I'm sick...again

I can't believe it. Within 10 weeks, I've been off school for 8 days... and counting (and there's been 2 weeks of holidays in there!). I went to the doctor yesterday, hoping she'd say that I had a garden variety cold but it was not to be. She gave me the rest of the week off! So I'm at home, snoozing, coughing, watching daytime TV and, because I have become so accustomed to going through the motions of a virus, I pretty much have spent the afternoon waiting to vomit and am feeling much better for the time being having finally succumbed. Now I just have to wait for the next wave. 

Sorry, too much information.

I'm just SO over being unwell, and I really don't have the time for it at the moment (probably the reason I got sick in the first place). I have Year 11 and Year 10 exams to mark and reports to start writing. And just as I start to wallow in the self-pity of it all, I'm reminded of the sermon I heard on Sunday morning, which was essentially about letting God rule in your circumstance rather than letting circumstance rule your life.  It was a good sermon.

Of course, being sick means that the housework doesn't really get done. Not that Tom doesn't do as much as he can, it's just that housework is generally quite a lot for one person to do.

'My messy life' is once again an apt description of my life.

Love is in the Air...

It's Spring.

I'm still at work trying very hard to motivate myself to do some marking. (My Year 10s just completed a test this afternoon on Romeo and Juliet).  Everybody else has left the English office as there's the Year 12 Valedictory Dinner on tonight so they all made a quick getaway. So I'm sitting in the office in my little corner, listening to... hang on a second, what IS that noise? It sounds like a quiet "whoop whoop" noise. 

So I'm looking out the window and I see nothing.  

Maybe it's Tony's shitipoo that I just met "Wiki". How adorable (and tiny) is this?

No, I don't think it's the dog.

I look outside again, and then I see it. 

It's Spring.

The pidgins in the courtyard are looking for a mate. Or more specifically the male pidgins are chasing the female pidgins around the courtyard with their little tail feathers fanned out while they make that soft "whoop whoop" noise.

Mystery solved.

I should get onto that Year 10 marking.

A Peachy Video

While our house getting burgled was a complete nuisance, we did end up with a sweet computer that allows me to make videos. This was something I composed last holidays, it's not the most exciting video in the world but it only goes for 48 seconds, so you'll cope. Plus, it was made by me!

A long absence

Ok, so there really is no excuse for my long absence from blogging, but i've been inspired by the writers on www.bloggingaussie.blogspot.com, so it's time to get back into it and there's no time like the present. (Except that when I decided that last week we ran out of internet money and so then I had to wait to get full access again!). 

Hopefully I will post interesting things about the following:

1) Our puppy Peach, I am a doting parent and seriously, it's pathetic, I mean, she's a dog!

2) Our house, there's lots going on and I would like some feedback too, we are gardening (or ripping things out and not planting other things, but it feels like gardening) and thinking of what to plant. We are also testing some paint colours this weekend, so it really is all happening on the house front.

3) I teach a subject called English Language and I'm keen to share some of the fascinating things that I've found out since I started teaching it earlier this year (as well as things I'm continuing to find out).

And because no post is all that interesting without pictures, here's some of Peach's latest:

Featuring today are a number of Peach's unusual sleeping positions, this is a cushion that she has precariously placed herself on, under a chair, under the dining table.

This is Peach on 'her' couch, rather than just sit on the base of the chair she's perched herself on the cushion on the chair, crazy dog.

Lastly, the ultimate sleeping position. On her back, head off to the side somewhere. This is the position she gets herself into when she's exhausted or when she's been sleeping for a while, who would have thought this was even remotely comfortable!

Another Peach Video

This video gives a better indication of Peach's size, she is playing with my size 9 thong (or flip-flop for the Americans!). Sorry that she doesn't do much for a while, this whole photographing animals thing can be challenging!

On other Peach news (think that perhaps the blog might need renaming) I had to take her to the vet this morning after she slipped trying to run away from me up the stairs. Chasey is one of her most favourite games, unfortunately though, she seems to think that running away up the stairs to the deck is her best escape route, where she promptly realises that she can't get back down! Anyway, the grass was wet this morning and so she slipped on the bottom step and was then limping around the house. As Tom had taken the car to work this morning, I had to walk her up to the nearest vet who gave her an anti-inflamatory injection. She seems to be ok, no fractures or anything, so we'll just have to wait and see...

Until next time and more of Peach's puppy adventures!

Peach at Play!

Cute Puppy Photos

This is our new puppy 'Peach'. She is a spoodle (or for the Americans, a cockapoo) and is currently 8 and a half weeks old. She is certainly bringing much joy to our lives with her utter devotion to us and her playfulness.This first picture gives you an idea of how small she is - she gets in and out of everything.
The picture above is her snoozing away on the couch, I was with her originally but needed to get some housework done and didn't want to wake her! The picture below is her trying to get underneath the coffee table!

This box is her 'box of fun' it was the box that we used to bring her home in and was sitting at the front door. On Friday night, she dragged this box into the loungroom and then proceeded to gather all her toys from around the house and place them in her box! As you can imagine, it was hilarious to watch as well as surprising. Now whenever she finds something interesting on the floor she places it in the box - it certainly keeps us on our toes to ensure that nothing we're not happy to find a new home is left on the floor!

One of her favoured sleeping positions!

Melbourne

Had the pleasure of taking Juli into Melbourne city a couple of weeks ago, and thankfully Melbourne's weather decided to be kind (considering that it's the middle of winter!).

The day started with coffee on Southbank and enjoying the peacefulness until a seagull rocked up and stole the bacon from the plate of a poor man enjoying breakfast out a few tables down - the nerve of seagulls! We also took some touristy pics of Southbank, for all those of you who can't enjoy it's beauty.

We then decided we better go up the Rialto tower before the weather turned bad (it can happen at any moment!) where we saw some beautiful views of Melbourne.

The rest of the day was spent eating (Chinatown) and shopping (DFO Swanston St, worth visiting if you haven't yet done so, and you live in Australia!) - sorry no photos!

Marysville Under Snow

Well, the adventures of Tom, Glenda and Juli continue...

Last week we had Christian Union's mid-year conference Summit, it is held in Marysville, a 90km drive from Melbourne. Keep driving another 50kms and you reach Lake Mountain, one of Victoria's smaller ski areas, with only cross country skiing and snow play activities. Why do I tell you all this? Because, it is only supposed to snow in snow areas (like Lake Mountain), not in Marysville! However in Melbourne, we are experiencing a very cold winter and so, to the great delight of all the Aussie students, it snowed while we were in Marysville!

Here's some snapps of the happy occation!The Stevenson Falls, floodlight at night.

Me, Zac and Juli (one of the least impressed by snow, but thankfully was made up for by the beauty of the waterfall!)

There is something so beautiful about things covered in snow. To wake up on the Wednesday morning finding out that it had snowed, was something I had never expected in a non snowfield area of Australia and somehow, everything looked so much brighter (hmmm, probably because it was - snow, white, reflects sun, makes sense really)!

For Eliane

Ok, so I have kind of fallen into a blogger land abyss of late. There's been much going on in our lives, which I'll blog more of as it becomes less raw with time. For the moment, we are enjoying being distracted from the freneticness (ok, so I don't think that it really is a word, but it'll do!) of the last month with our new housemate, Juli.

Juli is from Germany and is staying with us for a total of 6 weeks, although one has already passed at lightning speed. Tom and I have really enjoyed this pleasant distraction which has allowed us to go out for more dinners, coffee and shopping than usual! For example, the tops that you can see us wearing in this photo were bought when we popped into Tom's work last Friday, they were on special and the two of us just couldn't resist!

It has been really great to see Juli's knowledge and ability of the English language grow each day. Every day we can see that she understands a little more and has more confidence to use English. It also helps me with my sketchy knowledge of German, the other day when we were out shopping I tried to speak German while Juli spoke English, I still have a lot to learn!

We are looking forward over the coming weeks to show Juli her first surf beach in the flesh, and also some of Australia's crazy's animals. Every day we try to surprise her with something new, generally food, as Tom and I seem to eat of lot of it!! We've also needed to give Juli a few more warm clothes, we think that Australia gets too good a wrap overseas and there's a perception that it never really gets cold here - let me assure you, as we are heading for a minimum of four degrees tonight - it is COLD!! Australian houses were not built to cope with this weather.

Well, that's all from me for today, hopefully I will be able to post more information soon of the great adventures of Glenda, Tom and Juli. xox

Tom's Brush with Fame

Know who this is? No worries if you don't, I wouldn't either. But last week Tom got to meet one of his all-time hero's, Dennis Lillee.

Here's a grab from an article I found on him (from mcg.org.au):

"Dennis Lillee was the most accomplished and consistently hostile fast bowler of his time. At his peak no one was faster, more competitive, more menacing or resourceful. By his career's conclusion Dennis had claimed a world record 355 test wickets and had become an Australian sporting legend. There is strong support among senior cricket officials, players and the media for the contention that he was the greatest Australian pace bowler of any era."

Pretty high praise huh? Tom had the pleasure of asking him whether he thought that Tate and Watson would make a good opening bowling line-up for Australia in the future (he did) and even got an autographed card saying "To Tom, keep enjoying your cricket, Dennis Lillee".

Sorry to those of you who still have no idea about what I've just said. But it's a funny thing isn't it? The idea of meeting one of your all-time hero's. Somebody who has so impressed you with their sporting ability or writing or singing or acting or who knows what else that when you meet them you want to immortalise that moment. Tom had been thinking about what he wanted to ask Dennis about the future of Australian cricket, but haven't we all thought at some stage, I'd love to know what this person thinks of that idea, and yet so few of us get to actually do it. On the other hand, what must it be like to be the person who influences others to that extent? But then again, don't we all? It's a sobering reminder again for me, as I think about my role as a staff member and leader/mentor for students at Melbourne Uni of how much influencing I'm probably doing and yet not realising that I'm doing it. I thank God that it is he who is working through me to enable me, because if I were doing it without Him, I'd probably so often choose what suits me best and brings me glory, rather than God.

Who are your heroes?

Happy Birthday Dad!

Aren't Dads great? Mine sent me a beautiful email a couple of days ago, was filled with warm words and much encouragement. Made me miss him all the more (but then, if he were here, I wouldn't get the emails!).

Dad is great. He's very handy around the house, a bit of a tinkler, that is, he'll play with something until he gets it just right! He likes to do things properly. We'll never let him live down the day that he sat down to eat tacos with a knife and fork! He's expressive, he's not afraid to shed a tear when one is due and indeed if he does, there's no way that I could not shed one too!

Even though you are thousands of kilometers away dad, I still love that we can talk like you're here next to me. Thanks for being such a great dad. I love you. Happy Birthday.

Brentwood Secondary's Debutante Ball

Last Friday night I went along to "The Deb" as it is fondly called. There were a few reasons why I decided to go:

1. This year level has caused me too much pain to miss an opportunity to watch them behave like adults for (almost) an entire evening.

2. It was a good opportunity to support my friend Katharine, who was a key organiser of the event.

3. I get to make myself up and put on a pretty dress and

4. I'd never been to one before.

And let me tell you, it's a pretty funny event. Each couple is presented on their own and have things read out about where they work and what they want to do in the future and there's in excess of 20 couples, so this takes a while...

Then they perform set dances, some of the facial expressions were hilarious as obviously some boys were convinced that this was a good idea by someone else (normally a pretty girl) and were yet to won over to the idea. The picture below is of their "fun dance" and the boys all gave the girls their jackets to wear for the song.

And of course, it was a great opportunity to catch up with some of my teacher friends in a relaxed setting and have a bit of a dance.
This from L-R is Katharine, Me, Monique

This is me and Robyn.

An Engagement Party - Bollywood Style!

Flew to Adelaide last weekend for my friend Kristen's engagement party. Was a great opportunity to catch up with other friends as well. I stayed with family friends (also my old piano teacher) and enjoyed being doted on like a daughter for a few days (ie. having coffees made for me, being taken out for lunch - twice!) and of course, playing Mary's grand piano, very therapeutic!

Was taken out for lunch (again) by my friends Phili and Dan. Was great to see them again after their surprise trip to Melbourne in March. Must say though, we probably spent 20% of the time going "I can't believe this rain". Yes it rained and poured while I was there. I'd forgotten what it was like for it to rain that much. Unfortunately back here in Melbourne, we got a couple of bursts but nothing like the 2 and a half days of near-constant rain in Adelaide. We wait in hope.

Anyway, to the purpose for the visit: Kristen and Michael's engagement party. Somehow my invite was lost in the post so when I messaged Kristen to find out the details on Thursday morning (before leaving Fri morn) she replied with the venue, time and "Bollywood theme - wear something colourful" BOLLYWOOD?? Could have told me earlier! So I messaged Phili to see if she or her sister Ali had anything that might do the job. Thankfully Ali came through with the goods and here was the end result:

The punjabi (sp.?) and necklace were Ali's. The oversized earings and large bangle were Mary's and the shawl and Indian bangles were mine. A good team effort! Kristen was dressed in a gorgeous sari:

One that she bought in India when she holidayed there with Michael and his family. Here's one of them on the dance floor:

I was really struck by the whole "men dancing" thing. Such a different culture where you'll get men dancing together in syncronised moves. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me when it was happening but this photo's pretty cool:

Needless to say, it was a fun night of eating (his family's Indian, hers is Polish - need I say more?), drinking and dancing. And even though I only knew about 5 people, I arrived at 4pm and left at 10pm and so made quite an evening of it!

Next post: the Brentwood Secondary Debutante Ball...

Lest We Forget

Today is ANZAC day. The day we remember all the soliders who have fought for us. I thought it would be a fitting day to post the photos that Tom and I took when we visited the Australian War Memorial in Canberra last year.

This photo shows the remains of the HMAS Sydney. Tom's Gran's brother died on this Ship. The ship was lost off the coast of WA and sank without a trace. This exhibit shows it's only remains, a lifeboat and a life-vest.

The poppy up the top is the one that we put in for Gran's brother.

This next photo is of the HMAS Australia. My Grandad Bob's brother Jack died on the HMAS Australia. What I found out from this exhibit was that the men who died on this ship were killed by the kamakazie pilots who attacked the ship.

Here is a picture of me pointing out the poppy that we placed for Uncle Jack Annear.

Despite the smiling faces it was a very sombre reminder of the price that was paid by our relatives so we could have the freedom we now enjoy.

Lest we forget.

Look Mum, I Grew a Pumpkin!

Okay, so it was kind of accidental, but I managed not to kill it (unlike the rest of the plant)! Made pumpkin soup on Sunday night, had some in a funny vegie thing I made for tonight and are going to put some more in a pumpkin korma curry for Thursday night. Yum!

A Quiet Night In?

Picture this: I'm all psyched up for an evening in, Kaitrin's coming for dinner to share photos of her recent Liberia/UK trip and to catch up, I've set the menu: a roast followed by Butterscotch self-saucing Pudding.

Then she calls me. "Do you want the good news, or the bad news? I can't come for dinner, but we're going instead to Bjorn Again at Crown!"

Requires a bit of a change of mindset, don't you think?

Anyway, it was a fabulous night out, with lots of singing along and getting up and dancing, and once again I amazed myself with how many Abba lyrics are sitting uselessly in my brain for a rainy day (or Bjorn Again concert)! They really are a very talented outfit and have really paid attention to detail - including very outdated choreography. We had all the hits Dancing Queen, Fernando, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Money, Money, Money, The Winner Takes it All, to name but a few.

And that was it... my quiet night in with a friend.

Time out at the Howqua Valley

Well after my last blog I have sucessfully managed to take some time out with friends, and to relax a little. It was great over the Easter break to be able to 'go bush' for 4 days camping. I'm not a huge camping person so the first night was kept awake by 1) the birds, 2) the sound of the river flowing 3) a horse neighing at 1am and 4) the cold. Thankfully I managed to overcome these obstacles to sleep quite well the other nights!

Tom's dad has a 4wd which he loves to take off road so I enjoyed the opportunity to see him in his element and to see some of the countryside in the area that was ravaged by bushfires earlier this year. It's difficult to take a photo that shows how extensive the damage is but here's one that worked well.

In the foreground is Fry's Hut, built in 1930. There are a number of these huts which were built for the cattlemen to rest in when they were driving their cattle up to the plains in summer. In the middle of the picture you can see the green trees of Fry's flat, a camping area, and in the background are trees that were burnt in the fires (I know it looks a little like Autumn).

Behind Fry's Hut lies the Howqua river, to canoe from this point of the river to where we were camping would probably take around half a day. This is me by the river.

And of course it's all about the food when you go camping (with the Hanslow's and Boyd's anyway!). We had a magnificent roast which was buried in a pile of hot coals for 3 hours. This one's a bit of a story by pictures:

And then 3 hours later you dig it out of the dirt and eat it (it's in a pot). And it was magnificent! There's lots of other great pictures, it's just that I don't have them on my camera. It was a great relaxing time out, with weather you wouldn't think possible in early April, blue skies and 25degrees. Apparently, I won't be really tested in my camping abilities until it's raining... not sure if I'm too keen on that one, one step at a time.

Words I Hate

There are some words in the English language I just don't like to hear. Swear words are one group, but there are a few others that are almost just as jarring to my ears, words like "Stress" and "Busy". I remember having a conversation with a friend who is a dentist some time ago and he said that 5 years ago whenever he asked a patient how they were they would say "stressed", now whenever he asks a patient how they are, they say "busy".

I am somewhat scarred by the word "busy", when I had my accident 3 years ago, I had a few friends who never came to visit me at home. When they saw me at church they'd say "I'm so sorry I haven't been to see you, I've just been so busy". And all I could think was "I nearly died, what more will it take for you to make some time for me?" I promised to myself then, that I would never be so busy as to not make time for my friends and for people. John Piper has a great quote in his book "Don't Waste Your Life" that goes 'No man has ever lamented on his dying bed, "I wish I had spent more time at the office"' But now I look at my lifestyle over the last month and feel like it's out of control. I love what I'm doing but I'm so ... you know the word. In fact I've been so ... that I forgot a dear friend's birthday! I don't want to be that person, I promised myself I wouldn't become that person - Lord, help me to keep my life in balance, that I may remember to appreciate the small things, that sometimes look insignificant but help us to appreciate all the goodness that you have given us. Amen.

A Tearful Reunion

As I get older (about to turn the ripe old age of 25 - so this is said seriously but also can't help be a little tounge-in-cheek) I'm starting to reflect more on the relationships that have helped to form me as a person, and the people who have had an influence on me without me even really realising their importance.


On Saturday I had the joy of seeing one of my many other "Mums", Mary Lewis. Mary is the mother of my good friend Phili, (whose Blog you can check out on the right of the page) and therefore, by default also became another "Mum" to me as during my high school years in Adelaide it was often the case that if I wasn't at home, I was at Phili's and that often meant enjoying Mary's company as well.


I ran into Mary, quite to my surprise (and her's) on Saturday at a "Ridley Women" (as in the Bible College) Mentoring Day, after not having seen her for quite a number of years. At morning tea I tapped her on the shoulder and (after she figured out it was me - it can be hard with a married name!) gave each other a warm mother/daughterly embrace! What a joy it was to see this amazing woman of God again and to see the way in which God brought us together at that exact moment when I needed a motherly embrace from someone who has seen me grow up all through my adolecence (and it's been almost 12 months from my own Mum). I was taken aback by the strong affection and connection I felt with Mary after such a long time of separation, for, as I said at the beginning of my post, it hasn't been until the last couple of days since seeing her that I have reflected as an adult on the impact she had on my life. So thanks Mary, for being one of my special "Mums" (and thanks Phili - for sharing her with me while she's in Melbourne!)

And because I knew Mum would love a photo: