I’m using the pesto for a pesto chicken lunch prep idea I found on the internet.

Cooking: tray bake meals for lunch.  An hour at the weekend from start to finish sees me through the week in healthy work lunches.  It’s also been an easy way to get more variety in what I eat at work and to be less reliant on … super processed rice crackers and dip.

Drinking: Brown Brothers’ Pinot Noir Chardonnay Brut.  Huon Hooke approves, according to Uncle Dan (Murphy).  It is a rich and complex sparkling wine and what’s not to love about supporting an Australian house?

via Google Images

Reading: a new to me murder mystery author, Faith Martin.  ‘The Castle Mystery’ is the fourth in the Jenny Starling whodunnit series.  Jenny is a chef with a knack for picking up the undercurrents in the relationship dynamics of the people she works with in her life as a live in chef.  Unfortunately, many of those undercurrents seem to lead to murder………

Trawling: through all the iPad apps on the App Store for ones that Master SSG may like.  I’ve been forced to eat humble pie after swearing black and blue that I’d never get Master SSG an iPad for himself.  A fair bit of his homework is iPad based and I can’t stick my head in the sand much longer.  So here we are with the new iPad, a $150 pencil for the iPad (!!), Apple Care (I think I’ve spent enough on Apple insurance for all our various new devices to purchase a new iSomething ) and the desire to load a few things on it for when my attention needs to be fully diverted to non-parenting responsibilities…

Wanting: to do more with my savings.  I’m in the process of changing that wanting to doing.  Doing the groundwork has been empowering.

Looking: at the pristine surfaces of my new arch lever file and file dividers.  The file dividers even have reinforced holes.  As more and more of daily life is recorded online, the moments I spend touching actual files and paper are few and far betweent.

Deciding: that my meal prep pesto chicken and roast vegetables looks pretty good for the minimal effort it took to make.

Wishing: this year’s Hot Cross Buns had tasted as good as they looked.  Perhaps it was the weight of expectation but the ones I bought this year all smelled yeasty and tasted of nothing.

Enjoying: the scenery on my weekly travels through Sydney’s Inner West.

Waiting: for my mug of peppermint tea to brew.

Liking: this oversized mug of hot tea that I’m sipping as I plan today’s glorious day off.

Wondering: like I always do, why and how it is MAY already?!?!?!

Loving: the ingenuity of self-crystallizing creme brulee.

Pondering: why I got such a generic search result to my ‘Florida man’ Google.  All you need to do to play is Google ‘Florida man’ with your birthday.

Sounds random, I know but it’s a thing.  Promise.

Listening: to my dryer efficiently ‘thunk and whump’ the moisture out of my towels.  Towels straight out of the dryer are one of those little things I love about the cooler weather.

Considering: where to go and what to do for the three week July school holidays.  I know we’ve only just come back to start term two but I really do want to go somewhere in search of the sun this year.

Buying: new school pants for winter.  How anyone can wear through the news of trousers the way six-year-old boys do astounds me.  It’s not like they crawl on their knees all day like toddlers do…

Watching: how slowly things are downloading on the iPad tonight.  The NBN can’t come to our place soon enough.

Hoping: this dodgy knee of mine hurries up and heels.  It has been very humbling walking as slowly as I do.

Marvelling: at how efficient (and how unbreakable) my new ginger grater is.

Cringing: in pain and also the embarrassment.  Am I the only person you know of who’s burned the back of their hand with a hot teabag?

Needing: the relatively invincible body I had twenty years ago back.  Now.  The mind is strong but the body is weak.  Yes, I am still ruminating over how doing a trial half marathon distance run ruined one of my knees for close to a week.  It was a very humbling experience having to avoid stairs or if I had to climb them, having to attack them side on.

Questioning: why I keep losing blue biros these days.  It was their red inked cousins a few months back. 

Smelling: freshly laundered clothes as I fold then and put them into their respective wardrobes or onto the appropriate hangers.  So.  Much.  Laundry.  Mount Washmore indeed.

Wearing:  summer pyjamas right now but knowing that I’ll be in winter ones for bed.  It’s that time of the year when the temperature after sunset drops rapidly.

Noticing: that I’m been so non-compliant with the peppermint tea after 4pm rule this term that it’s almost as if I never ever drank a mug of peppermint tea each and every weeknight.  But I’m sure it did happen at one point because there’s two large bags of T2 Peppermint in the cupboard ready to go.

Knowing: that I have to get back on the nightly peppermint tea routine next term if I want to have any hope of getting a solid night’s sleep during the week.

Thinking: that there’s always tomorrow when it comes to starting a new habit…..

Admiring: my handiwork / crude handyman skills.  I replaced the smoke detector in the ceiling.  Base plate and all.  Apparently I’m good for another 10 years before it needs to be replaced?

Getting:  more than I bargained for when I just hopped across to The Daily Mail’s homepage.  Why is everyone ‘flaunting’ their ‘pert’ body parts on the regular for no obvious reason these days?

Bookmarking: pages detailing the best travel chargers for Apple Watches.  Like everything Apple, battery life seems to have taken a distant third place to form and function.

Opening: the door of my dryer yet again.  Yes, we’re in the midst of another spell of rain in Sydney.  Suspend your disbelief.

Closing: the lid of my new 1kg of Lurpak butter.  Getting to Costco is quite an adventure these days but the promise of these tubs of Lurpak gets me there.

Feeling: recharged and ready for the term ahead.

Hearing: the voices of Bluey and his family on ABC Kids.  They’re infectious, I tell you.  Infectious and Australian!

Celebrating: those steady as she goes, seemingly boring periods of life.  Nothing fancy and drama free is a great default mode to live life, I’ve come to realize.

Pretending: that I can do without the fancy.  See above.

Embracing: contentment.