Taking stock – March

The weeks are sliding by so quickly, I needed to slow down for a moment and have a good think about where I’m up to! This is a list from Pip Lincolne’s blog, Meet me at Mike’s.

Making: chocolate raspberry ripe bites – actually, that’s the plan for the weekend!
Cooking: slow-cooked bolognaise sauce with Miss 11, the type with a dozen ingredients that takes an hour or so to simmer away
Drinking: chai latte, my usual beverage of choice
Reading: The book of dust by Phillip Pullman – so amazing!
Wanting: more weeks before the holidays start
Looking: at my flourishing new garden with purple salvias, mauve clematis and waterfalls of silvery-green diacondra
Playing: with my butterfly quilt – a bit lot to undo before I can start again
Deciding: to let Mr 8 sleep in his homemade fort of sheets and chairs for a little bit longer
Wishing: for some long-term projects to come to fruition
Enjoying: listening to podcasts in the car
Waiting: for the May Kidlit festival
Liking: walking every day, especially along the Yarra River
Wondering: how I will feel if my three kids all make their basketball grand final on the weekend I’m away
Loving: my creatively organised Miss 11 with her hair in her two long braids
Pondering: whether to keep planning my book or start writing it
Considering: how to promote a new project
Buying: food that disappears the moment Mr 14 spies it in the fridge
Watching: This is us – my one hour of television a week!
Hoping: my husband has some good news about work soon
Marvelling: that autumn is here already
Cringing: every time someone sniffs! (Use a tissue!)
Needing: an early night or two
Questioning: whether I made the right choice in working from home fourteen years ago
Smelling: the first gardenia in my garden
Wearing: my favourite rose-gold sandals while the weather still allows it
Following: street artists on social media
Noticing: how the scent of my rose noir candle fills my study
Knowing: the truth of Brene Brown’s words – Don’t shrink. Don’t puff. Stand your sacred ground.
Thinking: about how much I want to fit into my days
Admiring: women who do manage to fit in a lot
Sorting: things out in my mind
Getting: organised for my Sydney writing course
Bookmarking: street artist websites
Coveting: a fabric belt
Disliking: drivers who don’t wave after you’ve let them in
Opening: a well-loved cookbook and rediscovering old favourites
Giggling: with my girlfriends at a kombucha workshop
Feeling: sad about a friend’s illness
Snacking: the leftover bits of prosciutto from the bolognaise sauce
Helping: a grade five class with their narrative writing
Hearing: the sound of the washing machine churning through yet another load of dirty washing

Maybe you’d like to copy and paste this list for yourself into a file, or write it in a journal or the back of an envelope. Or tell me one ‘ing’ in the comments!