Personal Prompt: Write an instruction manual for taking care of yourself.
1. Get adequate sleep. Don’t go to bed too early. Don’t get up too early. Don’t go to bed too late. Don’t get up too late. When tired during the day – nap. Rest is essential.
2. Get adequate nutrition. Have a smoothie for breakfast. Eat dinner. Don’t binge in between.
3. Stay adequately hydrated. In addition to a million cups of tea, drink a couple of bottles of water.
4. Maintain contact with my social circle. Stay in touch with someone every day. Reach out when necessary. Go out every now and then.
5. Stay physically active. Do gym as many days a week as possible. Get 10K steps per day. Try and do a beach walk as often as possible.
6. When problems arise, deal with them as soon as possible.
7. Do something “selfish” every day, for at least five minutes. Watch tv, play candy crush, read a book, paint nails. etc
8. Say no if I don’t want to do something. Say yes if I do want to do something.
9. Spend time with my family every day.
10.  Cuddle Coco every day.
Creative Prompt: Plan a surprise party for a friend. Who is the party for, what are you celebrating, where is the event being held and how will you decorate?
I did a surprise party for dad’s 80th – four years ago. It was awesome. He had only been back in Tassie about six months. Maybe 12? I hired the room at the twin ovals – got a friend to play music all night, provided loads of food (catered by my son), there was a bar where people could purchase their own drinks. We didn’t really decorate much – just a few stands of bright blue helium balloons with “80” written on them. And the tables of food had crisp white table cloths and were covered in blue sparkly sprinkles that said “happy birthday” and “80”. I contacted everyone I could think of who had ever known dad – friends, family, work colleagues, former students, neighbours. Everyone. In the end there were 40 people from around the country that made it down. Dad was so surprised when my nephew appeared (I’d flown him down from Queensland) and other people from interstate. He had no idea they were coming. It was awesome. Everyone chatted and listened to music and then dad got his WX11 out and performed for everyone. And a few former students played a couple of things. It was a really lovely night. He loved it 🙂