July 2024 Life Updates

Hi friends! This year is going WAYY too fast for my liking and July has definitely been one of the crazier months that's for sure. So with that being said, here's my July 2024 Life Updates for ya'll to enjoy! Because so much has happened in July, I started writing this on the 15th of July, literally 2 weeks into the month, and usually, I don't start these until the end of the month LOL (but I will post it at the end - or near-end - of the month because that's how it works).

What's been happening for Ashy, Benji, and Luke? A LOT! To say I've been overwhelmed would be an understatement.

Also, sidenote - months with 5 weeks feel incredibly long.

• Benji has graduated from the foundation class into class 1 at obedience school but I feel like we're gonna be in that for a while - especially with my back injury (and Luke will start cricket on Sundays next month so it's gonna be a bit awkward with only one car so we dunno what we're gonna do there - we might be able to alternate days). I still kinda wish we went for a private trainer because it would have been less overwhelming and I think they would have been nicer, but oh well.

• Benji bloody ate some gum off the ground and we had an emergency vet trip to make him throw up - luckily we got it in time and he threw up and was a bit dopey for a while (and yes, we have been training give and always take high-value treats on our walks). The vets were really good about it but unfortunately, we couldn't claim it on our pet insurance (rip wallets). Hopefully, he's learned his lesson - he does "give" 99.9% of the time but some things, he still manages to swallow before then - and this was that one time. After it was over, we could laugh at his dopey face from the meds he'd been given.

• Benji kinda learned to "heel" - video proof "here". Benji will sometimes do it for me, but my tactic is a bit different considering I have a slipped disc in my back. See "here." I've been practicing with him a bit more on our solo walks so hopefully he just keeps getting better and better. We had been doing "find it" and throwing treats on the ground but since he picked up the gum, we've significantly decreased in how often we do this command.

• This one is more of a sad one and was at the end of June but my grandma passed away, we watched the live-streamed funeral and also planted a tree in her honour. I felt a bit weird because some people who never met her decided to also watch the funeral livestream. I get that people want to support me, but to me, grief is a bit of a personal thing. We all grieve differently.

• We passed our routine inspection woo and had a tradie come put a screwdriver into the bathroom door to replicate a pin that is missing from there LOL and also a smoke alarm got replaced that had water damage. Detector Inspector are so weird.

• I drove by myself for the first time in Melbourne (I've had my full license for years)! I've driven in Melbourne with Luke and Mum in the car before but never by myself so I was proud. I get driving anxiety in Melbourne because the roads here scare me a lot more than the NZ ones (make it make sense LOL). Even in South Australia, I felt fine driving in. Some of the roundabouts in Melbourne are so scary when you can't see the trams. Honestly, when I transferred my NZ license to a Victorian one, all I had to do was pay some money and do a quick eye test - I was over 25 so I think that's why that's all it was. I also dunno if when I'm in NZ, I should be using my Aus one or my NZ one? OH AND WTF, LUKE'S CAR DOESN'T HAVE A BACK WINDOW WIPER - I THOUGHT ALL CARS HAD THAT? Well, apparently not.

• Luke went to one of his mate's bday drinks that I unfortunately missed due to a migraine and Luke also went to the Melbourne vs Essendon AFL game. Still struggling with migraines (which sucks so much).

• We took Benji on his first road trip up to Echuca to visit Luke's Grandma. You can see that blog post "here".

• On the Echuca trip, we met a talking cockatoo named Jack.

• I started working on a secret project for the blog (all will be revealed soon). Although I do have a bad habit of starting projects and never finishing them, but this one I really wanna stick at. I guess I'm just struggling with my time management sorta thing atm.

• I didn't get an IBS attack after eating KFC. We were sooo disappointed in the chicken takeaway places that we just had to get proper KFC.

• I started doing basic home workouts again. With my current health situation, I've only really been able to do walks as my main form of exercise so I'm trying to ease myself back into what I used to do.

• I put out the following YT videos: Melbourne Diaries Episode 2: Vlogging isn't dead? / Melbourne Diaries Episode 3: My Morning Routine + Dealing with Grief / Mini Road Trip: Overnight Adventures to Echuca / The Sociology of Rage Bait + (a deep dive into TradWives)

• One of my IG reels got over 30k plays on Instagram (see "here").

• I had some SPOOKY AF dreams (and these were after the Trump incident so it made it extra creepy). The first one was a "Glitch in the Matrix" dream where I was stuck in an underground car park and everyone except me froze and I just couldn't get out or work out why everyone was frozen. The second dream (on the same night) was that I was on a random holiday - potentially in Seattle but somewhere with a lot of water that's for sure and I was with my friend Liv and we had to get back to the airport somehow but the only way back was on these water bus type things (it wasn't a submarine or a ship - just a bus that could move on water) and we had been hearing about sh**tings taking place on these buses so we were really scared to go on them and thought we should wait it out but we decided to go anyway, and we got on and then there were all these shootings all of a sudden and we all had to get down BUT it turns out that the shooters were the drivers. Idk what happened after that because I woke up. Do you guys like hearing about my dreams? Let me know in the comments if you do!

• Luke made beef ragu pasta (I liked the flavour and the pasta but the meat was quite chewy for me and I'm a big texture person).

• I FINALLY got my "The Consequences of AI on Everyday Life (from a Sociological Lens)" blog post out - it's been in the making for a LONG time LOL.

• We tried "Gusto's bakery" and the food was pretty good. I liked the pastry they used for their danishes but I wished there was more custard in them because that's the best part for sure! We gotta go back and try the fruit tart bc that looked epic.

• I made friends with a cute kitty on one of my solo hot girl walks.

• We got good tax returns! WOOOO (well, I did, dunno about Luke).

• I got locked out on the balcony, which was absolutely terrifying. I didn't take my phone out there either so I had to yell (and that's hard) for a while to get Luke's attention because he was downstairs vacuuming. Eventually, he came and let me back in. IDK what I would have done if Luke wasn't home.

• I've started leaning into my "comfy clothes" era where I absolutely love trackies and sweatpants sets and idk why it's taken me SOOOO long to get here, but they're all so comfy and warm. I probably bought way too many but oh well - they're nice and warm for winter. No idea what I'm gonna do in summer because Benji has ripped up most of my summer clothes.

• I've started being a bit of a nosey neighbour (mainly because I can just sit at my desk and look out the window at what's going on) and I've noticed a few things. One thing I already knew was one of our neighbours had been getting driving lessons but I then saw two other people (who I'd never seen here before) get into a driving instructor's car. One person got out and said bye and the other got in to go for a lesson. Also, Luke will say it's the "illegal vape trade" but sometimes there are people who get out of vans to meet someone, make an exchange, and move on - could also be dr*g deals or things like that but I don't want to assume, nor do I want to get involved. None of my business but I can just sit at my window and watch the world go by.

• Luke and I tried a different pizza place. We usually go to the one that's closest but we've been getting recommendations from others to try out different ones around the area and we tried "Ita.co" in Pascoe Vale and it was really good! My tummy hurt a tiny bit but it was more like an extra full feeling because of how much we ate. We tried the Margherita Pizza, Amalfi Pizza (so YUM), and the Nutella & Strawberry Dessert Pizza. We also wanted to try the Limoncello Tiramisu but that was the only disappointing part of the meal (it was only $6 so it wasn't the end of the world, and it wasn't bad, it was just missing those bold flavours). Oh, and we also got chippies AND they were like fish and chip shop chips but they didn't taste as greasy. And this was the day that Luke learned you could get chips at a Pizza shop - which I thought was common LOL. And yes, I know I've got to get to my foodie review emails for those who are subscribed! They're coming I promise (there's just a lot going on ATM).

• I went to a buffet for the first time in Melbourne. The last buffet I went to was in CHCH over 10 years ago and that one was super greasy - it must have been Sequioa 88 or another one. The one in Melbourne we went to "Watergardens Hotel" with Luke's family and it was good but it did hurt my tummy a little. I guess it's hard because my dietary requirements aren't strict in the sense that a coeliac or lactose-intolerant person is strict. I might not know something will upset me until after the fact and currently working on the gut-brain connection with my therapist.

• We watched the Netflix show "Exploding Kittens" which was better than we thought it was - super funny and easy to watch. I also thought it was funny how Tom Ellis went from playing "Lucifer" in Lucifer to playing Godcat.

• We tried a new Thai Restaurant on Sunday night for dinner called "Thai Restaurant and Cafe" in Brunswick West.

• Mum got 4 business days' notice for her surgery (which is happening on the 30th) - so this means we were unable to get back to help with the number of appointments I have, and not being able to find anyone to take care of Benji on such short notice. So we will look at getting to NZ later in the year and hopefully, it's not as stressful. My mum has a few people who are able to go stay with her thankfully! And I think she'll make a Facebook status to see who can help out. But hopefully, this surgery will make her quality of life much better (it's a hip replacement, I hope she doesn't mind me saying that, that she's been waiting for so long). It's all looking good to go ahead tomorrow.

• This one's probably a little odd but Luke said he usually sees this old woman (idk how old, retired at least) who randomly sits across the street on our neighbour's fence for like 30 minutes at a time and then walks off. At first, I thought Luke was kidding or it was the neighbour but he said he'd never seen her anywhere else and she definitely hadn't come out of the house I'm talking about. Anyway, I was reading on the couch around 4/430pm the other day and I saw this woman just sit on the fence staring into our house and she stayed there for a good half an hour. Now, when Luke said to me about this woman the first time, I made a joke that she was a PI but then I feel like she'd sit in a car and not be so obvious. So, she's just sitting and staring in so me being the little dramatic woman I am, stare back and I think this makes her a bit uncomfortable. Then, another person walks by and starts talking to her (and this one I've seen before). But in thinking about all of this, I am going to assume that she's just going for a walk and that's the spot that she probably stops for a rest - although it doesn't make it any less weird.

• I don't think I mentioned this last month but I can't remember when it started but we've been watching (Luke and I) Taskmaster, Australia. Luke had never seen any of the Taskmaster shows before, so I really need to show him the UK one so he can see what Alex Horne made! I remember when my mum was in Melbourne and she said she actually preferred the Aus version to the NZ version hahaa.

• As of the 24th of July, my two best-performing blog posts are/were (idk the right tense here) "Your July 2024 Horoscope (from a Sociologist)" and "Mini Road Trip: Overnight Adventures to Echuca (+ Travel Tips)". I feel like maybe I gotta keep up with the horoscopes now but I think I could do better than Channel 7 bringing in horoscopes LOL. I think I also have to add in my rage bait post because that seems to be doing quite well too so here it is "The Sociology of Rage Bait (+ A Deep Dive into TradWives)".

• Following the announcement of Biden stepping down, I found myself really wanting Michelle Obama to step up and run for the nomination and in turn president. I know Kamala Harris is a woman of colour and what she stands for is super important (+ an attorney vs a felon is a great statement). However, I feel like she hasn't had the chance to make the same impact that Michelle Obama has on the world. And I don't think Michelle Obama will run because it would undermine Harris and that's just not girl code BUT it is politics and I know I'm getting political here and might get hate for this BUT (again) I personally think that Michelle Obama is the person who can change America and beat Trump, more than Harris can. Although, I feel like it would be cool if Harris gets in, and then in 2028, it's two women of colour as the two main running mates - like how cool would that be? Come on, America, do your thing.

• I've had a little bit of a toothache so I'm just seeing how it goes over the next few days to see if I need to book an appointment with the dentist (I really do not want another dentist appt but I'm unsure if it's nerve pain or an infection so I'll keep ya'll updated on that one). Yes, I know, I've had SOOO many problems with my teeth - from the wisdom teeth debacle, where they got filled originally and the receptionist made me cry because I couldn't pay more than $50 when they said I was allowed to pay it off, to my wisdom teeth needing to be taken out like 2 years later anyway, then all the bloody fillings I've had done and redone, it's not fun. I put so much effort into brushing and looking after my teeth, and just ugh. I don't wanna deal with it anymore. Update as of the 29th July, I've booked a dentist appointment for Thursday, that was the earliest I could get for an emergency appt and now I'm a bit worried that it might be infected and will need a root canal - thanks tax return for paying for this in advance LOL.

• Luke took me out for a date night dinner to a cute restaurant in Strathmore called Pizzicotto (amazing staff & food but I wish it was bigger and we weren't sitting next to the door). Anyway, I'll do a proper foodie review of that on the blog soon. But the food and service were A+ in my books.

• We saw snow! Luke wanted to drive up to Mount Macedon to see if there was any snow and we stopped at a bakery called Bourkies Bakery for some lunch and then drove up to the mountain and it started snowing - we also saw a kookaburra but I was way too cold in the rain/snow to stay for very long, but I kinda took a vlog so I'll see if I can make something out of that.

• My dad had his birthday and we sent him some chutneys but apparently they didn't say who they were from so dad had to call up (I mean, I did message him to say I sent them). And dad also annouced he was finally retiring from his trucking job but not his gardening jobs - didn't think he would ever retire LOL. I don't think he reads my blogs so eh.

• I also got told my blog was "stupid" and my YouTube videos were "silly" which made me feel kinda bad because I put soooo much work into these things and I'm really proud of them.

• We saw a double rainbow!
  

That's all for my life updates for this month! I will see you soon. If you'd like to check out some previous life updates, I'll have them linked down below.

Much love,

Ash xoxo

Some previous Life Updates

• An April Life Update: Adventures & Reflections (2024)

• My May Mayhem 2024 SHOCKING Life Updates

• My Joyful June 2024 Life Update

PS, I'd love it if you checked out my most recent YouTube Video about the sociology of rage bait! I will link it below. It's currently at 1000+ views and would love to blow it up, so any views, likes, shares, and subs will help me immensly.

Also, if you did make it this far, here's some photos to enjoy from JULY 2024!