Life This Week 9/9/2019: Taking Stock.


Making : the most of my pockets of alone time.  At the moment, I’m loving taking walks around the neighbourhood with a motivational podcast playing through my AirPods while I cast unstressed eyes over everything I see around me.  So much more restorative than taking in the sights from behind the wheel in peak hour school traffic.





Cooking : chickpea curry.  It makes the best meal prep lunch and tastes better the longer it stays in the fridge.

Drinking : water because hydration is key.  Recently, I’ve found myself succumbing to a 4pm strong coffee for some energy but I know that what I really need is hydration.  So now I try for water first and then the coffee if I still need it afterwards.


Image result for murder of a lover
via Google images

Reading: DI Greene’s onto the case … amongst other things in a nudge, nudge, wink, wink kind of way in ‘Murder of a Lover’ by Faith Martin.

Trawling: through the hangers of my wardrobe and finally parting with several redundant items.  Hello, space for new summer things!

Wanting: time to slow down a bit, thank you very much.  I always get like this around September.  Why can’t the best part of the year last for as long as possible?

Looking: at my hands and thanking my past self for slathering them in Vaseline last night and the wearing gloves on top.  My palms aren’t so pleathery today and I have no new dry skin cuts.

Deciding: that Leukosilk tape is the bomb dot com when it comes to dressing / taping up dry skin cuts on my fingers.

Wishing: that mugs of tea stayed at that perfect, slightly cooler than boiling hot temperature indefinitely.




Enjoying: Book Week 2019.  So is Master SSG.  I still have my reservations about the parade but I’ve enjoyed the author presentations and book store that were features of the week at school.

Waiting: for the dishes to put themselves away.  Like you, I’ve been waiting for a very long time.


Liking: the fact that we’re in the final single-digit month for the year.

Image result for old town road single cover
via Google images

Wondering: how it came to be that all of Year 1 know ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus.  By know, I mean the chorus and the first verse.  I don’t think I’m ready to explain any more of the lyrics to a six-year-old….


Loving: that spring has sprung!  I even wore short sleeves at work last week.  Just once but it was exciting all the same.



Pondering: the Garage Band app on my phone.  I used it for the first time to help Master SSG with his homework and I’m fascinated by how it works and what it can do.

Listening: to the soundscape we created using Garage Band.

Considering: a 3pm coffee.  Brain says yes.  That was easy.

Buying: only what’s on my grocery shopping list.  Saving for Paris has officially begun.

Watching: blogger upload photos for this post.  Very, very slowly.

Hoping: the NBN is as fast as the politicians claim it to be.

Marvelling: at the power of just getting out there and doing that one small thing for another person.  It’s the kind of power that makes hearts fill with joy.

Cringing: at the number of colleagues whom I’ve refamiliarized with such life skills as road safety as I’ve tried to talk to them on the phone while shepherding a six-year-old across the road after school.  I do forewarn them but many are still willing to stay on the line.

Needing: the annual leave I have lined up in 19 days.

Questioning:  where all the erasers on ‘the homework desk’ go.  They’re not on the floor, not under books, not down the backs of chairs.  Where, oh where can they be?!?!?





Smelling: that distinctive Carmex scent.  I love it and that menthol tingle it gives my lips.

Wearing: flannel pyjamas.  I tend to be doing so a lot when I write these ‘Taking Stock’ posts.



Noticing: the symmetry of the broccoli arrangement at Woolies this morning,

Knowing: that I have an amazing support network of family and friends whose collective experience that they share with me is a gift I am very fortunate to receive.





Thinking: that this korma curry meal kit could be the basis of an amazing batch of meal prep lunches for work.

Admiring: the resilience I see around me on a daily basis.  It inspires me to stay positive, motivated and grateful.

Getting: excited about Paris.  Less than a month to go.  24 days(!!) to be precise.

Bookmarking: sites selling European SIM cards.  Will we ever see a time where it will be possible to have the one SIM that you can take with you all over the world with a reasonable data allowance?  

Opening: my mind to the possibilities of life.

Closing: chapters in my life.

Feeling: valued and validated.  

Hearing: about the ups and downs of daily life in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  My aunt and uncle have come over to stay for a bit and they always have the best stories about daily life there.

Celebrating: my family and all that they mean to me.

Pretending: that the drivers of my neighbourhood do know what traffic lights are there for…  Had another near-death experience as a pedestrian on the weekend.  My fellow walker was remarkably unsurprised that we nearly got run over.  He reckons he’s lived around here long enough to anticipate poor traffic light compliance.

Embracing: the flurry of events and activities that have filled my diary for the rest of this month.  When it rains, it pours!






Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *