Hi friends, it’s great to be here with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday. I always enjoy starting the week with this link-up and catching up on everyone’s posts. I don’t always get around to reading as many blogs as I’d like because it’s usually late in the evening by the time I link up. And by then, I’m wiped out after a busy day at work. But I try to catch up the next day… and the next… and the next. Haha, there’s never enough time in a day, right?

Here’s a recap of the weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by 😊

Friday Night

I had a few leftover Asian ingredients in the fridge from a creamy coconut peanut noodle dish I made last week–wombok cabbage, coriander and bean sprouts. For some reason, I was craving soup even though it is hardly soup weather.

So on Friday night (we’re still on daylight saving time), I walked to Woolworths and picked up a BBQ chicken to make a cheat’s Asian soup. Just a couple of Massel chicken stock cubes in simmering water with crushed garlic, ginger slices, soy sauce, some noodles, wombok cabbage, shredded chicken, plus a sprinkle of spring onions, coriander and bean sprouts to serve. Boom. I had an improvised pho ready in a flash.

Steve was at work, and Sam was out with friends. So it was just me, my soup, and The Nanny keeping me company on TV.

I spotted a young Chuck McGill from Better Call Saul in the episode and had to pause it to snap a photo for Sam. It’s funny seeing actors pop up in old sitcoms from their early days.

Saturday

Saturday morning brunch.

Then I spent the rest of the day feeling really bleh with barely any energy, which is so unlike me. It’s been so hot and humid over here, and getting a good night’s sleep has been tough. Maybe I was just sleep-deprived, tired from the week, or both. So I didn’t do very much on Saturday.

Sunday

Then on Sunday, I woke up feeling a whole lot better, even though it was yet another uncomfortable night. We have a tower fan in our bedroom, but it’s so noisy. It’s always like, do I want a quiet night or a sweaty night? We really should get another fan.

I think hot cross buns hit the supermarket shelves just after the stroke of midnight on Christmas Day. But this was the first one I’ve had so far. We love the brioche ones the most because they’re sweeter and much more moist than the regular ones.

I spent the rest of Sunday catching up on chores. Not something I like to do, but with my birthday last week, things I’d normally do during the week had piled up. Oh well, at least they got done, and I felt better knowing I could start a new week fresh without any leftover chores.

I always say I love summer until I have an encounter with a cockroach. And then I’m all for cold weather because there are no bugs in the winter. That’s exactly how I felt Sunday night.

I was home by myself with Steve at work and Sam on a date. I had watched a movie on Netflix and was just about to go to bed when I heard a plop and the induction stove beep. At first, I thought it was Mochi, our cat (who came running out of the kitchen). I was about to get mad at her. She’s not allowed on the kitchen benches, and after many automatic spray deterrents, she’s finally learned that.

But no, it wasn’t her because when I turned on the kitchen light. There it was–the largest, ugliest, hairiest cockroach ever. Shudder!!

About half a can of insect spray later, and me jumping up and down, whisper-screaming, it was dead. Scroll on fast if you don’t want to see the crime scene.

My friend had texted me just as my soul was reentering my body, so I zoomed in and took a pic to send to her. Then I disinfected everything, only going as close to the victim as I dared.

My work was done, and there was no way I was going near that thing, so I left a note for whoever got home first.

And now I’m all ok with the fact that autumn is just around the corner. Lucky me, it took most of the summer before I had my first close encounter. Have a great Monday, and I’ll see you back here on Wednesday.

Fast cars, fancy suits, beautiful women, secret destinations, and covert operations. It’s all in a day’s work for the elite and mysterious beings that are called on to become spies. Or at least that’s what James Bond would like us to believe.

But if you’re hoping to join the CIA and live a life of luxury, you might be sorely disappointed. The reality, it seems, is far from what 007 and others have portrayed. In fact, you could find yourself driving a Prius, making an average salary, being deployed to warzones for months at a time, and wondering why your childhood dream of becoming the next 007 never saw the light of day.

A former Central Intelligence Case Officer has allowed the public a rare and authentic glimpse into his career, by inviting people online to ask him anything. Douglas Laux is the author of the memoir Left of Boom: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated the Taliban and Al–Qaeda, and his Q&A clocked up more than 3,000 comments.

Bored Panda has put together the best questions and answers to set the record straight on what life in the CIA is really like. Spoiler alert: Hollywood has been lying to us.

Image credits: AgencyAgent

Hi friends, it’s time to link up with Andrea and Erika for Friday favourites. It’s been a bit of a celebration week over here with Lunar New Year activities at preschool and my birthday on Wednesday, so this week I’m sharing a few celebration favourites. Thanks so much for being here😊

Birthday Drinks

On Monday, I met a friend for a birthday drink, and it was margaritas all round on a very hot day.

Leaving Work Early

Wednesday was my birthday, and I was able to leave work early because I had some time owing. I only worked three hours, and Steve picked me up from the preschool gate at midday. As I jumped into the car, I said, “Drive, Steve, drive!” Haha, it felt like I was making a great escape.

Lunch Treats

We went to a little Vietnamese bakery and picked up bánh mì for lunch and an iced matcha. So yum!

Afternoon and Dinner

In the afternoon, I gave myself a pedicure and watched a bit of TV before getting ready for dinner. My oldest son and his lovely partner joined us, so there were five of us in total.

I chose an Italian restaurant near our house that I’d heard good things about, and we had pizzas and pasta until we could barely move.

Then we came home for cake, and this year I picked a mix of éclairs and tarts to share. I thought it would be fun to do something a bit different from the usual birthday cake.

Surprise Visit

Around 9.30, we wrapped things up, and after saying bye to my son and his partner, I put my PJs on. Five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. It was my cousin and her boyfriend. What a lovely surprise, and lucky I was wearing decent PJs! They came by to say happy birthday and brought me two sweet treats that looked like mushrooms. They didn’t taste anything like mushrooms and had a delicious hazelnut chocolate filling in the middle.

Netflix Laughs

We sat around chatting when my cousin started telling us about a comedian she’d discovered, Marcello Hernandez, and how funny he was. We ended up watching some of his Netflix show American Boy, and she was right. What made it even funnier was how relatable it was for both of us, since we were raised in Latino households. Yikes!

Lunar New Year at Preschool

Our preschool runs in sessions, with different children attending at the beginning and end of the week. So we ended up celebrating Lunar New Year twice, on Tuesday and Friday. Friday turned out to be the bigger event, with a parent coming in dressed in a special cultural outfit. She read a story and shared some of her family’s traditions. Then it was our turn, and some of the educators presented a story about Nian, the legendary monster. Nian is said to appear every Lunar New Year, and families use red decorations and loud noises to keep it away.

Our Little Performance

My very fun coworker and fantastic friend organised the whole thing. She was the narrator and puppet handler and got help from another educator who did the voice of Nian. I was in charge of sound effects, backdrop, prop handling, and a few character voices. With only one quick run-through 10 minutes beforehand, we kind of winged it and just laughed through the parts where we messed up. I don’t think the kids noticed the bloopers, and now we are joking about taking this show on the road….maybe not just yet.

Birthday at Preschool

Another coworker and I have our birthdays a day apart, so today, the staff and children sang happy birthday to us. Nobody ever turns older than five at preschool, and that is exactly the way I like it. I got five firecracker claps after they sang happy birthday. Clap and whoosh! It was very cute and a perfect way to end a wonderful week.

Happy Friday!

For people who were adopted, the question of biological family is something they each handle in their own way. Some spend years wondering where they came from and desperately want answers, while others grow up happy with the family they have and simply never feel the need to look back. Neither feeling is wrong, but things can get messy when those two worlds collide.

That is exactly what happened to one woman who was completely caught off guard when her biological sister tracked her down. Instead of feeling excited, she felt overwhelmed as her birth sister began trying to wedge herself into every part of her life, including her upcoming wedding, despite being a total stranger.

She wanted nothing to do with her but felt terrible about it, and turned to Reddit to work through her very complicated feelings. Read the full story below.

The woman was completely caught off guard when a biological sister she never knew suddenly reached out to her

Image credits: pvproductions (not the actual photo)

Instead of feeling excited, she found herself overwhelmed by a stranger who wanted to be involved in every part of her life, including her wedding

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Image credits: Frolopiaton Palm (not the actual photo)

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Image credits: anonymous

Adoption can leave serious mental health impacts on children that follow them well into adulthood

A lot of people think of adoption as a straightforward happy ending. A child finds a loving home, and everything works out. And while adoption has genuinely changed countless lives for the better, the reality is that it often leaves deep marks on the people who go through it, marks that can last well into adulthood.

According to VeryWell Mind, attachment actually begins in the womb, which means that even babies who are relinquished at birth experience a significant trauma and attachment wound from the very start. That early separation can shape how a person connects with others for the rest of their life. 

Adopted people are also statistically at higher risk for mental health issues, partly due to the trauma of adoption itself and partly due to genetics, since biological parents may have struggled with their own mental health, which can be passed down to the child. 

Research has found higher levels of depression and anxiety among adoptees compared to non-adoptees, with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder being the most commonly associated conditions.

Beyond clinical diagnoses, there are other struggles that don’t always get talked about. Many adopted people experience something called disenfranchised grief, a type of grief that society doesn’t really acknowledge, often because of messaging like “you should be grateful” or “you were given a good life.”

There can also be deep difficulties with trust, a constant wondering of who will actually stick around, given that their earliest experiences of love also came with loss. And then there is the question of identity. Not knowing anything about the people responsible for your genetics can make it genuinely hard to figure out who you are.

So it makes sense that the biological sister in this story was searching so desperately for connection. She was likely looking for answers about herself and trying to fill a gap that had been there her whole life. 

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Unfortunately, her desperation came across as overwhelming and made it nearly impossible for her siblings to meet her where she was. Whatever she is going through, it is clear she has a lot of personal things to work through.

Pensive woman with hands clasped sitting on the bed and thinking of something.

Image credits: Drazen Zigic (not the actual photo)

Most adopted people want to find out about their biological family at some point, but those who don’t tend to feel a deep loyalty to the family that raised them

The truth is that most adopted people do want to find out about their origins at some point. A 1994 study by the Search Institute found that 72 percent of adopted adolescents wanted to know why they were adopted, and 65 percent wanted to meet their birth parents. 

A more recent study by the Centre for Research on Children & Families found that an overwhelming majority of people who were adopted wanted to know their heritage and life story, with many describing real harm from growing up without that information. As one person put it plainly: “Adoptees do not arrive as a blank slate. They/we have our own history and family tree no matter the circumstances of how we came to be adopted.”

The biological sister in this story clearly felt that weight. She had spent a lot of time looking for her siblings, and it showed in how urgently she wanted to connect. But the author of the story felt none of that, and that is just as understandable. 

Research on adopted people who choose not to reconnect with biological family shows that they often describe a strong sense of loyalty to their adoptive parents and a genuine contentment with the life they have built. They simply don’t feel the gap that others do. This woman was one of them.

And that is really what makes adoption such a layered topic. Two people can go through something similar and come out of it with completely different needs, feelings, and ways of making sense of who they are. 

Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)

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Readers sympathized, agreeing it was a tough situaion, and many chimed in with advice on how to handle the conversation with her birth sister

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Image credits: anatoliy_cherkas (not the actual photo)

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The woman later returned with an update, revealing she had decided to cut contact entirely

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Image credits: Stockbusters (not the actual photo)

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Image credits: anonymous

Readers backed her up, saying she’d made the right call

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The World Sports Photography Awards stand as the largest and most prestigious competition dedicated to sports photography.

This year marks the most successful edition in the Awards’ history. An impressive 23,130 images were submitted by 4,120 photographers from 123 countries, further cementing the competition’s reputation as one of the most globally diverse and widely recognized platforms in sports photography.

The remarkable standard and variety of entries prove that, despite rapid technological advancements, it is still the photographer’s vision, timing, and skill that truly define a powerful image. Around the world, sports photographers continue to push creative boundaries and capture the drama of sport in ever more compelling ways.

More info: worldsportsphotographyawards.com | Instagram | Facebook | x.com

After over a month of mystery surrounding Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter Victoria Kafka Jones’ tragic passing on New Year’s Day at the upscale Fairmont San Francisco Hotel, a major development has emerged in the case.

On Tuesday, February 17, authorities finally revealed the medical examiner’s official ruling, shedding light on the exact cause of her demise.

Victoria was just 34 years old when she was found unresponsive in her hotel room on the morning of January 1.

“This is so sad and heartbreaking to hear… and my prayers are still to his family,” reacted one netizen to the latest update.

The San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has shared new details surrounding the untimely passing of Victoria Kafka Jones

Smiling woman with floral dress and gold earrings photographed at an event discussing Tommy Lee Jones daughter’s cause of passing.

Image credits: Takashi Aoyama/Getty Images

As previously reported by Bored Panda, the incident took place at around 3 a.m., when the San Francisco Fire Department responded to the scene.

According to emergency responders, paramedics conducted an assessment and pronounced her deceased at the scene. She was later confirmed to be Victoria Kafka Jones.

The Fire Department further stated that despite CPR attempts by bystanders, Victoria had already passed away by the time authorities arrived.

Tommy Lee Jones with two women dressed formally at an event, relating to his daughter’s cause of passing revealed.

Image credits: Jean Catuffe/FilmMagic

Comment on social media post about Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing revealed after her body was found in a ritzy hotel.

At the time, in a statement to the Daily Mail, the San Francisco Police Department said, “On 1/1/26 at approximately 3:14 a.m., San Francisco Police officers responded to a hotel located on the 900 block of Mason Street regarding a report of a deceased person.”

“At the scene, officers met with medics, who declared the adult female deceased. The Medical Examiner arrived on scene and conducted an investigation.”

An anonymous source further told the outlet, “A white female in her mid-30s was found unresponsive, and hotel staff were alerted.”

Exterior view of a ritzy hotel entrance at night with holiday decorations and street lamps lit along the sidewalk.

Image credits: abc7news

Despite the circumstances of her passing, authorities stated during the investigation that foul play was not suspected, leaving the case a mystery.

Victoria’s family urged privacy in a public statement released through their representative, who said, “We appreciate all of the kind words, thoughts, and prayers. Please respect our privacy during this difficult time. Thank you. The Family of Victoria Kafka Jones.”

The 34-year-old was found “unresponsive” on New Year’s Day at an upscale California hotel by the San Francisco Fire Department

Window of a ritzy hotel at night with soft yellow light visible inside, relating to Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing.

Image credits: abc7news

Mike Frabricio commenting about California snow in a casual social media post with a profile picture.

Comment saying was obviously struggling by Tracy Burgess on social media post about Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing revealed after her body was found in a ritzy hotel.

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Now, according to a report released yesterday by the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Victoria’s manner of demise was ruled an “accident.”

The medical examiner’s report further stated that actor Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter passed away due to “toxic effects of co**ine.”

The ruling coincides with multiple reports that the call logged by the San Francisco Fire Department on January 1 was a “code three for the ove**ose, color change.”

Tommy Lee Jones and his daughter posing at a movie premiere, highlighting her cause of passing revealed in the news.

Image credits: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Color change in ove**ose cases typically refers to cyanosis, or low oxygen levels in the blood.

Reportedly, the 34-year-old encountered issues with law enforcement last year and was arrested at least three times.

Court documents showed that in April last year, she was taken into custody in Napa County on charges including obstructing a peace officer, being under the influence, and possession of an illegal substance.

Tommy Lee Jones with his daughter and another woman at a formal event dressed in elegant attire.

Image credits: Alain BENAINOUS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Comment about celebrity families and lifestyle on social media, discussing Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing.

Victoria’s husband, Navek Ceja, had reportedly filed a police report against her, alleging she had been using co**ine for 48 hours, per the Daily Mail.

When officers arrived, they noted she was speaking rapidly and “fighting with her body movements.”

“Doesn’t matter it is sad and no parent should have to bury a child condolences to him and his family,” sympathized several netizens

Tommy Lee Jones arriving at a city street scene with people and officials near a black car in a busy urban area.

Image credits: Pool LE FLOCH/TRAVERS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

She was arrested after officers found white powder in her coat, and she admitted to using dr*gs.

She was later arrested again in June in Napa County on charges related to domestic battery and alleged domestic violence, after she allegedly slapped her husband twice in the face when he confronted her about her dr*g and al**hol misuse.

Both cases remained unresolved following Victoria’s passing, as she was due back in court on the domestic violence charge on January 20.

Luxury hotel exterior at dusk related to Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing revealed after her body found.

Image credits: Fairmont

Moreover, as per a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, her father Tommy successfully petitioned for a temporary conservatorship in August 2023 to move Victoria from an involuntary 14-day psychiatric hold at a hospital to a dr*g rehabilitation facility.

He argued she was exhibiting “life-threatening conduct” and needed professional help to recover and work toward sobriety.

Months prior to her passing, Victoria had faced multiple legal troubles and arrests, and was due back in court for a hearing in January this year

Luxury hotel room with king bed and city view, related to Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing revealed after found.

Image credits: Fairmont

Victoria, then 31, fought the conservatorship, with her attorney arguing she was an “independent woman.”

However, by the end of 2023, the Men in Black actor filed to end the conservatorship, which was officially terminated in December 2023.

With the medical examiner’s “accident” ruling, the investigation into Victoria’s passing has been effectively closed.

“My condolences to the family in the time of loss. No one should out live their child,” sympathized one netizen, while another added, “Let’s respect their privacy and allow the family to grieve in peace.”

“What a shame. [Tommy] is such a great actor and I am sure he loved her dearly. No one should blame him for her mistakes.”

“If celebrities would keep their families away from California and… that lifestyle until they’re adults they wouldn’t succumb to it,” wrote one netizen

Comment about Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing and discussion in Hollywood community online.

Facebook comment expressing condolences for Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing after being found in a ritzy hotel.

Comment by Pepper Patty discussing the cause of passing related to substance ingestion after body found in a ritzy hotel.

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Facebook comment expressing condolences to Tommy Lee Jones’ family after his daughter’s passing in a ritzy hotel.

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Facebook comment from Wendy Ginocchio expressing sadness about Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing at a ritzy hotel.

Comment by Kyle Hebert expressing sympathy about struggles related to Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing.

Comment expressing sympathy for Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter and emphasizing the actor’s love and innocence in her passing circumstances.

Comment by Amarachi Oke hie about d**g use and indulgence, related to Tommy Lee Jones’ daughter’s cause of passing revealed after her body was found.

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