Monday 1 January 2024

A New Year Dawns

2023 was a good year. 

I was employed. Three days most weeks, sometimes four.

I was happy to get away on trips to Werrikimbe National Park, Canberra, Cowra and Tenterfield. 

I bought a newer car and made repairs to it.

I bought my train ticket to Perth and the return flight.

I bought a cpap machine.

I had coffee with Caitlin most weeks and a pub dinner with mum & dad almost every week.


Julie and Cousin Dave who shared the house next door moved away: Julie to care for her dementia struck aunt. Julie's going forced Dave to move out of the house and street he loved to Western Sydney, closer to his daughter.

The house on the other side was also vacated by tenants so both houses have had work done on them in the last few months. I noticed Julie's pink mid-century toilet was thrown in a skip as was Ed and Val's green one. I wonder how many pastel mid-century bathrooms are left.

In under two weeks, Briony will move out to live with her partner, taking the fat canine toddler Lucy with her. In June, Caitlin will leave on a round Australia trip for eight months. I don't expect she will return to live here. Keaghan will still be here but he will also want his own space soon enough.

I suspect 2024 will be challenging, less money will be coming in to the household and less people will keep me company. The department I work for is up for review and though they tell us we will have jobs at the end of the process, they might be different jobs in different locations and on different teams.

There seems to be a lot of change in the wind and a lot of unknowns. I have some trepidation about it all but it could turn out to be one of my best years. I hope so.

I received a five year, one line a day journal as a Christmas gift so I look forward to seeing how life unfolds over the next five years. Writing a line a day will be a different kind of experience to writing a blog post 34 or four times a month. I'll be 57 by the time i finish. It's hard to imagine.

Happy New Year to you, my friends. I hope it's a good one.

16 comments:

  1. A very, very Happy New Year to you. I hope all of your changes are positive. When we modified one of our bathrooms the bath we replaced was a deep blue. I wonder when that was installed. It is now a horse drinking trough.

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    1. I like the idea that your bath is a horse trough.
      We had a beloved children's book which told the story of grandma bathing outdoors in an old tub.

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  2. Happy New Year Kylie!
    Sometimes when we sit down and record ‘what we did’ over a period of time we realise we were doing more than just living day to day.
    Shame you couldn’t actually take that trip across the Nullarbor- hopefully you’re well on the way to a full recovery and ready to meet those challenges you pondered about ‘head on’.
    Our lilac coloured bathroom suite went out the door in the early 1990’s - replaced by creamy fawn. Daring aren’t we😊

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    1. Happy new year, Cathy! And to your hubby.
      At the time, I was too sick to be worried about the trip but now it's a bit sad.
      Cream is a classic bathroom colour!

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  3. A one line a day journal? I have never heard of such a thing. Most days I would write "I woke up and later on I went to sleep."
    BEST WISHES FOR 2024 KYLIE!

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    1. Happy 2024, Neil!
      The journal actually has about 3 lines per day, enough for one long sentence.
      You should consider more detail in yours 😜

      Delete
  4. Gosh, writing only one line a day will surely be hard. How to summarise an entire day in one line?
    I hope your departmental review comes up with a suitable job for you.
    Our bathroom furniture is all white so no replacements needed!

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    1. Well i started the year with "There's a lot of change in the wind for this year. It's a bit scary. War in Gaza and Ukraine, famine in Pakistan, it's not looking like a good year for a lot of people"

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  5. Lots happened in your life. I guess if we write things down you se how it adds up.

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    1. Yes, Red. I really like that my blog reminds me of what happens in my life. It's a lot when you add it up.

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  6. Change, I expect, is coming for everyone in 2024. I hope most will be positive for you Kylie.
    XO
    WWW

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    1. WWW, change is a constant, isn't it?

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  7. Happy New Year. I don't like the sound of change and unknowns but it is futile worrying about such things in advance. I had forgotten that my grandparents' toilet installed in the 1950s was a deep burgundy colour.

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    1. Happy new Year, Andrew!
      I'm not usually a worrier but I've lived in a house full of people all my life so this will be an adjustment!
      Burgundy! my 1963 house has the original pink

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  8. I love you have pink in bathroom. I have a friend who is millionaire who still has the pink toilet, tub, and sink in main bathroom. His off his bedroom is pale blue. The kitchen has turquoise stove. He does not care because it is all in good shape and works for what it is intended. I would like pink in the bathroom!
    With the Orange Idiot on the loose, no telling what will happen.

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    Replies
    1. Our floor tiles are still good but the blue sink is long gone, the pink bath is scratched and the blue wall tiles are falling off so it's days are numbered!

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