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 |  is paved with good intentions... |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Hi, I'm Elle. I'm based in Auckland, New Zealand. I'm the mother of two young adults, the wife of an entrepreneurial gamer and the Queen of Unfinished Projects. This blog will contain poems, short stories, possibly photos and book reviews if you're lucky, and my thoughts on a variety of topics. Hope you enjoy it. |
tracker  reminded me to do an update, so here are some things that have happened since I last posted... I walked up the Sky Tower, all 51 flights. Did it in just under 30 minutes, so was really pleased with that. I did a 10km walk in Rotorua. Rotorua is a geothermal area and it was cool to see the bubbling mud and steam and all that stuff. While Auckland has a bunch of extinct and dormant volcanoes, we have no active geothermal areas (that I know of). Still regularly going to quiz nights. Mostly on Tuesday nights but sometimes Mondays and sometimes Thursdays. Decluttering the house in preparation for selling it has stalled. On an entirely unrelated note (ha!) we got a new dog. His name is Sir Alan Budsworth (Buddy to his friends) and he's a two year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He came direct from the breeder who said he was too timid for breeding and he was better suited as a family pet. She confessed she didn't even like dogs, and he shows many traits common to rescue dogs.  He'd lived outdoors his whole life, and had very little human interaction, so he didn't like being touched, didn't know how to play, didn't know even the most basic of commands, didn't know his name (we renamed him after we found that out), and is frightened of other dogs because he only ever interacted with dogs he'd known his whole life or puppies born there. We're taking it very slowly with him. He has totally attached himself to me, even though he was meant to be my husband's dog. He allows me to touch me, and is slowly letting Steve and Caitie handle him. He's still not sure about Jayden, which we think might be because he has a very deep voice, but Jayden's being really patient with him, and they're making good progress. He loves to cuddle on the couch, and LOVES to walk at the beach. He's currently asleep on my desk at work. He's so cute. He generally stays at home with Steve if he's working from home, or goes with Steve if he's working at his mother's home office. Otherwise he comes to work with me. The kids have babysat him a couple of times for a few hours at a time, and that's been fine. He misses me whenever I'm not near him, but he's learning that I'll come home eventually. Jayden has left uni. I wish he'd have finished the year at least, but he chose not to. He's 23, there's not a lot I can do. He's got another appointment with a psychiatrist in December (the one that Caitie and I saw, but different to the one he last saw) to get a new prescription for ADHD meds, and hopefully those will allow him to get and keep a job. Fingers crossed he finds something that suits him. He's been referred for a job at the local gym he attends, which would be a good fit for him. He goes to the gym 5-7 days a week, and exercise is good for his ADHD and mental health, and he likes helping people and is empathetic with people who struggle with things, so a job there could be a good fit. We'll see, I guess. Steve's still studying for his Masters while working full time. It's a lot, and he's going to cut down the number of papers he does next semester/year, but he's getting good scores on his assignments. I've updated "Invalid Entry"  if you're interested in how I'm going. I've also signed up to another reading challenge, which I'm LOVING. It's sort of Dungeons and Dragons themed, and while I've never played D&D in my life, I'm loving it. You make choices about or for your character and then have to read books to fit the prompts in order to move your character forward. For instance: My character is an Earthling so I had to read a book with elemental magic or an element word in the book or series title My character is from the Irtheria continent so I had to read a book that features fae or elven characters My character is studying herbology so in April (the spring semester!) I had to read a book with a circle on the cover and a book I thought could cure a reading slump, then in September (the autumn semester!) I had to read a book that would make me emotional, a book that was traditionally published after being self published, a book with the night sky on the cover and a book with a poisonous plant on the cover or in the title. There are other side quests and challenges, and you can earn extra credits in the September semester, and all sort of things. I'm loving it. I've made a separate reading journal just for this challenge that I've taken a wee video of and shared on Instagram (@40tofabulous) if you're interested. It isn't a one-and-done kind of challenge, it keeps going year after year, and your character can study different subjects and earn different qualifications and all sorts of things, plus some people have started new characters, that sort of thing. If you want to check it out, go to this YouTube link which sets out the basics. There's regular YouTube videos, a Google Drive folder with loads of stuff in it, and a very active Discord community.Between the two reading challenges, I've read 142 books this year, albeit a few of them have been shorter than I usually read, and still three months to go! I'm still loving doing my bullet journaling. I have a very simple bullet journal I use for work, which is probably pretty close to the official Bullet Journal Method. Then I have a personal one, and for that one I'm totally addicted to stickers from Planning With Kay. It's my current obsession. Well, that and the reading challenges.  So yeah, that's pretty much it. Coming up: 10km walk at the Auckland Botanic Gardens Caitie sits her test to get her restricted drivers licence (which will mean she can drive by herself!) 14km walk in Rotorua and we'll stay with my mum and sister Long weekend for Labour Day which I'm spending with my mum and Steve at our holiday home I'm sure I'll be back before Christmas, but we've already decided we're going to do an early Christmas with the Auckland-based family, then go to our holiday home for three weeks starting on the 21st or 22nd of December. |
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