As always, it's DNA in the other tabs, school holidays, and me sitting a spell to dutifully type a few mental flashes.
And as always, this post comes to you from the mythical realm of Western Australia, where we've pretty much had zero COVID cases for the entire pandemic. "They" say we're prisoners or something, but there were 60,000+ people at the footy Grand Final in Perth on Saturday, and another 30,000 at the Royal Show where I was, and every restaurant and beach was open, but sure, we're miserable.
(Some people are tetchy because they want to see infants born to relatives beyond our borders in person, and it's often these people who speculate that COVID is no worse than the flu. That's how good we've had it here. Mike gets told "you want to be careful which websites you're looking at" when he notes that some vaccinated people have died as a reason for still distancing where we can - like staff meetings that can be held in more spacious rooms - and washing hands frequently.)
(Yes, I'm being a little reductionist; I appreciate that things are complex. I super-appreciate, though, that things here are good. Not perfect, but our economy is terrific and life is essentially normal. Still. It's only a matter of time before that changes, and I could do without mass death threats from people in the eastern states who resent that our government here took Delta seriously instead of vaguely suggesting maybe some people should cut down on some activities if they really didn't have to do it, maybe, and then when those weak hand waves didn't work, whine that "you don't know what Delta is like!" We do know. We do get international news reports here. That's why our response was swifter and more serious.)
Days pass since the above - again, as always - and I am now Fifty-Two.
I cannot remember what we did on my birthday, the day that followed (Queen's Birthday, Observed), or the day after that. I keep a bullet journal as of mid-August, but for the past three weeks I've just been entering a swoosh of essential FYIs every 7-10 days with a bit of washi tape attached, and a bunch of wavy lines and question marks around my habit trackers. I think it was Sunday when I took vitamins? May have finished a glass of water the same day? Most of a glass? I do love the School Holidays. (But I do kick them off with too much caffeine.)
I also like the BuJo life, even if I started as a way to improve my To Do List Experience but now prefer it as a "don't forget that this is when I fertilised the succulents" diary because sitting down to make a list of things I need to do is 1. too confronting, what with "organise the garage" being at the top of the list for four-plus years, and 2. too work-centred, which I start to resent as the list for just one day can consume half of a page.
Then I think about all of the things I do without them ever making it to the To Dos, and I want credit for "wiped underside of range hood before doing an Extreme Clean" and "drove to Wannaroo to pick up a narrow-width sliding basket system that every other Kmart in the country seems to be out of but which I think will be great in that weird space under the cookbook and plate shelves for storing bread, but then again, it may look daggy because Kmart is still Kmart, even if Kmart in Australia is relatively nice."
However, I only have one page for To Do, so I have to be selective. It's a process. I'll do better next month. I'll start making two-page spreads. I'll add that to my list. I bought 20 more rolls of washi tape this week. I'm ready.
(Another month has passed. The Kmart baskets were awful in the kitchen but everything else is pretty good. The rain has stopped - alas - and the allergies made their grand entrance today. Next week I start the Super-Secret-but-Boring Now-Annual Side Hustle for a month. I had to get a tooth pulled three weeks ago. We "finally" got new phones. Do you have time to talk about Our Beacon and Bestie, HelloFresh/MarleySpoon? I don't, so I'll press save. Maybe next time!)
