#2276 Her friend’s note

Tonight I am totally ripping off someone else’s work for my gratitude post.

But by the end of this, you will understand why as well as completely applaud it.

Baby girl used to bring home loads of artwork and drawings from school. It all started in kinder, and the amount of papers I had that had splashes of paint on them, was just way too many to count.

Nowadays, the papers are fewer, but they still trickle in. She brought a stack of note paper home today though, saying that her and her friends had been writing each other notes, before crumpling them up and throwing them to each other.

Cute.

She then read out one note, written to her by one of her best friends (as you will see).

Here it goes, word for word:

“Dear baby girl*,

Please read this to your parents. Hi SmikG* Hubbie* your Dad. Baby girl* is my BFF I will look after her till the day I die we went from not knowing each other to friends to best friends to friends back to best friend to BFFS.

Thank you.”

OMG. I was actually emotional (no surprise there). I said to baby girl that that was a pretty beautiful note, and then we proceeded to read it out to her Dad, as requested of course, over dinner tonight.

I don’t know whether they will stay friends for a while, a long time, or even forever, and I am less sure if she will look after her as well as I will… but I am grateful for the sentiment, and sure, her BFF can try. 😉💖🙏😍

#2275 A hipster place

This is going to sound awfully a lot like one of my Food Reviews, but I don’t care.

Hubbie and I found ourselves on the other side of town today, and then we decided afterwards to make a pit stop to check out this shop in an inner-city spot we used to frequent a lot…

But first, of course, as always…

COFFEE. ☕

The suburb was Fitzroy. The street, Brunswick. We came across this amazing place called Wolfhound on Brunswick, and it was just… I can’t describe it. Look at the photos.

Ok maybe I can describe it. Eclectic. Hipster. Free. Niche. Casual. Arty. Organic.

Just, OMG.

And we did what we usually do when we get really excited and inspired about a place… we start to look up property on realestate.com. 🤣

Ok, so that ain’t gonna happen. But I think we’ll be making our way back to this side of the hood a lot more often, next time with baby girl with tow, just to, you know, mix it up a bit. 😉😉

I love where I live. And by where, I mean Melbourne. You can drive a couple of hours in any direction, and you will feel like you are a world away.🥰😍

#2274 Perks of stay-at-home work

There are so many, let’s be honest.

I can get comfy in my trakkies and no one can see. I could wear a bikini in summer, and no one would see either!

I can both work, AND make it to drop off and pick up baby girl from school.

I can feed the cat at a respectable time, and then let him out… then in… then out… 🤦‍♀️🤣

I can make a quick meal because ahem, I have the whole kitchen to myself! (I have been known to throw the ingredients for soup in a pot and get it going while I work!)

But today, and for the last week or so, it’s been something else.

The radio.

I’ve been leaving it on lightly as I work. I’ve never done this before because listening and accurately capturing what is being said is kinda essential for my work, hence why I go as far as wearing ear buds even though I am the only one at home.

But lately, I’ve been leaving the radio on, ever so softly, totally background vibes, so that as I work, I have a nice soundtrack taking me through the day. And at the same time, it’s not so intrusive as to interfere with what I’m doing. I guess, it’s like being in the office again, only I’m at home. 😀

And today there was a whole slew of great songs that took me through the day. Some of my favourites were:

Mondo Rock – Come Said The Boy

INXS – Don’t Change

The Cars – Drive

Dragon – Rain

Madonna – Crazy For You.

In these moments I usually take the opportunity to stretch my legs and take a break, and put the volume up as I warble along 🎶🎤😂

Just as well I’m not in the office… 🤣

#2273 Neptune, the dreamer

I am ruled by the planet Neptune.

That’s what they say anyway, in astrological/planetary terms. If your birthdate number adds up to, or is 7, then that planet rules over you.

My birthdate number adds up to 7.

I have always been a dreamer, and I think part of my head will always be in the clouds. Even before I knew about this little tidbit of info, I still knew myself, what I was, what I did, how I daydreamed.

So when I found out about the number 7 and Neptune, it all made that little bit more sense.

Sometimes dreaming can be bad though. Your thoughts and fantasies and wildest dreams are so unreal, how can they ever come true? Am I just setting myself up for upset when I dream and hope and plan so freely, without contingency plans, without a plan B, without considering the other…?

Life as a dreamer can be hard. You can float in your head, but then you can also fall, HARD on the ground, and trust me, it hurts.

I think as I’ve gone through life, I’ve been using that part of my head, the dreamer part, for my stories, my writing, and not applying it to my life for fear of things not going to plan.

And I’ve lost that part of me. That part that flies in the sky without care, the one who doesn’t know how she will land on the ground, only that surely someone will catch her.

I am trying ever so slowly to get back to her, because frankly, I miss her. I miss being in the clouds where it is light and airy. Where anything is possible. Where rainbows shine bright around you and there is no end to them, because possibilities are infinite and so anything goes… anything floats… including you.

Including me.

I’ll see you in the clouds. ☁️🌈💫😉

#2272 Sprinkler time

I really wanted to go to the beach today. I even told baby girl we would go, which I NEVER do unless I am absolutely certain we are going, for fear of disappointing her sweet heart if plans change.

But I was tired. Yesterday was a big day and I was still getting over it. Also, I had loads of washing to do. Like LOADS. I had to organise myself, the family, for the week ahead, do groceries, tidy up…

Suddenly, it felt too hard. Even with a beautiful still 27 degrees, it felt like it was too much work what with all of the above.

So instead, we brought the beach to US. Kinda.

With the sprinkler.

• 

• 

With the water winking at us on the horizon, we set it up in the late afternoon. It had the desired effect on baby girl, as she squealed and screamed repeatedly, so happy with the water spurt set-up.

In the first photo she is clothed, but obviously that didn’t last running through water, so she changed into some bathers, in photo two. 🤣

I even ran through with it with her… and I have to say, there’s no wake up call quite like wearing a dress and running over a sprinkler! 😬🤣💦💦

#2271 Buzzing with love

Today was the most perfect day. 💖

It’s understandable that at the moment in the living-with-covid-world, organising and planning anything takes concerted effort, and is also a risky move.

But today, it all just fell into place.

Celebrating one of my best friends’ son’s christening and first birthday combined bash, and being in the same room as all my other best friends, honestly made it the best day ever.

There was a moment on the dancefloor where I looked around, and realised how lucky we all were to be there, happy, healthy, and with each other. My heart felt like bursting with joy.

Covid may have taken a lot of time away from us, but at the same time it’s opened us up to the awareness of the beautiful people in our lives, and made us realise just how much they mean to us. 🥰🥰

#2270 Her notes

This is part of my work desk here:

As you can see I keep a notepad nearby. I need it handy to scribble down things as I work, things to come back to and check later.

Let’s take a closer look at that notepad, full of incomprehensible scrawl. 😜

That right there, is a baby girl trademark 😍🥰

She often brings home some card, or poster, or creative thing she’s done in her spare time at school, and it’ll be a ‘I love you’ note to me, Hubbie, both…

And then there are these types of notes. We find them on our grocery lists. And then like today, I find them on my work notepad.

She does this often on the notepad. But today, as I started work and glanced down to make a note, I saw her beautiful message, so simple, yet so true, and my heart melted a bit.

I knew it was recent. I had only turned the page on that notepad recently.

So I immediately took out some special note paper. I wrote up a sweet message. Then when Hubbie was home later, I told him to add his part to it too.

We placed it in her room, on her pillow after dinner. It took until bedtime for her to find it, but when she did we heard “Um, what is this?”

She was all happy, embarrassed, and excited in one. She gave us big hugs, telling me that she would write us another note… and I was like, “but we wrote this because you send us beautiful notes!”

And so on and on, the beautiful cycle goes… 💖💖📝📝

#2269 The impromptu lunch date

I have said it before, and I will say it again.

Some of the best catch-ups are the random, last-minute ones.

Sis and I met up at Chaddy for some lunch in amidst some shopping, and of course, like sisters do, we both had coffees… and both had focaccias.

Jinx! Twinsies. 😉

Love you sis. 😘😘

#2268 The Smoking Ceremony

I’ve never been to a smoking ceremony until today.

One was held at baby girl’s school today as part of Harmony Week, which celebrates and promotes diversity, inclusion and a sense of belonging.

Parents were invited to listen in on the ceremony, and we heard as Lionel, the Aboriginal educator, spoke about the leaves that were used to create the smoke. Their uses were multiple, with the various bark and leaves used for tea, wood carvings like boomerangs, and even the sap of ‘some’ trees (emphasis on ‘some’!) edible enough to be a sweetener for drinks.

But combined, this collection of leaves and branches formed the basis of the smoking ceremony. By surrounding yourself and walking into the white smoke, letting it move around you, it was lifting any negative energy from your surroundings… and there has been plenty of negative energy to go around, we can be assured of that much.

(I joked to Hubbie quietly that I needed a whole bonfire to rid me of my woes. 🤣 )

Anyway. The students all walked through the smoke on their way back to class. Then the parents were invited to walk through it too. I was happy as it wafted around me, the smoke clinging to my clothes, sure to remind me all day of the cleansing I had experienced from one of the oldest cultures in the world.

I was so grateful that an experience like that could come to baby girl’s school, and that we as her parents could enjoy it! Hubbie and I eagerly took every word in spoken by Lionel, feeling ultimately inspired and in awe of his incredible knowledge about the country we live in.

I walked away with a profound sense of gratitude and humbleness, silently bowing thanks and honouring the land and the sea on which we are all joined by…

🙏

#2267 Peninsula sunset no. 14

I loved the sunset this evening.

It shone bright orange, bursting orange rays into the west side of our house, being our bedroom and the lounge room.

It was as vibrant as an orange starburst, casting an orange glow over the rooms as if there were artificial light.

But it wasn’t fake. It was mother nature putting on a show. The real deal. 😍🌇