It’s the first day of Melbourne’s second lockdown today. Back to Stage 3 restrictions. The same one imposed on all Australians at the start of the pandemic, except now the numbers are higher. Scarier. But people are a bit more relaxed about it, probably out of complacency that like the first time, she’ll be right.

For the record, this day saw Victoria with 165 new cases, bringing the total to 3,098. Mostly community-based transmission, they say. Meaning, the virus is pretty much lurking here, there, and everywhere.

I don’t know how this current lockdown would affect my work, though. The last time, the government capped the number of procedures we could do per month so while, thankfully, we never closed down, the number of patients in our list was drastically reduced. I was home by lunchtime which was nice, too.

And on days when the list was cancelled altogether, Raven and I painted our nails in the backyard, picking out the colors we wanted to wear like it was the most important decision we had to make.

I also got to spend a lot of time with Jeff, one on one. With nowhere for him to go, he was forced to stay at home than run the risk of being fined. The extrovert in him was going crazy. Meanwhile, my introverted self was smiling contentedly with the time and tarot deck I had on my hands.

And when things got a little too boring, even for me, I asked if we could do a bit of a photoshoot with me wearing my wedding dress, just for kicks. He happily complied, bringing out the big guns with his flashes and special cameras and even a bloody smoke machine. I weakly protested that it was all too much and that I merely wanted a quick and easy shoot but he was having none of it.

That’s the thing I love and hate about my husband: he goes above and beyond what you expect from him. If only that extends to mowing the lawn. Raven enjoys collecting dandelions, though.

So anyway, after the wedding dress shoot, he suggested I change into something casual next. I interpreted it as, you know, something trendy with a cool chick vibe. Something that says a lot of who I am not but wish to be seen as.

Also something that I would definitely be hesitant to wear in public, because cropped top.

*Raven at 4 years old