If everything had gone according to plan, today's post would recount what I am sure would have been a glorious long-weekend escape to the beach with friends. But life does not always go to plan. Sometimes that stomach flu that has apparently been "going around" hits you square between the eyes and wakes you in the dead of night screaming "I AM HERE! FUCK YOU AND ALL OF YOUR AWESOME PLANS, YOU WON A TRIP TO VOMIT TOWN!"

Tom had it three days earlier, and I was so certain that I'd made a lucky escape (admittedly a fantasy when living in the small quarters of a one-bedroom flat) that was excitedly picking out books to read on the beach and buying Tanqueray and Rekorderlig to drink over interesting (and later, ridiculous) conversation during those balmy nights out on the deck.

Alas, it was not to be. (I wish I could honestly say I use the word alas in my day-to-day vocabulary, but most of the time I just waste the opportunity by using a swear word in it's place.) We spent Australia Day on the couch watching The Matrix Trilogy, which I somehow managed not to see in the fifteen years since it's release, which is unfortunate because of all the Thomas Anderson references I could have made throughout the last two years. Other than those misses opportunities to tease my boyfriend, though, I don't feel like I missed out on a great deal. The first was good, but the other two? Whole sequences of CGI people with jelly-limbs hitting each other? Twenty minutes on a single chase scene that wasn't remotely necessary to the development of the plot? Machines and computer programmes with an inexplicable will to live? The first was enough; ignorance was bliss and I wish I could un-know the whole Architect/Oracle/One storyline and the stupid love story between Neo and Trinity. /accidental rant

 

In other exciting news, I finished my first batch of kombucha and I'm dorkishly proud of myself. I'm please that I have a boyfriend with a background in biology, because I needed him to assure me that none of the new growth around my SCOBY was bad, regardless of how ugly it appears. Even though I knew what kind of things to expect in a normal batch of kombucha, I was still anxious that I had somehow broken it and infected my SCOBY with horrors unknown. It reminds me a little of when I first started nannying the twin one-year-olds when I was eighteen. When they tripped and fell I would run and scoop them up, afraid I was doing a terrible job. It only took a week or so for me to become more relaxed and just let them pick themselves up and go along their merry way. Things are usually not as dire or serious as they might initially seem. I'm hoping that kombucha will become second nature to me and I won't be anxiously checking the progress of each batch multiple times a day.

I'll be honest, this first batch hedged a little close to the over-brewed, slightly vinegar stage. In an Adelaide summer like this I think it could use a day or two fewer to be of the beautiful tart standard of Mojo, especially with the mini heat wave we have to look forward to this week. I hope you're all well and that any of you Aussies had a more exciting/less sick Australia Day than I, but right now I really ought to get ready for work - I've made a terrible habit of being exactly two minutes late to work every day, but I think today shall be the day I break that streak and catch the earlier train.

life, lately

pictured
1. The sky one night of the heatwave. Oh, yes, the heatwave. For those of you lucky enough to have been anywhere else last week, we had the most diabolical (record-breaking) heatwave. On Thursday the temperature reached 47C and we were officially the hottest city on the planet. We had to close the shop for the week and I spent most of my time hiding form the heat and watching Homeland.
2. Celebrity head, because Sherlock and Watson were adorable when they played it in The Sign of Three. We spent Tuesday of the heatwave swimming, drinking gin and playing silly games with friends.
3. I finally bought a Kombucha SCOBY and my first batch should be ready in about five days!
4. Cashew Cheese from The Whole Pantry app.
5. The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread from My New Roots.

not pictured
1. Impromptu dinner date at Jack Ruby. The scallop cheviche is ah-maz-ing!
2. our first night(s) apart since moving in together. Tom went to Kangaroo Island with work (just for fun- entirely funded by tips!)
3. the cool change came in the form of a huge storm; Tom's parents dog was alone and terrified and somehow managed to make her way to our house. It's about a half hour walk, but we can't remember a time that she has actually been here before then. Clever girl.
4. a lovely gin-soaked evening with Josh.
5. setting up my studio in the detached bunglalow in the backyard. Excited to start using my new (to me) workbench.

I didn't mean to take so long to post again, but the heat was so all-consuming and those day so uneventful (I didn't think you wanted to hear my thoughts on Homeland or how our low temperatures were a normal week's highs) that time just ... passed. How have you all been?

running, yoga and setting goals for yourself

I've always placed precedence on nurturing yourself, and I've spoken about self kindness a number of times before. Something I'm only beginning to understand, though, is the power of pushing yourself also. The body is a truly powerful instrument, capable of much more than we realise or expect. I have heard this so many times from so many people, but this notion has only begun to resonate with me since I have started running.

Tom pushed me to run early in the year, but when I broke my toe I was off my feet for six weeks and even then I didn't run for another month. It took me a lot of persuading to get off the couch and hit the pavement and then I'd run until the lactic acid started pumping and walk for the remainder of the half hour. Basically I was running in two minute blocks. But one day I ran through that pain and realised that on the other side of it was the 'zone' that everyone talks about. I hit a rhythm and ran for a full ten minutes that day, easily three or four times that of the day before.

Now I think I get it. Last night I ran for almost two kilometres. Before this year I'd never run more than 200m at a time. Seriously. I have never been physically fit in my life. I used to play sick to get out of PE class, or else walk behind the rest of the class as they ran the oval. I had no desire or interest or belief in myself to even attempt to keep up or push myself. So running for twenty minutes straight, as slow as I might be going, is a HUGE achievement for me and I am appropriately excited and proud.

morning pages and other great habits

It is so easy to let habits go by the wayside, even when you know how greatly they benefit you and the way you approach life and the world and the challenges within. A habit I have allowed to become a rarity rather than a ritual is that of Morning Pages.

There is nothing I have found so freeing as relinquishing my struggles and fears and joys and gratitude to ink and paper, but I have found it hard to want to sit quietly with my thoughts for half an hour when I could instead sit with Tom and a cup of tea. There are only so many hours in the day, and instead of looking at how I spend my time and adjusting to allow for all those things I so greatly love and benefit from, I simply chose one instead of the other. I made Morning Pages a rare task usually assigned to a boring bus ride or a particularly difficult interaction I need to get off my chest. Morning Pages became a bandaid for times in need and overlooked when I didn't feel too greatly overwhelmed.

Tom, who has noticed his need for more mindfulness and greater self-care throughout this past year of changes and stresses, was instantly drawn to these ideas. I am consistently surprised by his desire to create better habits and be more mindful of his approach to stress and also to joy. We are more alike in some ways than I could have ever predicted.

He was drawn to the first of the five most particularly, I think, because it was so outside of his norm. I write constantly and always use it as a tool to process my thoughts when my mind seems to be teeming with many. We agreed to sit every night and write freely for three sides of paper. I was really pleased to be getting back into daily free writing and to have someone to hold me accountable, he was interested in the experiment, as is his nature, and wanted to see for himself if this process holds any weight to your wellbeing and general happiness. I think he was surprised.