So far I have successfully written 2022 as the date

7 January 2022

So, apparently how you spend the start of the year sets the tone for the year ahead.

By all accounts I'm going to spend 2022... tired. Not just feeling like I should have gone to bed earlier, I mean exhausted.

A very tiring fifteen hour drive back to Emerald on Monday set the scene for an exhausting week. I got back in time to help set up our new learning spaces at Kindy, and while it's more exciting than I can express it's been a lot of work. I NEVER want to work as a removalist EVER!

Even though I can pack the back of the ute like a Tetris Master. I learnt a very important lesson unpacking said well-packed ute in the dark before Christmas... pay attention. Turquoise ring - 1, Cherie - 0. I either need to go back to wearing basically no jewellery, or wear it more often so I get used to it.

We've had some hot weather this week across Queensland, which is obviously perfect for moving furniture and various kindergarten items. The car told me it was 48°C outside when I carefully got in it this afternoon.

Ever almost branded yourself with the seatbelt buckle? I have. Again today. It brought back memories of my first car... with the vinyl seats... in Normanton. Think back of thighs seared like a char-grilled steak (even through shorts) by extremely hot bench seat whilst barely gripping the hard steering wheel, and no air con. Loved that car though.

My brother has it now, working on restoring it to the splendour it displayed when our great grandfather drove it out of the Margate Motors car yard in 1969.

Maybe another reason I'm tired is that I stayed up till 1.30am Wednesday morning finishing off an assessment item for my Cert IV in Floristry. It was the Workplace Health and Safety one, so it was lots of fun. It would be much easier if people didn't do stupid things and/or stopped and thought about things a little bit, but apparently these are the times we're living in. Only one more assessment item to hand in (hopefully this weekend) and then I should be signed off.

Since I'll only have one Certificate IV course on the go this year, and working full-time I thought why not give myself another weekly challenge to complete. A photographer friend and I have had several conversations over the past year or so about how our motivation for photography has changed since we first started. We're each other's sounding board for all things photographic. Everyone needs these friends I think. We both saw something a mutual facebook friend posted about a photography challenge where she has posted a photo a week... for the last six years! That's an impressive level of commitment that has obviously become a good habit for her. I don't like my chances of hitting the six year mark, but I'm setting out to give one a week for 52 weeks a solid crack. Jacqui is joining me so we can motivate each other, and we're going to create a page to share our entries on. One day we would love to work together covering an equine event, but we live at different ends of of state, so that's not especially easy . The planets will align and it will work out eventually though I'm sure. The challenge is called 52Frames and you sign up on the website (https://52frames.com/) if you want in. Stay tuned for links to the new page when I get around to publishing it. I'd better think about how I'm going to tackle Week 1 - Self-portrait. Where did I put my cable release?

It's been quite a party, ain't it

Purple Fairy