Kitty

I'm a dog person, not a cat person but can tolerate them if they have a good personality.

A ginger cat (female mind you) adopted us as its new owners about a month ago. No warning or anything, just showed up on our doorstep one day and has been here ever since.

We're pretty sure it has its set house rounds as most cats do, and actually belong to the neighbours across the road. They don't seem to really care on her whereabouts though, but I guess she can always go back home when she wants to.

What I think has happened is that she has been neglected, not fed etc (she is abit on the thin side) so has made the decision to find a new home. She is a pretty little thing with no blemishes (I'd say pedigree but apparently pedigree ginger cats are all male?)  and has already demonstrated her ability to catch mice under our house.

Guess it's not a bad thing then.

Note: generic image only and not indicative of the actual Kitty.

Diets

That 2 week reprieve from work went all too quickly!
Back on my 2nd week and catching up on the latest news on the web in our country.

There is a news article that supposedly says that the people of our nation are eating themselves to death, with approx 1/3 of our meals being fast food and takeaways.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/doctors-weigh-in-you-are-what-you-eat-and-australias-killing-itself/story-e6frfro0-1226220222732

Looking also at the recommended daily intake of all food groups has led me to do a comparison of the typical Aussie diet and the diet of that of my latest overseas trip- Nippon.

Wholegrains and Cereals

Aussie:
A simple breakfast of the average Aussie man/woman at home before heading to work or dropping the kids off at school would be a bowl of cereal, maybe a slice or two of toast with Vegemite, jam or whatever takes their fancy.

If you wanted to go all out and have a hearty Aussie breakfast (or truckers brekky), this would usually consist of toast, bacon, eggs, sausages, grilled tomato, hash brown, steak and/or pancakes. (Grease, grease and more grease)

Nippon:
We experienced different sorts of breakfast on our trip. Nowadays the working Japanese has a simple breakfast consisting of toast, a boiled egg and a coffee at home. If you were to eat out, the fast food on offer (other than Maccas) would be a bowl of sauteed beef and onions over rice, nigiri sushi or danish, croquettes or sausages in a bread roll from the numerous convenience stores.

Fruit & Vegetables
Aussie:
We are meant to have 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables per day. In reality most of us only consume half (if that) of this. The majority of times I find myself having fruit is as an occasional snack (morning or afternoon tea), but that is only if I can not tempt myself to reach for that packet of chips or crackers. Veggies though, we usually have as a side, amongst other carbs and put meat at the centre of our meals. I'd like to try and change that.

Nippon:
I didn't have much fruit over there, but in saying that though there was no shortage of it being offered as part of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Fruit was even available for purchase on the side of the road with a honesty purchase system. Even if you purchased a bento box (lunch box of a variety of sushi, seafood, egg) there was always a piece of fruit included to finish off. Much of the desserts are also fruit-based, if not otherwise just garnish over something abit more sweeter but not as sweet as Western desserts.

Unlike us, the Japanese put much more emphasis on vegetables. Every meal has either pickled veggies, boiled veggies, or came with a fair share of veggies with only minimal seafood and meat. (hard-core carnivores will weep). But...........................all meals were surprisingly filling even for a standard carnivore like me. I think I ate the equivalent of about 1 whole cabbage over the course of the trip.

Meats and Meat Alternatives

Aussie:
As mentioned before, we pride on our meat, whether red, white or multicoloured. Serious meat-eaters will devour a hunk of steak in moments and then have veggies as the side dish which if they don't finish they don't care. As long as all the meat is finished we are satisfied. Meat is cheaper here than in Nippon which is why we have so much more of it in our meals.

Nippon:
Meat (especially red and white meat like chicken and pork) is quite expensive there, hence it takes a backseat at most meals and allows veggies and rice to take over. There is nothing bad about this, except you might crave a big juicy steak sooner or later, which you can freely have, but your food budget will go out the window. Seafood on the other hand is pretty popular considering it is readily available.

Dairy Products

Aussie:
Milk and cheese are pretty popular choices here. Whether its part of breakfast, cooking or simply putting on a party spread there will always be dairy evident in many foods we eat.

Nippon:
Things such as cheese and cow's milk are hardly used in Japanese food with the exception for maybe  some desserts, however I must say I was abit surprised to see cheese still readily available on the grocery shelves. Most foods are soy-based which satisfies all lactose-intolerant people. Tofu is a very popular choice.

Sugars and Fats

Aussie:
Lastly, we love our fatty and sweet goodness. Be it savoury snacks and lavish/decadent desserts we probably eat waaaaaaay too much sugar and bad fats, but it tastes sooooo good!!! (Just have to get on that bike and ride to Perth and back to work it all off)

Nippon:
Desserts are also sweet but not as sweet as the Western palate. Those that love their thickly -rich chocolate mud cakes and sweet pavlovas will be disappointed with their desserts. I much prefer their desserts to be honest. Most are custard or fruit-based or contain red beans, sago, jelly and glutinious rice. However, I did stumble across a macaron tower in one of the big underground malls.....

Merry Christmas to all.

Thank You

Just thought I'd like to thank anyone that actually reads my blog, and I do apologise for not updating it as much as I would like. Honestly though, even if no-one actually reads this I really don't mind. Although I do appreciate the occasional comments :D

At times I really don't have much to say or have anything exciting to share so would rather say nothing at all.

I am very blessed to still have an active social life 'offline' so to speak. That is, socialising outside of areas like Facebook, Twitter, Google+?? (out of those 3 I really only use Facebook)

For the next 2 weeks I'll be gallavating around a foreign country and would like to go back to having a holiday where I don't need to keep everyone up to date on my travels. To immerse yourself into a foreign culture and trying to avoid visiting overcrowded tourist attractions and head off the beaten track is my aim this time round.

Only 1 month til Christmas!!!!

Passing On

My Grandad-in-law (Husband's grandfather) passed away a week ago.
It never occurred to me that he was the closest Grandad I ever had- will miss him, but we will celebrate his life and the wonderful times we had with him at a memorial service tomorrow.

Death is not something people like to discuss. But as I talk with more and more people, the evolving thoughts about it is that 'it just happens' and there is nothing we can do about it. We just follow the process of mourning, grief, remembrance and then say a final farewell before we go back to our usual daily routine.

For some, especially when death comes to those that are young, it is difficult to say goodbye entirely. The concept of injustice creeps in but that is a topic for discussion at a later time. In situations like my grandad-in-law who lived to a good ripe age of 89, it is sort of expected but then the shock of the sudden departure still creates some grief.

It's times like these that I think death should be discussed, however difficult the topic may be.
People ask questions about what happens to life after death, whether there is a heaven and hell and reflect on the 'good things' that person has done which then guarantees them a place in heaven.

I hope from my past blog posts that people realise that I do not agree with that last sentence. I believe that heaven and hell is real. There cannot be a heaven without a hell and vice versa. Heaven is a place where God dwells for all eternity. Hell is the place where God is absent.

There is nothing (whether good or not) that we can boast about that will allow us into heaven. I believe that God as our Creator through his love has given us the following choice: To accept Him as Lord and Saviour, or to reject Him completely. There is no sitting on the fence with this option. Whatever choice we decide on, God will grant it accordingly.

To accept Him as Lord and Saviour means to confess that we by nature, are condemned to death because of our wickedness and sin. That person confesses and believes that through the death and rising from the dead of Jesus Christ (the Son of God) they are now forgiven, accepted by God and believe that they will spend all eternity in heaven with God. Through this belief they live life for God and put Him first in their lives. This by no means says that they are no longer wicked and no longer sin, but rather they recognise their sins/struggles and turn to God to teach them how to resist and ultimately change. For these, death is only the beginning of a eternity with God.
To reject Him is to not acknowledge God of what He is or His existence. It is to live life for oneself completely, making our own choices and satisfying our own desires. It means that life is lived with no regrets. When the time comes to be accountable for those choices that were made, the reliance on getting to heaven is based on the good things they have done. The fact that the life that was lived
rejected God and His existence, then their future is eternal separation from God.

Here's something worth reading also.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/categories/dont-waste-your-life

Whales

We have the privilege of living in a place ruled by democracy; a place where you can experience multiculturalism without even leaving the country.

It's also a place where during the right time of year you can go whale watching- only an hour's drive from home to the coast.

After living in this country all my life, as a belated birthday present..................I shall be going whale-watching for the very first time.

Very excited about this- hope that the weather clears up to be a beautiful spring day, for us to enjoy these big, beautiful, graceful creatures of the sea.

Was abit skeptical until now

I think I've just experienced my first ever migraine.
It's been a week now and it comes and goes. When the pain comes it is quite potent.

I'd always been skeptical of migraines and their existence but now after some medical advice and experiencing it first-hand, I can deny no longer- it really does exist.

I've heard other opinions that such symptoms are simply hypochondria, but when you feel that much pain all of a sudden on a semi-regular basis is hard to ignore.

Selfishness vs Selflessness

These 2 words, although only containing a difference of 3 letters in spelling have such different meanings entirely.

One denotes having an exclusive concern about oneself vs the other that exhibits little or no concern for oneself. News reports are forever providing explanation of this trend of selfishness as the current generation's personalities but I think the society as a whole is affected by this.

When presented with options or choices to make, our first reaction is 'What's in it for me?' or 'Which option will benefit me the best?' To take it further, we fail to plan ahead and live in the 'here and now' with instant gratification driving lives and choices.

We blame our busy lives on being time-poor- but is it really that simple?

This is no different in the Christian life. We make excuses to not pray, read Scripture, go to church even and give financially to those that ask without expecting anything in return. But somenow, we always manage to find time watching podcasts, playing games on our smartphones, going out for coffee, having dinner parties, playing sport, playing computer games, watching TV, pretty much anything that is considered 'more fun' than spending time with our Lord.

I blogged previously about what KP Yohannan said with regards with financial giving amongst the fellowship of the church and how many churches including my own, are very materialistic in the way we think and don't give generously because we prefer to keep the majority of the things we think we own back to the Lord for His use. Classic example would be providing free food to a church full of wealthy people and families, rather than giving the free food to people just down the road that really need it.

"We do not own ourselves; we are owned by God," said John Piper in his Don't Waste Your Life messages. The ultimate act of selflessness and the greatest gift to ever be freely given to those who believe, is the gift of forgiveness, unconditional love and acceptance into eternal life with God through sending His Son to be punished, die and condemned with all the wickedness of the world laid upon Him.

We have no right to claim we deserve to be loved and accepted by God based on what we do and who we are.

GFA Audio Book

During a recent 4 hour return car trip from camp to a wedding and back again, we listened to the audio version of the free Gospel for Asia book 'Revolution in World Missions'.

Written by Dr KP Yohannan, it chronicles his journey from a remote Indian village where he grew up, to be convicted of native missionary work and thus establish what is now known as the 'Gospel for Asia' missionary organisation. (or GFA).

The world generally knows about World Vision sponsorship. The Christian network knows about Compassion and TEAR sponsorships and community projects. There is nothing wrong with supporting these, but GFA offers something uniquely different.

Rather than sending people from developed countries into developing countries to do social and community projects or even evangelism amongst the local people, GFA's focus is on training people from within those countries to preach and teach Scripture,. They are then sent back to their homeland to undertake this ministry, as they have the unique advantage of already understanding the culture, the language and the people they serve.

One chapter in the free book described how when KP was visiting many churches in the US to generate support to establish this organisation and to support missionary work in general, one quote he wrote stood out for me:

(paraphrased)

"I'd be drumming up financial support for missionary work amongst the churches and their leadership team. They would happily offer donations of various amounts, but when I was invited afterwards to a dinner function with them, the amount of money they spent on the dinner alone was so much more than what they gave financially towards the missionary cause. This made me sick and wonder "are we as a society so materialistically-driven that we act as if we give generously, but in reality only give a small portion of what we think is generous and keep the rest for ourselves?"

All Day Brekkies

I cannot resist all day brekkies if the opportunity allows me.
In saying that though, there aren't alot of places that offer this on their menus where the brekky is actually so good you have to make a return trip. Better still, become a regular.

Franchises aside, (sorry Coffee Club), there have only been a small number of places that I've considered to be great places to visit and tuck right into a hearty savoury or sweet breakfast for morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and the occasional dinner (if the joint is open after 4:30pm).

Pandemonium Cafe

This I think is one of the great little secrets in the inner-city. Brightly decorated in retro colours, furniture and music gig posters, this cafe in a small lime green house serves fantastic brekkies ranging from the hearty truckers brekky, simple eggs on toast, sausages and eggs, bacon and eggs, omelettes, pancakes and the classic Pando's Eggs Benedict on toasted turkish/ciabatta. Also has a great drinks selection ranging from teas, coffees, milkshakes and fresh fruit juices and frappes. Caters for gluten and vegan diets too if given notice. Prices are pretty reasonable.

The Gun Shop Cafe

I haven't been here for quite awhile, mainly due to the cafe not allowing breakfast bookings on weekends, but this would be the place where I was first introduced to gourmet breakfasts. Whilst the brekky menu changes seasonally, there will always be something on the menu that will whet your appetite. Prices are on the higher side in comparison but that's what you get for a cafe that also doubles as a fine dining restaurant when the sun sets.

Red Radish Cafe

Whenever I head down the coast for some cheap retail therapy at Harbourtown, I like this place for its basic, no-nonsense breakfast fare. It is I think, one of the very few cafes in this complex that does offer more than just the usual sandwiches, open grills, muffins, coffee and cake specials, when you really feel like something more substantial to keep you going until the shops close at 5pm. Again, fairly reasonably priced.

New Farm Deli

Probably one of the original deli's that expanded into the cafe business, by allowing customers to consume the food first and then if so inclined, purchase some for home when they leave. Whilst not exactly a breakfast item, it is famous for its large bell-shaped risotto balls that will satisfy any hungry customer. There's nothing wrong with eating rice for breakfast though. My grandmother makes the best congee in the world.

New places that I would like to visit:

The Rare Pear
The Music Kafe
Campos Cafe

Rosemount Australian Fashion Week- Spring/Summer 2011/2012

Scored an invitation to the NewGen Show at RAFW in Sydney this week, courtesy of some very talented cousins of mine.

It's all abit new and strange to me really- this means I will actually have to make an effort to look fashionable and actually look like I think about what clothes I wear every single day.

No idea on trends, what to/what not to wear, have a very small supply of jewellery and accessories that any girl would shake their heads at in disbelief.

I'm a tracky-dacks, t-shirts and jeans girl................

Repeat Blog Content

Just blatantly repeating blog content as I couldn't think of making this any clearer:

A fishing we will go
A fishing we will go
Heigh Ho, the derry ho
A fishing we will go

Alternative Choice

Poor Tasmania.
Always the bridesmaid to a planned Japan trip. Didn't think this would happen in 2 years.

Hope we can eventually make it to Japan someday.

We traded the following:
- sushi
- katsu
- okonomiyaki
- sashimi
- kaiseki
- Totoro
- Mt Fuji

for these instead:
- fresh oysters shucked on same day
- homemade scones with fresh strawberry jam and whipped cream
- fresh smoked salmon
- hearing about 10 convicts that stole the last ship on the Sarah island penal settlement and sailed it all the way to Chile
- 12 km bushwalk in World Heritage National Park
- trout fishing
- Cascades brewery tour
- Mt Wellington
- Nerf Gun War in Newtown

Had enough of sensationalism

Article about the Japanese resilience in the aftermath of last week's events.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/why-quakes-leave-the-japanese-unshakeable/story-fn84naht-1226021692350

The 3rd last paragraph really hit a note for me. I really have come to dislike the way our country reports any local or world news because of this.

Observations

Some observations of recent times:

Some people have close-knit families, others do not. Those that do often spend most public holidays together each year by tradition, but sometimes wish that they could freely do something else with other people without offending their own families. If they break tradition, even in the smallest of ways, means the whole family and extended family will ignore them for the rest of the year if not longer.
For some that do not have close-knit families, often wish they did. They would like a sense of tradition in their lives where they can share and hang with their families rather than going to work or being alone every Christmas. Some will have family but can freely choose whether to see them or not, as they prefer to live as carefree and independent as possible. But at the end of the day, bitterness may still set in, even though that was the choice they made in the first place.

Some couples do not plan to have children, but then somehow manage to keep having children one after the other. Others plan to have children and feel truly blessed when their prayers are answered. Others plan to have children but it is disappointment after disappointment after disappointment. Then those people that have found it easy think "what can be so hard about this? I didn't find it difficult so why should they?' Those that are disappointed find it unhelpful when comments such as 'you've been married for over 10 years now, surely it must be time for you to start having kids. What's taking you so long? You better start soon otherwise it will be too late'. (OUCH!!) It's times like this that it's better to not say anything at all. 

Some people unknowingly become 'rich' due to certain circumstances arising, others still put in their lotto tickets every week to win that elusive jackpot so as to retire comfortably. Working in a finance industry it amazes me to witness that most people that religiously so to speak, put their syndicates in, often say 'when I win lotto, that will be the day I will quit my job as I will be pretty well set for the rest of my life.' Question is................. when you eventually have the money to buy and do whatever you want, will that truly please you and satisfy your needs for the rest of your life and the next?

What would happen if God decided that you were to not see your family ever again, not to have alot of money and not to have children ever?

However, what would you think if God decided that you were to not see your family ever again, not to have alot of money and not to have children ever...................because that is He had planned for you all along, and He promises that your life will be even more blessed because of it?

They who are blameless should cast the first stone

Warning: disturbing paraphrases of comments made on the internet below.

I have been quite horrified by the many comments that have been made by the Australian public towards the airing of an interview with the mother of Martin Bryant, the man who had been accused of murdering 35 people and wounding many others in Port Arthur on April 28, 1996.

Many comments have been made on the web about how both her and her son should not be alive, he is to blame for giving birth to him and that her opinion and her story should never be told because no-one else really cares about what she thinks. Other opinions state that it was disgrace to air the interview in the first place as it was insensitive towards the victims of the massacre that are still suffering as a result.
 
Is this really what our society has become? Putting our contempt for human beings in writing for the whole world to read?
 
Words are easily said but the effect of such words run far deeper than anyone can possibly imagine. We are all guilty of saying horrible things to each other (both friends and strangers) but to even say or write such horrible and awful things about someone else on the World Wide Web is just wrong.
 
Others could sum up this in 3 words: 'Tall Poppy Syndrome' which is part of the society that I live in, although I don't agree with it.
 
However, I think this goes way beyond this and is actually moving towards 'Public Degradation for One's Amusement".
 
Whilst not all of us are murderers, are we really any better than them? Are the accusations made going to 'improve' your chances of getting a VIP pass into heaven? Do comments like this mean you are a better person than anyone else?
 
Would you really be game enough to stand before God and say "God, I thank you that I am not like other people- robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or definitely not like this murderer. I donate money to charities, I help people when I'm asked to help because overall I'm a pretty good person that deserves to go to heaven because my good things outweigh the bad."
 
I pray for these people that they will realise (just like me), that I am no better than anyone else (murderers, criminals etc) and that I need forgiveness like the person who says 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner'.
 
 
 
 

How Great is Our God

I was privileged to welcome 2 new sisters in Christ last night after 6 months going through the series 'Stranger on the Road to Emmaus'.

The angels rejoice in the presence of the Lord, we rejoice with them as 2 more people have been shown the way to eternal life, have accepted that there is nothing we humans can do to be made right with God except the blood of Jesus Christ.

Courtesy of our mate Chris, sing with me:

The splendour of the the King
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice, all the earth rejoice
He wraps himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice, trembles at His voice

How great is our God
Sing with me how great is our God,
And all will sing how great
How great is our God.

Age to age He stands,
And time is in His hands
The Beginning and the End, beginning and the end
The Godhead, three in one
Father, Spirit, Son
The Lion and the Lamb, Lion and the Lamb

How great is our God
Sing with me how great is our God,
And all will sing how great
How great is our God.

Name above all names
You are worthy of all praise
And my heart will sing
How great is our God.

Watto is my hero

Thanks to Watto (and Binga), the AUS cricket team has redeemed itself (after losing the Ashes on home soil dismally) by winning the ODI series against ENG, and fittingly at the Gabba :D

Now, let's see if the stadiums in India will be ready in time for the ICC World Cup starting in a few weeks time.

Anyone have Foxtel in their house and willing for me to camp out at their place for 2.5 months?

Anti-Self Proclamation

I was one of 2,000 people that welcomed Chris Tomlin at his 1st ever concert north of the border last night.
I don't do Easterfest, Sonfest or any of those things but as my husband and many other church friends love his songs and the way he goes about his passion for music (more on that later) we made sure we were free on this Australia Day 2011 to see Chris in person for ourselves.

Now, the extent of what I knew about Chris is pretty limited and may not be anything worthy of mention (Chris would agree with this statement, again more on that later)- an American Christian songwriter that is often seen with his frequent collaborator Ps Louie Giglio, who tours with him explaining the Christian message to those that are Christian and those that are not.

Now this was the 1st ever Christian artist concert I have ever attended. With the location at what I would call a pentacostal church I had expected there to be a mosh pit of some sort and many people filled with emotion with their hands raised. I wasn't disappointed as my expectations came true somewhat (well, minus the mosh pit).

What I was disappointed with though (and this is my personal view) was the distinct difference between the two Christian bands that were playing that night.

The first band to grace the stage was the Parachute Band from NZ. Again I don't know much about them. I got the feeling that they were the 'support act' for Chris and his band, and my viewpoint of a support act is that they should usually complement what is to come from the main artist. (I say 'usually' as I'm sure this is not always the case with many artists- take U2 for example who had Jay-Z (an R & B artist) as their support act last year.)

Anyway, after listening to both Parachute Band and then Chris, these are the things I picked up on:

Parachute Band seemed very hyped up and had the characteristics of a modern Christian band with an aim to tap into the younger generation through songs that had a modern feel to it . They used language and phrases that sounded nice and used some Christian-sounding words, but didn't have as great an impact or challenge for us to see our true selves as sinful, condemned people.

Both bands did utilise passages of Scripture throughout their sets which was pleasing to see. Without Scripture, what difference would that make to any other music artist/band?

Chris was extremely humble, which is not normally seen in any music artist. And I mean.............. truly humble.

I'm not saying that he was the 'thanks but I am just doing things that I love and feel really honoured that people will listen to my music because it comes from my heart etc etc etc' type of humbleness.

The humbleness that Chris possessed was simply ' Hi, my name is Chris. I'm so happy to be here with you all tonight, singing praises to our awesome God. All of us here on this stage are just here to assist you in encountering God if you do not know Him, and to know Him better if you do. You might be here because you saw a name shining out in neon lights. I do hope that the main reason you are here tonight is because the name you see in neon lights is no other name except the name of Jesus Christ, because there is no-one else who is worthy to be praised, honoured and glorified than Him'.

That was it- no fanfare, no statements of proclaiming one-self as being gifted or special than any other person in the room. He just saw himself as a musician that through God's grace and wisdom is able to write songs that are focused purely on everything that God is- His character, His love, His mercy, His grace, His mighty deeds, His sovereignty, His justice.

We didn't leave the concert with the thought of 'How great was Chris', but most importantly 'How great is our God'.

Lost the Plot

Firstly I had a nightmare of a dream where everyone I've ever known/knew had turned against me one way or the other, as a result of a decision which I thought wasn't that big a deal ended upbeing so important and significant for everyone else that they all deserted me.

I can't remember in detail what exactly happened but it must have extremely put them off from associating with me ever again. Therefore I was ex-communicated from all society, given the mark of condemnation for everyone to see.....................kinda like Jean Valjean having to show his yellow ticket of leave so everyone would forever associate him and treat him as an outcast.

Then I came to work and a spyware virus found its way onto my server session. This was because I now had to start from scratch all over again, researching and finding all the hens weekend activities that had been carefully planned for the past year, as our hard drive has completely died so we cannot access anything.

Hello 2011!

First day back at work for the new year.
Nothing much worthy of note.

BLT January is next week which will be great as we look at Missions and Evangelism which every person who confesses Jesus as their Lord should do every day for the rest of their lives.

Watch out Melbourne!

Here we come!

5 out of 100,000 people at the 'G' on Sunday arriving from interstate cheering our Aussie boys.

Watch your TV on Boxing Day, you just might see us :)

Stuck in a moment and I can't get out of it

The first of the U2 360 degree tour starts tonight in my hometown here.
Unfortunately I am not going, so to anyone who is...........................don't get wet...........stay cool............and say hi to Bono for me.

Be Kind and Rewind

Today is one of those days that I just feel extremely stupid and all the small and simple tasks that should only take a minute to do end up taking an hour or more to accomplish.

Can I rewind the clock, go back to sleep and just start this day all over again??????

Pick your faces

I have a very useless habit of recognising actors and actresses who were once unknown but are now household names or who I reckon will become household names in the future.

From the many times I have sat at home re-watching the Doctor Who series 1 to 4 box sets, I simply have to make a list of the following people whom I recognise when they were guest stars, and are well-known or going to become well-known in the future:

Carey Mulligan
She played Sally Sparrow in the episode 'Blink'.
Now an Oscar nominee, competing with Keira Knightley for famous British actress awards and in movies such as Wall Street- Money Never Sleeps and Never Let me Go.

Andrew Garfield
Everyone now knows Andrew as the new Spiderman in the up and coming movies revamp. He's also starred in the recent movie 'The Social Network' about Facebook. But did you know that he had a guest role on two (2) episodes (Daleks in Manhatten and Evolution of the Daleks) as Frank, a young American lad who had to leave his family during the Great Depression and ends up in Hooverville New York?

Harry Lloyd
Now Harry probably isn't well know yet but I reckon he is a promising young actor to come. Harry also guest-starred in two (2) episodes titled 'The Family of Blood' and 'Human Nature' . He played Jeremy Baines, a school student who ends up being possessed by The Family.

Colin Morgan
We all know him as Merlin in the TV series, but Colin had a bit part in the episode 'Midnight', that converted me into a Doctor Who fanatic! (of David, not Colin)  He played Jethro, a fellow passenger on the tourist trail to the planet Midnight.

Thomas Sangster

He played Liam Neeson's son in Love Actually, a young brat in Nanny McPhee and the adolescent Paul McCartney in the recent movie 'Nowhere Boy'. Thomas was also in the episodes 'The Family of Blood' and 'Human Nature' as a fellow school student but doesn't become possessed.

Now to my next favourite DVD box set 'Inspector Rex':

Karl Markovics
Whilst not an Oscar winner or nominee himself I dont think, Karl played the title role in the foreign film 'The Counterfeiters' as Salomon Sorowitsch, who was a Jew that ended up helping the Nazis printing counterfeit Deustchmarks during WWII. This film won Best Foreign Film at the 2008 Oscars. Karl protrayed the detective Ernst Stockinger in 2 series of Inspector Rex.

Christoph Waltz
Everyone knows Christoph from his Oscar winning performance in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, but he also had a role as a villian in the episode 'The Doll Murderer' in season 3.

Gedeon Burkhard
Also in Inglorious Basterds as a soldier Willem Wicki, but he took over from Tobias Moretti as the chief inspector and new owner of Rex from seasons 4 to 6.

Disappointing 1st Test

After such a fantastic start on Days 1 and 2, we looking at a draw for the 1st Ashes Test.
With the exception of Mr Cricket's fantastic century and the Siddlenator's hat-trick, we have been below average on the rest of the game.

Some quotes of worthy mention from the various cricket online threads:

Poor old Mitch Johnson looks about as threatening to the English batsmen as my 98 year old grandmother.
(courtesy of staff member's email)

The Barmy Army are in full voice now. I have no idea what they're chanting, but it's something that involves finger pointing as well. (courtesy of Cric Info live Scoreboard)

Ponting has had enough of the X man and has recalled Siddle who, in his most cartoon-like way, looks pumped. (courtesy of Cric Info live Scoreboard)

You have to love Michael Hussey, bounding around the outfield like a puppy as Trott flicks into space (courtesy of Cric Info live Scoreboard)

New blood

I'm looking at the players for this year's Ashes series for my fantasy league team :)
Approximately 50% of the names I am unfamiliar with.

no more chants of ooh, ahh, Glenn McGrath........I said ooh ahh Glenn McGrath or 'g'd bowlin.........Shaaane! or Warnie, give us a wave!!

I will miss seeing the names of Hayden, McGrath, Langer, Gilchrist, Warne, Lee, Symonds and daresay Flintoff on the scoreboards this summer :(

Methinks I should read up on some of the new breed of stock that will hopefully make an impact this year.

I wonder if Panasar will make an impact this year?

Booked up calender

I am now officially booked out all weekends between now and Christmas Day:

20/11- Brunch/Lunch Catch-up
27/11- Birthday Party
28/11- Womens High Tea
4/12- Work Christmas Party
11/12- Family Christmas Dinner
12/12- Church Carols
18/12- Open House Invitation and Engagement Party
25/12- Christmas!

New Dishes

Made my first Bread and Butter Pudding last week for dessert.

Whilst I prefer making savouries over sweets, I'm finding that making large desserts such as this are actually ok.

Continuing the pudding band-wagon I might as well try out the dangerous Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding sometime too.

I'm craving a brunch at an All Day Breakfast place somewhere soon- might add this to my ever-increasing To-Do List.

Only in NSW

If your young son suddenly had a craving for a late night snack/munchies around 10:30pm, and wanted to go the shops to get some food, what would you do?

a) Go to the kitchen and give him some fruit instead as it is better for him
b) Tell him he's dreaming and herd him back to bed immediately
c) Hop in the car and speed all the way to the nearest 7-11 before it shuts
c) Take him out the back of the house, hop into your tinny and hoon over to the over side of the river and let him get his own snacks from the local service station at the other side
d) Give him a shot of rum and wait for him to hit the sack like a falling tree

Next scenario:

You are fishing at the local jetty and notice an Asian family that is also fishing there. You use different bait to them as you think you know better. Over the next 2 hours you then witness them pulling fish in one after the other, putting them all into their esky, mostly undersized ones. You catch nothing.
What do you do?

a) Start crying like a baby
b) You go over to their esky, pick it up and tip all the contents of the esky over the railing back into the river, tell them it is illegal to keep the fish, put it back down and go back to your fishing chair
c) You try and steal a fish from their esky when they are not looking
d) You decide it really is your bait that is not doing the trick, so you go up to them and politely ask them if you can borrow some of their bait instead

Perspectives

Let's be honest- 2010 has been a very difficult year for us.
A year that we probably don't really want to remember when it's over in a little over 2 months time.

We've had lots of things thrown at us to test our endurance, our health, our financial situation, our relationships, our commitments, our faith.

Satan has been working hard on us, we have almost drowned and of late been ready to give up, but God has spoken loud and clear that we are not forsaken and that He is faithful, true and has shared in our pain.

The journey has been alot tougher than I'd originally anticipated.

It hasn't been easy watching other people's lives continue on as normal, and seeing that everyone else's lives appear problem-free, worry-free and struggle-free, doing whatever they want to do and being able to do so without any limitations.

I struggle to remember what it was like to be normal again, if none of the things that have occurred this year ever happened. Would our lives have been better, worse or the same?

It is true that the past couple of years have been spiritually stagnant. So it actually makes sense that we had to face the things that have been thrown at us this year to rekindle the flame and appreciate so much more-on spiritual things rather than earthly, material things.

So I think my answer to the question above, is that our lives would have been possibly worse off if this year had been a year without the struggles we have faced.

Smooth sounds

Abit of a mumbo-jumbo music thread of the songs I've just listened to on my iTouch (in shuffle mode):

Right Here, Right Now, and wondering What's Ur Flava this weekend? The Cure is loving falling down and bouncing back on a High, they also like Toy Soldiers and Sailing Away into the sunset which is not Easy to Ignore.

It's time for a Holiday. It's boring to go on your own- my friends.....................I get the feeling that I cannot go on a great holiday Without You.

MMMmMMMmMMMM.

More Threads

All it took was a 1 hour visit to my godmother and godfather on Saturday and more connections/links/people threads were drawn.

My godmother's youngest daughter (who is married) was a missionary (possibly with CMS) in Africa for 10 years.
She is currently studying part-time at QTC and knows my brother and sister-in-law.
Godmother's son-in-law is the associate pastor at a local Anglican Church and the particular church service he oversees contains lots of people from my husband's previous church.
One of my godmother's grand-daughters and grandson are friends of a friend at our church, with her grandson doing the same degree as our church friend.
Godmother's youngest daughter knows my GP for many years, through another church they used to attend together on the northside.

Post Op To Do List

I've written a To Do List on FB which is a list of fun things to do after my latest hospital visit.
As of today (3 weeks) it does not appear to have made much progress.

The problem is that I keep adding stuff to the list but fail to cross things off the list :)

Another adder-onnerer:

Pork Knuckle.

Now this should be easily fulfilled as it is Oktoberfest 2010 in 17 days time.

Oktoberfest Brisbane

It so happens that 2010 marks the 200th anniversary of this German food and beer celebrations.

Unlike many people at church, I was not able to go Europe this year so I shall hopefully enjoy a little bit of Germany and Austria (Inspector Rex territory) soon.

*Gulp* of the weekend

Was at a surprise birthday party on the weekend.

When we saw photos of the birthday boy with a '05' school jersey our 1st thought was...........

Good grief!!!
That was the year we got married..............

no wonder we're called Aunty and Uncle.

"Positively Glowing"

1st day back to work after radiation treatment.

Almost 100% of people I've spoken to have commented that I look extremely healthy, well-rested and face full of colour.

Does that mean that I looked like an ugly green Ogre or Witch with warts and pale skin beforehand???

Cancer Diary #5

Out of hospital now after radioiodine treatment.
Problem now is that I have a croaky voice once again :(

Dunno what's going on.
No other patients had this yesterday (or probably today for that matter).

Citizens Beware

be very very afraid...........

it walks................

it crawls...................

it runs........................

it shuffles...........................

and it s ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beware of the Snuffle Monster!!!!!!!!!!! *sniff sniff*

Special Powers

An email that I got from a friend today has led me to open up the floodgates and ask people what special powers they think would be cool if they were 'radioactive' for 3 days.

There must be cooler powers than just glowing green.

First

Never in my life would I have thought I would have to walk into a organic food store.

In the past 4 days, I've walked into 2 separate health food stores looking for egg substitutes, salt-free tomato sauce, salt-free mustard and some other ingredients I need to use for the 2 week low-iodine diet I start today, to prepare myself for radioactive iodine therapy at the RBWH in 2 weeks.

In both instances I came out emptyhanded.

I wasn't going to buy a 1.5kg tub of egg white powder for $40 and there was nothing there I found which was salt-free.

A clarification, I can have salt in my diet, just not sea salt, or iodised salt.

It is quite surprising to see how much stuff, even normal seasonings contain salt- in actual fact, there is alot of stuff that I cannnot eat which contains iodine or traces of iodine.

At least I can still have potatoes..............minus the potato skins :)

Ich sprechen Deutsch

Guten Morgen.
Mein Name ist Frau W.
Ich bin ein Buchhalter.
Ich mag gerade Kommissar Rex.
Hoffentlich kann ich learnen, mehr deutsche Phrasen.
Ich mochte, Schweinefleisch zu eseen Eisbein.
Auf Wiedersehn.

Chuckle of the day

The very cool John Barrowman mocking Beyonce's 'Single Ladies'.
Real shame that he is gay.

Meaningless!

I've decided I don't want to work full-time anymore after almost 9 years.

Will be discussing a part-time option of 4 days a week instead- tomorrow is the day of negotiations.

Less stress, less chained to work = more God time, more opportunity.

Work to live rather than live to work.


"Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!
What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

"I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil- this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it."

Ecclesiastes 1:2-4, 2:12-14b.

Remember to stop and smell the roses along the way.

Vouchers

Woot Woot.
It's been awhile since this happened, but I've received in the mail a full A4 page of KFC vouchers :)

Happy times.

Pictures on FB

Blogger takes way to long to upload pictures so I have uploaded said food photos (plus a couple extra) onto FB.

Resurrected an OLD photo album of food.

Food Glorious Food

Now that I'm still working part-time, I have more time to rest at home and do some home cooking which I enjoy.

Made a 3 minute chocolate cake in a mug last night for dessert. Such a dangerous recipe!
Also made my own version of a Hogs Breath Cafe Steak, complete with either mushroom or bearnaise sauce, avocado, baked potato and salad.

Going to make an authentic Spanish Paella in my paella pan for tomorrow night for a special birthday dinner :)

Pictures to come soon. (either here for Facebook)

Who needs to watch Masterchef for inspiration.

Over-done

I think I may have destroyed my voice last night after laughing so hard at the many antics that occurred at Dilsy's birthday party.

Alternative careers

I like organising holidays and trips, looking at accommodation options and researching such things.

Two alternative career paths I've been thinking about lately are a travel agent/consultant or an ESL teacher.

Both require some additional form of qualifications though.

One is only limited to the secular job network........... the other could be used for missionary work.

hmmmmmmm............

Cancer Diary #4

It is a cause of concern......when you receive in the post a special card titled 'SNP Card' with a covering letter as follows:

"Please find attached an SNP card; a courtesy we would like to extend to you so that you can be bulk-billed for any further Medicare eligible outpatient pathology services this year."

Just gave up 4 vials of blood today before the follow-up appointment with the surgeon next week.

30 Years of Pac-Man Today!

Google has chosen to commemorate this special occasion by creating the 1st ever interactive Google Icon on its homepage where you can actually play the game!!

Don't know how long it will last but abit of nostalgia for those of us aged over 25.

Forgetfulness

Forgot to take my medicine yesterday- really messed me around.
Having dizzy spells, headaches and general forgetfulness.

Feeling guilty about going back to work half-days this week already.

Cancer Diary #3

It's been exactly 1 week today since I was discharged from hospital.
We decided to go out (at my request) on a little 'shopping' trip today so I could try and walk around for abit to get myself moving more. 3 hours later I was ready to go home again, totally exhausted.

The scar seems to be going along nicely. The surgeon was right to be impressed with his handiwork.

It's been cold these 2 days here so a good excuse to wear jackets and scarves that cover the neck.

Now the medical bills start arriving in the post.
Can't put a price on your life though.

Cancer Diary #2

I don't get it.
I sit around and do nothing all day but still feel very tired.
Had a couple of emotional moments in the last few days- sometimes it just happens and then I feel abit better afterwards.

Mum has been coming over and massaging my feet. Now that she is retired she has been doing plenty of tai-chi with the local neighbours and reading up on reflexology books.

She might also try and find a bell for me that I can use around the house.....

Cancer Diary #1

That 'C' word.

It all started about a month ago, on a Sunday afternoon after church. Having lunch with family at home and started getting short, sharp stabs of pain in the right side of my neck. Approximately 3-4 stabs every 2 minutes.

Due to the pain level and consistency, went to the GP the next day to have it checked out. The GP took one look at me and said 'Hmmmm. Your right thyroid is larger than your left.'

She then proceeded to check and feel around the neck.

GP: Um....I can actually feel a lump in the top part of your right thyroid.
Me: Oh? Is that something I should be afraid of?
GP: We don't know yet, but I'd like you to have some tests so I can get a better idea of what that lump is.
Me: (pause).....um....ok.

One Blood Test and Thyroid Ultrasound.

At follow-up appointment:

GP: Well, the blood test can back normal. The Ultrasound indicates the lump is there, but I can't conclude exactly what it is. I'll need you to have more tests as I need to narrow it down to the following possibilities: a Colloid cyst, a Goiter or Cancer.
Me: (silence)
GP: Yes, that C word. That may be all that you remember from this appointment, but the one thing I want you to remember is this: that thyroid cancer is the turtle of all the cancers out there. It is the slowest growing cancer and if you had the choice of getting a cancer, then 'this' one is the 'best' one to have.
Me: Yes, thank you.

Had a Biopsy (Fine Needle Aspiration) in the neck to take out 2 samples of cells.

A week later...........

The cell samples came back abnormal last week.
I was referred to a thyroid surgeon.

Had the thyroid operation 3 days ago.
Surgeon confirmed it was Thyroid Cancer, and whole thyroid has been removed.
I will need to take thyroxin tablets for the rest of my life.
Will also need radioactive iodine therapy in a couple of months time to kill any remaining cancer cells.

Discharged late yesterday and now back at home to recover for 2 weeks.

A cancer survivor at the age of 28.

He's Back!

Doctor Who is Back!

Return of the Friday Funnies

A small selection of what came through emails at work today:

*********************************************************************

Two blondes were going to Disneyland . They were driving on the Interstate when they saw the sign that said Disneyland LEFT. They started crying and turned around and went home.

******
I gave my son a hint. On his room door I put a sign "CHECKOUT TIME IS 18".

******

On my first day of school, my parents dropped me off at the wrong nursery. There I was...surrounded by trees and bushes.

******
And last but not least...

I married my wife for her looks... but not the ones she's been giving me lately!

It's oh so quiet

Been quiet at work the last couple of weeks.

As a result have been meditating and doing lots of thinking about what the rest of this year has in store for me and us. Still no job offers yet for W so that has been affecting me more than what I had thought.

The quietness I think pretty much confirms that I should take this opportunity to drop back to part-time work.

Whilst many women will only go part-time because of children, I feel that it is a privilege also that whilst I currently do not have children, I should utilise this time to serve others during the week. Don't get me wrong- I don't have a problem with mums working part-time or not working at all because of their children.

I just feel right now................ as a married, childless woman that there are people (women in particular) and opportunities available during the week that I can fellowship and disciple, and be discipled myself.

One of the big things on my mind is how to get older, wiser women we know in our church to either formally or informally disciple younger women like myself and many others. Alot of women's bible studies are held during the day, so this automatically limits many young, working women and only reaches the young mums and non-working women in society. Is that something that should be changed?

Trust & Obey

Never have these words ring so true.

To trust that things will be fine when things don't go to plan.
To trust that maybe that was not the opportunity to take.
To trust because something doesn't happen and that's OK.

It's easy to say 'yes I can/do trust you' and 'yes I am patient' but in reality I am not.

To be a person that can wake up each day with no material possessions.......nothing at all except a humble mind and spirit that says:

"God. I don't know where my next meal is and what it is that you have planned for me today. But I know that you can be trusted because you love me anyway, and I believe that Christ died for me and has paid the penalty for my sins. Because of this revelation, I trust that you will lead me and my family to do good things for your kingdom. If it is your will to take us on the most difficult path we have ever faced before, show me the way and I will leave everything behind and go. If this journey takes years and maybe eventually takes my life, I am willing to do that for you, for I know that you have the plans for me; plans to help me and not to harm me; plans to give me hope and a future. (ref Jer 29:11)"

This is how you Trust and Obey.

Walking Backwards

Have been looking at various bushwalks around SE Qld for the upcoming Easter break.

I then remembered the Giant Stairway Walk at Katoomba I did with a bunch of old QUT Christian mates in my uni days. This was when National Training Event was still located at Stanwell Tops, and our team missions were based around the Greater Sydney area.

Giant Stairway Walk

We took the Scenic Railway down and then walked from there to Echo Point, where the 3sisters are.

What most people do is walk down the stairs and then catch the Scenic Railway back to the top!

We did it BACKWARDS.

I don't remember if that had been specified before we went on the walk.........I obviously didn't hear it and therefore collapsed in a heap when we reached the top.

At least I didn't do this walk in flip flops like someone else- bless her!

True womenhood

For women:

Message by John Piper to Women

With very good theology on how marriage is no better than singleness, and why we should not be wimpy women.

An aside- to my interest, John makes mention of some relatives of mine in Australia (Gladys and Esther Staines) as those that are not wimpy women.

List

Defrost meat- check.
Buy more meat- check.
Prepare marinades- check.
Look for chinese veggies- check.
Buy more veggies- not yet checked.

Hungry mouths to feed- hmmmmmmmmmm

No longer anti-social

Helping to make food for a 21st birthday party on the weekend.
Have been told there could be at least 150 people!!

Also, there is a Goodseed Worldviews Evangelistic Conference being held at our church in 2 weeks time. Don't know much about these guys (they're from Canada so maybe you guys can shed some light on them, Nathan and Mareesa?)

Sounds like heavy stuff but some interesting topics though raised that are worth addressing.

Goodseed website here.

Anti-social time

A world first......................
Just checked my calendar and I actually don't have any evening engagements this whole week, Monday to Friday.

What do people do when that happens?
Watch TV?
Read a book?
Clean the house?
Do the laundry?
Cook?
Play card games by themselves?
Sleep?

This whole concept is very foreign to me, especially as I'm not studying either.

Not even uni students get THIS much spare time at night do they?

I'm the Doctor

Quoting Harriet Jones, Prime Minister:

"You're the Doctor, what happened to MY Doctor? Is this just some title that gets passed around?"

Unfortunately the answer is true- My 39 year-old Doctor has regenerated himself into the 20-something year-old Matt Smith. Probably won't be until later this year or next when we get to see this new guy in action, but he has some pretty BIG shoes to fill.

Will he talk too much?
Does he like little shops?
Does his love nibbles?

Bye Bye Mr Tennant- at least I still own 4 seasons of you.

I think I've aged 10 years...

It's only the 2nd day into the Chinese New Year and 15 days into 2010 and:

Someone is out of a job.
Someone is minus an appendix.
Our bathroom has been pulled to pieces and gradually being restored.
Have possibly 5 weddings this year(and counting) and attended 1 already.
Have received matron-of-honour dress already for 2011 Feb wedding (must watch weight)
Read 7 books in one week of the 'Tomorrow Series' by John Marsden.
Next couple of weekends getting booked up quickly.

And I thought 2010 was going to be a more relaxing year.....

Definite ATO scam

The ATO has never, ever accepted 'credit card' as a payment option for paying off your income tax bills.

Why then would they even bother asking you for your credit card details when a tax refund is due to you?

ATO Scam

MAJOR EPIC FAIL for whoever is behind this, but then again there are so many people out there that are doing it tough and anything remotely close to getting money from the government is hard to pass up.

Interview Snippets

Some snippets from a Dr B. Winter interview in the Briefing a couple of months ago:

PH: How are Christians being affected by contemporary worldviews?

BH: 30 years ago, the favourite text amongst Christians was John 3:16. However, in a recent poll, the most quoted text was Matthew 7:1: “Judge not, that you be not judged”. I think that tells us something. Modern Australian culture says you mustn’t judge, and now Christians are following the world by claiming this text as their basis for remaining dumb about the culture. Christians are following non-Christian society by refusing to make these judgements.

PH: Are you saying that Christians have capitulated to the modern age by refusing to distinguish between truth and error?

BH: Yes, I am. Furthermore, they are misapplying the text “Judge not, that you be not judged” in doing so. The reality is that Christians are meant to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor 10:5). Nowhere does the Bible say that believers are meant to keep quiet when people challenge the notion of truth and say that there is no difference between right and wrong.

The church today has imbibed a playboy theology that goes back to Greek philosophical heathenism. The central idea of this Greek view was that our aim in life is to pursue happiness. Many Christians have bought into this idea. They want to serve God, but they also want to be happy. This creates a problem for them because they have no place for pain or suffering in their experience.

Christian young people who follow this line are putting themselves on the same trajectory as the young playboys and playgirls in the first century who said, “Everything is permitted for me; I can do what I like”. As far as they were concerned, life was about enjoying oneself and being happy.

People forget that God’s plan for us Christians also includes trouble and persecution. If our aim is only to have a pain-free and happy life, then we will fall away from Christ when we experience adversity.

The Bible never promises a life that is free of trouble and suffering.

Slight Glitch

Abit of a blip has already occurred this year.

Will work through this prayerfully with God and see what His plans are from here.

Buying in Bulk and Future plans

Why the sudden trend of buying 10kg lots of beef steaks at cheap, wholesale prices and then having this shared around your friends?

Maybe we should consider this for fruit and veggies also, where you could buy boxes of fruit and veg from the markets and then have this divided up also.

Problem is we are only limited to 1 small freezer, and with a bathroom renovation finally taking place in Feb we are saving as much as possible for the rest of the year.

An aside, we have been prayerfully considering where God wants us to be and what He wants us to do in the next couple of years. Both of us at the moment feel that some sort of church-based ministry or bible college may be on the cards.

It's getting to the point where we have both spent a fair number of years working in the secular world. (almost 9 years each)
Both of us feel that we need to do something more productive, and the things we have seen and experienced through working can be valuable for ministry to the church family and/or community.

Attending Brisbane Leadership Training next week- may get to have some meaningful discussions with like-minded people there.

2010

In 6 days time I will mark my 5 years working at Peak.

I shall be 1 step closer towards the 4th decade in my life.

Here's hoping 'Gus Junior' will last longer than 'Gus'.

Trip to Melbourne in Dec for Boxing Day Test?

1 year sabbatical from ministry?

New bathroom

Rent a bigger holiday house on stayz.com.au?

Continue doing weights whilst watching DVD box sets?

Randoms

Saw a car drive on the wrong side of the road yesterday. Was an Asian at the wheel.

Saw many people in various spots in suburbia and street corners wheeling suitcases around.

Checked to see the trading hours of A-Mart All Sports to replenish fishing gear and Woolies and Coles for Christmas Eve trading so we can get cheap meat.

Got the urge to make dumplings again after purchasing a packet of pork mince.

Went to bed at 9:30pm last night- the earliest in like a year.

Finally finished watching all 60ish Dae Jang Geum episodes. What should I do now?

My Life is Average

Had Bryse and Dilz over for dinner this week.

Told us about this website where people submit their random, mundane life stories from time to time. Quite interesting time-waster.

www.mylifeisaverage.com

Apparently it is pretty difficult to have your submission published on their site.

Life is Pretty Normal Today.

Shout out to the Empire

Dropping a note to say how nice it wass to see Empire of the Sun win a number of ARIAs recently.

Does this mean their concert tickets will skyrocket now????

It's that time again!

To kick start the summer 2009/10 season, will be heading to the annual Twenty/20 Johnny Walker ACA All Stars vs KFC Australian XI match at the Gabba on Sunday Nov 22nd.

Sweeeeeeet!!!

Old men I'm looking forward to seeing in action again:

Gilly
Ooh Aah Pigeon
The Bat
Bing (well, he isn't exactly old so he would have to be the 'nicer-looking man' I'm looking forward to seeing, if he is picked)

Geeky

I would never have thought that I would say this:

I love watching Doctor Who.

Looking past the scary music (which was scary when you were 7) and opening sequences, you get a extremely fun and enjoyable TV series. Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff aside, I've found myself hooked to this show, courtesy of the lovely David Tennant.

Now all the hard-core fans will probably say that I'm not the genuine article as I haven't watched any episodes from the Tom Baker/William Hartnell/Jon Pertwee/Peter Davidson/Colin Baker/Sylvestor McCoy series or even the Paul McGann telemovie. (speaking of, I now remember Paul in another favourite movie of mine The 3 Musketeers).

Is it acceptable enough that I have watched the revamped series from Season 1 through to Planet of the Dead? (First of the 2009 Specials, with 3 more to go and *sniff* the last 3 specials to feature David before he leaves)

I don't know much about Matt Smith (the new Doctor after David) and am apprehensive as to what quirky facets he will bring to the role next year.

Am I a geek?
What is the female version of a geek?
A geekette?
A geekress?

I'd like a sonic screwdriver for Christmas this year.

Running the Treadmill of Emptiness

I feel as if my life has been really empty and meaningless over the past 3 months.

Each week is spent doing the work of 2 full-time workers. Do people there see I'm at least trying my best and doing what I can to keep this boat afloat? This was not meant to be a long-term thing but as 3 months have gone by without any answers, I just cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Outside of work there is also uncertainty and many unanswered questions. Another tunnel that I cannot see the end of.

A number of thoughts have crossed my mind of late:

- Whether the indecisiveness of some will make others look bad or be frowned upon?
- Why do some people make promises that they clearly cannot keep?
- How can your life be so hectic and busy that every single day for the last 6 months is spent in back-to-back engagements, so the only time you have to breath is a 5 minute toilet break or transport to the next appointment?
- Am I the cause of this uncertainty, by hanging on to something that clearly is not meant to be?
- People say that they won't let things happen the way they did again, but then it happens all over again.

I need your prayers, I need answers, I need people to make some really big decisions soon, otherwise I will probably lose my mind.

One thing I am certain about, is that I honestly don't understand what it truly means to be busy.

If you think that your life is busy then think again. I thought my life was, but now I don't think so.

You don't have time to attend that important meeting. But you can find time to catch up with a friend at the last minute for a coffee.

You don't have time help someone who is lonely and in need of your friendship. But you can somehow find time to spend with your partner who you see everyday.

How many nights every week do you spend at home?

Is Sunday your most busiest day of the week?

My ramblings for the week.

I need a boat

I'm so jealous.

A family at church are spending the next 2 weeks fishing at 1770 with their boat :(
grrrrrrrr.

Would love to take 6 months off and just fish my way around Australia.

Its times like this that I realise how peaceful and uncrowded Townsville was with its beaches, jetties, rock walls and ports. Everything was so close you could wake up at 7am, get to the beach by 7:15am and fish the entire day away until night fell.

Who has a big boat they are willing to lend me?

More Food-related Banter

Special Sunday morning service this weekend with 7 people getting baptised. (good stuff)

We were asked last week to bring a plate to share for a lunch that will be held after the service.

I'm pondering what to bring and some things I have been thinking about are:

- Being a baptismal service, there will likely be people that are friends of the people getting baptised that are invited and will come who don't normally come to church. They obviously won't be bringing a plate for lunch, but will most likely stay for the lunch. Does this mean that we should be providing more food (ie. say bringing 2-3 plates of food) in order to cater for the extra numbers? (Christian hospitality)

- Types of food to bring. The usual, no-mess fare would be sandwiches and store-bought cakes, muffins and dare-I-say Pizza. The 'foodie' in me suggests that there should be more savouries than sweets (being lunch, not afternoon tea) and more hot/warm dishes as it is winter.

- Finger food vs Food which needs to be eaten with a fork
(the monthly Chinese lunches is never fingerfood fare- always plated goodies that require eating utensils)

My current list of foods for consideration:

- Cheerios
- Honey Soy Chicken Wings and mini-drums
- Meatballs and sauce
- Antipasto platter with fresh bread
- Pasta bake

What I got up to on leave

House was utilised for last minute RICE meetings and accommodation for Sydney visitors.

Study room in the house was used by 'someone outside of the family' to create/complete youth group artwork express.........this youth group ended up winning the competition!!! (*tsk* *tsk* grumble grumble)

Made Russiana and Ox-Tail soup and very 'Chinese homely-type' dinner for Sydney guests and RICE team. Ox-tail was a big hit, as was the Chinese BBQ dishes.

Went to the dentist for 6 month check-up- all good.....just need to keep flossing.

Decided on a whim to get a haircut at the Hairdressing School in the CBD. Got a shampoo, condition, stylecut and blowdry for only $10 :)

Bought lots of breakfast foods for Sydney visitors, but then realising that they don't eat breakfast :S

Became Aunty for the group of visitors and took them to Dreamworld, Surfers Paradise and Harbourtown- got early entry into Dreamworld so went on the big rides without the line-ups. (did Tower of Terror and Cyclone, but chickened out on the rest)

Week off

1st day of annual leave for a week.

28 hours to go til RICE 2009 kicks off in Brisbane!!
Still fighting a sore throat obtained at last weekend's staff retreat.

Been deciding what to do in this 'spare' week off:

-Hang out with Sydney people coming up for RICE
-Take them to the beach
-Head to any Gold Coast Theme Park
-Catch up with friends who have children
-Go to the dentist
-Get a haircut
-Get a massage

Well that's pretty much all I can squeeze in, amongst the awesomeness and craziness of RICE.

Bring on the transformation of kids lives and power of our Lord!!

The attack is on

The spiritual attack that is.

Have taken quite a few hits already from Satan as RICE gets closer and closer. Firstly, He takes out one Big Day Out speaker, and appears to be in the process of taking out the 2nd speaker also. (wife has swine flu)

Only 2 weeks to go, how many more hits can we expect?

All of today's best laid plans did not happen at all, one way or another. A mere extra 15 minutes would have made all the difference. W is home with a cold so had to fill in his roles for the day and to top things right off, the work staff conference is next weekend, which takes out the entire weekend before E1.

Admin team is stressed about numbers and food team is anxious about quantities.

Plus I've misplaced that neighbourhood letter that MUST be letterbox-dropped next weekend. With the stupid work conference who on earth is going to do this???

*DEEP BREATH*

At the end of the day I should have expected all these plans to be manipulated and destroyed by the evil one. He would raze RICE to the ground if he could, but he will not.

He will not deter us.
He will not stop us.
He will not tear us apart, because we have the full armour of God and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords fighting the fight with us. Whilst he will strike the heel, Our Lord will crush his head.

Will you pray for us? Pray that many young lives will be saved and turn to the Lord.

We only have 48 hours after RICE to ensure that this happens. Otherwise they will be lost and the oppportunity is gone.

No Hot Water

For the past 2 weeks our hot water system has been dying a excruitiating death.

One night (around 9:30pm) we tried for 45 mins to get hot water. My theory was that somehow the old system would only work during the day, when the sun was out and actually warming up the old gas system. The system also wouldn't work in the mornings as the sun usually isn't up when we wake.

We tested this theory a few nights later, with W using our small fan heater to warm up the hot water system around 5:30pm when the sun was already down. 5 minutes later the hot water came. This also meant that we only had limited opportunity to use the bathroom. Therefore a highly effective system was created where one person would go first and then the other would take their place 3 minutes later.

This system was so effective that we were actually having trouble converting back, when a temporary electric system had been installed this week. The hot water comes so quickly I keep burning myself.

Our only problem now is that the electric system only allows 5 mins of hot water at any one time. Afterwards you have to wait for 20 minutes until the system heats up the water again.

Good to know that we are saving water, but for those wishing to stay with us who enjoy their 30 minute showers will have to make alternative arrangements :)

Not that anyone should be having 30 minute showers anyway *tsk* *tsk*
Water Restrictions.

Paperwork, Paperwork

Inundated at work, inundated at home.

30th June stuff to complete, Qld Blue Card Applications and Letters galore.

The tally so far for Blue Cards being held up in processing due to missing information now stands at four (4). This is the first time this has happened, and strangely enough, all the culprits have been male :)

What is frustrating is that 3 out of the 4 forms submitted have been held up due to the applicants not specifying whether they had a middle name or not. All they have been asked to do is sign another form which states 'they do not have a middle name' and then send it straight back.

As for the 1 out of the 4, this person forgot to sign the application form altogether :) oops!

Paperwork aside, it is W's brother's wedding this weekend :)

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

This probably isn't something that I should be bragging about, but it's really made me honestly think alot.

I have recently had to attend 3 funerals in the past month alone; with all 3 being quite different to each other.

Funeral 1- Great Aunt

This was one of W's great aunts, aged 84. She became their maternal grandmother when her sister (W's blood grandmother) passed away 32 years ago. She was probably one of the more vibrant characters I have met from her era. Although she had 2 leaky valves in her heart plus a pacemaker, on Boxing Day about 2 years ago she was seen playing an electric shock game that W's brother had got as a Christmas present. It was on the lowest setting and she was really enjoying it too!

That is to say that her funeral was a rather light-hearted and happy celebration of her life, at the local Uniting Church Hall.

Funeral 2- Client's only son

About 2 weeks later, we got a phone call at work from one of our clients to say that his son had a seizure whilst playing sport with his mates. He was only in his mid 20s, working in the family business and was about to takeover the business in the next 6 to 12 months.

Needless to say that this was a sombre and rather sad affair, with so many young people, family and friends mourning the sudden departure of a young, healthy man who's adult life was only beginning. The funeral was a Catholic one, with the usual bells and smells.

Funeral 3- Workmate's parent-in-law

Just today, I attended the funeral for the mother-in-law of one of my workmates. This was also sombre and grieving due to the fact that she had not been well for a number of years, after suffering a stroke. Whilst the family was not religious in any way, they chose to have a service at the crematorium with a Catholic priest and sung Amazing Grace during the funeral.

The words spoken were based around the notion that Jesus Christ came to die for us and that he loves us and will look out and care for us. After mentioning the Footprints story, the conclusion was that Christ loves us so we ought to love one another.

Thoughts of mine:

- What about sin? How does the understanding of sin change the view of Christ loving us?
- Calvin vs Armenianism (check spelling)
- What is the best way that we as Christians can offer support and prayers to those who do not know the Lord? Especially explaining that there is a Heaven and a Hell?

We share in their grief, but we also need to tell them that there is hope for those who truly believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord, and the foundations of the faith that has been given us.

RICE Brisbane 2009 Goes LIVE Today

Check it out:

http://www.ricebrisbane.org/

6 weeks of craziness is in store.

Pray for the many, many leaders that have been working extremely hard for the past 8 months behind the scenes, to get this up and running today.

Should I go to a music festival?

I'm in a dilemma....well sort of....but not sure.

Believe it or not I have been following quite closely "Empire of the Sun", an Australian electro-pop duo comprising of 2 men: one from Sleepy Jackson and the other from PNAU.

I've been waiting for their tour announcement for months. Whilst the answer has been provided, the environment of which this is to happen is somewhat not what I expected.

They aren't actually doing a tour, but performing at a music festival later this year called 'Parklife'.

http://www.parklife.com.au/

I'm clearly not a die-hard music guru unlike some people I know, hehe, but when I think of music festivals I think of:

- Young Girls (wearing skimpy tops)
- Young Boys (wearing more sophisticated 'wife-bashers', checking out young girls wearing skimpy tops)
- Sunburn
- Dehydration
- Alcohol (and lots of it)
- Rowdy Crowds

Think Big Day Out, Splendour in the Grass, Sound Relief, Sunset Sounds, V Festival and Good Vibrations.

To sum it up- rather Non-Christian environment.

Being the person that I am I will feel quite out of place, but I would really like to see this group perform live.

*scratches head* What should I do?

Throat Exercises

I refuse to watch horror or suspense movies, purely on the basis that I'm simply too scared and terrified of blood and guts stuff. I can't scream very well and fake screaming is just wrong :)

This rules out things like Saw, Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street and Final Destination 'type' franchises.

In my younger years I would have also added Doctor Who to that list, purely on the basis of the spooky opening sequence music.

However, the exceptionally brilliant David Tennant has made me realise how great this 'not so little' TV series (first broadcast in the 1960s) is.

I've been slowly working my way through seasons of Mr Tennant's portrayal of the Time Lord, and came across the episode titled "Blink" from Season 3. The crux of the episode was how this bunch of 'Weeping Angel' statues come to life and start stalking you and move closer to you, every time you look away or blink your eyes. Once they reach you then you die.

This is definitely the most terrifying and spookiest episode I've watched yet............to the point that I genuinely screamed 3 times in a row within 10 seconds.

Even after rewinding the 10 seconds so W could see what I was screaming about, I couldn't help it but scream again because the episode was just genuinely creepy to the point of being a suspense movie.

"Whatever you do, Don't Blink. Do not look away from them or they will come for you. No matter what you do, just don't blink. Good luck".

Musings

What I'm annoyed about:

If I here that song on Sunrise "Season of Love" one more time.........should just turn TV off in the mornings anyway. They must have played that at least 3 times every morning for the past month.

Speaking of, the whole Brekky TV shows seem too shallow and wishy washy nowadays.

I don't watch mainstream TV much anymore (except for the occasional Masterchef episode) and much prefer 'Aunty' and 'Six Billion Stories & Counting'.

I also have been fortunate still to be receiving 'Little Packages' that get dropped off into my car whilst parked downstairs at work. Every now and then I will get a phone call from my parents saying that they have some food for me and will put it into my car, on their way to work.

I'm also annoyed at how much schmoosing you need to do in order to satisfy clients......

What is the definition of ministry?

Dictionary.com has one definition of this as 'The act of serving; ministration.'

'Ministry' also comes from the Greek word diakoneo, meaning "to serve".

I would think that one of the things the New Testament teaches on ministry, is what Christians are called to do for God- that is, to serve God and to be advocates for the Christian faith and living.

Some forms of ministry can be formal and up-front- Worship coordinator, Pastors, Youth leaders, Sunday school teachers, church musicians etc.
One things that has been bothering me is how Christian ministry is too easily seen as being only those people who fall into these areas of service.

Each professing Christian is 'in ministry'. The way we live our lives is a true testament to serving God by demonstrating that we follow Him and seek to have a close relationship with Him. Therefore, people that are not up-front in the church are in ministry, whether they like it or not.

Probably the most important way of doing this is to fellowship with other Christians through reading God's Word together, praying together and challenging each other to grow in our Christian walk.

One thing that is a danger I have seen recently, is the burnout of young, committed Christian adults. It is all too easy to lose the zeal to serve God, especially if you start off young, so that by the time they are in their mid 20s they start to feel discouraged about ministry. Discipleship is the key, where an older Christian mentors and disciples a younger Christian, not only through relationship building but most importantly, through studying God's Word together.

Being one of those 'older Christians', I feel there is never enough people willing or able to do the hard yards to disciple these younger Christians who are ripe to start ministry.

Without God's Word in discipleship, we will not grow and become better advocates of our ministry for God.

Doing the Impossible

Have you ever felt that your trying to achieve the impossible?
That the brick wall you have tried to break down for the past 10 years is still intact and impassable?

It's like a new bible college graduate brimming with new and fantastic ideas on doing ministry, who them finds themself at one of many churches with the view of 'we have always done it this way' or ' I've been at this church for such and such years and it has never been an issue until you raised it up' so why change?

Another thing that's been on my mind of late is the truth about explaining what Sin is, the bondage that it presents and state of wickedness that humanity is by nature.

If we call ourselves Christians, are we truly convicted of our own sin? Do we understand what sin is and how it can cause such grief and separation from a loving God?

If we are not convicted ourselves, how then can we convince and help others come to know and love Him?

SDBC had a prayer night during the week, with many people young and old gathering together to give thanks and praise to God for who He is, what He has done and what He continues to do through people that love and serve Him. It was then very encouraging to be reminded that it is God who is worthy of all praise, worthy of honour and worthy of all glory and wisdom.

We therefore rejoice in serving Him, no matter how hard the journey is- because he is one true God who makes all things possible.

Cooking

I've been posting up some pictures on my facebook account of some different foods I've been cooking for dinner.

Whilst sometimes I feel like cooking good ol' spaghetti bolognaise and a hunk of juicy steak, I've been inspired to broaden and challenge myself to make some more not-so-staple meals. Not forgetting the requirement that all meals need to be lactose-free!

What I have cooked so far:

- Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls with Beef
- Pork Mince Dumplings with Rice Noodles
- Slow-cooked Mediterranean Chicken Casserole
- Homemade Char Siu with Rice or Hokkien Noodles
- Sauteed Potatoes
- Chicken Pad Thai

What I think I should try and cook next:

- Baked Chicken and Rice with Portuguese Sauce (Macau dish)
- Grilled Pork Chop with Vermicelli and Spring Roll (Vietnamese dish)
- Slow-cooked Chicken Curry
- Pork Belly and Potato with Ground Bean Sauce (Grandma's recipe)
- Mediterranean Grilled Vegetable Stack

I should stop now as I'm getting hungry.

Another Empire of a Different kind

W bought a random CD last year which I started listening to as well, by a two Australian guys known as 'Empire of the Sun'.

I haven't been that fanatical about any music group since these blokes came along.

Inside the Empire

Empire Magazine that is....

Richard Harris once drank Elizabeth Taylor's Chanel No. 5. He then worked his way through Nos. 6-14, lighter fluid, Dulux etc.

Jon Voight reveals he keeps fit by running backwards.

There is a wombat called Chewbacca at Tokyo's Tama Zoo.

They are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of 'The Terminator', with Terminator Salvation due to arrive in cinemas later this year.

Spiderman 4 is confirmed for a 2011 release.

Harvey Norman has paid $$$$ for an 8 page advertisment spread in the latest issue. the GFC must be hurting then.

Better than FB? (Plus Quick Holiday Wrap)

I'm thinking that this highly neglected space deserves more attention, now that FB have changed their design yet again *SIGH*.

I can't seem to keep up with the changes and new things being added/deleted/replaced. To tell you the truth, who has actually raced their car in the PetrolHead application in the last 12 months???

I also just read that another tremor has hit Victoria again this afternoon, just 2 weeks after we witnessed the previous one earlier this month whilst on holidays.
Lots of things seem to have happened whilst we in the state: earthquakes, Sound Relief, Sheffield Shield Final, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Moomba Festival.....and last but not least......Avalon International Air Show!!

Yes, I was actually quite impressed with what Avalon had to offer. It gave me great opportunity to not only try and experience what gets my husband excited (insert dorky laugh here), but also see that actually alot more women than I thought would actually attend an airshow.

Let's hope that I am now inspired again to ressurrect this for the 2nd (or 3rd) time.

Didn't quite work out

Unfortunately the resurrection of this blog during this Singapore/HK/CHina trip didn't exactly eventuate.

It was difficult to find free internet access, but really if you had the choice of going bargain clothes shopping, cheap eating and internet, I'd know what I'd choose :)

As expected, we bought a new, bigger suitcase in HK to fit all our new purchases. Also as expected I didn't fare too well with the China water, food and weather. I literally almost passed out whilst travelling on the underground train in Guangzhou. Unlike HK, although the trains are overly crowded, the MTR network in China has yet to make the air ventilation units work properly under such conditions.

I must just be allergic to China as ever single time I've been back there I've fallen sick. It isn't the most livible country in the world. The pollution is unbearable at times, and if you're not used to the way people behave in this culture you'll be caught off guard. The sight of a road blockade by Chinese military officials, rifles and all on the side of the road is common, as is the tooting of horns, lack of ability of drivers to merge and pedestrians walking along and across the freeways carrying goods on a trolley or pushbike. (sometimes 3 couches, have pictures to prove this)

Will definitely be back to HK in the next couple of years though. Food was great, shopping fantastic.

Changi Internet

We've been in Singapore for 3.5 days. About to depart for Hong Kong later this afternoon.

I don't think we paid more than $10 between the two of us for a meal in these last few days. I will miss the extremely cheap and tasty food over here.

There were too many instances on this trip where people assumed I was a local and could speak Mandarin. I've lost count as to how many people spoke to me in Mandarin, both in Singapore and Malaysia. (took a day trip to Malacca on Monday. Only downside to this was that I spent an hour in the immigration cue to come back to Singapore later that night)

Other interesting sights I didn't get to see in 2004 when I was last here were: trucks licensed to carry up to 20 people in the back of their utes, (mainly Indians), the same cleaners and shop-assistants at the local Koptiam food court (24 hours) day in day out, and having dinner with Diana, my friend from QUT days, now married and living here.

8 mins left on the clock. Will try and post more frequently in HK, but that depends on whether I can find cheap, free internet.

Watch this SPACE!

The imminent departure to an overseas destination in a few days warrants the resurrection of this forgotton little blog.

If you are still reading this then I say thanks for doing so.

Stay tuned.

Temporarily un-frozen blog to give election update

Nice to see a mix of politics with science-fiction stories.

Election Night At Our Place

*Donk*

As big a Star Wars fan I am, I only stumbled across this gem recently.

Revolution

I have unfortunately joined up to the Facebook revolution and have neglected this humble blog.

It is really quite childish in some respects, with the giving of random 'gifts' on the computer (throwing a sheep, using the force, headbutting people, giving flowers etc)

The thing that drew me in, which isn't a unique thing, was that you can find high school friends, ex-work colleagues, acquaintances from uni and random people you have met or known in the past.

And unfortunately it is addictive!!

An aside, have a very busy weekend coming up, with 2 weddings tomorrow (Brad and Rachel and then Doug and Trish), and a 21st birthday party on Sunday arvo/night.

I really am not getting enough rest these days and starting to feel like an old hag.

Too-da-loo

Average Asian

Courtesy of Youtube.

Give us Asians a break!