Happy New Year 2026

Here we are, 45 minutes from 2026, and I’m sitting up in bed editing a friend’s book with Big Bang Theory on TV in the background.

I can’t hear any noise outside, so I guess there are no NYE parties happening in the immediate area.

As I shared on Facebook yesterday …

It’s that time of year when I share my favourite memories and the things for which I am grateful from the year that’s gone. 

2025, compared to previous years, has been very uneventful, unremarkable and pretty stagnant so I have nothing to brag about except the fact that I’m still upright on this earth.

In 2025 I …

1 Quietly reached the age of 65.

2 Made my bed every day bar one.

3 Completed two thirds of my memoir.

4 Continued meditation classes with Annemarie and  practised daily meditation at home.

5 Enjoyed three days with No 1 Son (after 6 yrs).

6 Maintained a gratitude journal and a food/health diary.

7 Celebrated both my AFL and NRL teams GF wins.

8 Began creating some affirmation cards to be printed.

9 Bought two new Apple devices - laptop & iPad.

10 Smiled and laughed at regular morning teas and  lunches with my art girls.

I hope to inject more energy and create meaningful connections in 2026. Motivation and enthusiasm is bubbling within so words like ‘remarkable’ and ‘extraordinary’ will be included in next years summary 😊🤩😎

I suppose I could add that I completed my 14th year of maintaining this blog AND increased my knowledge in music, history, geography, science, literature, movies and entertainment by playing trivia five evenings each week.

That’s me for 2025 and while nothing devastating occurred, it was not my favourite year, so I’m keen to see what I can create in 2026.

Time to sleep now.

Nite all.

In between

 One of my Christmas presents from Barry was an iPad with a ‘pencil pro’ …

This means that I can hand write in cursive (or not) and the device converts it to print! I can also do art, but I think it will take a lot of practise to learn all of the movements and controls

I have only just set up my ipad and connected the pencil so it’s all very fresh and new for me. Even the iPad behaves differently to my old one so it’s a bit of a learning curve for me.

I did some art today!

I started designing my affirmation cards - something that was on my ‘to do’ list for 2025. I think I’ll simply transfer it to 2026 haha.

It’s almost midnight so I’m signing off. Sleep time for me.

Nite all.

Sporting Tragic

Hours upon hours of cricket has been the story of my life for weeks now.

The Ashes have been most enjoyable and the T20 series has been full of exciting record breaking games as well as crushing defeats.

I am in my element.

When the Ashes series finishes in early January, the tennis begins in the lead up to the Australian Open which starts at the end of January.

THEN the Winter Olympics are in February!

Straight after the Olympics, the 2026 NRL season begins.

I am the epitome of “couch potato” and loving it.

High on my priority list right now, is selecting my word for 2026, creating my vision board and putting some structure in my life.

It’s all been a bit haphazard with no routine, very little productivity and even less motivation or desire to do anything of value.

I want that to change in 2026.

Not exactly sure how I’m going to do that yet. I have some ideas though, so watch this space.

I would like to have lights out ready to sleep by 10pm because my current sleep pattern is from midnight onwards and then, even if I wake up early, I don’t want to get out of bed until after 9am.

So just for a start, my sleeping pattern definitely needs to change.

It’s now after 10pm haha, so I’m signing off!

Nite all.

Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas to all of you who care 🎄

I am feeling less than festive, but I will wake up on Christmas morning and put on a happy face. It will be a good day!

May christmas day bring you love, hugs, smiles and laughter from friends and family and you get to enjoy memories from Christmases past while creating happy memories for future Christmases.

Nite all.

Recovery Days

Thursday was Christmas catch up lunch with the art girls at “Salty At Toogoom”.

There are new owners and the interior decor is very different - verging on retro - the outdoor area is much the same with tables on the covered deck.

The menu is fabulous with a LOT of gluten free options …

We ordered two Thai Beef Salads, a Grilled Chicken Salad, a Steak Sandwich and the Omelette. We drank beer, wine and vodka cruisers.

The food was delicious and the service was warm and friendly.

After two hours, we’d handed out gifts, laughed a lot, gossiped a little, whinged a tad, discussed the re-editing of the book, the move in date of the new house, dog sitting over Christmas, husbands and their medical stories and finally, all of our ‘non’ plans for Christmas.

We all hugged goodbye and passed on Christmas wishes before going our separate ways.

The Happy Hippy offered me a lift and we stopped at her house to pick up some fresh eggs before she took me home.

That was it for me. After five days of gallivanting all over the countryside, I was exhausted. 

Easy bangers and mash for the team’s dinner and early to bed.

Friday and Saturday, Adoring Husband and I parked ourselves in front of the TV for the Cricket Ashes Test, both of us napping at different times.

Friday night was an exciting Big Bash cricket match between Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers. Brisbane won in a blinder.

It’s almost midnight Saturday and I’m ready for sleep.

Nite all.

The Week So Far

I have been busy and out of the house every day since Sunday.

I am too old to be doing this.

Tomorrow, I have a Christmas lunch with my art girls.

Sunday, we tried to win a Christmas ham without success.

Monday was fruit and veg shopping, lotto, nanas pantry and more.

Tuesday was to get the results of Adoring Husband’s scans, ultrasound and lung tests - all were perfect. Lungs, bladder and prostate all great. Healthy as an ox.

Today was BGWLBH’s nail appointment and we did groceries, the butcher, Big W, Choice and fresh juice.

Little angelic me …

Tomorrow is lunch at Toogoom.

I’m pretty sure that Friday is a rest day for me and I may just spend it in bed!

I had a ten minute Power Nap this afternoon and it did me the world of good. I was able to cook dinner - snags with boiled potatoes in their jackets, coleslaw and garden salad.

Then, at 5.30pm, I came to bed.

It’s almost 9.30pm and I’m ready to sleep.

Nite all.

Saturday Morning Relaxation

What a perfect way to start my Saturday!

I swam a few laps, floated for a while, tossed the ball a hundred times for Harley, tried to upend Adoring Husband on his floating device and soaked up plenty of vitamin D.

I followed that up with 2 hours of Christmas wrapping … and still I’m only halfway done!

After that, a Rock Hudson/Doris Day movie helped me relax my aching back.

My “fend for yourself” dinner was battered prawn cutlets in sweet chilli sauce and tuna patties.

Now it’s almost midnight and I’m ready for sleep.

Nite all.

Ready for Arting

Three hours in the art room rearranging and creating separate spaces for ourselves …

I’m looking forward to using my new space tomorrow. I’ll probably spend all day wrapping Christmas presents, but my energy will be positive and I’ll be ready to do art on Sunday!

I enjoyed 90 minutes with the art girls on Thursday and we planned our Christmas lunch for next week. It was a beautiful morning and we were all in fine spirits.

Adoring Husband attended his end of year golf presentation.

BGWLBH drove into the Bay to attend an appointment.

So I had about 3 hours to myself at home.

BGWLBH was kind enough to bring an icy green juice home for me.

So the last two days have been fairly productive and I’m well worn out! Even after an hour long nap on the couch this afternoon!

Nite all.