Jenay's World

The dragons are coming!!

2008-09-02T00:13:00.000-07:00

17 days 'til...

BRISINGR

arrives!

WOOHOO!! :D

From the AFOL in me...

2008-08-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

Paul Frank in LEGO?!?!

*GASP*

That is SO cool!! :D

The big read!!

2008-08-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know where to start really.
There's so many things going on or have gone on... The Beijing Olympics are on, there's a war kind of raging in Georgia, a friend got married last weekend (congrats Amy and Will!), my brother will soon be getting married, ive recently come back from Europe only to be thrown in the throng of things regarding work, and already we are almost half way through term 3. My, time flies when youre having fun!!

But despite all these things happening its nice to know some things never change. My mum is simply the best. I know we're all biased, (who wouldnt be when it comes to mothers!) but the other week i came home during the wee hours of the morning, it was freezing and while heading home i thought, gee i got to get into cold pjs and crawl into a cold bed and wait for it to warm up! The Lord must have heard and told mum, cos after momentarily thinking i had gone mad and misplaced my pj pants, i found them wrapped around a hot water bottle tucked neatly under my covers. As i said mum is the best!! So since then mum has set that water bottle under my covers knowing id love the warmth at night. Such is love.

I said id recently come back from Europe, well it kind of feels like it was only yesterday i was there, but when i really think about it its actually been a few weeks now. In some ways i kind of have to ask myself did it really happen? Looking at my photos though i know it did, it helps to relive all those memories stored away in the vaults of the brain. Definitely makes me want to go back and do it all again and more!!!

"So where did you go?" i hear you ask. Here, there and everywhere.
More specifically i stayed in London, Hampton Wick. A beautiful little suburb across the Thames from Kingston Upon Thames.
From there i travelled to Dover across the Channel to Calais, France and drove to Amsterdam. After a night in Amsterdam and seeing the summer solstice we drove on to Germany and stopped at various places before enjoying a glorious cruise along the Rhine River. A great thing to do if you want to see castles from afar and cute little villages lining the banks. We stayed then in an 'old school style' hotel in Mannheim.
Next day saw us leaving and driving to Austria where we were able to stay in Innsbruck for 2 nights. I loved this place! During our stay there we visited Mozarts home city of Salzburg, of which i didnt see enough :( We saw heaps of places where they filmed the Sound of Music, brought back some memories of childhood singing well known songs! ;) We also got to go up to Hitlers Eagle Nest, just over the border in Germany. From there we got some of the best views of Austria. it was here i also saw my first ice glaciers up close and personal. I never realised just how white they get, boy they were bright. I thought it would be a bit cooler up there, you know altitude and all, how wrong i was though. My photos look a bit weird, theres mum looking decent and me with a red face, im all sunburnt is all i can say!

From here went to venice, Italy. I suppose its a nice city, it certainly is different. But i for one cannot say i truly like the place. Perhaps the weather has something to do with it. You see going during the end of June means summer, and well summer tends to draw the crowds to Venice. Not sure why really, it sticky, hot, sticky, humid.. oh and smelly. Yes it was so hot at times we didnt eat because it really wasnt worth the effort, i think mum and i lived on gelato for a while there!! Thank goodness for gelato. We scooted through Verona and past the lakes into Switzerland. Lucerne by far has to be my favourite European city that ive visited. I cant really explain it. I think its more the atmosphere than anything. The people are friendly, its a city a little crowded but nothing at all like Sydney or London. Its got a bit of a country feel as well. Its probably due to the proximity to surrounding farms and some fantastic mountains used regularly for hiking and such. Added to that is the huge lake on which Lucerne sits. We saw beautiful cows with ringing cow bells up in the mountains. We floated amongst pine trees while enjoying a gondola ride coming from the top of Mount Pilatus. Mt Pilatus. Its definitely the best! On one side you see the city stretching out and beyond nature in all its finest, on the other snow capped mountains as far as the eye can see. God is truly a wonderful creator, its a shame to think humans in all their ignorance can destroy such beauty. Yes, its a place for quiet reflection and contemplation, a place to adore nature for all its worth.

Finally to France, a 7 hr drive did nothing to lift my spirits in Paris. Perhaps it was the combination of tiredness and the fact we didnt really get to see anything in Paris resulted in my not liking the city too much. I did get to go to Versailles though, so i cant say i didnt do anything there. Going up the Eiffel Tower was an experience, but even then after a while it was like hmm yes all you see is the city laid out in its masses. I know im going to have to go back there some day to see the real paris. The notre dame, all those fountains and parks.. how could i not? But first impressions werent the greatest.

Then back across the way we came to London. I did quite a bit in London. You really can get museumed out (if thats even a word). I think 4 hrs in the British Museum does the trick. By the time the Albert & Victoria Museum came around, id had enough. Loved St Pauls though, and Kew Gardens. An awesome time for wondering around and simply taking your time pretending you were in an entirely different world, completely oblivious to the traffic streaming by behind the huge brick wall surrounding the compounds.
Had my photo with Peter Pan himself which was cool, visited a quaint old toy museum in Goodge st, worth the 5 quid if you like that sort of thing. And of course Big Ben, you can never get enough of that clock. Then there was Buckhingham, Westminster, Trafalgar, Marble Arch, Admiralty Arch, St James Park.. the list goes on.

We saw as much of London as we could while there, and yet im sure we didnt even get to see half of it. Its such a HUGE city. Theres so much to do and see.. you could spend weeks there and not fail to see something new each day. Im not sure what was my favourite there, but what i did love was the old architecture, theres nothing really like that in Sydney, at least theres very few.

I managed to have a glimpse of the countryside in England also. Drove through a small section of New Forest down south, watching the ponies, donkeys and cows roaming freely in a world in which they have right of way. Cool! Visited my castle, yes im an heiress didnt you people know?! And drove around the Isle of Wight in an afternoon. Another place id like to see properly... Man the list just keeps growing, im definitely going to have to save up once again *sigh*

Anyway so theres so much ive done there and yet theres even more to do. Itd take certainly more than the 4 weeks i was there. What i saw was a drop in the ocean really, but honestly if youve never been there certainly make an effort to go at least once in a lifetime. Its definitely an experience youll always treasure.

Until the next Europe trip.... just kidding!!

Real or fake?!

2008-04-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

As is usual in a wednesday morning at a local school i often find myself looking after kids who go to non- scripture... There isnt much that i do there, its really simply baby sitting and making sure the kids dont kill each other.. anyways its also good to hear how kids talk to each other.

This particular group i was looking after were infants, mostly kindies and yr 1s. Anyhow, there was a point when one kid (for reasons unknown) pipes up...

"I've seen a real Santa!" was his bold statement.
"I've seen a real one AND a fake one!" affirmed another student.

I must say i surpressed a giggle but grinned nevertheless... I mean really how do you tell a fake from a real Santa? Do you tug the beard and pray you don't end up with white strands in your clenched fist? Woe to the man who really does have a flowing white beard! I'm sure being Santa for a few weeks requires some form of insurance.

Then a dear child had the heart to say
"I've seen the footprints of the easter bunny in my classroom. They were even on the teachers chair!!"

It warms the heart to listen to children speak so innocently of creatures of fiction and yet part of me cant help but think 'Man these kids are so gullible!' Seriously though were we ever like that?! Perhaps.

But yes its moments like these that i feel totally blessed being able to be a part of childrens lives every day. So much can happen in a days work at school and children have an innocence and natural curiosity for things us adults deem silly, childless or simply forgotten about.

To live a life of no worries and feel safe in our own little worlds... What joy that must have been.

Praise God for children :D

My first real holiday...

2008-03-25T01:28:00.000-07:00

Dearest all you lovely people.. i know i know ive been terrible with the lack of writing thats appeared here of late.. oh well what can i say God is blessing my life at the moment, and so i am enjoying life to the fullest... At least that's what it feels like :D

Anyhoo yes despite my old age :P i have finally just returned from my first ever real holiday, for those who know me well, my family was never one to go on adventurous trips, and so sadly i used to think of my school camps and such as my 'holidays' weird i know but thats the way i thought of it all.

But this past easter saw me venture on an extremely relaxing trip down south. Perhaps the furthest i have ever been in NSW.. you can tell i dont get out much :P

The trip down was longish and eventful to some extent. We got stuck in traffic (whats new when it comes to Sydney roads these days... ) And so i think out of sheer boredom i probably started saying random things and reading absolutely every sign i saw on the roadside.. yes even if it meant seeing the same sign numerous times. Hehe some funnier than others, i mean really "I'm available day and night!" ? i mean sure it grabs your attention, at least it did mine.. or is it i just have a dirty mind.. :P hehe
The boom crash opera of thunder, lightning and rain made the trip slower and more exciting?. It was an experience nevertheless to sit in a lovely seaside cafe and be all of a sudden thrown into pitch blackness as the lights flickered on and off for a spell. Even more so when two huge parasols decided to take lift off and attempt to float away with the wind. And the rain, how it bucketed down and yes silly ol' me was too chicken to race through the water to the car.. thank goodness for my partner in crime (if u read this by the way ta muchly i would have been lost without you!) anyways he brought the car round for his princess so she wouldnt have to wet her dainty toes in the torrent that was the kerbside. ;)

And so the trip continued until after what seemed an age we arrived at what would be my home for the next few days. It was a cute little cottage with loft rooms and gabled(?) windows. I love those, so cool. Despite the room being slightly girly for my taste i loved it all! YAY!!

Though overcast most days i went on long walks, frolicked about amongst the rockpools and in the sand like a little girl at times, admired Gods awesome creativeness which i must say took my breath away at times, hence my extended moments of non-chatter, and quite frankly had a ball.

The best was the company though. A cool chef who cooked marvelous meals leaving me satisfied and full to say the least, i'm not sure how i managed to eat so much but i suppose i was up to the challenge. Besides all those walks paid off afterwards and speaking of which YAY i lost a kilo :D i should walk more.
A mother who has the marvelous ability to read a few books in such a few short days.. more than what i could do. True we had a few days to kill but my, i was impressed with her speed reading skills... i only wish i was more like that. Add to that knew how to make me laugh at times. Mothers must be taught that at mother school somewhere along the line.
And lastly the one who encouraged me to brave the waves at the beach and go for a 'cold' dip in the seas water. THe one who knew when to keep my feet warm on that drizzly day while watchin the movie, who took me on long strolls and showed me the beauty of Gods brilliantly lit starry night with an almost full moon. Stars never lose their shine, glittering across a blanket of midnight blue i could have lost myself in the never ending expanse of night sky. Who told me when a 'smack' which echoed in the still night was nothing more than a fish jumping to break the still waters surface when not another thing stirred.

Yes i truly felt blessed to be there that night. In fact the whole weekend. For such a few short days i had almost forgotten the reality that was the big smoke and what it all meant. Part of me dreaded the ensuing trip home. Home means work, busyness and a rushed pace that is supposed to be the vibe of a city.. it just is not natural though. Curse man who invented stress! If only time could stand still...

All that aside though, i was a 'child' for a few days and the easter bunny brought a box of Lindt Chocolate (my fave) which up to now i still havent devoured.. .(a case of saving the best til last ;) ) i strangely enough got nicknamed the 'neat freak' hehe 'sweep sweep' was what i heard on my last morning *grin* so what if i cannot cook i can at least keep a place clean. Oh don't be so gobsmacked peoples... just because im a girl doesnt mean i was given the talent of cooking.. its an acquired skill, not a gene reserved for females... tsk tsk!

The trip home was just as long, probably too long but very scenic at times. Once again the heavens opened its tap and the rain pelted down washing the earth anew. I loved the cows, the horses, the sheep and yes even the alpacas which i saw.. at least im fairly sure thats what they were. Passing through some peaceful old towns (which id love to revisit properly at some time) i saw what could have been described as the perfect rainbow. A full arc with each colour displayed in perfect order, clear as a bell. An image forever etched into memory as no camera was present at the time. Who needs a camera anyway with a visual mind such as mine. And once again all these views were shared with a special someone.. to him i say thankyou!

And so now i am back in the routine of work, back at home hearing the usual noises that is my family, surrounded by overly familiar objects and things that is my home and yet part of me still feels somewhat removed from all of this. In such a few short days ive learnt things about myself, about others, seen and experienced wonders only God can give. In such a few short days i have learnt to appreciate the smallest things in life and felt blessed to have done so. I have in essence experienced a real relaxing holiday.
All i can say now is thankyou, thankyou and thankyou again to those who showed me a great time.

God bless :D

Roll on 2008

2008-01-22T02:51:00.000-08:00

Dearest friends it feels like its been years since i last wrote here but in reality it hasnt even been a month. Perhaps its because things just seemed to be happening everyday and my so called holiday hasnt been as relaxing as it usually is... hmmm anyways

I think the last time i left off i was getting ready for Cowra. Writing the talk was a challenge as it always is, but im glad i got the opportunity to do so. At times it was almost like pulling teeth, i could understand completely what it was i wanted to say yet to actually set it down into meaningful sentences was sooo frustrating. Grr at least i got it done and im so thankful for the challenge, i certainly learnt from the task and Gods word never ceases to amaze me!!
Writing my testimony was equally challenging though perhaps in a different manner. I never realised just how emotional writing a testimony could be. Perhaps because i dont consider myself the soppy type but boy that was one intense exercise i had to do. I must say though it was a blessing to be able to share my story with a lovely group of women in Cowra. Knowing that the women were listening to more than just a story, my story, that they were listening to a plead to turn to Christ spurred me on to get through what i thought at the time was a gruelling task. Ok so perhaps it wasnt so difficult but sharing such a personal experience isnt something i find easy to do. And to do that in front of a largish group of adults was certainly putting me to the test.
God willing some women had some food for thought after that event. It was encouraging to see women linger around the bookstore looking for that book that might help in answering some of their many questions. To hear the day after that, a lady was thinking about the possibility that yes there is a great Maker controlling our lives... it just made it all worthwhile.
This yrs team certainly had a different dynamic, i could see God working in many ways every day of that intense week. The heat was at times unbearable and Maccas only offered a brief respite but seeing newbies flourish with excitement and enthusiasm for Gods work was truly a blessing. It wasnt all smooth sailing though, numbers were down in all groups and some injuries on team didnt help BUT it was still x number of people who got to hear the gospel and witness the godliness displayed in Cowra. Praise god!

Though after 7 yrs of Summer Breakout i have finally said my good bye. I did the touristy things with my partners in crime Neen and Yvonne, took a number of happy snaps and spent time reflecting on years gone by whiel watching the wonders of Gods creation. The country despite its harshness is truly a thing of beauty. If youve never been i suggest u take a visit while youve a chance.

That was just over a week ago, since then ive slept and slept and slowly gotten back into the swing of things so to speak. I went for a drive up to Maitland on a drissly day and got to see another of the summer missions. So different to Cowra yet proclaiming the same message God wills. Awesome!

I also got to strap on my skates once again and enjoy the sense of freedom while gliding on ice. I was very scratchy but im sure wiht a few more practises il be just like i was before.. a bumbling pro ice skater wannabe! JUST KIDDING! Nah its just fun and having my rules just make it all the more fun! ;D You hold my hand thats fine... but if i feel ure fallin im letting u go!! I aint going down with you! Teehee that goes for EVERYONE!

Sunday got to celebrate my dear ol' dads bday.. a bit of a surprise but once again the amount of food left me feeling like it was Christmas all over again. Humans can be gluttonous pigs at the best of times... *sigh* oh well! I think the banana cheesecake made up for it though, was deeeeeelicious!

Today braved the school holiday crowds and enjoyed my mums company. Mother daughter days are priceless and i guess im lucky to be able to enjoy occasions such as these. Mums really do become ure best friends when u get to my age.. .man that sounds old doesnt it :P oh well!

Apart from that lifes just good! And im thanking my God for each blessing he sends my way! Amen to that!

Busyness and the end of yr slump...

2007-12-26T01:52:00.000-08:00

My my the last week has been somewhat hectic. Not that im at all surprised, after all it IS the silly season and well life just gets generally silly to say the least!!

Last week finally saw the last of school for this year. I must say i found the last day quite emotional. There werent too many dry eyes at days end.. what with a very moving assembly in the morning farewelling 3 hardworking teachers, and the avo saying goodbye to the year 6's. *SNIFF* those yr 6's have a spesh spot in my heart.. why? i hear you ask, well it only seems like yesterday, back in the dark days of uni, that i was plodding through my few weeks of prac teaching the then littlies.. they were in yr 1 and my have they grown.. Geee that makes me sound real old doesnt it, almost like a parent *sniff* goodness knows what i'll be like when i really do have my own kids... an emotional wreck no doubt! But yes theyve flown off into the scary world of high school. They were a great bunch of children and no doubt school will be somewhat different without them. Though i must say every yr group despite their oddities and faults do tend to leave a mark of some sort ;)

Anyways that was last week, a week of watching movies, videos, dvds and well do bugger all really. Whos insane idea was it to keep kids in school right up to Christmas anyways?!?!?! grrr they should be shot :P

At least now i can say i am on holidays and so far so good though somewhat hectic as i mentioned earlier.
Friday night saw me pig out on more food than the other half (amazing!) till i was almost asleep.
Then saturday morning it was rise and shine, bright and early for a crazy day of last minute xmas shopping. Kids screaming just make me cringe *shudder* why cant parents just teach their kids not to make so much noise in shopping malls?? i wasnt at all like that! Sheesh!!
So after nearly 4 hrs of umming and ahhing over what to buy and what not to buy, encountering ridiculously long lines (and i do mean loooooooooooooooooooong lines) not to mention frustrating and sometimes rude checkout chicks i finally made it home with armloads of pressies for the special people in my life!

I would have liked to have plopped down on a comfy couch and dozed off for an hr or two but alas alack i was off to a partay that night and i had a bit of cooking planned for a special someone. So after lots of instructions from my beloved parents the cooking started but grr cooking takes time (duh) and i had to frock up for the shindig. Yikes!! Somehow or other i got ready, can you believe it i actually made an effort :P complete with skirt, angelic wings and sparkly, tinsly headgear, twas very itchy i must add! But sadly the cooking wasnt complete. Supermum to the rescue, she managed to get it finished for me so that when i arrived home later that night yummy smells of empanadas wafted throught the humble abode.

So the party went off without a hitch. I was no help whatsoever when it came to the trivia quiz, the food was yum though, kris kringle a funny affair, some creative gear in the costume department, oh how could i forget the arm wrestling matches but best of all the company was fab! All had a good time at least that was my impression of it and never thought id say this but i am looking forward to next yrs party! Ive got a whole yr to figure out the bestest costume :P TEEHEE

Then next day was up bright and early yet again to wrap all the pressies then out all avo on an informative walk. Which led to a dinner where i ate waaaaaaay too much fried rice... humph and to think i lost a bet :P Boys are silly anyways but i still reckon i could have eaten it all... too much water before hand and too much salt spoiling what could have been a good appetite! :P seriously i could have won!!

Xmas eve was a quiet affair especially considering by then my sore throat, which made its presence felt on sat morning, decided to manifest itself into some nasty cough and hack and well i think u got the general idea so all i wanted to do was sit and veg and sleep .. though i think i did manage to play my fiddle til i blistered my finger tips.. you know the saying no pain no gain!

Yesterday bleh.. lots of food, lots of people, still more food, a room full of wrapping paper, yet more food ending in an overindulged slump around 830 pm :P Seriously today i feel like an overfed pig. And no wonder if i keep eating pork.. ooo but my apple sauce theres always room for that! :D i reckon i put on a coupla kilos yesterday alone.. thank goodness for Cowra and its insane heat! I could probably sweat it all out! BRING IT ON!

As for the rest of the week who cares is what i say, im on hols and dont plan on doing much tho i do have a tad to do before i leave for cowra, *sigh* last yr folks!! Then its adios Adeos :P HEHEHE Still got a bit of time though, thank goodness, and then itl be an intense week, not just physically but emotionally too. Sharing the gospel with so many people can be mind boggling but God is always there guiding us. Its often a scary thought when thinkin abt cowra and the anxiety i get doesnt help either, but once im there i know itl be full pelt all the way til saturday and before i know it i'l be packed into a car heading back home to my beloved house of comfort, loving family and somewhat normal weather, if this summer is what youd call normal!
But yes thats next week, i plan on getting reasonably better first, getting my stuff written and perfected (*snort* as if!) THEN il worry about goin away. Argh im making myself tired just stressing over all this now :P

Anyways my lids want to close and i reckon they know best so try not to do what i did and overeat on tasty rich food...

God bless ya smelly sox peeps!

Good times

2007-12-18T01:45:00.000-08:00

Ladidaaa

Can i say im on cloud 9?? i dunno but i do know ive closed a door and another has opened in which there is a world full of surprises happiness and fun times!

I wont say too much cos this isnt the place for it, but my family has noticed a marked change in my mood (for the better i must add) and this good influence has seen me religiously cleaning my room as well as other parts of the house... since when have i been known to do that!?!

Anyways for once i can see carpet, even if its not a great colour but ahh the space! I'd kinda forgotten just how much room i do have!

*sigh* im so looking forward to the holidays.. only another 3 more days left for the year! WOOHOO!! And bonus i get to see a movie with the kids tomorrow! Coolies! The down side of having to work til late in the year is that i dont get much time to do christmas shopping... there goes my saturday this weekend which is followed by what is supposed to be a smashing party.. Somebody please tell me what i should dress up as?!?! Or better yet.. should i even dress up?!?! ARGH decisions decisions! Why couldnt life be a little more simpler?

Lifes full of little surprises!

2007-12-09T22:09:00.000-08:00

Two weeks left to go! Im so counting down the days... Its weird tho i mean while i havent worked everyday i feel like lifes been rolling by like a barrell down a hill! And im crying out for a STOP!

Thankfully though in two weeks i can begin to relax a bit more. Even if i have to sit through the Christmas ritual and new years madness... At least i can sorta stay home and bum which is what im very good at!

The last few days have seen me somewhat surprised for reasons i wont mention here, but its comforting to know God is in control and he is listening to every word i say!

Last week was a bit of a crappy week for me, wasnt feeling at all 100% so missed out on bible study :( spent most of monday in a zombie like state, lost my appetite for most days and ive found out today ive lost almost 2 kilos! While that might be a nice thought, it actually isnt cos it just goes to show how much id been eating... not a whole lot! But thankfully by Friday nite i was almost back to normal and so pigged out on risotto! YUM!

Ive also been feeling the need to do a bit of a 'spring clean' in my room. My folks are almost shocked, for once they can see the carpet! :P HEHE but yes im almost there, cleared most of the lego town away today too, never realised how much i had and boy had i forgotten just how much dust and crap the stuff collects! Annoying to say the least! But hey i look at it as a kind of future investment, while parents will be forking out a fortune for the plastic product in future, il be smiling at the savings i made in the days of my youth while watching my kids sift through boxes of the stuff! ;) I know for a fact Lego is about to become more expensive... not very comforting to thine ears!
So thats a chapter closed for now at least!

I dragged out my violin today and enjoyed scraping out of tune notes for a bit over an hour. OK so my playing is a bit rusty at the moment but seriously do you have any idea how hard it is to tune strings when theyve been left in the case under the desk for i dont know how many months? Worse when the peg for the E string is tight as and youre too scared to put too much pressure on it cos you notice the E is almost at breaking point.. why is it that the E is always the first to break?! Or rather the only one that seems to break?! Grrr! Looks like im going to have to get a new string (theyre not cheap) Knowing me i'll prolly get the others too in case of emergency, it isnt fun playing happily when all of a sudden SNAP and youre whacked in the face by an evil string! The joys of a violinist!

On another note for those who dont know im finally heading off to Europe next yr! YAY! Cant wait! I am a bit anxious/ nervous about it all cos i havent done the whole travelling thing yet but hey people say il have fun and i aim to have fun! Still got a few things to sort out but im off peoples for 4 long weeks! You guys better miss me! HEHE Itll be good to see my dear ol cuz tho, also to see his girls who no doubt have grown much taller than i.. *sigh* why was it that i had to remain small?! Anyways i still have to wait about 5 months before i jet off! Plenty of time for me to get used to the idea ;)

Well its been a grizzly old day (what is it with this bizarro weather?) but im off to finish my work then reward myself with sounds from Bond. Boy do i love that group!

So long peoples!

2007-11-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

So here i am once again with no work, but thats ok cos well theres work the rest of the week! ;)
And also having been woken up at the unearthly time of 430am by i-dont-know-what certainly doesnt assist in having a great start to the week. Thankfully God answered my prayers of no work and i was able to snatch another hr of shut eye later this morning...

Theres like a billion things i could be doing but bleh its been another of 'those' weekends. I attended another friends wedding (yes ANOTHER one...) while theyre joyous occasions and im extremely happy for the couple part of me cant help but whinge and ask 'whens it my turn?!' But then thats selfish and perhaps a little too hasty, after all God surely has a plan, hopefully theres a special man there somewhere :D but my dear old ma reckons i scare them all away! TEEHEE :P sorry boys cant be helped.. much!

But seriously you know youre getting old when u go to a morning ceremony hang out during the day (by hang our i mean go to a friends place and watch a dvd), do the reception thing at night, feel like youve been out for aaaaaaaaaaaaaages and wait for it... its only 815pm! Wahhh i so wanted to curl up in my bed :( Alas we were only at course number 3 with abt another 7 to go.... *sniff* thats another thing i ate way to much til i was fit to bursting. The food was great but seriously who eats that much? Certainly not I! As my dad puts it i'm one of the little people ;)

At least i got to put my taste buds to the test. Those who know me really well will know that im a fan of plain food, especially those in the non spicy category... well its food that i consider safe. Though those super chums of mine from churchies sure help me in exploring new appetisers :D ive been to indian (whoda tought!) thai and another which escapes me at the mo...
But yes back to last sat nite.. what did i eat? there was weird jellyfish with a range of meat to start off with, wasnt too bad til i noticed pigs hair *eye roll*, then a sea food roll, in no particular order... soup of some sort, abelone with umm mushrooms i think? scallops & vegies with a dash of chilly (sure got the taste buds dancing something crazy), chicken, crab and lobster, fish which i think was Barramundi... was very tasty is all i can say! Then finally they brought in the rice and noodles.

Now heres what i dont get, i love my rice.. and i mean i LUUUURVE my rice and they left it til almost last. By then im totally stuffed and the mere sight of food almost makes me sick (i know disgusting) anyhow when i saw that rice im like geeee i gotta have some (slight drool) and my friend's like 'have some then just dont eat it all' but hmm i look at the food and i think all that waste! Truly we live in a society of waste, the amount of food that gets thrown out by restaurants is sickening to tell the truth.
But getting back to my rice, i succumbed and ate, i reckon i ate almost half abowl and it was deeeeeeeeeeelicious! *sniff* sadly though i paid the penalty for it :( by the time the wedding cake rolled around i was like FORGET IT! I swear i must have put on an extra kilo that night alone.. so much for trying to get back to my school girls weight.... diddums!

And i reckon all that food also played a part in my failing to get the boquet.... and it was the first time i err tried.. well half heartedly tried at least :P I shoulda accidently tripped the girl in front of me then i would have SCORED! :D i was inches away people! INCHES!! Ahh Queenie looks like im going to have to move into your spinsterhood flat! :P

So yes by the time i got home on satdy nite (only 1130 mind you) i was stuffed to put it bluntly, i was in my bathroom brushing my toothypegs and literally swayed with tiredness.. it was a wonder i made it to the bed, and yes you guessed it i slept like a log!

Yesterday was pretty much uneventful (thank goodness) watched yet another flick, went to church and had dinner at the golden arches where i literally shivered munching through my burger. Thankfully someone lent me their jacket which helped, though by the nights end my toes i swear were turning a shade of blue! Alas there were no socks to be lent that time :P HAHA what a suggestion!

So wats on the rest of the week i hear you ask? theres yr 4 tomoz, then oh dear 'that' yr 3 class, then *sigh* music on thurs and finally yay my yr 5 on fri! Remind me not to skip on hot asphalt in bare feet...
Oh and how could i forget CSB training day again on sat... oh yes thats also the potential 'history in the making' day! I wonder if it will be the (as someone else put it) day of revolution? the day of reckoning?.. election day! Ahh politics, don't you just love it!

Later gators!

'99 was indeed a funny year...

2007-11-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

Lifes a funny thing..... well maybe not i mean with all this techno stuff advancing day by day i suppose i really shouldnt be at all surprised.

For a while i was engrossed with blog... i think tho it was more the writing side of it that attracted me to the land of blog. dont worry i wouldnt bare my entire soul online im not that daft! Got an actual book for that one :D TEEHEE
Anyways now its fb takin over the world well takin over the social world anyway. And im amazed at who i find there!

My tafe mates .. hadnt spoken to them in i dunno like 8 yrs.. a lot can happen in 8 yrs.
And seriously at the mo its been a stroll down memory lane! '99 was definitely a yr of MANY firsts for me! Yes partly due to you misha aka Joey :P u, stef and luisita bonnita!

I mean when i look back i wonder where id start! I can remember the very first time i stepped on that campus i was freaked out not just by the err weirdos on site but the boys man.. i hadnt had one in my class since 1990! So i went to an all girls school big deal!

And because i am extremely shy... yes i am despite wat some people think.... but anyway because of that fact i remember sitting there in bio (good ol bio with Bob HA!) i was the 'good' student who sat front row was totally attentive and didnt say a word.... that was until i was corrupted by the 4 mentioned above! i then became a back seat rebel... i dont remember how much work i did after that! what i DO remember tho is givin the teacher a hard time... how much of a hard time? i dunno.. Mish wadya reckon?

And there was maths! That was my fave!! Purely cos i was top of the class and loved to rub it in at the time! i think i only skipped one class and my teacher knew and she spoke to me abt it, i was shamed, i never missed another... yes even all your pleas didnt stop me from goin Luisita!

But yes tafe threw me into the thick of things so to speak, there was pool for a start. Once i started there was no stopping.. esp when someone mentioned "2 hrs free pool at the pub" and i was like did i just hear "TWO hrs FREE pool?!?!" at the time it was like heaven... simple things amuse small minds i guess!
And how could i forget the actual location of our humble building? set down in the valley totally surrounded my mechanics, woodwork/ construction boys and graphic designers. Us girls learnt to band together for safety! Lunch hrs were always an interesting affair!

And of course there were the 2 or 3 hr lessons.. yes u read right folks they were longer than uni lectures.... but then thats all ud end up doin in a day just 1 or 2 classes so at the most id only do 4 hrs in a day... a far cry from compulsory schooling. Cant believe i used to leave home 7 in the morning and get back home around 5 or later depending on wat was on that avo.. wat crazy person does that?!
And because tafe is tafe no one seemed to worry too much whether u turned up or not... not even when the class would take a break and well you just never went back to class.. i liked to think of those times as an extended break! :D

There were also those funny excursion which left me wondering what was the point of it all.... the museum one for example, i dont even remember what we did there! And the other one, was it Cross Reserve Mish? i think we looked at dirt, rocks and plants... fascinating stuff that! But youd go there do all ure work in abt an hr and then that was it we'd all bugger off somewhere.. so much for a days outing! Only the return trip made things interesting when u cram at least 6 people in a car and it struggles to drive up a steep hill..

Hmm so these are just 'some' of the memories i have of that *cough* wonderful place.

Do i miss the people? My lil troupe.. definitely!
Do i miss the place? highly doubtful...
Would i do it all over again? i dunno... lifes funny like that some people say theyd never do it again, but then i think well you're pretty much the person you are because of what youve done and whats happened to you. Everyones got a path to follow, sure ive done some crazy stuff and it hasnt been the easiest of journeys at times, i may have thought once or twice if only i hadnt done that or whatever.
But having done all those things i have unknowingly been on a journey that has seen me put faith in my Creator.
Would i change that? No way! Not for all the world...

2007-10-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

So i survived houseparty once again for CSB.... i must say it has a different feel... definitely smaller than what it once was... in some ways its cause for worry BUT God obviously knows what hes doing so i guess its all under control. In a way it can be a blessing because it challenges team members more to put in the hard yards rather than get too complacent with things..

It was good to catch up with people (thanks for the chats neen! :D) and to finally have a better idea of exactly what il be doing during mission... nothing worse than feeling "i know i should be doing something but what?!"
And so il finally be giving a testimony... it shouldnt be too difficult but seeing as ive never formally shared one with a large group of people it does seem a bit daunting. God willing things will go well, il have the strength and confidence to speak well and hopefully others can be encouraging also.

But yeah as someone said chivalry DID make a come back. It was awesome to serve for others by getting their meals and vice versa. Even more amusing when the guys had to stand for the girls when us women decided to leave or join a table. There were indeed some funny moments! Jingles joinging all the tables made sundays lunch eventful!! Cant see it happening for a whole week at Cowra tho. Some guys would never eat their meals while sitting otherwise!

As for venue, id have to say Winmalee did top Mountain camp... i dunno i guess i had mixed feelings abt a change of location. Weve been at katoomba for so long i guess i got to used to the place, but yeah at winmalee theres trampolines, pool tables, table tennis volleyball basketball etc u name it they have it! Even the food was tops!! The only thing they dont have is decent reception for phones. Not that it bothers me i prefer no phones. Its amazing how technology can take a hold of some. I for one was quite late in getting a phone who needs one?! It only annoys u! And theres nothing worse than someone ringing up and going "where are you?" ok so maybe its necessary if ure halfway to cowra, its the middle of the night and u were expected there at a much earlier time but yeah still... when it comes to tech stuff i just shake my head... what ever happened to the good old days?!

Anyhoo i started back at work yesterday *sigh* i so thought id have at least another day off but alas no holidays are well and truly over but hmm hehe i did get today off after all :D i guess easing into the term cant hurt! AND bonus i find out this morning im to work on a class every friday for the rest of term! YAY!! itl basically be a homework/spelling test, art and sport day! How cool is that!! So yeah i am looking forward to fridays now!

So praise God for blessing my life at the mo... i havent found anything to complain about lately and well why should i?! To top it off warmer days are here and im LOVING it! Love summer its my fave season! Sure puts me in a happy mood!!

Adios amigos!!

Back from the dead...

2007-10-11T23:22:00.000-07:00

I know i say this all the time but yeah the land of blog got left behind for a while...
I thought now would be a good time to resurrect my writing.. actually ive missed my writing it can be very therapeutic at times!!

Stuffs been happening i guess ive been sidetracked by facebook lately shame on those who got me into that in the first place!!

Finally finally FINALLY some of you will be happy to know i have succumbed and read the Princess Bride after how many yrs i hear u ask?!?! Im going to swallow my pride and say i liked it! :P THere i said it!! You may think wats the biggie? but seriously im not one to let my err romantic side get the better of me (hmm actually im not so sure abt that) but *sigh* i guess in my old age im mellowing... il let u in on a little secret folks i can be a romantic when i want to be ;)

Im not sure if i want to see the flick i often find movies ruin a good book... especially with an imagination such as my own id hate to have my imagery ruined. Eragon did that big time for me :( I loathe the movie eragon but love the book!
But yes Buttercup u make me laugh! I spose theres a bit of Buttercup in me after all .... :P Wheres my Westley tho?! Haha

Guess where im off to this weekend folks?! Cowra houseparty yet again... i was conned into going back, actually i dunno... all i know is im going. But definitely my last. Neen treasure this yrs moments!! For those who care im doing adults again. It was pretty good last year not to mention challenging in many ways. BUt yeah i think im over the kids sections. I reckon i see enough of them during school terms!

Anyhow I feel im needed somewhere else when all this is over, but where ive yet to see Gods plan... id like to do more stuff at church but wat i dunno..... create endless biblical pictures using Lego? yeah id like that but ppl would get bored.... oh well guess we'l see what happens.

You'll be surprised to hear I shed a tear or two a few weeks ago cos some dear friends got married... seems everyones doing that lately.... not quite sure how that makes me feel... and then there are some whos having kids! Kids man!! scary reallly...

Anywayz still got things to do before i trek off tonite so signing off!
Catch ya later dudes and dudettes!

New discovery...

2007-06-05T03:36:00.001-07:00

Well yes i have been quiet...i guess ive come to the realisation that there is much more to life than blogging :P

Anyways ive since discovered something called .. wait for it... work! :D

No im not working full time, im still doing the casual thing BUT im definitely being blessed with work every day. I think the last time i had a day off during the week was about 4 weeks ago?!?! crazy! But its been good cant complain and kids have been kind. Yes they do exist contrary to belief its just knowing where to find them!!
So ive being doing all sorts of stuff, PE teaching for infants (madness!), being a librarian, teaching all grades, being music teacher so i come home with Ipsy wipsy spider ringing in my ears as opposed to incy wincy spider! Not to mention all the other various silly songs i get to sing. Oh and ive been learning new games which are as simple as "do this, do that" seriously they are the only words i use in the game! How does that saying go.. "small things amuse small minds" definitely true in this case.
But hey it is fun to say the least and sometimes i think i seriously get paid to play! :D

And next week il be starting a block til the end of term which is awesome.

Immediately following that, theres Cru camp yet again, sometimes i think i should take a break but i knwo that when i get there il have a great time. Its so encouraging seeing young kids struggle with Gods word, trying to understand where they stand in this world, what He has in store for them and more so their enthusiasm to find out more about our Creator.

But yes that is still a few weeks away yet.

So apart from work what haev i been doing? Saw some flicks 300 and Pirates. Loved them both but then i love my action movies! :D
I will be trying something a little different later this month tho, the ballet :P yes im about as surprised as you are but hey it was an invite and like i said it is something different. Swan lake... wonder how il go watching girls prance around in tutus..... hmmm wonder whatever happened to my tutu...

A few weeks ago had an outing with bible study group, ate a spicy pie in which my tongue felt hot, fed some ferral rats, had a yummo hot chocolate with marsh's and got a cold all in one night. Thankfully the cold lasted all of 4 days and no more.

BS has been going great, doing Collosians so far so good, only done one study so far. Cant wait for more. Church also is going kewl. The music at night seems to be getting better and better if that can even be possible. Its encouraging to see a growing number of musos out the front and at times i find myself thinking should i be a part of that... is it time to put my 'shyness' aside and take up my fiddle in public... who knows. At the mo its the banner i should be focussing on. Dont worry Chris it is coming along albeit slowly ;)
But yes Genesis and Jacobs story has been giving quite a bit of food for thought lately. Sometimes one wonders when will the 'scheming' (if thats what you want to call it) end. But despite this God has a habit of sticking to his promises. Humans can whinge, scheme, and boast but His patience is def neverending. Definitely something for us to think about as we go about our daily lives.

Anyhow my fingers are just about frozen to a crisp, only about another 3 months before it can start warming up *sigh* I should move to the tropics!

Take care you two legged things :P

Thankful!

2007-02-27T16:03:00.000-08:00

Lying in bed last night contemplating things and realised theres so much to be thankful for, even if they are little things...

Thankful for...

Friends - amazing people, they support, listen and encourage!

Children- as a casual teacher i find it hard sometimes getting through the days, theres no team work involved and because youre not part of the staff people see you as an outsider. Its also hard when you want to evaluate your day but theres no structured feedback. Yet when a kid heads home and leaves you with "Will you be back tomorrow? Cos i think youre a nice teacher" it makes it seem all worthwhile.

Rain! - It can be a hassle when theres too much of it but lately our lands have been so dry and parched. I never realised how much i missed smelling the refreshing rain! The wet earth after a storm, the smell of healthy grass while being mowed.

Grass - weird i know but ive missed seeing green grass! its been brown for too long.

Family- theyre not always perfect but mine have pretty much always been there for me. In a way i guess ive been lucky/ blessed. Theyve helped mould me into the person i am today.

Creativity - i love workin with my hands and am thankful that i have this gift. But i also look around and notice the wonder of Gods creativity! A few weeks ago i had the pleasure of holding a baby blue tongue, they are gorgeous! At the moment theres so many baby skinks frisking around in our yard, spiders who can weave some amazing webs and dragonflies with colours too numerous to mention! And to think its all been made by our Creator!

God - If it wasnt for him none of this would be here. I wouldnt be here. He alone has the ability to create so much diversity. I mean think about it, there are millions of people in this world and each one of us has a unique fingerprint, how awesome is that.. its almost incomprehensible! Our God can give and love so much even to the point of sacrificing his own son for us who were undeserving. Us... mere mortals who deserve nothing. My God is a truly awe inspiring one. And i cant wait till i can meet him in person!

Wordy Nerd!

2007-02-20T01:14:00.000-08:00

After years of reading soooo many books, too numerous to mention i have learnt a thing or two. Perhaps because of this i've developed a love of writing (and now typing). Is that so wrong?? Since when has it been a crime to voice ones own opinions??

It seems my blogs are very wordy.... and for that reason alone that makes me nerdy....

Now whoever wrote that comment obviously dont know any true nerds. I for one can easily name a few. If you want to meet some real nerds give us a holler and il happily point the way!

Me nerd?!?!?! NEVER!! Thats just laughable...

God's gift to humanity

2007-02-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

Imagine the Lord talking French! Aside from the few odd words in Hebrew, i took it for granted that God had never spoken anything but the most dignified English. Clarence Day, Life with Father

Last night as usual i was chatting to a friend about random things and somehow or other we manage to start discussing what makes a word a word. I know some of you may go uh-oh this is going to be boring, oh well i thought it was interesting... Actually it got me thinking. Back in the old days of uni i studied Linguistics and i must say apart from the dodgy teacher that embarrassed me in front of the lecture group i really enjoyed the subject!! I think a love of reading and learning has a huge part to play in this.

Anyway so i dragged out my text book and actually read a bit of it!! Amazing! Anyway in the book i came across the quote i mentioned earlier. And its so true! When i read Gods word i dont really think about how he communicated to his people, as in what language. I mean i know they didnt speak english as we do but i dont know i guess its something we dont really think about all the time and so we really do take it for granted.
Lately though i must say ive been knuckling down in my quiet times and pulling apart verses and stuff and so i do end up reading the footnotes and stuff, i even bought a bible dictionary and i found it really really interesting! Reading about different measurements, how different places got their names, how people got their names... ok so can be boring...

But yes back to the initial question, what can be categorised as a word? The word 'is' came up in my discussion and im like 'is' is ony worth two letters, shouldnt really be worthy of being called a word, and yet there it is in the dictionary. Even more amazing is the word 'a' yes it really is a word! Go check it out in the dictionary!! Seems like even the smallest things in life arent left out. But i suppose it makes sense really i mean we use a in most of our sentences....

Then my friend said something like 'Couldnt every letter in our (26 letter) alphabet be a word?'

At first i said no. But later on lying in bed it got me thinking, i reckon the true answer is yes! And il show you how...

a some, another, one, any
b to exist, have reality - To b or not to b that is the question; a type of buzzing animal
c the blue stuff which ships sail on, the act of being able to view things
d a contracted form of had and would (ok so im grasping at straws here :P)
e a reference to the male person spoken by someone who has a tendency to leave of the 'h' sound eg "E 'as a brain!"
f in case that, granting or supposing that, whether... spoken by someone with a kiwi accent - "F you are going out..."
g a word mentioned when someone is skeptical about something - "G i dunno!"
h the beginnings of a weird sneeze - HCHOO!
i the round white ball in the socket of your skull with a coloured iris
j any number of Australian birds
k a shortened form of ok
l a reference to that really hot place down under spoken by the person mentioned above who has a tendency to leave off their h's - "Bloody 'ell"
m a word said when thinking about something - "(e)M i think so..."
n with, along with - the boy n girl
o a surprised utterance - 'O my goodness!'
p a natural bodily function
q a long line found most commonly during post Christmas sales
r present indicative plural of the verb b
s a colloquial reduction of is, has, does, us
t something we drink and is grown in India
u anyone in general
v an english speaking French refering to themselves and someone else - "V are going to ze moviez"
w two people :P
x the person who is no longer part of your half
y a questioning of something in particular 'Y am i writing this stuff?'
z a person suffering from a bad case of the flu regaling a message to someone - 'E z to rig 'ib back' (Translation 'he said to ring him back'

So yes Yvonne every letter in our alphabet can be a word, it's just knowing how!
You were right after all, you were/are a secret brain child!!

CHEERS BIG EARS!!

Traditions.....

2007-02-04T16:19:00.000-08:00

So yesterday i was talking to a friend about weddings because shes getting married.........

We were talking about the dress (surprise surprise) and i happened to mention

"Dont forget to wear something old something new something borrowed something blue!"

Her reply: How do you wear something blue??

Good question indeed!!

And so i got to thinking why are there some traditions like these?? Like throwing the bouqet?? WHY?? It seems that apparantly if you catch the flowers youre the next to get married :P Must be why i stand there like a stunned mullet shaking my head at the futile attempts of other women pushing and shoving just to get a bunch of flowers. ITS JUST A BUNCH OF FLOWERS!! Dear oh dear !! When it comes time for the bride to toss the flowers its like a womens version of rugby! And the worst offenders are the older women!!! Tsk tsk

BUT....

It seems the men cant stand seeing women have all the fun so they want something thrown at them too! :P
There is a tradition, though thankfully its a dying act. You see theres this thing called a garter which the groom is suppose to throw back for the boys. Whichever lucky (or unlucky) guy catches it he will also be the next to marry! Ive only been to one wedding where thats happened.......... actually no i remember now ive been to two! And HAHA we have one of them :P But its being used as a headband on a toy panda HEEHEE!! Funny!

And garters bring me back to the rhyme i mentioned earlier, the something old something new business. How do you wear blue?? Well apparantly the garter is meant to have blue on it. Im serious! call me sad, but i even looked it up. My curiosity got the better of me! AND i also found theres another little bit of the rhyme i didnt know. Youre also supposed to have a silver sixpence in your shoe.......... hmmmmmmmmmm would it really be that comfortable??

THe site i looked at had some other interesting things, most were eye rolling and downright silly. BUT there was one or two others that caught my attention and i laughed something silly ;D It has to do with throwing shoes. Yes you read right THROWING SHOES AT WEDDINGS!! Now theres something you dont see too often.

It seems that old shoes were thrown at the bride and groom by guests for good luck. Dating back to tudor times if the shoes hit the happy couple or their carriage good luck was bestowed upon them! The bride could also throw shoes to girls... has the same meaning behind throwing the bouqet.
And in Anglo saxon times it was ok for the groom to strike his bride with a shoe to signify his authority. Hmmm not exactly a great start to married life. If a guy hit me with a shoe id smack him so bad! Serves him right!

Now boys if you happen to be reading this dont go getting any ideas. Besides shoes can have feet germs!

But my favourite would be the father of the bride throwing the shoe after the groom. This is supposed to be a sign of the father handing the responsibility of his daughter over to the groom. How weird.

I think i like my version better:
The groom sweeps the girl of her feet and runs out (if he can manage it) to the car or wherever. The father of the bride takes off his shoe and with a strong arm and precise aim throws his shoe only to hit the groom squarely on the head, knocking him out cold!! Then he mutters " Thats what you get for taking my girl away!"
HEHEHE

Ahhh weddings they make me laugh! At least you cant leave a wedding on an empty stomach :D

There and back again...

2007-01-27T00:47:00.000-08:00

My finger tips are hardening, going black and are slightly sore... Why?? Cos i been playing my fiddle for hours on end lately and im LOVING it. A shame i never listened to my parents more when i was younger perhaps i could have been better with more lessons?? *sigh* guess thats the punishment one should expect when one doesnt practice!!

But now its soo cool!! I love playing!

Hmmm school starts again this week... not sure im ready to go back yet but i think i say that every term! ;)

Yesterday i must have been nuts! Went all the way to Cowra and back in one day!!
Was a great ride and i think for the first time ever i didnt fall asleep on the way home! A good thing too cos i had to keep the driver awake!

My favourite memory tho would be on the way out there and going through Mt Tomah. It was pretty early and the sun hadnt risen high above the hills. The mist was rising with the heat yet in the denser part of forests it still lingered.
We rounded a bend and shafts of sunlight were filtering through the trunks of tall trees illuminating the mist. Looked almost ghostly but i love it!! I reckon it would make a haunting scene in a movie. Mmmmm with the right soundtrack the atmosphere would be spectacular... *sigh* one of those things to be etched in memories for eternity.

Other things i saw:
A wedge tail eagle diving straight down through the sky into a tree only to swoop away empty footed. At least i didnt see anything it might have caught so whatever it was after must have been thanking its lucky stars their turn was not up... yet!

Moo cows everywhere!! Calves are GORGEOUS!! Cows have beautiful eyes has anyone ever noticed?? They can be a bit daft at times though, just stand there by the roadside and be freaked out by a big metal thing called a car. Sure sets some scampering away a bit ;)

Plenty of sheep too. Though theyre looking a bit dirty what with no rain and all. Bleh they can be awfully silly too!! Jumping over imaginary fences according to one source! And they bleet like nuts when it rains on them! I got witnesses!!

Oh and i saw some donkeys! Made me want to go eehaw! or whatever it is they do :P

Saw apples hanging so heavily on branches in Bilpin known locally as the fruit bowl! Theyd be ready to pick in abt a months time i reckon.

Saw spectacular drops into valleys in the mountains. Amazing! Simply breathtaking!

But yeah despite the nice drive i doubt id be doing that again anytime soon!!

Anyhoo toodleloo im off!

Y??

2007-01-18T01:46:00.000-08:00

Wat is it with Myspace?!?!?!?!

Just because everyone gets it doesnt mean i need to!

Making a difference

2007-01-15T18:56:00.000-08:00

So i was asked by a certain someone.. 'when will u update??' Lucky them theyre getting it now ;)

Ive just returned from an intense week of sharing the gospel and building relationships with people in Cowra. It was awesome to say the least. I pushed my comfort zone in so many ways, really listened and focussed on the people in Cowra all for the glory of God, i learnt more about myself than i thought possible, tied off some loose ends and more.

You might be reading this and thinking i had high expectations for the week and everything went as planned. Quite the contrary. Leading up to the week there were moments i seriously asked myself what have i gotten myself into after all that stuff from the previous yr?? Can i do this?
By the grace of God he held me firmly by the hand and guided me through the week. And i thank him for it. I think also it was with a group of supportive and encouraging friends who were there to listen and pray who helped me. Couldnt have happened without them.

It was such an eye opening week. Usually im spending my days running around with kids and literally dropping dead around lunchtime. This time it was different. I was on Adeos, this meant i visited nursing homes, chatted to people my age but unlike myself had already had kids who were of school age. It disheartens me to learn just how many young people out there have such tough lives. They come from broken homes, mixed backgrounds, some dont even know what to expect in the coming year. Such is the uncertainty of their lives. In the city, we tend to take our lives for granted, everything is seemingly at our beck and call. Life is too much in the fast lane for us to stop, reflect and really take the time to notice those who are most in need. True we have all had some difficult moments, i know i have but it is none compared to what i saw and heard.

I thank God i had the opportunity to go back, i cant say at this time whether i will or will not go back next year. But God does work in mysterious ways. I miss the fellowship with the team members. Spending quality time with dear friends, simply getting to know them even more. I miss the relationships i was building with a few adults from the town. Hopefully though that will continue through correspondence.

The drought was even more noticeable this year. During the past few years i had seen the steady change and decline in the qulaity of the land. Seeing sheep grazing on the roadsides just makes you realise how tough things really are. The dam is literally a moonscape, boats getting bogged when in the past water skiing, wakeboarding and fishing was done without a care in the world.

Despite this there were some good moments at least for me. I managed to see some roos, some crazily jumping across roads while we were driving, i saw a wallaby (so cute!) went to a house for Sunday lunch whos neighbours had shetland ponies in their backyards!! I want one!! :P I felt i made a difference to some peoples lives particularly in the nursing home. They really do look forward to people spending time with them just chatting!! I heard some pretty good testimonies. So good in fact they were deeply moving and brought tears to me eyes. Just makes you realise just what a difference our creator really makes in peoples lives. I overcame briefly my fear of stage fright singing err opera?? during team social time on the saturday night! Sure earned bonus points from a close friend who was judging ;)

Yes all in all it was a good week, im missing it already but rest is good. Ive slept more than my fair share over the last few days. No doubt though il be reflecting for a while yet.

So when's reunion peoples?!?! teehee

2006-12-30T01:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone and new years is like just over a day away...... Kinda makes you wonder where all the time went :P

Well i guess i could say i spent most of my time buggerising around and working :P Now tho its hols so im relishing the time ive earnt to bludge :D

Went to the flicks a few weeks ago to see the much anticipated Eragon and must say i was somewhat dissappointed :( Like it was okaaaaaay BUT like all other things the book is soooooooo much better! Read the book then wait til it comes on tv if you really want to see it, dont think id want to part with my 15 bux on a movie like that again!! (Or is that just me being ultra cheap ;) )
Still the day more than made up for it by all the shopping i managed to do :D it was Christmas after all and well believe it or not i actually enjoyed my time!

I also went to a concert at the Con to see Passion, for those who dont know it was music that you would hear in games such as Final Fantasy, Alladin, SuperMario bros the list goes on. I managed to score free tix too seeing as a friend of bro was performing in it! I must say i actually enjoyed myself not totally knowing what to expect. Music was played by 5 brilliant musos plus 2 guest artists.
I so want to go to the next concert A Night in Fantasia: Symphony Games Edition and the other one Night in Fantasia: Symphonic Anime edition. Should be good.

After concert finished we traipsed outside only to hear the ending of Carols in the Domain and our bus was bombarded with carolers making the trek home :P We got home safe and sound tho and boy was i buggered!! LIterally crashed on my bed knowing i had to get up early the following day for a social with Sunday school kiddies!!

Probably because of my excitement i woke up early despite black rings round my eyes :P We took the kids ice skating and boy did we have fun!! There were a few spills and sore backsides by the end but ahhhhhh ice skating is soooooooo cool!

OH that reminds me im now in advanced level!! HEHE i was supposed to be in Intermediate 2 but heck our coach tested us on both Int 1 & 2 *sigh* i thought i wasnt ready but hey i passed. Just hope i dont stack it more often now ;)

Since then havent really done much. This week i also dont plan on doing much cos mission is practically upon us and err well guess i better start on some things. Dont get me wrong i have started just hmm well i always say il get things done earlier so im not stressing the day before but i reckon i work better when im stressing teehee im a glutton for punishment!!

Well im off to do what i dont know but hope all is well with the world and in case i dont see ya, have a great NEW YEARS!!
BTW wonder what is behind the question mark on the bridge?!?!?!

That time of year again...

2006-12-09T02:16:00.000-08:00

Well thought id write and let people know wats been happening especially as people do seem interestd :P

So its that time of year again when...
*work winds down (Yay) but when you do work the kids just cant be bothered (Poo)
*you go out only to find tots are screaming cos their folks said no! to something or other
*the movies are filled to the brim with teenage kids who cannot sit still and watch the pictures in silence
*you stand in a shop and think for wat seems like eons about wat to get someone and go home empty handed
*walking into any shop theers a carol playing and chances are youve just heard it in the last shop you entered
*you're told to wrap up pressies only to find theres no tape... ANYWHERE!!

Such is teh yearly Christmas ritual that we've come to know. But i wonder... How many people in this world stop and think about why we really celebrate Christmas?? The little babe in a manger that changed the world for many. It is because of him that i am a believer. And it is because of that faith that i was baptised last Sunday night. It was a nerve wracking experience for some reason. The water was warm and under i went, but i was shaking nonethetheless. Stage fright perhaps.
So yay my folks came to church to watch me baptised, a rare treat indeed they never go to church unless soemthing important comes along like weddings and baptisms. Praise God they were able to come!!

A few weeks ago i completed my 5 week block with a year 5 class and seriously i absolutely had a ball. I miss the routine and the kids but it is nice to have the days off during the week when i can spoil myself ;) Only two weeks left before im officially on holidays...

Mission prep has once again taken hold of me, im looking forward to it in some ways yet at the same time a bit hmm hesitant in others?? God knows how it will go so i will continue to trust in Him.

Ice skating has been going brilliant, im still nowhere near as good Torvill though :P still, im learning new skills every week. This week its test week, not sure whether il pass but hey as long as i have fun right!?! But POO found a scratch on my skates!! GRRRRR!

Havent done much in the way of arty stuff... well maybe i have :P today spent some time making Xmas decos for the tree, making pressie for mum. Have not touched my painting for yonks, nor my drawing for that matter... Cross stitch has been coming along in dribs and drabs. Completed a collage using free postcards collected during the days of uni ;) and i must say i think it looks pretty good!! See, i knew those postcards would come in handy on day! :P

Finally caught up with a dear friend outside of Cowra :P enjoyed a scrumptious meal too but was left somewhat overfed afterwards, eyes must be bigger than stomach. That and coupled with not eating properly during the last few days simply cos i cant be bothered!

Things im looking forward to this hols:
*catching up with others whom i havent seen in a while
*seeing movies! yes even those teens wont stop me from seeing Eragon!!
*SWIMMING!!
*SUN!
*Sleep ins!
*Being an only kid for a while, bro will be overseas...
*Christmas lunch, more apple sauce for me!!

Things im not looking forward to...
* having no one to annoy on Xmas day ie my bro ;) yes as the bubs in the family i still get to do that :P
*being told to get out of bed when i dont want to
*all those people in the shops
*painting/drawing then getting bored
*reading and getting bored
*being creative and getting bored
*knowing hols are only for so long and theres work afterwards
*knowing summer isnt here to stay :(
*knowing theres not much good on the telly to watch on those quiet nights, not that i watch telly much anymore

Anyhoo id best be off, i stayed up till the wee hours of the morning (245am) finishing off a book cos i simply could not put it down and now im suffering teh consequences! So to beddy byes it is for me..
Ciao peoples...

oh and Queenie we will catch up after you get back and after ive gone to mission... i know we say that all the time but its going to happen this time! :P

To blog or not to blog, that is the question!

2006-11-25T03:43:00.000-08:00

It has indeed been a while... Where to start though, more importantly would anyone even be interested?!?!

Hmm il chew on that thought a while yet.... il come a typing when ive the right frame of mind. Just now the world is huge and i want to crawl into my shell and hide but have since found my shell no longer fits..............

I wish...

2006-07-20T02:57:00.000-07:00

I wish i'd just grow up.....................

Flight of the Nebula!

2006-07-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well this time i'm going to try and squeeze in Wed and Thurs together cos in case you havent noticed i tend to ramble on a fair bit........

So Wed was BEACH DAY!! and LASER ZONE DAY!!

After long bus ride listening to boys talk abt the scariest movies theyd seen and having taken a wrong turn to the heads instead of the beach (silly bus driver) i was glad to get off and smell the sea!

We dug HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE holes in the sand, played some fun games, buried some kids and turned them into siamese mermaids?!?!?! Don't ask! I managed to make a sand sculpture of a sea turtle which i thought was pretty good, even if i say so myself! :P

During lunch i also had the priviledge of sitting next to someone (who shall remain nameless) who we're fairly sure ate at least half a worm/grub which fell out of the tree above us and landed on their drinking straw........ EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW talk abt gross man!

After having scraped and brushed and wiped sand off ourselves we jumped on the bus again and headed up to Wallsend where we swarmed laser zone.
I hadnt been last yr seeing as i was sick but man how cool was it! I managed to get two goes curtesy of Dan (Thanks mate!) On my first go i was 'Elmo' i came third overall which i was pleased with but felt i could have done a better job.... dont ask me about point this time round cos i have no idea what my score was! I look at this go as a learning curve, when we started i turned left while everyone else turned right... took us a while to meet up somewhere down the bottom....

Feeling pumped going into the second round i was now 'Nebula' I now had some experience up my sleeve and managed to hit so many unsuspecting targets they were still wondering who had taken them down!! These are my tricks of the trade...... AS IF I"D TELL YOU!! So you guessed it i beat the pants off everyone and came first not only in the winning team but 1st overall... does that classify me as competitive?!?! i wont say how much i won by cos thats like bragging *-)
Too bad there was no running allowed, nor combat rolls etc.... would have made the game much more fun! Cant wait til i go again!

Later that night it was movie night for the kiddies and for once they got bored during the movie.... too bad they were the ones who chose the flick anyway, you cant always win!

Roll on Thursday....

The long awaited rockclimbing day had finally arrived!! Unfortunately i had not realised i had not done this for 8 yrs and so was very out of practise and realised just how unfit i was... diddums... BUT it didnt help having another kid make up his mind as to which holds he was going to stand on and hold onto so i was left hanging with my energy draining very quickly, so i decided to take a fly when i got way too tired to hold any longer... and fly i did! i swung and swung and swung until i managed to grab hold of something, anything by then i was stuffed and came back down. Never mind theres always next time! Thanks Joey for belaying!

Next was archery.... we had one round of practise then the balloons were put on. No sooner had they gone up when i hit both in a row! WOOHOO! Poor Fi, had to blow up more balloons and this time told me please reserve balloons for the kiddies... At least i won some sherbies! :D

That night was theme night, ancient civilisations. I didnt have a costume but dressed up two mummies with the toilet paper which kept falling off them in shreds... there was gladiator events.. does anyone remember that errr fab show from the 90's?? Then the usual chicken dance, macarena... need i say more we all had a ball!

Only problem with Thursday nite is that leaders have a tendency to stay up too late for our own good and Friday morning has us looking like zombies... that tho is where im ending this recount...

Adios till the next one! CHEERS!!

Leprechauns, goblins, dragons a basilisk and a giant!

2006-07-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

Yes yes the last entry was a tad long but hmm i am known for lengthy descriptions... must be the teacher in me!

And so we continue on with the tale which brings back memories of a fun filled week making me want to do it all over again *sigh*

The next day Tuesday....
There was the usual morning stuff, slavery ;) , discussions, quiet time and singing.

Unfortunately the rain (which was much needed) had us changing plans for the day. We were initally going to do rockclimbing, abseiling and archery but the clouds kept squeezing themselves dry meaning activities were cancelled. Thankfully though we managed to have a jumping castle brought in.

I know im a leader and i might be a bit too old to whinge, but whinge i did when it came to the jumping castle! They said only kids can jump on it, leaders being 'big' could sit and walk on it only but NO jumping! How could they?!?! I mean don't they know those year 6 kids (even some yr 5's) were bigger than me?!?!?! How rude!
Dan rang up and saved the day (yay!!) i was within the safe weight zone and i was allowed to jump after all! And jump i did!! Despite all that though, it was no where near as fun as last yrs jumping castle. Sure there was the Hippos mouth which opened and closed with a person inside at regular intervals but thats all there was! Last yrs safari castle had things to run into and tackle with all your might, and the slide seemed a bit better too. And the other thing i noticed was when all the leaders hopped on we seemed to kind of sink down to the ground ???? either the castle wasnt strong enough or there were soem mighty heavy leaders which resulted in much great effort to pull ourselves out..... at least yvonne and i enjoyed bouncing around in there ourselves! :P

Other activities at the time were poison ball in the hall, that seemed a big hit with the kids but i wasnt there so i cant really say, and again flour was being used to make stress balls.... they were fine until stress balls started popping and the flour seemed to go everywhere.... poor Verity got yet more flour on herself.... but that was not the end of flour for her oh no it wasnt!

Because of the cancelled activities we swapped Thursdays events with Tuesdays and we ended up playing safari. Basically leaders are given a character or animal, depending on what the theme is at the time, and characters are worth certain points. If the kids could capture us they go points for their teams BUT we could also capture kids taking 'lives'. Each kid had 4 lives. Anyhoo characters are listed in the above heading and the basilisk happened top be a poisonous snake which walked around with a stocking filled with flour. Any flour landing SPLAT on an unsuspecting kid meant they were dead! And yes Veri was the person to play that role. she did a good job however managing to get kids 40 odd times. Thats saying something when there were only 39 kids there!!
I was a leprechaun and man can those kids argue. Surrounding ourselves with trees meant we were in a safe haven. Trees meant we were invincible!! We could capture kids at any time we wanted and it was even better if we holding onto a tree, it meant no one could get us and no one could save those we had captured! *evil laugh* The kids though kept tipping us and were like HELLO IM HOLDING ONTO A TREE!! Ahhh man some kids will never learn. True there may have been some breakdown in communication but in the end what we said went so teehee too bad to the kids.... At least at the end of the game the kids were asking to play more, a sure sign they enjoyed the game. Thankfully though that was the end of it, i didn't fancy running around for hours on end.

The night game seemed ok though i cant say too much about it. It was the usual find the leader game in the dark, in the cold with criptic clues. I chose to sit out as last year i got soooooooooooooooooo sick while hiding up a tree that i was literally out of it for the rest of the week and the next week and the next.... yeah i think you got the picture! I decided to play it safe!!

But yes Tuesday rolled on by without any mishaps and man i just wanna be there right now!!

Escape with the winter blues...

2006-07-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

Just returned from yet another awesome week at winter escape! There was soooooo much that happened during the week that there might be a few postings so stay in tune for more to come.

The best thing by far, well ok i might be exaggerating a bit, was NOT getting sick like i did last year. That meant i was able to interact with the kids heaps and enjoy every activity we did together. The kids were great. I thought they were better behaved than last years group, some may think otherwise but hey we all have our own opinions.

Sunday and Monday were the longest days, most likely cos we crammed so much stuff in. By Tuesday i already felt like i had been there a week and was a little ready to be coming home. Still that could have just been me feeling very tired.

The sun was just going down when we pulled into the campsite where we'd be living for the week with 39 kids from yrs 4 to 6 and 12 brave leaders. Off the bus we jumped and played energetic games in the semi darkness.

No matter how many times you try and explain "Fresh" to kids some of them just dont get it. Hence there was lots of confusion throughout the game from a few.
Next game was giants wizards and elves. It was hilarious because while one group was supposed to be doing elves actions, half of them were doing something else... obviously there was a break down in communication. BUt at the same time the other team (my team) should have been doing wizards actions which we did but ran away from the other team even though we should have been chasing them...... ahhh it was mayhem i tell you!

To make matters worse the grass was slippery and the amount of slips and slides we did its a wonder no one sprained anything.

Oh well theyre mostly kids, like Dan says "they bounce!"

Monday was a crazy day so many different activities and to top it off it started to rain in the early avo so kids were in and out while leaders were deciding whether or not some activities could still go ahead.

Before all of that happened though there was some serious stuff going on. Our theme for the week was looking at slavery and ultimately discussing what it means to be a slave of sin and a slave of God. A challenging topic for some kids but some benefitted from the learning.

We had divided the kids into slave groups which were then given a master, as in one of the leaders. Each kid had a tag which identified the house they belonged to. For example a kid may have belonged to the house of Master Iasabrain, Master Filixstuff, Master Yvearite, Master Ohno, Master Robo or Master Markenfly. And if ive left anyone out excuse my mental block.

Each master was to demand their slaves do certain activities in which the slaves could earn 'money'. This money was called 'Evils' and with their evils slaves could then slowly buy back their freedom over the week or spend it at little shops. These Shops ranged from ping-pong in a bucket where they could win prizes or lolly tokens, magnetic darts, hair wrapping, tattoos and stickers, nail art, nintendo and lastly pegging balls at stacked cups, again able to win lolly tokens in exchange for lollies at avo tea. The kids had a blast and it was even amusing watching the boys get their nails done and their hair wrapped! Don't worry we havent scarred them for life, it was all part of the game! :P

Then of course there was the bible discussions and talks and singing. KIds got so into the singing it was fantastic!!

In the avo kids rotated in groups playing beach ball soccer... hmm that actually didnt last too long as we popped the ball by kicking too hard. A second beach ball wasnt much better either, in the end we just played normal soccer. There was also the chocolate game, nintendo, find the snake in the flour game... ok if you like to be covered in flour. See you had to find the snake in the flour using only your mouth. And yes you guessed it flour went everywhere!! In teh hair, in the eyes, mouth, even down some kiddies shirts. Porr Verity though, i dont think she went home with an item of clothing that wasnt covered in flour!
And the game i was manning was find the lolly in the baked beans. I had never done this before so wasnt sure how it would go. Basically there was a bucket two thirds filled with baked beans and a few lollies tossed in and stirred well. Next kids had to battle it out to fish the lolly out using nothing else but one of their foot! It was extremely messy to say the least. It ended up looking a little like vomit at some stage :P

The night was by far the best activity we did though. While the kids were locked outside of the hall the leaders ran around inside setting up chairs creating the ultimate maze. I was the leader at the end and if they managed to avoid being spotted by leaders they were rewarded with a lolly. THe catch was they needed to know the password!

Off flicked the lights and the kids came in, crawling on their hands and knees they tried mercilessly to fight their way through the maze trying in vain to avoid being spotted by nasty leaders with torches going on and off at a constant rate. We weren't about to make the game easy!
There were so many Kodak moments when after an hour kids finally managed to find their way to me and i asked the question "What's the password?" I was met with a blank stare and a "what?!?! there's a password????" Priceless! Extremely priceless!! I then had to give a clue which would lead them to another leader who when asked would give them the password and THEN they could come back and find me. Oh did i also forget to mention they had to start at the beginning again after having found me?!?! TEEHEE! Evil leaders we are!
Despite the game lasting a while the kids really really enjoyed it so much so that they even asked if we could play it again! IT sure was a real encouragement to us leaders at the start of the week! We were on a role, at least it seemed that way, and the week could only have gotten better!!

Anyways that just about covers the first day, stay in tuned for the rest of the week!

Counting down the days....

2006-06-22T04:54:00.000-07:00

Yay 2 more weeks and im free!! For one week only though *sigh*

Then its back to work ...diddums.... when will it end?!?!?!

Finished my first art "commission" for a friend whos expecting a baby next month. Paintings looked good if i say so myself but all that mattered to me was that my friends really appreciated the gift ive given them for their nursery. (ive got my fingers crossed its a boy! ;) )

Where haev my weeks gone? I don't know, i find myself working everyday and Sunday so busy with church and occasionally ice skating and saturdays catchin up with friends i havent seen in eons with some more ice skating sometimes. Mondays its yet more iceskating :P and bible study which is fantastic! Just started Nehemiah for those who are interested.

This coming Monday is last iceskating "lesson" for the term, its really a test day so hopefully i'l pass with flying colours and can move up to Novice 2.

I went to that crafty show last week and well it was ok i guess. Twas my first time you see and well i guess its alright for those who area seriously fanatic about quilting and stamping and quilting and sewing and you guessed it quilting. To be honest i think i got slightly bored after about two hours! Still i got my new cross stitch and so far im being very good by not starting till ive finished my current project!

I also got to enjoy a walk through Darling Harbour which i havent done in ages. Although a little windy and thus coolish the sun was out which made it all the more enjoyable! Then i traipsed to QVB just for a wander around the place. Ive done it hundreds of times but this time i really enjoyed it just taking in the smells, the noise, the sights. Now im not a fan of photography (so sue me Clem :P ) but i realised that Sydney really does have some pretty good photo shooting opportunities if you know where to look. Maybe its time i got meself a digital ...... then again can i really be bothered :P

Anyhoo ive been dealing with kids pulling their siblings hair, kids landing on their bottoms hard enough for them to cry, basketballs bouncing of kids heads hard enough to cause them to bite their tongues starting a bleed, kids not knowing how to spell Llama and trying to convince me it doesnt exist in the dictionary.... Need i say more?!?!

Adios peoples!

Im still alive...

2006-05-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Purple fluffy boots? Check
Layers of clothes? Check
Big coat to go over those layers? Check
Gloves? Check
Beanie? Hmmmm not quite that cold :P

But yea at the same tiem every year i pile on teh clothes and and comprehend how im going to survive the comign winter..... grrr and i was born in winter! No wonder i screamed my head off!

Crazily enough though i was talked into taking ice skating lessons so i do have to brave the chill every monday avo! At least im learning something, i can now go backwards.... just. i think ive had 3 lessons all up and that includes the 'test' day which wasnt really a lesson but hey i passed that last term so bring on teh harder stuff.
Sad but true theres actually a 'proper' way to fall, its the first thing they test!! My butt hurt a bit after that one and only fall and well i really see no reason to fall if u can stay upright.

Im beginning to get more involved in Sunday school stuff which im actually really enjoying. Yesterday being mothers day was a blast. Kiddies made paper flowers, cards and strawberries and bananas dipped in chocolate YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM! And yea we did get to clean out the bowl and spoons afterwards ;)
Theres also been bible study, which im really loving, praise God! Initially i wasnt sure how it would go we did seem a bit quiet, but everyone is cool with each other and we often go home with belly aches after having had a fit of laughter.

And yay a friend from church had her baby just before Easter and she is sooo gorgeous!! Doesnt do much though just sleeps, not even so much as a whimper! If only every baby was like that though i knwo i wasnt TEEHEEEE! Sorry mum :P

Durign the school hols (at least i think it was then) i met up with a friend whom i hadnt seen in ages and i really do mean ages! Must have been uni days since we last caught up in person. *sigh* ahhh the memories. But we had a ball to say the least doing random stuff and basically acting like high school kids teehee one can have more fun taht way! But sadly the following week she left to go overseas and man she is having so much fun! She'll soon be back though (woohoo) and apparantly im going to be dragged to soem manicurists. Hmm can anyone really see me in one of those places?!?! I didnt think so!

School went back and ive been working pretty much ever since. This morning got my weekly dose of excercise by walking back and forth between two sites with a bunch of year twos and to top it off it decided to rain and only half teh kids had raincoats so some tried to shelter under my umbrella which is really only made for one! While the rest were happy to be soaked to the bone, i dread to think what theyre mothers will say when they all get sick....
But thankfully its all over and im back home nice and warm i only had a half day, gotta love those. And tomorrow i get a sleep in cos its another half day but starting at 12! Now theres a work day for ya!

And after years of just doodling in my school diaries then art books and doing the occasional painting for myself, an artwork of mine is finally going to be in soemone elses house! How exciting is that, well for me it is anyway. Its actually 3 paintings and theyre for a kiddies room but cool someone else is going to appreicate my work.

Oh and nearly forgot cru camp, its on again. Pray that in wont get sick like last year!! That reminds me though still havent given forms in (Sorry Dan) well must do that this avo and with that im bidding adieu!

Chow peoples!!

Happy happy joy joy....

2006-02-23T01:26:00.000-08:00

Ello ello ello!! :D

Well, for some reason im feeling quite happy.... and yet some people are a little scary by this fact!
Hmm well nothing overly exciting has happened in my life so theres nothing i can say that is the reason for my phase of happiness.... im just HAPPY!!
I figured im wasting my time feeling down and miserable (which i had been for a while recently) but im determined to move on YAY!

Work has started increasing so thats been great!! But *sigh* 3rd year teaching and im still a MRS!! I guess they'll never learn!(the kids that is)

Last weekend went to church camp up at Morisset... It was sooooooooooo much fun!!

I got to know others so much better, learnt a whole heap about serving and encouraging others (our focus for the weekend), enjoyed leisure activities with people i hadnt met before, you name it it was a blast!

Things we did apart from listen to talks, have good discussions and sing uplifting songs....

friday nite went to the beach, didnt go swimming but posed in some err 'artistic' photos, frollicked along the sand, poked blue bottles of which there were many washed up and just enjoyed the magnificent view that God blessed us with!
Then arrived back to the camp site to join in the last round of human sculptures, hehe our group took out the winnings there :P we did a cool portrayal of the harbour bridge and opera house!! i didnt think it would work but everyone recognised straight away what it was so WOOHOO for creativity!!

Saturday was a day of bonding... after a scrumptious breakfast (bacon and eggs) we headed off to bible study type groups had discussions then listened to a talk. Then somewhere along the line was lunch then a whole afternoon of free time!!!

While some chose to go canoeing, play card/ board games, play cricket or some other physical activity, i marched off to archery where we competed in our own mini olympics!!
5 countries battled through 5 rounds ending with a shootout between the top 3 countries.
i dont want to brag ( :P ) but my team was leading the whole way. We thought the shootout would pose problems as our previous scores were not to be counted (we were nearing 2000 pts while the next team was still only back in the early 1000) But we proved ourselves to be worthy archers and took the winnings with a triumphant punch in the air!

Despite that though everyone had a fantastic time, i think the oldies got a bit carried away at times though :P A handicap because they were older than some of us?!?!?! PLEASE!!

After that was running around on the grass and playing the never ending game of basketball/ shooting hoops. Apparantly im supposed to be a good shooter?!?! Hmm anyways....

Then there was a test of skill and determination at the low ropes course. Rule number one when doing such activities NEVER WEAR THONGS! They do nothing to help! in fact they get in the way, many a time did we miss our footing as the flap dragged and got caught in some rope or other. We'l know for next time!

My enthusiasm was beginning to wane so i ran back to the grassy slope where i began to play a game of touch footy with da boyz.... But it isnt much fun when ure the only girl and erm theyre practically twice ure size and theyre younger than ureself (well some of them were) ... so sad so sad!

Ahhh but there was the frisbee!!! I challenged others to a "lets see how well u throw and catch" game :P It was going well when a throw which was aimed at me when a little, how shall we put it, off track! So there was me bounding down the hill in bare feet ready to take that leap of faith :P to grasp the frisbee and hold it to my chest when ALAS i tripped (on what i know not) and landed hard on my knee earning a serious grass burn as i slid an inch or more which has left me with a scab :( Boy did it hurt something bad though, taking a shower later on was just sheer agony!
The only good thing about it is that i can now look forward to a nice scar! :D

Later we sat around (or rather next to) a splendid bonfire which our own Lord of the Fire Rod had worked tirelessly in the afternoon to make. It's such a wonderful feeling sitting there in the dark with fellow brothers and sisters singing songs. Hehe we even had words up on a screen thanks to the wonders of a screenprojector in the back of someones boot :P and musicians playing by torchlight! Priceless i tell ya!

When we tired of singing we played some theatrical games which went down a treat! T'was a bit hard to see clearly by torchlight but hey, was all part of the fun!! Then the BEST thing cooking marshmallows!!

Someone got the right idea of sticking at least three on a stick at a time, makes cooking time just that little bit faster! Boy were they yummy though! But seriously i think there were more marshmallows than we could handle... i dont know what happened to the leftovers though...

And as the others drifted off i stayed put and staired at the jumping flames or watched the spectacular lightning show that was happening in the distance..... i love watching storms! There is nothing like getting to know others around a campfire and talking to Our Father.

Next day dawned bright and sunny. It was all ending way too soon :( but after having been home for a few hours it was back to church for the first of our Introducing God series. Praise God!! about 100 people turned up for the night!! That included about 30/40 guests!! talk was good and discussions eyeopening.... and the good food prepared by wonderful people in our church helped make it a great night! I only pray that more guests will turn up and will be encouraged to talk about their views on God and about what they would have heard from the talks. To those who do, pray that the next 7 weeks will be a challenging and uplifting experience for all those involved!! Especially our 'day out' which will end the series. God willing some may seek the opportunity to find out more about our Lord, or even better seek God as their Father!!!

Cant wait to see what this sunday will bring!

Well looks like this satdy therel be a spot of shopping at Glebe markets... ive never been but im sure il have fun, retail therapy?! its one of the nicer things in life!

Till next i post au revoir!

Musings...

2006-02-09T00:56:00.000-08:00

Hmmm ok so ive neglected this site for a while :P BIG DEAL!!!

Anyhoo, not much has been happening since school went back i got to enjoy another two weeks "holidays" (lucky me!) But it all ends on Monday, *sigh* its back to work though hmm i still get to sleep in how cool is it starting at 12pm?!?! HEEHEE

Then what else have i been doing....... reading books til i get headaches ;) Oh yea i got Harry Potter bks 3 and 4 and finished them in two days....... good readings though and DEFINITELY better than the flicks!

Speaking of flicks i saw Underworld: Evolution. I quite enjoyed it to say the least. I would recommend it however it really is only for those who are into vampires, lychens, hybrids, violence and blood....... LOTS OF IT!! Dont get me wrong though, im not the violent type ;)

Have neglected my art work since coming back from Cowra, dunno why really...

Got back to church to find 'Introducing God' mission is almost upon us, YIKES! 2 weeks away!!
Bible study has started, though very casually. And woohoo church camp is next week!! Bring on the ropes courses and archery, the beach, the games!! :P

Hmm anyways off to hunt some random bits of info...
Adios amigos! :D

2006-01-19T01:27:00.000-08:00

Ok so ive done a bit more reflecting since i wrote my last post...... needless to say im still tired, im actually getting tired of just thinking... so sad really :P But then i guess stayin up till midnite every day since ive gotten back from Cowra hasnt really helped much either.... im seriously asking for punishment!!

Anyway funnier/ memorable moments in Cowra....
In no particular order....

Getting a straw up my nose was interesting to say the least, thats because some dude rode over a BIG bump as i was about to take a slurp of my frozen coke!! MMMMMMMMMMMMM frozen coke! MY FAVE!! But yea boy was my nose sore for a bit :P

hmmm playing sleeping tigers and scaring Levina big time when i silently crept up to her, bent down near her face and said ...... BOO!! Heehee was hilarious (sorry Lev if i gave u a heart attack)

OOO best thing?!?!? floating down the river from the old railway bridge all the way into town!! That Lachlan River is way cool man!! Like really it gave me goosebumps.... derrr how lame... But yea it was fantastic just lying there watching the world go by, ahhh so relaxing.... Not quite so nice when u realise ure all dirty :P Haha but i nearly drowned myself... was jokingly teasing someone how i could float and they couldnt so i went to stand up in the river only unbeknownst to me id gotten to a "hole" and so went under and got a mouth full of water..... er yea!

OH OH being served in a mock yum cha restaurant in the pavilion by Concert Timers!! You guys were hilarious man!! I dont think ive ever laughed so hard at a mealtime!! A great insight into erm bad(?) service at these types of restaurants!! Oh and you guys were equally amusing the next day serving lunch... CT Subway!! Favourite item on the menu would have to be Fly and random insect Sub!! :P

Hmm wat else?? Yea i thought it was really bizarre how during girls talk someone exclaims "It's raining!!" And like puppets on string us girls ran outside and frollicked like a bunch of hippies!! Rain was a welcome respite from the heat though :)

Ok this next one might not be so funny but.... swatting flies to keep them at bay from our dinner.... wat can i say im good at getting them and so ended up with a fly swat that was covered in fly guts.. no joke!! Disco ruined the fun by telling me to get rid of it and put it away.... It was fun while it lasted :D

Again not so funny.... nearly witnessing an accident as a large person nearly fell backwards on some poor defenceless kid... not good at all, at least no one was hurt!!

Hmm and the kid who had an accident in the toilet... all i can say is at least it was in the boys toilets...

Oooh fun moment... trying to play basketball ( i cant play really) but fully running into people as my way of tackling then the guys yelling we want jenny on our team!! Pass it to Jenny pass it to Jenny!! :P Alas i didnt even score a goal :(

Watching a bunch of girls running through the sprinklers at midnite.... priceless. I so wanted to do it but grr didnt have the energy!

Hmmm realising how dirty the toilet seats were!! We were cleaning them out and soemone wiped a seat adn the sponge was black.. thats how much dirt goes on those seats.. WE SIT ON THEM MAN!! EEEEEEEEW!!

Trying to stay awake during the sermon on the last day and feeling so guilty until i realised that one of the musos was actually already asleep! HAHAHA

Ooo funny actions for our memory verse.... theres not a whole lot of options for the word "much".... for those who saw it youl prolly understand! :P

Oh and i felt so bad when we gave out pressies to section... we gave someone some toy/rubber snakes, turns out they are afraid of them big time so his reaction upon seeing them was yea frightening.. jumped back quick smart!! Seriously had to stiffle my laugh though ...

Hmm there are probably more but i cant think of any right now...

Even though ive made my decision not to go back to Cowra i must admit i will miss the place... hopefully il be there the yr after next but who knows?!?!

Next time :D

If only...

2006-01-16T00:56:00.000-08:00

If only i had known the past week would have been like it was, i probably wouldnt have gone....
But then having said that, its a very selfish thought to have and so in some warped way im really thankful my Lord gave me one of my biggest challenges yet.

How i got through the last week remains a bit of a mystery. Though i must say i couldnt have done it without constant prayer and as usual those special people (you know who you are) to listen, support and comfort me whenever you could.

Mission seems to always be such an emotional experience for heaps of people.. It never used to be like that for me, but last week topped it! And so lately i think 'well, whats changed?!'
Perhaps its part of the process of growing up and im more aware of things, perhaps its because so much stuff has happened in the past year that im just worn out or perhaps im just over analysing every little thing that happens in my life... believe me the latter is definitely quite possible!

There is so much stuff to say it'l probably spread over a couple of entries (well i do have a habit of rambling).

As a leader it was definitely challenging! However working with a group of people who are willing to share the gospel is always fantastic. One of the talks we had during the week however reminded me that we all have different gifts and theyl be used in different ways. Its a shame then (i think) that some of us werent given the opporunity to use these gifts in the area where they could have been better utilised. BUT having said that i guess it also makes us realise that God makes our plans for us and that we dont always get what we want!!

I feel like i should have done so much more, not so much the material stuff like preparing work and all, but simply getting out there and supporting and encouraging those who most needed it. Not having done this ive realised just how selfish i am! I know ive said this numerous times but its a bit of a hard slap when you realise just how true it is. And its so hard when you know youve made mistakes and try to rectify the problem only to realise youve made matters worse or youve just stuffed it all completely and not much is going to change. Argh the hassles of human life!!

To those who know me really well, i apologise if i come across as quite bold and blunt. If i had a penny for everytime where ive gone and said or done something without seriously thinking it through then i reckon id be a billionaire...... so so sad. Funny how a simple act as inviting someone to play a game such as Take two can remind you just how lasting first impressions are, especially when theyre not so great. What scares me most is why im like this. Its actually quite pathetic thinking you can barely control your actions and words. Makes you realise how weak humans are.

On with mission stuff.... kids section was stressful but i guess it ended on a high note. Hey we survived!! It was disappointing not having the usual number of kids, but still we shared the gospel with 40 kids. And thats heaps better than none! The kiddies were a bit quiet at the start of the week but by wed i think they had warmed to their leaders and so yelling memory verse on Friday was definitely a moment to remember!! Haha too bad they yelled/sang it so loud it was so out of tune! Still they knew the words and actions so our work was not in vain. Sadly though we only had a handful of kids at the Bash to belt out the tune *sigh*

KIds are like sponges. They can wriggle around and seem distracted by other stuff happening around them and u think gee theyre not paying attention, but later on you ask them why theyre doing the craft, what it represents and what they learnt and u realise just how much they really did listen to you!

It was heaps tiring running around playing games, singing songs with BIG actions and quickly handing out craft stuff with a million little reminders running through your mind. The heat definitely didnt help but thats what you do. You go out into the wild world and challenge yourself to spread Gods word! You remind yourself that there are people in worse situations than yourself! People who remain in the dark and probably will do so for eternity that you push on ahead and strive to do the best you can with God holding you up, and working in you and around you.

Strange how my career requires me to get up and stand in front of a group of people and dish out lessons and all and yet i balk at the idea of having to perform a skit or give a talk etc. I panicked big time before last sundays skit in church. I was sure to stuff up and my erm evil cackle?!?!( i was representing a witch) well i hadnt really done it before so i had no real idea as to how it would turn out. Not having learnt the lines off by heart didnt help either. Thankfully things seemed to go well, ive had a few responses from various people and they said it was great, i was suited to the job.... well im not so sure about that but at least we got the message through that was our main aim! Hehe, my relos who were there said "we were slightly worried, we thought you had crossed over to the dark side!" But they thought it was fantastic, so that lifted my spirits up somewhat.

I got to meet the new batch of people to begin at Cornerstone this year (Cornerstone in Canowindra) so that was encouraging, seeing them support Breakout by driving out to Cowra and attend our combined service.

I went on a pretty cool visitation. Its amazing how CSB has been happening for the last 10 years and yet some people dont seem to know what its all about. These kids we visited hadnt been going, only one of them had been. After just playing with the kids and chatting with them they were convinced that coming to breakout was the thing to do. It was so great to see them come for the rest of the week, and also to see them at the bash. I think Scoubies were a bit of a drawcard though :P

I had a pretty kewl lunch with a family whom ive seen grow up the past five years from a distance and finally i met them! Food was yummy!! Home made lasagne with salad and rolls and desert was sorbet/ice cream and pavlova!! Mayz PAVLOVA man!! You missed out :P Ahh but it was filling, thats not to say the food during the week was bad at all though!! No way! In terms of cooking i think this years team did an awesome job. I didnt go hungry and there were very few things that didnt sit well with me, unlike some other memories i have from the past...

Anyway i think il end it here for now, perhaps therel be another entry later this week involving the funnier side of mission like..... haha im gonna make you guys wait! :P

Hmmmmm

2005-12-28T03:58:00.000-08:00

Hmmm is indeed correct....

Its been a while since ive posted (as usual) so whats been happening?!?!

Lets see hmm after that sad occasion ive seen two couples get married (or was that 3?) Anyway so happy for those guys! I pray God will continue to guide you throughout your lives as husband and wives:)

Ive been working my butt of at school! So called Christmas money (woohoo) but man left me so tired *sigh* still it was all good ... got to watch some movies... ok so they weren't the greatest (Elf and Madagascar) but boy seeing elf fo rthe first time made me laugh a bit hehe but you should have heard the kids!! You try keeping 5 infants classes quiet!!

Oh and at the end of Madagascar the kindies bizarely got up and started to groove and sing to "I like to move it move it.." i guess they sure did! :P

Then lets see it was last minute shopping, always such a fun time of year when you have screaming kids who want what they cant have and toddlers chucking tantrums after theyve had enough of pushing their dolly in their toy pram... seriosuly i ran into three such girls! ONe was definitely crazy saw a flock of pigeons, decided they were more interesting than her stroller... away rolled the stroller and off she went to chase the birds (or was it to give them a heart attack?!?!:P) Only thing was one of the pigeons was stupid enough to fly to my face!! Nah dont be daft i didnt get hit.. i ducked, but only just in time!! HEHE the kids dad said "we're not bringing that thing out anymore!!"

Sad thing was mum said i used to be like that... MEEEEEEE?!?!?! pushing a toy stroller in public?!?!? EWWWWWW so girly! Seriously though, if i had a daughter who wanted to do just that i think id rather leave her at home!

Then hmm we had Christmas, a very small occasion this year, only 11 as opposed to the usual 20 odd!
And then i began to feel really old when i saw my cousins face light up when she opened the pressie i got her... such a warm feeling though.... knowing youve made someone very happy!!

And now... lets see ive finished reading the two books i received for xmas... what can i say im a fast reader, just in case you wanted to know i read the first harry potter book on boxing day, then yesterday read "Incurable" the second book in the Ellie Chronicles... then today been killing worms.... not real ones mind you but oh how it makes me giggle when one goes "plop" in teh water and drowns ;) or when you get the air raid happening and they go "INCOMING!!" *boom boom boom boom* HEEEHEEE so funny..... but i think hitting them with the baseball bat, now theres something you dont see everyday... and if you have no idea what im talking about its your loss!

Now im pondering whether or not i should get a PSP.... hmm decisions decisions decisions

Cowra is next week ARGH crazy how it only seems like yesterday that we started training days... but thankfully i dont have much to do if at all except perhaps rally my fellow section members to be all pumped up and enthusiastic for a week of fun and ..... work?!? :P Dont worry Disco i wont slack off.... at least i dont think so ;)

But between then and now who knows ive just been bumming around doing zilch, ahhh i love holidays!

Queens if you read this am missing you buddy, hope your hairdo isnt looking too bad though :P
Maze we never did get that ice cream did we?!?! Must do it at Cowra okies?!?!

Bleh....

2005-11-27T16:53:00.000-08:00

*SIGH*

Not too happy at the moment... soooooooo much stuff been going on lately and i feel like i don't even get a break just to sit and reflect.... :(

So many 'whys' in this world, so many unanswered questions... Lord just keep me sane 'til the end of the year!!

Mum's been overseas for a long time now, was supposed to leave this avo but ARGH stupid airlines on strike so we have to wait 'til Tuesday my time to find out when she is coming home.....

And sadly my sis passed away last Wednesday night... i knew it the moment the phone rang, funny how sometimes you just know.... I'm not sure how i feel, i cry probably at least once every day... does that sound stupid?? Worse, i get frustrated when that happens, i don't want to cry anymore. I know there'l be more of it when mum finally returns. Turns out my sis wrote a letter to me only she never got the chance to finish it... they've had the unfinished symphony, now it's the unfinished letter....

Perhaps what saddens me more is that i have no idea where she's gone to. Did she choose a life with Christ? Or has she gone some place that lives in darkness and fear... like i said so many unanswered questions...

Yesterday was the last official training day for Cowra. I'l admit i was disappointed with myself. Forgot to bring my sections timetables and notes we've collected over the past few months, so didn't know what people were doing on what day etc. Also didn't get to finish my lions den talk (even though i did it yesterday). I've been slack with emailing and keeping in touch with the majority of the section.... This does NOT sound like a good leader!! Shame on me!! I must work extra hard from now on... Next Saturday we've planned a craft day to get stuff done, please, please, please let things go smoothly and lets get some work done!

But yay we got a new member for our section! :D Queenie!! Thanks man, it'l be good chilling out with you during that week...

And that person and i?!..... Time is truly testing my patience, i shouldn't dwell on it i know. But man, next year seems like a lifetime away, well not really but... ARGHHHHHH!!! Hit me Queens when i start rambling...

Work has been good to me though. Getting heaps, man i work til the end of the term now! WAHHH that means no proper Xmas shopping! Just a hurried sort of approach! Why ever do they make schools go til the 21st of Dec??? Don't they know its a waste of time?? All we do is party, watch videos, play games and do yet MORE Christmas craft!! And thats only for those who DO actually come to school for the last few days... *sigh*

Hmmm think i got a few things off my chest... done my ramblings.... keep an eye out for more ... hopefully when i'm in a better mood......

Conversation of the week

2005-10-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

Its a nice quiet afternoon, kids are settled doing some work - their last task for the day all we can hear are the flies buzzing and pencils scratching away on paper.....
When all of a sudden.....

Kid: You know what?! I reckon i could marry you!
Me: What?!?! And why do you say that???
kid: oh because youre sooooooooo beautiful!

Seriously some kids just have no idea! And all this from a 6 year old!

RIP Mr Froggy

2005-10-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

Did i say i didnt have any work booked?!?!?!
Let me rephrase that! At the moment its work, work work and yes more work! Boohoo i dont really feel like a casual anymore....
But then again its all good for me and im happy!!

*sigh* mum is going away this friday.... its all happening so fast! Im gonna miss her heaps, more like a best friend than a mother she is! But i know she needs to go. To see her other daughter spend time with her, who knows it may be the last time they have together. It wouldnt be a real surprise really...

Kookaburras were once considered "nice" creatures to have around our place, but alas an event which occured a few days ago have changed all that!

The poor harmless frog which lived in our pool ( so what?!?! our pool resembles a swamp at the moment!), sad so sad!

Anyways so along comes the evil beak of this bird and plucks Mr Froggy from the water. Mr Froggy didnt have a chance!! Before it could utter a croak its head and body was mercilessly smashed on the brick wall. Now we would understand that the frog would most certainly have died then or at least been knocked unconscious.... But u think Mr Kookie stopped there?!?!? NO WAY MAN!! It thumped and thumped and thumped... Like fair go MR Kookie! Mr Froggy is beginning to resemble a spotted green rag. But hey Kookie just had one thing on its mind.... thump thump and yes more thump
The bird was still there an hr later, and there was Mr Froggy's leg hanging out the side of Mr Kookies beak.... not exactly a nice sight.

I dunno the things i witness in my yard sure makes for an interesting erm nature education though....
You reckon i can bring the kids around one day?? hehehe

CSB HP

2005-10-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well finally recovered from a weekend of not enough sleep, fun and games.... and of course work!

Cowra houseparty went well, and no longer am i 'stressed' abt section stuff!! Phew!
It'l still be a challenge though, not enough members for my section as id like but obviously some things cannot be helped, and i get the feeling that God is doing this to test our strengths once again.

Saturday night compulsory fun was hmm what shall i say..... interesting? tests of strength, will (to eat a disgusting mixture of food) even musical talents... but by far the funniest would have to be the spitting task. Spit out a smartie as far as u can and presto youve won the competition. Of course it all changed when a certain someone decided to shove a smartie up his nose and decided to shoot it from there! It definitely brought mixed results....

Hmm section went well, heehee sunday section time turned into a bit of social, but that was ok cos it was great for all of us to just hang out and get to know each other better!

I must say i missed my art stuff.. so back home ive been catching up on my new craze - manga drawing! It so cool man!

Hmm well still no work yet for this term, think i might have a few days booked soon tho. Anyways holidays while it lasted were very relaxing!! And yet i feel like i should be doing so much more.... *sigh* such is life.

Cruelty of nature...

2005-10-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

They say humans can be cruel, evil, horrifying creatures that we are... Men willingly fight each other to the death in order to satisfy their leaders' dreams. Women meanwhile wait at home only to weep with anger and sorrow to learn their loved ones had been killed mercilessly in a futile battle. But that, of course ,is only our downfall as a race of sinful men. We could have known a better life! If only someone hadn't broken a simple rule!!

And we know nature has its way of dealing with things too, why things happen and what causes events to lead up to the final blow, one can only guess.

A few days ago i woke up to the usual chirping and squawking of birds that are in ubundance where i reside. Yet the longer the squawking went on i began to realise that the sounds were not the cheerful chirps we hear every morning, but a mixture of anger, fear and excitement!

Curiosity always gets the better of me and so after rubbing sleep out of my eyes and wolfing down breakfast i went to inspect the commotion. By now though the noise had simmered down to static chirps every now and then.

What was left on the ground though saddened me deeply. At the same time i was sickened. How could things be so cruel?!?

Billowing in the soft breeze were numerous feathers, too numerous to count but enough to make small whirlwinds as the breeze increased its ferocity. And there in the midst of it all, for all the world to see, yet trying in vain to shield its pathetic body was a bird. Only it was a bird that suffered great trauma even as i observed. Many of its wing feathers had been viciously tugged out, the eyes... either they had been pecked out or the creature was in too much pain and so kept them shut, probably hoping it was all a nightmare.
And lastly the head. It had been scalped!! Not one single wisp of hair or feather i should say was left! Red and tender did that poor little skull look.
I knew then what its future would be, it would be slow and painful unless someone put it out of its misery quickly.

Within a few hours, the life had gone out of its small, weak body.

I suppose it shouldnt surprise me really, the way things (animals) pass away. And yet it never fails to prompt me to think what indeed was the point of it all?

So i guess the clock keeps ticking, time moves forward and the world goes on for better or for worse.

But knowing there is a reward waiting for me sometime in the future, spurs me to keep trucking on. Through thick and thin, when life is being unkind and you seriously think no one cares. But it doesnt matter though what happens here, the life here on earth isnt worth the one waiting for me. and i know where i want to be.... Do you?

News

2005-09-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hmm it seems my sis isnt doing too good. Well shes calm and knows whats happening which i think is a bit scary at times.
Mum?, i dunno shes trying to keep herself busy. I guess thats the way she deals with stuff liek this i spose. Other than that she seems pretty numb about the situation, doesnt knwo what to say or do. Who does?? is what i say.
Next month mum will be heading overseas to i guess comfort?? at least spend time with her family over there.
Me, il be staying here. I Can't really afford to travel right now but maybe ,ater on in the year. Who knows what will happen.
At the moment we're kind of taking things day by day.

Aside from family news, work has been great. Though i am looking forward to the next two weeks of holidays.
Last night went to church and learned abouu the value of work. The series started last week btu i wasnt there, hopefully next weeks talk will be just as uplifting and challenging. I can see that the talks have come at an appropriate time for me. There was a time when i was thinking what is the point of work?? Seriously! Or at least was i in the right career path. Sitting there last night listening to John, i think ive been reassured that yes teaching is good for me! And lately i can see the benefits, im able to watch kids grow while at the same time be a godly role model to them. At least, i pray i can be.

Tonight is leaders meeting for Cowra. Hmm i've realised that as a leader ive been quite slack in getting stuff organised. I know i should be doing more, heaps more. I guess theres just been stuff on my mind of late, not really in the mood for "thinking" tasks. I pray for strength in the coming weeks, i'l surely need it.

Well im off to wander somewhere, wherever that may be.

Why...

2005-09-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

OK so i havent blogged in i dunno a couple of weeks.... but it has been a busy time.
On a positive note ive been getting heaps of work so i'm thankful for that! Not only has the work been good but ive also been blessed by good kids, they really do make ones day, even those that make u tired! (aka the kindies)

But then today, tonight i should say, i get a feeling of despair. It should be a happy time seeing as my uncle is getting married tomorrow so all the wedding prep has been going along smoothly!

Mum got a call from one of her sisters and it seems my sister wont be around for much longer. Its a strange feeling. I dont know her that well seeing as shes always lived over seas (long story) and because of that ive never had that deep loving sisterly affection for her. But when ure dumped with bad news well i guess u realise just how much you can take someone for granted.

My sister doesnt have that long to go before she passes from this world into another. Ive learnt that one can rage and pull their hair out and be frustrated by the hopeless situation, and yet you know that there is absolutely nothing anyone can do. Only a miracle can reverse things. Alas we are only human, miracles are something best left up to God.

One would think that the knowing would make the inevitable easier to accept. How naive that thought is. Tonight brings back painful memories from the not too distant past.

A few years ago i lost someone quite close to me. When i was told what was going to happen i took it fairly easily, and yet i still took my grandpa for granted. In some twisted way i thought he'd be around forever. Had it really been that many years since he carried me in his arms home from preschool?? People often say when they hear the 'oldies' start "In the old days..." they knew it was going to be one of 'those' stories and so you'd be tempted to make a fast get away. Ashamedly i must say i was one of those. But now, I long to hear those stories, i long to hear his strong voice reminisce about the times travelling on the motorbike, sharing his experiences during the war, when times were tough and there was little money to go around. They may seem like pointless stories at the time, but its only later, when its too late, that you realise that all these stories are still part of your history. Perhaps thats why ive had this sudden urge to discover as much as i can about my past, to record my findings and hopefully pass it on to generations to come.

The day before he died i visited him. On a sweltering day i held his hand which felt like an icicle, so cold it sent shivers up my arm. It was all i could do not to cry. The feeling of helplessness is something that cannot be described. THen the next day dawned bright and sunny. I rolled over and the phone rang. Before it was answered i knew. Always a case of too little too late. I felt sick and angry, i wouldnt see him full of life anymore, i wouldnt get to hug him, to tell him how much he meant to me. Even now it pains me to think of all those times i could have sat down with him and just enjoyed his company. Sadly that is all in the past.

I doubt that there is much i can do with regards to my sister. I can only pray that she knows Christ, support mum through this trying time. Dealing with emotions is something i find a little difficult to do. And yet here i am asking the age old question.... Why?

Knife wielding tomboy??...Me??.... NEVER!!

2005-08-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

Another year older *sigh* and i find im always learning more about myself.... or did i already know it and was just in denial?!?!

Last satdy had a bit of a get together with some buddies and boy did we have fun!! It turns out i'm a "Mad angry Aussie woman!!" WOOHOO!! Well yea... Thanks Queenie for err putting that one together! You know you still love me though:D :P

The food was yummo (mayze can vouch for that i think ;) ) company was great (hey only special people came! :P) ANd once again we managed to stay up way too late playing mario tennis or mini games. HMm i guess my reaction time wasnt that great in the wee hours of the morning though.... Sorry jingles for not helping u win tennis!

It started early in the morning to the pitter patter of raindrops falling everywhere i could see... Thankfully though the wind came blew the clouds away and out came the sun and dried up all the rain (wait i feel a song coming on heehee)
ANyway so it was a dash to get food and get food we did!! I had never seen so much KFC chicken, didnt think it was really possible to get that much in a box, and im not talking just any old box but it was HUGE box!! At least we managed to eat through more than half of it, how we managed that i dont even want to know! I think im over the whole chicken thing now though...

Then it was dash home to make salad, do one last clean of the place, shower and make my beloved pavlova......MMMMMMMMMMM PAVLOVA!! Do you guys have any idea how much i love pavlova?!?! I had one piece that nite, the next day i ate it for breakfast (unhealthy i know) then morning tea, after that day i think i just ate the last two pieces cos they were crying out to me "EAT ME!! EAT ME!!" Hmm just talking about it makes me want to eat some more..... Alas theres none left! Oh and i nearly forgot we had a chocolate mudcake too, i think thats finally gone!!

But man there was so much food leftover, i finally got sick of chicken and fried rice still eating the crackers and dips though, empanadas hmm i think theyre just about finished and oh i still got two box of chocolates to get through. :) I wonder how many kilos il put on just because of this one event?...

SO wat the gang get me i hear you ask?? Hmm i got these funky fluffy boots which have been on my feet since then, well except for when i venture out of the house ;)
Some games, an interesting plant that ive yet to grow but apparantly it has a secret message (dont even ask me how ive no idea!) a necklace and perhaps part of the funniest present of all were the ones which are an attempt to turn me into a "woman"..... *sigh* when will they give up and realise im comfortable being the tomboy i am?!?! These girly pressies are pink!! Hello?! PINK?? So not my colour!!
Oh and theres also the bag of 100 Balls, seriously what the heck will i do with them?? True i could throw them at people but they hurt, i aught to know i was a target!

Activities went well too, theres the story of me bashing good guys faces... come on guys im not that bad. Theres the collage asking "Do you think it could be mental illness??" and "there's no need to get all psycho!"
And the sculpture which has a knife placed in "my" hand.... Am i seriously that scary?!?! Didnt think i was that err scary.... :D Heehee

But yea the nite was great and i Thank God that i could share the day with some cool people, you guys know who you are and i pray you'l keep encouraging me heaps in my journey to home, God bless you all and i know ive been blessed with brothers and sisters such as yourselves...

This satdy got training day yet again, it seems like theres something every week now, lifes so busy at the moment but i cant really complain. Work has been coming every week which im thankful for, i just pray il have the strength to do all these things that need doing and that i wont burnout.

So off to read an exciting book which mysteriously found its way to my bookshelf and i must say im hooked, cant get enough of the stuff!!

Happenings...

2005-08-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

Hmm thought i'd make an entry cos i have that sudden urge to type away whatever is on my mind...

Recently had Cru leaders reunion... it was great to catch up with the gang again, even if not all turned up. Enjoyed a meal of pizza and as usual the left over junk food from camp. Hmm having said that tho there is still a whole more to get through.... thats how much junk food there was!!

So how did we spend the nite?? Hmm where do i start, played a bizarre game of Donkey Kongo, il admit its not really my thing, and it doesnt help having poor hand-eye coordination :P At least some of us were smarter than others and opted for the table tennis match!!

They say card games are relatively harmless but after that nite im beginning to think somewhat differently... Uno the game EVERYONE pronounces wrong was played tho this whole deal with intercepting is beyond me, either that or my heart wasnt into that nite. Then came snap. Ok u would think snap is a very harmless game but alas my hand was bruised beyond recognition!! It stayed tender for a day or more. Remind me never to play the game with guys who get a kick out of inflicting pain on others!

Hmm so not a lot was done really just spent the majority of time lounging around chatting and basically being silly!!

Since then not much has been happening, schools have rung me and i worked. Its all been good, been to a new school so thats another to add to my list. I guess i can say ive been blessed by all this work. It isnt easy beign a casual at times. THere are days when u think when will i ever work again?? And then there are moments when u feel like u need a break. In some ways it seems like there is so much tension, you have to drag ureself up every morning even when ure not working waiting for that call. The call that more often than not never comes through so u think well ok what shall i do with my day now. Basically its almost as if u put your life on hold until the clock strikes ten and then youre free until the next morning then it begins all over again.
One thing i do know for sure is i cant see myself doing this type of work for the rest of my life, the casual i mean, i pray that a full time offer will present itself in due time!

I had a pretty good week catching up with a friend whom i havent heard from in a while. She'd been traipsing all over the uk walking on grounds her ancestors would have treaded. It is a trip i can only dream of. Though im not sure im ready to brave the colder climate!!

Tomorrow is bowling!! Woohoo!! Dont think il do much good but hey its a game!!

Hmm so much happening this month, birthdays, parties, socials, reunions, training days and a wedding to top it all off!! Aahh hopefully next month will be somewhat quieter.

Well done my bit, more next time!

And so it begins....

2005-07-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

For the fifth yr in a row i attended the first training day for Cowra...

Has it really been that long?! I guess it has, and yet there is a place in me that knows it is most likely the last. At least for a while. Don't get me wrong i've loved the past four yrs and i look forward to the next "week" of experience...

But somehow it wont be the same, they never are. New faces, new situations, new roles, everything seems to change. I guess that's all part of growing up though. We need to somehow deal with these changes and move on. Can someone remind me what's so great about getting older and growing up??

But hey i'm leading again and it should be good!!

Finally better after camp, it sure has taken a while for the cough to go. Must have been some bad bug that got in me! All is good though and yes i still do miss camp! You know uve had a good time when u keep thinking back to moments, no matter how bizarre they were.
Still, leaders reunion is on thurs, am looking forward to fighting Peach in the decathlon and no doubt Yoshi will once again steal the show!!

Last Tues had one of the best days at work!! Kids were all good and really made my day easier!
I had a ball too, art lessons that take all day is fine with me :D I don't think i've taught a proper art lesson since i left uni...

Hmm not much happenin this week as far as i know, apart from reunion that is, who knows though, any week is bound to bring surprises!! I'll keep u posted of the events that happen in Jenays world,

For now though its adios as my eyelids shut down for a final time tonite.. sweet dreams to all in this world.

Cru Camps Rock Man!!

2005-07-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Despite being quite sick with a cold, i must say that i did enjoy Cru camp immensely.... Thanks Dan for bringing me along! I've no doubt i would have enjoyed it even more had my immune system been up to scratch.

The bus trip getting there was frustrating and perhaps a little boring but i was never one for enjoying trips, i got bored on the plane going to Qld for crying out loud!

Anyway we got there and met the kids they werent too bad, kids will be kids though.

Sure there were stressful times when girls would have their "fights", or when some didn't want to do what they were told cos theyre so stubborn, or when they try and carry on a stupid attitude sorry i should say annoying attitude and they don't know when to stop... Makes me wonder though, were we ever like that??

Highlights?! Gee where do i start.... Having a cannonball painted on my face then hitting kids with balls was quite fun heehee they were almost on the verge of giving up trying to get me in Alien Safari....

Getting my face painted as Darth Maul then climbing up a tree was cool, though perhaps that might explain how i got sick. Seriously it can get boring sitting up a tree, in the cold waiting for kids to find you. I almost wished i had a book to read!! At least Dan went one better, the kids still have no idea where he was!!
A typical conversation between myself and kids:
K: Do you know where Darth Vader (Dan) is??
M: No...
K: Oh c'mon tell us give us a clue!
M: I don't know, all i know is that he's up a tree somewhere...
K: We know that but where!! You just don't want to tell us!
M: SERIOUSLY I HAVE NO IDEA!!

Man if i knew i would have told them at least then they couldn't pester me so much.

Then we went to the beach, though hmm the bus ride there wasn't that great, i didn't think it would be actually possible for kids to sing 99 bottles of beer on the wall at the top of their lungs and get all the way down to zero!! Good one Peach for encouraging them... NOT!!

The beach was cool and my team won the pipeline(??) challenge so we got lunch first, then i dug a hole put a kid in and buried him. No i wasn't that cruel i left his head sticking out so he could breath!! Then played handball with a basketball...
From there went iceskating. Very cold, very slippery... was so not like Macquarie!! But by then a fevourish state was beginning to kick in.

Next day to my disappointment rockclimbing and abseiling was cancelled!! :( :( So the new plan was to go to lazer zone.. I spose in the end it all worked out though i was too sick and too hot to care so did nothing and bit the kids heads off when they came to close. At least i didnt have to suffer another bus ride home, thanks Steve for letting me sleep in ure car on the way back, oh and for the tablets and water you brought to me to try and bring my fever down.

Thursday nite was dress up nite, now i know girls can sometimes get a little messy in bathrooms when getting ready for a "night out" but seriously this bathroom was a pigsty!! And my cabin was none too pleased when i told them they were cleaning it up! Hey they brought it on themselves, we're not theyre mothers!!

Then i set about getting ready and painted my face yet again, only this time it was purely green! Still i didn't deserve being called the "Biggest green snot" when i failed to come up with a name for myself!! Thanks so much Steve! At least i wasn't wearing a suit that was made for a woman!! :P

Then peach wanted to visit the jetty after all the kids were in bed... was a nice night, perhaps a little cloudy so not much to see in the way of stars :( Stars are so nice in the country, none of that light pollution we get in the cities! And just when i thought i'd fall head first in the water we left at around 2am.
Hmm nothing like staying up late on the last nite only to realise you have to be up the next morning by 730... guess i didn't help myself by waking up an hr earlier... stupid body clocks..

But the greatest part about cru camp was sharing the gospel with the kids... they asked intelleginet questions and wanted to know more, i found out i read good nighttime stories from the bible to send the kids to sleep, it was great sharing my experiences of Christ, Thankyou Lord for giving me this opportunity to minister to kids!!

And so i am back home, in my own bed, my own bathroom, soft toilet paper (don't ask) quietness and peacefullness, just the way i like it.... and yet part of me is still feeling so sad that i have just left behind a fantastic week.

I suppose there could always be a next time...

Where i want to be...

2005-06-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

Friday nite and im home, but it's where i want to be....

Kindies are tiring to say the least.

Will aim to relax and enjoy my 'long weekend', an extra day can usually make a difference.

Just once will i refrain from thinking "I hate Mondays" like Garfield!

Yawn............

Busy as a bee!

2005-05-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy weekend and just continues to get busy!

Last Thursday and Friday worked on a great yr 5 class :D Smiles all around!!

Saturday was Kickoff. It was the best kickoff i've ever been to!! Heaps of people turned up which was awesome! Praise God! Activities went smoothly and well, and from what i saw i think everyone had an enjoyable time! (I think i could have done a better job at meeting more new people though... oh well, still plenty of time for that)

Later that day a group of us decided to venture out to Yum Cha... I had never been so it was to be a first for me. i must say i quite enjoyed myself immensely though, i wouldn't mind going again! Yummo food! Using chopsticks weren't too much of a hassle for me though (thank goodness) so it wasn't like i starved that avo ;)

Tet though had a Kodak moment with a chickens foot sticking out of his mouth...hmmm can't say i've ever seen anyone do that before. Sadly Clemo forgot his camera so there's no lasting memory :(

With bellies full Jane, Tammie and I trekked off to do a spot of shopping, well mainly Tammie as she wanted shoes. However while on a prowl, Jane and I spotted those furry boots yet again. I nearly ended up with a pair but just as we were about to pay i saw these cool hats! Instead i got the hat. Thanks Jane for an extremely early birthday gift!! I'm wearing it at school on lunchtime duties!! ;)

Then yesterday went to Sunday school at my new church just to check it out. It was pretty good. A bit different to others that i've seen but i thought it was great nonetheless. Quite a funny experience though cos soem of the kids knew me by my teaching name as i teach them at local schools. Heehee i think it scared one of the kids into having a 'good' day behaviour wise.

Last night went back for a very encouraging talk by a visitor and enjoyed yet another meal of fish and chips with other church members. Met new people which was an added bonus and enjoyed fellowship with others :D God is really blessing me this week!!

After arriving home and learning that no one had called for me to work this week, teh phone rang. It was a teacher wanting me to work today! YAY!! It was a yr 4 class this time and yes they were well behaved and made my day more enjoyable. No headache for me this avo!!

Extra bonus was another school rang while i was working and booked me for the next two days. Cool now i can slowly see my bank account grow :D Only to pay a few more things i've just realised i need to pay for :( oh well.

So i guess that's where i stop now.
Off to have some dinner which smells great and it's shark! Those who have never eaten shark should try it! Even I like shark and i'm what you call a fussy eater!!

I can COOK!!!

2005-05-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

Today is Tuesday and it sees me yet again spending another day at home....

But no I'm not twiddling my thumbs as some people seem to believe! No, i've been cleaning windows for a number of reasons! 1) they needed it! 2) it keeps you warm moving all the time and thirdly well its time to yourself so you can think new thoughts or dwell on the old, its a great time to be setting goals for yourself i must admit!

Anyway so i havent exactly been lazy (surprise surprise)...

Last week saw me work a bit which was great and i must say i had a very enjoyable time at the schools i worked. Bonus!!

Last Sunday was the first time i, along with three others, cooked dinner for our church group!
Those who know me well would understand what a big deal this was for me. Sure it was only pizza we cooked, but still! it was COOKING!! Yay!! So rest assured if i ever marry i wont starve the man of the house! ;)

Everything went really well on the night, great turnout and people loved the food!! :D I must admit i was having a few doubts mostly because one of my buddies had been having nightmares about the night! Thankfully that never happened, the Big guy was on our side!

Mum came back last Sunday after going away south somewhere.. i dont know where.
But she brought me back a pressie! :D Ok so i may be a little old for them sometimes but its a gift! It's actually a block of glass with a fairy inside standing on a dragonfly (ok so its a little girly) but the best thing about it is it sits on a stand which shine colourful lights through, looks so cool in the dark! Im not very good at explaining things but yea...

Hmm apparantly there are six weeks left until crusaders and it seems we still dont have enough people!! So.... if you have nothing better to do in the July holidays come!! It'll be cool!

Oh and this Satdy is CSB kickoff... again if uve nothing to do next summer holidays in January come along it'll be one of the best times u'll ever have! Guaranteed!! :D

Have i committed a crime???

2005-05-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hmm...

It seems i've committed a crime but truly i put the question to you...

Is it really a crime to have not read, nor seen, the movie Pride and Prejudice???

Sure its a 'classic' as people call it and it is well known but really, theres no law saying one must have to read it, is there?
Then again i did cop a bit of flack when my friends learnt i had not seen 'The Princess Bride'... Still haven't seen it but seriously i don't see what the fuss is all about!

Also using a hairdryer... i never use the things! So what if i'm a girl... not ALL girls use hairdryers... Shame on those who think we do!! It's like wearing a dress... would you expect ALL girls to wear a dress/ skirt all the time?? Would you expect ALL girls to wear make up all the time?? I think the answer to that is no.. but there it is, it IS my opinion only..

And to those men who think women should be all feminine and girly... PUHLEASE!! that's like telling a dog not to bark at all for the rest of its life!! It's impossible! I for one am what you'd label a tom boy.. so dresses dont exist in my wardrobe, and skirts, well theyre reserved for summer (ok, i am allowed to be a girl every now and then ;) )

Sometimes i think people should just mind their own business and not expect everyone around them to be who they want them to be!! Everyone has the right to be an individual!!

Yes, well glad i got that off my chest...

Oo just under 12 hrs 'til Star Wars! (Not even that)

Catch ya later dudes!

Thoughts...

2005-05-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

Was flicking through my bible this morning when a slip of paper fell out... i had long forgotten it was there but upon reading it once again, it made a whole lot of sense...

It was a bit of a task we had to do, finish off a sentence that made sense, u get the drift...

Anyone will work hard of they are focussed

People who run things should be organised and live up to the expectations of being responsible

Nothing is so frustrating as people who don't keep their promises and annoying me 'cos they know how easily i can be annoyed

If you want to see me get mad... (hmm could never really think of one for this)

A rewarding job is one that give you a sense of satisfaction in having completed a task that makes you proud

A good teacher is someone who teaches others the beauty of learning

A mature Christian is knowing you have much more to learn!

Wow just two more weeks before Cowra Kickoff!! Can't wait! :D

Crusaders!!

2005-05-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

Crusaders!! Come!! it'll be heaps of fun!! Archery, rockclimbing, abseiling, and a beach... Ok admittedly it is winter but still its the beach!! :D

Oh well i'll keep you posted as to how it goes... still a while yet though!

Hmm among other news.. Dont get me wrong im not a hardcore fan of Star wars but its less than a week now before return of the Sith comes out!! Hmm hope i dont work so i can check it out.

That reminds me still got other movies i want to see...

A very random thought...

2005-05-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Have you ever imagined you heard a sound, kept hearing it, but it wasn't real?

Just your mind playing silly tricks??

And then the sound really does occur!! Only you've convinced yourelf once again that it was in your head??

Ach,i think im insane...

TALK ABOUT LAZY!!

2005-05-10T18:17:00.000-07:00

Whaaaaaa... its been like just over two months since i last posted... How silly is that?!

So i hear you scream " WHAT U BEEN UP TO?" Well, gee, where do i start, as usual...

Okay maybe back a month..

Went to Queensland for the very first time!! Was awesome even if the weather wasnt completely sunny :( So much for calling it the sunshine state...

So yea i stayed there for 4 days which wasnt long but God willing i'll go back again later this year! Went to Surfers for a day was pretty kewl! Though had to look after my cousins kids for abt and hr or 2... it seemed like all day!! Kids are a handful!! I know im a teacher but its different when ure in the parent role!

Saw a guy do an awesome sand sculpture of an elephant, only took about three hours to finish!! Got some pretty cool piccies of it though.

Then went for a longish walk until my legs were about to drop off and the kids were falling asleep as they walked... So funny! :D

Back at "home" went straight to the pool ( where else) where i got a nice tan but sadly Sydney weather at the moment hasnt been too great, so now im going white again :( Its true though u can burn on a cloudy day!!

Then it was school holidays! Yay!! But gee i wish i knew where the time went? Cant remember what i did so i guess it musnt have been that important... People around me though... theyre all getting married! I mean its exciting sure but scary too cos it means hopefully ill be heading down that path sooner or later... hmm guess id rather not think about it!

Once again began the thinking for Cowra! I miss Cowra soooooooo much! Its a cool town, well i think it is maybe cos theres nuthing much there but all the space u want! Anyway am leading Jbs again next year. For those who dont know im talking about Cowra Summer Breakout! An amazing week of challenges and awesome experiences every Jan! CSB 2006 here we come!!

Went to yet another 21st just over a week ago. Had the time of my life there... well perhaps thats exaggerating a little, but u get the drift! It was fun! But sooo far... an hr and half to get there then again coming home, thats like 3hrs driving!! I knew there were some crazy ppl around, guess i just found one! :P

Finally, finally!! I finished my painting! Only took about a yr and a bit.. No it wasnt a very difficult painting to complete just well... im laaaaazy. But its done and is hanging on the wall. I think its pretty good if i say so myself! Want to know what it is.... hmm lets just say its Sydney harbour with a twist ;)

Well gotta go, fingers a frozen so think ill thaw them on a hot mug of tea!

Its been almost a month...

2005-03-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm.... seems i've neglected my "blog" for some time.

Thanks to some reminders thought id post again just for the heck of it.

Anyways what have i been doing i hear u ask? well apart from working the odd day not a lot actually! I know a boring life i lead though there are soem things that do stand out.

Like yesterday. While I was busy rushing around getting myself organised for the day i had just placed a pile of sheets on the teachers desk when i jumped back in fright. Well perhaps fright is not the word i would use.. Shock perhaps?? Whatever, there just happened to be a very dead frog in a jar of some unknown liquid. Seriously how many teachers do u know keep a dead frog with eyes turned white on their desks?!?! What ever is the world coming to!

So that was yesterday, nothing more needs to be said cos the kids were terrible... today though another group of kids the same age but boy were they so much nicer!! :D And i even got to do craft/ art with them :D:D TO those who know me well my love for doing arty stuff doesnt go ignored.. being a casual though one rarely gets teh chance to share their passion, and yet this group was awesome that i decided heck lets break new ground and attempt an afternoon craft lesson!

Soon there were 27 colourful parrots with tails fluttering in the breeze! It added a very nice touch to the room and no doubt the teacher will be impressed! there is nothing like a room full of inspirational colourful work, yes even if it means there is stuff hanging everywhere and one has to duck to move around the room.

Hmm last saturday was Breakout reunion. I must admit i had mixed feelings about going, call me old but over the years its lost its touch somewhat, the socialising that is. Or maybe its as someone said, id rather spend meaningful time with those close to me than have a zillion acquaintances many of whom are years younger and well just dont have the same experiences as i!

Anyways gotta run, the kitchen is oozing yummy smells!! :D

Battle with arachnids...

2005-02-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

I had been pondering a grey mass for some time now, it wasn't just any mass! It was thick, wispy, no doubt sticky to some and home to well a spider of a kind. Just exactly what i had no idea.

Armed with a long handled broom that had seen better days i set about destroying the cosiness of this humble home. Foolishly i did not think perhaps this home was in fact concealing a NEST of spiders! It was like arachnophobia all over again! Don't get me wrong i dont have a fear of spiders perse but well when they outnumber me by like 100 to 1 i don't think i'd want to be anywhere near!

Into the house i dashed, grabbed the good ol' can of Pea Beu thinking "hit 'em high, hit 'em low, hit 'em with the ol' pea beu". Out i ran spraying those horrible little things (i still had no idea what sort they were) and they were EVERYWHERE!! You know when spiders decide it's time to leave home and they spin out a thread so the wind can pick them up and take them to a new home? Well they started doing this. Unluckily for me the wind was blowing my way! And so yes i got covered *sigh*, the battle was not over, oh no my friend it had only just begun!

I stamped, i slapped, i shook and yes i think i even squealed, much to the amusement of others. They were not going to make their new home on me!

Well after a time (a sticky one i might add) i had finally gotten rid of most of them, well those i could see anyway and then i began to inspect what was left of the grey mass. Now don't think i was silly enough to go poking in there with a stick, please im not that daft! When i say inspect i mean just simply stare at it making sure nothing was moving before i once again made use of the broom.

If i could hear spiders feet moving im sure that is exactly what i would have heard. As i stared and waited something began to move. The way the web moved and jerked about told me this aint no baby spider, this is the mother of spiders!! It was HUGE, it was BLACK, it looked poisonous (i wasnt going to get bitten to find out though), and it looked like it needed to be killed! Sorry to those who love spiders but this was one that wasnt going to see the end of day. Out my trusty spray can came, alas it was just about finished and was not making the least bit of difference!

Once again i raced into the house and grabbed can number 2. This time it wasnt pea beu, this time it was "more smart, more safe, MORTEIN!" (Louies favourite brand). So i sprayed, and i sprayed and still that spider ran around! It began to run away. I hunted it down, this was one creature who wasnt getting off so easily, i found it again i sprayed squarely onto its body then "klunk" it landed on the down pipe before it fell onto the ground. Who's the bigger one now?! I think by this stage it was getting a little sick but i was not satisifed.

I still had one more use for my broom. I thumped it countless times until i was sure it was winded, the legs curled up and it lay on its back, still, silent...dead. (Just to make sure though, i poked it with a long stick and squashed it a little)

And so once again goodness prevailed... or did it? Such a cruel death to a tiny creature. The things we do...

Do we really live in a caring world?

2005-02-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

Hmm ok so i didnt make it to the beach last tuesday :( Yes, yes ive been working, but im not complaining. There is much more to life than a simple day out.

But once again i find myself at home with, well not a lot to do really, i could go out but nah weather isnt too nice. This is the perfect day to curl up with a mug of coffee and watch a good movie, or on the other hand ponder things one has learnt recently.

Last sunday in church we started a new topic on Ephesians 4. The question posed to us was "Are we a caring community?" Immediately my mind filled with well that would depend on how you look at things.

You see living in a country such as ours many people tend to take it for granted that we do have an easy life. We live in a place where we have freedom and follow our beliefs whatever they may be. Simply be ourselves. Some may see this as the basis for being indeed a caring community, by respecting others. But i ask are we really?

I mean sure when something disastrous happens, like the recent tsunami terror, everyone jumps at the ready giving what they can, be it clothes, money, food, etc or those who venture out there to help by rebuilding communities, and attending those with medical issues. Dont get me wrong ive got no problems with that, yet sometimes i think well hang on what about those here, in our own towns and cities? Dont they deserve a helping hand too?

Some of the "those" i am talking about are the homeless that wait on corners in our cities, waiting for someone to give them a coin simply so they can buy something to comfort themselves. Im sure we've all walked past these people, i know i have - that's right im not claiming to be perfect, yet it does make me wonder. Would it hurt too much just to toss a coin into their waiting hand? After all we live in a community which spends more on our wants than our needs. Heck even a simple cappucino costs more than 2 bucks these days!

If the God i know could send his one and only son to take the punishment for us, to risk his life just so we can be right with God, why cant we simply give a little of what we have? All these material possessions we have, they wont last, they wont make us happy, they wont make us live forever nor indeed have the perfect life! Is there such a thing as perfection? No way, its just not humanly possible.

Some may ask what can we do then to be more like that caring God? Well we can start by helping each other. Supporting each other so that our world can grow together, be loving, patient and accepting others for who they are despite their faults, simply uniting as one! Dont waste time pondering over lifes little problems. Its time to look at the bigger picture and see where we are going as a whole. I dont think its ever too late to start being truly caring.

So i am left with the hope that there is some good in this world and that we've each been placed here so that we can make things happen. Sure it wont happen over night, nor am i expecting every problem in this world to be resolved but as they say every little bit helps. I think only when we start looking beyond ourselves can we hope and make our world a caring unity.

Back to work...

2005-02-07T17:19:00.000-08:00

I know i know i havent written in a while but well thats just me!

So last week was first back at school for most, luckily i managed to get another week of holidays in until this morning!

Sometime while i was drifting from deep slumber to semi-awakeness the phone rang. At first i thought ah its just part of a dream, but it seemed to get louder with each new ring. YIKES! it was the phone and alas my holidays were over! So my working year started once again! Well i loko on the bright side at least im getting paid and no longer have to worry about spending with no income .. man i hate that feeling!

Anyway the kids were ok i guess, well no half the class were fine but the other half well theyre like worms when u pull them out of the ground! THEY CANT SIT STILL!! See a teacher once said the perfect classroom is one which has enough corners for each student. So if you had 27 kids then the room should have 27 corners! Sadly architects never got around to designing fanciful rooms so we're stuck with the simple 4 cornered room. Man those corners get a work out! Im surprised they dont replace the carpet more often!

At least the kindies are cute (not that i had them), though i dont even think i got to eat my own recess while on duty. Why mothers pack lunches which require adults to open the packaging for them is beyond me! Its actually quite a disgusting job. You see what people dont realise is that before the child asks you to open a packet of something, theyve tried unsuccessfully with their teeth! And so of course there is bound to be some saliva on the packaging so yes of course we teachers must disinfect our hands when the bell rings! Can someone please remind me for the umpteenth time why i chose this profession?!

Aah well perhaps tomorrow will be a better day! If all goes to plan ill get a tan while doing absolutely nothing on the beach! Yes casual teaching does have its benefits! You can have days off when ever you want and you get the weekends too! How good is that! So yes its off to coogee beach, out in the middle of nowhere. No wait that is where i live, in the middle of nowhere! At least thats what many people who know me say!

Alright i confess I LIVE IN THE STICKS!! Happy now?! Sheesh the things i gotta do for friends!!

Well think ill get something for this headache that has crept up on me like the mist from the sea... Until then wait in suspense for my next little adventure... or not!

First day back at SKOOL!!

2005-01-31T16:21:00.000-08:00

SO as a teacher today was first day back at skool.... BLAH!! who wants to go back when holidays are the go! :D

But then hehe im still on holidays! ;) Thankfully no one was sick so got to enjoy at least another day of bumming...

Went shopping/ out and seriously the amount of toddlers out there running wild and hurting themselves gee i dunno! Some mothers aint mothers at all!! But then i spose i cant say anything i dont have any kids (thank goodness) i reckon 30 odd is enough though when u see them day in and day out at work ARGHHHH what was i thinking when i picked this career?!?!

Anyway picked out some new flicks might see them tonite.... no theyre not the romantic smoochy ones puhlease! Im above those! Yes so sue me so what im not like most other chicks! I mean its me were talking about! Someone who could never sit through the likes of Pride and Prejudice, whos never even seen the Princess Bride (whats that?) who thinks movies like Shes All That and Youve Got Mail really aint all that... Ok so soem of those mentioned arent the greatest movies ever made but hello!! are there any really and i mean TRULY great romantic flicks??? I guess ill have to leave that up to you guys to decide!

Not much else happening... friends away overseas QUEENIE WHEN R U COMIN BACK?!!
Such a funny girl that one always makes the day brighter than it seems!
ANd then theres the others back here and most seem to be working... or could it be that im sooooooo lazy and cant be bothered meeting them somewhere.. hmm ay well we'll catch up ... some day!

Hmm man cant believe i stayed up and watched Hewitt get beaten! i mean im not a tennis fan! Tennis is so ... so ... BOOOOOOORING!! i mean really whats so fascinating about a green ball going back and forth over a net?? And all this hype? Hewitt the next tennis champion?? No offense to tennis fans out there but theres more to life than what's inside a square!

No give me union anyday, at least there we get some action, a bit of blood spilt ( no harm in that ;) ) a few good kicks and tackles galore!!

Well gonna run and get my daily dose of coffee mmmm coffeeeee! No it doesnt keep me awake rather it soothes the mind and sends me to sleep, and then they wonder why i like it so much!

A week is all it took...

2005-01-28T01:54:00.000-08:00

So finally after a week i've made the decision... tada i got my own space!

In future expect rambles, grumbles, debates and... and... yes even memory relapses!

In the meantime cheers! :D