A lot can happen in a month

I have been meaning to write a quick update but have always struggled to find the time. Work has been super busy - we are getting into the annual renewals phase which requires a lot of liaison work with vendors, working with managers and Execs to get approvals and working with systems to get everything updated. We are nearing the end of this process for the year but all the usual processes have been changed due to the additional scruitiny on financial transactions due the pandemic impacts.

Even though we are heading into summer, it seems that a cold/flu type thing has gone through town. Seems Eldest daughter brought it home from school most likely but due to COVID restrictions she was stauck at home for almost a week until the lingering cough subsided. Then Jules came down with it while she was with her sisters for a weekend away. Her inability to breathe well meant she stopped by the hospital on the way home. She got referred to her doc to get a referral to a specialist that she already had an appointment to, but at least she is sounding much better now.

While Julia was away, I got to look after 3 kids by myself over a weekend. 2 of which were a bit under the weather and a 3 year old who doesn't understand personal boundaries. I feel we came through relatively unscathed but there were a few times - especially after I had completely stuffed up the jewellery box lid mirror. I will do a seperate post covering that work in progress but short story is that I intended to epoxy a mirror into a recessed part of a jewellery box lid. I put all the epoxy down but the mirror was slightly too big for the recessed area and I ended up breaking the mirror trying to get it out. I now have to remove all the dried epoxy and get a new custom mirror cut up. Luckily the local glass shop are pretty accomodating about mirrors on the spot so shouldn't be too much of a hassle but I'm not looking forward to sanding back all the epoxy. At the time that the mirror broke I was feeling really down; felt like a complete failure - I also had to complete a job application weighing heavily on my mind which probably didn't help. I think focusing on doing other tasks around the house helped to pull me out of that hole - Putting up the streamers to scare birds away from our outside dining table, deep cleaning some of our carpet with our new carpet cleaner vacuum thing, loads of washing, etc. I think what really did it was Julia getting home. I was definitely happier after that!

MS Gong Ride - Completed 410km on the bike and raised $449 for Multiple Sclerosis research and support. Pretty proud of that effort and it had me riding 3-4 times a week (although usually on the trainer). Haven't done much since unfortunately but I intend to turn that around.

Also, I became a member of ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association). In order for me to change the 'acting' part of my current role to be more permenant, I needed to be eligible for an associate membership to ALIA. This required sending all the information regarding my Masters course along with my resume and experience to be assessed by ALIA (along with a fee). Thankfully I have been accepted so thats the first hurdle - I also have to apply and go through an interview process so still a bit to do but at least I am now eligible! Thing I really like about being an ALIA member is that they have a great PD program - if you complete so many hours of PD related to Information science or digital literacy you can become a certified practitioner but they send out heaps of really interesting articles for professional reading and short courses. You need to save all the session information and keep a reflective journal but their online portal has a section you can record all of this. I was considering adding it to this blog just with a unique tag but I think it might be easier to have it all in their site.

Our local cinema has been putting on a heap of old movies for limited 1 week runs - managed to go and see the original Alien and Aliens movies on the big screen. Julia even agreed to go and watch Aliens with me. She jumped and screamed a few times (she really doen't handle horror well) but gotta give her props, she stuck around and stayed until the very end and while she may not have enjoyed it, it was super special for her to come along and watch one of my all time favourite movies on the big screen with me. Now they just have the Twilight series running and while I don't mind them, I don't need to see them on the big screen again. Not like Big Trouble in Little China! (but sadly I missed this one)

On the gaming front, I finished MotoGP20 but this game gives you the opportunity to run teams in other classes so I am still having fun with that one. Also got the new Star Wars Squadrons game which I have been enjoying - getting to fly an X-wing and a Tie-fighter is awesome. Also got the Wipeout racing game as it was dirt cheap. Only a few levels in but I have to say, I am enjoying it as well - more of a casual racer game which is great when you just want to space out for a little while.

I think that is pretty much it for now. I keep telling myself I have to post more often; be a bit more organised and it won't become a huge braindump such as this one but with Christmas quickly approaching, I think it may be another stint before I write again. I'm hoping to surprise myself!