grass up to our waists | hello in 2019

The last post on this blog, which was in March 2016 so nearly 3 years ago, ends with me promising the recipe for croissants "if I ever get around to making them". 

I'll tell you right now, I never got around to making them. Why was that, you might ask. Let me tell you.

Firstly, the price of butter. In New Zealand the price of butter has increased recently, and particularly over the past 3 years. It used to cost around $4 for a 500g block, but now prices are around $6.50 per 500g. Croissants require quite a lot of butter, and quite a lot of attention. Attention I was willing to give, but part with $15 for butter just for a batch of croissants, as well?

Not only did the price of butter increase, but the amount of time I had for cooking and food, particularly labour intensive and perhaps frivolous food like croissants, exponentially decreased. The lab work I alluded to in previous posts consumed my life, as well as the teaching and tutoring hours, until all I did for the last couple of months of last year was work to earn money, or work on my thesis.

Although this was not a pleasant way to spend time, it resulted in the successful completion and submission of a document I was happy with. It's important to acknowledge the incredible support I had around me from my partner and my family which was instrumental in allowing me to work as hard as I had to. I will be forever grateful for their understanding, encouragement and support. The soft bound submission is a end-of-sorts, and because the examination process and second, hard-bound submission is still to come, that's all I'll say about it for now.

I submitted on the 20th of December, 2018; a mere two and a half weeks ago. Since then, I have been slowly unwinding into holiday relaxation mode, spent time with my family and my partner's family, slept as much as possible, and eaten all sorts of delicious holiday food. It has been a slow process, letting go of the anxiety-inducing deadline-driven thesis thought patterns and easing my brain into true holiday mode for the first time in a while.

I find myself with the desire to catalogue the coming months of my life as I unwind and reflect on achieving last year's milestones, and decide what direction I'll take towards the future. There are lots of career and life decisions to make in the coming months, which makes for an exciting time.

I hope to post here a bit more frequently during this time, to catalogue my thoughts as I reflect about all I learned during the process of completing my PhD, and as I determine the next steps in my career. There might not always be recipes, but I hope there'll be a few to share. I know I am looking forward to having more time to spend cooking this year.

If you're still reading this, hello! Thanks for being here, I'm happy to have the inspiration and time for self reflection to write again here. See you soon.

G

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title from 'been in bed' by Grawlixes