All posts filed under: personal

‘Give me avocado or give me death’; oh what the hell, give me both

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Today, Sunday in Australia, is my last day living without my beloved avocados. I have two waiting for me in the fridge, seducing me with their perfect green curves every time I open the door. Which I’m trying not to do very often, surviving on official Refugee Rations as I am. Last day today! OMG I am SO READY for this to be over. There is a part of me that feels lightheadedly content to drift along in this new, vague, low energy, who-needs-to-really-eat-food-anyway kinda cult mindset… but the other 90% of me really misses the energetic, dancing, beach-jogging, feast-cooking, sharp-brained, nut-eating, green-smoothie-making, utter-food-pleasure-loving G. Seven days isn’t long I know; many refugees live for years in camps of uncertainty and severe restrictions. My Western privilege has stood up in front of my face for this whole week, don’t you worry, as well as my complete addiction to greens, as I mentioned before in last post ‘I want to eat my lawn’. I’ve also really missed the sheer simple pleasure I get from food: dreaming …

#ActforPeace #rationchallenge #refugeerations #sponsorme

‘I want to eat my lawn’: craving greens on a week-long ration challenge

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I’m heading into Day 5, and after this week of eating the same food as a Syrian refugee, will be avoiding rice for at least the next 3 months. Day 3 was hard: I felt really foggy in my brain, and almost angry that I was making myself do this. Thank goodness that passed. Today has been better, apart from fighting my ridiculous urge to eat anything green, including grass. On Facebook, other Ration-Challengers have been moaning about no caffeine, sugar, or alcohol; I’m just having serious fantasies about superfood green smoothies, bunches of fresh spinach, and steamed broccoli heads with olive oil and cracked pepper.I made falafel-type patties for lunch & dinner: remember I only have salt, flour, veg oil, one spice (cumin), no garlic, no onion. But oh boy, they still tasted delicious!   If you feel like helping me reach the final fundraising target of $1500 (I’m on almost $1300), here is my Donation Page link. And thank you so much. Or please send parsley and kale, express post… 😉 In utter gratitude …

America, where’s your goddamn empathy?

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I cannot believe I’m watching footage of crying children in ‘cages’, and reading comments that say their parents shouldn’t have broken the law anyway. What the f*** is happening over there? I’m hungry as hell here in Australia, brain a bit foggy on Day 3 of Refugee rations challenge, and today is World Refugee Day. I’ve raised over $1200 through my donations page HERE, and am therefore helping to feed 3 Syrian refugees for a year. That feels amazing, and thank you to my fellow bloggers, including The Lockwood Echo. But you Americans? You need to donate to an organisation in your own country, helping out these traumatised kids. Here’s Brené Brown’s endorsed link, and this recommendation from my journalist sister-in-law in New York. Take action. Spend twenty bucks on someone else, not yourself. Spend fifty. Send only two. But please DO SOMETHING!  

Day 1 of Refugee rations challenge done. And Pay Pal makes it easier

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I missed my morning pot of tea, it’s true. But I’m less than $20 off raising $1000 so far for refugees, so I’m confident I won’t be starting every post of this week on rations complaining about my lack of favourite hot beverage! There’s my cup of hot water first thing though, still so sleepy it couldn’t quite get itself into focus for the photo 😉 We’re having incredible winter weather here in Australia: bright blue clear skies, warm sun, but still a cool nip to the skin in the shade- believe me, it’s a divine treat after all the humidity and wetness of our summer months- sipping my water on the verandah still felt full of privilege. So onto breakfast: a portion of my rice allowance, with a sprinkling of pre-soaked then boiled chickpeas. I only added salt. I’ve decided to start quite plain and strict, then ease myself into more tasty meals as the week progresses, and I get more uncomfortable/hungry/hangry. A big thank you to the 3 Anonymous donors, in case you …

How do you start your morning- tea or coffee? Well, neither if you’re a refugee

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My official Refugee Rations box arrived for the Ration Challenge, and it feels weird to know I’m getting to ‘play’ at such a serious situation for only a week- the privilege mocks me. Thanks to lovely friends and my network, I’ve raised almost $900 so far, which feels awesome; having reached various ‘fundraising targets’, I’ve ‘earnt’ myself 50g of salt (instead of sugar), some milk, a spice (I’m choosing cumin), and now a small head of broccoli (170g) plus yesterday an egg! Very exciting. These rewards don’t come out of the fundraising donations of course; it just means I am able to include them in my refugee diet. It works on the honour system, and it’s a lovely feeling to know that all over Australia, thousands of us are doing this together to raise awareness and take action in support of our vulnerable brothers and sisters around the world. I’m about $100 off being ‘allowed’ 2 teabags, and if there’s one thing I love it’s my pot of peppermint tea in the morning… PLEASE donate …

Tri This: One Year!!!

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Originally posted on Curious Steph:
One year ago today, I began my triathlon training adventure. I had been inspired by a report in my local newspaper about a sprint/mini-sprint race held at a rec center the previous weekend. I looked at the distances involved and thought “I can do that”. More importantly, I wanted to do that. Starting out, my goal was to do a sprint distance race about a year from when I began. I’m on track, with that race scheduled for a week from Saturday. I’ve done two mini sprint races in the interim, one last August, and an indoor time rather than distance based race in January. As I’ve mentioned before, this upcoming race is a leap both in terms of distance covered and the swim is open water, in a reservoir. Open water adds some challenges; a more congested group start, staying on course without that black line on the bottom of the pool, and wearing a wetsuit, which will need to be removed before starting on the bike leg of…

My ‘Refugee rations’ box has arrived, & I’m a bit scared

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Next week, June 17-24, I’m going to be hungry and grumpy. How do I know already? Because I will be trying to survive on official refugee rations for that one week. Right now, there are more than 65.5 million refugees and displaced persons around the world, according to the UN Refugee Agency. This means elderly people who’ve lost their lifelong homes, sick or injured people with no access to medical care, loving families crammed into thin tents in cold winters, and of course children with no option to go to school. I live a wonderfully privileged life here in Australia, with fresh water in my kitchen, organic produce at the Farmers Markets every week, and sleeping safely in my bed each night. But if I’d been born in Syria, I would have a different story. Right now, I could be living in a tent with my son, with minimal prospects for employment or education, and trying to feed ourselves with only the official weekly refugee rations: 420g white rice 170g lentils 85g dried chick peas …

When you decide on the perfect gift for your 18-year old son, but then…

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What would you buy a teenager reaching such a milestone birthday? The challenge threw me for days, until inspiration suddenly struck at 3am (thanks menopause): Mum’s ring! Well, it’s my ring actually, which Mum passed on to me many years ago, that I treasure. My Dad gave it to her on their honeymoon in Mexico, and although it’s a simple design, I love it, loaded with sentiment and meaning as it is now. The stick figure is roughly carved, and apparently represents the legend of a Girl holding a Rainbow- perfect for me. My son ’17’ often picks it up when I’ve left it lying around on the shelf after washing dishes for example, and has made frequent comments about how well it fits him, and how good it looks on him (as teenagers are wont to do). But I always refuse to lend it to him, and have remained strict about that, despite his cute cajoling (as teenagers are wont to do). Imagine if he lost it? Then 3am inspiration arrived: why not get …

The 2nd heavy rock in my heart: no more long distance relationship

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Yesterday, after exactly 15 months of loving romance, and 18 months since we first met online, I posted a parcel back to ‘H’. It held a few things, but most importantly our ‘connection ring’. I had to get it out of the house. Because a month ago, after ‘H’s last visit for Valentine’s Day (which was wonderful), things went pear-shaped, and despite our love and care for each other, we simply couldn’t get ourselves back to a place of unity. I’m so sad. We both are of course.  But I have to keep writing here as part of my process, thus ‘H’ has unfollowed the blog. I’ve been dreading articulating this, as it makes it all the more real. I’ve definitely just had the most wonderfully unique relationship of my life; being met on a creative level was profoundly satisfying, and ‘H’ was the sweetest, kindest person to spend intimate time with. I regret not one second. Despite the painful disagreements, and the challenges of distance, I am utterly grateful for every lesson, every joy, …

Mum update No.1

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Following up on my last concerned post about Mum HERE, her younger sister ‘W’ emailed me this morning, saying she’d found Mum obviously a bit muddled last Friday, but definitely cheery. They all went out for a pub lunch overlooking the sea (which Mum would have relished), and laughed a lot. I LOVED hearing this, as you can imagine. ‘W’ confirmed that the twice-daily community care visits help Mum with eating regularly, and social interaction; I also pay for a weekly cleaner, who arrived while they were leaving for lunch, so that’s running smoothly as well. We’re all doing the best we can aren’t we? Tomorrow morning I’m Skypeing with my cousin, W’s daughter, who lives 1.5hrs from Mum, with a degree in Social Work, so is a good communicator, plus knows her way round difficult situations, and dealing with various community services: I’m so lucky! And YOU are all wonderful, with your loving, helpful, positive comments, your sharing of similar situations, and your well wishes and candle-lighting. Thank you so much; I hope my …