On the home stretch

This week marked the halfway point of winter. THANK GOODNESS. We've had over a week of constant rain here in my little pocket of Melbourne and I'm completely over it.

Yes, I know it's winter. Yes, I know it comes every year. Yes, I know it's not that cold in comparison to other parts of the world. But the next person who tells me to stop whinging gets a punch in the face, because:

Fact 1: I have an ongoing Vitamin D deficiency. This is not fun. It contributes to depression and can affect bone density. Even if I do manage to get outdoors, I'm so rugged up against the cold that only my face is exposed and that simply doesn't cut it for absorbing sufficient Vitamin D. Boo!

Fact 2: S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a real thing and I probably have it. Lack of sunlight seems to make my brain a bit unbalanced. By mid-winter, I don't want to leave the house, or even get out of my pyjamas. I don't even want to answer the phone. I'm sad and I'd like to build a blanket fort and just stay there till Spring.

Fact 3: Numb fingers and toes are not my favourite things. Cold extremities are very difficult to warm up, no matter how many layers of clothing or blankets I pile on.

Anyhoo, today the sun has been shining, so I ventured outdoors for a short walk. Even the swans, herons and cormorants were sheltering somewhere out of sight, along with the kangaroos - except for this one girl with joey onboard:

I'm counting down to September, when we'll be off for a short break in the Whitsundays. Perhaps I can just hibernate until then.

My fifteen minutes of fame

In the online world, it's probably more like fifteen SECONDS of fame, but somehow I ended up on this list of 15 bloggers over 50 making their mark.

I'm highly amused, since I've barely blogged at all the past couple of years, but hey - I'll take compliments (and potential new readers) where I can get them.

Source

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In other news, I dragged my tired and complaining arse out of bed on four mornings last week and did some exercise. Cue fanfare, streamers and confetti...

I would have done some on the weekend as well, but I was struck by a weird head-spinning, dizzy thing on Saturday and then spent most of Sunday at the hospital, waiting while my youngest had a couple of screws inserted in a broken finger. (He's fine, and milking it for all it's worth.)

The exercise part is OK - it's the early starts that kill me at this time of year. I just want to hibernate when it's 3º and pitch black outside. Apparently though, my body clock is resetting itself super-fast because I've been awake before the alarm the past two mornings. Old habits seem to be pretty easy to rebuild.

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I was amused yesterday to receive an email from a PR company, inviting me to a breakfast launch of a new product. The amusing part? It's a "paleo sausage" and the featured speaker is none other than Paleo Pete Evans. I'd rather stick a fork in my eye. I did think about going and heckling, but a) My mother brought me up to behave better than that; and b) it's in Sydney, so nah.

Happy Hump Day, lovely readers!