It’s not that I have a tendency to “fail” I just sometimes take on a few too many challenges and then have to play catch-up at various points along the way to actually complete the task!

So here is my latest photo-a-day pictures.

1. Something I Do Every Day – I made a list, God it was dull. I know you are supposed to celebrate the ordinary, everything is beautiful in its own way. But can I tell the tasks I do every day are mind numbingly boring. The same day replayed in an endless loop. In the end I decided driving was the activity which dominates most of my days. The children took turns getting photos of me driving, muttering about their mother’s crazy challenges. “Aren’t you supposed to take the photos?” “I’m driving!” “But if there are rules …” “I’m adapting the rules to suit my circumstances”. “Is that allowed?” “Will you just take the damn photo”.

2. Night – on my home from a girl’s night out I pulled into a deserted car park by the river to snap a quick shot of the town lights. I must admit, even in this quiet regional town there was a second’s hesitancy where I wondered if it was a smart thing to do, stop in a car park at 10.30pm next to an empty park. Here in Australia there was recently a young woman abducted and murdered from a busy Melbourne street as she walked a short distance home after dinner out with work colleagues. The case highlighted just how women’s lives are lived with that ever-present thought in the back of the mind, is this safe? Am I being careful enough? Who is walking behind me? Do I slow down and see if they pass? Walk confidently. Hold your keys poking through your fingers just in case a weapon is needed.

3. Something I Can’t (Won’t) Live Without – Really there’s only two things I can’t live without, the daughters. Although getting the photo proved to be a challenge.

Me: “I need a photo of the two of you”.

Them: “No”. ”

Me: “Please”

Hippie Child: “No, I’m sick”.

Me: “But I need it for the photo challenge, you are my ‘something I can’t live without'”.

Princess Child: “Awww, that’s nice”.

Me: “I know it’s really good of me, so will you do the photo?”

Them: “No”.

Me: “I don’t ask much, just this one little thing. LOOK, if you don’t let me take a photo, I’m adopting you out”.

Princess Child: “What does that mean”.

Me: “I’m sending you to live with people who don’t have children”.

(Only now has the irony hit me that in order to get my photo of ‘something I can’t live without’ I threatened to get rid of it entirely).

Them: “Great, we’ll go to Petrina’s back in Canberra, they were fun, and we loved their dog”.

Me: “We are taking the photo NOW”.

Princess Child: “I’m not getting close to her, she’s sick, I don’t wanna catch it”.

Malfunctioning flash blinds them a couple of times but eventually I get a photo of you know, these little darlings I can’t live without. I should have just photographed chocolate.

4. Drink – My boss has a thing for Scorpios. Half the staff she has hired fall under that star sign. Hence November becomes a never-ending roster of cake, candles and hesitant singing of “Happy Birthday”. I accompany each new sweet delight with my usual coffee, and decide dieting in November is simply pointless.

Where I slept – Well I started off in my bed. It’s an antique from the late 1800’s. It belonged to my Great Grandmother. However, my incessant coughing kept waking my husband so I ended up on the lounge. I heard recently there is a new trend in housing to have two master bedrooms. As I tossed and turned, various parts of my anatomy falling off the thin cushioning. Lumpy bits digging into my back, I could see the value in such a trend.