List #4: 100 Things that Made My Year – 2023

Stealing this idea from Austin Kleon. You can see 2022’s post here.

1. Completing the Two Bays Trail Race. An epic bucket list experience.
2. Getting our paintings hung professionally.
3. Planting our garden and watching it grow.
4. Finally getting on the books of a dog groomer we can walk to.
5. Our new, very comfortable mattress … and the king-size bed.
6. Finishing photobooks for our Overland Track and Sydney trips.
7. A big outdoor table and comfortable chairs.
8. Following the life cycle of the danity swallowtails in our backyard.
9. Anniversary dinner at Gimlet
10. A long weekend at Wilson’s Promontory.
11. My new lens allowed me to photograph wildlife and birds while we were down there.
12. Seeing a wombat in the wild. Seeing it run was even better.
    
    
    
13. Stools at the kitchen bench make it a favourite congregating place when people pop over.
14. Our son getting a full-time job. Then having two companies in a bidding war for him.
15. Working on my son’s primary school album. Looking up my old blog for stories and remembering all the things I’d forgotten.
16. Family dinners on Monday nights.
17. Takeaway Fridays with the girls.
18. Ocean swimming, at Pt Lonsdale, Elwood, Noosa and Main Beach.
19. Mornings at the dog park. Us all making friends down there.
20. Hubby’s new mouthguard.
21. My regular breakfast—oats with some high protein additions in the steam oven.
22. Catching the train into the city to visit the galleries.
23. Dinners out with our friends P & S.
24. Getting back into small group. Our first full year with the current one.
25. Post-run brunches.
26. Our gallery wall.
    
    
    
27. Strawberries growing in my garden.
28. Our couple of days in Sydney. Susanah Place museum, Mee Goreng toasties, dinner at Bennelong.
29. A road trip up the northern NSW coast. Spectacular beaches and magnificent rainforests.
30. Sand boarding at Stockton Dunes.
31. Day trip to Rainbow Beach.
32. Running the Noosa National Park Loop
33. Getting stronger with weekly personal training.
34. Celebrating our eldest’s birthday at Ricky Ricardo’s.
35. Drinks and nibbles as we watched the sun set from the top of Mt Tinbeerwah.
36. Checking in again on the Eastern Osprey Nest at Noosa.
37. Staying at Fraser Island. Our 4WD day trip. The beautiful Lake MacKenzie.
38. Seeing so many whales, and dingoes, and a forest kingfisher.
39. Seeing turtles while kayaking.
40. Gathering with friends to celebrate the first lighting of our firepit.
41. Making and drinking mulled wine around the firepit in the middle of winter.
42. Spectacular sunsets.
    
    
    
43. Following my plan at the Noosa HM, as a perfect lead-in to …
44. Sub 1:55 HM at the Gold Coast
45. Getting to Lightscape at the Botanical Gardens.
46. Our son riffing off what he saw at LIghtscape and flexing his design muscles on a work job later in the year.
    
    
    
47. Working on big puzzles with the family.
48. FIFA Women’s World Soccer Tournament. Going to a game in Melbourne. Cheering on the Matilda’s to their fourth-place finish.
49. Exploring the neighbourhood, running and walking.
50. Celebrating our middle child’s birthday at Chin Chin.
51. Being part of an Alpha course again. So many great conversations and deep prayers. Still learning new things.
52. 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.
53. Some good finds at the op shop.
54. 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.
55. 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.
56. & Juliet. Great fun, awesome singing and acting. Great seats and an audience there to enjoy themselves.
57. 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.
58. 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.
59. The Egyptian wing at the Met. I just love old things.
60. 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.
    
    
    
61. Interacting with Secret Service Guy on my run in Washington DC.
62. 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.
63. 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.
64. 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.
65. 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.
66. 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.
67. Greeting our son as he arrived in Berlin after his 36 hours of travel.
68. 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.
69. 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.
70. Dinner at Cube Restaurant. A spectacular setting, good food and our son really enjoyed this meal.
71. Drinking Mulled wine at a Christmas Market. Quintessential German experience ticked off.
72. Dachau.— an important visit.
73. Avoiding getting sick, on our trip, and before Christmas when so many were coming down with COVID.
74. Travel blogging for NaBlaPoMo. I have most of the writing done that I need for a travel book now.
75. Gathering up such a committed group of people to start mainly music at church.
76. Celebrating E and my birthdays at Indu.
    
    
    
77. Celebrating Christmas with a 3-year-old again.
78. 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.
79. Discovering some fascinating German language shows on netflix—Dark, Kleo.
80. 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.
81. Our new awning over our table. We’ll have shade for the summer … if it ever gets hot.
82. Blogging regularly. I kept up my momentum after NaBloPoMo 2022.
83. Making more time to read this year.
84. My e-bike. I’m looking forward to more adventures in 2024.
85. Meeting our neighbours. The building is almost fully occupied now.
86. Our family celebrations, now including our son’s girlfriend, a lovely, kind girl.
87. Starting my 101 list. I love a good list and I’m looking forward to doing all those things in the next few years.
88. The Fairy Wrens. I spotted them early this year.
89. Our middle child finishing her degree.
90. Our eldest taking on more responsibility at her work and showing initiative. Her skills and contributions being noted and rewarded.
91. Our yellow paper daisies. Flowering continuously since they were planted in February.
    
    
    
92. Lots and lots of rhubarb growing in the garden.
93. Watching the final season of Billions and The Blacklist, further seasons of the Wheel of Time, Clarksons Farm, Lincoln Lawyer.
94. My first book clubs … one online and one in-person with the ladies from church. Thoughtful conversation in both.
95. Spending more time with M from church. Such a beautiful, joyous ray of sunshine.
96. Visiting galleries by myself—Brighton, ACMI, The MET, MOMA.
97. Starting a 101 in 1001 days list.
98. Instant hot/cold/sparkling water from our tap.
99. Running friends.
100. Riding along the beach path on sunny days.