Hello Monday

Hi friends, I hope you all had a lovely weekend. With the holidays coming to an end and work starting again tomorrow (waaaahhh!!!), I thought I’d share my five favourite things about being on summer holidays. And because I’m trying really hard to be positive, I’ll also share my five favourite things about going back to work. My Five Favourite Things About Being on Summer Holidays Time Oh my gosh, having time to do things is probably my favourite. It’s the best feeling when you know that if you don’t get something done one day, it’s totally okay, because there’s always the next day… and the next. No Alarm Waking up naturally without an alarm is pure luxury. Tomorrow I’ll be back to turning on my usual three alarms for 6, 6:30, and 7. Seven is the absolute latest I can get up, and it’s always set to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly theme music because if I get up any later than 7, it’s going to get real ugly. Getting Things Done Around the House I keep a pretty consistent cleaning routine. But nothing beats having the time to get stuck into jobs like washing the sofa covers and curtains, decluttering a cupboard, or painting the living room. I think painting the living room tops the list for me these holidays. This was a chore that I had been putting off for the last few years. So I feel like a real hero ticking this one off the list! Just Being at Home I’m such a homebody, and I love, love, love being at home. Going Out This homebody also loves to go out, so it was fun to do shopping trips into the city, dinner dates, and even just popping up to the supermarket felt like a treat. Although these holidays, I spent most of the time at home. Five Favourite Things About Going Back To Work Okay, so now onto my five favourite things about going back to work… zero. Oops, I said I needed to be positive. Let’s go. I’ll See My Work Friends I work with some pretty great people, and it’s always a highlight to catch up with them. I know I’ll walk in tomorrow and there will be a whole lot of hugging and excited chatter, and then we’ll begin the countdown until the next term break. Walking I feel a bit like a slug at the moment, and I know I’ve put on a couple of extra kilos. I’m looking forward to getting back to my fast-paced walks to and from work. Back to My Favourite Classroom This year, I get to go back to my preferred classroom. We swap rooms each year, and last year I was in the bigger room, which I didn’t love. It was awkward to arrange the tables and chairs, and much noisier because of the high ceilings and echoey space. Our centre isn’t purpose-built; it’s actually an old historic building converted into a preschool back in 1950. So I’m really excited to be back in the smaller, cozier classroom. Healthy Eating I’m looking forward to going back to fruit for morning tea and salads for lunch. Being at home, it’s so tempting to dip into snacks and treats all day. I need a good, forced detox, and going back to work is the only way. My New Lunch Box and Water Bottle Speaking of healthy eating, I got a fancy Kate Spade lunch box and drink bottle from my boys for Christmas. I love all things food-related, and now with my favourite new lunch set, I have even more reason to count down the minutes to my favourite part of the workday—my lunch break. As hard as it is to let go of the holidays, I’m grateful to have a job, that my body is still able to keep up with the demands of being an educator, and that I work with some really lovely people. Wish me luck! Linking up with Holly and Sarah 

Hi friends. I wanted to pop in to say hello, share a quick recap of the year, and wish everyone a wonderful Christmas. Before I do, I need to acknowledge how incredibly sad and shaken we all are after the senseless shooting at Bondi Beach yesterday. I have no words. I know so many of us turned on the TV and watched the breaking news unfold, feeling shocked and heartbroken. My phone started pinging over and over yesterday while I was folding the laundry. When I opened our family group chat, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. A shooting. Here. No way. This doesn’t happen in Australia. We have gun control. We all started checking in to say we were safe, and then my heart dropped when I remembered Sam had left earlier, saying he was heading to the beach. As I tried to text him, my fingers wouldn’t work, and I fumbled around. But he must have seen the messages coming through, too, because his reply popped up almost instantly. He was safe; he’d gone to another beach. Thank God. You know that instant calming relief you feel after panic? That’s what I felt. And then, straight away, I thought about those who weren’t so lucky. Those victims who will never get to send their families that message, I’m safe. So sad. My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone affected by this terror attack. I just hope there isn’t any retaliation and that everyone stays safe. It’s hard to switch from something so awful, but as this will be my last post for the year, I wanted to recap 2025 and share some of the highs as well as the not-so-highs of the year. Thanks so much for being here today. I really appreciate you stopping by. My 2025 Recap of the Year Well, I have to say that 2025 has been my favourite year since 1984. That’s a long time between favourite years, isn’t it? I don’t want to make it sound like nothing good happened in between all of those years. Of course, amazing things did. But 2025 just feels extra special and will always be for me the year I started doing things outside my comfort zone and let myself experience the most amazing adventures. I liked it! So instead of going into every little detail and putting you to sleep, here’s a quick recap of the highlights. The Highs Travel in 2025 I survived a long-haul flight all the way to our epic holiday in North America. Yeah, I don’t love flying, so this was huge! On this trip, all my dreams came true when we visited Disneyland and Universal Studios. We spent a week on a road trip through Arizona, Nevada, and Utah We hiked the freezing cold Narrows in winter. I snorkelled in Hawaii Back home, I braved another plane ride in June and spent a couple of nights in Melbourne with my lovely cousin. Family Highlights Cousin Connect gatherings throughout the year are always the highlight of every month. We had some small birthday celebrations for me, my husband, and both of our sons. I’m a low-key party person when it comes to our family birthdays, but invite me to yours and Party Ruth will pop out, I promise. Home Wins I totally reorganised my office space and made it all cozy. Friends I’m so thankful for the wonderful friends in my life and the fun adventures we got to have during holiday breaks in 2025. Over many years of friendship, they’ve been there through the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I couldn’t ask for better people by my side. The Not-So-Highs Work We can’t have everything, right? Even though 2025 has been my favourite year in almost every way, work has been incredibly challenging. In my 28 years as an educator, I’ve never faced a year like this, and it really tested me. As much as I wish I could share more, I can’t. But if any educators are reading this, I would really like to know. Was it just me, or did you feel the same about this year? I was so tempted to walk away, and I have never even thought that before. Not ever. Sigh. My Blog This year, I stopped posting as frequently as I had in previous years. My husband’s work schedule changed, which meant we could spend more time together in the evenings. He’s always been so supportive of my blog. Haha, he never reads it, but he likes that I have a creative outlet. So I still blogged, but dinners at home or occasionally out, along with time on the couch binge-watching all the shows, became too tempting. I decided to scale back and post three times a week. But as the year went on and work really started to wear me down, my energy disappeared. Writing stopped feeling easy and started feeling hard. I began questioning everything and telling myself my blog was awful. Why was I even writing about my everyday life? Who would want to read this? Where did my energy for sharing about fashion, recipes and home organisation go? That negative thinking took over, and after long days, I was simply too tired to think, let alone write. So I started to disappear from here a little. But it’s the last week of preschool, and from this Friday, I’ll be off work for five glorious weeks. I’m going to take a short break, pull my socks up, and find my mojo again. Before I sign off, I wanted to end on a good note and share this photo. Here I am with a few of the lovely ladies I work with, and I’ve blocked out some of the faces because I didn’t ask permission to post. Not all of my work buddies are in this picture, but if it wasn’t for them, I don’t know how I would have got through this year.

Hi friends, it’s good to be back today after being MIA for most of last week. Life has just been crazy busy lately, and I’m counting down the days until Friday when we break up for the school holidays. That’s 3 days, 22 hours, and 51 minutes to go. I cannot wait! For this post, I had to scroll back through my camera roll to remember what I did over the weekend. I remember the fun parts, but not the in-between bits that make up most of the time. Turns out, I only took photos of food and one outfit. I know, I know, the weekend was only yesterday, but I needed a little reminder. I always think it’s funny how, on crime shows, the suspect instantly knows where they were on a random date and time. Then there’s me, who can’t even remember what happened 24 hours ago. If I were a suspect, I’d look instantly guilty for being so forgetful. Anyway, before I get myself in any more imaginary trouble, here’s a peek at what I got up to over the weekend. Friday Night Friday night was so much fun, I had no trouble remembering this part of the weekend. We went out for our Term 3 work dinner. Our preschool generously treats us to a dinner out every term at a place of our choosing. We usually pick a pub because they have a good variety of food and drinks at reasonable prices. This time we went to the Como Hotel. Even though I was so tired from our busy day at preschool, I somehow managed to race home, colour my roots, and get ready faster than I thought possible. There was a whole lot of grey showing where I part my hair, yikes! I had been putting it off because I always need an excuse to colour my hair. Definitely not my favourite job, that is for sure. I snapped a quick pic of my casual outfit. Then waited out front of my house for my work friend, who was giving us a lift. Her daughter drove us, and the party started the moment we were all in the car. These work colleagues are so much fun, always! The food was delicious, and we all grabbed the chance to chat without being interrupted, laugh at the funny things that happen in our world, and just unload everything from the week, term, and year. It was like a much-needed therapy session over cocktails and food. So you can imagine just how much we laughed that night! Saturday Normally, we have brunch on a Sunday, but this time we had it on Saturday. My stomach and my head were both craving protein and carbs to help me recover from the night before. Then in the evening we went out to see my cousin perform at her spring dance gala. Before the performance, some of my cousins and I went to the bistro for dinner. It was a great night catching up with most of the cousins. As always, I thought my cousin was the best dancer of the night, and I’m not just saying it because she’s ours. She really is so graceful and elegant on stage. Sunday A while ago, I did a post on my Sunday Reset Routine and wrote about how I used to do way too many household chores, but now I try to focus on relaxing and self-care. Well, I must have jinxed myself, because lately so many weekends have been all about playing catch-up and not just around the house, but with work too! What’s going on? Ha! Next term, things will be different. The staff reshuffle will be sorted, and I can get back to my usual routine. That means leaving the laptop at work locked in the cupboard. So Sunday was all about getting the laundry done (thank goodness for sunny weather), a few cleaning jobs, and writing up preschool stuff. Then in the evening, Steve was at work and Sam was at a friend’s house, so I had a date with my lounge room. Spaghetti bolognese for one in front of the TV, perfect. And that was my weekend ☺️ Thanks so much for stopping by. I’m planning to be back for What’s Up Wednesday. Hope to see you then.

Oh my gosh, I can’t tell you how excited I am to give September a big hero’s welcome. At the same time, I’m in total disbelief at how fast this year is flying by! On Sunday, I was in TK Maxx and saw Halloween mugs and decorations on the shelves—I thought, “Huh… but it’s only April?” I don’t know why my brain is still stuck in April. And then, at work the other day, I was filling out a medication form and accidentally wrote 2021. Yikes! Either something really significant must have happened in April 2021, or I’m losing my mind. Anyway, it’s great to be back on this sunny September Monday to share a bit about my weekend (before I forget what day it is). Thank you so much for being here! On Saturday, I caught up with a couple of friends I hadn’t seen in ages. We met at a café called Self Raised, which isn’t too far from where I live. It’s a tiny cafe with only outdoor seating, and we were lucky to find a sunny spot. I wore my woolly jumper and jacket so I felt nice and warm. We did have to hold on to our napkins and paper plates, though, because the wind was crazy strong! I ordered a coffee with a pepperoni and honey focaccia. You’d never think honey and pepperoni would work together, but it was surprisingly good, kind of like watermelon and feta. It doesn’t make much sense until you taste it, and then you get it. In the evening, I did some preschool work. I always swore I would never take the preschool laptop home and do work on the weekend. But with some temporary changes in the team, I’ve taken on more than my usual load. It’s only until the end of term, though. Then the laptop can stay at preschool and enjoy the weekend off, just like me. In the evening, I watched a Danish movie on Netflix called Maybe Baby. It was okay, entertaining enough, with a few little naps for me in between. There’s a Maybe Baby 2, but I’m not sure if I’ll watch it. Sunday The Gap Dust cleaner I ordered on Amazon the night before arrived on Sunday morning. I don’t know why, maybe because I’m a grown-up adult now, but cleaning gadgets inspire me. So there I was, still in my pyjamas, and I gave the duster a go under my fridge, and wow, seeing all the dust that came out was so satisfying. So I got changed fast out of my PJs, and dusted the ceiling fan, under the couches and so on and so on. I always try hard to stick to my cleaning routine during the week and keep Sundays for relaxing. But getting into some of the nooks and crannies was kind of relaxing… well, maybe not relaxing, but definitely satisfying. I even moved the bed. Why is there always SO much dust hiding back there? Steve and I had planned to go to the café for Portuguese tarts, but we never made it as he needed a big sleep-in. He had to work extra late on Saturday, and even though he’s cut back his days, sometimes, if it gets busy, he still has to do extra hours. I had those tarts on my brain, though! So when he went to work in the afternoon, I walked up and bought two. When he came home late in the evening, we enjoyed them with a cup of tea and two episodes of Seinfeld. Perfect way to end a weekend that went by way too fast. Enjoying something sweet and something funny. Happy Monday! Linking up with Holly and Sarah  

Hi friends! It’s great to be back on this freezing, cold, windy, and rainy Monday. Now that I’ve given you the weather report, I can move on to the weekend recap, hehe. The weekend was all about Steve’s birthday celebrations. His actual birthday was on Sunday, but because he works on weekends, we decided to spread things out and celebrate on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday Our eldest son came over, and Steve didn’t start work until 7 pm, so it made sense to have a cozy, long lunch just the four of us on that day. I made his favourite pot roast and served it with rice, because everyone loves rice at my house. I’m more of a potato girl myself, so I made some potatoes too—double carbs, why not? When one of your kids has moved out, I can’t tell you how special these times are. Just sitting at the table, eating and sharing stories about everyday life — you never want these moments to end! I got a Black Forest cake from The Cheesecake Shop, and when I went to pick it up in the morning, I was surprised by the bright red topping—yikes! It didn’t really look like your typical Black Forest cake, and I nearly swapped it for a strawberries-and-cream one. But in the end, I figured I’d give it a go because it was just us, and we’re not fussy. It turned out to be a good decision, because it tasted great! I had two, maybe three… okay, yeah, three slices—and I’m not even much of a cake eater (unless we’re having Pavlova, and then I easily lose all self-control). After the cake, we gave Steve his present—a Samsung smartwatch. Oh my gosh, we all laughed so much when he pulled the watch in its white box out of the gift bag and his first reaction was, “Oh wow, thanks… nougat!” Haha! For a split second, he actually thought we had given him a bar of nougat. I was laughing so hard—he’s so easily pleased, we could have saved the money! Then Steve went to work, and Luke stayed until past midnight. The three of us watched a movie called I Saw the TV Glow. Hmmmm… definitely interesting and full of meaning. I didn’t exactly love it, nor did I dislike it. It’s the kind of film that lingers in your head. My boys enjoy these deep, thought-provoking movies, and I used to love the same kind of movies and books when I was young. Now I prefer entertaining ones where I don’t have to figure out the ending! Sunday Sunday was Steve’s actual birthday. He starts work at 2 pm on Sundays, so we went out to La Perouse for breakfast at a place called The Boatshed. Eggs Benedict for the two of us (Sam had to work). The sky was so blue, and it was lovely and sunny, such a welcome change from the dreary, rainy days we had last week. But it was still cold and very windy! After breakfast, we walked around La Perouse and saw Bare Island Fort, built back in 1885 as part of Sydney’s coastal defences. Do you recognise this bridge? It’s the Bare Island Bridge that they used for a motorcycle chase scene in Mission: Impossible II (2000). It was a very dramatic scene—Ethan Hunt was either being chased or maybe doing the chasing, I can’t quite remember. There were a lot of impressive motorcycle stunts and explosions. That I do remember! I really should rewatch it—it’s been ages since I last saw it. And that was Steve’s birthday weekend! How was your weekend? I hope it was a good one. Thanks so much for stopping by. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, stay warm—and remember, only a few more weeks before spring. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, lucky you! I’m jealous! Linking up with Holly and Sarah

Hi, friends, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It’s great to be back today, linking up with Holly and Sarah and sharing a little about our very rainy weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by. Crazy Rain and Wind This wasn’t your average rainy weekend. No way this was next level! At times, the skies opened up and it absolutely bucketed down. It was also incredibly windy. So windy that at times the rain sprayed sideways and slammed hard against the windows. Yikes! So what do you do when the weather is that wild? If you can, and you don’t have to be anywhere (poor Sam and Steve had to work), you hunker down at home—and that’s exactly what I did. I was as happy as a clam that I had zero plans and I could be tucked up indoors, staying warm and dry all weekend long. Yay! This is the view from my kitchen window—so grey and bleak. Every now and then, the sun would peek out for about a minute, and then—whoosh!—the rain would come pouring down again a moment later. So crazy! Still Working on the Travel Video Most of Saturday, I just did a few chores around the house and spent time working on the travel video. I’ve been calling it a movie because I’m using the iMovie app. But it’s definitely not a grand production. So I’d better stick to calling it what it is: a travel video—haha! Yep, I’m still at it and really enjoying the process. It’s been so fun figuring out the right titles to use and tweaking the length of the transitions so everything lines up with the beat of the music I’ve chosen. I’ve also figured out how to split the music and lower the volume so you can actually hear some of the funny things that were said along the road trip. I’m so glad I filmed bits of what we got up to—even if I can’t use a lot of it because I was too excited to stay still and film calmly. I had to be right there in the action! Still, it means the video has a nice mix of real moments and photos. I’ll tell you what I am having trouble with—the length! I don’t want to make it too long, but we had so many adventures over those three weeks. I could easily make it as long as a feature film. But I won’t, because I want to share it with the rest of the family. Maybe I’ll make an epic version just for me. Movie Night Hmm… so what else did I get up to over the rainy weekend? Oh yes, that’s right—I watched Ghost for the thousandth time. You know when you’re in the mood to watch something that’s a guaranteed great movie you love? I was totally in that mood on Saturday night, so I picked a winner. When Steve got home from work, he joined me about halfway through. He was all, “Huh, you’re watching this again?”—and then, of course, he was glued to the screen just like me. Oh my gosh, I thought for sure that this time I wouldn’t cry, but I couldn’t help myself. I also did that weird thing where I find myself wishing Sam wouldn’t get shot at the beginning—even though I know there’d be no movie without it. Does anyone else do that? Probably not, because it makes absolutely no sense. Brunch and More of the Same Sunday brunch was a yummy highlight. And then my day pretty much looked the same as Saturday. The weather was just as crazy, too! That about sums up my rainy weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by today—hope the sun is shining wherever you are!

Hey friends! Another Monday, another chance to catch up. Here’s a little peek at the weekend—that flew by way too fast! It was the best feeling, sitting in front of the TV, eating dinner on Friday night after what felt like a never-ending week. I had the place to myself—Steve was at work and Sam was out with friends—so I made my favourite pasta bolognese. This time I used bow tie pasta, but I’ve decided that I still prefer spaghetti—nothing beats the slurp! I finished watching Midsummer Night on Netflix—a Norwegian limited series. It was entertaining enough to keep me watching, but by the end, I thought the plot was pretty lame. So I didn’t love it. Saturday On Saturday, I started putting together a movie about our January trip. I use iMovie and I’m familiar with it on my iPad, but I hadn’t ever used it on my Mac desktop before. A few things are different, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. The thing with me and iMovie is that I get so immersed in what I’m doing that hours feel like minutes. I used to make movies for end-of-year preschool celebrations, and projects like this really pull me in. I love figuring out the music, transitions, intros, and titles—and, well, I become a little bit obsessed. I’m trying hard to make it interesting because the last thing I want is one of those endless slideshow-style videos. You know, the kind filled with a million pictures that are only interesting if you were actually there. I want this to be fun, fast, and enjoyable to watch. And I definitely don’t want to put anyone to sleep at our next Cousin Connect when I show it. No snoring, please! Sunday Sunday brunch – scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and sourdough. I used the bacon pieces I usually save for quiche because we were out of rashers. I cooked everything (except the scrambled eggs) in the air fryer. And to think I didn’t think an air fryer was for me… ha! Now I can’t imagine life without it. Do you know what I got really excited about on Sunday afternoon? Daylight is sticking around a little longer! I snapped this pic during a quick walk to the shops to pick up some steak for our steak sandwiches that night. Even though our fridge and freezer were packed, we were all craving those sandwiches. It was 5:15 pm and not dark yet. Just a little while ago, it would’ve been pitch black at that time. Yes, sir — spring is coming! Speaking of steak sandwiches, here they are—Sunday night dinner, easy peasy. And that was my weekend. How was yours? I hope it was a good one. Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you have an amazing day! Linking up with Holly and Sarah

Hi friends, and happy Monday! It’s time to link up with Holly and Sarah to share a little weekend recap — thanks so much for stopping by 😊 Pizza and Netflix for Friday Night. We rarely have takeaway, so this felt like a special treat to celebrate the start of the winter school holidays. I plonked myself on the couch and watched episode after episode of a Norwegian show on Netflix called Pernille, which is about a middle-aged single mum raising teens and looking after her own father. It’s a drama-comedy — mostly comedy, so I guess you’d call it a dramedy. I like that it’s light and fun and doesn’t stress me out with any heavy plots. It’s exactly what I need at the moment. I’m using these holidays to recover from Term 2, which — as I mentioned in my Friday Favourites post— is never my favourite. But this year, it was extra challenging. I won’t say anymore except… sigh. Saturday I only had a short evening to relax before heading back to work for a couple of hours on Saturday. The PMC organised a family event at the local park, so I went along to help out. I didn’t have much to do except chat with my coworkers and the preschool families. The children enjoyed getting their faces painted and filling up on sweet treats. They also thought it was a hoot to see their teachers in the wild — haha! It was a funny way to start the term break — going to work on a Saturday. But that’s okay — now I can get on with some serious holiday fun! Sunday I went to my aunt’s house for lunch. She made the most delicious pot roast with mashed potatoes — excellent winter comfort food. Before I left, she picked some giant avocados from her tree and gave me a whole bag full. What a treat! Gosh, those avocados are nearly as big as my head! Here’s a size comparison with a regular supermarket avocado. Big, huh? Monday No alarm this morning — except I guess I’m used to waking up at 6:30, because you guessed it, I woke up right at 6:30. I’ll have to shake that habit off quick smart. A yummy brunch. Then in the afternoon, I watched Irish Wish, starring Lindsay Lohan, on Netflix. It was light and cute — did I really love it? Well, no, but I did like it. It’s a good, easy watch, and I recommend it if you’re in the mood for that kind of movie. I’m about to get ready for dinner with friends at the local RSL. I’ll be back here on Wednesday — hope to see you then. Take care.