A better best, big moon, one day

I achieved the unachievable this morning - I shaved a minute off my bed-to-desk personal best, the personal best I thought would never be bested, but I was wrong! I got myself up and to work in a mere 49 minutes. Surely the only way I can beat that is to forego a shower or become one of those women who applies their make-up on public transport.

There was a huge yellow full moon sitting low in the sky when I left work tonight. I caught sight of it out the corner of my eye as I was heading for the door and again when was walking along Flinders Street beside the train lines. It was magical. 

One more working day until I'm on holidays! 

Dark and drizzly, golden hour, even better best

Sunset is over there ---->

It was dark and drizzly when I got up this morning. It doesn't raise the spirits like getting up to a flat flooded with sunlight, but there's a coziness - or something - about it that appeals to me. I like having a shower in the dark. (I should note that my building is always warm in the cooler months so rising on cold mornings isn't such a shock to the system...and I don't get up until around 8.00am).

It was cold and drizzly all day. The sun only showed up as it sank towards the horizon. I can't quite see the sunset from my office at the moment, but I get to enjoy the golden hour every afternoon. Around the time I took the photo above, the bay was a calm icy blue and a container ship was lit orange by the rays of the sun. It looked very serene. 

I've had an aching back for a little while and today I remembered I had a heat pack in my drawer, so I gave it a spin in the microwave and stuffed it down the back of my skirt, which was fine when I was sitting down, but when I was walking to the kitchen it fell out the bottom of my skirt onto the floor as if I'd laid an egg. 

Speaking of my skirt, it's one that I haven't worn in a year or more. I held it up to myself and didn't think it would fit, but it did. 

I was wrong about my bed-to-desk personal best! I'm down to 50 minutes now, not 52! I predict it will never be bested.  

Wintry, warm, speedy

My new winter coat got its first outing today. Its the first time I've worn any winter coat all year because I haven't been feeling the cold (until I get to my office and then I'm always cold).  There's a few wintry days ahead. so no doubt my new coat will get out of the closet again. 

It's wintry outside right now, but I'm warm inside on the couch looking out at it. 

I got from bed to desk in an hour today. It's not my personal best, but I still got a little kick out of it.  (My PB is 52 minutes, which I think will be very hard to beat.)

Sunshine, sleep ins and some word nerdery

What stunning spring weather we've had the last few days, with the mercury hitting the mid-20s. Mid-20s! Even a mere 20 degrees would have been cause for glee. It's been such a cold winter that I'm having trouble remembering when it was last warm enough to walk to and from work without a jacket. 

Luke bought a new car last week and we took it for a cruise down the Mornington Peninsula on Sunday. We stopped at The Royal Hotel in Mornington for lunch and it was mild enough to have our meal on the veranda just across the road from the sparkling bay.  The tide was out and the water was a beautiful shade of turquoise. 

I'm enjoying my 10.00am starts. I'm not doing a very good job (by which I mean I'm doing a very bad job) of getting up early enough to have breakfast at home and walk to work, but it's so nice to have a weekday lie in.  I also don't feel quite the same feeling of "UGH, I have to get up for work in the morning" knowing I don't need to get out of bed before 8.30. Today I got up at 9.00am and sat down at my desk at 9.55. WIN!  (The 6.15 finishes are less enjoyable, but that's partly because I'm not at all busy.)

Here's some stuff I've been hoarding for when I got around to blogging again:

Ten of the best collective nouns. Surprisingly, an implausibility of gnus doesn't make the list. 

Are you a smellfungus? Find out in this list of 101 Bizarre English Words. A lot aren't really that bizarre, but most of them are splendid and should be used more often. 

I found another time-related word to add to my list: nychthemeron, which means a full period of a night and day; 24 hours. It's a pretty cool word. it sounds like the name of a planet or something from a sci-fi novel.

I love the idea of a playground for adults, like this one in Boston. Not one of those ones that are designed for sedentary grown ups to get some exercise, but a playground that's just for fun. 

Check out these photos from the Reykjavic Police Instagram account. Puppies, kittens and fairy floss, oh my!  (Have I mentioned my fixation with Iceland?)

JBPM: day 29

I set a new personal best in the bed-to-desk event. I got up at 8.06 and sat down at my desk at 9.02. Fifty-six minutes. It would have been even less than that if I had known I couldn't get off the tram at King Street because of construction work. I had to go a stop further and walk back.  I'll know better tomorrow. 

I went to the gym tonight  - one of the few times I've been this year. I've been very, very slack. I didn't feel completely unfit, which was pleasing. I wore the Billy Idol T shirt I bought at a sale for $5. I was a HUGE Billy Idol fan in the 80s. 

I spotted two Nankeen Night Herons standing like statues on the edge of the river on the way home.  Here is a really bad photo of one of them (my phone camera takes lousy night pictures). 

Luke made yummy crumbed chicken drumsticks for dinner tonight. Juicy inside and a little bit crunchy on the outside. The corn on the cob we had with it was delicious too.