My car is packed, I have a shopping list of food to buy, and after work today I’ll be pointing the car towards Ballarat. The Girls’ weekend is fast approaching!
I’m heading off a couple of days earlier than the girls, so I’m looking forward to some introvert quiet days before they all start rolling in on Friday night.
Where I’ve been:avoiding Ryan27.
Last Tuesday Ryan27 tested positive in a RAT test. ARGH!!!! Right before this girls’ weekend that I’ve been planning for months. Fortunately, he’s a reasonable man and isolated in his room. No real hardship for a gamer!
I RAT tested every day and picked up all the work I could so I’d be out of the house as much as possible. I was so worried that I’d have to miss out on the trip, but all was well. I mask up all the time when I’m at work so I did the same thing at home.
All’s good. I avoided getting the spicy cough. 🙂
Where I’m going:To Coles.
I’m in the middle of a Flybuys challenge to spend $50 at Coles for 4 straight weeks to get $50 free groceries. I figured I may as well shop at Coles for the dinners and snacks I’m providing. I like killing two birds with one stone.
What I’m watching: a very good year 9 Geography class.
Their teacher has left an incredibly detailed lesson plan for them to follow and they’re quietly working their way through it.
Every conversation is about how to locate things on the maps, or what to put on the keys, etc. Sometimes this place is an absolute dream to teach in!
Since writing this, I have another year 9 class in front of me. This one is a different kettle of fish…
I’ve been seeing a lot of kids reading this over the last few years – it’s a catchy title! I thought I’d give it a read to see why it’s so popular. I’m only just past the first chapter but I think I’m going to like it.
I’ve got a long drive in front of me today and all of my podcasts have been listened to. This is a good long audiobook so it should keep me entertained during the drive and when I’m sewing on the 5,000+ piece quilt.
I’m working my way through her novels, one audiobook at a time.
What I’m eating: Vegetarian meals on Friday and Saturday.
Jenna, Evan25’s girlfriend, is vego, so the catering is planned with her in mind.
Friday night’s meal will be Mushroom Stroganoff and a hearty Vegetarian Lasagne will follow on Saturday night. Both are Thermobexta recipes, so of course, I’ve packed my two thermomixes to bring with me. The boys left at home have a thermomix each, so they won’t be left hungry.
What I’m planning:nothing… yet!
We’ll see what the weather holds for Saturday. It looks like it won’t be raining, but of course, being Ballarat, it’ll be damned cold!!!
Who needs a good slap:the idiot who nearly T-Boned me yesterday.
I was on my way home from work, turning right at the intersection of Warrigal and Centre Roads. I glanced away from the red light, looking at a garden on the other side of the road. I glanced back and the green turning arrow was on.
Just as I lifted my foot, someone ran the red light directly to the right of me.
If I’d started moving the instant the arrow turned green as I usually do, I’d have had the front wiped off my car for sure. Or worse.
Phew! I love my car… I don’t want her to be all bent out of shape. Especially the day before a road trip.
What has made me smile: Guesstimating how much petrol to buy at Costco.
The fuel gauge was on a little less than half full. The last time I filled up, it was on the way home from Sydney and a full tank cost me $119.
But Costco petrol is quite a bit cheaper…
I punched in $60.
The tank is now exactly full. Nailed it!
Dad joke of the day:
Yesterday I ate a clock. It was very time-consuming, especially when I went back for seconds.
When people whine and say that “kids should be taught personal finance in schools!!! Wahhh wahhh!” you can tell them to pull their heads in.
This was the lesson plan of the first class I taught today. It’s a year 9 class that every kid takes, where they learn about our political system, how to manage money and invest, careers advice, the media and lots of other things.
As you can see by the lesson plan, kids ARE being taught real-life lessons about money and how to handle it.
The hook for the lesson was a 3 minutes news report that I played on the interactive whiteboard. It was about Afterpay and similar companies, and how people are running amock with it in the short-term and then living to regret it in the long term, as the levels of debt they rack up make it impossible to get mortgage loans from banks.
Then they went on to what the lesson plan outlined. Learning about different investments and going on to “Consider the ideas behind investments and practice applying the investments in a reasonable way.“
This is all real-life stuff. About money and how to evaluate the best way/s to use it.
Kids ARE being taught about finances. They always were.
The only reason people think that they weren’t taught how to manage money in school is because they weren’t interested in the subject when they were teenagers and so they didn’t retain the knowledge. (A bit like me and mathematics.)
We’re preparing the kids for the future! Anytime someone tries to whip up anger against teachers/schools for not doing this, they’re talking through their… um… hat.
Dad joke of the day:
What do you call a wolf who has everything all figured out?
I was so happy this morning, when the news came out that masks are now back in schools. The principal walked around to every class and gave them out to every kid who . As many of you would know, I’ve been wearing a mask at work from the moment I step out of my car to the moment I get back into it at the end of the day, only removing it to eat my lunch.
For the first couple of hours there were masks everywhere. It was lovely.
Then parents apparently started to complain, so an announcement went out at lunchtime that masks weren’t ‘mandatory’, just ‘recommended.’
Now, most of the kids have ditched them and we aren’t allowed to query why they aren’t wearing them. And people wonder why covid is still around.
Where I’ve been:the sewing room.
I had a 3 day weekend, due to the school having Athletics Day on Monday, so I made progress on my 5,000 + piece quilt. As you can see in the photo above, I’m now just over halfway finished.
I’ve been a bit spotty with my work on the quilt, but I’m determined to finish it. This year.
Where I’m going: to work.
Antarctica is proving to be a little expensive, along with wedding and house payments. I’m lucky that a) the work is being offered, b) I like the work and c) the kids are lovely. I’m happy that I don’t have to tap my investments at the moment. I’m happy to wait for the sharemarket to recover.
What I’m watching:Becoming Elizabeth.
I’m a Tudor tragic, which is why I loved my trip to the UK in 2015 so much, especially our day at Hampton Court Palace. The header on this blog is a photo of the sky above the palace’s roof. It still lives in my memory as one of the happiest days of my life.
This is about her trip to Antarctica, so of course I picked it up. The page I’ve linked to has very positive reviews, but have a look at this one star review!
“Inadvertently thought it was an actual book about Antarctica with some depth then found it merely a chapter of a brief voyage that barely scratched at its border. If I ever get to the Drake passage I will place the sad brief tome in the bottom of a sick-bag where it belongs.”
Hmm… I hope it’s better than this review makes it sound!
What I’m listening to:Mum’s Boppin’ Bangers.
Spotify got me through hours of sewing over the last few days. I have some absolute bangers on that playlist.
I absolutely love this recipe. It’s like having a party in your mouth.
Having the leftovers the next day is even tastier.
What I’m planning:My girls’ weekend.
I’ve told them that I don’t want this to be a ‘spendy’ weekend, because Izzy has a wedding to pay for, Jenna has a one-woman show to put on and nearly all of them have rent to pay. I, of course, have Antarctica on the horizon.
We’re volunteering catering, alcohol, games, and those who know the area are suggesting activities. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
Who needs a good slap: Whoever gave my son the virus.
Seriously, how hard is it to wear a mask? Oof.
It’s so stupid. I’m in front of a class right now. When the word came down that we can’t make the kids wear masks, you should’ve seen how many kids ditched them. I have 17 kids in front of me… only 6 are wearing masks.
So I guess the waves are going to continue. If we’d all co-operated right at the start and worn masks for 6 months, this pandemic would almost certainly be behind us now.
What has made me smile:sitting and having lunch with my work friends.
I’ve known these people for years and it’s a quiet pleasure to sit down and have a chat. This year the school split into 2 campuses and most of my friends elected (or were told) to come to the new campus, which is where I’ve been doing the vast majority of my CRT work.
Much as I love my hermit days at home, it’s so nice to be social as well. 🙂
Dad joke of the day:
I don’t let my kids listen to orchestral music. There’s too much sax and violins.
“Kids. Can’t shoot ’em, can’t tie ’em to a tree!” said one of my American friends in a heavy Southern accent to me when my boys were young. It made me laugh.
Most FI/RE bloggers who have kids seem to be young parents, so their posts are all about paying for child care, sourcing cheap clothing, and optimising after-school activities. Fair enough – I used to be concerned with those things too.
I’m writing this to forewarn you all that even when your kids enter adulthood, there are still possible expenses that you’ll choose to bear. I have 4 adult sons, ages 30, 28,27, and 25. You’d think that as a frugal person, I would have locked them out of the house the instant they turned 18 and abandoned them to let them make their own ways in the world. But it’s a funny thing… parents become quite attached to the humans that they’ve made and even when they grow taller than us, we still want the best for them.
So what’s the best thing to do, financially speaking, once the kids grow up?
We all know the wisdom encapsulated in ‘The Millionaire Next Door‘, (excellent book, by the way), that shows that adult kids who rely on their parents’ “economic outpatient care” end up significantly worse off than those who don’t receive it.
So what is Economic Outpatient Care?
It’s substantial gifts, usually financial, acts of ‘kindness’ etc that allow the adult children to live a lifestyle beyond what they can afford by themselves.
Adult children who sit around waiting for the next dose of economic outpatient care are usually less productive than those who forge their own paths. Cash gifts are too often earmarked for spending and the support of an unrealistically high lifestyle. This Economic Outpatient Care to adult children typically results in:
encouraging more consumption than saving and investing.
the gift receivers never fully distinguish between their wealth and the wealth of their gift-giving parents. (THIS WOULD ANNOY ME NO END!!!)
gift receivers are significantly more dependent on credit than are non-receivers.
receivers of gifts invest much less money than non-receivers.
When I read The Millionaire Next Door more than a decade ago, it cemented the decision I made about whether or not to help pay for the boys’ uni fees. I decided that they were responsible for their uni fees, books, and so on.
They needed skin in the game.
I would support them by not charging them board while they were studying for their first degree, and paying for any medical bills they might incur. Typically, this ended up being dental.
Fast forward a decade or so and I have four sons, all with tertiary qualifications that they’re paying off. (Higher Education Loan Program). They pay their own bills and receive no regular financial assistance from me. Anyone who chooses to live at home pays $50/week board, which I put aside in a savings account and will give back to them when they leave. This is a choice I’ve made because I’m in a financial position to be able to do this. Believe me, if I needed the money, I’d be spending it!
When David28 and Izzy decided they were going to tie the knot, I told them I’d contribute 5K to their wedding. Obviously, in my head, I’ve multiplied that by four to account for the other three boys. I’ve also told everyone that this is a first-wedding-only deal… any weddings after that, they’re on their own.
They are also able to take a week-long honeymoon using points from my timeshare to pay for their accommodation. David28 and Izzy will be going to New Zealand using this offer. They’ll be paying for every other expense themselves.
That was all I thought I’d do for the boys. Giving them a bit of help when they get married, as most parents do. After all, the last thing I want to do is weaken them. Life’s tough enough without deliberately making them vulnerable to every strong wind that blows. I raised my boys to be independent men. No handouts from The Bank of Mum!
But then something changed.
When Tom30 unexpectedly boomeranged home at the end of February, he was already saving for a deposit and was about a third of the way there. He’d been out from home for 7 years, paying around $250/week in rent, sharing a flat with a friend. Initially, he was only going to stay a few weeks, but when I told him about the $50/week board, he did some mathematics. He’s an accountant, poor thing, so doing the maths was inevitable.
He asked if he could stay longer, to accelerate the savings for a deposit.
I liked the sound of this, so I agreed. After all, he was 30 now and it was time to start getting some assets together. He changed jobs last year, nearly doubling his income in the process, so I was pleased to hear that he was looking to get ahead.
Then, I sat back and watched.
Would he be a typical ‘Millionaire Next Door’ second-generation child who’d work out how to make it on his own, or would he loll around and expect economic outpatient care?
Tom30 works in a company with mortgage brokers, so he picked their brains and found out about how to harness Superannuation to stretch his dollars, how to avoid paying LMI (Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance) and which criteria the banks would use to assess his loan application, along with a lot of other stuff that I’ve forgotten. When Tom30 starts spitting out numbers, it all begins to merge together for me.
Once he got his head around this information, he set his budget targets, home loan target amount, and savings timeline. We then started driving around and looking at apartments and units/townhouses in his (then) price range of high 400’s. Given this price range, looking at freestanding houses was simply not an option. He works very near the CBD so his commute time was a consideration.
What did I think of his plans?
I admired how clearly he’d laid out his way forward. I thought there was a bit too much fat with his spending money, but then, I’ve been through hard times where I really had to tighten my belt in order for the boys and me to keep the roof over our heads. But then, I realised that this is an area that could always be adjusted if needed. Flexibility is key.
All things considered, I was happy with it. He was finding solutions by himself and was all set to be in a property by the end of the year.
All went along swimmingly for quite a while until the reserve bank started to raise interest rates. That in itself wasn’t a problem – Tom30 had stress-tested his calculations to account for a 7% interest rate which we’re nowhere near (yet) – but suddenly the banks reduced the amount that he could borrow.
Overnight, this went from around 520K down to 475K. Real estate prices were softening, but nowhere near at this rate! If too much time went by, he’d miss his chance to get into the market for a 2BR place. I could see him getting stressed about it. When Tom30 decides he wants to do something, he gets very focused.
I did some thinking.
He needed a little more to get his deposit together, so I told him about the wedding gift of 5K that I’ve earmarked for each child and asked if he’d prefer to use this money as part of his deposit instead. Seeing as he’s single at the moment, he chose to do this.
Of course, I told him that when he DOES get married, he has to tell his beloved that I’ve already paid for my share of the wedding! There’ll be no double-dipping on my watch!
Then, a week or so later, we saw the perfect place for him.
It’s a couple of suburbs over, in an area that is starting to gentrify. It’s a 2BR unit with minimal body corporate fees and is in really good nick, very close to a train station, which will definitely come in handy. He first saw it when I was away on my Little Adventure in Manly, As soon as he was back in the car he rang me and we talked it through. I went with him to see it the following weekend when I was back in Melbourne.
I liked it. It was definitely one of the nicer properties we’d looked at. Honestly, property prices are crazy. The number of absolute dog boxes we looked at that had asking prices around the half million mark was appalling. This one has new flooring, was freshly painted and had new blinds. The kitchen and laundry will need renovating at some stage but everything else was good to go. It was a definite step up from the cruddy little flat he’d lived in during his twenties and, as he says, it’s future-proof. There’s enough room for two, or even two and a baby. And if he stays single, he’d be able to live there for ages quite happily.
The area it’s in is ok, but is definitely on an upward trajectory. In a few years it’ll be described as being in “a most sought-after location, close to beaches, transport and every amenity.” It’s a good buy, if you have an eye for the future.
He wanted to put in an offer, but he was missing a little from his deposit. Interest rates were set to rise and the banks would cut his borrowing power every time this happened. It was a very depressing balancing act that he was undergoing.
I had to do some more thinking. Honestly, all this thinking was getting exhausting. And expensive. But would I be weakening him by helping out a bit more, or would I be helping someone who deserves it?
The good thing was that it was obvious that he was doing everything he could to get there. There was no lolling around going on. All he needed was a start… some seed money, if you will.
I had 10K in cash in my emergency account, sitting in an online bank. I’ve written a few times before about how important an emergency fund has been to me. It’s saved our bacon a few times, turning what could have been huge dramas into mildly inconvenient occurrences, simply because I had the money set aside to deal with them.
That emergency fund was my first line of defense against things going wrong. But I also have 3 years of expenses put aside in a term deposit to guard against Sequence of Return Risk when the stock market falls. Obviously, I have enough money, combined with my CRT work, to look after myself. Meanwhile, my son needed a hand.
I won’t lie; it was hard to withdraw that 10K and flick it over to him. This was the emergency fund that has represented security to me for well over two decades. But once it was gone, I felt nothing but good about it. He’s taking on a loan of around 450K, which is a heck of a lot of money. Me giving him an extra 10K towards the loan isn’t going to ‘save’ him from having to make sacrifices and to be disciplined with his finances, but it’ll help him right now when he needs it.
This isn’t Economic Outpatient Care. It’s a one-time gift to help him as he’s starting out. He’ll have plenty of time to struggle and develop a backbone! It takes quite a while to pay off 450K.
Besides, even if I was inclined to baby him and lavish money on him, I can’t afford it. I have 3 other children, after all. I have to provide the same help to all of them.
Fortunately, the younger two won’t be looking to get into the property market for years, while David28 has a wedding to pay for before he and Izzy can even think of saving for a deposit. I have time to spread out these gifts.
Phew!
Anyway, a week ago Tom30 put in an offer, with a bid of 470K. There were 4 other bidders, all of whom were property investors. One couple outbid him by 5K.
Tom30 got the property! The owner decided that he’d rather sell to a young person just starting out, rather than to someone buying their 9th property. Isn’t that fantastic? Who knows, maybe sometime in the future Tom30 will be able to pay that forward to someone else.
The bank put a spanner in the works by insisting on a 10% deposit instead the 5% that Tom30 was aiming for. Remember how I said that his budget was a little ‘roomier’ than I thought was necessary? Now all of that is gone. After he approached his father for a little bit of help and was rudely knocked back, a family friend who has known him since he was a child offered to loan him the cash to make up any shortfall by the time settlement is required. They were disgusted by my ex-husband’s attitude, as is everyone who hears about it, and they decided that Tom30 deserves a start.
Fortunately, he has a long settlement, so he’ll be living with Ryan27 and me until October. We’ll be looking on Marketplace for free/cheap furniture and appliances, though he already has a free washing machine that a mate from school has given him. He accepted the offer from our family friend and he’s determined to borrow as little as possible from them. He’s selling everything he owns that isn’t nailed down and is actively looking for accounting customers to bring into the company he works for to add to his income through commissions.
I’m very pleased, though not surprised, to see that this son is doing as much as he can to get the property he wants with as little help as possible. He’s always been extremely organised with his finances.
It was interesting to see how my thoughts and ideas evolved around the question of how much or how little to help my adult children. When they first emerged into young adulthood, I pulled back on the financial help I gave them. They were told, “My job was to get you through secondary school. You’re absolutely expected to get a qualification, but YOU are responsible for paying for it.”
They have spent their 20’s learning how to rely on themselves and to become independent, especially the oldest and youngest who’ve both been out of home for years.
Now, when they’ve settled into their adult lives and are wanting to take the next steps forward, I’m prepared to give them a little help along the way – if they’ve already demonstrated that they’re putting in the effort.
I’ve come to realise that it’s fair enough. A little help is beneficial… it’s when too much ‘help’ is lavished upon them that the rot sets in.
As I’ve said before, if you look at the cost of an entire wedding or the total cost of a mortgage, the help I’m giving barely moves the needle. 15K in a 450K loan is a drop in the ocean.
But if you look at the up-front costs of getting that seed money together, the help I’m giving will spit off huge dividends in the years to come. Everyone needs to start from somewhere. Getting a little help at the start is a great gift that I can give my boys.
It’s funny – I began the trek of getting to financial independence for a lot of good reasons. But once I got there, the freedom to do all sorts of things I’d never thought of has been amazing.
This is just one more.
Dad joke of the day:
I would love to get paid to sleep. It’d be a dream job.
What’s top of my mind:Making Ryan27 get his driving licence.
He hates driving. Can you imagine?
But he has a job offer that requires him to be mobile. Operation “Get Your Damned Licence, You Elderly Guy” is on!
Where I’m going:As soon as I press ‘publish, we’ll be out to the car.
Driving lessons wait for no man.
What I’m watching: Poppy sleeping in the sun.
It’s a hard life.
What I’m reading: Stephen King short stories.
I’m midway through The Bazaar of Bad Dreams and I’m loving it. In the foreword, King writes about the differences between crafting long and short fiction, which I found really interesting. (Even more interesting than learning about the periodic table guy!) He also introduces each story with an account of what sparked it.
Love that stuff.
What I’m listening to:My podcasts before I borrow another audiobook.
Most of the audiobooks I listen to are around 16 hours long. As you can imagine, it takes a while to chip away at one of these, so while I’m doing that, my podcast episodes bank up. Then, I take a while to knock those over and get back to a clean slate.
Then the cycle starts over again. The only poddie that I make an exception for is my son’s one, naturally! All I have left on my list is a Casefile and a “The Other Half.” Then I’ll have to grab another audiobook.
It’s the cycle of life.
What I’m eating:Mushroom Stroganoff.
This is turning into an expensive year, what with the wedding, Tom30’s property purchase and Antarctica, so I’ve been making more vegetarian meals to stretch out the meat in the freezer. For those with a thermomix, Thermobexta is my go-to for vego and vegan recipes. I have all but one of her books and they certainly came in handy when Evan25 decided he wasn’t a meat-eater.
I write in my books when I try a recipe. This recipe had a notation, “Really nice,” so I bought lots of mushrooms and we’re partaking tonight.
What I’m planning: My Antarctica wardrobe.
Aldi had some clothing specials on Saturday. Some of them were merino t-shirts and leggings, as well as some gloves that enable the wearer to use a mobile phone. Just what I was looking for!
That’s ticked a few items off the list!
Who needs a good slap:My ex-husband.
You know, if I had 4 kids from my first marriage and two of them have decided to have no contact anymore with me, while another one has only minimal contact, I’m pretty sure I’d make an effort with the only kid who actively pursues a relationship with me. But clearly that’s not the way my ex-husband sees things…
Tom30 put in an offer on a unit last week. The bank came back and said they wanted a 10% deposit, not a 5% deposit as was originally asked for, due to a gift of 15K that I gave him. I’m sure you can imagine the maths and budgeting that went on for him to work out how to gather an extra 24K by October! He’s selling everything that isn’t nailed down and squeezing his spending to the max. However, there was still going to be a small shortfall. He didn’t want to ask me for any more money – “You’ve done more than enough, Mum.”
With a bit of trepidation, he asked his father for a loan of 5K. His father (who apparently earns into the 6 figures, as does his wife) refused, which he has every right to do, but served it with a side-order of “You’re not working hard enough. At your age you should be earning 150K/year. When I got MY first house I had to struggle. You should too. Why don’t you ask your mother or your grandfather? They’re rich.”
What an absolute arsehole. I’m so glad I’m not still married to him. (By the way, these remarks weren’t said exactly like this. They were sprinkled into the conversation like nasty little land mines for Tom30 to be hurt by.)
There are a few things to unpack from those nuggets of bile.
When my ex-husband was 30 he was a small businessman earning nowhere near 150K. Not sure why he expects Tom30 to be doing much better at the same age. When I told friends at work this statement they laughed and laughed. The consensus was, “Yeah, we should ALL be earning 150K!!! I’m nearly 60 and I don’t earn that much!”
I think my ex-husband forgets that when we bought our first (and only) house together, I was the one that made it happen. We’d saved 40K and he wanted to pour it all into buying new fridges for his small business of cutting up fruit salads for supermarkets from our garage. Yes, a business that was obviously going to go nowhere.
I saw which way the wind was blowing, put my foot down and instead, we put the money into buying a house in an excellent secondary school zone. Over the years that decision has served the boys well. So he thinks he ‘struggled’ to get that house? Imagine the struggle we would’ve had if he’d bought those fridges instead?
Finally – who tells his own son to go and ask an elderly couple for money, when all the guy is asking for is a 5K loan? Refuse the money if you wish – it’s your money – but telling him to put the hard word on a frail couple in their 80’s is unconscionable.
Fortunately, this has a happy ending. A family friend who’s known Tom30 all his life, was so disgusted when they heard this story that they’ve agreed to lend him the money he needs at settlement. Tom30’s now obsessed with ensuring that he borrows as little as possible from them. He’s so grateful and relieved.
I just had a text from him 10 minutes ago – the bank has approved the loan and so the property is his!
What has made me smile:Meeting next door’s puppy.
We’ve been hearing Hero for a while, but now we’ve finally met. He’s a blue staffy and is a lovely little guy. The guy next door suggested that we take the dogs and meet at the beach, but Hero is far too full-on for my little woofs. He’d scare them without even knowing he was doing it.
Yesterday I drove an hour to surprise David28 at his workplace at Billy Hydes in Nunawading. When I got there, it turned out that he’d taken the day off.
This is the photo I took with his co-workers and sent to him.
Where I’ve been: to a FIRE blog meet!
Last Saturday Latestarterfire, Adulting World and I met up in a park and we had lunch. We talked and shared stories for around 3 hours. Adulting World has been to Antarctica so I picked up some good hints and tips for my upcoming trip in December.
Going to a blog meet is never a mistake.
Where I’m going:ANTARCTICA!
Cruise, flights and accommodation are all booked and paid for. It’s on, baby!!!!!!
What I’m watching: Our Flag Means Death.
I heard some good things about this show and when I scored 3 free months of Binge, I watched it. The first few eps were a little ‘meh’ but by the end of the series, they had me!
Hoping they make another season – it’s all set up for it.
I’ve been meaning to read this novel for ages and I finally tracked it down.
It’s about a world that is genderless – beings can swap from male to female and back again.
I’ve only just started reading it so I’m still finding my way into the world, but it’s way famous.
What I’m listening to:Jeff snoring.
Poppy and Jeff are 9 years old today. They’re doing what they do best – sleeping on the couches. Here’s a photo to verify:
Strictly speaking, this is a shot of Poppy and Scout, Jeff’s slam-bang against me on the other couch.
What I’m eating:Aldi hazelnut milk chocolate.
This chocolate has SO MANY HAZELNUTS! It’s divine.
What I’m planning:To stop procrastinating and Get Things Done.
Just off the top of my head there are 7 things I should have done… and haven’t (yet.) They range from gardening things to crafting things to pet things to family things.
I’m a lazy person at heart.
Who needs a good slap:The USA.
Honestly, it seems that the US is going to hell in a handbasket. They need to get a grip on themselves. The divisiveness and vitriol being hurled from one side of politics to the other and then back again are awful to watch. The way they’re going, they’ll have another civil war if they don’t watch out…
What has made me smile:David28’s mortification once he got the photo!
Once I was on my way back home he called and we talked for nearly the whole drive. He had gastro, so that’s why he wasn’t at work. Ironically, we probably talked more than if he was at work and had to attend to customers.
So this is the photo Tom30 sent me at 4 PM on the first day of my holiday. I was 800kms away in Bowral, checking in. They were there, thinking, “Any moment now, Mum’ll be home from work! She’s been gone ALL DAY.”
Poor babies.
BUT…
… holidays like this one are so special. They’re like retirement on steroids.
Sure, I’m retired and can do what I feel like doing – even doing some CRT work if I want to. But I still have dogs and people relying on me to do things. Here, on holidays like this, I’m totally free to do whatever I want.
This time, I stretched that to the limits by refusing to plan anything before I left. All I had were the accommodation bookings of 2 nights in Bowral and 5 nights in Manly Beach.
Everything else was left blank. I was able to fill these days however I chose.
I did a bit of this over 2 days, just chipping away at it. When I was at Bowral I didn’t even leave the room! I read a couple of books and did some sewing and watched some ‘Better Call Saul.’
One morning in Manly Beach, for a couple of hours, I sat just inside the room with the balcony doors opened and sewed, listening to the sound of the ocean every time the machine paused. It was lovely.
When I’m on these Little Adventures where I stay overnight somewhere, unless I’m meeting people, I always race around during the days and when twilight hits, I make my way back to the room and spend the evening inside. Safety first! As a solo-travelling woman, I have to keep in mind that some people are crazy.
So when I reached Bowral I went to the supermarket before I checked in. I’d already brought vegemite, crackers, a couple of tins of tuna, chips and chocolate from home, so I bought butter, dips and a couple of frozen meals for dinner.
The last time I was in Sydney was 13 years ago when the boys and I stayed for a week at Darling Harbour. We did the bridge climb – which is when I found out that my youngest son is scared of heights, oops! – and raced around to aquariums, Taronga zoo etc.
Never made it to Manly Beach, so this time around I was going to poke around and have a look at the actual harbour and see what Manly itself has to offer.
It was winter (obviously) but it was a sunny day. While I was waiting for my room to be ready I walked along the foreshore, stopping every now and then to read a little from my book, then walking again.
This was a Nippers surfing class. My kids were never involved with the Nippers but my nieces grew up on the beach, so they were heavily involved. They loved it.
I took this shot when I was sitting reading. I looked up and loved the shades of blue.
When I checked in, went to Coles for more supplies and got back, it was twilight and I sat on the balcony and gave Mum a call. She was in rehab due to taking a tumble and fracturing her pelvis a few weeks ago. As I was talking, two lorikeets decided to visit. (I popped my foot there for reference.)
I thought that was as close as they’d come, but I was mistaken. We get lorikeets in Melbourne now – not ever when I was a child – but they’re not as fearless as this!
The next afternoon, after a lazy morning reading and sewing, I decided to see where the Manly wharf was. I was idly planning to jump on a ferry on Wednesday to see Sydney Harbour.
When I got there the water was choppy. I thought, “Bugger it! I’m going to be travelling across the Drake Passage in December. Let’s have a choppy ferry ride today!”
Turns out that it was good decision to make. Fortunate Frogdancer struck again, though I didn’t know it at the time.
I walked around the harbour with the bridge and Opera House for a while. Obviously, Melbourne is bY FAR the best city to live in, but even I have to admit that Sydney’s harbour is glorious. Our Port Phillip Bay can’t hold a candle to it.
Here’s a bin chicken I saw at The Rocks.
I don’t know if my overseas readers know, but Captain Bligh, of ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ fame, was a Governor od New South Wales in the later part of his career.
If memory serves, he was pretty bad at that job too, but I could be wrong.
I liked how you could be walking through The Rocks and the bridge would just pop up, seemingly out of nowhere. It reminded me of Paris and the Eiffel Tower.
This place has some of the oldest buildings in Australia. I chuckled when I remembered a man in the UK asking me what I was most excited about seeing while I was there. I said, “If you have anything over 200 years old, I’ll be happy.”
He smiled and said, “I think we’ve got you covered!”
Tuesday was a lovely day. I mentioned before that the last time I was in Sydney was 13 years before. On that visit, I left the boys Home Alone for an evening and went to a blog meet of all of the Sydney bloggers in our little blogging circle.
Fifi La Stupenda was one of those women. That was the only time I’ve ever met her IRL, but we’re friends on FB. For the past year or two, I’ve been posting a couple of Dad jokes a day there, and apparently Fifi’s been enjoying them. When I posted a photo of the view from my balcony at the Sebel, she contacted me and suggested we meet for brunch.
Although she lives a couple of bays away, Manly Beach is a reserve and so for someone who swims in the ocean every single day as she does, it’s worth the drive to swim among fish, sharks and other underwater creatures. Far more interesting than just bare sand!
It was a gamble for both of us – it’d either be a raging success or it’d be a stilted conversation. But, as it turned out, we were there for 3 hours having a lovely time, so much so that we agreed to meet for lunch the following day. That’s where the ‘Fortunate Frogdancer’ thing from Monday applies. If I hadn’t taken the ferry on Monday I wouldn’t have been free to have lunch on Wednesday.
It’s funny how things have a way of working out.
After brunch I walked to the Manly Gallery to see what was there. There were a couple of exhibitions about refugees, which were ok, but I vastly preferred the sculpture of the tree outside:
On the way home I stopped at a shop/gallery featuring indigenous art. Now, THIS was fantastic! Who knows what I might have walked away with, but I knew I was going to be spending around 6K on flights, accommodation and insurance for Antarctica when I got back to the room.
I wasn’t feeling very spendy about anything else.
This is what the water looked like while Fifi was having her pre-lunch swim. I never use filters on my photos – this is what it looked like on the surface. Apparently, she was swimming with the ‘sweetest’ little grey nurse shark under those waves.
The next day I drove home, accidentally leaving my reading glasses and sewing lamp in my room. What a doofus I am! The service at the Sebel for the timeshare is impeccable though – they’re posting them down to me.
As I said at the start, a holiday like this is retirement on steroids. I had total freedom to do as much or as little as I wanted, with the freedom to grab opportunities as they came up. It was a lovely little break from my regular life, with the added bonus of being able to hear the sea whenever I was in my room.
What’s top of my mind: how lovely it is to travel.
Don’t get me wrong – I love being in The Best House in Melbourne and I’m as happy as a little hermit when I’m there.
But I can’t deny that sitting here on the 5th floor of the Sebel Hotel in Manly, in the sun, hearing the sea and seeing the waves glinting through the trees… life is pretty sweet.
Where I’ve been:Manly Beach.
In fact, I’m still here! It’s June’s Little Adventure. Post to come, though I’ve written about it in detail on the frogblog.
Where I’m going: Heading for home tomorrow.
It’s a shame. It’s been lovely here, but apparently I’ve missed some pretty awful weather in Melbourne, so I can’t complain.
What I’m watching:Better Call Saul.
I’ve decided to use my Little Adventure evening downtime to catch up on this show. I’m halfway through season 3 at the moment. Gus is in it, which is exciting.
What I’m reading:Sally Hepworth.
In the first few days of this Little Adventure I polished off not one, but two Sally Hepworth novels. The Mother-in-Law and The Younger Wife. I couldn’t put them down.
They were both SO GOOD! Hepworth is from Melbourne and I really enjoyed reading stories set in the suburbs and places I know. Her characters are beautifully portrayed and the situations they find themselves in are gripping. I can highly recommend these novels and I’ll be hunting down the rest of her work when I get back.
I’ve downloaded 3 audiobooks by Fiona Lowe, another Aussie author, thinking that I might need lots of listening things. A 1,000 KM drive each way means there’s a lot of hours in the car to fill!
However, I’m still barely through the first 3rd of this book. I caught up on my podcasts along the drive up, and since I’ve been here in this beachside hotel I’ve spent a lot of time with the door to my balcony open, just listening to the rhythmic sound of the sea.
What I’m eating:Pre-prepared salads and sourdough.
When I go away on a holiday by myself, I tend to race around and see things during the day and then, when it gets towards twilight, head back to the room to spend my evenings. Safety first! There are a few crazies out there and I’d prefer not to run into one.
This trip, I decided to try some of the frozen meals and pre-packed salads at Coles and Woolworths to see what they’re like.
The verdict on the salads? Pretty darned good.
The frozen meals? Last night I had the WORST meal ever. Supposedly chicken and leek pie, it was a disgusting mush.
Thank goodness I also had some delicious sourdough bread rolls that I smeared with hommus. Saved the day!
Tonight’s lamb rogan josh had better be ok. I only have one sourdough roll left.
What I’m planning: lunch with a blogging friend.
Frogdancer Jones and Fifi La Stupenda (which may not be our real names) first met in real life 13 years ago when I was last in Sydney. It was a blog meet so the Sydney girls could meet me – from Melbourne – and generally just have a nice girls’ night out.
Since then we haven’t clapped eyes on each other again, but we’ve stayed in touch via FB. We met for brunch yesterday and had such a good time that we’re having lunch again today. She swims every day at Manly Beach. Not 5 minutes ago we were waving at each other – she on the foreshore, me on the balcony – and we’ll grab a bite to eat once she’s finished her swim.
Who needs a good slap:Everyone who has crowded out Easter Island so I can’t go there.
Yes, I’ve paid for flights, accommodation and insurance for Antarctica, but Easter Island is off the itinerary. After the cruise was impossible – all booked out. Before the cruise was possible, but my travel agent said, “I’m seeing that they’re cancelling a lot of flights. I’d hate for you to be stranded there and miss your cruise. You said Antarctica was the main reason you’re travelling, right?”
So yes. No Easter Island. Maybe next time.
What has made me smile:Fifi’s conviction that I’d love to swim in the ocean.
LOL.
I don’t even do that in the summer, unless it’s about 45C and I’m right by the beach. I didn’t even pack my bathers. She said that I could swim in my underwear, but I don’t think I want to ruin the ambience of Manly Beach so cruelly.
Even when things appear to be going pear-shaped and there’s confusion all around, when time moves on and the dust settles, it nearly always turns out that I’ve ended up in a better position afterward. Viewing life from the lens of the long game is something that has made me an optimist.
Look at what happened yesterday, for example.
You all know that I’m going to Antarctica in December. Of course, I would never go to a place without doing my research about it. Even though we’ll be getting lectures on the ship from Polar experts, who knows if I’ll be able to attend? I might be dying from seasickness. Of course, I’ll have to learn about Antarctica before I go there!
Yesterday I was having a chat with a few people in the staffroom and I was asked if I could teach geography. A friend is taking 6 weeks’ Long Service Leave in term 3 and she wondered if I’d be interested in taking over her classes. I laughed and said, “Is there marking involved?” because I’ve stated lots of times that I’ll NEVER do any marking again.**
After being told that it was at the end of term so yes, lots of marking was involved, I politely declined her invitation.
In the class after lunch, the kids were being angelic and I was bored so I decided to look at the curriculum to see what the year 8s and 9s are being taught in Geography. I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw the 8’s are going to be covering deserts – Antarctica and Australia’s deserts. WHAT?!?
I shot an email off to my friend, saying, “You didn’t say that I’d be teaching about Antarctica! I’ll be there in December! I’m interested now…”
She’s volunteered to teach me the ‘mathsy’ parts of the courses before she leaves, so that’s ok. Half an hour later and it was all official.
Fortunate Frogdancer is going to be paid to do her research on Antarctica!
As regards the marking, I’m pretty sure it won’t be as full-on as the English essay marking I’m used to. With most questions, the kids will either get the answers right or wrong. Lesson plans are already written and all I have to do is deliver them. Once the mathsy situations are ironed out then it’ll be a breeze.
And the extra cash will come in handy for the flights and accommodation. This trip will not be cheap. I know that I won’t enjoy having to do the marking, either.
But when I’m waddling around with the penguins on the Antarctic ice and gazing at the moai on Easter Island, I know I’ll be glad I did it.
** Every time I’ve said I’ll never do something, I’ve always ended up doing it. You’d think I’d learn!
Dad joke of the day:
My son turned 4 this morning and it took me ages to recognise him. I’ve never seen him be four.
There are a few things I’d like to tick off my ‘to-do’ list before I jump in the car on Friday and start driving north. I have no idea how many I’ll be able to complete, but we’ll see how I go.
Where I’ve been: Flight Centre.
Argh!!!!
As my travel agent said, “There are no difficult clients, just difficult itineraries!”
She needs more time to work out a flyer-friendly way to get there and back. Not to Sydney, but to South America!
There are problems with both putting Easter Island first or after Antarctica.
She said she’d let me know by Thursday.
Where I’m going:Sydney for June’s Little Adventure!
Have I packed? No.
Have I planned anything? Only my accommodation on the way there and while I’m in Sydney.
Am I concerned? Not yet! I might start to wonder what I’m going to do with my time once I’m driving on the way up, though.
What I’m watching: Better Call Saul, The Boys and Obi-Wan.
I chose this book purely because I like to have an eBook on the go and it was available immediately on Borrowbox. It’s a hidden gem.
It’s primarily set in the Outback, with vivid descriptions of the land. I’ve never been, but now I want to go even more! Let’s face it – every Aussie needs to see Uluru at least once in their lives. It’s a rite of passage.
Plus, the protagonist owns a sausage dog. I approve.
What I’m listening to:Tom30 talking about real estate.
Tom30 is a few weeks away from being able to throw his hat into the real estate market and it’s practically all he can talk about.
Luckily, I don’t mind a bit of real estate talk and I LOVE going to open houses. The last few Saturdays we’ve been galloping through units and apartments in his price range.
I have to say, 500K doesn’t buy much nowadays.
What I’m eating:Schnitzels.
I love me a schnitty! I can handle a parma but I prefer a plain schnitzel. I’m a woman of simple tastes.
Mum is still in the rehab hospital – they’re keeping her in for another week – so I’m having Dad over for dinner tonight before I go away. Schnitzels have been defrosted and are ready for crumbing!
What I’m planning: How and when I’m going to post my thermomix off to the spa.
My first thermomix is now 10 years old. She’s served me very well, both as an easy way to cook and as a business tool when I was a thermomix consultant.
She’s been used almost every day during those 10 years and she needs to have a service. This is how good these machines are – the button for the scales has disintegrated but the scales still work!
That’s going above and beyond.
If I post her to the service centre before I go, she might return to the house before I get back. Seems like a good use of the time to me. My sister has suggested that I trade her in for a brand-new tm6, but there’s no way I’m parting with my tm31. You’ll have to prise her from my cold, dead hands.
The boys will still have my tm5, as well as Ryan27’s tm31 and Tom30’s tm5, so they’ll be able to feed themselves.
Who needs a good slap:People who are clogging up the direct flights to South America to and from Australia.
Seriously – why should I have to fly into Los Angeles to get down to South America? It’ll be a 50 hour flight!!
Still, if I have to set foot on North American soil, that’ll mean that by the time I reach Antarctica I’ll have visited all 7 continents. This has never been a bucket list for me, but I feel incredibly lucky to be so close to ticking this off.
Retirement Reading Quest – Reading my way to ‘free’ council rates.
I’m on a quest to borrow and read enough books to, in effect, cancel out the cost of my council rates per year.
It’s outlined in this post.
Year 7: I’m already a year ahead on my rates, so I’m taking a reader’s suggestion and I’m going to go back and start covering the rates from the year before I started. I may as well.Â
Year 7: Total needed: 2019/2020…$1,800
Running total: $1,440.
Year 6 (2025/2026) $2,590 AREADY COVERED!!!!!!
10/08/2015 – I won’t have another rates notice until August 2026, so I have time to kill. Let’s knock over a previous year’s rates, just for fun.
Year 5 (2024/2025) $2,339 and dog rego ($63) = $2,435.
Finished it before I even had the new rates notice ready.
Year 4 (2023/2024)Â $2,413.
Success! Not sure exactly when I passed the total, because I was waiting on the dog registrations to come through. But yes – I blitzed it.
Year 3: (2022/2023) $2,350
12/01/2023 FINISHED! Not working gives me heaps more reading time – I recommend it!
