The big news of this week is that H will be going back to school in Term 2. We went for an enrolment interview at the school she really liked and they really liked her so I am so happy to see she will be in a place that will nurture her as a whole person. The school’s educational philosophy aligns with everything I love about learning and I could not be happier for her to be there. Just like the little lorikeet in the picture above she will soar like a bird into the next phase of her life. Oh, and it was H’s 15th birthday this week and she organised everything for her special celebration. It was such a treat.
We did have a family dinner to celebrate the March and April birthdays with some delicious Sri Lankan food. Everyone really enjoyed the Sri Lankan lasagne with chicken curry. I loved the lentils, roti and pan rolls!
This week I received my new Macbook Air which I will be using for work and my placement. My lovely large Macbook Pro is still doing so well after 8 years but it was time I had a more portable laptop – my new machine is so good to work with and I love it. I am just deciding how to customise it and make it my own as I need to travel soon and I do not want to pick up someone else’s machine at the security check!
Saturday was a busy one as I started a Nature Stewards course. This is a place where I will learn about the land on which I live, work and play. I applied for the course through my local council, as a friend of mine said I would love it and I truly do. I left the class today feeling so inspired about the environment and I now have a true belief that a few concerned people at the local level can make a difference. Today I found out the history of a loved place of mine, where I go to ride my bike – Merri creek. Back in the 70’s there was a planned freeway right over the creek which would have been a disaster. Instead of a freeway we now have a wildlife corridor thanks to Friends of the Merri Creek who came to talk to us today – they are actually the creators of this wonderful curriculum. Here is what I said about wanting to be involved in the program:
“After watching your introduction video, the program resonated with me as I am interested in the natural world and have been ever since I was a little person. I am always finding out about the native plants I come across. Whenever I see animals living in our urban environment, I will always stop and appreciate their wonder. One of my favourite birds is the tawny frogmouth which I have had living near my work next to Merri creek. I love sharing the wonders of nature with the children I interact with in my job as an educator, as children are naturally curious; they are so excited to find out more about the natural life around them. The Nature Stewards program will enrich my role as an early childhood educator.“
I am so happy to be doing this program as it enlivens my soul to be with so many like-minded people and funnily enough I knew two people in the class today from my work as a kindergarten educator. As part of the course, it will be wonderful to create a little project for myself in my nature journal and plan some actions on what I will do with my newfound knowledge.
Saturday afternoon was spent at the hospital as you can see from the little sticker I have on my jacket. That is all we get now when we go to the hospital – no check-in, no vax check, nothing! I arrived just in time to see H out of surgery. Today she went in for a CO2 laser procedure on her neck, face, and arms. She had been under general anesthesia and was in the theatre for 1.5 hrs. This will be the first of many if her surgeon sees it being successful at her appointment in the next few weeks. The laser will help heal the scar tissue, the only thing H was feeling afterward was itchiness so she took her antihistamines and we stayed in recovery for about 40 minutes and we were then on our way home. She is covered in Duraderm bandages at the moment so we cannot see what has happened but after 48 hours she needs to take care of them and rub vaseline on the skin and wear her pressure garments.
Just to test the boundaries of life a little more why not throw in a covid case?!? My hubby had a bit of a cold after the Peaches gig which then turned into a sore throat that tested positive. I had a lovely 5-day long weekend planned – first I had to cancel my acupuncture session. All good though because my last unit for University started last week and I had to study. Here is a super cool screenshot of my introductions for the past few units since the end of 2021!
So because a Normatec appointment and an Infa red sauna is a solo time to relax I booked those instead. It was so good to do the Normatec pressure boots with a PEMF session at the same time. The Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) therapy was incredible and I really need to go back for more as it did help with my back pain and energy levels. I felt so relaxed as it really helped me get through the last few days of my hubby being in isolation and me having to do all the food prep and organisation of the house. It really is a great thing to plan some time out for those crazy weeks.
At the end of the week, I had a professional development day planned at CERES to learn about embedding indigenous perspectives into the curriculum and also to encourage more outdoor classroom time. It was so inspiring to hear what is possible and have a yarn (conversation) with an Indigenous man who provided so much history about the traditional owners of this land – the Wurundjeri people.
Here is my last California poppy of the season as the nights are getting cooler now so I will have to rely on other flowers for the bees I planted in my wicking bed.
The time had come finally when the Peaches went to see Peaches LIVE! It was such an incredible show! I have never seen anything like this before in performance. Opening the show Peaches had a Zimmer frame and was dressed as an older woman and from there she was racy from the first track. From then on there were so many wonderful costumes! My hubby and I loved being out at a gig together and it was more my hubby’s music with lots of punk and guitar. I just loved the fact that Peaches expresses who she is and shows that the body is beautiful in any form.
My hubby felt a bit ill after the gig and tested positive for Covid on Sunday – boo!!
When I went for my run during the week, I drove through the industrial area near the drive-in and found a crystal warehouse open to the public. I just could not help myself as I have been drawn to crystal healing again after many years of having them decorate my plants. I found these beauties and my favourite is selenite, to clear all my crystals I use it as a night light which helps with a good night’s sleep. Finally, a sleep routine that works. So happy to have found this shop, I will be back for more and the owner there is so lovely ❤️
I made a date with my friend to go on a trip to the University of Melbourne and visit the Science Gallery. This exhibit was the Break the Binaries exhibition exploring gender, identity and their relationship with science, tech, creativity, culture, race and sexuality (see poster above). What an exploration and immersion of experiences including the darling of the tech world AI – whoo hoo! My first experiment with Artificial Intelligence was with the computer taking a photograph of my face and reading what my personal characteristics are. I do not agree with being condescending and intimidating! Still, I came up with an interesting-looking artwork from my selfie. The spider was a pretty awesome part of the exhibition focussing on bugs against the binary – check it out here. Housewives making drugs was one of my faves as it looked at the barriers to access to medical intervention for gender-affirming medical care. After the exhibit, we enjoyed a delicious bowl of vegan laksa – as you can tell I was starving and looking forward to devouring it!
On Sunday, I took a trip to the Preston Market with my hubby to grab some lunch and what did we find – Sri Lankan food. This plate of hoppers with dhal and pickle was so good! I enjoyed it with a mango lassi on the side it is such a lovely find for a quick Sri Lankan fix. Check out the cool Preston train overpass, it rocks with its licorice allsorts colour theme. I am a big fan of Preston at the moment as there is so many interesting finds.
I finally went to the Alexander McQueen exhibition that I have been so excited about since it was announced by the NGV months ago. I gave myself a goal of completing my studies, and I would go and enjoy some time in the gallery. I enjoyed seeing all the rooms with so many wonderful outfits. It was truly inspiring. A day out in the city to immerse myself in the arts is something I really look forward to. This is just a small collection of photos – I have put most of the pics I loved on my Instagram.
The audio tour was wonderful to listen though as I began the tour, the wifi in the gallery kept on cutting out (which did get a bit frustrating). So after the show, I got a clear signal to the Wifi and sat down in the great room at the gallery to hear the inspiration and the stories for each room. At the end of the week, to complete the McQueen experience, I watched the documentary film to actually see who Alexander McQueen was!
As much as I try to use Apricot as my current life goal of being relaxed and quiet, there are always things that fill up my diary. Last week I had so many appointments beginning with my lessons on CPR training for the first aid course that week. I also enjoyed sharing my experience with a Playworlds pop-up at my placement last year with Monash University. On Friday I filled my tank and enjoyed some self-care with a compression therapy session on my tired legs, then an infa red sauna followed by a dry float – a total of 2 hours! I came home a new person. Now as I write this after a hot day with 60 little people running around in 30-degree heat I am ready for more!
I am still running and have found an athletic track at Edwardes Lake in Reservoir so I will be heading over there most weekends now as it is a lot better on my body than the pavement. My list of things to do is endless but I will get there slowly with all the chaos surrounding me. As I said to my friend tonight, there is a lot happening now but in the last 6 months of the year, it will be time to chill.
It is now week 3 of Term 1 for the year and slowly we are getting there with the 3-year-old children. There is so much to do as they are at so many different stages of their development. I really do not know who came up with the ratio of 1 to 11 children in kindergarten but it seems impossible at times! The problem lies with the many children who are not toilet trained and we spend our day wrangling them to go to the toilet and then there are the accidents that happen and my goodness it was literally a shitty week last week! I have to be thankful that I have a super supportive teacher I work with and we do not let all the chaos stress us out. It is important each day we have the children have some rest and relaxation time. It is my favourite time of the day too when we put on a little starlight globe and the children listen to chillout tunes and watch the stars float by. Finding that rhythm of the day with a new group of children is the thing we have to work out.
Check out the flags from the many countries representing just two classes of kindergarten children, it is amazing to be immersed within so many cultures! Oh and look closely you will see the laser kiwi flag that was an option for the NZ flag.
Apart from my 2 days of work and each fortnight’s planning, I am enjoying my time sewing with keeping my tools out to keep at my projects so I have them done for my placement. Speaking of my placement, I went to the school I will be teaching for my final placement. I love their philosophy – progressive education, it was exactly what my children enjoyed when they were in primary school in California. This was the philosophy that inspired me to start an education degree and to find these schools in the minefield of education, it truly is a special thing. I am so looking forward to doing my placement there! I came home and was so inspired that I filled out my teacher registration application with the VIT and all it needs now is my ID verification and my final academic transcript in July- yay!!
What a wonderful week for healing for everyone beginning with a trip to the burns clinic for H’s assessment with her specialists. She has had a pressure garment removed this week for good. It was a small hand glove on her left hand. It did have only a couple of smaller skin grafts to begin with, unlike her other arm which had to be rebuilt including massive skin grafts.
I had a kinesiology appointment this week which has helped me travel on my healing journey. I began my sessions about a year ago and in that time my life has gone from losing the earth beneath my feet to finally feeling grounded again. I have been doing a lot of work to get myself back from the brink of losing myself completely. Kinesiology has been at the forefront of my healing journey to dig deep into my soul to regenerate my being. Also on Friday, I enjoyed some float therapy as a reward for handing in my final assignment for the University teaching period. It is so good to have little goals to work towards. Plus, the post-float bliss is something to hold onto as much as possible.
Over the next few weeks, I will be free from uni so I will make the most of my time in between my time at work!
poppypeach 