I’d just waved DD off in his Uber to the airport yesterday when the youngest texted to say she’d made it halfway to school and was too sick to continue … could I pick her up … like, now? Teenagers are a little fuzzy on logistics  -she had no concept of how long it would take […]

I packed my wetsuit and drove to DD’s on Saturday, hoping for a swim. It’s still 21C in the water, though it was a brisk 18C out of it. DD had other ideas: he took me on a ferry ride to Ettalong instead. Cunning diversion! We haven’t done the Palm Beach to Ettalong ferry thing […]

Writing about New York yesterday provoked a flood of memories. I was searching for a photo of the youngest pretending to be the Statue of Liberty when I stumbled across a blog post I wrote while I was living there. It was waaaaaaay back in 2007, when blogging was still in its infancy and the […]

The youngest was off school sick again yesterday. Fortunately all she missed was a geography excursion to the local creek. She thought it was equally fortunate she had a rat snoozing in a bed sock to keep her company. Each to their own. The picture she sent me is kinda cute, but there’s still no […]

Soon after I published yesterday’s blog post, I let the dogs out and discovered the back room was covered in dog bile, puke and other gross stuff. I’m not exaggerating. It was EVERYWHERE. In big piles. My first instinct was to take a photograph. It wasn’t a very good first instinct. As I framed the […]

The average maximum June temperature in Sydney is 17C, but yesterday was forecast to hit 22C – with a water temp of 21C – so I made DD go swimming with me at Avalon Beach. DD looked like this most of the short time he was in the definitely-not-21-degree water … (I’ve recently decided DD […]

Alzheimer’s prevention is an expensive business. Remember the scientist I told you about last week, the one who’s linked Alzheimer’s disease to menopause? She said good foods – for menopausal women who are terrified of getting Alzheimer’s – are omega-3 fatty acids, berries, particularly goji berries, dark chocolate, citrus fruits, nuts, seeds, olive oil, dried […]

I never expected to become a journalist who writes about serious things like the Australian Brands in China Index 2019,. My stock in trade for most of my career was whether Brad and Jen would get back and if Bec would leave Lleyton. (I think the weekly mags are still obsessed with those topics, though […]

I read an article that said stress during menopause triggers Alzheimer’s … so I tried to stay calm yesterday … but it was difficult because I went to a family counselling session about the rat. I’m not sure the psychologist had ever held a family counselling session about a rat before. He appeared quite bemused […]

I woke my 15-year-old at 7.15am yesterday and told them it was going to be a wild ride to school. It was 7C, the wind was ferocious and the rain had been pelting down all night. The 15-year-old asked if they could have the day off school, due to the rain and all. I said no. […]