Back to work...and not even grumpy

I'm back at work today so I thought I should use that return to routine to slip back into the blogging saddle again.

Surprisingly, going back to work after about 11 days off did not put me in a bad mood. That's what happens when you like you job and your boss and co-workers, I suppose. I think it also has something to do with the fact Luke and I didn't go on our annual New Year road trip this year so my time off was less exciting, but more relaxing. (We do plan to to hit the road at some stage soonish). Perhaps my unusually upbeat mood is also related to only having to work two days this week. I might pull on the cranky pants next Monday.

As I walked to the tram stop this morning part of me thought it was actually nice to get back into a routine. It feels boring to say it - oh god, I'm not freewheeling and spontaneous! - but it's true. Being back at work at least forces me to get out of bed at a decent hour, leave the house and stay awake all day! I eat at regular times and I plan ahead for my snacks and lunches on workdays.

My break

I had a lovely six days with my mum. The sun shone, there was pavlova and gin n tonics, and we had a nice mix of relaxing and getting out and about.

We spent Christmas day with a group of mum's friends. It was the first time I'd met them and they were great fun. The afternoon featured games and singing. Pam, who hosted the lunch, has the cutest dog ever, Pippa. 

During the night times, Mum and I played three games of Scrabble and three games of cards (rummy, to be precise), but I only managed to win one of each, and then only just (I won the Scrabble game by two points!). I love Scrabble but I only ever play it with mum. Luke won't play with me because he thinks he's no good at it. 

Flowering eucalyptus in mum's garden

 We had scones at the quaint Tea and 

Treasures in Port Macquarie

On my final full day we drove up to the Wild Bull picnic ground in the Cobrabald State Forest, which was a picturesque (but bumpy) drive through farmland and forest. It was a hot day, so we cooled off in the swimming hole. It was fantastic. I swam right across the (not very wide river) and didn't let my mind wander to what might be in the depths where I couldn't see the bottom.

 Swimming hole selfie

 Down river (Wilson River)

 River views

 More river views

 On the way home

 Country road

 Country mail boxes

 Golden hour on the Hastings River at Wauchope

 Over mum's back fence

I ended having longer with mum than planned because we arrived at the airport for my flight home after check in had closed. Whoops. I managed to get a seat on a flight three hours later at no extra cost. We went killed the time by having breakfast beside the harbor. We sat on the balcony and I was thrilled with all the fish in the water below.

Fish!

Another walk, good boss, word nerd stuff

I did walk to work again this morning. It was hard going due to my body feeling as if it had been run over by a small tractor during the night, but I got there. Go, me. 

I do have the day off on Friday too. Yay. I thought my boss might want me to cancel my leave day because the other secretary who's joined my team has had to take the week off, but I checked with him and he doesn't. He's a very fair and reasonable boss.  

I had an intense day at work today so a short week will be very welcome.  

Here are some links I've been saving up for my fellow word nerds:

Barrister and human rights advocate Julian Burnside on why he is resisting the lure of Scrabble, and some of the English language's weird words. 

Julian Burnside again on getting worked up over a word missing from the Oxford English Dictionary - the 20-volume version, no less. The word is 'philtrum', that groove above the middle of your top lip. 

A (long) story  by nature writer Robert Macfarlane who has been collecting unusual words to describe the landscape. I like 'roarie-bummlers' (fast-moving storm clouds) and 'sun-scald' (the glare of the sun on water). "It's a lexicon we need to cherish in an age when a junior dictionary finds room for bluebell but has no place for 'bluebell'." 

Speak of the devil and a new 101 Things list

Luke and I headed to the Booktalk Café in Richmond for a late lunch today. As you can probably tell, it's a cafe and a bookshop.

We browsed the tables of books on display and spotted beloved Melbourne artist Mirka Mora's autobiography My Life: Wicked and Virtuous, and remarked that it would be an interesting read. Then we looked up and who should be sitting at one of the tables? None other than Mirka herself! I was thrilled - I confess I don't know a lot about her art, but I fell in love with her after her appearances on ABC's Agony of Life series. She's not far off 90, but she's so fun and cheeky and seems to have a great zest for life. If I can't adopt her as my Nanna, I want to be like her when I'm old.

We have seen her in Richmond before - she waved to Luke once for stopping to let her cross a road - so I suspect she lives there. I didn't speak to her today - I worry that well known people are tired of being approached in public, but when I was leaving I saw her bid a cheerful 'au revoir' to another cafe patron, so perhaps if I see her again, I'll be braver. 

There were several tables of women near us in the café playing games - cards and mah jong among them. What a fun way to while away a gloomy Sunday afternoon (or even a sunny one). I want to join a games club now. I want to relearn how to play canasta (my family used to play it a lot when I was a teenager) and drag out the Scrabble board. Pity Luke doesn't like Scrabble. No one's perfect, I suppose. 

101 Things in 1001 Days

Some of you might recall a few years ago I had a list of 101 Things to do Before I'm 40. It's only taken me a couple of years to get around to compiling a new list, although this one is 101 Things to do in 1001 Days (partly to avoid this year being 'meh' like last year).  I'm still in the process of compiling the list (I've only got about 70 things so far), but I've decided today is Day One.  

A sample of the list of so far: 

* Visit Iceland

* Get a new job outside law (in another industry, not as an outlaw)

* Go paleo for three months (or longer)

* See an octopus in the wild (and a platypus and a wombat)

* Improve posture

* Learn to use my camera better

* Start ghost signs blog

* Learn to juggle again (I could juggle when I was a teenager)

* Go to the ballet

Much of it is fun stuff because they whole point of it is to make life more fun. Some is scary stuff to push myself outside my comfort zone and some of it is boring, but important, grown-up stuff (like doing a new will and power of attorney). 

I'm excited to start.