October 1, 2019

Slow September

I started this month feeling somewhat settled after a very eventful month in August. While I had adjusted to my teaching schedule, I still found it difficult to make substantial progress on my final paper. I still had some issues with my code that needed resolving. In the first week, I managed to get some results, with the help of a statistician. It was very exciting to be getting some sort of output and I remember feeling very optimistic at this point

It was a good start but it was only the beginning. I needed to do other add on analyses which took some time to figure out. Things had kind of picked up for me at the beginning of September but it went backwards again. There were times where I felt like I was going around in circles and not getting anywhere with my PhD or with my life in general.

Happy to say, the clouds eventually passed over and I ran my last analyses on the last day of September. I honestly cannot explain how excited I felt to be finishing up with the statistical analyses. This last paper has been the only thing that has held me back from submitting my thesis so I can’t wait to get this paper out of the way and start finalising my remaining chapters.

In other news, I became a plant mum this month which was pretty huge for me because I’ve never been into gardening. While I admired the idea of succulents, I haven’t been able to keep them alive when I’ve owned them in the past. Other than PhD and plants, food has been keeping me busy. I’ve picked up my food photography game which always excites me.

Overall, September was a pretty frustrating month for me but at least it ended on a good note. I can finally see the light at the end of the PhD tunnel which seems to be never ending. Let’s hope October will be a more fruitful month and will make up for my slowness from September.

Here are some of my September eats :)

Grilled tofu and zucchini marking the start of my new grill pan!
Pan-fried hoki fillets in a bed of brown rice and veggies
French toast with berries (used chia seeds and mashed banana to substitute for eggs)
Stir-fry tofu with beans, capsicum and cashew
Blueberry pancakes, topped shaved coconut with cacao nibs
Cacao porridge bowl with banana, berries, shaved coconut, pepita, walnut and honey
Sweet and savoury brunch with sunny side eggs, sauteed mushrooms, wilted spinach and toast two ways
Fruit custard using first mangoes for the season, yay!
Pan-fried salmon with potatoes (white and sweet), brussel sprout, spinach and cherry tomatoes
Blueberry pancakes topped with mangoes, shaved coconut and cacao nibs