Hello Monday

Hi Friends I thought it might be fun to do a post related to a few fun facts about me. I’ve made a list of eight things about me so you might get to know me a bit more. So here we go! ONE I was born in Lima Peru. When I was 8 months old my family moved to Australia. Although I have never lived in Peru I did go for a visit when I was ten years old (a very long time ago) and stayed with family for about three months. TWO I grew up only speaking Spanish at home so when I started kindergarten I couldn’t speak any English! I don’t remember this being a big problem for me so I must have learnt English pretty fast. The great thing is that now I am fluent in both English and Spanish. THREE I don’t have any brothers or sisters. I always wished I did though, especially now that I am caring for my mum. It’s a bit hard not having a sibling to be able to share life with. But I have a couple of close friends who are like sisters so that’s a big blessing! FOUR I was 19 when I got married. My husband was a bit older, he was 25. Gosh, that seems so young now!! I had my first son when I was 23. Time went so fast and life threw some crazy curveballs at us so we ended up having our second son 11 years later. Having children so far apart in age has its pros and cons. It was easier not having to care for two little kids but the age gap was just so huge. Now that they are older the age gap is not such a big deal. Even though they don’t see each other every day they get along really well, they also share similar interests (hello Pokemon) and are very close. FIVE I always wanted to work with children and even had plans to be a child psychologist. Although I graduated with a major in Psychology I didn’t pursue any further study. The funny thing is I kind of fell into working in early childhood while I was at uni. A friend of mine was working as a cook at a daycare centre where they needed casuals. She recommended me and that was it. I totally loved it and couldn’t believe I was getting paid for doing something I loved so much! Back then I probably would have worked for free. Haha! A few years later I applied for the most perfect job at a local preschool. I have been working there for  24 years and it’s a fantastic place. The staff and families are lovely and it’s within walking distance from where I live. We run the same as schools in that we have four preschool terms and break up for the school holidays. This has meant that I have always been able to enjoy the school holidays with my boys. So good!! SIX I am terrified of flying! The thought of it makes me feel nauseous. I have flown many times before but each time the fear gets worse and worse. The last time I got on a plane was in 2007 to go to New Zealand for my cousin’s wedding. I was gripping the armrests so hard that my fingers were going numb. I was sitting next to my chatty mum and she wouldn’t stop talking to me which was making me feel worse. She just couldn’t see that I needed to concentrate with the pilot so that we could all land safely. Haha! SEVEN I am a huge Star Wars fan and have been since the first movie was released. I was seven years old and I went into the city with my parents to watch it at the Hoyts movie theatre on George St. The minute I heard that opening music and saw the Star Wars introduction on the screen I was completely and utterly hooked. I’m getting goosebumps now just reliving that moment. Then of course I proceeded to fall in love with Luke Skywalker. I grew up with pictures of Mark Hamill, the actor who brought Luke to life all over my walls and in my school books and folders. It’s no coincidence that I was more than happy to name our first son Luke! EIGHT I’m a Christian and growing up my mum would always read me stories from the bible. I attended Sunday school and later joined the youth group. When I was little I went to a Methodist church, now I’m happily part of our local Anglican church. Even though I grew up going to church. The true meaning of being a Christian didn’t click for me until my late teens. I came to understand that it’s not about simply attending church services or trying to be morally good. Instead, it’s about embracing faith and trusting in Jesus. It was then that I realised that my salvation comes from grace, not from my efforts to be a morally upright person. Moreover, being a Christian doesn’t mean that life’s going to be a breeze. But it does mean I can trust a loving and caring God. For someone like me who struggles with the need for control, learning to let go and trust is a real journey! So I guess that’s about it, for now. A few fun facts about me! Happy Monday Friends! linking up with My Glittery Heart For today’s post

In the last few years, Halloween has become increasingly popular in Australia. Every year the Halloween section at the shops keeps getting bigger and bigger. You can now shop for plenty of costumes, decorations, and masses of Halloween candy or lollies as we say. However, It was a completely different story when I was growing up. Australians just didn’t celebrate it at all and the only thing I knew about Halloween was what I saw on television. I think I must have first learnt about Halloween from watching The Brady Bunch when I was five. It looked like a lot of fun but I did have trouble working out what Cindy Brady was saying and it wasn’t because of her cute lisp. Five-year-old me thought she was saying trickatree ?? Halloween 2021 Fast forward to 2021 and for some reason this year Halloween felt extra popular. More kids were talking about it at preschool and as I’ve been driving along here and there it seemed like there were a lot more houses that were decorated. Now when I say decorated I’m referring to a few streamers, balloons, and the occasional zombie. Nothing at all like some of the decorated houses I’ve seen from America. They are on a whole other level as they are just beyond amazing!! Recently more people here in Australia, especially younger families are embracing Halloween wholeheartedly while many still seem quite against it. Some people believe that it’s not an Australian tradition and they feel that Halloween should just be ignored. But I think, maybe give it a few more years and Halloween will probably explode in popularity. For me I don’t mind Halloween, I don’t go nuts over it but I do think it’s fun to have kids knocking at the door and I like seeing them in their costumes. So every year I put out my two little plastic pumpkins and wait for the kids to come. I’ve even had a few of my little students from past and present come knocking Ha! You should see the surprised look on their faces when I’ve opened the door and they’ve found me standing there. One year I had a totally shocked little boy ask me what I was doing there in that house. A lot of the kids think that the teachers live at preschool! A Fun Family Halloween Party This year, after months of lockdown I was happy for any excuse to get together with my family so we had a Halloween party and we went all out by deciding to dress up at the last minute. That’s something we’ve never done before. So all I could come up with at short notice was to dress up like a dead doll. I’m so glad we got together, we laughed so hard and had the best time. Maybe an annual Halloween party is something our family will do from now on. I’m all for a bit of fun plus I’ve always wanted to dress up as Wonder Woman!! Maybe next year.   Linking up with My Glittery Heart for today’s post  

Happy Monday, friends! I think that my favourite kind of posts to read on other people’s blogs are usually “A Day In The Life “ones. Probably because it’s a sneak peek into someone’s ordinary day. We’re getting back into the swing of things pretty fast around here now that lockdown is over. I’ve started full-time hours again at work and life is going back to some kind of normal. So even though I think my days are really not that exciting, I thought I might record a day in our lives and share it with you today. A Day In The Life-Wednesday 20th October 2021 My alarm went off at 6 am like it usually does but I didn’t get up until 6.30 and then I remembered to take a screenshot at 6.41. Oh my goodness, getting out of my nice cosy bed is such a huge struggle. I always wish I was one of those jump out of bed people but unfortunately I’m not. The first one to get up after me is always my little cat Sushi. Isn’t she so cute? She sleeps in Sam’s room but as soon as she hears me get up she’s out like a shot and ready for her breakfast. Here she is looking at me because she knows she’s getting her favourite cat food. Felix jellies selection. We’ve tried other varieties but she likes this one the best. During the lockdown, it was sometimes hard to find this at our supermarket. Sushi wasn’t happy on those days. A Cloudy Morning I rolled up the kitchen blind and was greeted with a cloudy day. I checked the forecast and it predicted showers and a chilly kind of day. Sigh! I made sure to have a glass of water first thing. If I don’t then I find that I forget with the rush of the morning and then it’s about 10 am before I remember I haven’t drunk any water. We need to stay hydrated friends!! Daily Cleaning Routine I went to the laundry and grabbed my cleaning caddy where I keep my cleaning supplies and headed over to clean the main bathroom and ensuite. I have this cleaning routine where I clean the bathrooms every day and then take the weekends off from this chore. This works well for me because I am no longer frustrated at the bathrooms not being fresh and clean. It also means they never get really dirty and I especially love not having to do them on the weekends. It’s kind of like my big reward. It doesn’t take long to do the bathrooms at all and after I finished I put my cleaning caddy back in the laundry and took out a load of washing from the machine. I had preset the timer the night before to start this load about an hour before I got up. The weather looked so dodgy that I thought it was best to hang it up inside to dry. I then put another load on for Steve to hang out later. He worked until 2 am so he wasn’t going to be up for a while. I took my face masks off the pegs to wear at work. They were nice and dry after being washed the night before. I like wearing cloth masks because they smell so nice from the fabric softener that I use. The disposable ones we have at work don’t smell that great. I headed up to the kitchen to unpack the dishwasher. Can you believe that before we had our kitchen renovated earlier this year we didn’t have a dishwasher? When I was growing up we did own one but we must have only used it a handful of times. My mum preferred to hand wash and she used the dishwasher to store her plastic containers WHAT??? I didn’t think that this was strange at all back then. Ha! I do now. So now that we do have a dishwasher I wonder how I ever survived handwashing everything. I guess it’s because we all took turns and didn’t know any better. I certainly could never live without one anymore!! Getting Ready To Run Out The Door While I was in the kitchen I quickly got breakfast ready. I made porridge in the microwave. The trick is 3 tablespoons of instant oats in some milk and then cook on high for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. The porridge cooks perfectly without spilling over. 3 is the magic number for sure! Sam likes to take a thermos with leftovers for lunch to school. I did the old trick of heating up the thermos with boiling water first before putting the food in. This works so well and keeps everything nice and hot right up until lunchtime. I got the rest of the lunches packed and ready to go. I raced off to get dressed and was happy my hair wasn’t frizzy especially since it looked like it was going to rain. It was a different story about an hour later when I was at work. The frizz set in. Sigh! A Busy Preschool Day I got to work and then it was full-on from then. The children spent the morning enjoying being back at preschool. It was painting, playdough, building, stories, singing, running, digging, climbing, and all the fun things that preschool is all about. I had a salad for lunch which was very nice but I felt like I had overdone it with the salads on Monday and Tuesday. The rest of the day raced by and then it was home time for the kids. After a flurry of packing away and setting up again for the next day, it was home time for the teachers. I picked up some mangos, berries, and raisin bread on the way home. We were running a bit low on fruit and my home delivery wasn’t scheduled until Friday. Oh yes, and I needed sour cream for my beef stroganoff

Hi Friends I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are reset and recharged for the week ahead. I’m bracing myself for the beginning of a new week that finally sees us going back to normal. Preschool is open again! and I will be jumping back in full speed ahead with all the fun things that term 4 will bring. But for now, let me show you a peek into our weekend where we were able to have a fun family reunion. The day I was most looking forward to finally arrived! My oldest son and his lovely fiancee were able to come over for a visit. It has been four long months of lockdown and four long months of not being allowed to get together with family. Oh boy, that was hard and I’m so happy it’s all over!!! Saturday My oldest son turned 28 on Saturday so it was a double bonus. We were able to have a family reunion and celebrate his birthday. Earlier in the week, I had asked him what he wanted me to cook for him for his birthday lunch and he asked for quiche. Haha, I’m so glad he loves a good old quiche, so easy to make. When he was living at home I would often pack him quiche for his lunches.  Quiche was something I would quickly throw together when I had no idea what to cook for dinner. Quiche was what saved my sanity when we had leftovers but not enough and we needed just something extra that would make it an easy dinner. Yes. I truly love quiche and not just because it tastes great but for all those other reasons too. We had so much catching up to do and the day went so fast. I was really happy that they were able to spend the whole day with us. Did I mention how happy I was!!!! We had so much to talk about and we laughed so hard. It was the best time. Reminiscing Both my boys are huge Pokémon fans but I would say out of both of them my oldest is most definitely the biggest fan. He was five years old when Pokémon fever hit Australia and he has been a die-hard Pokémon fan ever since then. He has a gazillion cards and while he was visiting he pulled them all out looking for a rare one that is worth quite a bit of money. Unfortunately, we didn’t find it but it was fun going through a lot of his cards and favourite childhood toys. We found his old Gameboy, photos, and special things I was happy I had kept safely stored away. Look at all these cards and that’s just a tiny fraction of them. I had flashbacks to when he was little and I would open his bedroom door to find these cards all over everywhere. The mess used to drive me bananas back then. But now I just find myself wishing for those days back. sigh! They grow too fast. Pavlova Again! I say you can never eat enough pavlova ever. My younger son had requested a pavlova for his birthday just ten days ago and this was my oldest son’s request too for his birthday cake. This time I made two and we only ended up with a small piece leftover. Yes, we are huge pavlova lovers over here. The day just flew by and it was sad saying goodbye but now that Sydney is open, we can get together anytime. They only live about half an hour away so we’ll probably see them again in a couple of weeks. I am planning a bigger fun family reunion with the rest of the family soon. I can’t wait! Time To Declutter Again After spending Saturday pulling out boxes and drawers looking for Pokemon cards and toys. I have realised that it’s time to declutter again. I’m pretty good at keeping up with a regular cleaning routine but it’s time I got rid of a few things that are no longer useful and are taking up space. These Drona boxes are great for storage but they are looking old and yuck. I need to go through all of them and throw out a lot of old paperwork etc. Sunday afternoon I made a quick trip to Ikea. Ikea is another place I have been missing and it was so good to be back. I’m lucky that we only live about 10-15 minutes away by car. I went there to pick up some Drona boxes to replace the old ones we have. A New TV We have finally decided to buy a new TV and so while I was at Ikea I had a look at some TV units. I have this TV cabinet that I am very attached to but it only holds a very small TV inside. We bought this TV cabinet about 25 years ago and I really like it. But it is super bulky, totally outdated, and not very practical anymore. The only thing stopping us from getting a new TV is me and my love affair with this cabinet. So I’m breaking up with it and moving on. We really need a new TV, it’s so small and we’ve had it for a very long time. Sam, my younger son is so excited and busy researching the latest and greatest TV we can buy. I am amazed at how much cheaper TVs are compared to even 10 years ago. Ikea Meatballs While I was at Ikea I bought the traditional Ikea dinner of frozen meatballs, sauce, vegetable cakes, and lingonberry jam. I threw all this together for dinner when I got home and everyone loved it. I also found these little cinnamon pastries. Starting this week I am going back to eating fewer treats and smaller portions. I’ve gained 2 or 3 kilos depending on how I move the dial on my scales and those kilos have

Hi Friends I hope you are all well and have enjoyed a fabulous weekend. Well, it’s official! As of today, Lockdown is finally over here in NSW and we have just had our very last weekend of lockdown. I have mixed feelings about going back to the hectic lifestyle I had become used to. So going forward I have been trying really hard to re-evaluate and adjust some things. Fingers crossed life will be a whole lot calmer than it was pre-lockdown. But at the moment I am just so excited about everything opening up and finally being able to get together with friends and family! It’s just been such a long time since we have done this and I can’t wait! A Fun Weekend Before this weekend all of my weekends for the last 15 weeks have been pretty much the same. But I must confess that I really did enjoy being able to stay home. It felt great to not have any reason to rush around getting stuff done. I was able to watch a lot of shows that I would never normally have the time to watch, stayed up incredibly late, and ate way too many treats. This weekend was different. Even though we were still officially “In lockdown” restrictions in the last couple of weeks have eased. We are now allowed to gather outside in groups of up to 5. Added to that we were finally able to go outside our 5km radius. I could almost hear people breathing a sigh of relief and there was definitely a buzz of excitement in the air because of the impending end to lockdown. Saturday Saturday was just a glorious sunny day and our local farmers market was finally open. Steve and I headed over there at around 11 am, he had worked till about 1 am Friday night so a sleep-in was definitely required. On the way to the markets, we walked past a little stream. The water was crystal clear and we could see little fish swimming along. We stopped and had a look taking in the sights and smells. I don’t ever want to take anything for granted again. It was such a treat to be able to enjoy this moment in the sunshine. We Had A Delicious Lunch There were heaps of people out and about finally tasting freedom! The first thing we did was make a beeline to get a lamb and gravy roll. Both of us had been craving this for the longest time and friends it did not disappoint. The lamb is always deliciously tender and the gravy tastes like no other. We had it on a yummy soft wholemeal roll. So good!! We wandered around looking at all the different organic fruit and vegetable stalls as well as the food trucks. So much choice and variety. I felt like a little kid in a candy store. We stopped off for some coffees and I enjoyed a large skinny cappuccino and Steve had a large chai latte. Whenever we go out we usually order regular sizes, but it had been a long time between coffees so we splurged and had the large ones. We met up with some friends who were there as well and stopped for a nice long chat, we then kept browsing and enjoyed every minute. Sweet Treats There was a really cute new cake and sweets stall.  All the cupcakes, slices, and cookies looked so good that it was incredibly hard to make a choice. In the end, I chose a caramel, white chocolate, and macadamia slice. At first, I thought I should get two but I ended up just getting one to share. I’m so glad I did because it was really rich and oh so satisfying. I don’t think I could have finished one by myself. Steve had to go to work later that afternoon so we left and plan to go back next Saturday. We have a lot of catching up to do as far as trying all the different food available at the farmer’s market. An Unusual New Show On Netflix Saturday evening after I picked up Sam from his friend’s place. He asked if I wanted to watch a new show with him on Netflix called “Squid Game”. So we had dinner and then settled down on the couch to watch. Well what can I say other than “What an unusual show!!” Have you seen it? I’m not sure how I feel about it. Some parts have left me wide-eyed and others have made me cringe at the gore. We watched a couple of episodes and then went to bed. We’ll probably continue watching more in the next few days. I can’t quite figure out where this show is headed. I’m glad I was able to sleep Saturday night, sometimes when Steve’s at work and I go to bed by myself I find it hard to sleep. That’s probably because I stay up playing Candy Crush or watching a show on my Ipad. I should really get out of that habit especially since I’ll be back to full-time work soon. Sunday We all enjoyed a sleep-in on Sunday. The weather was pretty gloomy all day. Such a huge change from the beautiful day we had enjoyed on Saturday. There was a really loud and scary storm in the afternoon. The house actually shook when the thunder roared. Then it rained and rained non-stop the whole night. It was a very low-key day and I spent most of it doing bits and pieces around the house. I watched a few more episodes of a British show called ‘In The Club’. It’s about a group of pregnant ladies who become friends through pre-natal classes. Oh my goodness the drama! I just love it! I made a quiche for dinner and we had that with leftover pasta and a salad. I’m looking forward to the rest of this week. I’m only rostered to work this Friday,

Hi Everybody! Thank you so much for joining me for this week’s hello Monday where I will be linking up with My Glittery Heart, The Other Side of The Road, and The Sirois Family for a fun post. Friday Night~ This weekend was all about the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games! We kicked off Friday night with the Opening ceremony and stayed up late to watch it. We cheered on Australia as they made their entrance and we also cheered for Peru! My family originates from Peru but they migrated to Australia when I was a baby. We also cheered for the Netherlands where my husband’s family comes from. And we cheered on team USA as we have so many loved ones living in different parts of America! It was a fun night!! Saturday~ I did some chores around the house. I was trying to change the sheets on my sons’ bed but our lovely cat was not keen to move from her snuggly warm spot. We love our cat (Sushi) so much. You can read about how we got her here. Always so much laundry!! They’re not kidding when they say wash, dry, fold, repeat! Later on, I raced out to pick up some groceries. A friend of mine made me these cute masks last year and I have been super thankful for them. Up until recently, we were pretty much COVID-free in Sydney so I had not needed to wear a mask when I left the house. Unfortunately not anymore.  Boy have they come in handy plus they look pretty too. I finished off the day off with a nice cup of Twinings Earl Grey tea. It was delicious. I love the bergamot fragrance it gives off when it’s all steamy and warm. Sunday~ Once again we were glued to the television watching Skateboarding, Weightlifting, Waterpolo, and Swimming! The Australian Ladies’ team took out the gold medal in the 4×100 metres freestyle relay and smashed the previous world record!!! Go the Aussies!!! Sunday night we had a delicious salad to go with the roast lamb I made. I just love adding Fetta cheese to salads (and almost everything else too!) Sunday evening we ended staying up super late as we knew we didn’t have to be at work on Monday. We watched the Olympic highlights of some of the events we had missed during the day. Isn’t Simone Biles amazing?  My goodness, those powerful high tumbles she does!! Truly an incredible athlete. Ha! my sixteen-year-old son asked me if I had ever done gymnastics. I had to admit to him that my greatest achievement was doing a forward roll!! And that wraps up another low-key but fun weekend. I hope that wherever you are, you are keeping safe and well. Wishing you all an amazing week!  

Hi everyone, I’m excited to be linking up with My Glittery Heart, The Sirios Family, and The Other Side Of The Road for Hello Monday! We have had a super low-key weekend. Not much we can do as Lockdown restrictions are just getting tighter here in Sydney. Every time I turn on the 11 am updates on television with our State Premier, sadly it’s just more and more bad news. My husband and I are still going to work but with reduced hours and apart from that we are just staying home and staying safe. Still, I know this isn’t forever and things could be much worse so I’m counting my blessings and enjoying time with my family. I am missing my oldest son and his lovely fiancee. They live about thirty minutes away and we haven’t been able to see them for weeks. Friday Night- Friday my husband got home late from work but we stayed up to watch FBI. It is a great show, and although we are watching it completely out of order it’s still easy to follow, as each episode has a stand-alone plot. We got stuck into some yummy snacks and enjoyed a couple of episodes. Saturday- We got up super late on Saturday and had a delicious brunch of bacon, eggs, mushrooms, and toast. So good! I love the luxury of getting up late but the downside is you lose half of your day. It’s not something I do regularly but the lockdown has us all over the place as far as routines go. Saturday night I cooked a delicious lasagna! I just love carbs!!! For dessert, I found a packet mix of chocolate pudding from Aldi I had bought a while ago. It was really good and we enjoyed it with ice cream. It was so cold and windy on both Friday and Saturday, comfort food was very much a necessity!! In the evening we settled down to watch ‘Run’ on Netflix Hmmmm….. I’m trying to think of what to say without spoilers. Ok, so I enjoyed the whole movie right up until the ending. The entire movie is full of thrilling moments when you catch your breath and cross your fingers for the lead character. And then it finished with, what I thought was a disappointing ending. It wasn’t awful it was just a twist I didn’t expect. I would actually like to hear more opinions on the ending, if you’ve watched it, what did you think? Sunday- On Sunday afternoon I raced to the shops to pick up an online grocery order, as I was unpacking I realized they had made a mistake and instead of the frozen vegetables I ordered, I was given a box of frozen party pies! Ha, my son was so, pleased. We finished the weekend off with leftovers from Saturday night, A glass of wine, and another episode of FBI. It was a nice and cozy weekend. Much to be thankful for! Hope you all had a great weekend too!

  Happy Monday Friends! Hope you all had a great weekend. Oh my goodness! what a rainy and dreary weekend here in Sydney, Australia. I guess days like this weekend make lockdown a little easier. Covid cases are getting worse, what started as a snap two-week lockdown is now extended with no clear time frame. Friday night- I felt like watching something light and funny. Usually, I go for movies full of action and I can never pass up a good thriller. You can just imagine how surprised my husband was when I picked ‘Yes Day” with Jennifer Garner! Such a fun movie, and just what we needed. Turned out to be a nice escape from reality and really worth watching. Great for the whole family. Saturday-  As Saturday was even rainier I decided to burn some soy candles to make the house feel cozy and cheery. I think it did the trick! I bought this gorgeous candle the other day from our local Bed Bath N’ Table. It’s from Circa Home and I’m just loving the pear and lime fragrance. It smelt so good and gave the house a nice fresh fragrance. I can never go past a fruity candle. My other favourite is French Pear by Ecoya. I picked up a nice big pumpkin the other day and today was THE perfect day for a creamy pumpkin soup. Pumpkin soup has been on repeat around here and we’re loving it! I was super excited to discover a new British comedy-drama series to watch called ‘The Durrells’. I’ve only watched the first two episodes and it has me completely hooked. I’m really looking forward to watching the whole series. We were really craving a warm dessert for, after dinner, I found this easy recipe for Impossible pie and quickly whipped it up. It turned out great and really hit the spot! The recipe said to cook for about an hour or until golden brown. It only took about 30 minutes in my oven.   Go, Ash Barty!! In the evening we stayed up until 1.30 am watching the Ladies Wimbledon Grand Final. I’m so glad we did. Ash Barty won and made Australia so proud! Did you know that the last time an Aussie won the Ladies Grand Final was way back in 1980? Aussie, Aussie, Aussie ! Oi Oi Oi ! She’s such an amazing tennis champion, so humble, and a great role model too. Good on You Ash!! Sunday- We got up late and by the time we had brunch, it felt like most of the day was over. Later in the day, I started watching this- The latest season of The Bachelorette. I’m hoping this season is more about Love and romance and less about sex and drama. Fingers crossed. That about sums up my weekend! Hope yours was a good one! Take care.