2025 reflection - highs and lows

Happy New Year! The blog is back! I've missed blogging the last few months, but its really only after a good break from work over these holidays that I feel refreshed and wanting to jump back in with posting again.

I thought I'd post just a few highlights from the last few months (and a few lowlights to keep it real!).

Highlights:

1. O graduated from Kindy and is starting his first year of school next year (we call this Prep in QLD). He is so much more confident now in so many ways, its a huge transformation from the start of the year. At his Kindy graduation, there was a magic show, and he volunteered to go up in front of all the kids and parents to assist the magician! Where has my shy boy gone? He's also almost swimming now, jumping into the pool, kicking across the pool with only a little bit of assistance from Dad. Considering how many swimming pools are in our lives (both grandparents, friends, etc have pools), this is a major and exciting milestone for him.

   

2. I got promoted at work! Come January 1st, I will have the title Associate Professor at my University. The application process was very involved (and happened mid year during a very stressful time), and my application was assessed by a panel plus an independent expert, so this was a big deal. A few close colleagues also were promoted to various levels on the same day, so it was a very happy day for our work team! Great way to end the year.

3. We had a great family trip to Port Macquarie, a beautiful NSW beach town, for a week in September. We stayed in a great apartment, we visited some old and dear friends who live there, and we generally had an excellent time.

   

   

4. E finished school on a high note, with good friends, a good report card, and a lot of confidence going forward into Year 3 next year. She had a little bit of a rocky start to 2025 with friendships and she was a bit lonely at school earlier in the year, so its been heartwarming to see her find her crew later in the year.

5. We had a special time with family and close friends during a visit to Melbourne the week before Christmas, and then back on the Sunshine Coast for Christmas itself. Melbourne is where I grew up, met Al, and lived until my early 30s, so to say I have deep roots there is an understatement. During the 6 nights in Melbourne we had three family and extended family catch ups, a day babysitting our 6 year old niece (so much cousin fun!), and 5 catch ups with old friends too! Phew! We also had lots of swims in our hotel's indoor pool, visited Santa's village in a local department store which was fun, and went out for a lot of yummy food (Korean, Italian, Aussie pub food, Thai). Melbourne is a foodie's paradise, so food always features heavily. Then we flew home, recovered for exactly one day, and then went straight into Christmas festivities with Al's side of the family. Al's parents have moved up to Sunshine Coast now (hooray!), and his Sydney-based family traveled up for the week, and so Christmas socialising stretched from the 22nd - 26th December. It was a really fun time. Lots of sun, swimming, drinks, and food. So lovely to see our now adult (or almost adult) niece and nephews, have great chats with everyone, and generally soak up the family connections and memory making. By the 26th, however, I was exhausted, and so were the kids. So we've been laying a bit low for a few days, which was nice. I'm so glad I'm not back at work until the 5th January!

Bonus mini-highlights: a) I now have perfect skin because of the medication I started taking, after struggling with acne skin issues for years. It is SO nice to just not think about my skin day to day. b) The kids got a trampoline for Christmas and they love it, and we love to see them outside, active, so often, instead of asking for a screen. c) Mum and I went to a day music festival in October, including Crowded House ae the headline act, and it was a wonderful day!

Watching Crowded House with my mum

Lowlights (the bloggable ones):

1. Someone drove into my beautiful new BYD on a roundabout when we were in Port Macquarie and put a big dent in the front bumper and side panel, which I'm still waiting to be fixed! Its the other drivers fault, no one was injured luckily, the car is driveable, and its fully covered by insurance luckily. But it was still a shock and disappointment.

2. The last few months were VERY busy at work. The kind of busy where you wonder how on Earth you will actually get everything done. This period ran from early September to mid-November, so it was a marathon rather than a sprint. Of course, as always, everything did get done, and the busy period ended, but it was tough while it was happening. Especially because life, parenting etc didn't stop either of course.

3. I've ended up finishing the year with some kind of skin infection on my back. I won't go into details, because nobody wants that, but its meant multiple visits to the chemist, antibiotics, dressings, no swimming despite the hot, hot days, and... its STILL not completed healed. I'm back to the nurse practitioner today for advice. Sigh. I will count my blessings, however, because we avoided any other kinds of illnesses or injuries over the holidays, so that's a win.

4. I have not made significant progress on my novel writing, despite not blogging (see above regarding very busy period the last few months). However, I have made some breakthroughs with plot and character, and I'm ready to write, which is good because the deadline for the first lot of writing in end of Jan!

I hope everyone has as a good New Year, however you celebrate it, and I'll be back soon with my 2026 Goals and Intentions.