Stealing this idea from Austin Kleon. You can see 2022’s post here.
- Completing the Two Bays Trail Race. An epic bucket list experience.
- Getting our paintings hung professionally.
- Planting our garden and watching it grow.
- Finally getting on the books of a dog groomer we can walk to.
- Our new, very comfortable mattress … and the king-size bed.
- Finishing photobooks for our Overland Track and Sydney trips.
- A big outdoor table and comfortable chairs.
- Following the life cycle of the danity swallowtails in our backyard.
- Anniversary dinner at Gimlet
- A long weekend at Wilson’s Promontory.
- My new lens allowed me to photograph wildlife and birds while we were down there.
- Seeing a wombat in the wild. Seeing it run was even better.
- Stools at the kitchen bench make it a favourite congregating place when people pop over.
- Our son getting a full-time job. Then having two companies in a bidding war for him.
- Working on my son’s primary school album. Looking up my old blog for stories and remembering all the things I’d forgotten.
- Family dinners on Monday nights.
- Takeaway Fridays with the girls.
- Ocean swimming, at Pt Lonsdale, Elwood, Noosa and Main Beach.
- Mornings at the dog park. Us all making friends down there.
- Hubby’s new mouthguard.
- My regular breakfast—oats with some high protein additions in the steam oven.
- Catching the train into the city to visit the galleries.
- Dinners out with our friends P & S.
- Getting back into small group. Our first full year with the current one.
- Post-run brunches.
- Our gallery wall.
- Strawberries growing in my garden.
- Our couple of days in Sydney. Susanah Place museum, Mee Goreng toasties, dinner at Bennelong.
- A road trip up the northern NSW coast. Spectacular beaches and magnificent rainforests.
- Sand boarding at Stockton Dunes.
- Day trip to Rainbow Beach.
- Running the Noosa National Park Loop
- Getting stronger with weekly personal training.
- Celebrating our eldest’s birthday at Ricky Ricardo’s.
- Drinks and nibbles as we watched the sun set from the top of Mt Tinbeerwah.
- Checking in again on the Eastern Osprey Nest at Noosa.
- Staying at Fraser Island. Our 4WD day trip. The beautiful Lake MacKenzie.
- Seeing so many whales, and dingoes, and a forest kingfisher.
- Seeing turtles while kayaking.
- Gathering with friends to celebrate the first lighting of our firepit.
- Making and drinking mulled wine around the firepit in the middle of winter.
- Spectacular sunsets.
- Following my plan at the Noosa HM, as a perfect lead-in to …
- Sub 1:55 HM at the Gold Coast
- Getting to Lightscape at the Botanical Gardens.
- Our son riffing off what he saw at LIghtscape and flexing his design muscles on a work job later in the year.
- Working on big puzzles with the family.
- FIFA Women’s World Soccer Tournament. Going to a game in Melbourne. Cheering on the Matilda’s to their fourth-place finish.
- Exploring the neighbourhood, running and walking.
- Celebrating our middle child’s birthday at Chin Chin.
- Being part of an Alpha course again. So many great conversations and deep prayers. Still learning new things.
- Discovering the difference staying ultra-hydrated with sports hydration (or the DIY version) makes to my levels of fatigue and headaches, even on days I am not running.
- Some good finds at the op shop.
- My super-light carry-on. Allowed me to successfully meet our 7kg luggage limit for our month long trip to the US and Europe in November.
- The New York Marathon. Such a great race, well organised and a great result for G. It was also an excellent experience for me as a spectator. The official course map included colour-coded subway stations making it easy to cheer on G at different points. The crowd was the biggest and most enthusiastic that I’ve experienced.
- & Juliet. Great fun, awesome singing and acting. Great seats and an audience there to enjoy themselves.
- Dinner at The Dabney. We did not do the degustation, we did the fixed-price meal at the high-top tables in the bar. Fantastic cooking, great value, interesting food that made the most of the local ingredients and the massive fire taking centre-stage in the kitchen. The meal of the trip for me.
- Pastrami at Katz Deli. This was one stop on our Lower East Side food tour and the pastrami was a revelation. I don’t like corn beef so I was unsure about pastrami, but you wouldn’t believe it could be so tasty and melt in your mouth. Our guide got us on a table and navigated the idiosyncracies of the ordering system.
- The Egyptian wing at the Met. I just love old things.
- Seeing in person the sights that form a backdrop in many of our favourite movies and TV shows. A little, almost daily thrill, in DC, NYC and Berlin.
- Interacting with Secret Service Guy on my run in Washington DC.
- Roman Ruins in Brescia. See #5. Also sharing with G the ruins of the Roman houses that I visited by myself last time I was in Brescia.
- Bologna pasta class. Learning how to mix, roll and fold pasta by hand. I must try to make some tortellini and tortelloni soon before I forget how to do the folding.
- Our day trip out to the food producers near Bologna. All the rules and procedures for their regional products are fascinating … plus, so much good food, wine and conversation.
- Cremeria Cavour Gelato. On our second visit, I had pistachio–always a risk that it might be made from imitation flavouring, but this was perfect and definitely made with real nuts.
- Very Old Buildings, quaint winding streets. I love the old sections of Italian towns. All the narrow, winding streets, cute cut-throughs, and old buildings.
- Greeting our son as he arrived in Berlin after his 36 hours of travel.
- Bike tour in Berlin. Berlin is a great city for bike riding, very flat and good infrastructure … at least where we were. The guide was excellent and we covered a heap of ground.
- A robot putting the windscreen in a Porsche Taycan. It was so good to be able to plan our trip around our son’s interests. I am not into cars or planes but wasn’t bored even after our fourth factory tour. A pleasant surprise. Our son’s favourite was the AMG engine factory.
- Dinner at Cube Restaurant. A spectacular setting, good food and our son really enjoyed this meal.
- Drinking Mulled wine at a Christmas Market. Quintessential German experience ticked off.
- Dachau.— an important visit.
- Avoiding getting sick, on our trip, and before Christmas when so many were coming down with COVID.
- Travel blogging for NaBlaPoMo. I have most of the writing done that I need for a travel book now.
- Gathering up such a committed group of people to start mainly music at church.
- Celebrating E and my birthdays at Indu.
- Celebrating Christmas with a 3-year-old again.
- Disappearing into a good book. 4.5-5 star fiction reads— Demon Copperhead, Skyward, The Vanished Days, The Chosen, The Nightingale, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, The Kingdoms, The Priory of the Orange Tree, The Night Circus.
- Discovering some fascinating German language shows on netflix—Dark, Kleo.
- Some excellent and absorbing non-fiction reads— The Art of the Commonplace, Chip War, Wandering with Intent, A Guide to the Creatures in Your Neighbourhood, Call of the Reed Warbler, The Rock.
- Our new awning over our table. We’ll have shade for the summer … if it ever gets hot.
- Blogging regularly. I kept up my momentum after NaBloPoMo 2022.
- Making more time to read this year.
- My e-bike. I’m looking forward to more adventures in 2024.
- Meeting our neighbours. The building is almost fully occupied now.
- Our family celebrations, now including our son’s girlfriend, a lovely, kind girl.
- Starting my 101 list. I love a good list and I’m looking forward to doing all those things in the next few years.
- The Fairy Wrens. I spotted them early this year.
- Our middle child finishing her degree.
- Our eldest taking on more responsibility at her work and showing initiative. Her skills and contributions being noted and rewarded.
- Our yellow paper daisies. Flowering continuously since they were planted in February.
- Lots and lots of rhubarb growing in the garden.
- Watching the final season of Billions and The Blacklist, further seasons of the Wheel of Time, Clarksons Farm, Lincoln Lawyer.
- My first book clubs … one online and one in-person with the ladies from church. Thoughtful conversation in both.
- Spending more time with M from church. Such a beautiful, joyous ray of sunshine.
- Visiting galleries by myself—Brighton, ACMI, The MET, MOMA.
- Starting a 101 in 1001 days list.
- Instant hot/cold/sparkling water from our tap.
- Running friends.
- Riding along the beach path on sunny days.
Comments
5 responses to “List #4: 100 Things that Made My Year – 2023”
So many thoughts.
That sunset. Just…wow.
I LOVE having a king-sized bed. It is just the best (and only, in my opinion) size that is acceptable for a married couple.
What a gorgeous gallery wall.
Ah, strawberries. I didn’t pick any fresh last year; I would like to do that this summer if time allows.
I’m so glad you’ve noticed real improvement with your DIY sports-drink and I hope that creates lasting improvement in your headache situation.
Celebrating Christmas with a child is such a thrill <3
And wait – how do you have instant sparkling water from your tap?
Yes, to the king-size bed. We were 25 years in our old queen size. some bedrooms wouldn’t have fitted a king, but it is so much better. We have a zip tap that does cold, sparkling and boiling water. It’s pretty convenient.
Oh, what a wonderful list. You did so many things, and saw so many things. I love that you got to travel so much. And a wombat in the wild. That is so cool (and only people from Australia can say, I guess :)).
Of course, as you can guess, I am also excited about your races and athletic accomplishments and I am so glad to hear that figuring out that being hydrated is such an important piece of the puzzle!
We did have a very good year of travel and experiences. The wombat was extra special because it’s not something you can make happen.
I love this post. And the things on your list. So precious. i think I am stealing it and will jot down things throughtout the year. Yes, iw ill do so.
Also, reading through this list I realized I did miss so many posts. Sigh. Will try to hop back and catch up.