January 6. Day 6. The Weatherman

The view from my back deck at 4pm and after the rain had cleared at 5.30pm

From early this morning it was on and everyone knew it, the only question was when. Actually even that was not a question - not in my mind at least. All you needed to do was apply the patented Susan Storm System which accurately predicts exactly when a thunder storm will arrive. It is a complex formula that requires you to do the following. Add the expected maximum temperature to the relative humidity. Subtract the actual temperature at 10.06am and then forget all that. The storm will arrive exactly 15 minutes before you are due to do the school pick up. It's a rule. This is the time of maximum inconvenience. Fifteen minutes is too long to be sitting outside the school in hail waiting, but you don't want to drive through the storm, but you don't want to leave the child waiting ... and so it goes.

But it's school holidays, I hear you say. This is true but today I had to pick up Drama Teen from a musical theatre workshop being held at a school - thus the rule totally applies. Scheduled pick up time 4.15pm. Time of heavens opening at my place 4pm. Proof positive. Now it MIGHT be true that there have been storms that break outside the school pick up times but like a gambler who only ever remembers when the numbers come up I have selective memory loss. So there you have it. You are welcome to use this tried and tested formula but please credit me when it proves right. When the formula fails tell someone who cares*. (*ie not me)

January 5. Day 5. Lazy Days and Sundays

Today all my get-up-and-go got up and went.
While I could consult Miss Marple or even Dr Google as to the Case of the Missing Motivation I shall instead put forward a few of my own theories.
1) A bad case of Going Back to Work-Itis. Tomorrow the Out of Office auto reply goes off and I actually have to start dealing with the real world again. That's enough to make a girl want to stay in bed.
2) A heat hangover. Yesterday's scorcher was a full blown energy sapper which could have flow-on effects.
3) Junk food withdrawal. Sorry body you are just going to have to reacquaint yourself with a diet where the five food groups are not sugar, salt, fat, MSG and artificial colours. The silly season is officially over. It's salad days now. Get used to it.
At least I had an ally in my official Day of Rest. Rumple was quite content to lie by the pool and do nothing. I did throw the ball to him and his response was pretty much "fetch it yourself if you're so keen".
I would have, if I could have been bothered. And anyway as the saying goes "why keep a dog and bark yourself?" Sorry fur friend, tomorrow it's back to work and that means - well absoultely nothing to you really. You get to continue lying around looking cute while the rest of us earn money to keep you in your life of leisure. It's a dog's life all right.

January 4. Day 4. Clear and present danger

As a journalism educator, I must say I am tragically disappointed at the coverage of the current heat wave, and in particular references to the dangers it poses.
I've heard about
1) Heatstroke
2) Bushfires and
3) Injuries resulting from the wild surf
But where are your inquiry skills people? Let me tell you about the dangers in my house
1) The danger that will result when my accountant husband sees the power bill that will results from 24/7 use of the cranked up air conditioner
2) The danger of living with a fur friend who does not see why 40 degree heat should be any reason not to sleep on your human's head and
3) The danger of pool play * as demonstrated in this image.**
Bring your TV cameras round to my place people and I'll show you what real dangers exist. Things are hotting up around here.
*No teenager was hurt in the taking of this image
** Chilling in the pool with Dad is never going to be boring

January 3. Day 3. It's a kind of magic

There is probably a detailed scientific explanation as to why the sun setting over the Gold Coast Broadwater this afternoon looked as it did. Smoke in the atmosphere from bushfires on Stradbroke Island, combined with temperature, humidity, wind speed, barometric pressure and who know what else doubtless combine in a formula that created something spectacular to behold. If I wanted to know, I'm sure a meteorologist could explain it to me. Or I could just enjoy the spectacle for what it is and be blown away by its magic. Personally I prefer the latter. So it is with magic of the stage illusion kind. I know no-one has ever been sawn in half, had knives thrust into the bits, been set on fire in the name of magic, levitated, disappeared or any of the things that happen in a big magic act. Yes, my eyes are almost certainly deceiving me. Yes there will be smoke and mirrors and goodness knows what else but I don't care and I certainly don't want to know. I want to be amazed. I love the sleight of hand. I love the illusion.
Which was what made the magic show I witnessed tonight so disappointing. I thought the big danger of my front row seat might be that I ended up on stage as a prop in a giant theatrical display. If only.
From my particular angle I got to see far more than I bargained for and let's just say many of the illusions will never be the same again. For me magic should be like a sausage roll - it's best enjoyed without knowing what went into it. The great sadness is, once you know you can never look at it the same way again.

January 2. Day 2. I'm on fire

There's a reason a thing called SPRING cleaning exists - it's too darn hot in summer.
And yet today two significant projects of a domestic nature were undertaken in my house. One involved a blow torch (and the other probably should have).
Wasps have taken up residence in multiple locations around the house, all of them in high traffic, vastly inconvenient positions. It's time to go wasps.
The other involved tackling Drama Teen's bedroom. This is a job that is long overdue as I was waiting to get my Hazardous Materials certification before venturing over the threshold.A blow torch would have been easier but I don't think our insurance policy covers it so I threw caution to the wind and entered. My hesitation was well justified if only on account of the partially eaten Freddo Frog show bag discovered at the back of the wardrobe feeding cockroaches. The exact vintage of the bag is not yet determined but we haven't been to the show in at least two years .... It wasn't pretty.
But it's done and a domestic goddess badge earned, For today at least, I'm on fire.

January 1. Day 1. Fresh start

January 1. It's not unexpected to wake up feeling crap, a bit sluggish, slightly seedy.
That's exactly how I felt but there's one small problem with this story. Last night I drank mineral water. I am not talking about mineral water between other beverages I am talking nothing but mineral water. And yet I get the hangover. Now that sucks and totally proves my point. I'm getting old. And so starts operation Fresh Beginnings where I shall try to slow down a bit and just chill.
So with my brother Michael , my nephew Connor (pictured) and our two fur friends in tow we went to Nudgee Beach for a dip and then back home to the pool, followed by a game of Cluedo and a nap. It was all very refreshing.
And because it is the season for a fresh start, I have now gone almost 24 hours without eating crap food.
For the record this is NOT a diet like those I have started every January 1 for decades. This is about taking better care of myself and that means everything in moderation (even chocolate Susan, even chocolate).

December 31. Day 365. Resolutions

Some people don't know when to stop. What kind of a person gets to the end of a 366 day project and then says "You know what? Why don't I start again?" This kind of person, apparently.
It's the same kind of attitude I have taken to New Year's Resolutions. The fact is that I have had the same resolution since I way 16 - to lose weight - and I  am now about 30 kilograms heavier than my Age 16 weight doesn't seem to deter me.  But not this year. This year will be a different story. In my mind Resolutions need to tick two boxes. They need to be 1) achievable and 2) worthwhile.
So I could resolve to stop using my iPhone but that would be an epic fail and setting oneself up for failure makes not sense at all.
And I could resolve to eat cereal every day but when I got to the end of the year even I would say "who cares?" That makes no sense at all either.
So as a really tough year comes to an end I have decided to take a new approach and thus I will make just one resolution - to be kinder to myself. That's it.
That may mean saying "no", that may mean turning off that phone just some times, it may mean creating more me time (even if it means putting it in the diary) but most of all it will mean being prepared to both ask for help when it's needed and accept it when it's offered. I do not have to try and do it all and then be surprised when I start dropping balls. This will end. It's time for new beginnings. Happy New Year and whatever your resolutions are may you find the strength to stick to them,