80 days to go.
#Faith

The Before and Afters

I should have known July would be a slow month, so I’m not that disheartened about my progress.

Not only is the cold a sharp un-motivator, but I’ve also been riddled with RSI for the latter part of July. And Taekwondo training intensity has increased in anticipation for Nationals in September (RSI and tkd training are not related).

Starting with the least impressive one (but one I’ve spent the most time on), I’ve begun tidying up my stamp collection. This is going to be a slow, but extremely enjoyable, task and I wanted to share my progress. If you don't notice any difference, that's completely fine. I may or may not continue including my stamp progress each month. But we'll see. I may not be able to help myself.

#Bookshelfie!
I'm diligently reading through the books I’ve decided aren’t coming with us. And yes, I keep changing the ornaments here. It's to remind me to make a decision on whether or not they're coming with. It also gives guests a bit of a different view from month to month. Haha

Very small difference here, but I managed to sell/get rid of some posters on the top shelf. The clothes haven’t changed yet. It turns out, most consumers would prefer to buy brand new clothes than used ones. Which is a shame, because one of those leather jackets is worth about $100 brand new. And the one white dress in there was $70. Now, let me stop before I go on a “new clothes are a waste of money and resources” rant!

Hey hey hey! Technically, this is better than it was last month. Note the top shelf.
convincingly winks

Right, it was about… three months ago that I said I was going to make this cupboard better? Well, it didn’t happen evidently. But maybe August will be the bathroom month! Actually, maybe not because it’s cold in the bathroom. Perhaps I’ll leave the bathroom for Spring.
The biggest difference here is the disappearing hair curler.

Tiny bit of progress here too. That stack of papers is supposed to be getting smaller every day, but… I keep forgetting. In some ways I miss lockdown, when I had time to organise the next day’s tasks.

The Personal

“So, we’ll be living in limbo until Australia lets us in.” The line I say to everyone who asks us. One friend asked if October comes and goes, will we find the waiting hard on a mental level? It’s not something I’ve thought about much. It’s hard enough as it is now, impatient for new scenery, deciding how much to pre-plan the immigration, and trying not to make too many new connections and friendships here. We already have furniture waiting for us in storage over in Melbourne, and soon we might have to decide if continual payment for that storage remains financially wise.

Kyle is putting sweat into his new Ozzy-ready CV and is strategizing career networking connections. He’s also still aiming for October, although remains realistic about the world’s situation.
We are safe, healthy and most importantly, together. If we don’t get to Melbourne in 2020, we’ll be just fine. And us Dunkerleys will make the most of our waiting time. I might even have time to gather all our “keepings” and do another cull before we go, “living like minimalists until we leave” as another friend put it.