you’d really think i’d have learned this by now


heart on the footpath outside thepalace(oflove)

For the first time in an age I did not spend Monday all dim-witted, nor did I spend it surly, nor was I a flattened version of mynormally buoyant self. I put this down to taking a hiatus on the booze (yes, again).

This dim-witted flatness on Mondays would occur even when not a drop of alcohol touched my lips on a Sunday. I think the lingering effects of drinking (and not actually drinking that much) in general resulted in a bit of fog and grump. Malaise if you will.

I have observed the effects of alcohol on my mood, energy and productivity before, but the Monday-specific thing was a whole new phemomenon.

After an alcohol-free week, I am chock-full of vim and vigour and I actually feel like I might make it out tomorrow morning for a run before work.

I really do need to pay attention to this – perhaps in the form of signs all over the house, because it doesn’t seem to be sinking in. I think it boils down to acknowledging that when I chose to drink (which I definitely will on occasion) it comes with a trade off.

I’m just very glad to have a bit of bounce back!

getting there


baby kitty: queen of the giant scratching post

While I managed to not achieve several ActionItems on my weekend list (particulary after I was clonked on the head by a paint roller and tray when pulling down a box from a high shelf – owwwww), I did do some of the important things:

+ ran 2x 3km (quite challenging after missing a few weeks)
+ finished handwashing
+ drank no alcohol
+ acquired remaining “stuff to acquire” for Japan trip
+ made pie
+ wrote blog post list
+ made cake (in lieu of bikkies)
+ acquired kitty supplies

Not too shabby. Probably would have fared better if I had not had my head constantly shoved in a book – or been hit on the head (which is still a little hurty). How I accomplished pages of items in a weekend a mere 6(ish) months ago is quite a mystery.

I’m wondering if I can possibly cover off the remaining items during the week rather than collapsing in a heap after arriving home. Definitely would be novel.

reading 2016: july and (part) august


ladies lounging

(ACK! Just spent over an hour writing this and wordpress crashed! Fortunately I had saved a bit of it.)

As threatened I’ve compiled a list my July/August (to date) reading.

Holy!Goodness! I hadn’t realised how much I’d read. Little wonder I’m not accomplishing much else (though when on a roll I do read while folding laundry, cooking, doing dishes, doing squats and sit-ups and whereever else I can manage).

I’m learning a (fortunately not expensive!) lesson about bargain novels! And that I really need to keep notes as I go.

On with the show:

Paddy Manning: Born to Rule: The unauthorised biography of Malcolm Turnbull (strangely now doesn’t seem to be available on amazon.com.au).

I have a lot of feelings about this.

Bought in December when it was such a relief to have the urbane, educated, moderate Turnbull as PM after the National Embarrassment of Tony (SirPrincePhilip) Abbott. I’d really enjoyed Annabel Crabb’s 2009 essay on Turnbull – which I now realise was a bit of a hagiography – and expected kind of similar.

The book went on hold while I spent a few months ploughing through War and Peace. Started reading just before the Federal election was called and it took an age to get through. I think this was because the combination of the contents and the campaign left my with quite the sour taste and not a little loathing. Why I did not abandon it and move on to something else is something I need to work on!

And then it was onto something a little lighter:

Viveca Sten: Still Waters (Sandhamn Murders Book 1). Not terrible, not brilliant. I found it to be quite a bit like Camilla Lackberg, but admittedly that could be a translation thing.

Viveca Sten: Closed Circles (Sandhamn Murders). On a kick. Didn’t think this quite measured up to the first. Fortunately there were no more in the amazon store, else I would have probably bought them just to finish the series.

Elizabeth Edmondson: A Man of Some Repute (A Very English Mystery Book 1). Seduced by cover and ridiculously cheap price of $1.49. I suspect full of anachronisms, but I couldn’t be bothered confirming because I wasn’t that engaged. A little clunky and ham-fisted in parts, occasionally charming. I regret not book-marking some of the more terrible lines.

Elizabeth Edmondson: A Question of Inheritance (A Very English Mystery Book 2). Clearly I was engaged enough to lash out an extra $1.49 and read the next in the series. Again, thankfully there were only two. More clunky, less charming. Not awful.

Janie Bolitho: Plotted in Cornwall (Rose Trevelyan Series). Somewhat hard going. Desperately needed the services of a good editor. Another example of books being under $5.00 for a reason.

✪ It was here that I did something I rarely do – abandoned a truly dreadful book after the second chapter and requested a refund from Amazon. Even though the book cost, like $0.99, it was the principle of the thing. By all that is right and good, avoid Karen Charlton: The Heiress of Linn Hagh (The Detective Lavender Mysteries Book 1). Awful.

Jorn Lier Horst: Dregs (William Wisting Mystery). More Nordic. Another one of my bargains ($2.89). Rather more gritty than the Vivica Sten. I can’t say I was really engaged. This is a series, and miraculously I avoided getting the rest because …

Oh shiny! …

Liane Moriarty: Truly Madly Guilty. Pre-ordered as soon as amazon told me it was a thing. I don’t know what it is, but I really respond well to her characters – she does Sydney and its inhabitants really well.

Liane Moriarty: The Hypnotist’s Love Story. I then went on a bit of a Liane Moriarty frenzy and read the entire back catalogue. I guess I would call it charming (possibly a bit twee, but enjoyable twee).

Liane Moriarty: What Alice Forgot. The conceit of this is that Alice hits her head at the gym and loses her memory of the last 10 years. This lead to a whole lot of speculation of what 10 years ago carolbaby would think of current carolbaby’s life – which I should add to that list of things to post about (I’d actually been thinking about that .

Fave quote: “Whereas Alice was from the stodgy northwest, home to happy-clappy Christians, middle managers, CPAs and conveyancers”. Nailed it.

Liane Moriarty: The Last Anniversary. This is an earlier novel and I wasn’t a huge fan of it – though infinitely better than my bargain novels!

Liane Moriarty: Three Wishes. Least favourite – a little bit frenzied, verging on the manic (which kind of suited the characters, so perhaps intentional). Later novels are definitely better.

Clive Cussler: The Emperor’s Revenge: Oregon Files #11 (The Oregon Files) (oops – read #11 before #10) – deliciously terribly written and absolutely preposterous plots as ever. Fave quotes: “Because I’ve got my eye on a thirty-acre estate in Sydney”. “It caught him in midflight, chopping him to pieces in a spray of blood and gore. Nothing larger than a hand made it to the ground”.

xxx

I’ve just started Helen Russell: The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country after reading a sample chapter.

I do like the whole “read a sample chapter” thing. I should employ it more often to avoid disappointment!

xxx

*As ever, none of these are affiliate links.

if this doesn’t put you to sleep, nothing will


(and more canberra) delightfully baffling sign**

So, that quite ordinary list of things to post about:

✚ my recently read books
✚ my recently purchased music
✚ 4 years in ThePalace(OfLove)
✚ Canberra mini-break
✚ new camera lens & needing practice
✚ painting Bessie’s room (which happened ages ago)
✚ giant things from costco (also ages ago)
✚ the toddler management consultants
✚ disastrous attempt at white box for bedhead storage
✚ glucosamine
✚ shared upstairs landing (must check if I’ve written about that already)
✚ babor serum update
✚ new shoes
✚ mood and spring-like weather

I’m sure there is more, but that should be enough to be going on with.

xxx

** i am certain it has an un-baffling explanation that is not in the least delightful

and again


blurry bridge (more canberra)

My last couple of attempts at this haven’t been entirely successful, but I am going to give this one more crack – and getting in early so I can include Friday evening.

Quite Pedestrian ActionItems for the weekend:

✚ 2x 3km+ run
✚ handwashing
✚ 2x chapter of cryptic crosswords for dummies (one per day)
✚ no alcohol
✚ keep food log & cut back on stuffing self full of snacks
✚ acquire remaining things on the Japan “to acquire” list
✚ make pie
✚ consider pilates class on Sunday morning
✚ make biscuits
✚ knit 2x pattern repeat of scarf
✚ take a good hard look at the hardware stash
✚ start stretches for splits
✚ write that list of blog posts
✚ acquire kitty supplies

action stations


lake burley griffin

What with the phone and the camera, I think I’ll have enough Canberra pix to last me through the next several weeks. I suspect Japan will yield enough to last several years.

xxx

I am still (notionally) doing 5:2, though I have been stretching it to probably 600-700 calories rather than 500 as part of “maintenance”. 

I’m pretty happy with how I look and the size I am now. What I am not happy with however is the ridiculous excessive snacking on non-fast evenings, the increased wine consumption and the extremely limited exercise I’m doing. This will not end well and I need to do something about it. 

Like, starting tomorrow. 

There is entropy on a lot of fronts in my life and I don’t care for it at all.

corrupting absolutely


canberra: i’m not entirely sure why this sign delighted me so much

More changes are afoot at SML. In the next week Vincenzo, my most excellent long-time minion, will be joining Knut’s team to focus exclusively on ice-skating. 

Knut will be taking over my ice-skating function entirely, leaving me with the brain-surgery and shearing components – as well as the newly created fighter-pilot role.

After over 11 years on the ice, I am so thrilled to be never having to put the skates on again (though of course will do the mentor thing when required).

It will also be excellent for Vincenzo (though Knut is universally acknowledged to be a dreadful manager). When even consultants start using carolbaby-and-vincenzo as a gestalt entity (“you’ve got a great ice-skating system in the business already, otherwise known as carolbaby-and-vincenzo”), you know it is time to shake things up. 

I’m pretty delighted with this outcome, I was incredibly over-stretched and this will make things infinitely more manageable. My mind boggles at how much influence I have had lately on divisional structure and direction – it is very satisfying, but what? You’re listening to me?

swapped


channelling my inner jeffrey smart – desolate canberra

In 25 days we fly out to Japan! That snuck up rather quickly (as these things tend to).

You’d be surprised that for someone who loves lists and planning I am the exact opposite when it comes to travelling. I tend to throw some clothes in a suitcase just before we leave and work out what I want to do once I’m on the ground. Don is not a huge fan of this approach, which is interesting  because he loathes lists and planning in Real Life. 

We’re thankfully at the point where we appreciate our differences. He plans and I am the person in charge of remaining calm and keeping everything chill.

Tonight we made a small list of things we’ll need to take with us and this week will probably investigate a couple of things to see (recommendations welcome!) but mostly while there we’ll indulge in our very favourite travel pastimes of walking about aimlessly, discovering random cool things, feasting, shopping and taking photos.

It’s very exciting! But Holy!Goodness! I have a ton of worky-work to get through before I leave. So nose to the proverbial for the next wee while.

290km (approx)


On the drive back to Sydney this afternoon, we decided to (quite macabrely) keep a tally of the number of dead animals we saw on the side of the road. There seemed to be an awful lot on the way down and I wanted to quantify that.

Bird: 5
Kangaroo: 7
Wombat: 1
Fox: 4
Echidna: 1
Bunny/Possum: 3
Unidentifiable (ewww): 19

Very grim. 

We were travelling at speed, so you’d have to figure that we probably missed spotting a bunch more. And there were at least that many on the way down – definitely more kangaroos.

Dangerous place, the country.

rupert

Late this evening I drank my first pina colada!1 It was pretty good. +1 would drink again.

I also like getting caught in the rain, am not into health food and am into champagne.

Fortunately Don likes these things too, so I’ll not be forced to take out an advert.

xxx

1 Yes, I’ve lead a quite sheltered life.