I am back in Melbourne. My dad had a checkup on Monday and his lungs were clear after his bout of pneumonia and time in hospital. Mum went to the doctor last Friday and get the all clear on her lungs and I started to get better over the weekend. Since they no longer needed me and G was happy to have me back home since I was getting better I drove home on Monday. Monday was also Australia Day, so a public holiday and the girls came over for family dinner, so all round a nice home coming. We finished the puzzle and ate dinner, salmon bowls with mango, avocado and pineapple salsa, outside.
The weather has continued on it’s weird trajectory this summer with lots of cool-ish weather interspersed with freakishly hot days. We are used to our 40+ (104+F) weather being preceded by a gradual increase of at least a few days, but not this year. Tuesday was 42.5C here, but they forecast 45C. Luckily the peak occurred later in the day so we took Riley out for a walk in the morning. I shut all the doors at about 11 am, and then after lunch we turned the air-con on. It wasn’t truly awful outside until after 3 pm though. Melbourne is situated below the Great Dividing Range and next to the sea so we generally have cooler weather with less extremes. The range provides a bit of a barrier to the hot wind coming down from the center of Australia. Up in the Mallee (north west of Victoria) it has been over 40C all week and Tuesday was 48.9C (120F), so we got off lightly. That was the highest temperature recorded in Victoria on record. It’s 40 C up there at the moment and 21 down here.
I don’t know whether I have mentioned this on the blog yet, but I am doing the Berlin Marathon this year. Originally I had sworn off an overseas marathon for my first one because I was a very bad traveler last year. I planned to do the Brighton Marathon in August, which starts 2 km from our house. Geoff always planned on doing Berlin, so he booked a package with Travelling Fit, with him going as a runner and me as a spectator. Anyway he ended up with an entry through the ballot—of course he did—so we have switched it so that I am the runner on the Travelling Fit package. Now I just want to plug away on a solid base, without getting injured until I need to start a marathon training plan. I might also need to add not get sick to not getting injured. My last run before I came down with the virus was Saturday the 17th. I went out yesterday for an easy 30 minutes to test the lungs. It was OK. I only had to stop to cough once, but had a bit of a coughing fit once I was finished. I felt alright afterwards though so will do a bit more on tomorrow.
I have been having the weirdest dreams lately. Last night I dreamed that I was approaching a company to see if they would hire me and I couldn’t find the front door. I saw a side door where employees were going in and out so I popped in with them. I found myself in a huge room with people and desks and the employees were all trying out different products, I think a marketing firm, including some employees on the floors between the desks playing with various toys and throwing snack foods into each others mouths. Someone went and got the person I wanted to see and she came out and commented on my casual clothes. Then I presented her with my idea and she laughed and said that’s a bullshit job. I looked at her and said “You work is convincing people to buy crap they don’t need—they’re all bullshit jobs.” I’m not sure what happened after that and I’m really not sure what the dream is about. I don’t envisage myself looking for work in the foreseeable future, and while I might be against mindless consumption, I certainly wouldn’t say that.
Another night this week that my usual colourist was not available for my pre-wedding hair cut and colour. That was very understandable. My colourist is an absolute wizard but he hurt his back last year and I had someone different last time. His replacement was fine, but no Simon. Anyway my hair appointment was today and Simon was not there *sob*. I had a different replacement this time and I think I’m happy with the job she did. Frank, my hairdresser did a fancy blow-dry as a tester fro the wedding day. I’ve booked blow-dries for the girls and I.
Do you normally remember your dreams? Have you had any weird ones lately?
Comments
12 responses to “Five on Friday”
Good to hear that you’re all healthy again! A family dinner plus puzzle night as a homecoming sounds pretty perfect.
I didn’t realize Berlin would be your FIRST marathon! How exciting is that?! It’s a fantastic choice for a first marathon. I ran Berlin in 2023 and it’s such a good one. Flat, fast, super well organised, and the crowds just carry you along. And running through the Brandenburg Gate at the finish is one of those goose bump moments you never forget. You picked a gem! (or rather, a gem was picked for you, ha!)
Quietly building a base and staying un-injured sounds great. As you know, marathon training is not exciting, but all about consistency. Testing the lungs with an easy 30 minutes is very sensible.
Big season ahead for you with Berlin and the wedding plans bubbling along. In fact, the wedding is just around the corner!
A lot of people seem to like Berlin, and yes the flat course should be a plus for a first marathon.
The wedding is fast approaching! How exciting. But what a bummer that your hair person is out with an injury!
I am glad you and your parents are feeling better. Oof that is some HOT weather. It’s been epically cold here but it will warm up to the 20-30F range this week which will feel tropical after 2 weeks of lots of subzero temps. The kids haven’t had recess in 2 weeks. I feel bad for their teachers!
The colourist who did my hair did do a good job. Luckily they keep the details of the colour on file so she could just follow what I normally have.
That dream is NUTS! I do have weird dream quite often. Last night I dreamt I was in Santiago de Chile with a group of students and Liev Schreiber as my coworker. We were in a cafe that looked like a cave, cappadoccia style house, and then we were riding the train, with military plane flying over us. What the actual f**??
I always struggled with my hair. I am cheap, don’t want to spend the money but then I’m also not happy with how my hair looks day-to-day… a vicious circle.
Yeah, that is a weird cream. What a strange mishmash. I’ve been going to the same salon since I was a kid. My mum would take all of us kids there.
I’m always fascinated by weird dreams. Like, what is going on in my subconscious to create these wild stories? My last weird one was that my best friend was having marital issues, and for some reason, my mom thought I was having an affair with my best friend’s husband. !!!!! I was so annoyed that she would even THINK that! And why would I dream that?!?!? So weird.
That’s a hot summer for sure! Whew. It doesn’t get that hot here in FL, but we have oppressive humidity so it can feel MUCH hotter than it usually is.
I much prefer dry heat to humidity, although once it’s over about 42C it is like a furnace outside. That is a very weird dream, I do wonder what our brains are doing sometimes.
You did NOT tell us about going the Berlin marathon.
I hope sou stay uninjured and healthy. I am approaching my arctic trip and after three weeks of sickness in January I just have another stuffy nose after one longer walk. I am so afraid, scared and annoyed that my body is not cooperating with me.
All the best for your train.
I started a puzzle yesterday – and the husband sat down too. I loved doing it together. It is only 1000 pieces though but with an octopus.
I am not healthy at the moment which is a bummer. I am over the virus, but it is not enough for it not affect my running. We will have to see if we can catch up when I’m in Berlin. Doing a puzzle with someone else is the best way to do them.
That’s so exciting that you’ll be running Berlin for your first marathon! I hope you soon feel back to normal so you can really build up that base!
I hope so too. I was gonig pretty well, doing 40-50K a week so hopefully I can get back into soon.