#2518 Roof stuff

Another super boring house-related thing, but it needs to be said, because I’m grateful. 🙏

Can I just say, there is nothing like having a big life change, i.e. having a baby, to whip your arse into gear.

We all know about the barn door. That will be happening.

We recently re-painted the two bedrooms upstairs, our bedroom and baby’s room. But in the process the painter identified what might be a leak from somewhere up there, so we set about getting a roof guy.

For some background, we have lived in this house for 6 years. Never have we done anything to clean, check or do anything to the roof or the tiles.

And we strongly suspect, neither did the previous owners who had it for 35 years.

😲😲😲😲

So today, the roof guys came. As I worked from home, there was clanging and pressure washing and all kinds of knocking coming from above. At one point as they walked over the part of the house I work in, I had to press my earbuds into my ear so that I could still hear what I was working on!

Mister F was in the laundry and terrified, meanwhile our bird Orange-cheeks was walking around curiously, wondering if there was a real shower coming from overhead… when he wasn’t napping through the incessant motoring noise, lol.

There is still much to do, in terms of repointing, some more tile replacement, and of course the final thing, the spray. But, it’s already looking better up there… faded, sure (the tiles have been there 40+ years) but CLEANER too!

And it all comes back to baby. If baby wasn’t coming we wouldn’t have painted so soon, and then wouldn’t have acted on the roof either… but now, another problem.

We need insulation. And new guttering. And some fascia covers. 🤦‍♀️

The house renovation continues…

#2517 The barn door

A lot of things have been troubling me lately, and none more so probably than the bloody barn door.

It’s a super busy time of year, made more so by certain get-togethers, baby prep and planning, and then of course normal life is enough to throw us completely off the loop… and then throw in this most festive time of year, Christmas! 🤦‍♀️

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas. I’m just finding it super hard to dedicate time equally to all the things right now, that’s how full on it is.

However, something big happened today, well it’s big for me, and it’s lifted a load and a half off my chest.

We finally booked someone to do our barn door.

This door has been the bane of my existence since we moved into this house. The room next to ours has always been planned to be the baby room, we just needed a baby, first…

And we also needed a door.

I guess they sold it as a bit of a study room when we bought the house due to its doorless entry, but it’s also a perfect nursery, being right next door to our bedroom, and also being a small, nice size for a baby.

We had actually looked at getting a barn style door for this room years ago, but not only did we not have another baby on the way yet (one big thing to halt the process!) but we also got an astronomical quote for the door, which we thought ‘hell no.’

So it was put off indefinitely… until we fell pregnant.

And then the race for the barn door was on.

We got a couple of quotes, and after today querying Bunnings who could not do a custom door in our height and extra wide size request, it sealed the deal.

We knew who we would be booking.

So that’s it. It’s perhaps a small thing, but just knowing this guy is going to fit us into our schedule so that we can get the door done before baby arrives, is just the greatest gift ever. 🙏🥰

#2473 6 years of the bay

Exactly 6 years ago, on October 14th, also a Friday, we moved our lives to the other side of this city.

It somehow feels like a lot of time has passed, while in some ways it feels like it’s flown by.

There has been a lot of growth though.

We have grown. All of us. Baby girl has grown up here. She’s established her friendships and school life here, and that is something we’ve always wanted.

We finally know the secret back streets, best places that do coffee (priority) have our favourite and then our experimental beaches, as well as our reliable local grocery spots where we seem to spend so much time at.

Our house has changed. We have done a lot to it, renovations and face lifts and improvements, and yet, there is still much more to go.

But, baby steps.

Lastly, our home has grown in love. Years ago we welcomed a feline friend, saved from the local shelter no less, and the love is happily growing even more… we are making way for a new member of the family to make their arrival in about 4 months time.

Yes, things have changed. They are meant to. But our resolve to make a better life for ourself, our child/ren, our pets! has not wavered, and I think we are doing alright.

It’s a forever work in progress, a project I am happily committed to.

To many more years of beach-bum-loving folk. 💗🌅

#2458 Revisiting the tulips

It’s been a busy school holiday period, what with 🤰and appointments, being busy with house renos 🏡 and then the normal everyday joys of work and routine keeping us going on going on with not much free time.

We have had some fun, but I’ve been yearning to take baby girl out for a whole day, to see and do something special, specific to the school holidays.

After a 4 year break, half of it due to covid, we ventured back to Silvan to visit the tulips at the Tesselaar Tulip Festival.

I tried to make the day as special for her as possible. I said yes as often as I could – yes to craft activities, yes to watching Paw Patrol on stage, yes to the fairy figurines she wanted to buy, yes to the cookies… 🙄🤣

I am now so pooped beyond recognition and I think so is she, that I’m almost glad to be staying home tomorrow and working. 😆

#2456 Half way

We had a few cool things happen today.

But nothing compares to the fact that today I am officially HALF WAY there.

Half way through my pregnancy! 😁😁🤰🤰

I think my belly is decent sized already. My calendar is getting filled up with appointments way into next year. And the baby room has had a beautiful refurb, and even as a fairly blank canvas with minimal baby furniture, is looking stunning already. 🥰🥰

The nausea is gone (thank God! 🙏🙏) the cravings rear their heads every now and then (hello salty foods and OJ) and baby kicks on a very regular basis, morning, night, and after I eat. 😁😆

20 weeks down… 20 weeks to go?

It is all happening! 🥰🙏

#2454 Park and paint

Today I had a lot to be grateful for.

And the source of gratitude came in ticking things off the list…

Renos from the list, and family time on the list.

The latter, which is sooo important.

A perfect Sunday is created when you strike a good balance between being productive, but also having some relaxing down time. We painted the first coat of the window frame in our bedroom today before the sheers and blinds go in (‘we’ meaning Hubbie did the hard yakka, and I did the project managing 😆) and then spent the afternoon venturing down to Flinders for an afternoon walk, some ice cream and park play.

Then we sandwiched the Flinders drive with a second coat of paint as the sun shone brightly through our bedroom at the end of the afternoon. Again I was the ‘overseer’ as Hubbie finished the job, and we felt super content and productive as we reflected on the Sunday that was. 🌞😁

#2448 The grass is greener downstairs

Still on the reno and our altered sleeping arrangements.

Whenever I get home from anywhere, I immediately get changed into trakkies. I can not do it soon enough. Even more so being pregnant, and even with my comfy pregnancy jeans (they are comfy with their high elastic tummy coverage) I STILL need to get into my trakkies, pronto.

This afternoon after I got home with baby girl from her swim class, she headed off into the shower, and I looked up the stairs, in the direction I usually head when I need to get changed… my bedroom.

But no. Upstairs was now officially a painting site with drop sheets everywhere and furniture taped away and protected under more clear sheets, it being day 1 of painting and all.

Our bedroom, temporarily, was now downstairs.

And I didn’t have to go up the stairs to get changed.

OMG. I had no idea how annoying this task was, even more so these last few months, until literally this afternoon. I was marvelling at how amazing it was to simply walk to another room on the ground floor, and not have to chug upstairs!

It was bliss!

When Hubbie came home and went to get changed, he soon discovered the same thing… “Oh my God,” he said. “This is the best!”

My only concern now is that this is so good, not even having to use stairs, that we won’t want to go back to our original room once the reno is done. I hope that the reno is so good, it entices us back. 😁

For now, we will enjoy the grass on the other side… or the bedroom on the ground floor. 🛏️

#2447 The 9 night getaway

Tonight we begin our 9 night mini holiday. 🥰

The last time we went away for a duration nearly as long as that was when we were in Europe on our Honeymoon for 5 weeks…

13 years ago!

And tonight, we get to have decent break, finally, yet again…

The location?

Downstairs. 🤣

We are getting away downstairs, to the spare room. Because the two rooms upstairs (including our one) is going through a little renovation.

We’re getting both rooms painted and blinds and sheers put in. The smell of paint will be great no doubt, and this job won’t be done overnight either. The paint dust and smell needs to literally settle, then early next week, the windows will get furnished!

Then, and only then, can we move back to our brand new bedroom. 😁

We’ve spent the last 5 days moving stuff out of those two rooms, bar for some heavy furniture, like the bed, cot, dresser, etc. We’ve brought out pillows downstairs, our alarm clocks, even our doona!

It is super weird to be sleeping in another part of the house, but also kinda exciting. Hubbie keeps joking it’s like we’re going away, and I gotta agree, it does feel like that, there is an amount of novelty attached to the event…

Because, you know what they say…

‘A change is as good as a holiday.’

And we are literally sleeping somewhere different for a change!

#2391 Sunny Sunday in July

Today was one of those surprisingly beautiful Winter days, where even if you weren’t feeling the best, you couldn’t help but feel good.

Hubbie did some home renos, while I pottered about, pruning, nay, HACKING the rose bush right back, and discovering that our transplanted rose that hasn’t had the best growth over the last year since moving, is actually sporting a whole new tiny rose bush at the base. 🌹

We had a beautiful late afternoon walk to the park, where baby girl let off some steam and energy. The sun was still and the sky was sparkling, it was just perfect.

And then at home, I punctured the quiet serenity by screaming my head off and giving myself a headache (not an exaggeration) while watching Collingwood play. It was absolutely rewarding, because they won, literally as the final siren rang. They won!

And now I have a headache and a very tired body to show for it. 🤦‍♀️

But all in all, a beautiful Sunday. 🌞

#2237 Little step by little step

I’ve been slowly coming to a conclusion for a while now, and when I said it out loud today I realised it had culminated in an awakening of sorts.

We lead busy lives. We want to work and make money, but we want to play. We want to go out, be social, have a life…

But we want to cook healthy, home-cooked meals and eat the good stuff as nature intended.

But then we get tired and bored and want to splurge on takeaway and nights out too.

We want more than what we had for our kids. We want to encourage them at school, work, after-school activities… yet they must have EVERYTHING at home too. All the gadgets, the games, the clothes, the toys. All of it.

No wanting is allowed. Not for them, not for us. We are an instant, wanted-it-yesterday society, and we are spreading ourselves THIN.

How then do we achieve anything, and maintain any kind of work-life-EVERYTHING balance?

The answer is boring, but so simple:

In really, really small achievable steps.

I was having this talk with Hubbie today. There is lots we want to do with our house. Little and big renos, here, there and everywhere. Some we must outsource… others we can do ourselves.

And it was here that I was breaking down how to tackle one such task:

“First we get the sample paint.

Then you sand the window frame. Just a tiny section.

We’ll test it first, take a step back and see how it looks.

Then we’ll paint the whole frame.

Then we’ll paint all the windows, but one at a time… when we feel like it.

When the mood strikes.

When we have TIME.”

Ahh, that all allusive mother f*&^er, time. Yes, we want to do it all, and so our pockets of time aren’t big chunks, rather little itty-bitty pieces that we must work around and adapt to, to make anything work.

My gratitude today is realising how to achieve this.

Not by wishing for grand stretches of time to achieve massive jobs.

But by identifying the little pockets we have, squeezing what we can into then when possible, and following through.

Whether that be a home reno.

Whether that be researching for a new home.

Whether that be getting fitter.

Whether that be writing a book!

We can’t make these things happen overnight.

We have to first accept that

1) it will take time, and

2) we must make it super-duper manageable, and put it into little itty-bitty baby steps.

Then we can achieve it ALL.

But slowly. Oh. So. Slowly.

That is the ride that’s called LIFE.

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