Currently... April

I started this blog post way back in January, came back to it in March, and now might finally finish it in late April. So maybe it shouldn't be called "Currently", but more like "over the past 4 months". Whenever I leave the blog this long it is so hard to write again, and I think that perhaps it is time to give it up. But then I go back and read posts and am reminded of parts of my life that I had totally forgotten about, and I think that I would like to continue to write, however sporadically this phase of life allows, so that I will always have these memories to look back on. 

So here we are. It's the end of April, and we are at the start of Term 2 at work/school. It has been so much easier to start our second year here in the Gold Coast. Not having to learn new jobs, in new school systems, while our children also navigate being the new kids at school, has been wonderful. We've had a pretty smooth, if busy, start to the year. Having a 7 and 10 year old means we are in the depths of crazy extra-curricular activities for both children, but they are both really thriving with their activities and school so we can't complain. My parents were here for most of Term 1, which has helped enormously. There were days I would get home from work, and not only did I not have to decide on dinner, but it was also ready. What a treat! We also had a visit from Mike and his family over the Easter holidays, which I will post about, even if it's just mostly pictures. 

Ok, so here we go, a few things I've been doing over the first third of 2026...

Reading There are three books I've read over the summer holidays that I highly recommend. The first is the new Jane Harper book called Last One Out. The novel is set in a dying rural village in New South Wales. A mining company has come to the boarder of the town, and over the years has bought people out. Harper's books are typically crime novels, and although this book has a crime at the centre: a 26-year-old man vanishes without a trace, and the story is set five years later - the book is very character driven, and as usual Harper does an excellent job of describing the people and the town. I liked this book a lot, and read it in about three days, although if you're expecting a fast-paced crime novel you might be disappointed by this one of hers.

I also read the book Drayton and Mackenzie by Alexander Skarritt. This book follows two acquaintances from the same year at Oxford, who have pretty much nothing in common. Their paths cross a few times in the years after university until they end up as best friends, starting up a green energy company together. The book starts in the mid-2000s and spans about 15-20 years, and references real events and characters, such as the financial crises in 2008, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Covid etc., which is fun. But the book is really about people and male friendship and it was another 5-star read for me.

The last book I want to share is called The Names by Florence Knapp. At the start of this book a woman in an abusive, controlling relationship is pregnant with her second child, a boy. The other child is a 9-year old girl. The boy is to be named after his father, which the mother does not want to do. She takes her daughter to register the birth of the baby, and from there the story splits into three possible versions. In one version, the mother does as she is told and names the baby after the father, Gordon. In a second version, she names him Julian, which means Sky Father, and she tries to pass this off as giving the baby a name that reflects the father while changing the name. In the third version, she names the boy Bear, which is the name her daughter wants to give him. In each version the father has a different reaction to the name of the baby, which sets off the future into three very different directions. Teh book is split into five sections, each seven years apart, and in each section the story continues based on each of the names. It's an emotional read, and I really enjoyed thinking about how the decisions we make today can set our lives onto such different pathways.

I'm currently reading the book The Hiding Place by Australian author Kate Mildenhall. I've read her other two books, which I've liked but not loved, but this one I am loving. It's about 4 close families who buy a plot of land together, out of the city. A place for them to spend their holidays, get back to nature, for their kids to get away from screens, etc. etc. Of course, it does not go smoothly. Each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character, which is I format I really enjoy. I'm about a third of the way through and it's the type of book I can't wait to get back into whenever I have a chance. 

Watching Slow Horses on AppleTV+. I'm late to this show, it started in 2022 and there are five seasons so far. The show is based on a set of books by Mick Herron, each season is based on a different book. There are only six episodes per season, so it's pretty quick to get through - I watched all five seasons over the summer (and I do not feel guilty!). I now have to wait until September or October for season six, sob!

I also watched the documentary I'm Tim on Netflix, about the Swedish producer and DJ Avicii (Tim Bergling). I watched the documentary while running on the treadmill at the gym, thinking that a music documentary featuring lots of electronic/dance music would be a good one to watch while running. I was half right. While I did know that Avicii died by suicide in 2018, I was unprepared for how much watching the documentary of his life and career, and then death at such a young age (he was 28) would affect me. I was pretty familiar with a lot of Avicii's popular music, but I ended up diving deep into his records and didn't realise just how prolific he was in such a short span of time. 

The summary is, he was producing electronic music in his late teens and started touring relentlessly (like 300 shows per year) when he was around 18/19. He had some big dance hits in 2009 and 2010 such as "Seek Bromance" and "Silhouettes", songs I recognised but hadn't realised were by Avicii. He became huge after his 2011 hit "Levels", which probably everyone will have heard at some stage in their lives, even if you were never into the dance/clubbing scene - it is still played pretty often at things like sporting events. This was followed by the hits "Wake me Up" and "Hey Brother" which mixed country and electronic music, and was quite unique at the time. (He actually got booed the first time he played these songs at Ultra Music Festival in Miami, but they went on to be huge, mainstream hits.) 

He got very big very fast, and continued his relentless touring schedule. The irony was, he hated performing as a DJ, and much preferred making music behind the scenes. He had a lot of anxiety when it came to performing and would drink heavily to contain his anxiety, which after a few years led to pancreatitis, gall bladder issues, multiple surgeries and eventually a dependence on opioids and other prescription medication. He retired from touring in 2016 due to all of his mental and physical health issues, but was still producing music. one of his songs from his 2017 album, "Without You" is one of my favourites. He was found dead by apparent suicide in April 2018 while on a holiday in Oman, and the end of the documentary was incredibly sad. I didn't feel like the documentary really went into his mental health struggles enough and it felt like his death was really unexplained, so it made me want to find out more about his life at that time and why he ended his life, when according to a lot of people around him, he was finally in a good place. I've since read his biography which goes into more detail about his health struggles, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding his death, which will probably never be answered. 

Listening to On the back of watching the Avicii documentary, I have listened to a lot of his music since watching the documentary. As I said, I was familiar with his popular songs, some of which I was indifferent to, but I've come to have a new appreciation for how talented he was, how many big names he collaborated with (Madonna! Coldplay! Robbie Williams! Wyclef Jean! Incubus! Just to name a few that were surprising to me). I have grown to really love a lot of his songs that were not released on the radio. I've pretty much driven Andy crazy with how much of his music I play around the house since watching the documentary, and the kids know the words to many of his songs. 

Podcast-wise, I regularly listen to Mamamia Outloud. It's an Australian podcast hosted by 3 women, and it's tagline is it's "what women are talking about this week". It's a blend of current events, pop-culture, recommendations, and I just love it. It feels like you are listening to your three friends talking, and it's pretty funny. The three women are each a different Generation, one is about 30, so an older Gen Z, one is a Millennial, and one is Gen X, so it's interesting to hear their viewpoints on things. I even got my mum into it recently - this way she can keep up with what is going on in Australia while back home in Canada.

Wearing a lot from Uniqlo recently. Uniqlo has long been a place where I can reliably find 'the basics' and it feels like they are one of the last clothing stores to keep prices reasonable while still providing quality in terms of their styles and materials they use. I also think their active wear rivals Lululemon, and their bike shorts are $40 (or $30 when on sale!), which is about half the price.

Below are a few of my recent favourites: The mixed material dress I have in teal and is SO flattering, I just love wearing it. The two tops have built in bras and are very, very comfortable. The purple one is meant to be a cropped style, but I went up a size and bought a medium, which is the perfect length for me when I wear high leggings or jeans (I am short waisted so longer tanks can look really bad on me). The white pants are their viral "Jersey Barrel Leg Pants" that I have not worn yet, as it hasn't been cold enough here yet for pants, but they are my attempt to try out a trendy style. And the black culottes are again so flattering and will become a winter work staple, I'm sure.

Running pretty consistently again, for the first time in years. In March I did a 10k with one of my new 'parent-friends', and ran it in about 57 minutes, which I was very pleased with. It's motivated me to try to run a bit more regularly, and I'm thinking of training for the Gold Coast Half-Marathon in July. We've also recently discovered Emerald Lakes, a community about 4km from where we live, which is just a perfect place to run. There are lakes, and bridges across to islands, and a decent playground for the kids, and a very cute "French Quarter" area of restaurants and cafes. The perfect place for both a run and a bike ride for the kids which is super close by. Here's a shot from yesterday afternoon:

Loving these pictures we took while having a full family professional photoshoot a few weeks ago while Mike's family was here. I will admit that when this idea was floated a few months ago by Mike and Ashley, I was skeptical. But in the end it was really fun and it will be great to have pictures of all of us together. We don't have the final pictures yet, but here are some that we just took on Andy's iPhone. The location (The Spit, the northernmost beach in the Gold Coast) and lighting were perfect, and I'm looking forward to getting the professional photos soon.

In order to try and get this actually published, I'm going to leave it at that. I've not really edited, so apologies for any typos or awkward phrasing. I'm taking a "done is better than perfect" approach to get over my lack of blog writing hump!