Currently… August 2025

I’ve been on a blog-writing roll lately, and I’ve remembered how much I enjoyed writing Currently posts, which I haven’t done in years! What I enjoy the most about them is looking back on them - they give me such a nice snapshot of what life was like at that point in time, including details that I would have forgotten about if not for this blog.

Reading The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth. I picked this one up in an op-shop last month. Sally Hepworth is an Australian author who writes books that are somewhere between chick-lit and thriller, though this wasn’t my favourite of hers. It kept me interested and was an easy read, I’ll probably struggle to remember the plot in a few weeks time. Far better was the novel Summerwater by Sarah Moss, which was another recent read. This story is set in a Scottish cabin park on a rainy summer day. The whole novel spans just 24 hours, with each chapter told from a different visitor’s viewpoint. The atmosphere is tense and almost claustrophobic, with everyone forced indoors for too long by the relentless rain. The characters are sharp, and the humour dark - exactly my kind of book!

Watching Veep, the HBO show starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the vice president. I’d never watched it in full, and was looking for a comedy to wind down with before bed. Andy also finds it funny, which is a win, since we don’t always share the same sense of humour when it comes to TV and films.

I also recently watched Mountainhead on HBO max, a movie about four tech bros getting together for a poker night at a new luxury house on a mountain. The whole story unfolds inside the house, and there are very few characters beyond the four men, so it’s almost like a play. It was written and directed by Jesse Armstrong (of Succession fame), and apparently it was pitched, written, produced and released in about 6 months. The tech bros gather on the night that one of them has released new AI features on their social media platform, resulting in chaos worldwide. It is meant to be “dark satire” but the characters do not seem that far off some of the tech billionaires that have incredible power at this point in time. It has gotten mixed reviews - though some suspect many 1-star reviews are from bots - but I really enjoyed it. Enjoyed is maybe not quite the right word - as although it is meant to be satire it does not seem that far off from a very near future reality.

Listening to the soundtrack to KPop Demon Hunters. If you have kids a similar age to mine, you’ve probably seen this movie come up on their Netflix feed. It’s an animated film, about a female KPop group called Huntr/x, who are secretly demon hunters. They must save the world from a rival boy band, Saja Boys, who are actually demons. It’s a lot better than it sounds. The soundtrack is all over the current music charts, and Ella wants to listen to it non-stop on our drive to school. I’ve limited it to the afternoon drive only. The songs are pretty catchy, but there is only so much K-pop I can take.

On the podcast side of things I recently listened to Expanse: Nowhere Man, an Australian podcast that tells the story of Robert Boguki, an American who went missing in the desert in Western Australia 1999. Soon after the search begins, the police realise that he went into the desert alone on purpose, and the six episodes explore why someone might be pushed to lose themselves in the wilderness (reminding me a little of Into the Wild about Chris McCandless) and also the relationship of aboriginal peoples to country. It was a fantastic listen. It’s the fifth season of the Expanse podcast, and I now want to go back and listen to the other four seasons.

Embracing our new, very early morning routine. Ella has made the school gymnastics team, which means three training sessions a week from 6:30 - 8am. She’s also trying out touch football for the first time, and those training sessions are before school too, so four mornings a week we’re out the door by 6:15am. It’s exhausting, but manageable as long as I’m in bed by 9:30pm and ready for my 5am alarm. Once I drop Ella off, I head down to the beach for a half-hour walk. It is hands down the best way to start the day, and even though I’ll moan to Andy about how hard I have it (haha) I actually feel really lucky that I have the opportunity to do this before starting work most days. I mean, look at this view:

Wearing jeans again. Or at least trying to. Skinny jeans are apparently out (though I still think they’re the most flattering on me), so I’m experimenting with different styles. I found some very comfortable high-waisted, wide-leg jeans by an Australian brand called Wakee. At $80, they seemed a reasonable price point to try out a new cut. They’re a soft, lightweight denim, which will be wearable longer in Queensland. I wore them recently to a housewarming party and actually felt pretty good in them, though I definitely think the heeled sandals were key to pulling them off.

I also wanted a pair of straight, cropped white jeans, and found some at Zara for $60. I haven’t had the chance to wear them yet, but it’s been nice to find a few new styles I like - it’s been years since I bought new jeans!

Making these very yummy Weet-Bix slices as a lunchbox snack/treat. They’re easy and delicious. I’ve been experimenting with lowering the sugar and adding a few extra Weet-Bix, since the original recipe is very sweet. It calls for 150g of brown sugar, but I’ve gone down as low as 100g. At that amount they’re not too sweet at all, and I feel like I’m giving the kids something that’s at least somewhat healthy. (I also do not add in the chocolate freckles in the linked recipe!)

Planning to get a new bike - a mountain bike. Andy and the kids all have them, and as Ollie gains confidence riding, Andy is keen to take them into mountain biking properly. We live less than 10 minutes from Nerang National Park, which has loads of mountain bike trails.

We tried taking the kids there last weekend, with mixed success. Even the easiest trail turned out to be too much for Ollie. He got discouraged and upset, vowing he was “never coming here again, ever!” In the end, I took him on a paved path around the velodrome, where he got his mojo back, while Andy and Ella tried out the trails. Once they returned, Ollie was happy again and even agreed to ride a gravel path, a small but promising step towards trying a trail again (maybe after a few more rides on easy paths first).

Learning all about the world of Pokémon. Ollie has become obsessed over the past few months. Andy often takes him to a shop nearby called Mana Market (“Gold Coast’s premium tabletop, trading card, miniature and Gundam store…” that’s from their website, as I couldn’t quite describe it). They host organised play events for all sorts of games, including Pokémon and others that I couldn’t really tell you - this is really not my jam.

We’ve even roped my brother into FaceTiming with Ollie, since none of us understand much of what he’s talking about. Mike was a Pokémon fan as a kid, though I’m not sure he remembers a lot. At the school book fair, the only book Ollie wanted was a 500-page guide to all the Pokémon characters, so we’ve been reading our way through it. I’m trying to be interested, but it’s definitely a challenge!

Looking forward to camping in a couple of weeks. Am I really looking forward to it? I am, but I’m also slightly nervous. The kids are excited though, and we’re going with Craig and Mel, who are experienced campers. We’re heading two hours south along the coast to Woody Head in northern New South Wales. It looks like a gorgeous location, with beaches, rock pools, and bushland to explore. I’m not entirely sure how I’ll go with the sleeping arrangements or the general chaos of camping with kids, but I’m keen to try my best as there are so many beautiful camping spots within a few hours of where we live, and it’s a relatively inexpensive holiday - once we’ve got all the gear of course!