The best of intentions have come to naught this week. I’ve been all excited at the idea of writing something proper in a blog, but when it comes to sit before the computer, the well has run dry.
GIve me a week or two to get comfortable with college & then I will get back into the swing. Give me a chance to finish this next essay & I am sure I will find the time! Once I have the semester sorted out for Youth Group, then it will all come back together for me. Maybe once I get myself a lady friend? Or visit Cate & Dan’s new baby? Go up to the Hunter for the weekend, take some photos for a competition, prepare for exams….
The myriad of jobs doesn’t end.
That moment of clarity, that ray of light that peeks out from behind the clouds, that clear space on the cluttered desk of your life is never going to appear. Well, at least not free and clear.
I see what I have to do. Understanding always seems to sidle up and shake your hand at quarter to one in the morning. Maybe he is confident that he, like the perfect retort to that afternoons argument, will be lost on the warmth of bed and the haze of sleep. So this is why I commit it to paper (do I call this paper? What is it? Am I commiting to “Pixels” maybe?).
I’ll forget the myth of clear space and settle for the reality of shuffled papers. Where hours fail me, minutes can be my friends. Make the most of those used and abused little blighters! Each set of sixty seconds is insignificant in himself, but like a Chinese water torture, they do the job if you have the patience.
So there you have it. The motto for semester two is offiially “The minute is my friend”!
I wont promise, cause I hate to brake anything. But I’m going to try & send some minutes your way.
After all, you need an answer to “what you lookin’ at?”

Black tie dinners always sound like a great idea when it is just a matter of putting them on paper. The reality of trying to get them organised on the other hand… When all is said and done, however, it was all worthwhile on friday night. 15 or so kids from youth group, 5 excited leaders, a whole lot of decorations & half a dozen helpers under the expert tutelage of Dana, the mother of one of the kids & master of all things edible!
How do you manage to organise something like this for $10 a head? Firstly, have some extra money in reserve. After that, comes a little bit of ingenuity. Shannyn, always a fountain of good ideas, managed to convince the nursing home she works at that they needed helium balloons for their birthday celebration. Of course, they couldn’t be left at the home afterwards, so we had to “look after them” for them. Simone had some left over decorations that she could offer for free. Of course, the kids too excercised their brains, some making the most of op-shops, while others just raided their parents wardrobes for the appropriate clothing.
Good atmosphere, Great food, awesome company!

Tim & Christy. No.1 couple this year to meet here & now be engaged. It’s always nice when two of your favourite people find each other.

Congrats to Dave (fourth from the left) for not dying in the last 35 years!

This is one of my fave all time photos of Toby. I may have to upload one without the writing on it. Poor kid has a case of “pink eye”…

It has to be tempting by now no? Yeah, I know they are three little cuties. Tomorrow I seal the deal with a potential nephew!

Lyndell asked if I was taking applications for the role of Aunt to these gorgeous kids (and therefore wife to this poor soul) Hmmm, not a bad idea. I’d use the old saying “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”, but that might give an inaccurate implication of the calibre of applicants I would expect to get for this position…..

This is my news series (4 in total). Just think, single ladies, even if you aren’t that interested in me, how could you turn down a chance to be an aunt to such a little treasure!!!

I am enjoying myself at the moment. There are things to worry about, but there are certainly things to applaud!
Friendship that doesn’t know distance to start. Caroline is from Sweden, was my best friend in Scotland and is in Australia for another three weeks. For two days this week, however, she was up in the Hunter Valley with me, staying at my parents place.
Eggs Benedict. That’s another reason to be happy. C’s first time having my favourite breakfast, and my second time in two weeks! The eggs come from our own hens, the accompanying orange juice from our orchard. I’m petitioning for mum and dad to buy a couple of pigs so we can finish the combo! (if only you could take a slice or two off them at a time…)
The miracle of birth. Should we ever stop rejoicing at such an amazing gift. There is that part of me that marvels at the thought that I’m getting so old so quickly. Friends with families… But it is just a thin whisper next to the orchestra of joy that plays in my mind as I watch Cate and Dan near the birth of Eliot, their first. It is one thing to have such great friends, and another to know that soon they will have a mini version of them.
Cool nights, hanging out. That is also great. Lord of the Rings version of Trivial pursuit. I got spanked. My knowledge of LOTR is not what it once was. Afterwards Dan, Kirt and I headed out to take pictures of Sydney by night. St Thomas’, St. Leonard’s park, Harbour Bridge and a Maccas break at the “UFO” at midnight before heading home.
What excites me equally is that apart from a little anxiety at how much work I have to do, I’m also amazingly excited about going back to college in a couple of days. I can’t wait to move back in on Saturday. I’m looking forward to catching up with all my mates, and I am raring to get stuck into my new subjects too!
They are good days indeed!

Enjoying pool (and an odd Dram of Whisky for those inclined) in the Hunter Valley.

Two times Dan.

St. Thomas’ by night.
Click on any of the photos to go to my Flickr page & see more pics…

Cute

Potentially Dangerous

It was a meeting of minds. The first time that Me Mal, Phil & Kristin, the Heaps, and Mum & Dad have been in the same room. A meeting of the blogging extended family! (though Mum & Dad are going to have to pick up the pace a little, lest you get left behind!)
It was great to see everyone & always awesome to see all the kids! Mal is a top bloke & had all kinds of little suggestions re: photography, which I think are going to be a great deal of help to me. I really need to spend more time around good photographers, so I can glean a bit of an idea of what I am doing!
Tonight was Church, then a Krispy Kreme run with Shannyn and Dave. An hour each way in travel makes for lots of good chats! What to do with these 24 fat-filled fellas hiding out in my brothers kitchen though? Those doughnuts are too good!
OK, on to a photo or two. I’ll save you all a thousand words.

Don’t be fooled by the smiles. They are all cold-blooded killers!

Jocelyn. Reason No.1 why we were there.

Bethany (in mid-flight) is the second birthday girl of the day.