I hope you had a nice New Year’s Eve and made a great start to ’26 which will set you up for plenty of good times for the next 12 months. Let me tell you about my end to the year and what the future looks like for me.
The backstory is that Old Mate and I are trying to declutter our home of nearly 30 years, with one problem being that every time she takes something to the op shop, she brings something back.
Cleaning and gardening are high on the agenda as well, as we rattle around in a joint that is too big for us. Now, remember this next bit. We have a bathroom each: mine is the boy-toxic one and hers is the girlie-clean one. She ventures into mine on occasion for various reasons, most of which are to chastise me about the state of the drain in the vanity or the toilet seat.
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.
So, the end of ’25 looked like this: I take George for his normal walk, and he usually does his business around the same area each day. This day is no different. I pick it up in a doggy bag but then step back on the path — straight on top of a big dog poo. Disgusted at how someone hadn’t picked it up and looking at the poo embedded in my new runners, I then realise there was no bottom in the bag I used. I had stepped on my own landmine.
Shoe off, I hobbled to the closest tap, cursing my own stupidity and George’s bowel movements. I eventually cleaned my shoe and completed the walk. But let me tell you, the ambience was not the same.
I got home and headed for the shower and found that Old Mate had cleaned and tidied my whole vanity cupboard: pills in one drawer, shaving gear in another. She had reworked the top drawer where my toothbrush was, but now there were three brushes. It all looked pretty good.
So, I had a shower and got ready for work, marvelling at my neat drawers as I brushed my teeth. It was then that it hit me: where is the old toothbrush I use to clean the tiles around the bathroom floor and the toilet? Bloody hell. Is it one of the three?
Russian roulette with a toothbrush is something I certainly didn’t need to finish off 2025. So, 2026 started for me with a new toothbrush, a litre of mouthwash and a deadset passion to keep my bathroom clean so Old Mate has no reason to touch my stuff. I hope yours works out better.
Ashley Robinson is chairman of the Sunshine Coast Falcons and Sunshine Coast Thunder Netball, and a lifetime Sunshine Coast resident.
