Currently... November

It's Sunday afternoon, I'm recovering from hosting a sleepover party for Ella and 7 of her friends. This was a very, very, very belated 10th birthday party for her. Back in the winter, on her actual birthday, we had friends visiting from Melbourne. I had kind of thought I'd got away with avoiding throwing her a party this year, but she did not give up asking for a party - so after putting it off for many months I finally relented. 

A sleepover party with eight 10-year-olds is no small feat! Luckily there were no major issues and the girls seemed to have a good time, though of course it was after 11pm before they finally all fell asleep. Now that they have all left and the house is (mostly) tidied up, we are taking it easy this afternoon. The kids are occupied on screens... Ella is watching an animal documentary on Netflix and Ollie is playing a bowling game on CBC kids. Usually I'd have set them a time limit but today I am just enjoying the peace and quiet!

Next week is the last week of school for Ella and me. Ollie and Andy finish the week after. I can't believe we've nearly finished our first school year in the Gold Coast. I am very ready for a long summer break - it's been a big year!

I started this blog post about three weeks ago, and then forgot I'd started it until my faithful reader (my cousin!) asked me when I was going to post again. I'll just update some my currently categories - it will be interesting to see how things have changed since the start of the month!

Reading Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I like this author - I discovered her late and I've yet to go back and read her breakout novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I think my first novel of hers was Daisy Jones & The Six which I loved. I am liking Atmosphere, it's a relatively easy read, with a female astronaut protagonist in NASA in the 1980s. Update: I actually abandoned reading this book! I just found it really boring and I no longer force myself to trudge through books I'm not enjoying... I have such limited time to read these days that I need to love the book to commit time to it. I ended up reading a book called Seed by Australian author Bri Lee. This book was about two scientists who spend a month a year in a remote, secret location in Antartica working on a project to preserve the world's biodiversity through seed collections, as an insurance policy against climate change. It's a thriller, as strange things start happening and at the end of hte month the helicopter that is supposed to pick them up does not arrive. I really loved this book until the end which was terrible! Such a disappointment. So I unfortunately can't say I totally recommend this book due to the ending, although I still don't think it was a waste of time to read. I've now started reading Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty (of Big Little Lies fame). I love her books and this one is no exception. The book begins with a delayed flight from Hobart to Sydney. Nothing extraordinary, until a passenger gets up and walks down the aisle, telling every other person on the plan when and how they are going to die. Most dismiss her as crazy, but of course that is not something you can easily get out of your mind. And when one passenger dies a month later exactly as she predicted, the others must deal with what they've been told about their own deaths. 

Watching Nobody Wants This on Netflix. A cosy romantic comedy staring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody (who really reminds me of my brother).  I loved Season 1 of this show, Season 2 is a little bit meh in comparison, but I'll watch it. I actually prefer the scenes with the supporting cast - Timothy Simon's plays Adam Brody's brother and is a very lovable character... quite the contrast from his role in Handmaid's Tale and also from being Jonah Ryan in Veep, which we've also just been watching. Update: I'm now into Down Cemetery Road on Apple+, which is an entertaining mystery starting Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. It's good, and kept me entertained last night while I stayed up later than usual keeping an eye on the girls!

Listening to the podcast Beth's Dead. One of the hosts is Monica Padmen from one of my favourite podcasts: Armchair Expert. Beth's Dead investigates the sudden ending of a different podcast called Totally Laime that Monica used to love and listen to. She met the podcasters from Totally Laime a few years ago and finally found out why they stopped their podcast and apparently it's a wild story. Update: I've been listening to this week by week as the episodes are released, and it is a wild story! I totally recommend this podcast, it's a catfishing/true crime type of story.

Enjoying spring in the Gold Coast. The weather has been absolutely amazing since September. It is such a difference to spring in Melbourne - and it's exactly what we were hoping for in our move here. I never really need to check the weather app, or think about what I'm going to wear. It's lovely in the mornings (generally around 18-20 degrees) and the high temperature is generally somewhere between 25-30 degrees. This week we had some rain, but it was a bit of a blessing as it was getting hard to stay on top of watering the plants! Update: Weather is still good, although the humidity has started to set in!

Doing hot yoga! I think I mentioned this in my last post, but I joined a gym with a hot yoga studio about 6 weeks ago and I have been loving getting back into hot yoga. It's a real challenge and I feel so great when I am finished. I love the gym as well, so much so that I've convinced Andy to join. They recently had a special joining offer where you pay $1 per day for the rest of 2025, so really, how could you not? I think we will both get into some personal training sessions as well. Update: No PT sessions yet, but I've kept up the regular hot yoga and am still loving it. I'm hoping it will help me to adjust to doing exercise in the humid summer here!

Cooking this Thai Sweet Chilli Beef Bowls from Recipe Tin Eats, and they are so easy and so delicious. We topped ours with shredded carrot, cabbage and cucumber, and even the kids at their whole bowl. Definitely a recipe I'll be coming back to, especially as you can change them up by changing the veggies you serve them with.

Making my own protein bars. Like all women over 40, I've become obsessed with getting enough protein. It's actually really hard, there is only so many hard boiled eggs and so much greek yogurt one can eat in a day. I've started eating a bit more meat (hence the beef bowls above) and bought some protein powder. I saw people on YouTube having protein coffee, which is basically cold, milky coffee with protein powder. I have a vanilla flavoured powder, so although this is not normally my thing, I thought maybe it would be like some sort of vanilla latte. Wrong! It was the most disgusting thing I've ever had. If you are looking for a way to completely ruin your morning coffee, this is the way to do it. I've gone back to having just a regular long black in the morning, and have got back into smoothies and making my own protein bars. These chocolate peanut butter cup bars, while aren't as much protein as a shop bought bar, are at least made with real food and taste really good. 

Looking forward to a return visit from Andy's parents - they are coming to stay with us for the first three weeks of December. This will be our second visit from them this year which is wonderful - the kids are excited and I'm so glad they wanted to come and see us again so soon! I'm also hoping to take a short trip down to Melbourne for a few days in December to catch up with a few friends. I have yet to book my flight, but I think I've talked Andy into it!