The Party That Never Quits

monday:

1. The weather is so confused today.
2. Oh yay! I would much rather see the Saints play in their traditional guernsey than any other :)
3. CSI Miami is just too darn easy to call. It's not even sport.

tuesday:

1. Hilarious moment for the day: Credit card chick rings me and asks me to please stop paying my card on time so she doesn't have to call me every two months to offer me more money :D
2. only 52 more days until the half way mark of my New Years Resolution. 130 days without coke/caffeine so far!

friday:

1. I just tried to warm myself up by holding my hands over the toaster.
2. ABC News Update: Police say suicide bombing outside paramilitary force academy in Pakistan has killed at least 50 people http://bit.ly/mwHkJ4
3. Well, hubby is on his way to men's camp and I am alone for the weekend. I'd be more upset about this if I wasn't aware this means I have sole control over the remote for 48 hours.
4. Dear Penney, Thank you so much for your email. I am sure you are very lovely, but I would rather not see the naked picture of you you so kindly attached. Thanks anyway. Delete.
5.  My lips are chapping. This is not cool.
6. "God is the friend of silence." ~ Mother Theresa

saturday:

1. My CAT just caught a freaking SNAKE. I think it was a young King brown? Maybe a pygmy? It was about 20cm long and when I was able to get him to drop it, it tried to go me! I smashed it's head, and the cat seems completely ok... Should I call a vet?
2. Well. Having four movies ready and waiting for them wasn't enough to get the kids doing their chores. They can't start watching until they finish, and bedtime is 8:00 At the rate they are going, they won't even manage one. *sigh* I give up.
3. CSI rerun night. Perfect laundry folding tv :)

sunday:

1. Carl Butler is totally bringing it this morning :)
2. I certainly wouldn't want to watch Dumbo while trippin' high. Just sayin'.

1. Beth suddenly ended up in hospital with a potentially serious condition nearly two weeks ago, and we were there for 4 days.  I am so thankful for antibiotics... even if after 4 days her poor vein gave up the ghost and collapsed at the last minute.

2. My iPhone took a dip in the toilet. I had it in my back pocket and completely forgot about it. Hence, I was phoneless while in the hospital. I nearly lost my mind through boredom.  And missed out on sending through some awesome tweets.

3. On the upside, I finally got Ann's book finished. I loved it. Will need to go through it again, once I get it back from the ladies I've loaned it out to already.

4. Turns out, I now need to use my glasses to read as well... could not figure out why recently I could never focus on a book properly. Apparently, even the slightest bit of out of focus-ness (my own word, isn't it special?) makes it difficult to concentrate on the text.

5. Adam and I are dieting again... although the hospital thing and Easter kind of interrupted.

6. I was all set to exersise for the first time in forever the other day.  The house was clean, the kids were in front of a movie... and the dang thing wouldn't work. Pretty sure that a chord has been pulled loose during the move. Yeah... the one 4 months ago. Ahem.

7. Adam has so far gotten both his assignments in on time. Just. Nothing like urgency to help time management.

8. I have started planning and shopping for Amy's 5th birthday party which isn't too far away.  Even Adam's getting excited about this one.  Nothing quite like throwing a tea party :)

9. My lap top is all but expired. One of the kids half pulled the plug out of the wall, and I think it fried itself trying to stay connected.  It's a definite now that we'll be getting a new one at tax time, and paying some smart person to transfer all our stuff over.

10. Since we are grown ups and all, with responsibilities and a little bit of debt left, we've had to concede that our America trip won't be happening this year. Saaaaaad.  With the things that have happened early on in this year that required immediate monetary attention, we have not been able to keep up with our planned payment/saving budget.  Boo hiss.  Perhaps the same time next year, though.

I know I should be doing my 1000 things post today, but it suddenly struck me that it is now April, and I haven't even so much as looked at reading a book from the list over there.

Oh dear.

I'm actually finding it hard to read anything at the moment. I used to be a huge reader, but now I'm finding myself having to re-read paragraphs may times just to know I've got it. I'm thinking I must be out of practice.

And of course, I look at that and think, I really need to re design my blog. Gosh knows why.

I've thought of a new thing to write about here... but I really should write about the things I've already said I would.

I should also clean my house.

But... the things I've thought of posting about...

It's Amy's turn this year for a birthday party. She loves to have tea parties, so I'm going to put together a "high tea on the lawns" afternoon for her. You know, get them all dressed up and drinking cordial poured from tea pots into tea cups. I thought I could blog about the preparations I make for it... the stuff I buy, the things I make... setting up... and so on and so forth.

Adam and I have a pretty funky story... if I get his permission, I might go all Pioneer Woman on you and write it out. Hopefully it will bless someone.

Since it really is a party here, I need to post more about the funny things that happen. Like how Adam convinced Troy to eat a teaspoon of coffee grinds yesterday by telling him "it's just like Milo". Or how the circuit breaker has broken, and now our family of 8 has had no running water for three days. You know... run of the mill kind of stuff for our family ;)

I have a post for the 10th brewing... and I expect many congratulations and the like.

No, I'm not pregnant.

Surprisingly.

But I am hugely proud of myself. It's a huge accomplishment, and I hope you won't think me silly for it.

I have been a bad blogger. But I've been praying, and talking to God, and I think we've figured a few things out with regards to it, and perhaps even sussed out a little vision.

I might have to stop here... I just had to go and save Cora. She got her fingers caught in the toilet seat after dropping her bottle into the bowl.

Twice.

My computer has decided to pack it in again, which vexes me greatly (channeling Mrs Bennett there for a moment) so I am quickly using Adam's work laptop while he's having his routine Sunday after church nap.

ssshhhhhh

We're hoping to limp mine through until July (tax time here) and then buy a new one. Our one is only about 3 years old, I think, but boy has it been given a work out. It was the computer we used for the words on Sunday morning for about 2 years before the church bought their own, so it's travelled a lot. It seems that the power jack is well and truly on it's way out... sometimes I can gumby it up to work for a little while... and then I do something stupid like leave it on the couch and the kids pull the cord out funny and then it decides not to turn on any more. Oh, and the battery is fried. I thin it runs for about half an hour without being plugged into the wall.

So, we are thinking of moving onto a Mac, since we like Steve Job's opinion on p0rn, and think that should be rewarded with support.  If you have a mac, which model did you choose and why? What do you love about it? Anything that's not so great we should know about?  How long did it take you to get used to using it after a pc? To me, it all seems inside out and back-to-front!

Hopefully I will be able to still do my 1000 gifts post tomorrow, and then after that, I shall be in Sydney attending the Colour Conference run by Hillsong.  I really really really  love this conference. It's difficult to put it into words why it's so amazing... I hope one day everyone will be able to experience it in some way.

So, if you can spare a few thoughts and prayers for Adam as he has the week with the kids all on his lonesome... he's an extraordinary father, and more than capable parent, but it can be tough when there's no break (or adult conversation) for an extended period of time.

Oh, random fact... I dyed my hair. But I take a crap photo, so there isn't any proof.

Hopefully, when I get home I'll be able to take another look at the lappy and get it running again, even if it's just enough to dump everything onto an external hard drive for the new one :)

I really hate it when my computer stops working for no apparent reason, and then works again a week later.

I have so much to catch up on. I'll have to do a double 1000 gifts post on Monday, and hope I haven't forgotten any of the funny stories that happened here at our party the last few weeks.

Like Eli falling out of a tree and ending up with stitches. That was fun.

Or the van breaking down. Twice.

Yasi went through Queensland and miraculously God spared all lives... in fact, three babies were born that night! So much has happened to that state... it's difficult to really put it into words.

School is back in session and so far it's been smooth sailing. Except for when Drew head-butted that one girl. That wasn't so great.

Some exciting new things are happening at church, and while it might not be that unusual for you, it's a big step for our little church, and I look forward to telling you about it next week.

So... what's been happening in your lives the last two weeks?

I have a bunch of posts sitting in my draft folder.

They're there for a number of reasons. Usually becasue I can't make them sound like they do in my head. Some are just a sentence, or a collection of ideas that I hope will morph one day.

And I can't decide which one to deal with.

But I also have nothing really fun to write about until my friend gets back to me with the photos from Eli's birthday.

So. I'll give you 5 headings that I have sitting in my draft folder, and you guys can vote on what you think would be an interesting post. I'll write it up, and post it on Monday (my time, Sunday yours)

And so... the list of contenders are:

1) Dust reflects the Son
2) THIS is starving
3) Honestly
4) Intentionally Intentional
5) So not with the Gushy crowd

Ok. Go for it. Which would you like to see me attempt?

Thank you all for your lovely comments! I had a lovely time making them :)

The next two weeks are term break for us here. I'm going to attempt to get them to help me pack up the house, but I also prefer to remain sane.

I've been looking at the posts in my drafts folder, and was wondering if perhaps a "Draft Dump" week long bloggy festival might be in order... would you be interested?

Started dieting and working out again this week. It needed to happen.

I've started planning Eli's birthday party. It's going to be so much fun... Jungle theme with a bunch of little kids running around in fancy dress.

My pastor has been preaching on Servants v Stewards. It's a great series. I have thoughts.

The Hubsand and I were blessed with two nights free of the kids over the weekend. Friday afternoon until Sunday at church. It. Was. BLISS. We went to friends place for dinner and board games o Friday night, on Saturday we slept in until 11:30, went to lunch, window shopped some new furniture, went and had a barbie and watched my footy team win their semi (GRAND FINAL BABY!!) at my brothers and ended up staying over the night. It was so nice to just decide that at the last minute :) Can't remember the last time we've done that.

I feel renewed. Which is just as well, becasue it's only 8:30 on day one of holidays, and I'm ready to gaffer tape them all to their walls.

1. social media (like, the people who have a twitter, fb, blog(s), myspace, linkedin, jabber blah blah blah)
2. p0rn
3. curling
4. Steriotypical Americans (of which we know none. Just so you know.)

The show gives the guests 5 things, but Adam had to go to work.

I don't have many things that I have a total abhorance for, but I think my selections would be (keeping in mind that you need to be able to joke about it, so human trafficking and childhood cancer is out):

1. Spiders
2. Prosti-tots (you know, the 12 year old little girls dressed like streetwalkers)
3. Brussels Sprouts
4. Crocs
5. Cameron Diaz

What about you? I'd love to see the things that you would cast into the room.

I have no idea what was up with Blogger yesterday, but every time I tried to fix the spacing it got worse. Hopefully today will be better.

I was wondering... you know how over there on the left under that dapper and debonair photo of The Hubsand are external links to my Xanga from when I wrote out the A Thousand Times thingie I did?

Well, what would you say to me transferring it all over to here, much the same way? Once a month, there'd bee 100 things listed. I'd do it all in one hit, but for some reason, I can't copy/paste here, and it takes a.long.time. to write them all out :)

Just a thought. Would you be interested?

Also, I'm going to start a Aussie-ism Thesaurus type thing up, if I can decide which is the best way to do it. Should I, once a week cover a word, a phrase and a behaviour and put them under a category, or should I just keep adding to a single page in alphabetical order? What do you think?

I pick my camera up in a fortnight (two weeks, for the un-colonial) so I'll be able to take UP TO DATE!! pictures of The Multitude, and even show you a little of where I live. I love where I live. It's prettiful, in a rugged sort of way.

Adam began his new diet/workout It's-Time-To-Get-Skinny regime today. He's attempted this many times in the past, but this time, I truly believe he's serious about it. He's excited. He sat down with my brother, who is a P.T for the Navy and worked out (ha! get it?!) an exercise plan that will not only produce results quickly, but not over do it and cause problems which will set him back. Stress fractures are a high possibility for Adam at the moment if he does too much all at once, so I'm glad Rob is taking that into consideration. The last thing we need is for Adam to lose heart this time.

I've been having fun buying up new t-shirts for Adam to wear once he has lost his weight. He likes the cartoon ones, so it's been so fun trying to find ones that suit his personality, and in-joke status for us. So far, I've found Monty Python, Seseme Street, The Muppets, Transformers... all I need is Astro Boy and Smurfs.

Ummm.... this is just a brain dump post, can you tell?

My baby is adorable.

My twoandahalf year old is seriously pushing boundaries.

My oh-so-nearly 4 year old is beautiful... but becoming increasingly shrill in direct response to the twoandahalf year old.

My 7.2 year old is recovering well from surgery, even if it does sound like someone is pinching her nose when she talks.

My 7.1 year old is AT.I.TUDE.

My just-about 10 year old is hormonal and everything that goes along with it.

I need to tidy bedrooms and clean the bathroom.

I'll be more interesting tomorrow.

We've officially entered cyclone season here, and last night a tropical low passed right over the top of us... dumping a bunch of rain but causing little damage. It made for a lovely cool evening, and today is also incredibly pleasant, even though the rain hasn't let up at all. I love where I live for many reasons. One of those reasons is that I very rarely, if ever hear anyone complain about the rain. We don't see it for 8 months of the year, so we revel in it when it does arrive :)


The rain is set to continue for the next few days, and we are closely watching the low, as it is due to turn into a catagory 1 storm later today and should progress to a 3 in two days time. You too can keep watch, if you wish!

Today, I managed to get the bathroom completely done! It was hard work, and took me 3 hours. I cannot fathom how my children manage to make our walls so putrid. Adam is woking on the kitchen, but he works slower than me, and takes many breaks ;) He went up to the store just now for the first time in as long as I can remember, simply to get out of doing more *grin* He even called his mother. *rolls eyes* LOL!

But we are on track. Sort of. I've washed dried AND put away 4 loads of laundry today, so that makes me feel a bit better about where we are at.

Our electrician friend stopped by to see what he's going to have to get to complete a few jobs we've asked him to do... all our light fixtures are breaking whenever we try to chabge a light bulb... they are over 10 years old, so we figure we'll just change the lot throughout the house. Also, two ceiling fans in The Big Room have broken motors, so they need replacing. I'll be sending my mother an email in the next couple of days asking for her to wire the money through to fix them, as we agreed when she was over here the other month.

My brother also stopped by, with some money for us all for Christmas, as he will be at sea over the holidays. I was so happy... it means I don't have to stress about the food situation! The kids won't notice if there is one less gift for them under the tree... they will notice if there is no ham! :) And wow, is it ever expensive. For a 13lb ham... $84!! I nearly fell over. ANd we have even more people arriving on Christmas day now, so we are going to need it!

The kids are behaving rather well today. Playing together and hardly fighting. This is a miracle from the throne room of heaven if there ever was one :)

The fires here have taken up alot of my thought space. I posted over on my Xanga about them. It was emotionally too hard to transport the posts here. It truly hurt my heart to write them out the first time, let alone copy and past here.

I found Adam's birth-father on FaceBook. That has knocked us for six (Aussie term, it realtes to cricket) and we are still processing that, and trying to decide what to do with that new information.

The kids and I survived the holidays, and they are now settling in very well at school.

Adam and I start Bible College very soon. Our church has been approved to teach Hillsong Leadership College's external courses. I am very, very excited.

My birthday is in 11 days. I will be Very-Nearly-Old... which means 29.

My husband brought me a kitten, and his name is Archie.

It's raining a whole bunch here.

Bethany has started ballet and she adores it. Troy is starting tennis next week. Drew will start swimming as soon as we organise it, and I buy him some new bathers. AMy is too wee to start ballet, but will in July, after she turns 3.

Eli is stil adorable.

I'm going on a date with The Hubsand tomorrow. I couldn't be more giddy. There may be a new outfit involved.

Tomorrow, I will post the outcomes of my meeting with the plastic surgeon, and my decissions regarding surgery. It was more difficult to decide than I thought.

One day, I'm going to spill my guts here and shock whoever happens upon it. Perhaps I should do it now while not many people know about it and can't hate me.

So.. what's the best way to get more people to follow you on twitter, do you think?

Me: Bethany, go and get in the shower.
She goes of wailing, because she's been in a foul mood all day, and I'd just scrubbed her hands with nail polish remover, as I'd just caught her hiding and painting her 'nails'

10 minutes later....

Me: Bethany, are you in the shower?
Beth:Yes.
Me: Is it on?
Beth: No

*shakes dumbfounded head*

I just haven't had anything to say that was in anyway interesting

Not that today will be any different, but what the hell.

Oh! Adam brought me a camera! It's just a little point and shoot, but as he said, it's better than nuthin' until we can save up for a really good one. (Out of his own mouth came the words "about a thousand dollars." My heart sang. I knew what that meant. It means I'll have to make up my mind between a Nikon and a Canon. SLR, of course. Any input?)

So, once I work out how to get the photos off it and onto my computer, I will update the pictures of the kiddies. And Adam. And me. Perhaps.

We took the kids to the Wildlife Park today. It was such a happy little family day. We'll do it again.

I have some interesting (to me) topics to discuss over the next little while. Still hashing them out in my head. A couple of heart wrenchers on the conundrum of parenting... desperately wanting to discourage things like, you know, standing, and the pride that they can actually, you know, do it... a few befores and afters as I redecorate (kinda) the bedrooms (I'm actually going to put beds in them. Imagine that!) and maybe, perhaps a few little bits and bobs about my journey to becoming a house wife. Not a better one. Just one. That should be fun, considering I uh... SUCK.

See you then if you dare!