Rory's Robot Bookcase

I can now cross off one of the DIY projects on my to-do list...

This is an old bookcase my parents had in their garage.

I bought some robot-themed scrapbooking paper from Spotlight, applied a lot of glue, then several coats of clear varnish.

Ta da!

Rory's many books are no longer covering our coffee table.

Friday Funny

It's been a tough week - temperatures of 40C, a night-waking toddler, and the anniversary of my Nan's death.

I need a Friday Funny. This is another good one that was emailed to me:

WHY SENIORS STILL NEED NEWSPAPERS

I was visiting my daughter last week when I asked if I could borrow a newspaper.

"This is the 21st century," she said. "We don't waste money on newspapers. Here, use my iPad."

I can tell you this. That fly never knew what hit him.

Quote of the Day

Four years ago today, I woke to the awful news that my Nan had passed away.

Grief gets easier to deal with, but I will always miss her.

When someone you love dies, you never quite get over it.  You just slowly learn how to go on without them.  But always keeping them tucked safely in your heart.
- Unknown

Joshua's 2nd Birthday

One thing I love about being a mum is watching Rory interact with other children.  Sometimes he's outgoing and right in the thick of the action.  Other times, he's shy and is content to sit on my lap and eat biscuits.

We went to a 2nd birthday party for his little friend Joshua on the 14th December, and I had a great time catching up with other mums who I used to meet up with through a PND support programme.  The sad thing is that our babies are growing up so fast.

The birthday boy

Rory loved the tent and tunnel

Boo!

Enjoying the water and sand table with his friend Shelly

5 Hopes For 2015

This year is sounding much like 2012...the year of 'keep on keepin' on'.  I WILL finish what I started....God willing.

1.  Finish editing my book, write a synopsis and cover letter and send to literary agents.  NO MORE PROCRASTINATING, SARAH, YOU'VE COME TOO FAR!

2.  Make God and His Word a priority.  I need regular quiet times, plus I need to get into a Bible study of some sort.  The ladies' fellowship at church has turned into a social group and no-one seems keen to do any Bible study, which I find a real shame.  I'm praying about who to approach to read the Bible with.

3.  Get fit and lose 4kg.  Water aerobics is on on Saturday mornings at our local pool and, now harvest is finished, Duncan can look after Rory so I can go.  I'll get back into Zumba as soon as it starts again, and keep playing tennis.  I want to do some yoga/Pilates type stretches at home to help my back.  Maybe a healthier lifestyle will help with my fatigue.  One thing I NEED to do is stop rewarding myself with bad food.  It's too easy to think, I've had a tough day with Rory, I need some icecream/biscuits *fill in the blank*.  I don't want to, but I need to stop buying Mocha Chills.  Those things are EVIL.  No more than one a week for me!

4.  Pray and think about how to go about my role as the Ladies' Fellowship Deacon at church.  It feels like I do nothing in this role.  I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing and I need wisdom.  I don't want to overburden the ladies with too many things to do, but I want to encourage them to read the Bible with each other.  I was thinking about having a trash and treasure stall at the local show in March to raise money for missions.

5.  Get my DIY projects at home done.  I want to paint the laundry (we have a scungy outside laundry), paint the window frame in the kitchen and stick Bible verses and encouraging quotes around it, upcycle a toy box for Rory, make myself a patchwork skirt....that's probably enough.

Quote of the Day

You could have a millions ideas, but they're all worthless if you don't get them done.
 - Lauren Amarante

2014 Hopes: How I Went

This is how I went:

1.  Get fit.  A friend of mine is the local Zumba instructor.  I've always swore I'd never do Zumba.  I'm the most unco-ordinated person on the planet, and anything that involves dancing, I look like I have too many legs all tripping over each other.  But I've decided to eat my words and give it a go.  There's no other high impact aerobic exercise available locally, and I like to exercise with others as it gives me the motivation to give it my all.  Netball is out of the question because there is no team at my level and it hurts my back.  So, there....I'm go to be Zumba-ing it up on Monday nights this year.  Duncan has promised to be home from work in time to look after Rory.
I started off well, going to Zumba most Mondays and really enjoying it.  Then the Zumba instructor (my friend Asha, whose husband works with Duncan) decided to not run it during winter because of low numbers.  At the start of May, Asha had a terrible horseriding accident, fracturing three vertebrae in her back.  It hasn't healed properly so Zumba is on hold for a while yet.  I did start going to ladies' tennis again more regularly (while Rory was at daycare) and now Sunday afternoon tennis has resumed as well.  But I'm far from fit.

2.  Read the Bible regularly.  Whether I can be a part of a Bible study or not, I need to really feast on God's Word.  I'm not interested in set plans, so I'm going to continue on with the devotional I'm doing, read a Psalm a day, and keep up with the verses and discussion we receive from our pastor via an iphone app.
Epic fail!  I'm so thankful for a God that loves me, regardless.  I will keep trying.

3.  Finish editing my book!  Surely this has got to be the year! 
So close, yet STILL no cigar.  I finished the second major edit, so that was good.  Now I'm just doing a quick read through (and finding MORE mistakes, unfortunately).  Then I just have to write the synopsis and cover letter and it's off to the literary agent.

4.  Shop ethically.  Recently, I've been evaluating how my faith in Christ impacts my grocery and clothes shopping.  Expect a post on this very soon.
This was the post I did and I really did give this a go.  It's hard in a country town, where some 'ethical' brands are just not available, and you have to pick the best out of a bad lot.  Sometimes I got lazy and couldn't be bothered checking the app before making a purchase.  Sometimes I was too tempted by what was on special.  I'm aiming to keep on with this this year.

5.  Take Rory to playgroup.  I've been putting off trying the local playgroup because friends of mine told me they found it very cliquey.  Now I've decided that I should give it a go and make up my own mind about people instead of listening to hearsay.  A former workmate told me she is planning to go with her new baby so at least I'll know someone.  It's hard at the moment because it's on from 9:30-11:30 and that clashes with Rory's morning sleep.  When he drops to one sleep a day, then we'll go.
I just squeezed in with this one...we didn't get to playgroup until December due to playgroup being on Thursdays and the ladies' fellowship at church being every second Thursday.  It took me a long time to get the guts to go.  It IS a bit cliquey, but I'm persevering and SLOWLY getting to know more mums...when Rory's not wanting me to help him climb the fort, that is, and I can actually sit down and talk to people.  Sometimes I feel like a real idiot because I have nothing interesting to say - I suck at small talk.  We went to Storytime at our local library a fair bit, and also to 'Play in the Park' a few times, but building relationships when you're an adult is slow, hard work.

Stay tuned for my 2015 hopes next week.