Yesterday was the final day of our 3 week holiday... well I wouldn't say 'holiday' exactly, but time away from work. It was the longest amount of time either of us have had off in as long as we can both remember. For me, it was the longest I was away from work since I started this job in October, 2017.

Late last week my hubby wasn't feeling crash hot - fevers, headaches, niggly feeling at the back of his throat/nose - so he found himself a five pack of rapid antigen tests. Don't ask me how, but he apparently spent a bit of time on the phone calling around until he found somewhere that had some in stock. He did a test on Thursday afternoon and it was negative.

Over the next two days his symptoms didn't really get any better but they also didn't really get any worse. He was wearing long pants and a jumper on Friday... in 30*C weather and then went to bed with the doona on while I was in shorts and a t-shirt. So clearly, the fever was still playing havoc with him.

He was supposed to go back to work last night and because he wasn't feeling 100% he decided to do another RAT to see what was going on. Within a few minutes of placing the liquid on the tester, the second red line became visible - he was positive! 

He registered his positive test with NSW Health and they sent him some useful information on where to get support if needed. They also said that anyone living with him should also test. I wasn't experiencing any symptoms so didn't feel I needed to test, but we followed the rules and...

Low and behold... I was positive! My second line was not as vibrant as his, but as you can see it's definitely there! 

Thankfully my symptoms have basically been non-existent. I've had a bit of a sore throat and am a bit tired... but in saying that it is 8pm on my first day back at work in 3 weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the extent of it!

If it is, I will definitely continue to feel very blessed that I am one of the lucky ones who have had minimal symptoms 

Today I spent a good chunk of time doing housework. Hubby hit the road at 9.30 to go and spend his birthday vouchers... a mere 230km from home... so I knew I had a few hours where I could crank some daggy music and attack the house from front door to back door.

I normally really dislike housework but something came over me this morning and I just wanted to get in and get it all done. Going back to work on Monday comes with the challenges of fitting things like housework in to the schedule and when you aren't keen on it, it always makes it harder to want to make the time.

I am actually a bit ashamed to admit that I hadn't properly cleaned my office in a while. I had kept it tidy but it was just not 'clean'. Everything was taken down, dusted and even disinfected before unnecessary 'things' were tossed and the space was put back together in a way to inspire me to get Monday off to a great start. This also included setting my desk up in the standing position so it's that way at 8am on Monday.

I also set up my project/goals/to do board. I bought this almost 2 months ago but only got around to properly getting it set up and up on the wall today.

This is where I will keep track of the projects I am working on at work as well as important to do items, my wish list for what I'd love EP to look like for teachers and students in Australia and the good ol' 'Other' space. Not quite sure what this will house just yet, but I wasn't sure what to call it! This could end up a great space for quotes or brainstorming ideas for other non-work related stuff.


I still have 4 full days before my holidays are officially over. This is the longest I have been away from work since I started at EP in October 2017. Being on holidays has been a struggle at times because I enjoy being busy... but I have pushed myself to take the opportunity to slow down a bit.

Tomorrow I am catching up with an old colleague who is actually going to become a new colleague again when she joins EP on Monday. I am super excited about having her join the team and working with her again!

​My goodest office buddy, Farah, is excited that the space is nice and tidy so she doesn't have to navigate 'stuff' to get to her special spot!! 

... a pretty big thing actually.

I have just signed a contract with a small educational publisher to write and publish a book in 2022. This has been a goal of mine for some time and when this opportunity arose it was something I was super keen on.

Enter the imposter syndrome thoughts and the constant self-talk that was focusing on the negative aspect... What if no one buys it? Do people really want to read about this topic? What if takes up more time than you thought? What if you get half way through it and you get stumped and never finish?

After a good amount of time I finally discovered the answers to all of those questions were exactly the same... What if you're wrong?! 

Sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and ignore the negative self-talk. I have missed out on a lot of opportunities in the past because I haven't thought I was good enough or I wasn't brave enough to take the first step.

Well... that step has now been taken... so watch this space!! 

After my plans for today were changed, I decided to book hubby and I on an adventure! We have driven past the Illawarra Fly Tree Top Walk a number of times, but had never been in. The weather was supposed to be fairly average today, but it was quite pleasant - no real rain on the forecast and the temperatures weren't supposed to be too high.

We jumped in the car and headed off - Google Maps took us the most 'scenic' route, all to save 9 minutes apparently!! Some of the roads were pretty treacherous, but also a bit of fun in the RS.

As we were coming in to Robertson, the weather dramatically changed.  The fog was extremely thick and we were passing through intermittent showers. Brett had no idea where we were going so the further along the road we went, driving well below the speed limit to ensure that we were safe, I just started laughing at the probability of something  like this!

Once we arrived, we checked in and headed out on the walk. Although we could hardly see a few meters in front of us, especially on the suspended bridges, it was quite beautiful. The temperature was a good 5-7 degrees cooler than Sydney and the misty rain was refreshing. 

Brett didn't overly enjoy the experience as he isn't that keen on heights. I didn't think it would be an issue, but the suspension bridges swayed when they were walked on. I loved it - the serenity, the sounds and being able to take some photos using my camera.

What I didn't love was the two leeches that found their way to my legs! The first one freaked me out quite a bit and I may or may not have sworn quite loudly while I was asking Brett to remove it from me. I slightly freaked the young girl out from the family behind us! He eventually flicked it off my left calf and we started on our way again when the family asked us to describe it as they hadn't seen one before and wanted to know what to look out for. In the process of looking for the leech on the ground, we ended up finding it again... ON MY RIGHT LEG!!! As Brett had flicked it off one leg, it latched itself to my other. I then had another, smaller one trying to get into my sock further along the path. This time Brett was nowhere to be seen (he had perched himself on one of the stable parts of the bridge) so I had to remove it myself! Definitely not fun, but again - something too to the memory banks.

Once we had finished the 1.5km loop of the walk we headed off to the famous Robertson Pie Shop for lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed my beef pie and caramel slice before we headed home... slowly watching the fog lift and the temperature climb back into the 30s as we approached the freeway.

All in all, a great day - you really have to laugh at some of these things or you'll cry!! They really did add to the adventure though :) 

Today has also taught me that I need to get back to using my camera a bit more - especially with my macro lense. 

Yesterday I finally had the space to watch the Harry Potter 20th anniversary - 'Return to Hogwarts'. I had decided to wait until a day where I had the house to myself so that I had the freedom to enjoy it to whatever extent was needed without the judgemental eyes of my husband... and I am so glad that I did.

From the opening sequence through to the intimate interviews, the whole thing was so well put together. Seeing the way the actors re-connected after time apart and how much they impacted on each others lives while growing up was truly beautiful. 

I loved being able to listen to the director's perspectives of what they wanted to bring to each film and especially the insight that Chris Columbus provided on the immense weight he felt being 'the chosen one' to turn the written words of J.K. Rowling into a live action film. Just as interesting was hearing from the producer of the whole series, David Heyman, who had purchased the film rights to the books in 1999 for $2 million. He had a vision of how the films were going to take place, but was also very precise in his choice of director for each subsequent film once Chris Columbus stepped away. 

While I was still teaching I tried to weave the books and films into my programs where I could. I wrote two whole Year 7 Science units that were based around them - 'The Chamber of Secrets' was an introduction to high school Science unit and 'Spells & Potions' focused on the states of matter. Both units were extremely well received by the students, even though I was told Harry Potter was 'long gone'. I tried to revive those two units at my last school, however, wasn't as lucky :( I really do believe that current students would still enjoy the context to this date - I'm fairly certain this reunion will help spark a renewed interest and love in the books/films!

I held it all together fairly well until the section where they celebrated the lives of those who were lost during the filming of the series or those who have passed on since. Alan Rickman is one of my favourite actors. He is of the same ilk as Tim Curry - another of my favourties... both men I could sit and listen to for hours. (I was lucky enough to actually meet Tim in person in London in 2006!) Throughout the books and films, we grew to love Snape for his sacrifices and his love of Lily. 

Overall, I was extremely happy with the way that the special was produced... and the last word of the 90+-minute feature was absolute perfection, even if it did send me into fits of ugly crying. So the decision to watch it alone was truly warranted! 

If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. It is available on Binge and Foxtel. 

Is there anyone else who thinks about Douglas Adams when they hear the number 42? According to 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', the number 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.

I will admit that I actually haven't read 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', but I remember that my Dad did when I was younger and the books were always lying around our back living room... so why title this blog simply '42...'?

​This year I will be turning 42 in October... two years ago I wrote a blog about turning 40 and thinking about setting myself a bucket list of things to do before that 'dreaded day' arrived. Well, here I am, two years down the track and I didn't tick anything off the list that people suggested.

The things that were suggested included things like 'run a half marathon', ' complete a triathlon', 'snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef'...  anyone who knows me will know my knee history and the fact that running is not supposed to be in my vocabulary!! Brett & I also had a trip to Daydream Island booked for October 2021, which we had to cancel thanks to the good ol' Rona and travel restrictions! 

I didn't get to really celebrate my 40th the way I had hoped... we were just coming out of the 2020 restrictions, so we were limited to 20 people and I had to push the date out until the end of my birthday month... then we had torrential rain the whole day and night of the party. 2021, I spent my birthday in actual lockdown - so again, didn't really get to celebrate it with family and friends.

This year I don't think I'm going to set any real expectations on anything!! As they say ... 'no expectations, no disappointment'!! I'm just looking forward to riding the year out, celebrating the small wins that come my way and enjoying all of the amazing things as they happen and let life just be, because as the last two years have taught us - you can't predict anything anymore!!! 

One thing I might put on my bucket list though is to actually read 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. 

The second book I have finished in 2022 was Mel Robbins', 'The 5 Second Rule'. I was gifted a Kindle from hubby for Christmas... it was supposed to be for my birthday, but didn't arrive in time - so it turned up under the tree for me... very surprised and very spoilt! I absolutely love reading, but have started to struggle for space due to the number of books that are competing for space on my bookshelf next to my massive collection of Bon Jovi CDs and X-Files DVDs that I can't bear to part with!

Since I read 'Atomic Habits' while I was recovering from knee surgery I have started to explore more books based on self-help topics. I have read some amazing books in the last 2 years that have helped to change my outlook on life and the way that I do things. When 'The 5 Second Rule' popped up as a recommendation on my Kindle I thought, 'Why not?'.

Within the first few chapters I was already all in. Mel uses a lot of personal testimonials throughout the book from every day people who have implemented the 5 second rule from everything from getting out of bed earlier in the morning through to asking for a promotion. Some reviews I have read on GoodReads didn't feel that these testimonials helped add to the book, but rather made it feel like an infomercial - that Mel was just trying to 'sell something'. I felt the opposite - seeing these stories helped me see that this is an easily implementable action that I can bring in to my Libran (and therefore indecisive!) life.

The book also had some great information regarding how the brain works to make decisions and how procrastination can actually be a good thing! Knowing that putting things off is a way to deal with other stress has given me some great ideas on how to deal with this moving forward, especially when work returns in 2 weeks and I will be back in full swing with my new position.

In regards to the procrastination part - I have been given a pretty awesome opportunity to do one thing I have always dreamed of doing... but I have already been crippled with imposter syndrome and have been procrastinating. After reading only the first part of Mel's book I didn't think twice, counted back from 5 and jumped in with both feet. The procrastination has also paid off as I now have a number of ideas that I will be working on!

Speaking of procrastination, it's already been more that 365 days since my last blog... something I said I was going to work on in 2021. I guess that didn't happen did it!? But here we are again - a new year and another chance to start fresh!!

By the way, the first book I finished in 2021 was 'Close Your Eyes' by Rachel Abbott. This was a Kindle Unlimited book that caught my eye. I read it in just on 2 days. It was full of twists and turns that were unexpected and I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be exploring some of Rachel's other books from the same series. 

Also, if you are a GoodReads user it would be awesome to connect - I love seeing what other people are reading (I ended up with a new GoodReads account when I registered my Kindle)! 

Although I travelled on far fewer planes in 2020 than in 2019, I have heard the saying 'secure your own mask before helping others' used quite a bit recently. With the start of a new year, lots of people are talking about self-care and how taking time to look after yourself is so important. I guess the 'mask' saying has come about more due to our current situation - as of midnight last night, face masks have now become mandatory for adults when visiting indoor venues in NSW - but it really is just a re-wording of another saying that I hear quite often being 'you can't fill from an empty cup'.

Both of these sayings remind us that when we are not at our 'peak' we cannot help others. Now, I'm not saying that 'helping others' needs to be your sole goal for looking after yourself, but as far as I can tell most decent humans appreciate the fact that they are able to help others if need be. Helping others can be something as little as being able to be there for a friend or family member that needs an ear or even being able to take a furry loved on out for a walk.

Over the last few years I have spent a lot more time 'filling my own cup' so that when needed, I am able to help fill the cup of others. The thing I love about being able to help fill someone else's cup is that it often helps to top mine up that last little bit when I see just how much my love, support or inspiration can mean to them.  

I thought I'd share some of my ways to look after myself, you might find something on the list that you haven't thought would work for you to give a go over the next few weeks or so :)

• Get a good night's sleep. This has been the biggest game changer for me. I get an average of 8 hours sleep every night and it has completed changed my mood, my attitude and my motivation to tackle everything that comes up during a day. Our phones have amazing tools such as the 'Bedtime reminder' on the iPhone to help us achieve this!
• Drink lots of water. Skip the caffeine loaded drinks, especially in the afternoon. Majority of people are dehydrated and confuse this for hunger. Improving your water intake also has other benefits such as clear skin!
• Read. Put the phone down and read something - get transported to another place through words and your own imagination!
• Get outside. Even just a 15 minute walk can help to get you away from the source of stress or anxiety. Fresh air and sunlight is so important for your health and your mood.
• Dance. Put on your favourite tune and have a boogie!! Even when you're sitting in the traffic - a quick car jam can lift your mood so much by just belting out your favourite lyrics!
• Eat more real food. Like the caffeine, processed foods make us feel sluggish. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables help your body to stay functioning on the inside, especially in your gut and there is a lot of research around the brain-gut connection. If your gut isn't working properly, neither is your brain.
• Hug something fluffy! It's crazy how animals just 'know' when you need a hug. If you don't have a pet, think about volunteering at an animal shelter or finding a great friend who has one that you can 'borrow' every now and then!! 

I would love to hear what you are doing today to ensure that your mask is secured first and help fill your cup!! 

 Welcome to 2021... we made it through 2020 but like most people, I'm not quite ready to get too excited about this year until I get to see a little bit more!

I haven't purchased my usual desk planner or even a diary of any kind, simply because I have no idea if it's going to be necessary!! We work using Google Calendar, so my whole life ends up there first anyway. 

I go back to work on Thursday, so a trip to Officeworks will no doubt be in my future - even though I don't REALLY need any new stationery, I can't quite get used to a new 'academic' year without the new stationery to go with it! So I'll probably grab myself a planner of some sort then!

Anyway, the real reason for this blog is to share my 2021 goals with you... note, goals - not resolutions! These aren't things that I am just bringing about because it's the first of January. These are outcomes that I am wanting to check off after the first 90 days of 2021. Last year I wrote yearly goals and due to the changes that took place, some of them were somewhat unachievable.

I like the idea of 90 day goals - this means that after the first 90 days of the year I can reassess where I'm at and then come up with a new set of goals. I don't really think I'm very good at actually writing goals, so doing it 4 times throughout 2021 will hopefully help me get better at it (or at least trust myself more that I'm doing a good job!). 

I found it easier to achieve my 2020 goals by having a 'how' sheet that went alongside my goals. This broke down each of my goals into achievable steps to help me achieve the bigger goal. 

These will both be printed out and stuck above my desk so I see them every day at work. I might also make some visual representations of each goal to display around my office as well. The more you see and read your goals, the more your subconscious will help you to achieve them.  

Lastly, to finish today's blog... I wanted to share my 'one word' for 2021. In 2020, after I had written my goals, I decided that my one word was going to be GROW. I was working towards growing myself in the gym, helping to grow EP Science and growing my relationships - all of which I am happy to report that I achieved.

In 2021, I have decided that my word is going to be MORE - more love, more listening, more movement, more whole-foods, more consistency, more reading, more learning, more of all the good stuff :) 

Well... here we are!

It's been a hot minute since I blogged last. Somehow I feel like I say that every time I start a new post. I did really well throughout January - 22 posts, one a day - but then work got crazy busy again and that all went out the window.

Anyway... December 30th, 2020. What. A. Year - and as everyone keeps reminding me, it ain't over yet!! With the calendar year coming to a close tomorrow I thought it best I reflect on my 2020 goals before I spend time over the next couple of days writing new ones for 2021 

The image above consists of my 2020 goals that were written on December 31st, 2019. After a goal setting session with my coach and the other girls in the program I am working with him in, 'The Minimalist Method', we were given the task to write a set of goals for four different pillars. I chose to display mine above my computer so that I could see them every day when I was at work.

I also wrote about my goals in this post so that I had shared them with others. One thing I have learnt about goals is that sharing them helps them to become 'more real' and you are also able to have others help you to be accountable for them. Another great thing about sharing your goals is that you may find others who are out there who are either working towards the same goal or have recently achieved this goal who can support you!

Another important thing about goals is being able to reflect on them and see how you went - which is the point of this blog. The four pillars that we were asked to write goals around included Career/Business, Relationships/Spirituality, Growth/Mindset and Body/Strength/Progress. Looking back, I am happy to report that I have been able to smash a number of these goals... but others I've dropped the ball on, but that's totally fine!!

So here. are my goals and my reflection on how I went with them this year:

I'm going to start with the ​Career/Business pillar as this is one that I feel that I did great in this year: 
​

• Meet new Science revenue targets - in 2020 I was able to help EP secure it's first government contract. As a result, we will be providing EP Science to every Year 7-10 student in Victoria for the next few years! 
• Meet churn target - throughout the year I've been in touch with many teachers to gather feedback on EP Science to make sure that we are offering the best possible resource. I am unsure what my churn % is just yet as it's not finalised until invoicing season is over!
• Increased engagement with customers - one of my 'subgoals' for this overall goal was to blog every day - well we've already established that this didn't happen!! Also, conferences were cancelled due to COVID and we weren't able to hold networking events, but we were able to pivot and run a huge number of webinars and online sessions with teachers which helped to keep the level of engagement up
• Build Content for the platform - this year I wrote 6 (I think it was?!) Science News lessons that are live on our EP platform. The lesson I wrote about COVID has been completed by over 20 thousand students and our Languages team translated it into a number of different languages!!
• Learn more about the business side of the company - I have definitely learnt more about EP as a whole, however, I haven't completed any courses like I would have liked to. 

​The next pillar I thought I'd discuss is the Body/Strength/Progress one, another one I feel like I did extremely well with this year!!

• Close my rings every day - when I close them today and tomorrow, it will be all 366 days with all 3 rings closed!
• Complete all my monthly Apple Watch challenges - I ended up with 7/12. Some of them this year were insanely unrealistic! I made the decision not to complete some of them for my own mental health more than anything!!
• Drink 2-3L of water a day - done :) 
• Hit weekly calorie, protein & fibre goals - this was awesome until December! HAHA
• Build my strength back up and then increase as the year progresses - once I got the all clear from my physio I was back in the gym and working on my strength. I didn't miss a resistance session during lockdown - exercise really helped me get through those long days at home! I came about 2kg off my goal of body weight squats, was able to complete a series of double bodyweight hip thrusts and I'm still working on one unassisted pull up! Injuries have been niggling here and there throughout the year, but I have been working with an awesome physio! 

Pillar 3 to look at is Growth/Mindset

• Read more, scroll less - I may not have read for 20 minutes EVERY day, but I read 15 books of varying lengths and styles including books for self-development and enjoyment
• Sleep 7-9 hours per night - done :) 
• Less take away, more eating at home - this year we explored cooking at home a lot more, I guess thanks to COVID! We explored Hello Fresh and Marley Spoon and I also learnt a lot about nutrition and food that helps me feel good! We still enjoy probably too much take away, but you get that!!
• Be totally OK with the fact I’m turning 40 this year!! - so the big 4-0 came and went with nothing really mind-blowing apart from a small family gathering at home on a day where we had a huge storm and the weather was shit :P 

The last pillar was Relationships/Spirituality and the one where I didn't get to achieve as much I'd like to due to COVID more than anything I guess... 

• Date day/night with hubby once a month - well nope, this didn't happen! But there's always 2021!
• Take my Nan out once a month - we got one outing before she was put into lockdown and I got one visit before the shit hit the fan again! 
• Make the effort to connect with colleagues face to face -  this I was able to do - but it was more via Zoom than face to face than I would have liked!! We made a much bigger effort once restrictions were eased, but we also caught up every day on Slack & Zoom to make sure that everyone was doing ok!
• Reach out to friends & family - again - not so good in this one. No footy games meant I rarely got to see my 'footy fam', Christmas Day restrictions meant that I didn't get to host Christmas Day... but I tried a number of different ways to connect with people via Zoom, Messenger etc!!

So... all in all, looking back 2020 was actually a really decent year for me - despite all of the 'shitstorm' that it turned out to be globally. I look forward to spending some time writing my 2021 goals and being flexible enough to pivot with them if need be... if things don't return to 'normal'!