August - December 2024

These are the areas of my life that are important to me, or that I’m working on. Each month I review where I’m at and check in.

I haven’t done a recap since July, when we were preparing to leave Japan. The last few months have been a little crazy and I definitely let things slide in a few areas in order to not burnout. Unfortunately, these monthly recaps were one of the first things to go, hence I haven’t done one in five months. I think maybe things are finally starting to settle again though so I want to get back into them. This one is going to cover the last five months so it will be a whopper.

I would like to start doing these monthly again in the new year. These are really just for me, to keep me accountable, but having a place to publish them means I'm more likely to do it.

Apologies for the many errors that are in this one. I'm writing it in an airport of a week of reduced sleep and if I stop to proofread I don't think I'll have the courage to hit post.

Reading

I finished ten books in the last five months. That’s only two a month, so I certainly didn’t read as much as I usually do, and probably didn’t get near my 50 books for the year I was secretly hoping for.

FINISHED

• This Census-Taker by China Mieville. I have a few China Mieville books on my TBR, but this one wasn’t on there. However, when I saw it while wandering through the library I grabbed it anyway. I’m really glad I did, I enjoyed it. It’s a weird little book but I love how well the vibe and feel of it builds up. It’s made me really keen to read more Mieville now.
• Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill. This one was added to my list after reading a review that caught my attention. Despite the subject matter being a failing relationship, I really enjoyed the writing. The short choppy style was perfect and I was in this person’s life feeling their every emotion through a difficult time in their life.
• The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. This one took me a while to get through, as it wasn’t my main read until I was quite a way through it. Once I focused on this book though, I started to enjoy it a lot more. This was my first Sanderson, and I know he’s very prolific so if I continue to enjoy his work I’ll have a lot of catalogue to work through. I’m not 100% sold on him yet, but I’ll give the next one in this series a go when it becomes available at the library.
• Iron Gold by Pierce Brown. The fourth in the Red Rising series. I have struggled a bit with this series in general. I have really enjoyed parts of it, but I find the predictability of twists off putting. It’s not the content of the twists that I dislike, it’s that I know there are twists coming. The author has done it in every book, so now I’m just over reading everything waiting for it to happen. I also find it a little difficult to keep track of the large cast of characters with my reading style. I will continue with the rest of the series though, I do want to know how it all turns out.
• The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli. I enjoyed this book, but I don’t understand the concepts in it enough to be able to explain it to you. It’s just a really interesting way to look at time.
• The Time Machine by HG Wells. Classic Sci-Fi. This was a re-read in order to listen to Steve’s audiobook version. It’s amazing. You should go listen to it now. Honestly the best audiobooks you will ever hear.
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt. This one had been on my TBR for a long time and I think I had built it up to expect a masterpiece. Don’t get me wrong, it was still amazing, five stars, would recommend. It was just lacking a little something, and I think that something was something that could never be there, because I’d held it up on a pedestal for so long before I actually read it.
• The Gunslinger by Stephen King. I’ve journeyed to the tower twice before, but I heard about a podcast called Kingslingers that does a read-a-long and deep dive into the Dark Tower Series so I figured it was time to dive in again. I’m really enjoying taking it slow and the breakdown that the podcast does is giving me a new perspective on a lot of things that I missed in my first two reads.
• Life: What Nat To Do by Nat’s What I Reckon. This guy is pretty funny on his YouTube channel, but it just doesn’t translate to the page. In this book he takes common trite sayings and goes into why he thinks they are full of shit. It just felt forced and honestly kind of negative. You don’t have to like other people, but you also don’t have to shit on them, which is something he preaches, but this book felt like that’s what he was doing the whole time.

• The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King. Book two of the Dark Tower series. I flew through this one. I want to try and slow down the journey a bit for the rest of the way, but this second book is a good one.

IN PROGRESS

• Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan. Book eight (?) of the Wheel of Time. I’m determined to get through this series. I really need to focus on getting through these books without as many interruptions because I know that reduces my enjoyment of them. But right now I’m struggling and I don’t understand why this series is so lauded.
• The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. This book was not on my TBR and is not something I would normally have any interest in at all. But I made a new friend and we bonded over reading and this is her favourite book so I said I would give it a go. I’m about halfway through and I’m thinking it’s just ok. I really dislike one of the main characters, I think he’s an absolute asshole. I have a feeling he’s meant to be a romantic figure, but I just think he’s horrible.
• Dark Iron by Pierce Brown. Fifth book in the series. Plugging away at it. Trying not to get too caught up on the fact that I forget who’s who and just pick up the main beats of the story. I had a big break from this one because my Libby app logged me out and I couldn’t get back in without going to a library in person. Fortunately I was going to Australia anyway so I was able to fix it while I was there.
• The Illustrated Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake. I grabbed this one when I saw it at the library even though I knew I didn’t have time to read it. This series has been on my list for a long time. I have had to return it to the library already, without even getting halfway through the first book, but I’ll grab it again as soon as I can. It’s not what I thought it would be, it’s a lot funnier.
• Spindle's End by Robin McKinley. Got this as a bedtime sleepy book, it’s doing the job because I’m barely two hours in because I keep falling asleep too quickly. So far it’s a pretty standard young readers’ fantasy based on a fairy tale but it’s enjoyable enough.
• Witchmark by CL Polk. Another victim to the Libby log out fiasco. I’ve been enjoying this one, I like how the magic system is being slowly revealed.
• The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks. I always like Oliver Sack’s books and this is no exception. It never fails to amaze me the crazy stories this guy has.

Health

This has been somewhat up and down, but I think I’m on the right track again. After getting to NZ I started to put a few kilo’s back on, but I think I’ve been able to get back on track a little.

I was struggling to get back into a regular running habit, but I’ve just started doing Parkrun to try and run at least once a week. We’ve also been going to Muay Thai once a week. I should try and put some weights in there as well to round it out, but two exercises sessions a week consistently is a good start. I’ve also been walking to work a lot. I want to keep doing that and also start walking home more often, but that’s a lot harder because it’s all uphill.

I got sick with a cold in early September. I forget if that’s three or four colds this year, but I’ve been fine since then. I think I wasn’t eating very well and that contributed. I’ve been trying to make sure I get some fruit and veg everyday since then.

I had a spate of headaches, but no really bad migraines. I’ve been trying to not delay taking painkillers when I get a headache. In the past I’ve always tried to avoid taking paracetamol or ibuprofen unless absolutely necessary. I don’t know what changed, but I’ve now been taking something as soon as I feel a headache starting and I think it’s helping to stop headaches turning into migraines.

Diet has been ok-ish. We’ve been having a lot less takeaway because it’s just too expensive. We ordered Ubereats two or three times when we got here and then stopped. We now stick mostly to one takeaway a week from the Chinese shop or the Fish and Chip shop. I’ve been cooking more, but not heaps. There are still a lot of easy meals where I just chuck some chips and spring rolls in the oven. But I think that’s better than a McDonalds meal.

Writing

I finished the year meeting all my writing prompts. That’s two years in a row that I've written a short story every month. I’m happy with that, but I’d like to do more. I think I will try setting aside writing time every weekend, rather than just when a prompt is due. Otherwise I won’t ever write anything longer than a short story.

I’ve got ideas about one of the shorts I wrote and how it might develop into something bigger. I’m excited to explore it further.

Business

The audiobooks are slowly starting to become positive again. It’s definitely a huge drop and I don’t think we’ll ever recover and get back to where we were, but the slow build that we’re doing now is, I think, less dependent on one successful book and less risky.

My craft business has pretty much been on hold. I’ve just been doing stuff for enjoyment really. I would like to optimise my Etsy further to try and get a few more sales, but it’s a tedious process.

The cross stitch zine was a little disappointing. Only 5 copies were sold. The organiser was disappointed as well, but hopefully she continues to do these and I can continue to be involved as it’s a good way to push myself to make patterns.

Finances

We’ve been spending so much money lately but I think that should be done with now and in the New Year we can really start focussing on setting and sticking to a budget, and regular saving as well as paying off my credit card.

The first job that I had when we got to NZ didn’t pay very well. We could have scraped by, but it was uncomfortable. I'm very glad that I took a chance and now have a better paying job. I’ll actually be able to pay something off the credit card each week.

Work

When we first arrived I had already signed a contract to work with a company so I started with them after our first week here. The job itself was fine, but the pay was low and the company turned out to be pretty unethical. So when a coworker showed me a job ad for a different job, I applied. I didn’t think I would get the job, but I must have knocked it out of the park at the interview because they offered me a contract within a week.

This job pays much better, but it’s a lot more challenging for me. I feel really out of my depth. I’m still processing how I feel about this job, so I might write more about it next month, but for now I’m trying to enjoy the rest of my holidays without stressing about what waits for me at work in a week.

The Big Move

It’s done. The big move is over. We’re here in NZ, we are renting our own apartment and are starting to feel pretty settled into life here.

So far, I’m absolutely loving it here and I feel like this really is a place we could spend the rest of our lives.

I’m currently writing this at the airport on my way back to NZ after having spent a week in Australia with my family.

The only reservations I have about committing to making NZ home permanently is how fucking heartbroken I felt saying goodbye to my little sister. There’s a lot to unpack there, that I’m not ready to go into now. But, we had a great time together, I haven’t felt that close to anyone in a long time and I didn’t want to leave her. We both promised to be better about keeping in contact. I hope we manage it.

But now that the move is done, this section will no longer be in my monthly updates. Job completed.

See you next month for the first recap of 2025. I haven't done resolutions for the last few years but maybe I'll write something in early January and set some goals for the coming year in regards to these aspects of my life that I want to improve.