NewKitty is mesmerised.

pretty neat “don’t walk” lights embedded in the road

I’m being pulled from pillar to the proverbial at the moment.
I have involvement in so many diverse bits and pieces at SML that it is difficult to keep it all straight. While of course this is great because I adore being part of All The Things, the downside is that I’m pretty much entirely mentally spent by the time I arrive home in the evenings.

Oh for another vacation! Perhaps I need to get back on that learning meditation train? I might bust it out tomorrow morning – or even better, after work.

I suspect tying myself to the morning really prevented me from progressing any further than the fifth session of headspace. It’s probably better to meditate at a less deairable time than not to do it at all.

Bessie made colouring-in postcards of local landmarks as part of a Uni assessment.

They needed colouring so there was nothing for it but for Don and I to bust out the textas and pencils this evening.

She’s a clever poppet!

Last week we signed up for the Sydney to Wollongong bike ride.

This has been a stretch goal since our discovery that we loved bike riding.

The course is 90km and while I have no problem with riding 90km – I am rather a little terrified of the epic hills!

There will be a whole lot of glute, core, quad and endurance work in my future!

Despite my repeated assertions that I do not believe in Mother’s Day**, my disobedient daughters insist on giving me very thoughtful gifts.

Adorable card from Joan accompanying a very excellent T2 fruity booty sampler box

Brilliant book (in fabulous wrapping) from Bessie. Fave chapter title: 4. Five bugger something up again, despite it appearing objectively quite achievable

xxx

** and really I don’t – every day should be mother’s day!

so much for that rain!

Started out early today with my usual Saturday morning run. This has turned into more of a run/walk. I’m not entirely pleased with this development, but am consoled that least I’m avoiding injury. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of this ageing caper.

My garmin kept randomly pausing without me realising and I’d keep looking down to check distance only to see the paused message. The minor annoyance of the tracking failure made me question exactly why I’m tracking myself to the metre and to the second. It’s kind of the same with my rides to work. I know approximately how far it is, why can’t I just enjoy the moments? Do I have to quantify everything?

While on the run/walk I snapped a few photos, but can’t share them because my phone and laptop are not playing very nicely together right now. 

I suspect technology is trying to tell me something!

This was pretty much the only souvenir we brought back from our holiday – actually probably one of the only things we bought. Despite being a week longer and fairly luxurious, we spent significantly less money than when in Japan – where we bought All The Things.

We picked it up at Hanoi airport while killing time waiting for the flight to Da Nang. I’m glad we did because we never saw anything like this again – we saw variations, but they were not so delicate or so lovely.

This weekend is forecast to be horribly rainy, so I think I’ll spend an hour or two sorting my holiday snaps – it will probably take much longer, but it will be a start!

After they’re done, I might finally tackle those Japan pix. 

One of my problems is that I don’t quite know what to do with photos, I obviously put some here and used to use flickr – but I’m always conflicted about whether to post to the RealName account I share with Don or to the carolbaby one, so usually end up doing neither. I’ve been thinking of possibly having them printed in a book (as opposed to photo prints stuck in an album). I feel like I’d be more inclined to look at them in hard copy form.

I’m a little resistent to the book idea – that’s probably another thing for eventual discussion with a therapist.

xxx

** who has recently been editing hundreds of holiday photos

still more prettiness from saturday’s run

One day until weekend!

I’ve spent the majority of the past week catching up on very long overdue admin tasks, requiring lots of close attention to detail. 

It’s funny how much you forget how to do when you’re mostly consumed with strategic manageressing stuff and spend the majority of your time in meetings.

Because of my forgettery, it’s probably taking twice as long as it should and I’ve had to call on Vincenzo a couple of times for advice – the pupil becomes the master!

All of this is part of a clean-up in prep for the handover of tasks to other areas (mostly Heather’s). 

I love that SML is embracing the concept of having the right people in the right jobs doing the right tasks. While I loved the role of “fixer”, this will really shine a spotlight on some of the less competent (and incredibly lazy) amongst us, which my (and Vincenzo’s) fixing invariably covered up.

Amazing to think how different SML is now to 2 years ago!

Whether they actually do anything or not is up for debate,  but I do take quite a few daily vitamins.

One thing that I’ve often found mildly irritating is the wee packet of desiccant contained within the bottles which could be inadvertently consumed by the unwary or inattentive. 

Don pointed out the very clever solution in my new vitamins (pictured on the right) – the desiccant is safely contained within the lid! 

What a clever thing! 

xxx

Yes, I am taking 50+ vitamins. I’ve always been an early adopter.

we do live in quite a lovely place – another photo from saturday’s run

I suppose I’ll become accustomed to the new way of being (riding bike, long days at SML) eventually, but right now I’m still a little discombobulated, particularly in the evenings.

At least I seem to have settled into a rhythm with loading and unloading the backpack. 

I assume I’ll get there eventually, must minimise my expectations for anything other than a bit of mindless television and maybe a spot of laundry.