Life This Week 2/3/2020: Taking Stock


It’s been a grim start to the year on so many levels.  Natural disasters, infections and our actions towards the more vulnerable members of our society.  So a warning right here regarding references today to domestic violence.


Making : travel plans for the second half of the year.  The best kind of plans to be making, I’m sure you will agree.  Where to?  And when?





Cooking : homemade Indomie Mi Goreng.  Well, the sauce and fried shallots are homemade but the noodles are good old packet ones.  







Drinking : peppermint tea in the evenings and coffees until way too late in the day.





Reading: music for the first time in decades.  Master SSG is learning the viola and the alto clef is foreign to me.  Hence the mnemonics I’ve written up to help me.

Trawling: the world wide web for non-toxic pesticides to protect my tomatoes.


Rest In Peace, Hannah Clarke.




Wanting: to know when (and a big if…) justice will be served to those who so coldly and cowardly attack those they know can’t fight back.  I don’t think mankind will ever learn.

Looking: beyond the cruelty and pain that seems to be the fabric of Australian life right now and wondering how I can make things different within my own world.

From a post on Facebook by Toby Francis, reflecting on his own behaviour and how his friend Troy helped him gain insight and the will to be better and change.


Deciding: that I will make that difference by being vigilant and accountable for my own behaviour.  Both in how I act and what I chose to tolerate from others.




Wishing: we could collectively take a deep breath and start this year again.  But that would mean erasing those experiences and events we need to learn from.

Enjoying: the cool change.  Getting excited about my autumn wardrobe.

Waiting: for the first of the weekend’s laundry to dry ahead of tomorrow’s load.  There is a downside to the cooler weather after all.

Liking: this concept for Easter confectionery.  Mint dark chocolate bunnies.





Wondering:  if it would be wrong to eat one of those After Eight bunnies now.

Loving: this new gelato store at our local Westfield.





Pondering: which flavour of Anita Gelato to try next week.

Listening: to an episode of Thomas the Friends.  Master SSG is back into trains this year after taking a break from them last year.  I’m starting to remember all the names of the different trains.

Considering: which kinds of tomatoes I’d like to plant later in the year.  I love the idea of the bush grown kind but the vines do look impressive.  Perhaps I can try both?

Buying: all our groceries at Coles for the next few weeks.  Stikeez are back and I want Master SSG wants them all.





Watching: the WiFi icon on my phone while lounging on the sofa.  The NBN, one drama after another.  I seem to lose Wifi on my phone the moment I get home while my laptop seems to be working just fine.  Go figure.

Hoping: that school camp next week will be fun and safe for all involved.

Marvelling: that I have 7 year old!  Who’s not only alive and kicking but I’m buying him things for his first school trip.

Cringing: at some (just a few) of the things that have gone down in the last 7 years in the name of parenting.  Buying every possible swaddle and baby sling known to man, hyperventilating at the shops while carrying my toddler like a surfboard under my arm out of Target, the truly bizarre three-way conversations I’ve had with work and my son (and quite possibly myself…).

Needing: a hug.  My baby boy is going to CAMP next week.  Camp!!

Questioning: if I’ll make it through tonight.  I’m on a challenge to not spend hours in bed scrolling through my socials when I should be sleeping.  I’m going cold turkey tonight.  There’s no other way.




Smelling: onion on my hands.  It’s been a hectic day of meal prep.

Wearing: my indoor Crocs.  Asian household.  Say no more.

Noticing: that this ‘Taking Stock’ feels more gritty than how mine usually go.  I’ve had a lot on my mind and it had to be downloaded.

Knowing: that things happen to us, they happen around us but what’s most important is what happens within us.  To paraphrase a quote being read during a recent, memorable yoga practice.





Thinking: ahead.  I got my new gate keys programmed to have two buttons able to open said gate.  That way, should the battery die and the circuit for one-button suffer a similar fate, I’m still in with a chance of having a functional key with a battery change.

Admiring: the ironing all hung up and waiting to be put away tomorrow morning.  I’m a big fan of leaving things out to ‘set’.  

Getting: ready for bed.  Early start tomorrow.  

Bookmarking: loom knit scarf project ideas.





Opening: the lid of a metallic gold pen and being careful not to point it towards my clothes, the table, the floorboards or anything expensive.  Can you believe that the packaging and the sound of the metallic ball inside rolling around in the ink both sound exactly the same as they did well back in the mid-eighties?

Closing: the dishwasher door and pressing time delay on the start button.  It’s the last thing I do in the kitchen of an evening.

Feeling: on top of the housework.  For now.

Hearing: that reassuring hum of the fridge as the house winds down for the night.





Celebrating: love.

Pretending: that I’m not overwhelmed that it’s MARCH already.  





Embracing: change and new normals.


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