It’s pretty hot around here. Our mornings consist of opening up the house first thing for an hour or so, then battening down the hatches with the a/c running and a glass of cold water somewhere within reach. I can’t remember a day below 35, lately, and there are a lot more to come. I hate drinking a cup of tea with the fan going full bore just so I can bear it. We’ve got an evening sea-breeze, tonight, so everything is open, but it is still pretty warm.
I can’t believe that school starts next week. These have been the fastest six weeks! About two weeks ago, I had a very strong feeling that I wouldn’t be teaching for much longer. Over the last couple of days, the feeling has become even stronger, almost to the point where I’m wondering if I did the right thing in saying I’d work this year at all. I just have the strongest sense that my time there is Done. We’ll see what the next few weeks hold. I can’t pull out without reasonable notice, so I’ll have to see how the term goes.
I’ve also had a strong sense lately that the Lord is bringing back into my/our lives some people from the past. I have some very dear friends who just kind of meandered away out of my life for the past three or four years, but I really sense that the time has come to renew some of these ties. There have been some interesting things happening lately that have kind of shoved people back into our sphere. I have a sense of expectancy about 2008.
On a different note, did I mention that I’m only teaching three days a week this year? That is going to be a blessing in itself! One day will be my day ‘off’, and on the Wednesday I will be working at the church office, which I’m really excited about. I’ll be working on ourtreach stuff – we’re setting up child sponsorship in Cambodia, as well as supporting our church there and a number of pastors and leaders. We also have six remote villages that we help out, financially and spiritually. I’ll be co-ordinating much of this, jsut while the project gets going. I’m also the co-ordinator of our Children’s Church, and we are doing lots of cool stuff this year, so I think my Wednesdays are going to be rather full!
And on another entirely different note, I took great delight this evening in the fact that I could go into our garden, gather about twenty little tomatoes from three or four different varieties, slice them in half and drizzle them with olive oil, and then scatter wild rocket on top, also from our garden. It is very satisfying to eat something you have grown. I am also enjoying right now a cup of peppermint tea, made with mint from our garden topped with boiling water. We did not, however, grow the dark chocolate M & Ms I’m about to have with the tea.
Filed under: at home
Today has been a good day. I sorted through about a year’s worth of paperwork that has been accumulating in PILES all over the junkroom office. I cleaned out the filing cabinet, storing all non-current files. I created new files for the new file-able things that have cropped up. I ditched a ton of stuff – things like cutsy note boxes that I never use, gifts that we will never need/use, old batteries, old paper-work etc etc. That which can be given away will be! I really love the concept of simplifying one’s life, and I am determined 2008 shall be the year of No Piles Of Paper. I hope my husband will comply with these new rules demands requests.
We have such a tiny house with minimal storage that we cannot avoid having some things stored here in the office, as we have no wardrobes. All our photos/albums are in boxes here, as well as the Christmas box and the box of cds which have been burned onto the computer, and thus are no longer needed for everyday use. I really loathe the boxy look, but there is simply nowhere else to keep them. My husband’s music gear is in here, too. This comprises three guitars, two huge speaker thingies, and some kind of stand. Nowhere else for these, either. We have a shed, but there is a big hole in the wall, and there are bugs, and it gets really, really hot in there. Things have to be in the house which are valuable. Still, ditching/sorting papers makes a huge difference. I know where to find everything I need, now, too.
Time to lie on the couch under the airconditioner.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Seriously, I feel like I just turned around and it is mid-January. Where did Christmas go? How come I only have under three weeks left of school holidays? Anyone?
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Between Christmas and New Year we had a multitude of parties to celebrate my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. I think that 40 years is worth celebrating. The sad thing is that I think I found only two different versions of 40th anniversary cards in the shops. I guess most people don’t make it that far, so the clientele is rather limited. This would explain why my parents had about ten versions of the same card from different people. The highlight of our family’s celebration was the day we chartered an eighty-foot cruiser, cruised up and down the Swan River drinking Moet and Chandon for four hours, pretending we were very, very rich in our two million dollar boat. When the boat pulled up to the jetty, all these people crowded around, and we swanked up the gangway, and waved airily at the crowds. We had two waiters on board whose task it was to keep popping those champagne corks, and pass around the platters of cheese and gourmet snacks. Following this afternoon on the river, we all returned home for about thirty minutes to shower and change, then were taxied to a very nice revolving restaurant in the city, where we feasted on oysters and sashimi and waygu beef and French wine.
This is my handsome husband sitting on the top deck of the boat.
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We had a suprise engagement party for my brother and his fiance who were here from London. It was lovely, but warm as we were in a park by the river with no shade in the late-afternoon sun.
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New Year’s was very quiet – we had a picnic by the river with some good friends and my sis and her husband. We chatted and drank a mojito and went home when the sun went down. Simple, nice.
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We attended a wedding early on New Year’s Day, which I had whined and complained about but as the bride walked up the aisle I felt a sense of awe and a holy hush at the significance and deep joy of the occasion. Both the bride and the groom have a history, a messy one, but the Lord has created beauty for ashes and a Love Story out of their lives. It was an honour to be a witness to this sacred moment.
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Dh and I took the opportunity to escape the heat of the city and drive a few hours down to the south coast last week. I can honestly say it was one of the nicest holidays I have had in a long time. We were in a boutique hotel about 100 metres from the beach, in a beautiful country town. Each morning we would walk along the beach, swim in the foamy waves, and eat a huge breakfast in the sunny courtyard. The coast down there is magnificent – a multitude of coves and bays with iridescent water ranging from ice-blue to vibrant turquoise. We walked for hours each day, enjoying each other’s company, and in the afternoons we retreated from the sun to our suite and read or watched a movie. The hotel owners brought a home-baked afternoon tea each day, and I made sure I spent at least an hour in the huge spa each evening. You could swivel the tv around to watch in the bath.
What a hunk! (and the water’s alright, I s’pose.)
The scenery reminds me so much of parts of the coast of Ireland. I forget how beautiful this state is.
There is a wind-farm down there, which powers an amazing amount of electricity. My husband remembers being sent an email about buying a share in one of the windmills: Eventually you earn a share in the amount of electricity it generates. You could end up earning about $200 000 a year (given you had the amount to invest in the first place!).
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That pretty much brings me up to now. DH started his new job this morning; I can’t wait to see how he got on. It is funny how much we miss each other when we’ve spent so many days together. I never know quite what to do with myself when he is gone.
