The simple things...

Today I walked up a mountain.

No, it wasn't a metaphorical mountain that I needed to climb to conquer my depression, it was, literally, a mountain. Mount Franklin to be precise.

We had a lovely day actually. We packed a picnic lunch and headed up the muddy (and sometimes snowy and slippery) dirt road into the Brindabella Ranges. The last time we went up that road was around this time last year, when the four of us went and had a lovely day at the snow:
It was one of the last big things we did as a family, which I guess is why it's stuck in our minds. Oliver remembered the road, and the places that we pulled over to check out the snow. We had a couple of sad moments along the way, as the memories hit. Especially Anthony, who'd taken the boys up to the Brindabellas (but a different part) one day while I was busy writing reports.

For a little while, we were the only people at the Mount Franklin Chalet, which was very nice. It was so quiet and peaceful, and there was just enough snow to have a bit of a snowball fight and build a snowman.

Then Oliver decided he wanted to walk to the summit. Which was only about 1.5km away, but up a steep (in places) hill covered in snow, so needless to say it was hard going, especially for super unfit me. I did vow though, once I'd reached the top, to come back at the same time next year and go up twice as fast! Hopefully I can do that!

The view at the top was definitely worth it, with lovely clouds rolling in and (behind them) a view for miles and miles...
We're so lucky in Canberra to have this beautiful scenery all around us. I can see these mountains from my front door, and it's always very nice to go up there. It's also nice to know there is a place where there's snow, but not lots of people (and ski bunnies, who are not real people as far as I can see!). Then we have Sydney within 3 hours drive, the coast in about 1.5 hours, and many other lovely places in between. At the same time getting to live in this beautiful city.

So all in all, it's been a great week. I've done a little bit of work (not too much though folks, don't worry!); I've been bike riding with Ollie out at the whiz-bang new Stromlo Forest Park;
We went and saw Toy Story 3, which was lovely (I love Pixar movies); I spent a day playing with Photoshop and getting our tax paperwork organised (I can cross off number 16 on my list! yay!!); And then I spent a lovely day yesterday just doing stuff I wanted to do, by myself: taking photos by the lake, going to a photographic exhibition (which made me feel very good about my skills - on par (or better?) than many of the photos displayed), going shopping in the city, all of which was topped off by a great dinner out with Anthony and a DVD snuggled up on the couch (thanks Mum and Dad for having Ollie!)

I guess these kinds of things are helping me with this depression stuff (as well as the drugs), and I hope I can keep them up, because I feel pretty good at the moment.

Well, back tomorrow with my photos.