Friday Favourites

Hi friends, it’s time to share some favourites! I hope you all had an amazing week and are as excited as I am to welcome the weekend! I love this link-up because whenever it’s been ‘one of those weeks’ and I’m struggling to find some joy. It reminds me to focus on the little things that bring happiness. When you put all these little things together you end up with some pretty cool Friday favourites.

Having the day off from work on Monday was a big favourite because who doesn’t love a long weekend? I knocked off a couple of things from my to-do list so that felt great!

On Tuesday, we were back at work. I snapped a photo of this pile of leaves in the playground.

You know what’s funny, and at the same time, not so funny? We don’t have many deciduous trees around here during winter—all those evergreens—but of course, our preschool playground has this one deciduous tree. Its leaves are stunning this time of year, but they seem to rain down endlessly for weeks. And guess who ended up on playground setup duty this week? Yep, me and I spent the morning raking, only to see it covered again by the time we headed out for afternoon play. Just another day in the life at the preschool during winter!

My sunny always smiling positive colleague (I love sunny smiley positive people!). She brought some healthy snacks to work and shared some with me. Oh my goodness they were so delicious! Crunchy, salty and a teeny bit sweet – all of my favourite flavours rolled up in each cluster of crispiness! I’m going to add them to my shopping order for sure.

I remember feeling a bit melancholy when Sam finished school a year and a half ago—I realised I wouldn’t be packing his school lunches anymore (boy that’s gone fast!). Looking back, maybe it wasn’t so much about missing the chore but about seeing him grow up so quickly! Haha! Anyway, I still like to pack his lunches when he goes to work at his casual job a few times a week. And yes I still get boomerang fruit! This banana made a couple of round trips inside Sam’s lunchbox. In the end, I took it to work with me where it reached its final destination.

We went to our appointment at Australia Post to lodge our paperwork for our new passports on Thursday afternoon. There’s a significant increase coming on July 1st, from $346 to $398! Fun fact: this means Australian passports will soon be the second most expensive in the world, behind only Liechtenstein, where they cost $444. So I was happy to get this sorted before the price hike kicks in!

Steve lodged his paperwork with no problem at all. But I had to get my photo retaken because I had a slight smile and my fringe was touching my eyebrow—guaranteed rejection by the passport office. I thought the original one was unflattering enough, but no. The one I had taken on Thursday—well, that will make a fantastic poster for Halloween or Australia’s Most Wanted.

The lady who took my photo was so sweet. She kept saying, “Think happy thoughts” as she snapped the picture. It was hard to think happy thoughts when I couldn’t hide behind my fringe, couldn’t smile, and had a camera pointed right at me. I kept telling myself, “Think about Disneyland!” But no happy thoughts really came to me. All this is perfectly captured in that one photo I will have in my passport for the next ten years… excellent.

One little thing that made me happy this week was these tissue boxes. The new pictures on the boxes are fun and look much nicer than the previous washed-out designs they used to have.

After the passport photo incident on Thursday, I picked up some supplies to make me feel better—facial wax strips and a sheet mask. Those photos showed no mercy!

The temps have dropped, and it’s freezing! It’s only day 14 of winter, but I think that’s enough now—I want it to stop. At least there’s always comfort food—Greek-style chicken with rice and veggies for dinner made us feel warm and cozy.

I found some leftover pizza in the fridge at preschool and had a couple of slices. Finding anything other than playdough in the fridge is always a big win! The kids made it as a cooking experience, and I’m hoping the oven killed all the extra unwanted toppings they may have added—if you know what I mean.

And now it’s Friday afternoon, and I couldn’t be happier! As we were walking out of the preschool after a very long week. My colleagues and I were laughing about a random conversation involving Chinese lucky numbers and which one of us had the luckiest number. It was one of those moments that made me happy and grateful to work where I do. A good laugh was the perfect way to end the week because working with little ones is a tough gig. So having fun with colleagues whom I am lucky enough to call friends is gold!

I hope you have a fun weekend sprinkled with just the right amount of rest and relaxation and I look forward to being back here on Monday.

See ya!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika