Happy Feet
I am intolerably stuffed with junk food from the past 3 days. Today alone might account for about a week's worth of recommended 'moderate' consumption. I hope i can work it all off: In other words i watched
Happy Feet which made me one very happy lady. I've also got a sweet-as plush toy of Mumble which funnily enough began as a present underneath the Christmas tree to the kids but as they've each got one already, it went to me. Ahh don't you just love hand-me-downs? Speaking of trees and presents and Boxing day madness, today was pure madness.
City's Myer was like a crucible filled with bargain-crazy people. We went here, there and everywhere. Highlights included Happy Feet, a cookies 'n' cream chiller thrown in, dinner with the fam and unboxing the pressies under the tree. Seeing the expressions on the kids' faces were priceless. The air was punctuated with/
kids: 'COOL look what i got!'
us: 'what is it?'
kids:'I dunno but it looks like- ...(trails off) hey cool look at THIS one!!' and so on in a very uneven cycle.
All in all it was a lovely day. And how thankful i am that God has given me the opportunity to talk about Him to my brother Stan yesterday. It was so unexpected how the convo began which is usually how it is when sharing thoughts about my faith. But i prayed that i could make the most of yesterday with my mum and sibs, and to have the prayer answered the way it was, felt very rewarding. My present to mum was a dual-language bible.. a beautiful and costly gift in so many more ways than one. I pray that she can learn to treasure it and be inspired to read God's Word as often as she can. My gift to Stan was a promise box filled with verses taken from the bible that are promises from God and a keyring which said "God keeps His promises". A to-the-point statement that's right on the mark. Anyway i don't want to write out every present i gave to my very big family but this year i felt that God really guided me in my choices, for which I'm very thankful. And now i think i'll stop writing because it's 40 minutes into a new day and my head is not thanking me for this.
Flights booked
Done! *rubs hands with glee*:) I've now booked my flight to sunny Gold Coast and return from Brissy online plus confirmed it all - short of ringing up my friends there and telling them that we'll be exchanging hellos around 7 in the even:D
I started this year with a trip to Melbourne. And next year will be Queensland. Maybe i should make the 08' NY to WA or something. Ooh that'll be sweet. My flight itinerary is right in front of me waiting to be checked in. I simply can't wait!
Man there's too many things going on atm. So many gifts to wrap! (which suits me fine). Tonight there's a Kris Kringle party. I think tmrw there's a sleepover/movie marathon thing happenin'. Next week i really want to start some driving lessons, but i think most driving instructors would be having a life and spending the season with a loved one. Anyway i know Boxing day is movies day thanks to the publicity crew of Happy Feet, etc. For Christmas I've chosen to spend that day with my mother and siblings (which i hope to make the most of). And for the day of days -welcoming 07'- i'll be chillin' out with May and co. at the city.
But it's not the events lined up that makes me feel so warm. It's the catch-ups & emails & memos from friends, the times with both families that has really put the 'extra' in extraordinary and the 'price' in priceless moments.
Nannying
Change is difficult. Yet I am given the challenge of facing it at an alarmingly fast pace of late. I'm now working as a nanny 3 days a week for most of my holidays. To sum it up in one word is easy:
tiring. It's the first time I've done a job like it.. God is certainly moving me across wondrous new terrains. As challenging as it's being at the moment (I've done 2 days or 19.5 hours) I'm going to stick at it. Why? coz we should finish what we start. coz commitment demands sticking it through all sorts of weather. coz it's a chance to witness for the Lord (how I haven't got a clue) but i'm willing to be open-minded. And all sorts of other reasons I didn't see when i was bitten hard by the worry bug. I hope that I can see this job through to the end, but if not i hope my reasons are well justified.
Aside from all that, much has happened since my last post. I've now got my L's ~ yay!! done a couple of arvos at CPK (a public school i work at) which was pretty cool. Nannied twice and settling in alright. Planned the dates I'm flying to Queensland to visit cherished friends. Sorted most of my Christmas shopping. Had plenty of rests. All good.
What I'd really like to get back to though, is reading. That's where i feel most at home. Curled up in (my own) bed and munching through a big fat book. But until i get use to these oscillating energy levels prompted by my job, i feel too tired to do anything useful. It's an effort to do this almost:) Can't believe there's just 1 week to Christmas, 2 weeks to 2007, and 2 posts short of my 100th blogspot post! :D
List time!!
A busy holiday awaits me. Doesn't that line pack a punch?:)
I can now breathe easy knowing that (despite the miserly effort) I did pretty well in my uni subjects. Work is streaming in at a cool pace, and the real holidays -for everyone!- start in a fortnight's time.. so on that note I'm gonna make a few lists, starting with -
significant events coming up:
1. Work this arvo.. anything can happen
2. Ice skating tomoro ..gotta love them catch up sessions
3. DKT on Mon.. excited but nervous; hotpot at night with May and a whole bunch of ppl *sweet*
4. Job interview? on Tue.. I'll be nannying for much of the holidays; what a surreal world i'm about to enter into.
5. Work Wed arvo.. again, anything goes
6. Bushwalking Thur with an old mate *edit* nannied instead (a very unexpected request)
7. Catching up with Luke on Fri!! *edit* moved to the following Mon; nannied again
This list is one I haven't made in a while -
Specific Goals for the new year:1. get my P's
2. learn to swim properly
3. email bros as often as possible
4. make the most of uni - in every way
Big Picture Goals for the new year:1. read through the whole Bible
2. pray more, especially for people
3. make a genuine effort to talk and smile with others
4. learn 4 new skills (app. one per quarter)
ok these really are the essentials i wanted to nail. They look pretty different to the goals i made for this year, but having achieved 6 of the 8 from that list, i am hopeful of an equal if not, better statistic for 07'. Signposts along the path are really what they mean to me..
A special month
Wow, this November has been the fastest month I've ever experienced. A month ago, i can remember thinking how on earth am i going to entertain all those kids 5 days a week, 3 hours every day? And now a month later, i am missing them all like anything. They just about took over my life at one point. All the bruises, the nights of papier mache (pinata making), the french knitting craze, the origami craze, the peg craze, the overall craft craze swept and revealed a person i didn't know existed before. And i've never been happier.
But moments with God were very much compromised as a result so that must be restored. I had moments when i thought, man where did i go so wrong.. but then there were the 'wow' moments. The moments when you feel a connection with another human being that transcends the mundane, superficial level. It's a month i doubt i'll forget for as long as i live. The highlights were many, the smiles, the mischief, everything that spelt the essence of childhood i tasted again. It was a very special and unique month owing to the arrangement of me having to work at a public school, a private boys school and a private girls school. And now it's December!! How extraordinary. Whoever thought this year dragged on like a snail race must not have had much of a year.
Oh this year has been special. I can hardly believe that half a year ago i worked in hospitality. And that i climbed Kosciuszko & visited Melbourne to begin 2006. And that Bernice, a much loved friend, was with us for a year before leaving at the same time i started my new job. And that i'm now nearly 5 months into that job which despite leaving me with a lifetime's worth of 'moments' already, feels way shorter than that.
So how does 2007 feel at the moment? electric.. with unbreathed possibilities.
