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Me and Italian weightlifting Giulia Imperio at the OWF International Elite Tournament. She is so smol!! A LOT of people came out to watch her compete. She snatched 80kg and clean and jerked 100kg. Was cool to see in real life instead of on Instagram.

Our June #SMAJ was going to a footy event called Dynamic Dees. I could get my picture taken with some of the players (that’s Caleb Windsor, Jake Lever, and Kozzy Pickett) and then they just talked about Melbourne stuff and answered questions. It was fun although some of the people there were like… REALLY into football. And I ordered a cob loaf that ended up being just a plain loaf of bread and that was a bit disappointing. Still have never had a cob loaf with dip.

It was really cold for a couple weeks. It makes me feel like I’m dead. Getting out of bed when it’s 8 degrees in the bedroom is not pleasant.

I started following these energy efficiency ladies on Instagram (@jenlishfixitchicks) and they suggested bubble glazing (sticking bubble wrap on the windows). The bedroom windows don’t look out on to anything so I thought I’d give it a try. I think it’s helped cut down on drafts and condensation on the windows, but it’s still very cold.

Gav and Aura came over to play Wingspan and Gav’s favourite game: Brass Birmingham. Scott and I tried our best, and it was okay playing it with their help, but it was pretty hard to get the hang of.

On King’s Birthday we went to Eat Pierogi Make Love to eat unlimited pierogies. They were fantastic. We were able to order mixed plates, with either vegan sour cream or regular so I got to try everything and minimise the lactose, which was great. I had 18 pierogies and the outside world started to slow down.

Nankeen Night Heron.
Female Flame Robin.
A whoooole lot of ibis (Straw Necked and Australian White).

The last Birdlife Photography outing was a bit closer to home, Dandenong Valley Wetland and Jells Park. We always seem to see lots of birds in the morning, and then not many in the after lunch spot. I spent a lot of time answering questions about Christmas Island.

I had grand plans of knitting a bird blanket, maybe selling patterns for different birds. I designed quite a few little birds using my cross stitch pattern software and this was my first prototype, a pink robin. I used a sort of combined intarsia/fair isle technique. It turned out ok but tbh it’s not that enjoyable to knit with tons of tangled balls of yarn and the whole thing gave me a lot of anxiety. Plus there are so many ends to sew in. I don’t know if I’ll bother making more.

Scott continues to crush it at crochet. He made April this Pusheen. She loved it!

Rosemarie mailed me some Trader Joe’s ube mochi pancake mix for my birthday. Delicious! Especially topped with homemade cookie dough ice cream for an extremely decadent breakfast.

I made a carrot cake to bring to Boronia for Pat and Jemma’s birthday lunch. I didn’t think I like carrot cake, but now I do. Although next time I would leave the pineapple out, or maybe blend it up so it doesn’t have chunks.

Unpictured things:

  • Scott and I did one quick go kart race with my voucher. They have new karts and I actually had to use the brakes this time! I also spun out almost immediately, hahaha. We did the worst in our group but I beat Scott and that’s all that matters. :D Afterwards we dropped by Maz’s house to sit under their kotatsu for a while and chat and eat snacks.
  • Gav organised for a whole bunch of Phoenix people to go out for unlimited Korean BBQ. So much meat. Some of the people there were like PRO kbbqers. We… were not. But it was still very fun. I ate a lot but felt less terrible than after AYCE pierogies.
  • We started getting fruit and veg deliveries of rejected food. It’s been fun so far. It seems like a lot of the produce gets rejected because it’s too small or too large, but is still in perfect condition. We’ve managed to keep up with eating it all except the oranges are starting to pile up. I’ve never eaten many normal oranges. If you have any suggestions other than just cutting them up into wedges, let me know.

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Jemma invited us to go to the roller rink with her family. It was the first time I’ve been on rollerblades since I was about 12 years old I think. It was fun! I didn’t fall at all. Myles was so funny on his rollerskates… he is very brave, but doesn’t glide much. Instead he sort of runs, quite fast, in a perpetual state of Almost Falling Down. He did fall down about 9000 times but he just gets right back up and keeps going. He was a sweaty little boy.

Another Birdlife photography outing. This time we went to three different spots in Altona, and Scott came too! It was a good photography day for once. We saw lots of birds, including quite a few new birds, and the lighting conditions were great so I actually got some good pictures. A pleasant day overall.

Black Swans
White-headed Stilts, Common Greenshanks, and some ducks
Black-shouldered Kite
Black-shouldered Kite and some mouse guts.
Golden-headed Cisticola
Little Pied Cormorant

We also saw a big Tiger Snake. Snek.

Melbourne v Hawthorn at the MCG. We won. Fun game. I love getting cheap General Admission tickets and sitting up close around the goals.

We went to see the Cirque du Soleil show Luzia. I really enjoyed it!!! It was just a lot of fun. My favourite part was the contortionist. That guy is so flexible!!!!!!!

We didn’t go anywhere for Easter but it was still an excellent weekend. Cirque du Soleil, many many games of Everdell, a family lunch with all of the nephews, Jen’s birthday gathering. And no traffic!

I finally stopped playing Stardew Valley and got back to work on my Petricor sweater. I just had to finish the second sleeve, so I bundled it up into a ball to make it easier to turn all the time.

We went out for Malaysian food to celebrate Scott finally getting a job. The restaurant was a bit strange but the food was great. We also had pickles and Hainanese chicken and rice. Funny story though, Scott ended up accepting a second job and quitting the first one after six days of work. Awkward but a good result. He is now fully employed and seems to be enjoying the new role. Scotty Two Jobby is now Scotty One Jobby.

Unpictured things:

  • I competed in the VWA Open #1 at Phoenix. I did kind of meh. I snatched 50kg, which is pretty good I guess, but then I only clean and jerked 56kg, which was disappointing. I’ve clean and jerked 60kg in the gym a couple times but have yet to pull it off in a competition. I was feeling strong and ready but didn’t execute. I was so frustrated afterwards.
  • Bis had everyone over on a really hot day to play games. I asked what time he wanted us to come over and he said 10:00AM!!! We played a game of Welcome To (it really is a good game for slightly larger groups, thank you Lesley for the recommendation) and then they were going to play a new game called Approaching Dawn: The Witching Hour, that could only have 6 players so Jen and I elected to just lie on the couches instead. I think we made the right choice because the game sounded painful. It took so long we had to leave after that. Even though I barely played any games and Scott got stuck playing a very long not-really-that-fun game it was still a good day because we could blast the AC in the common room as much as we wanted and I didn’t have to do chores.
  • Our March #SMAJ was a throwing lesson with instructor Scott. Because I don’t know how to throw properly. He did a good job, he had all sorts of drills written down. I didn’t know how to place my feet properly or anything. The next day I was quite sore through the side of my ribs haha. I guess I don’t do very many twisty exercises.

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So late. Oops.

January 2024

Scott’s school friend Jono came to visit and they got the whole gang back together. This picture makes me laugh because Scott looks so short.

Jono’s daughter really like the budgie that Scott crocheted for her.

Our January #SMAJ was going out for dinner and watching a drone show put on by the Aquarium in the city. I don’t know how well you can see it in the picture but they made different shapes like penguins and sharks and stuff that moved up and down the Yarra. It was kinda neat, although short.

And then (vegan) ice cream on the way home. I like Piccolina vegan pistachio ice cream because it’s actually a bit creamy, rather than most of the other dairy free options around here which are just fruity sorbets.

For the Australia Day long weekend I went to the Phoenix BBQ and then headed straight from there to meet my friends in Phillip Island where we just played games and ate food for the entire weekend. It was extremely chill and nice.

Still going to trivia about once a month. We had a really good run where we kept winning and didn’t have to pay for our dinners for quite a while. The venue is very cold though haha. Can’t believe Scott wouldn’t give me his sweatshirt.

Unpictured things:

  • This year was a Small Christmas, but Jess and family came to visit in early January so we did the whole Christmas again with them. Actually it might have been bigger than actual Christmas. I enjoyed making friendship bracelets with Ava. I did not enjoy having to go to work the next day.

February 2024

I organised this Big Day where I got to eat a delicious Cubano sandwich for lunch, then go to a crafternoon with my friends all afternoon. Then Scott came and met me and we shared a vegan banh mi pizza, then went to pickleball, and then got vegan ice cream on the way home. FUN!!

More Palestine rallying with Pitty and Rob. I enjoyed this poster.

We were lucky to be invited to Doreen’s house for Lunar New Year. It was SO DELICIOUS. We did that tossing salad thing for luck (the higher you toss the better!) and her husband and friends made an amazing spread. My favourite was a Singaporean dish they called Carrot Cake which is like taking the turnip cakes from dimsum and stir frying them with eggs and sauce, making it even more delicious. There was also pork belly, wings, noodles, bao, desserts, and a million other tasty things. I am so spoiled.

I went on a Birdlife photography outing to The Basin. We didn’t see that many birds but the Nankeen Night Heron was a new one for me.

We went to Kathy and Mischa’s to have dinner and play games. It was the first time we’ve seen their house that they’ve been building. It’s really nice! They made delicious homemade ravioli for dinner and we played two games: Portrayal, a game that someone has to describe a picture really fast and everyone else has to draw it, and Welcome To. Kathy was a pro urban planner.

February #SMAJ was going out for peking duck on a very very hot day. Was tasty. I made Scott reenact this gif which made me cry-laugh.

I went to the button shop and a 90-year old salesman helped me pick these buttons for my cardigan. It took a long time. He kept rejecting all the ones I pulled out and he moved verrrrrrrrry slowly. However, in the end, I think we made a nice decision.

Unpictured things:

  • We played pickleball at like 4 new locations. Every location has its pros and cons. Location, parking, temperature, scary ceiling fans, confusing floor markings, weird people, etc. Luckily pickleball is really growing here and new venues are popping up all the time, including one extremely close to our house.
  • Scott did about 15 interviews for different jobs. Things really picked up a lot once the holidays were over.

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Good things that happened in 2023:

  • We renovated our bathroom and laundry, and spruced up the rest of the house by painting and getting rid of the carpet.
  • MEP and Paul visited us here. We got to see thousands of penguins.
  • We had an amazing holiday in British Columbia full of friends, family, and nature.
  • Spent a lot of time with friends here. Lots of meals and board games.
  • Joined a birding photography group and saw a lot of birds.
  • Went on a cool trip to the Mallee.
  • Played a lot of pickleball.
  • Knitted a lot.

PBs: Snatch 48kg -> 51kg. Clean and jerk still stuck at 58kg in comp, and 60kg in training. Back squat still 73×1, Front squat 60×2, Deadlift 88×1, OHP 34×1.

Plus 4th place in a pickleball tournament. :D

New board games: Anomia, Project L, Sabobatage, I’m The Boss!, Diner, Homebrewers, Showdown Yahtzee, Potion Explosion, Isle of Skye, Colt Express, Scoville, Gold Ahoy!, Ramen Fury, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Sushi Roll, Welcome To.

We played 26 games with 29 different people.

Highlights included playing Welcome To with Rosemarie as a remote player, touching fingertips to make deals in Squamish, and cross-breeding chilies with pals at the board game convention.

Books (in rough order from favourite to least):

  • Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – put off reading it because it was so long but ended up really enjoying it and was happy that it was so long, really liked reading what she had to say
  • Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – liked it! silly, science, feminist, some clever bits
  • The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath – not what I expected at all, it’s not a poetry book! Depressingly relatable
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid – good, some overlapping characters with Malibu Rising
  • The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah – if I had read this before learning about WWII in high school, I probably would have been a lot more engaged
  • Book Lovers by Emily Henry – easy read
  • Every Summer After by Carley Fortune – lil bit sexy, very Canadian.. set in Barry’s Bay
  • Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata – short, easy, weird book about an autistic girl and an incel
  • Deacon King Kong by James McBride – slightly amusing, reminded me a bit of The Wire
  • Wanderers by Chuck Wendig – long, more modern version of The Stand, crazy that it was written pre-covid
  • Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart – some weird Scottish words, sad story
  • Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney – nice easy thriller
  • The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave – iunno, was ok
  • On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong – bit too poetic for me
  • Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann – sad history book, didn’t know they were gonna make a movie

Great new recipes: Can’t really think of anything. All we ever cook now are Recipe Tin Eats and Pinch of Yum recipes. Maybe something from the Recipe Tin Eats cookbook?

Favourite bird pics:

Year of the fairy-wren, apparently!

Last year’s goals: Use my good camera more. (I think I used it less, oops.) Become more athletic. (Maybe? I’ve started doing plyometrics in my training, and my reflexes are getting better at pickleball, however I’m getting a heck of a lot more sweaty so I dunno…) Eat more protein. (Yeah, tuna!) More knitting. (Definitely accomplished this one.) Start volunteering in migrant services. (Nope.)

2024 goals: Use camera more!!! Design bird sweaters. Be more comfortable being me.

2023 final thoughts: The first half of the year was a bit difficult to do anything because of all the renovation projects, and then the last half of the year was difficult too because Scott lost his job. Thank goodness we managed to squeeze in our Canada trip in between. Hopefully Scott ends up getting a new job soon so that we go back to traveling and doing more fun stuff again.

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Lots of parties in December!

Started off with an unpictured pizza party at Naomi’s house with the old EH crew. Always nice to hear all the updates that have happened throughout the year. Since I didn’t go to school here in Melbourne I don’t really know that many people in the nuc med community, but now my old coworkers are spread out all over the place and it’s a nice little network for me.

We went to an Italian restaurant for our work Christmas lunch this year. This was my favourite dish, which was actually a special one for me while everyone else had a super duper dairy pasta dish. It was a seafood risotto, very yum. We also had really nice tender steak. Thanks Doctors!

Scott’s birthday was the same day as our pickleball club’s Christmas party. It was super hot, humid, windy with occasional downpours. Not great outdoor pickleball conditions but it was still a pretty fun party. We snuck out when the some of the oldies started getting pretty loose and got sushi for dinner on the way home.

I may have played a few too many games because I think I actually got heat stroke. Why am I so competitive??

Also LOL at how close that house is to the pickleball area!!

We had a party at our house! We made shawarmas and we played crokinole, Camel Up and Wits & Wagers. Ol’ trusty games. It was fun.

We went camping in Gippsland. Scott organised everything, including driving 45 minutes each way to look at this Shipwreck. :P

Rainbow Lorikeet
Superb Fairy-wren
Grey Fantail
Little Black Cormorant
Little Wattlebird
A lot of birbs

We stayed at Emu Bight, which had A LOT of bird activity. At any moment you could pick out at least 5 different bird calls. We even got a new lifer, a Red-browed Finch, but it flew away before I could get a picture. We saw quite a few fairy-wrens, Olive-backed Orioles, emus, and Eastern Spinebills, and all the usual suspect birds as well.

Hey dear.

Other than the birds, we got a bit bored. The first couple days were too cold to swim, then it got hot but we were far away from the water, and then the flies came out and it started raining off and on. We ended up packing up a night early.

We went to a few more rallies. I feel a real sense of despair about all of it. At least we’ve been able to catch up with some friends at the same time.

Scott made us a gingerbread village to decorate. Gingerbread brings up lots of memories for me, of mom and Jane, Emily, Rosemarie, Natasha and Eric. Nice memories, a little bit sad at the same time. It’s a fun tradition though.

I liked Scott’s reindeer decoration.

Christmas was pretty chill this year. It was a small Christmas year so there weren’t as many children as usual. Plus the Jorna boys are getting pretty old now! We had the usual lunch of chicken and salads. No one seemed to care that my Nanaimo bars were the ugliest batch I’ve ever made!!

Check out this amazing tea towel that Rory gave us. He designs a new one every year. I love it!

Christmas zoom with the fam back home.

Trying on my latest knitting project to see if I wanted to add an extra row of design or not. Of course I do, #longtorso.

I just had a craving for hotpot. This time I picked a broth that wasn’t spicy, after burning my face off last time. Much more enjoyable.

I got a new board game for Christmas from my Kris Kringle. It’s called Welcome To and apparently you can play with 1-99 people. I don’t think it would work very well with more people that can sit around a table though, unless you had like a projector or something. We did play with Rosemarie remotely though which was fun!! Good recommendation from Lesley.

Unpictured stuff:

  • So much more pickleball. Indoors, outdoors, Ashburton, Hampton. I still love it.
  • Did the computer at the Phoenix Christmas Hit Out. I didn’t compete because I was still doing my strength program. That’s finished though so I’ll compete again in early 2024 probably.
  • Ethiopian food for Sonika’s birthday. Delicious. The vegetarian dishes are always so good.
  • We watched a lot of movies between Christmas and New Years: Riceboy Sleeps (sad), Grease (lol), The Holdovers (good), Air (ok), The Grizzlies (cheesy), Tetris (surprising), The Mirror Has Two Faces (wtf).
  • And then I went to bed at 9:30pm on New Years Eve. :P