Tag Archives: The List – 2019

Unplugged for the Week

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The week before week I turned off my social media accounts, just for the week… no posting and no scrolling just for 7 days… and to be honest when I popped it on the list at no.55, I thought it would be a breeze…. And then when I made the decision that now was the time, it suddenly felt much more challenging, but I was not expecting it to be as challenging as it has been. So to pass the time and to put some words to my feelings I decided to start writing this blog on day two… and because I love any excuse to do them, I thought I could format it as a captains log to help me through… all because day one was much harder than I expected.

Captains Log – Day 1

Date: Sunday 20.10.19
Today’s forecast: Partly cloudy. Maximum of 16
Sunrise: 6:29am Sunset: 7:42pm

Fun fact about my life that I have never noticed… checking social media is one of the first things I do in the morning… before I get out of bed, before I have breakfast… before I do anything else… but not this morning… I did check my TimeHop because even though that’s linked to my social media platforms it’s just my life… so I don’t think it counts… Not checking it actually threw my morning off… and I very quickly started to realise how much I pick up my phone and habitually check my social media accounts… it’s a lot! In fact thanks to my screen time app I can tell you I picked up my phone 157 times… and while I didn’t open my social media (because I had deleted the apps) I can assure that I went to… maybe 100 of those times. I am not sure why the need to check it is so strong… I don’t post that much, but I do love to scroll… even as I went to bed tonight I felt the need to almost check 1 more time… let’s hope it’s just withdrawal and that it will get easier.

Captains Log – Day 2

Date: Monday 21.10.19
Today’s forecast: Warmer with decreasing clouds. Maximum of 22
Sunrise: 6:28am Sunset: 7:43pm

I am 100% sure that no one has even noticed my absence on Social media… because that’s they way it works right… you get so consumed by what is there, you rarely notice what is missing… and I know that in reality I am probably missing nothing, other than getting jealous of the highlight reels of everyone else’s lives… but I just want to know… I really really want to know… but I have stayed strong… I have not checked… I can get through this… I can break this habit… I can be in control

Captains Log – Day 3

Date: Tuesday 22.10.19
Today’s forecast: Increasing sunshine. Maximum of 20
Sunrise: 6:26am Sunset: 7:44pm

Good news, this morning I thought about social media, but didn’t try to open it before I remembered, this is what they call progress… in fact I got through most of the day without too much hassle… I was reminded that I missed some things when I got to school and someone told me about something they had posted and then again at lunch when I was told I had been invited to an event… but I wasn’t super phased by it, in fact it wasn’t until I got home that I started to miss it again… I took some photos that I probably would have posted, some new material for my highlight reel:

  • I hit a new mum milestone, I carried Isaac’s trike down to child care so he could ride it home… it was a LONG walk home, but it was a fun milestone moment that I usually would have posted.
  • We used our new oven for the first time and cooked and epic roast dinner… definitely post worthy and the one that made me think the most…
  • I finished writing a blog and it was ready to post… but I didn’t want to post it and not see what happened…

I realised that for a lot of this the validation that I get from comments and likes probably means more to me than I realised. Before this week, I think I had considered myself immune to this for some reason… I just thought I was that in to it… I mean I have no current plans of social media domination, but… it turns out I am just as vulnerable to needing to be liked online as the next person… I think this is going to be good for me… even if it just makes me more aware.

I also can’t decided if strava counts as social media… I have still been using it because it isn’t something that pops into my mind when I think about social media… but it is social and you do get ‘kudos’ for exercising from those who follow you… it’s not quite the same, but it’s probably not far off… but I am not ready to forego my exercise stats.

Captains Log – Day 4

Date: Wednesday 23.10.19
Today’s forecast: Sunny. Maximum of 27
Sunrise: 6:25am Sunset: 7:45pm

Ok… just as a side note… you may already know this, but I have learnt that each day the sunrise just gets earlier by a minute… and two at maximum and the sunset gets later by the same… I mean it makes sense… but I had just never noticed it before…

Captains Log – Day 5

Date: Thursday 24.10.19
Today’s forecast: Sunny. Maximum of 34
Sunrise: 6:24am Sunset: 7:46pm

There are photos of Isaac and I on Facebook… we went to a party… I know they are there but I can’t see them… I have to wait… I can wait… but I know they are there.

Captains Log – Day 7

Date: Saturday 26.10.19
Today’s forecast: Windy with showers. Maximum of 16
Sunrise: 6:21am Sunset: 7:48pm

Good news, I’ve almost made it, the end of my 7 days is in sight… and the even better news is that the last few days have come and gone without too much longing… so much so that I didn’t even bother to write a log to distract myself.

To be honest though I am not sure if it got easier because I was learning to live without it or because I had made it half way so I knew I wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

Doing this just for my list has been good for me. I’ve always envied those who live social media free, I think in many ways it’s quite liberating. I have started to pick my phone up less… but only a little… and I would like to think I have been a bit more present in my own life… I have however missed a few things, nothing life and death, but there have been events and messages that I have missed… I have also felt less connected… I think being able to see people’s lives in little snapshots gives you a false sense of community and insight. You feel like you know how someone is going and what is happening in their lives without having to actually communicate with them… which is wonderful for lazy friendships, but not so great if that’s what you’ve been relying on… it’s made me realise that I need to reach out and not just like things on Facebook… and that while, if I’m really honest, my bad social habits will probably return as soon I a re-download the apps… I am hoping that I might be a little bit more aware of what I am actually using it for… and if my connections are more than just 0’s and 1s.

This has been a much greater challenge than I anticipated, but I am glad I have done it… now I just have to work out what to do with my new insight so that it’s helpful and not a waste.

Yes! I am Running,

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This time two weeks ago I was enjoy the post run high after running (ish… there was some walking) my third half marathon… and it was emotional. I cried at the start line and I cried a lot at the finish and I have realised that this event had been holding so much emotion within it that I wasn’t expecting.

I am sure I am not the only one that feels like this year is really busy, busier than years gone by, and I don’t know if the world is just spinning faster, or if it’s just what happens when you try to balance work and mum life… but it has been a full year. The last couple of months, in particular, have pushed me past busy into stressed and tired and overwhelmed. I have been working more, Isaac is busier in himself… being 2 is hard and busy… there is so much playing to be done between naps. Dave have also been busy with School and our weekends have been packed with things, albeit fun things, but things all the same. There hasn’t been a lot of downtime. We have also rearranged out living spaces at home to move the TV out of the way and be more deliberate about not watching it, but I am not sure if this has helped with the downtime or made it less relaxing. Anyway… the point of all of this has been that I have been feeling overwhelmed, really overwhelmed and probably since the beginning of term 3 in July, I feel like I have been racing out of control from one event to the next, living by my calendar and just hoping for the best in between. It’s not a super fun way to live… in fact in kinda takes the joy out of all of the events because the next one is already bubbling away in the back of your brain.  

While my life was slowly spinning out of control, I had also been attempting to train for this half marathon… and while I probably took it more seriously than I have previously, making sure that at the very least I did all the long runs and something else, I forgot how hard it was to include training when life was simpler (I know it didn’t feel simple at the time, but I know with hindsight it was). Adding a dependent child in, really stops you from just going for a 2-hour run spontaneously… you have to plan this stuff… especially because Dave needs to do the same run as well. There was a lot to do and not a heap of time… but it’s done and I made it and the relief is very very real.  

I have been talking about doing this half marathon for almost 2 years, using it as a delay tactic to avoid talking about having more kids… because you can’t run a half marathon and be pregnant… (although according to one lady’s race bib I saw while running… ‘Baby on Track’ that’s not entirely true… apparently you can). Anyway, I realised as I stood at the start line that this was the last event in my mind… this was where I had been heading… I also started to panic, overwhelmed by the fact that I was about to run 21.1km and I wasn’t sure how well I would make it… I knew I would most likely make it, but I didn’t know how well, or what that would look like. I was also overwhelmed by the crowd, so many people all ready to achieve this together, people of all shapes and sizes, for all different reasons, running together. I think that part of me was also overwhelmed because I didn’t have a plan for what was to come next… That after this, I was done with events and things, even if it was only for a little bit.  

As I started to run I remembered a song I had listened to on previous fun runs and dug it out of my music collection and pushed play on ‘Home’ by CityAlight… these are the lyrics:  

Yes! I am running
Won’t be long ’til I am home
Yes! I am running
Jesus bring me safely home 

Jesus lead me day by day
Fix my eyes upon Your face
Guide my feet, Lord, as I run
Hold me Saviour in Your love 

Jesus keep me free from sin
Help me fight the war within
Shield me now from fear and doubt
Break these chains that weigh me down
Oh we sing together now 

Yes! I am running
Won’t be long ’til I am home
Yes! I am running
Jesus bring me safely home 

Jesus You have run the race
Perfect love and perfect faith
We are weary, You are strong
In Your grace we carry on
Oh we sing together now 

Yes! I am running
Won’t be long ’til I am home
Yes! I am running
Jesus bring me safely home  

It became my prayer for the first 3km… a very literal prayer from eternal words… that Jesus would guide my physical feet as I ran the Melbourne Half Marathon.  

I realised as I ran how much of the last three years I had hidden in this event, delay, disappointment, fear, and expectation. That somehow if I could get through those 21kms, I could forgive my body for not carrying and birthing Isaac or Josh the way I thought it should have. That if I could just get through those 21km I could prove to myself that I am strong, that I am capable, that I can still do hard things. That if I could just get through those 21km, then maybe I could finally let myself hope and trust myself enough to see a brighter future.  

As I crossed the line, I felt like a weight and been lifted off my shoulders, I fully relaxed for the first time in a long time and it wasn’t just a physical relax because my muscles couldn’t do anymore, but an emotional and mental relaxation. I felt lighter and hopeful but also just so so relieved. Relieved that I had made it, relieved that it wasn’t awful, and relieved that my body hadn’t let me down again… that I was stronger than I believed.  

21.1km is a long way… and it takes a long time, even longer when you run at my pace… but it also gives you a lot of time to reflect and think if you want it and finishing it is empowering.    

2019 List Update… Autumn Edition

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Ok round 2… List update here we go… strap in…

March

Once we hit March, our listing adventures slowed down a little, but we still crossed off 4 things… I splurged with a brunch alone and blogged at my old favourite cafe which was no. 68… but I already blogged about that here, and while I thought I might get a few more weeks to do more blogging brunches, I was mistaken as in March I also returned to school to do some relief teaching, no. 7 which was an end to my bonus child free days (completed: 15/03).

When looking up things to pop on my list this year I came across a recommendation for the dragon’s eggs in Kallista so I added it to the list and on a sunny weekend Dave, Isaac and I went for a trek through the bush to find them. It turned out to be quite a trek too as we took a wrong turn very early on and what should have been a 300m walk ended up being a 7km loop, but it was an adventure and we did find the nests… to be honest, they were actually quite hard to find and a little underwhelming after 7km… but we found them and that is all no. 46 on the list required (completed: 16/03).

Our last March list activity was no. 81, have a picnic (completed: 15/03). With daylight savings coming to an end, we decided to make the most of the light, the warmth and the oval across the road and have a fish and chip picnic… judging by our faces in the list picture… it was a success!

April

April was also a mildly successful listing month… we crossed off another 4 things… No. 9, my 50th parkrun, which you can read about here. We also crossed off our third zoo for the year venturing out to Werribee open range zoo, which was super fun and crossed no. 4 off the list (completed: 11/04). I have always had a love hate relationship with the zoo… I had bad date there as a teenager and until now when I have thought about going to the zoo it has always come with a uuuuggghhhh feeling… but going to the zoo with kids is totally different. We took Isaac to the zoo for the first time last year and he loved it and the older he gets the more he loves it. It’s nice to be able to watch him take the lead and decide what he wants to see, plus now that Dave and I are members… and we have been to all three all the trips from this point on are free… and a good day out. Welcome back to my life zoo trips.

This month we also started our brief, but enjoyable love affair with Hello Fresh! I love things that are all ready to go, and I love not having to decide what to eat… so Hello Fresh was a winner for us… but eventually we got sick of it… and it’s pretty expensive, but I now that we’ve tried it, we can keep it in the back of our minds as a back up for whenever we need it again, thanks no. 94 (completed: 08/04)

In April I also went to my only footy match for the year (no. 26, completed: 22/04)… Hawks v Geelong for Easter Monday, I always forget how much I enjoy going to the footy… but I can’t tell if it’s just catching up with my Aunite Barb because we spend a lot of the game just chatting.

May

In May I managed to cross another 4 things off the list… consistency seems to be the flavour of the list this year. I finally volunteered at park run… no.44, which you can read about here, and I took myself out for a cup of tea at Robinsons bookstore at the Glen and it was lovely. While I was there I read… although I read on my kindle which felt a little bit like a slap in the face for a bookstore, but what can you do… I am a messing person and I didn’t want to get food or tea on a book. I love bookstores… but I love bookstores with cafes even more… no. 79 done and dusted (completed: 08/05)

I don’t think it’s a surprise that I am a hard core trekie…. ok, maybe not hard core, hard core, but I do love star trek. Since finishing Next Gen last year I have watched all of Star Trek Enterprise and all of Star Trek Voyager, leaving me with Deep Space Nine and the original series, both of which I have now also finished… I told you, I love it! But all no. 29 asked for was deep space nine (completed: 09/05) so it’s done and some! I do now have a fairly large Star Trek shaped hole in my life, so if you know of a good series I should commit to, let me know.

May also gave me the single greatest renovation to our house… completing no. 86 (completed 12/05) we got a bath and it is great… I mean sure it’s mostly for Isaac and he also loves it… but I don’t think he appreciates it like I do… I also love the bath caddy we got for it… bath reading, or Netflixing with a drink… brilliant, sure my Diet Coke isn’t as fancy as the wine in the picture on the box, but it’s still pretty great.

Ok… so that was autumn… time for another break in writing… hopefully it’s not too long before I write up winter…

Bookclub Confessions

Posted in Life, Reese's Book Club, The List by

Ok… so at the very beginning of the year I posted about joining a book club… I read January’s book and loved it and then they announced Feb’s book and I was underwhelmed… that combined with the fact that I couldn’t source the book in hard copy (I had decided that if I was going to go all in and either purchasing the book or borrowing it from the library), meant that I decided to go rouge…. I decided to pick my own book… a book that I had been given for Christmas… a book that was much much longer than February’s book suggestion… and unsurprisingly it all went down hill from there… my little detour became a longer detour and while I have read a couple of books since then… I am not up to book 8 like I would have been if I had stuck with it.. instead I have just started book 6… I gave up my book club…

But, good news… I’m back… to the same book club, I decided that the motivation of a month and someone choosing the book for me was too hard to pass… so I’ve now smashed out August’s book and because it was still in August when I started writing this I decided to launch into July’s book forgetting that September would bring a new book, so… I am running out of time for that, but the point is I am reading again and it is good and so far the books have been great.  Maybe I should have given the Feb book a chance and then I wouldn’t be in this mess, maybe I shouldn’t have judged the book by it’s cover and blurb… but that’s in the past…  here we are now and I am back to reading… and back in the book club.

Watch this space.

It’s time for a List update… Part 1.

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It’s not often that I find myself sitting in a cafe alone twice in the one week, but when you have a free hour and the baby is hanging out with Daddy, you seize the moment with all that you have… when I told Dave I had a bonus hour his response was go and write a blog somewhere, so that’s what I am doing…

That was 4 months ago… and then life happened… as it always does, but it’s time to get back on the blogging horse and do a massive list update. I find these hard to write despite having the content already… its hard to write them in a way that keeps things interesting… but I will do my best… are you ready?

Its the beginning of August which means we are now well over half way through 2019 and seeing as this blog is taking me forever to write I have decided that I am going to release it in parts… because some blog is better than none… So… 2019’s list… well so far in 2019 I have crossed 34 things off the list… just over a third… but I’ve only blogged about 3, so here are the rest…

January

January was a good month for the list… we crossed of 7 things:

My bestie was home for Christmas and so we walked, no. 50 (completed: 08/01), and I went to the movies with her to see Mary Poppins Returns, no. 96 (completed: 02/01).

We purchased a standing desk for our home office, and while I am still working out the best system to get the right balance of standing and sitting, I can now ‘work on my feet’ as requested by no. 88 (completed 07/01), and I love it. It helps break up my tasks and it gives me a reason to move a little more while I work. Although apparently I still don’t move very much even when I am standing… sometimes I can stand for an hour to work, but it’s not enough movement for my watch to register that I have stood… we’ll add this to the list of things I am working on.

I am proud to say that I have finally finished the bible plan I started two years ago… to read the bible in a year… it may have taken me well over 2 years, but it’s done and no. 65 (completed 24/01) is crossed off. It’s also the first time I have read through the entire bible front to back… I am glad that the pressure of the plan is gone, but also that I have read the whole bible… it’s a good book.

On a fun afternoon with Pheebs, Isaac and I made our own play doh.. although Isaac wasn’t as impressed as Pheebs and I were, but that was no. 27 (completed 25/01),

At the end of January, as Isaac started to try some longer days at childcare I went back to the pool and swam some laps, no. 30 (completed 29/01). This was seriously good, I am going to try and do some more of this in 2019… there is something very calming about the quiet of the water and the regularity of the laps… it’s good for the soul… and the body.

The other January list item was my baby brother’s wedding… but I already blogged about that here.

February

Feb was another good month for listing… in fact it was just as good as January because we crossed off another 7 things…

I’m not sure if its the same need for me to know things that brought about my interest in brids… but I have also taken to looking at things and thinking… I could do that… or I can fix that… so here enters no. 80 learn a new skill (completed 03/02), I am becoming a sewing wizz… well that may be an overstatement, but I am getting better at it.  In Feb I learnt how to do a ladder stitch which I used to fix the lining of my hand bag which had given way after some misuse on my behalf.  Since then I have repaired the same bag twice more, fixed a soft toy of Isaac’s and managed to preserve Josh in the Curious George plush that we brought and that held him just before we said goodbye. I had been umming and ahhing about getting this professionally done, and even though it took a long time, I am now glad I waited and that I was able to do it myself.

In the same vain as no. 80, no. 08 ‘Use my sewing machine’ (completed 10/02) is also crossed off… although rather than repair works this was mostly to help me also cross of no. 12 ‘Finish Isaac’s Quiet book’ off the list too (completed 28/02). Isaac’s quiet book has been a labour of love… it’s taken me a lot longer than I thought it would, but it has already had a lot of use… it’s basically a felt book full of felt activities that don’t make any noise, but in theory keep him occupied and quiet at church… or other places that require children to keep it down for any length of time… although it doesn’t keep him as quiet as I would have hoped… we’ll work on that bit.

Isaac started finally started his swimming lessons this year and I got my first chance to hop in the pool with him on the 21st which meant we were able to cross no. 53 off the list. In fact it’s been a big month for my mum list items… we also crossed off no. 33 ‘Be ok with Isaac going to childcare’ too… I am not sure if I will ever be totally comfortable… but I think ok is an accurate description right now.

The last item I was able to cross of the list in Feb was no. 100… ‘Listen to at least one audiobook’ (completed 27/02). Before having Isaac to listen to a lot of audiobooks… but I have found this much harder to do sharing my car with little ears as my book choices aren’t always baby friendly… but this one, ‘Stronger than the Struggle’by Havilah Cunnington was… I am hoping to find some more… or maybe when he is a bit older we can pick them together… but to be honest I am probably going to stick with my usually super safe ‘Stuff You Should Know’ podcast for now (which by the way is a ripper… you should totally listen to it too).

Ok… so that’s the first two months of the year… and it’s taken me months to finish this far… so I think it would be a good idea to take a break here and post it… so that you can catch up… while I attempt to start writing the next update… hopefully that one will take less time… but we will see.

5 Things I love about parkrun

Posted in Exercise, Life, The List by

Let me tell you about Parkrun… you might have heard of it… I have mentioned it here a number of times, but never really talked about what it is or why I love it… and given that in the back in May I crossed my second list item connected to parkrun off and since then I have also celebrated at Gardiners Creek parkrun for my little brother, my mum and stepdad’s first parkruns and friend’s 50th parkrun in Coburg… I thought it was time.  Plus I am in a winter park running slump, so I am hoping this might help me fix my attitude…

So what is parkrun? Parkrun is a free, weekly, 5km timed run which probably takes place at a park near you… the are runs happen all around the world. They are open to everyone, they are free, safe and easy to take part in… it’s that simple… And why do I love it? Well there are lots of reasons, but for today, I have packaged it all up nicely into the top 5 things I love about parkrun right here:

1.  It makes me move
It’s no secret that I need encouragement to exercise, the fit pig is a perfect example of that… but once I am out of bed on a saturday morning (which lets face it, is the hardest part of the whole thing) I have a reason to exercise. And while I often whinge the whole way to parkrun, at the end I am always glad at the finish line, that not only have I finished parkrun, but I have also achieved a 5km walk/run and I don’t have to think about exercise for the rest of the day.

2.  It’s addictive
Not only does parkrun organise all of these events, but they time you and keep your stats all connected with a very handy barcode… at the end of every parkrun you are sent an email which gives you the results for the event at which you participated… you can see where you came, and in what time… but also how that compared to others at the same event, your gender, age group or your running club. This means that if you are at all competetive… you can race against yourself, people the same age as you… the whole community of parkrun… or a random runner you pick from the list that you think you can catch… I find these numbers incredibly addictive… I love stats… but to get the stats I have to run… or volunteer… otherwise you get nothing (other than a fun 5km run in a beautiful park).

Parkrun also encourage you to keep coming back by giving rewarding you with a free running top when you meet certain milestones, so that you can boast every parkrun about how far you have come… you get a t-shirt for 50, 100, 250 & 500… you also get a t-shirt for volunteering milestones… and nothing makes you get out of bed like a free gift getting closer.

3.  Community
I don’t know if it’s because they get up early… the endorphins from running? or something else… but parkrunners are nice, they are encouraging and supportive regardless of how fast or slow you are moving… They celebrate all the wins… big and small, and if you are really lucky you will find a parkrun that finds a reason to dress up every now and again just for the fun of it.

For me, it’s also given me a sub-parkrun community of friends and family that also parkrun… we might not be at the same event, but we share milestones and special events with each other and they have become a big part of the reason I run between parkrun and why I get up and go to parkrun even when its 5degrees outside.

4.  Being outside
It’s a well known fact that being outside is good for your soul.. nautre is important and when you work inside sometimes you don’t go outside unless you have a reason. Before I startefd parkrunning, my weekends were not much different. It was always too hot, too cold, too hard to spend time outside, but parkrun gives me a reason to be out there… even when it’s hot, cold, raining or somewhere in between. I know I shouldn’t need a reason to go outside, but having one certainly help. Plus my local parkrun and in fact most parkruns takes place in beautiful parks… so not only are you outside but it’s beautiful.

5.  There’s no catch
Seriously… there is no catch… its free, for everyone, forever… that’s their slogan… you can go when you want and where you want… just take your barcode and run… or walk… or volunteer. Nothing else is required…

So there you go, that’s why I love parkrun… well some of the reasons anyway… you should try one… if you want to find your closest course you can check out their website: http://www.parkrun.com, and if you decided to go, let me know… I’m always up for trying a new parkrun! Oh and my list items… were no. 9 ‘Do my 50th parkrun’ (completed 06/04) and no. 44 ‘Volunteer at parkrun’ (completed 04/05).

Accidental Ornithologist

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

Wikipedia tells me that Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds… it’s a word that I would never, in my wildest dreams, thought I would identify with.  If you had told me even this time last year that I would become interested in birds… I would have scoffed in disbelief… it’s just not something that would have ever crossed my mind.  But as I sit at the peddler (taking myself out for brunch and crossing no. 68 off the list) I can tell you that so far on my little brunch expedition I have only seen one type of bird, Common Mynas… I can also tell you that they are an introduced species but that they are different from the Australian, or Noisy Mynas… because now I can tell them apart.

I’m not really sure where this interest has come from, but if I was to hazard at a guess I would say it has been a combination of things:

  • Since having Isaac, I have been walking more and generally spending more time outside.
  • I have also been told ad nauseum that you should talk to your baby because it is good for everything… so we have been talking more…
  • and as much as I hate to admit it, I have an uncontrollable need to know facts… to be a bit of a know it all.  Plus I don’t like to make things up… I have this irrational fear that Isaac will be at school sharing a fun fact and someone will tell him he is wrong and he will look like a tiny fool because mum made something up.

So while walking with Isaac I started to run out of things to talk about… and so I started to point things out.  And it turns out, when you are out walking you can find a lot of things, the most obvious being trees and birds… and while I would love to be able to identify all the plants and trees we walk by, birds seemed like a simpler option.  So I found myself googling birds… and I think it is starting to get out of hand.

There is a beautiful lake about 1km from our place which we have been walking to and around a lot.  Before Isaac was born I think we perhaps walked up there a handful of times, but now we are up there multiple times a week.  It’s very pretty and a good distance… not too far, but a far enough for a good walk… plus I have found a little 5km circuit that I can do which is fun.  Anyway, the point is we have been walking there a lot and most of the time there are the same birds… so I learnt them all… Mynas, Magpies, Gallahs, Cockatoos, Swamp Hens (or as our partially NZ home likes to call them Pukekos), Woodland Ducks, Eurasian Coots and some Spotted Doves.  Not a huge number… but enough for me to remember and talk to Isaac about as we walk.  I have also just realised that this is probably already too much bird talk… sorry guys… I told you it’s out of control… bear with me I’m almost done.

So given my new found interest, I decided that to put on my list to learn about 3 new birds, birds that I couldn’t previously identify… a very nerdy addition to the list… but it’s my list and this is who I am… So what are my new birds, well I am glad you asked…

  1. Little Wattlebird – this is a little bird that used to live in the area that I grew up and I loved the sound of it’s song… whenever I hear it, it takes me back to my childhood home… but I didn’t know what it was until this year and it turns out they are also abundant down where our beach house is.
  2. Gang Gang Cockatoo – I spotted this guy while being a Parkrun tourist at Mullum Mullum… it is a very pretty bird… I think maybe even my new fav.
  3. Royal Spoonbill – This guy has a mullet and a spoon billed beak it’s pretty impressive and I had tentatively popped this on my list of new birds when we went to the Zoo in January… but I was hoping that I would find another neat (oh man… I am getting old) bird that I could find locally to add to this little list of three… because part of my felt like a zoo bird didn’t count. But… Enter summer… and walking at some different times of day and suddenly there have been more birds at the lake… Pelicans, Intermediate Egrets, Little Black Coromants, Masked Lapwings and… none other than the Royal Spoonbill.   I was so excited about seeing the Royal Spoonbill that I went back day after day… I also stopped an old man with binoculars walking into the park to tell him about it because I assumed that the binoculars meant he would be looking for wildlife… who actually knows… he seemed quite shocked by my enthusiasm.  I told you it’s getting out of control.

So three new birds for 2019 and a new hobby it would appear… It has also branched out further than just identifying them though… Isaac now has a plush Sulfur Crested Cockatoo and our house has some new Australian wild life coasters and mugs… mostly birds.   I don’t know how long it will last… but I do know that my walks are getting longer because I keep stopping to see the birds… but that I’m not mad about it… I either need to embrace it until the phase passes… or find a new running track for when timing matters.

My Baby Brother Got Married

Posted in Family, Life, Love, The List by

There are something things in life you know will probably happen in the future, yet are never prepared for when they actually do… My baby brother’s wedding is one of those things.  Maybe it is because he is the baby of the family, so it’s some subconscious part of my brain thinks that while he is now an adult… he should also still be 10 and watching me dominate at Mario Party.

The fact that I felt unprepared for the event is also ridiculous because this wedding was planned like nothing I had ever experienced before… there was a run sheet for everything, logistics meetings and 1000s of texts and calls to confirm details for the part my little family of three had to play… you would think that with all that preparation I would have realised what was happening… but I didn’t.

I still hadn’t caught on as I helped them move things into their new apartment, or when I sat through a very detailed wedding logistics meeting last weekend.  Not even when I tried on my new dress or rehearsed the song that we had chosen for me to lead the congregation in singing during the ceremony.  The penny still didn’t drop when Dave and I were watching Isaac be driven around in a miniature convertible making sure he would love his trip down the isle and not scream.  Even yesterday as I got my hair and makeup done… I still hadn’t let the reality sink in… I don’t think I actually realised until I watched my my little brother articulate clearly and beautifully all the things he loved about the woman standing in front of him as he read the vowels he had written for her.

Yesterday I got to witness two young people promise to be the moon and so much more for each other, to share their lives, to support and challenge.  To be their person for all time… and it was beautiful.  It was also a really nice reminder of the things that I had promised to my person almost 8 years ago.  But this blog is not about that.  This blog is to admit that I finally get it… he is a grown up… and he is married.  And… because of all of this I have gained a passionate, strong and caring sister who balances and loves my brother better than I could have hoped.  This is one of things that gets quickly overlooked at weddings, overshadowed by the displays of love and affection.  When people get married it’s not just two people who get joined for life, but families that grow… well that’s how it is supposed to work anyway.  Our already complex and large family grew by one and her family.  Which means that while we get one more person to care for and include, it also means we gain one more person on our team, to love and support us, just as we will her.  Marriage is an old, but powerful thing and it is most definitely worth celebrating.

Oh… and just in case you didn’t notice, this event crossed number 24 off my list and number 5 off Isaac’s list which just adds to the fun!

2019… It’s List Time!

Posted in Life, The List by

How the heck we are already in 2019 I will never understand… but nevertheless a new year means a new list… and I think it is going to be fun.

I feel like… well I am hoping 2019 is going to be a year of home and family, where we get to do things together and make the most of our family time.  A year for good health (minus all the childcare bugs we are bound to pick up), activities and learning.  I am not sure if we will be able to cross everything off the list, but we will give it a good crack.

We are up to list number 11 this year… pretty nuts ey? So if you are new here… firstly welcome… but you might want to check out some of the old lists here: 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 & 2018).  What can you expect from this year’s list?  Well like normal… some self improvement tasks (physical, spiritual and mental), some fun tasks, some things I just have to do and some more baby friendly things… because mum life is now in full swing.

Seeing as Isaac did so well on his list this year he gets another one too, it has been fun to document some of his milestones through here… and I really hope to do a better job of it this year, because really that’s a long standing goal… be better at blogging interesting things more consistently.   Anyway, enough chat… here are the lists….

My list:

  1. Watch a Disney Movie I haven’t seen for a while with Isaac
  2. Re-learn how to do a rubix cube
  3. Bring back date days and go on at least 6 dates
  4. Visit all three Melbourne Zoos
  5. Go overseas
  6. Have a weekend away
  7. Work as a teacher
  8. Use my sewing machine
  9. Do my 50th parkrun
  10. Use our museum membership
  11. Run most of a half marathon
  12. Finish Isaac’s quiet book
  13. Let things heal
  14. Don’t snooze – just get up
  15. Plan at night
  16. Go camping
  17. Walk Dex regularly
  18. Plan our grocery shopping and meals at the same time – preferably weekly
  19. Cook dinner regularly
  20. Moisturise regularly
  21. Finish the scrap books
  22. Consistently exercise at least once a week
  23. Keeps my useless phone time under control
  24. Go to a wedding
  25. Read 7 books
  26. Go to the footy
  27. Make some playdoh
  28. Bake meringues
  29. Finish watching Deep Space Nine
  30. Swim some laps
  31. Write at least 15 blogs.
  32. Make a gingerbread house from scratch
  33. Be ok with Isaac going to childcare
  34. Give Dr Who a go
  35. Eat 5 new foods
  36. Go barefoot on sand, grass, carpet, tiles and concrete and talk about how it feels with Isaac
  37. Read a book to Isaac everyday
  38. Try 3 new restaurants
  39. Buy an item of clothing that you really love but isn’t like anything you’d usually wear!
  40. Memorize a chapter of the bible
  41. Take Isaac & Dexter to the dog beach.
  42. Visit three new playgrounds!
  43. 5 new cafes with 5 new people
  44. Volunteer at parkrun
  45. Do some trivia
  46. Find the dragons nest in kallista
  47. Be deliberate about filling the house will lovely things
  48. Investigate our options
  49. Fill out Isaac’s baby book
  50. Go for a walk with my bestie
  51. Plant and grow some veggies
  52. Update the photo wall
  53. Go swimming with Isaac
  54. Take a picture everyday
  55. Turn off my social media for a week
  56. Lights out by midnight
  57. Finish Isaac’s logs and decide what to do with them
  58. Wear a non-black t-shirt outfit at least once a week
  59. Update our budget
  60. Keep getting closer
  61. Wash my car at least 3 times
  62. Sort out the photo storage and keep it up to date
  63. Keep my desk at home clean
  64. Scan the photos in
  65. Finally finish the bible plan I started 2 years ago… it’s getting embarrassing
  66. Have another brunch date with Isaac
  67. Have a brunch with Dave… without Isaac
  68. Have brunch by myself
  69. Work out what I am allergic to
  70. Get a haircut
  71. Go berry picking
  72. Get my steps average up to 10000 per day.
  73. Cross at least two things off the list each month
  74. Use my gratitude diary and Isaac’s highlights book
  75. Play a board game/card game
  76. Make an iTunes playlist for each season
  77. Have high tea
  78. Get a massage
  79. Have a cup of tea at robinsons bookstore
  80. Learn a new skill
  81. Have a picnic
  82. Go on a family bike ride
  83. Get a tea advent calendar
  84. Learn about 3 new Australian birds
  85. Add a quick 10 minute clean to your night routine
  86. Give something in our house a makeover
  87. Try meatless Monday
  88. Work on my feet
  89. Have a no spend day once a month
  90. Find another way to save a little bit of the planet
  91. Call my grandparents regularly
  92. Turn on music instead of the TV
  93. Boil some eggs
  94. Try one of those meal prep provider companies like hello fresh
  95. Make some banana bread
  96. Go to the movies
  97. Make the most of our weekends
  98. Read for 10 minutes a day
  99. Do my devotions at least 5 times a week
  100. Listen to at least one audiobook

Isaac’s List:

  1. Learn to walk
  2. Learn at least 5new words
  3. Go on the little trains in Eltham
  4. Go swimming
  5. Be in a wedding
  6. Play outside
  7. Cuddle all of my grandparents (including my great grandparents)
  8. Build a sandcastle
  9. Go to the park
  10. Finger paint
  11. Do a puzzle
  12. Go to the library
  13. Play with some bubbles
  14. Do a fun run / walk
  15. Go to childcare
  16. Learn to climb
  17. Go down the slide by myself
  18. Have a big boy bath
  19. Pat some new animals
  20. Go to a new zoo
  21. Go to the museum
  22. Learn the actions to a song
  23. Play with my Mother’s group friends
  24. Sort some shapes
  25. Play with some blocks

Ok… there they are… 2 new glorious lists… let us know if you want to cross anything off with us.