The Tricky Thing About Blogging

Ok, so blogging is usually a fun thing for me, it's really just an excuse to write random stuff on the internet and see who reads it... Until something happens that is a really a big thing and you don't really want to write about it, but then, if you don't write about it and write about other less important stuff, it seems as though you are being disrespectful to whatever it is that has happened.

So, perhaps I won't write about it just yet, but now you all know how I feel, and if I write about other trivial things then I won't feel as though I'm being disrespectful...

Gingerbread House

I Just finished my gingerbread house!

The Wedding Planner

No, this is not a post about the movie (which I haven't seen) but about me! On Saturday I was Line Producer for Katherine and Kimseoun's wedding, for those who don't know much about movies (or weddings) the LP is the person who pulls all the different elements together and makes it work - which it did!

After many meetings and emails to plan who was doing what we turned up at 9am to make it all happen - thankyou so much to Kath's 945 Homegroup and others who worked really hard.

It was a fun wedding with a mixture of Cambodian and Aussie bits and pieces. The groom, his mum and friends arrived amidst fruit procession and presented Kath's mum with many platters of fruit, tea and other fun Cambodian food. Then the bride arrived and walked down the aisle with her Dad in the traditional Aussie way.

I was a bit nervous that it wouldn't come together but Kath and Kimsoeun got married, there was enough food at the reception and everyone was happy so I think it was officially a success!

A few people have asked if I'd be interested in planning weddings professionally... Hmm, as much as I like organising I'm not sure I could handle the pressure of having to make every couple's day 100% perfect but if in the future you would like someone to help plan your wedding, let me know :-)

Below are some pics of Stu and I with K & K and K & K cutting the cake

Fish Sitting

Stuart is a bit confused by the title of this post, and while it is true that fish don't sit (apparently they don't have chairs) we are currently sitting (minding) Evie Winch's goldfish.

Everything was going well until last Friday when we arrived home to find a very lost fish lying on the floor under the fish bowl :-( It was obvious due to his dehydrated state that he had been there for a very long time.

There's something rather disconcerting about phoning your boss to let him know his daughters pet fish committed suicide while in your care...

AFES National Training Event

Stay tuned..

Two more sleeps!

Just two more sleeps until the biggest event in the Credo calender - NTE!!! 3.5 days of learning about Eschatology (amongst other things) in Canberra and then 3.5 days of mission with a local(or not so local) church. As a staff member I also get to go to the pre-nte ministry expo.

Every year I get to this point and can't decided if I want to go or not - it sounds like a good idea but there never seems to be enough time to organise transport or finish my strand prep and 10 days of not sleeping in my own bed is such a long time! However by then end of NTE I'm always amazed at how much God has done, what a great time the team has had and how much we have all learnt that is seems to be worth all the effort :-)

Stay tuned to hear all about NTE 2006! www.afes.org.au/nte.html

Happy? Birthday Nemo

Yesterday my goldfish Nemo turned 1 :-) We named him Nemo because he was the only baby to survive in the batch of 40-100 eggs that Georgette laid. Since then Georgette and Marlowe have been busy and laid eggs about 3 times. Unfortunately none of the others survived either.

I had high hopes for about 40 eggs that I saved and watched most of the fry grow until they were a few months old but slowly some began to disappear (Nemo got hungry) and others became ill and died...

There was one fish from that batch that made it - Cheeky Fish... Until today... He hurt his tail on the weekend, he got stuck in a rock and pulled half his tail off, it got infected and this morning he was dead :-(

So now Georgette, Marlowe and their son Nemo (above) will continue swimming happily in a tank that is getting less and less crowded!

Stuart's Words of Wisdom

"Sharing a house with a flatmate is like going on holidays it's fun and you get to experience new things. Being married is like moving to a different country, there's a whole new culture that follows you around"

The Spires are Moving

Yes, it's official, in three weeks time we will no longer reside in Ultimo. Instead, we will move a few suburbs west (I think it's west- geography has never been my best subject) to Sunny Stanmore.

We will join the gang who live in the MAC building out there, I'm very looking forward to having an extra bedroom, a dining room and maybe even a study! No longer will our lounge room try to do 3 things at once (4 when people come to stay). It will be weird not being able to walk to work though, it's been so long since I relied on public transport... hmmmm...

Back 2 School

Yesterday at uni was Back 2 School day - the plan: convince a bunch of uni students to collect sponsors who will pay to see them wear their school uniforms to uni...

It's fun seeing everyone looking like school kids again, we also took over the concourse with stalls of fun schooly things to do (I learnt how to write Re-be-ca in Japanese) and fairy floss!

Why? to raise money for HEED (Health Education Economic Developement), specifically establishing slum schools in Bangledesh.

Here is a picture from last year (I didn't wear my uniform this year- chose to donate instead).

RIP Bob Catfish

My fish Bob died on Friday night :-( We've had him for almost 3 years and watched him grow from a baby...

I don't know what is happening with out tank, we're doing everything right but the ammonia and pH levels just won't stabilise! Which means stressed fish that get sick and drop dead unexpectedly...

I went to Oceanworld at Manly on Sunday, not as nice as Sydney Aquarium at Darling Harbour but they still had lots of cool fish. I do not know why I like fish so much, but I do...

When I find a photo of Bob I will post it... I'm pretty sure there's one somewhere, although he was pretty good at hiding so it may not be a great one.

Murder Mystery Extravaganza

In answer to Ange's comment - the murder mystery night was fun! About 30 people showed and most of them were keen to get into character and play along. Lots of great outfits too!

Here I am dressed as Audrey Hepburn, Ange B on the far right is Tammy Wynette and sorry Steph but I can't remember who your character was!

A big thank you to everyone who came, we raised just over $600!

BTW if anyone was wondering about my search for a yello M&M man, I found one :-)

Finally, she says something!

I know, I know, it's been so long since my last post... But that's because I've been on holidays :-)

Stu and I went to Bathurst (very cold) to visit my Aunty Lyn and see her new house, very nice! Highlights were playing "up words" and Rummy (I think Stu played more games in 3 days than he has in his whole life), eating way too much food at a crazy rib and steak restuarant, driving round Mt Panorama race course (well, Stu did the driving) and for those of you who keep asking how my driving lessons are going I actually drove on a long a stretch of road (not the race track) at 50km/h and turned at an intersection and everything!

Then we came home and bludged a bit and headed to Cessnock with a bunch of Credoites. We ran an ISCF group and a special Wednesday night church service to get people excited about NTE mission - which worked I think!

Stu and I stayed in Cessnock to play with our furniture - a beautiful table and sideboard we've been restoring in Dad's garage. We went into town and decided to check out the local Vinnies (Liz had told me there were cheap leather lackets for sale, alas, they were all PVC and all too small for me). Anyway while looking at their second hand furniture, we found chairs that are an exact match to our table! The nice lady at Vinnies gave them to us for $3 each! So 5 chairs for $15 later we piled them into our car and drove them home to fill Dad's shed with more clutter.

In other news, our lovely little flat in Ultimo is up for sale - anyone interested in buying? Which means having to keep it neat and tidy for open houses (Thurs and Sat at 10.30am) and the possibility of being asked to move out by the new owners... After the quiet and space of Bathurst we had been talking about maybe trying to find a quieter and bigger place to live and arrived home to the letter from the Real Estate agent with the news... Perhaps it's a sign from God??

The Search for the yellow M & M

This is an m&m dispenser... Why is this important you ask?

Well, Marian used to have a yellow one in the Barneys office and I thought it would fun if I could find another one for her...

Hmmm it was a good idea at the time. However there appear to be no yellow ones for sale anywhere in the worldwide web.

If you know where I can get a yellow m&m baseball pitcher with a blue cap dispenser please let me know!

Happy Queen's Birthday

So, today is a public holiday because it's the Queen's birthday, but it's not really it's just the day we celebrate it. She already had her birthday in May I think and already had at least 2 parties and now she gets a whole 'nother day!

It's 1.40pm and I haven't done much yet, except for eat breakfast and send some emails that should have been sent a weeks ago...

Did you know according to the Anglican Church calander yesterday was Trinity Sunday... In true Anglican style Barneys had a sermon on the Trinity which was quite good (check out the Barneys link on the right to download it - in a few days when Stu puts it on). We also said the Athanasius Creed which is long and hard to read but kinda fun you can read it here http://www.orderofcenturions.org/documents/anthanasius.html

Anyway - have a happy Queen's birthday!

The Fire

Paul sent me some pictures of the Credo office after the fire today. It's pretty sobering to see them... It's hard to believe that the building is gone, I still get a shock when I walk down Broadway and see the burnt out shell of Barneys...

They removed the roof and inside walls etc that were still standing where my office was, it feels kinda wierd to know that it's not there anymore.

For more pics check out the Barneys (before and after fire) link to the right.

Fish Update

My fishies don't seem to be getting any better :-( 3 have died in the last few days and two have not been able to swim at all. The tiniest one seems to be ok although I have know idea why.
I think I have done all that I can do and must now take matters into my own hands.

Do you think pet euthanasia is wrong? Does it matter that my little fishies are most probably starving to death because they can't swim properly to catch food? I suppose the fish we eat go through much worse torture than what I will do to put these poor little fish out of their misery. Imagine being caught in a net and suffocating to death! My fishies will be a lot more comfortable.

In other news, I went to see the Da Vinci Code yesterday, it wasn't as bad as the reviews have made it out to be although Jenelle, who went with me, says that may be because we have both read the book. I still think the historical "facts" are not very factual but it does raise interesting questions about women in the church through the ages and the humanity/divinity of Jesus. Jenelle was telling me about a girl she knows who refuses to read/see it because it will challenge her faith... What's the point of having a faith you can't challenge?

My blogging and fish keeping skills need to be developed...

This is a picture Stuart made of us, I tried to upload it into my profile but it didn't work, obviously my blogging skills are yet to be developed fully.

My baby fish are sick :-( I have this horrible feeling that I've poisoned them somehow but I can't work out what I've done to them... I've tested the water and it seems ok. For now I'll keep doing partial water changes regularly and hope the next time I look at them they'll be swimming the right way up.

The fish in the big tank are fine though, except for Cheeky who is missing a chunk out of his tail... I haven't worked out which of the bigger fish did it yet but when I do...

Having spent the last few days reading blogs published by people that I know, I've decided to start one of my own. It's all a bit scary, writing my thoughts on the web for all to see!

Enjoy...