I know some Welsh! :D
.. thanks to a lovely couple who stayed with us for a week ending this morning *sniff* .. they are so kind and simple and everything that makes you think of crackling fireplaces or something baking in the kitchen .. Lily and David Morgan they are officially known in public; but unofficially in the house they are mum-ky and dad-ky to me (grandma & grandad in Welsh) -i think thats wrong spelling but im aiming for pronounciation in this instance. Their greatest asset was their love of God, which showed through everything they did and touched even those who weren't Christians.
it was a delightful week. Lily made Welsh cakes, and shared stories and did work around the house -which she liked! -an inspiration to me no less:) Getting her to sit down longer than 10 minutes is challenging enough. David preached by night and visited the houses in our area by day, meeting half the world in one suburb:P it was gold listening to his accounts because he's blessed with the gift of storytelling. People from Russia, China, Wales, Italy, Lebanon, Iraq, Serbia, a sprinkling of Europe, etc right at our doorstep! why on earth would i need to travel now?:P
Lily has invited me to visit their ancient cottage (built in the 1700s) in Wales, so come next yr, who knows? I'd love to go that's for sure.. and learn how to bake a hearty meal or two.. they also have 18 grandchildren so entertainment's covered. I know enough Welsh to get me around.. ie
"sut yd ych chi"="how are you?"; diolch yn fawr"= "thank you muchly" there's an accent thing happening there.. it's a difficult language for me to learn because there are lots of tongue curling and some of the letters aren't pronounced the way they look.. i'm not deterred tho:) Chinese is probably just as hard for a Welsh speaker because there is no tongue curling only different intonations in a sound. There are other Welsh sayings i'm familiar with by now like 'good morning' but i don't know their spelling so not going to do it injustice by attempting to scribe them here. Well, now there are 2 countries on my list of visitations! China and Wales:) Brilliant! *sigh* I miss them a lot.. i won't easily forget their idiosyncracies: Lily washing the dishes.. David humming away.. Lily ironing some clothes.. David at the table reading a book.. Lily with a cuppa tea.. David with a cuppa milo and figs and dates and biscuits and a piece of toast, lol.. and so much more. Their stories warmed me -literally. They were usually so funny that i'd be a hot water bottle by the end from laughing too much. Cheers to great relationships!
Royal Botanic Gardens
A little orange butterfly allowed me to coax it onto my fingers at the Royal Botanical Gardens. I hardly dared to breathe as i let the fragile transient beauty ponder why this giant of a person was so taken with it. I fancy that it might've been thinking "surely there are prettier flowers or more impressive works of nature or lovely lakes to look at -but little old me? why would this giant alien be so interested?" -for i was. I didn't give up til it was perched on my forefinger, looking whimsical (the butterfly not me). If it was indeed pondering, that would explain why it rested for so long (a precious half minute). Well whatever it was thinking -if it was at all- my own thoughts were something like *wow.. this precious little creature trusts me finally.. I better make the most of this moment*
I can't help drawing comparisons between that experience and how God must handle us most of the time. We're transient as butterflies are we not? beautiful and precious because we're made in his likeness and just as flighty. Flitting here and there, rarely taking the time to stop and allow ourselves a ride on the fingers that spelled creation.. alienating the one who clasps us to his heart.
..today's quirky surprises didn't stop there..
As i continued thru the gardens, its sheer awesomeness overwhelmed me like a Wollemi Pine over a little leaf. Prior to this, I only walked the outskirts of it so this was a first timer. I quickly forsook the bio questions on plant life that was meant to be the aim of the excursion and jotted down some really priceless moments instead ie.
1) the butterfly
2) - a flying fox that was on a tree high above me happened to stretch itself just as i turned to gaze up at it and its innumerable cousins. It kept staring. and staring. and staring. It actually appeared to be thinking 'hello. what are you doing down there?' Alas! not even a few minutes had passed before it decided to give up thinking and made a little sleeping bag around itself instead. Echoing what i feel like doing right now:) It was the cutest little thing and i credit it for having some inquisitiveness.
3) a pidgeon drinking from a deep puddle. i wouldn't have given it a second thought had its manner of drinking not struck me so.. it was SO
absorbed with drinking that about half its head was in the puddle! it was doing a simple something to keep alive and doing it well:D as such, the pidgeon makes an excellent point.
4) a seagull sitting with its mates. This snowy cushion of feathers looked so cozy with itself that i wondered if a hurricane might have even a mild effect on it. Sitting there looking so content i quickly made a little drawing. Another woman captured its quiet charm with her camera. So that's my day. Filled with anecdotes and images and all senses hospitably engaged.
Now to wrap up, I'll do it in a quote that really spoke to me tonight:
"An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others." -A.W. Tozer .. thank you kindly; couldn't have put it better myself, the inspiration, behind what I hope to become. Which is a person who can share their love, time & energy with others -fully- as Jesus did and does still. I'm
slowly getting there:)
the good life
What is it about spring that peppers every day with joy? the recent funny weather is so funny that i feel like laughing every time i look at the fat little clouds or my washing under assault on the line:D I don't know if i'd be so fruity during winter tho.. my find-the-positive-berry-on-every-negative-vine mechanism is starting to dehibernate and i'm not alone as the smiles appearing en masse bear testimony. `tho i don't know if hayfever sufferers would be so quick to agree` :) i'll give today's chem prac assessment as an example of this mech in action. the aim was to discover an unknown organic compound we were given thru a relatively straightforward flowchart-style process. Funnily enough, the 1 hour "practice run" right before was less fussy
and gave sensible results as opposed to the real thing
! I came up with an improbable sounding nickel hydroxide as my conclusion and scooted off before i saw the expression on my demonstrator's face as he scanned the results sheet. He's too frank to be subtle see.. okay for pracs but not exactly encouragement-material for assessments. but he's funny:) like today he drawled out something along the lines of "this is your last prac.. i don't wanna see you after this and you don't wanna see me" right then i just laughed but as i walked out at the end, that fact hit home and i felt sad. what's sad actually is the fact that i had time to feel sad ~ proof of evil procrastination's stranglehold whilst everyone else buzzes around me with their piles of study/quizzes/etc.. so today marked an end to cumbersome IMAX-sized goggles that refuse to stay on my face.. to the gross smells emanating from weird and wonderful mixtures that have an unnatural affinity with my clothes.. to tinkering with corrosives, carcinogens and irritants.. goodbye to them forever ! -til pharmacology decides to re-aquaint me with them next year anyway .
It's already the middle of the second last week and I feel neutral funny. Was this year really a year? It sure didn't feel like it. Yr 12 on the otherhand packed a punch that's left a lifetime of memories. I mean if i was asked: what's the best thing about uni so far i'll have to say the freebies ** Gotta love em' uni freebies - speaking of which they had awesome enviro freebies yesterday and today to celebrate environment week but i didn't read about em' til tonight!! *cries* it's all good tho; there are free yoga classes that have snagged my interest *yum* and o-week (yes they've already started planning) sounds quite the feast.. maybe 2nd year will inspire a bit more outta me.. i seek to make the most of the last year before vsu settles in anyway.
*oh yes, another thing* I've been wearing contacts for 2 days now.. slowly adding a couple o' hours of wear each day and it feels more & more natural:D I only feel it when the lens' get a bit dry, and even then it's more comfie than one would expect. The shocker comes with getting the lenses in and taking them out, but it's all good learning ..perfect sight is a priceless gem and all those with 20/20 vision should realise that `=o_o=` my experiences of yr 11 photography made me VERY aware what been blind feels like. If you want to know what pitch -and i mean pitch- blackness feels like, go inside the lab where they tinker with the negatives :O with digital taking over it won't be long before they become as quaint as the gallows. But oh so much fun *
a hit of nostalgia
I was reading thru my old blog last week and noted that it was started on HSC eve, so in commemoration, here it is
http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=breezy_mint . I can't believe that today marks a year since that momentous day. The eve of an event is almost always the one that takes your breath away over the actual day. I pray for everyone in it and hope that they stick thru this trial.
Now, this past week requires a recording. Some key things happened: 1) last Thursday I wore contacts for the first time 2) I worked my last shift at Bi-Lo yesterday 3) I was invited to Claire and Nev's house today:D 4) I went to youth fellowship 5) I received a heartwarming letter from someone at church
Elaborations will now ensue1) Contacts felt a lot like smooth rock in my eyes. Only time will tell whether I will like them. And they are terrifically expensive. I'm opting for the casual 3 month supply of wear-once-dailies that'll cost $192
after the student discount! Not counting the $100 consultation fee -which is a once off though so that's ok.. c.$300 for eyecare -wow. They're mostly for work purposes and I like the optometrist who's taking care of me, so it's no big deal really.
2) Strange. If I hadn't formed some attachments to workmates there (as you would after almost a year) it wouldn't have been as hard. But I feel really free now. No more ringing up at totally random times. No more transport issues. No more
any issues. I can now devote my time and energy to my new job. Hope it'll go well.
3) I had a terrific day with Claire, Nev and their 3 children. These wonderful people go to the fellowship I'll be joining soon and being invited felt like a glimpse into a new kind of acceptance. I learnt and was reassured of a fair few things. I'm also more confused than ever over the love of my life. I can't read the signs God is sending me properly. I can't tell whether I should just leave it or continue to be patient. Right now -as it always had actually- my head and heart favours the latter. I hope the answers will be clear to me soon.
4) pretty self explanatory:)
5) Ahh.. this one will remain personal. What i will divulge is the example set by it. A simple heartfelt letter of care and love makes people's days. Don't delay doing it when you feel the urge. And by post always beats email, but anything will do. Even skywriting -just make sure they know it tho:) It's proof of your thought and care. When I read it, a quote came to me "Insofar as anyone pushes you nearer to God, they are your truest friends". Well that's what this person was doing, and that was exactly how i felt.
I will also divulge a lesson experienced and learnt today. I heard this one long ago but I prefer to record lessons concretely experienced. Save your judgements and assumptions about people until you've entered their home and watched them in their natural sphere. They are usually not what you first thought them to be, or in my case, thought for years to be..
Not usually a topic i invest in but..
http://www.biblehelp.org/cow.htm <-- Since reading this story, I have set a new standard for the love I one day, can't live without. May all relationships follow a similar prototype:)
And since I'm on the topic of love -specifically romantic love- i'll air off some thoughts regarding that weird and wonderful phenomenon. .. I find love a somewhat difficult exercise. But my case is more to do with enduring the difficulty of not knowing how a beloved 'other' feels about you and letting that feeling drag on for eons until time puts a cork in it or another comes along who can fiddle with your heartstrings more expertly, than having your other half dump you. Anyhow, I wouldn't know what the latter feels like coz I've never been in a relationship. I remember going through a phase where I wanted to date solely for the evidence needed to back my point that single life is irrefutably better that couplehood. Evidence being experience. It was a catch-22 because my dislike of lovey-dovey relationships meant that the required experience couldn't even be gathered in the first place-_- So case studies of nearests and dearests were the next best thing [in so far as they made me feel better for being seemingly right:P].
But after growing up a bit, my objective for wanting to be in a relationship changed quite considerably. I still love being single; and a lot of people who are in/have been in love actively encourage me to remain 'free' for as long as humanly possibly and invest my 'acres of time' in something more worthwhile, lol. What changed was this: I'm in love with the idea of love.. with the process of falling in love. Of the myriad possible ways that you could meet your 'other half' and know in an instant -somewhere down the track- that they are the one. I strongly believe in the pre-ordained creation of 'a significant other' for every individual, like Eve was for Adam. I refuse to think that we were put on this planet to flirt/court/breed like uber-giant guinea pigs. We're here to cultivate ourselves under the love & guidance of a higher being, find our other half and continue this cultivation by being with them.
So my ideal 'significant other' is this: a person who allows me to see their faults .. who is the first i go to for weird and wonderful confessions .. inspires me to change for the better.. is someone (off addy's blog:) i can't live without .. who's mastered the act of love and forgiveness.. loves children.. communicates. Now what is a relationship without the last point eh? :D ok this is a scarily long post. i'll leave it here.
there's no place like memory
Time is like an impossibly uber-snitch ``'o'`` noone can catch (it) takes any direction it fancies.. yet people can't get enough of it! maybe that's why the suicide rate is hitting a new high. If people could catch this snitch when they need to, it's enough for them to feel secure because time -i believe- is the foundation of security: we need time to learn.. time to make investments.. time to save.. time to dream.. time to build and repair.. time to rest.. time to evolve.. to make room for what's important and think about where our life is going in this world and the next -- once time appears to be running out, constriction which could lead => panic sets in. Of course not everyone shares this stream of thought. But i must confess that were it not for time -coz I'm slow- i wouldn't have the same capacity to appreciate God's work in my life. Which is why I'm thankful for the revelation that tho i can't hope to catch it, it sits happily in the palm of his hand.. it's wings tweaked a bit differently for each individual.
If you want to know what inspired this thought stream will the words "
Back to the Future: 20th Anniversary Special" mean anything? :) whilst watching it last night, i realised BOY DO I appreciate the present and what a totally awesome movie it is *grins*.. such a fluffy thought.. travelling back with the potential to erase some part of the future. I wouldn't have any of it - my present is sweet -and complicated- enough thank you very much ^^
On another note, I had my induction yesterday:) It was held in Nth Sydney, met my future workmates and enjoyed everything i heard.. can't wait to start in a fortnight's Monday.. it's such a fresh, clean environment. Hopefully my first shift will go smoothly. By then I would love to have an idea which contacts I should be getting. I'm thinking the fortnight package sounds pretty good but with only 3 choices -to my knowledge- I didn't sweat over it. Wish I knew
why they were so expensive.. I went to the optom in Usyd, and they give you a trial pair to start with, which makes me feel a lot better. But still need to shop around a bit more. Where to start? ^^
Good morning Sydney!!!
The last couple of days are special enough to deserve a post, so post i shall..
`` On Friday I went to youth fellowship again; learnt 3 dozen new names and made a new friend:D Honestly that place is like a pot of gold- the gold being stirling lessons and experiences given freely upon request.. of course that's due to the nature of the people. It's a pretty great community.. unique in their way of making most feel accepted into their fold. But I'm mindful of the fact that were a newbie naturally reticent and non-canto, they might've thought it more of a desert than an oasis.. I didn't leave til half past 11 and by then, was tipsy from tiredness. Tho I have fully recovered by sleeping 12 hours last night o.O"
`` Yesterday momentously involved trains, soot and a huge serving of eager little passengers. You'd think New Year's had come or an early Christmas. But i suppose anything less wouldn't have done 150 yrs of railway service any justice. Yep! In honour of Peter's birthday we went on a gorgeous steam train ride:D The whole family, including Nathaniel and Grams, went out so that's a span of 4 generations in one setting. Grams only came with us for the picnic
after the ride @ Bicentennial park, where we had a healthy, mediterranean/turkish lunch and took lots a' happy snaps -well i did anyway- for the sake of annoying everybody:P Then we went for a
loong walk to the wetlands where a lot of birds gracefully minded their own business, allowing us to ooh and ahh over them from a healthy distance. So much uncharacteristic walking was involved that, the moment we came home, i stopped for a shower then plonked right into bed. When i woke up it was totally dark.. muttering *great* i promptly rolled over and slept rather unfitfully with a weird dream involving my bros, a shopping mall and a nightmare version of Harry Potter. *sigh* the effects of over-sleeping..
well today's sunny-ness is set to blow away any unsettled feelings inspired by that kooky dream .. Sydney never appears to tire of chicken-soup-for-the-soul' kinda days. Church will begin fairly soon, leaving me about 3 hours of time to do something useful with. .. off i go ``
8:09 am
ooh ooh!! I almost forgot to post a very important something that happened:: I got a new job!!! Can you believe it?? I almost couldn't. I was close to jumping out of my skin when they phoned me the day after the interview to tell me! The feeling of elatedness should carry me thru to exam time:D God answered my prayers so quickly and I'm very grateful. It was an interesting interview; over an hour long and involving spoken, written
plus a mini-presentation.. which in itself was an experience:)
