Friday Funny

I'm still not well, so I thought a Friday Funny would be a good way to end the week.

This one's for Karen.

Enjoy! :)


iPADS HALF PRICE!

Are any of you interested?  Let me know.

My mate has 10 iPads going for half price.  First come, first served.

He has already sold one (see pic below).  Get back to me as quick as you can if you want one.

Diary of an Incubator: Come Back Immune System!

The morning sickness may have passed, but now it seems like my immune system has gone walkabout.

Last month I had the Killer Flu.  That lasted about one and a half weeks.

While in Melbourne, I developed an irritating cough.  I'm not sure if it was viral or because of the cold wind, pollution or the fact that there were people smoking EVERYWHERE.  (Our pastor suggested I may be allergic to Victorians haha).

Then, in the early hours of yesterday morning, I got gastro.  I was vomiting every few hours until early yesterday afternoon.  Now I'm in the 'recovery stage' of trying to eat something again.  I really hope I'm better by tomorrow as I have my 20 week scan and obstetrician appointment which I really don't want to cancel.

Baby, I love you, but I want my immune system back.  I'm a bit scared of what I may catch next.  Chicken pox? (I've never had it).  Shingles?  Some other ghastly thing?

Maybe I'll just stay inside and be a recluse for the next four and a half months.

I'm very glad this baby is still in utero.  I don't think I could cope looking after anyone else at the moment.

I'm Back....With A Questionnaire

Janine tagged me in a questionnaire.  I thought it would be a good way to ease myself back into blogging after my hiatus, so here goes...

What is the thing that makes you want to get out of bed each day?
The first thought that goes through my head is....I really want to press 'snooze'...but I gotta pee!

What do you tell yourself to get through painful, difficult, or challenging times?
God has a reason for this and He is in control.  He is using this situation to make me more like Christ.

What can you look back on and remind yourself you were successful at, or were strong enough to come through?
I don't think I'm strong enough on my own to come through anything, but God is my strength. I'm thankful that He has brought me through times where I've felt depressed.  I'm thankful that He has helped me persevere with dealing with difficult people, my family's opposition to my faith, and with completing my university studies and my first novel.

Look around you at this moment and choose one thing to smile about or be thankful for. What is it?
Our first child who (God willing) we will meet in four and a half months.

If you could do anything at this moment to make yourself happy, what would it be?
Go opshopping. :)

Do you have a special place, real or imagined, where you go to in your mind or reality to regroup, seek peace, or just be?
I like walking along the beach for some time out.  Pity we live inland so it doesn't happen that often.

Has there been a particular book that you have read that inspired or motivated you to seek your potential?
The Writer's Guide by Irina Dunn and The Australian Writer's Marketplace.

What childhood fable, fairytale, or movie stretched your imagination and sticks with you today?
The Neverending Story.

What is your favourite form of art and artist (anyone and anything you consider art qualifies)?
Photography.  I'd love to be a photographer, but I don't have the right 'eye' for it.  I love seeing friends, who are talented photographers, put their work on Facebook.
I'd also have to say writing.  It takes a lot of talent and hard work to write passionately and move a reader to engage emotionally with the characters and story.

Do you have a personal anthem, a song, that reminds you of who you are and want to be, that represents the ideal of you?
Not really, but Be Thou My Vision would be one.

Holidays....Happy Days

This blog will be quiet over the next two weeks while Duncan and I are away on holidays.  I'm looking forward to a break from blogging, rather than doing scheduled posting.  Stay tuned, however, for I'll have lots of meaty topics to waffle about when I get back.

We're off to Dalwallinu on Sunday to catch up with friends, Duncan's extended family, and my ex-workmates for a few days.  It's been 17 months since we've been back and we haven't seen some people since then.  Then we head down to Perth for a couple of days before flying out to MELBOURNE. :)  Those who are regular, long-time readers of this blog will know that I love going to Melbourne.

At Brunswick St, Fitzroy during our last visit to Melbourne in August 2009




I also decided that a pre-holiday haircut was in order.  Basically I was sick of my long, straggly mane.  I looked like Linda from The Wedding Singer:

Photo is from http://jake-weird.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/wedding-bands-diamond-rings.html

Ah that's better.


  

What a Fortnight!

I've felt quite stressed and run off my feet over the past two weeks.  Here's why:

• I recovered from the flu only to be thrown straight back into work with two events in three days.  I had a complete meltdown on the phone to Duncan because of the stress with organising the second one.  Catering, venues, speakers, people...aaargh!  It does my head in.
• I stacked it in the middle of a street right in town.  I was pushing a shopping trolley and the wheel must have hit a pothole because over went the trolley, and over I went on top of the trolley.  Either nobody noticed, or they just couldn't be bothered helping me up.  I had a painfully sore, cut and bruised leg after that incident.  I'm not sure if I started crying because of the pain, shock or because I was already having a very bad day.
• My cousin and his long-term partner split up.
• A friend on the farm had to rush to Perth as her terminally ill father didn't have long left.  She was most worried about the fact that he wasn't a Christian, and she felt the burden of being the only Christian in her family...the only one who could tell him about Jesus.  This brought back horrible memories for me about when my Nan was in hospital, and Duncan and I tried to share the gospel with her.  It IS a privilege, but it's also really hard knowing that they might choose a Christless eternity.  Some people in Christian families don't get how hard it can be.  Praise God that my friend DID get to share the gospel with her dad (who is still hanging in there), and that he prayed out loud right there and then to ask God for forgiveness, putting his trust firmly in Christ.  What a wonderful answer to prayer.
• Another friend rang me to tell me her partner's Nana had passed away.  I always feel sad when I hear of people losing grandparents.
• I heard that a friend of mine from high school had passed away a few weeks ago.  I lost touch with Sharon when high school ended, but I still felt so, so sad when I heard the news.  She had been sick with recurring tonsilitus and couldn't shake off an infection which led to inflammation of the lining of her heart.  Just awful.
• At PWC on Saturday, I was fighting to hold back the tears as I heard the testimonies of three wonderful older women who have walked with Jesus for many years.  They have suffered so much, yet they praise Him for His faithfulness and are just so thankful for all they have.  One lady shared about how she was the only Christian in her family and had received much opposition from her mum (boy, could I relate).  Then both her parents put their trust in Christ on their deathbeds.  Both were in their nineties.  It gave me such hope, particularly after writing The Golden Oldies back in March.

That was my fortnight.  Tumultuous.  I'm looking forward to holidays.

Brain to Mouth Filter

Some people need one....badly.  Make that a brain to fingers filter if they're on Facebook.

I've decided it's better to say nothing than to say something stupid while in a conversation with someone.

Watch this clip!  The robot voices are hilarious!

via Daja in her post How To Be Obnoxious.

Heidi's 30th

My good friend Heidi (who I've known since high school) turned 30 at the end of June, and I had the privilege of attending her birthday.  It was a good thing it was on the same day as Sam's Baby Shower because it meant only one trip to Perth.  However, I was still pretty stuffed by the end of it.

Heidi chose an opshop theme for her party.  Guests had to wear something outrageous that they had found at an opshop.  As you can guess, this was right up my alley.  Duncan...not so much.  When I saw that Heidi was wearing an old wedding dress, I thought it was a hint that she would be announcing her engagement to her partner, Michael.  I was wrong.....but I still think engagement is not too far away.


Heidi and Michael. 
Heidi is recovering from a bulging disc in her back
so she had to spend some time lying down.





The very cool watermelon cake.




Duncan came as himself.  I wore a hideous yellow knitted jumper with bobbles on it and some pink trackies courtesy of our local op shop.  The Hawaiian shirt was a previous op shop purchase (for costume parties, of course).  The trackies were very comfortable and I told Duncan I was considering wearing them as PJs.  He said, "NO!" ;)



Sam's Baby Shower

My friend Sam had her baby shower at the end of June.  She's due to have her first child (a girl) in mid October so everyone came wearing pink.

The baby shower involved lots and LOTS of games.  Some were fun.  Some left me feeling a bit squeamish (I don't usually have a weak stomach).


Identifying the contents of nappies.

 

Tasting and identifying baby food.

Making babies out of playdough.  Mine looked like a screaming alien haha.

Presents!  I like that pink bunny.

FOOD! :)

Diary of an Incubator: 15 Weeks

I was told by a friend that I need to do the obligatory belly photos and put them on Facebook.  Since I value blogging more than Facebooking, I decided that the photos can go on here first.

I've already been told that I look large for 15 weeks.  But other women said that some show early and some show later.  Everyone's different.  I'm not concerned.  I just know that I'm now at that 'awkward stage' where people in town are starting to look at me suspiciously, wondering if I'm pregnant or if it's a beer gut.

And...my jeans don't fit anymore.  I was using an elastic band and a paperclip to hold them together.  It hurt to sit down (which I kind of need to do at work and at church).  God bless the friend who has given me two boxes of maternity clothes, including several pairs of jeans.

All in all, I'm enjoying not feeling sick anymore.  But now I'm starting to get headaches and dizziness.  At least they're not every day.