#2072 Leaving lockdown behind

You know what the scary thing is?

I actually have gotten used to this.

Even though this was boring as hell and horribly monotonous at times… I got used to it.

I got used to having no plans. Not seeing any people, except for the random school Mum I would bump into at the supermarket, and then other one who I would see when her daughter and baby girl had a play in the park.

I got used to not looking forward to anything. The expectation was set to the lowest bar, and yet still through the zero expectation I somehow still felt sad at the end of a Sunday, knowing the week would start again…

But nothing would change.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday all the same.

But I realise tonight, that these are the last couple of days before it all gets chaotic. Appointments and classes are back on. Catch-ups are being marked in the calendar.

Getting out of the house won’t just be a luxury, it’ll be our new expectancy of life.

Do I seem sad? Hell no. I’m so happy and excited and I can’t wait to get back out into the sunshine with my freedoms and my loved ones, doing whatever the hell I please.

But I guess I’m already missing the demise of those quiet days where we did nothing, knowing that we will be on the go and out of the house every chance we get.

And that makes me think that we need to change things. Take a little of what we learnt in lockdown and remember that it’s ok to stay home sometimes, say no, chill and relax.

It’s weird the clarity you get on life, when you are suddenly given what you’ve been wanting, right?

How are you feeling as we exit lockdown?

#2071 Celebration sunset

So much happiness!

So much excitement!

So many plans and things that we can now look forward to.

This is tonight’s sunset, and with it, it brings a world of hope, love and great times.

I didn’t realise how much I was used to feeling that sense of mediocrity, riding that flat line of nothingness where it’s just routine following the monotony of life, in a continuous never-ending cycle.

But now, we have light at the end of the tunnel! At the end of this week, so many more things will be available to us.

I can’t wait. And this sunset just seems so much brighter because of it. 😍🌅

#2060 We’ve got this

Hubbie and I got all dosed up today.

First Pfizer vaccines all done and dusted. ✅✅

I realise now what a great decision it was to go together. The whole time I was nervous, even though I’ve had a million needles jabbed into me before, even though I’ve felt worse discomfort, even though I’ve gone through much more pain… I was still nervous.

But my Mum had told me what a great idea it was for us to be doing this together, and after today, I couldn’t agree more.

I had uncertainty about it due to my health… I think the fear is, and for a lot of people it is, you don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Or you don’t want things to get worse.

But a really key factor in the decision-making process that made me feel better about it all, was this thought:

The likelihood of something significant happening to me due to getting the vaccine, is fairly low. I’m hearing about people who are getting it all the time, and the worst they get is a sore arm, or cold/flu symptoms for a day.

And yet the likelihood of catching this contagious delta strain… when we are getting over a thousand new cases each day, well the odds are rising.

And I’d much rather have a really sore arm that I can’t lift, or be sick like a dog for a day, than to be admitted to hospital and kept in isolation, away from my family for God knows how long.

The latter to me, is much, much scarier.

So I say, I’ve got this. You’ve got this. No one wants to do this, but hell, we have to, and there is no other option at the moment.

It’s the best we’ve got.

I hope I can see you all on the other side of this.

We’ve got this. 💪🙏💖

#2058 Dead-pan excitement

How did I go from being excited about our beach visit yesterday, to being excited about pans today?

How did I even go from sweating yesterday, to now in this insane Melbourne weather, being rugged up in full Winter PJs, plus knee-high sleep socks, plus sleeping gown, plus trakkie jacket on top PLUS beanie, all underneath a pink and snuggly throw on the couch?

And pans? How and why pans?

Never in a million years would I have thought to buy pans during lockdown, but alas, we needed more pans.

Yes, as in cooking pans.

Because the other week while cooking in our largest pan, I realised some of the cooking surface was peeling, and I immediately thought “nuh-uh.”

We were well overdue.

I started pondering. I knew we had had that pan for 8 years now. 8 years! I knew that specifically because someone had bought it for us when baby girl was still small.

So let’s say we have used that specific pan, modestly speaking, at least once per week.

That is 52 times a year.

Over 8 years, we have used it at least 416 times!

416 times! This is the kind of stuff I am working out while working from home (please let me out!)

So today, we got our pan online order delivered.

A small one, and a large one.

And they are great.

That is the end of my exciting pan story, and the extent of my life at the moment. 🤣🤦‍♀️

#2053 Moving it up a week

What I’m grateful for today is a bit of a weird one…

It’s certainly been the topic, issue further, of the year/s all over the world, and this particular part of it has been super prevalent all over our fair country of Australia lately…

We are all THINKING it, but none of us are talking about it. Well, only in close circles, but otherwise to say so on social media?

Yeah, word bombs go off.

What I’m referring to is the vaccine debate.

And I am super grateful that I have moved mine up.

I’ve been especially anxious of late. All these cases are going up, and I’ve been watching with bated breath… people in hospital, people in ICU, people on ventilators… it’s super scary.

Hubbie thought I was acting extra anxious, more so than I ever was last year.

Sure, this strain is stronger, and that gives people reason enough to be concerned.

But I had my health shot to pieces this last year, and the thought of yet another thing giving me pain… well I just can’t.

I need protection.

It’s a definite reason to pause and understand that people are motivated by various reasons, and we need to be mindful and respectful of that.

I was initially booked in for 2 weeks time… 2 weeks too far away in my panicky opinion.

But I was able to move it up, and am now going in next week with Hubbie.

Phew. Almost.

Please tell, how did you go with your dose (first, second?) Any symptoms that followed?

And the relief? I hear the relief is amazing. I am already reaching out for it with both hands.

If you’ve gotten it already, please share how you went. 😊

*This is a safe space, and all opinions and views are respected and encouraged, however abuse of any kind is not tolerated.*

#2042 Finishing Freddie

Yeah!

We finally finished this 500 piece puzzle today!

You know where the hardest part comes? At the end. That may sound weird, ’cause you might think, ‘well you’ve got less pieces, how can it be harder?’

See all those light blue pieces? Yeah, and those dark navy blue pieces?

They are all the same. We had to leave most of those ’til last, and some pieces were put in place where they didn’t belong, because sometimes, sometimes, a piece will match with another almost perfectly, and you can, shock horror, put it in the wrong place.

Combine puzzle pieces all the same colour, with misplacing the wrong piece in place, and all of a sudden you find yourself backtracking A LOT.

We fortunately didn’t need to backtrack too much today (we did it on other days, lol).

Gee it looks good finished, doesn’t it?

EEEEEYY-OOOOO!

#2037 The masks are back

It was over a month ago when baby girl said woefully “I wish The Masked Singer came back.”

I didn’t think it would come back this year, you know covid and all, and also had a rough memory that we were well in the middle of Winter when we were watching this crazy talent dress-up show last year.

Fortunately we were passed the middle of Winter.

But guess what TV ad came on like literally a week later?

The masks were coming back!

For some reason, baby girl loves this show. Well I can’t say for some reason, I know why. It’s loud, it’s bright, it’s colourful. The costumes worn by the performers are insanely creative, and the outfits worn by the entertainment judges are just as radical.

I didn’t think much of the show before last year, but then baby girl saw the ads and got really excited about it. Plus it was covid, lockdown. So we had to look forward to something.

And I realised then, why people love these ‘family’ shows so much.

It’s because you can watch them, with your family.

Once your child is of an age where they can sit for longer than 10-20 minutes at a time, it’s actually really nice to sit together as a family and all engage in the same thing.

So now, we get as excited about it as she does. 😁

Tonight, we plonked ourselves on the couch and got acquainted with 6 masked singers. For all the crazy, for all the weird, for all the shocks.

Sounds very family-like, doesn’t it? 😂

#2035 Lockdown Saturday night tricks

I have a little trick to help during these lockdown-Saturday-night-party blues.

(While we pine over parties we went to in the past, and yearn for those that are yet to come).

I accidentally came across this great and super easy solution tonight, that can trick you into feeling like you are at a party. (Yes, keep reading!)

Put on music. This can be stereo, phone, record player, or like for our Saturday night tradition, YouTube.

This is great to do even if on your own since you can just keep selecting all your fave tunes, but even if in company this might be better, since the others will be selecting their own songs, and then it really will feel like a party!

Wait, that’s only half of it.

With the music still going, LOUD, start messaging people, preferably unrelated to each other… those who are reliable, who you know will respond… at least two people.

But as they say, the more the merrier.

This is what I did tonight. We had the music blasting, then on a whim I started messaging some family and friends… and before I knew it I was swivelling from one conversation to another, all while music was happening in the background…

And then lo and behold, a third group chat began, and I was like “WHO DO I TALK TO FIRST?”

And the music was so loud!

And it was so happening!

And then, it hit me… party vibes! 🤣

Well look, almost, not quite, but it’s the best that we’ll get, ’til we get to that super elusive, ‘there.’

🤞💖🙏🎶

#2027 Body shop-ping

I don’t know how I’m going to get through all of these lockdown days finding a novel thing to be grateful for, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Not when every day feels like groundhog day. 🤦‍♀️

I actually liked the start of the day, I enjoyed the constant rain. But then it got dark, and there was no point even leaving the house after work, because… rain.

And the skies grew so dark, and it being Friday suddenly didn’t matter a whole heap because it feels like every other day, and there is no where to go anyway, nothing to do…

But, something came to me.

Return of the online shopping parcels. 😁

I use my bathroom products quite religiously, like shower gels and body lotions. And I miss shopping soooo much. But I did the next best thing, and the other night I ordered some new bathroom products since I’m all out, which I got today:

A mango shower gel, a coconut body lotion (which I only use after beach visits!) and a little sample something I got on the side.

Well, it’s something to be grateful for, however small it is.

How are you finding little things to be grateful for every day?

#2025 Alive again

Once upon a time there was a little girl.

She wasn’t a baby, but she wasn’t yet grown either, far from it.

She was in that beautiful in-between stage, of growth, of wonder. An abundance of delicate naivety followed her wherever she went.

She was a friendly, happy girl. She talked it up without hesitation amongst adults, and yet played up a storm with her peers, creating magical worlds, chasing each other around the yard, and racing through the playgrounds, side by side.

She was all light, all magic. She had a deep drive for adventure, with an innate desire of curiosity shining from her eyes.

Then one day, a virus came.

It came seemingly out of nowhere and spread through the world.

Lockdown, after lockdown, after lockdown.

After the 6th one, it started to catch up.

It started to catch up to the girl.

The things she used to love, she did no more. She didn’t want to go out. Home, home, home and that’s where she wanted to stay.

She used to beg to accompany her parents on the grocery shop trip – she no longer cared.

When her neighbour called her to come out… she said she was busy.

She was tired, flat. She wasn’t herself.

Her Mum noticed. She mentioned it to a health professional, who concurred –

“She seems sad. She’s withdrawing.”

The course of action? Getting out of the house more. What she always used to do.

Her mum suggested a beach walk.

But the girl rejected it.

This former lover of sand and sea, said she didn’t want to put on sunscreen.

But… she came around.

And they went to the beach.

And the girl… became alive again.

The sea air, woke her up. The cold snap of the ocean shook something within her soul. She was scavenging for rocks and shells, dipping her body in the water, and laughing like she hadn’t in a long time.

She had found happiness again.

They went home, and her Mum told her Dad… and her Mum cried. She cried because she saw how close her girl had gotten to getting sadder, and sadder, and sadder.

That Mum is me. That girl, is my girl.

My baby girl.

This virus is taking lives, as well as our wellbeing.

But let’s not forget the other virus. The silent one.

The one that infiltrates our thoughts. The one that removes all sense of joy, of purpose, and of passion.

That is the dangerous one we must look out for. We must keep our children’s wellbeing in full view, and keep a close eye on them.

Sure, stay safe from the virus. But we need to keep them safe from dark thoughts. 🙏💖