A Tentative Post

 Just peeking out to see if my blog still exists.  Seems like it’s still here…looking a bit dusty and neglected but not totally abandoned by friends.

Thank you Dave, Robyn and Leanne for coming by to check on me recently.

Things are ticking along here, once I get some posting momentum I will talk a bit about my experiences over the last 3 months – not today though.

So right now I am sitting here drinking tea, trying to ignore the irritating sound of a ‘Strawberry Shortcake’ DVD in the background (the children are home sick today) and wondering what an earth I write about when I blog.  Until a couple of weeks ago I didn’t even miss blogging. I missed visiting blogs but just didn’t have the energy to do so.

Then one day as I was going about my business suddenly  those 5 little words popped into my head… ‘I have to blog this’.  I knew then I’d be back.

So I’m back. I’m not sure how much blogging I’ll be doing to begin with (so don’t expect too much :-)).   I shall be telling you about my sister visiting (from America), the weather (as always) and the latest addition to our little household.

…’til then…

Taking a break

Ok, I give up. I am totally overwhelmed and really need to drop a few things for now and sadly blogging is one of them.  I don’t know how long I’ll be gone but I really need to do this for my own sanity (or what’s left of it).  There is too much going on that needs my full and undivided attention and I need to do a little ‘work’ on my mindset while I’m at it.

Hopefully, it won’t take too long.

 

Ok, I’m not actually going fishing, nothing could be of less interest to me, it’s a metaphor.

Wandering

Mentally that is.  Not very focussed right now, feeling a little lost and bewildered and unsure of what the future holds for me.  I feel change coming, or maybe I just hope there is.

Tom and I had a quiet weekend at home (it was his birthday on Friday) the girls were away and we spent a lot of time doing not very much at all. Cooked some nice food, drank some nice wine, had conversations (uninterrupted) watched a couple of movies, read the papers and our respective books.  Just a lazy weekend really.  Nice.

I had a horribly sleepless night on Saturday, one of the worst ever.  Usually insomnia catches me in the middle of night, I get to sleep ok but then wake up and can’t get back to sleep for hours. This time I couldn’t even get to sleep at all.  I tossed and turned and paced the house and made warm drinks and did some meditation and tried mindful breathing etc etc etc. Nothing.  I last looked at the clock at 5.00am, I must have fallen asleep soon after that but woke again at 6.10 then again at 7.40.  Felt pretty crappy yesterday and although I slept ok last night I’m still tired and fuzzy headed (before you say it.. more than usual) today. 

So until I catch up don’t expect anything coherent from me…and even then I can’t promise….

 

National Day of Mourning

Today is a National Day of Mourning for those lost in the Victorian Bushfires. Memorial services have been held all over the country.

The publicity may have died down a bit, but it’s not over.  There are fires still blazing (some have been burning continuously for more than 2 weeks), homes and property threatened and evacuation plans in place.  With more heat and strong north winds forecast for this week (‘perfect’ bushfire conditions)  there are still a lot of people facing a difficult times.

Things Adelaide Learned from the Heat Wave of 2009:

I’ve borrowed this from this month’s GAPSA newsletter. 

§ The best parking space is determined by shade instead of distance.

§ Hot water comes out of both taps.

§ You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.

§ The temperature drops below 32c and you feel a little chilly.

§ You discover that in February it only takes two fingers to steer your car.

§ You discover that you can get sunburnt through your car window.

§ You develop a fear of metal car door handles.

§ You break a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:00am.

§ Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and get cooked to death?"

§ You realise that asphalt has a liquid state.

§ Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to prevent them from laying hard-boiled eggs.

§ The trees are whistling for the dogs.

§ While walking back barefoot to your car from Apex Park, you do a tightrope act on the white lines in the car park.

§ You catch a cold from having the air conditioner full blast while you sleep during the night.

§ You learn that Centro plaza isn't a shopping centre it's a temple to worship air-conditioning.

§ Sticking your head into the freezer and taking deep breaths is perfectly normal behaviour.

§ A cup full of ice is considered a great snack.

§ An electricity blackout is life threatening because your air conditioner and your fans no longer work and you are seriously going to be cooked!!

§ You no longer sit on a couch, why would you when you can lie down on the cold tiles instead.

§ You need a stubby holder to keep the beer cold, not your hands warm

§ No one cares if you walk around with no shoes on.

§ You keep everything in the fridge, including potatoes and bread etc....

§ People have enough left over beer cans to make boats out of and have a whole regatta with tin can boats like Darwin...

§ The effort of towelling off after a shower means you need another one right away

§ Standing naked under a ceiling fan is an acceptable way to pass time.

§ You wait till it starts raining to go for a run!

A lot can happen in a week

However in this case it didn’t. Life is very busy but without blog fodder. Just work. Nothing else. Even the weekend was busy in one way or another.  The weather was lovely mind you (don’t often hear me say that do you?) sunshine without the heat.

Perfect weather for eating every meal outdoors.

But other than that nothing. Working. Madly.

This weekend the girls are away and Tom and I will be home alone.  Next week he is away to the Gold Coast for a conference. He’s staying in a nice hotel that apparently deliver fruit platters to the room – we think the girl comes with it. For some reason he wasn’t keen on this girl and said the colleague that is travelling with him can have his.  He’ll keep the fruit platter though.

So everyone is getting away except me.  Which I think is a bit unfair.

Grace in Small Things 4

1. Unexpected visitors – there is a creek at the bottom of the garden so we have frogs visiting regularly. It’s always pleasing. Ok, there was that one time that it wasn’t quite so pleasing, but usually it is.

2. Friends.  Since birth…all of them. 

 

3. My mother-in-law’s home made apricot jam on still warm grain bread.

4. Rock stars doing Abba Karaoke in their underwear.

5. Stella (can we pretend this is an arty shot that’s supposed to be blurry like that?) she’s wriggly…it’s hard to get a non-blurry one.