It was a great night - squadron hangar bash to farewell the P3!

Making history is beautiful and messy. I’m here for all of it.

But when I saw it today, all I could see were its beauty and importance. The setting, the amazing people pinning on those rank slides, the wonderful people I know are just out of shot cheering. And yes, the lampshade, because it proves how far we’ve come and what women can do.

I look like a lampshade in the maternity uniform and I used to hate this photo because of that.

This is not how I had imagined this important milestone would look.

This is me, at the end of my squadron command, 6 months pregnant and being promoted to Group Captain - the first female pilot in RAAF history to make that rank - by one of my mentors and my husband, in front of my beloved squadron and our magnificent aircraft, the P3 Orion.

Sounds perfect - enjoy!

And our adversaries will rejoice.

Aussie Aussie Aussie! 🤣

I love 3 different things about this.

That’s awesome.

Watching it from across the Pacific is… disquieting.

Yes! This is the perfect way to think about it!

Love it! It suits you so well!

As I lay there with him all soft and sleepy in my arms, I suddenly saw myself as a very old woman lying on a bed at the end of my life.

And I knew with full certainty that this would be the moment I will want to come back to over and over.

Hard relate…

It is really hard, and sometimes impossible. I’m really just talking about doing whatever you need to do to protect your mind and soul.

Easier said than done, I know. But it’s worth the effort.

“you should make sure your psychological centre of gravity is in your real and immediate world – the world of your family and friends and neighborhood, your work and your creative projects, as opposed to the world of presidencies and governments, social forces and global emergencies.”