kite and some instructions from Dave I managed to fly a kite… I think it will be a while before I can steer the thing or keep it in the air on my terms not its… but it was fun and it looked super pretty flying in the sky.

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