#2522 Seeing work peeps

Tonight I funnily got to spend time with people that I see and chat to on a regular basis, but that I haven’t seen in person for years… some of them, NEVER.

Clearly this concept is not so novel to anyone, because we’ve all been working from home or in the dreaded lockdown at some point over these past couple of years.

Tonight was the first time I was amongst real-life work people at a real-life work function since March 2020 when covid hit… it was the work Christmas party!

Considering I’ll be going on leave very soon, I really wanted to make the effort to go and see these people in person, these people that I spend so much of my time with, but which I haven’t seen for a long time, or others, at all.

I have to say, I probably sound really boring, but I do love working from home. It’s super flexible for me around dropping off and picking up baby girl from school, and the commute in would be horrendous for me… also, during pregnancy it’s been a Godsend.

But I can’t lie. I miss the social aspects. Bumping into someone in the kitchen, having a chat, doing a coffee walk… man I miss the coffee walk.

So tonight was wonderful. Getting out on a mild Summer’s night. Yes, the weather actually matched the season this evening! Realising how tall some people were, seeing their choice of drink, talking about stuff NOT work related… it was super refreshing, and I realised that I am enjoying myself there a fair bit, and I really do like these people.

Both good things to contemplate as you reflect on the year that was.

Merry Christmas Parties folks. 🧑‍🎄🎅🎄🎄

#2449 Baby parcel

Hubbie messaged me early this morning, alerting me that something we had ordered for the car was arriving today.

He was excited.

So some time after it had arrived, when baby told me there was a parcel at the door, I had to ask her twice.

Sure enough, there was.

Gone are the days of covid and lockdown where we were going trigger-parcel-happy, and I was losing track of what I had ordered, what had arrived, and what was still to come.

Sure Hubbie’s car part was here… what was this package?

And it was addressed to me.

It occurred to me then… ahh yes. That belly cream. It’s arrived. That’s it.

But when I looked at the sender’s address and saw where it came from, my confusion only grew again!

What had I ordered from a popular baby clothes brand? Hold on, I hadn’t, which meant…

Now, I was excited. 😁

Work, schmork. Baby girl and I eagerly opened the parcel, and I was beaming from start to end.

It was a beautiful parcel sent to me by one of my besties. OMG.

Baby clothes to get me through the first few months. All neutral of course, but so gorgeous and cuddly and warm, OMG! I was so excited and grateful, sending her an ecstatic thank you, and then just beaming at them all, so, so happy.

Surprise parcels are the best. I feel blessed. 🥰🥰🙏🙏

#2438 End-of-week ice cream

Baby girl and I did something today that we haven’t done in a LONG time.

We went and grabbed some ice cream. 🍦

This used to be a regular occurrence. Hell, during covid, we went out to grab takeaway ice cream and coffee more than we do now, out of lockdown.

It’s been a long cold Winter. So with the sun shining gloriously today, I picked her up from school, and she asked me “Muu-uuum. (You know when they drag out your name so much it becomes two syllables?)

Can we go to the Main Street and get ice cream?”

I was already half-prepared, half-expecting it.

“Ok!”

We weren’t the only ones with this after-school, end-of-week idea. We saw heaps of students, young and older, and a lot from her school too, including a boy from her class.

Despite this, the vibe on the Main Street was super calm. We got our ice creams, just small serves in cups, and sat down under some part-shade, part-sun.

And I discovered something… I really needed it. Just some down time, quiet time, time doing nothing, enjoying some ice cream (which I made sure was made with pasteurised milk! 😂🤰)

And I discovered something else… a really yum ice cream! Rock salt caramel, mmm hmmm! 😋

#2414 A long-awaited birthday

Today was mine and baby girl’s birthdays.

First great thing – Hubbie got up instead of me to make her lunch for school.

Simple things = GODSEND.

Instead of me waking her up, he did, and so of course she charged up the stairs once awake, jumping into bed with me. 🥰

We only wished each other a happy birthday, like a million times today.

Referred to each other as birthday girls constantly.

I love sharing my special day with my special girl. 💖💖

Of course it wasn’t only roses and sunshine, it never is with kids… the late evening brought yelling and tears, you know, just to liven up the day. 🤣🙄

But it WAS mostly roses and sunshine.

Hubbie and I went to enjoy some coffee time, shopping, and then Gold Class to watch Elvis (again for me!) and yet amazingly I enjoyed it more, the tears just spilling down my cheeks uncontrollably in the last 5 minutes (emotional much? 🤔😉😆)

And we had dinner out tonight too, after all that prior-mentioned yelling and crying.

And there were lots of special wishes, which made it all the more beautiful.

Although we tried our best to make the last two years special despite covid-life and lockdowns, those birthdays honestly pale in comparison to this year.

This year we are back, this year is special, this year there is a fluttering in the air, a quickening of events…

Things are happening, and those things are good. 💖💖

Stay tuned for a possible reveal tomorrow, where a lot of my suggestive comments may be unveiled!

#2265 Back to the backyard parties

One of the hardest things we experienced during covid lockdowns was the lack of social interaction.

Moments like these:

Being able to visit family or friends, have fun in their yard, stand in the sunshine, and eat cake and drink Prosecco. 🍹

And of course, chase chickens, as you do. 🤣💖

So grateful to get back to it. 🙏🙏

#2209 A better tide

As expected, the tide has turned.

I knew that the worst had to be behind us yesterday, and I was 100% correct. The tide turned, and with it we found ourselves at a different beach to our usual one.

We met up with some friends there, and the day was honestly spectacular. To the deeper waters, the expanse of water and sand and people as far as the eye can see, the kids playing, and then the extra catch-up which continued at our place after the beach… it was a really beautiful day.

Having been in lockdown for so long over the past few years, and then getting out and needing to self-isolate so much due to sickness, well you really come to realise how important and valuable good company is. Not just company, but good company. Company where you talk and talk, you keep finding out great things about each other, and the vibes just keep on rolling.

There is happiness, laughter and relatability. Life is good when you discover this, and we have realised recently, more than ever, that we want to have the right people around us, and having fun with them as much as we possibly can.

Grateful to have days like this, where the adults have as much fun as the kids do. 🙏💖

#2135 It’s beginning to look/feel/sound a lot like Christmas

How else can you define Christmas, other than the day itself?

Is it the sight? A prettily decorated tree, baubles shining and tinsel glistening… or is it trolley-fulls of groceries being pushed around supermarkets by stressed out people?

Is it the feel? The festive joy in the air, end-of-year celebrations with excitement at holidays near and Summer nigh… or is it the overwhelm as you try desperately to keep up with everything, as well as keeping normal life ticking along?

Is it the sound? Carols playing over your stereo, live renditions performed by local celebrities on Christmas Eve… or is it a child crying because they didn’t get the present they wanted from Santa?

Or is it a little of all of the above? Hopefully the former choices for your (and my) case.

I’ve been feeling a heady balance of the two, and I think lockdown is to blame. We’ve grown so used to having nothing on, seeing nobody, being locked up within our immediate walls, that anything different now we have had to get used to, majorly. EVEN the good stuff.

I’ve had Christmas represent itself in all kinds of ways todays, occupying many of my senses.

I finished my last work shift before Christmas, and now it’ll be a while yet ’til I work again, so the festive yuletide vibes are rife.

Baby girl also had her last swimming lesson of the year… and after a tumultuous couple years of trying to swim and learn amidst lockdown after lockdown (6 in fact) she finally moved up a level today! Hooray! She will be starting the New Year in the next lane up, and this time it’s so deep she won’t be able to touch the bottom of the pool with her toes. Yikes.

Each night now I’ve got Christmas music playing over the stereo, either when I’m prepping dinner or cleaning up.

I’ve sent most of my Christmas cards out.

Almost all presents have been bought. (Almost 😬)

I am definitely feeling the vibes. We are wrapping up (so to speak🎁), approaching the big day, C-Day, and I am starting to relax, if only incrementally.

Bit by bit, we are getting FESTIVE mate. 🤣🎄🎅😁

#2106 Room for musings

I felt super erratic and scattered as we headed into a shopping centre today.

We were happy, we were finally out and about shopping… yay! But I found myself unable to commit to one shop for very long, my mind kept wandering, and I kept thinking ‘next time, next time.’

I think because there is so much I’ve missed out on, and so much to shop for because we’ve been unable to for so long, I felt I couldn’t allow myself to be too long in any place… but this in turn left me not being able to get much, and leaving the centre almost dissatisfied.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to focus on one or two things and dedicate myself solely to that as I head back into the shopping swing of things, and if anything happens or I stumble across something great, well bonus!

Perhaps I’m in a musing state of mind because of our second last stop of the shopping adventure. I went into Readings as I have been coveting a copy of Rumi’s poetry… and I found it!

I was very happy to buy this, and I think I will keep it as a bit of a coffee table book, looking up pieces here and there. I read the beginning, and learned he was a Persian poet who lived in the 1200s.

Here’s a snippet of one poem I came across:

“if you don’t have

enough madness in you

go and rehabilitate yourself

if you’ve lost a hundred times

the chess game of this life

be prepared to lose one more

if you’re the wounded string

of a harp on this stage

play once more then resonate no more.”

And this goes on for a few more paragraphs, but then last two really stuck out to me. They made me think:

…”you’ve never really listened

to what God has always

tried to tell you

yet you keep hoping

after your mock prayers

salvation will arrive.”

Wow. A real thinker. Looking forward to discovering more. 🙏💖

#2102 New hair, yeah yeah yeah

Not only did being in lockdown leave me with faded and split ends, but as it was I was already overdue to get my tresses tended to in August…

But then, BA BOM. Lockdown 6.0 happened.

So along with already due to go to the hairdressers, suddenly I was even more in need.

3 months later, and FINALLY! This happened.

Yeah yeah yeah.

Ahhh. I love my hair. I love how they did it. I love that I don’t have those annoying light-haired bits anymore, where I don’t want them anyway… 🤣 I love how the colour is subtle yet still noticeable.

I just love having a fresh head of hair!

#2094 A full wardrobe

In the past I would have been pretty upset to have plans changed and cancelled on me.

But in recent years I’ve learnt not to expect too much and to roll with the flow when it comes to life.

So when the hairdresser called during school drop-off this morning to say that my long overdue (3 months, thanks covid) regrowth, foil and cut was cancelled because a hairdresser had gone into early labour…

I didn’t get too upset. Sad, yes, that my hair was gonna look crap for another week.

But then I moved on.

After pondering and stuffing around for a while at home about what to do, I realised this stretch of time was the perfect opportunity for a lengthy and important job.

Cleaning out the wardrobe.

It’s probably something I should have done in lockdown, right, and yet of course I had no motivation to do it then. Call me crazy, but I have more motivation now, out of lockdown, to do these cleansing and sorting and decluttering tasks, than I did during lockdown with all that time (hmmm, kind of) on our hands.

Anyway, I put the music on, and took out all of my clothes from the wardrobe.

You see, people think you can just sift through and take them out… nuh uh uh!

That is cheating!

You see, there’s a psychology to it. You must take it ALL out, because only then when it’s out do you ask yourself honestly, ‘am I willing to put that back in?’

It took 2 hours of thinking, maybe piles, no piles, and then a whole lot of fashion parades where I worked out what went in what pile…

Let’s just say not fitting into clothes is a sure-fire way to get rid of them. 😂

I have a contact nearby who is a collector for a charity, and I can’t wait to pass them on so I can rid myself of what I don’t need, but also give some perfectly great items of clothing to those that will benefit from it.

I have to admit though… I chucked out a heap, and yet the wardrobe is still full. 🤦‍♀️

You see, it was kinda bursting before, but now it’s just FULL. 🤣