July in Sydney was spent in lockdown. That meant my plan to go up to Lake Macquarie in the school holidays was canned, instead, I spent that time at home enjoying the break from kids. Thankfully we had beautiful weather, a few frosty mornings but real nice sun-filled days. I went on walks with the dogs, scheduled blog posts, read and change things around in the house. The last two weeks I’ve been at school teaching the children of essential workers a.k.a the bratty kids the parents can’t put up with at home, however, we have no right to question them, just accept them. Out of our 2000 students, we are getting roughly 70 a day. Our lockdown in Sydney is continuing for August as cases of COVID-19 keeps increasing so I have another four weeks of remote learning at school.

Listened to - 

* created a July 2021 playlist on Spotify

* Wine With Teacher Podcast

* Elise Gets Crafty Podcast

* Terri Cole Podcast

* Real Raw Relatable with Kat John

* Balance with Cass and Kate

* The Lavendaire Lifestyle Podcast

 Read - 

* Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

* Didn’t See That Coming by Rachel Hollis

* Girl A by Abigail Dean

* I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

* The Book You Were Born To Write by Kelly Notaras

Splurged on - 

* new office chair from Temple & Webster, bought Nike running shoes and Nike white shoes on sale, a Bluetooth speaker for the kitchen and a new bed for the dogs

Watching - 

* Have You Been Paying Attention?

* Mr Poppers Penguins on DVD

* Three Birds Dream Home episodes on YouTube

* The Cheap Seats - gave it a go but a bit frantic for me

Went to - 

* Turtle Nursery to pick out woodchip

Booked - 

* Night at Cammeray Waters for my friend’s wedding in Melbourne in September

* Tickets to check out Liburndale wedding venue with my sister but it was postponed due to lockdown

Cooked - 

* Chocolate Brownies, Blueberry Muffins, Apple Pie, Snickerdoodles, Lemon Coconut Slice,

* Tacos, Rissoto, Thai Orange Curry, Pulled Pork, Barramundi and Green Vegies

What's new - 

* Home improvements - Swapped my office table with a table from the boy’s room. Bought an office chair but still waiting over a month now for it to be delivered. My rug arrived and I’m a huge fan. Took a day to totally clear out the two boys bedrooms and then swapped them over. Printed and framed some more pictures for the house. Waiting for the house to be painted before I hang them. I bought a bar table and chair set for the upstairs balcony earlier in the year, and as it hasn’t been tiled yet we decided to put it on the front verandah in the meantime. We have used it so often this month and love sitting out the front in the sun. I brought a table that I had in storage at Mum and Dads to place under the mirror at the front door. I put my diffuser and orchid on it and it fits there well. Getting tempted to change a few other things around too.

* Did a online course offered by Cassie Mendoza-Jones called Receive and Rise

* Got quotes to get higher TPD cover in my superannuation. Have you checked yours out recently to see what they will cover you for if you are permanently disabled? Will it be enough?

* Since I didn’t get to go away this month, I pulled out my hotel collections and have been using up all the little soaps, shampoos and body lotions. Almost feels like I’m at a hotel lol.

* We had some beautiful sunsets this month. So nice to watch them from our back balcony.

Looking for - 

* linen curtains and blinds

Sold -

* my maths games, Skateboard and Ripstick, Spelling Guide, cordless phones, gym pants, affirmation cards

 
Started - 

* Cassie Mendoza-Jones course Anchor Into Your Power. Completed the first two modules

* Deleted and clearing photos from my phone again

* Deleted notes from my phone. I had 244 to begin with. Now down to 220

* Did an Instagram following clear out. I did not realise I was following over 1000 people and was just seeing the same peoples posts on repeat. Was good to change it up

Attempting to -

* complete a 15 Day Wellness Challenge. I did it so have extended it for another 30 days. The aim is to do it for 45 days and then hopefully all the things just become habits. This included meditating, journalling, reading, writing, exercising, no alcohol or spending each day.

How was your July? Were you in lockdown, What kept you busy this month? We would love to hear your thoughts. Please feel welcome to join the conversation and leave a comment below.

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