Wow what a month

I have lost my blogging confidence again, and for that I am sorry, once again I am doubting whats worth writing and whats not, what people will want to read and what they will not, but once again I have had to remind my self that this blog is for me... not you, although I hope you enjoy it, it’s for me.

So here we are the 4^th day of spring and I am busy... well... clearly not right at this very moment, but my life over the last little while has been nuts.  Here are some of the things that have gone down... which I haven’t blogged about... it is a long blog but I have broken it down into bit size pieces... enjoy: 

We ate a massive load of duck to celebrate the 23^rd year of my brother's birth...and it was delicious.... so delicious.

Dave has been MIA – well again, kind of... September sees Dave’s first Musical Director gig at his new school, and because the musical they have chosen to do is the epic “Sound of Music” he has been busy busy busy, doing lots of extra rehearsals out of his normal school hours... I guess this makes me the newest musical widow... Although its seems to be the month for it because before the Sound of Music, Dave was busy with the YP Anniversary 2011 which was also a musical but this one was all about Jonah.

In fact, its not just Davo that has been busy with the kids I have also been flexing my children’s ministry muscles this month just gone,  not only have I made some very cool cup cakes, kept children under control while waiting for the signal from dave, started taking the timbrels while Jude is away and hung out with the coolest prayer pal in the world! But I think that last Sunday really topped it off, I also got to lead over 100kids in worship, with crazy singing, dancing and jumping around at this years Eastern Vic Kids Big Day Out, which was super fun.  Although it did take me a little longer to recover than I would have liked.  Being so involved with the kids again has made me realise how much I love working with them, and perhaps even need to return at some stage (although not just now).  In fact it made me a little nostalgic so I have added this little link to my previous times in children’s ministries just so I can reminisce a little bit more.

Weddings Weddings Weddings – I have been lucky enough to attend two weddings this much, one for Bec and Michael, which feel like forever ago on the 6^th of August and the second for Felicity and Michael last Saturday the 27^th of August, and just in case you weren’t sure yes... they were different Michael's...  Both weddings were really different, and I think that perhaps reflected on my relationships with brides.  Bec was one of my cell girls when she was growing up, so her wedding , made me feel very old, but in a good, motherly, way.  It took me a long time to comprehend that this girl, now woman, who I had watched grow up was now getting married.  Where as Flic was one of my uni mates, so my emotions were a little different, they weren’t reflective, but rather, excited to see my good friend so happy and excited to be able to share this next chapter of her life.  Both were beautiful, and reminded me just why I love weddings soooooo much.  Oh and both brides looked amazing!  I felt so privileged to be part of their special days.

I have swapped jobs – well kind of.. my position was a ‘rotating’ one which means that from time to time, (usually about every 6months) I have to swap sites, so this last week I spent a few half days being orientated to my new sites and this week I have been flying by the seat of my pants trying to work out what on earth I am doing at my new site, getting lost, asking silly questions and generally feeling a little more useless than normal, but give me a week or two and I will be ruling the roost again.  My new sites aren’t quite as busy as my old one, which means I am actually getting time to do all the things that I need to do in the day, which is a very pleasant change. 

Oh and I also had my first batch of Australian bananas in I don’t know how long.... and boy were they good, I can’t wait until the prices go down a little bit more and I can have them all the time.

So there you go... that was August, crazy ey?  I am really hoping that September slows down just a little bit, but I am beginning to think that that's unlikely... I think this is just life... but it would be nice if it slowed down just for a little bit.   

One Month To Go

So today it the first of August and for me this is significant, I have one month to go...

Its one month today until spring, and although that is exciting, its not what I am refering to.  No, its one month today until I have to have everything unpacked and sorted at home.  I moved into Dave's after we got married, and then once we got home from our honeymoon, I started the daunting process of moving all my things from my family home to my new home.  And you would think that this wouldn't be that hard, but I have a lot of stuff... seriously a lot of stuff, and I just don't know where it is all going to go.  So I decided that I needed to set myself a deadline because I really don't want it just sitting there indefinatly, so the dead line I set, about a month ago, was the end of August... which is now one month away.  

My progress so far has been good, I have now moved all of my stuff out of Dad's and physically put it inside my place, but it remains in boxes, filling up both the study and the spare room, which I think is starting to irritate Davo.  Every now and then, when I am feeling motivated I pick a box and unpack it, but now I have gotten to the last few boxes ('few' is quite misleading, its probably 15boxes, but they are the last 15).  These are the boxes of stuff that have been there since before I moved to Castlemaine in April 2009, or things I boxed up when I left castlemaine late last year and have just never dealt with.  Now I know if I haven't used in this time, I should probably just get rid of it, and trust me I have been ruthless in my sorting.  In fact when moving my clothes I gave away 8 bags of clothes and shoes alone, and this was on top of the the 5 bags I gave away last year when I moved back home.  But the thing is I can't just through it out without know exactle what it is... just in case.  I hate losing things, so I just can't stand the thought of randomly chucking stuff out, perhaps I have a little bit of hoarder in me, who knows.  So the thing is now that I have gotten down to these boxes, the motivation is just not there, they are boxes I don't want to sort through because I know its going to be annoying and boring.  Its not the exciting things anymore, like books and DVDs... its just the paper work left... but it needs to be done and I need to get onto it now, otherwise I won't make my deadline.

The thing is I am actually really looking forward to the end result, having everything unpacked and then getting to the fun bit of making it all work, rearranging and changing, and 'making our house a home', but I can't do that until I have done these boxes... these last annoying boxes, full of things that have no place.  

Ok, I have a month... so I need to get of the computer and start unpacking... wish me luck.     

Family Recipe

Well its official, I am now completely a George.  I know that technically this was all official on May 14 when Dave and I got married, but for me, it really became official last night when I conquered an old family favourite recipe of the George’s.  You see yesterday was Davo’s birthday, so in an attempt to prove my wifely skills I took an ADO so that I had the whole day to make the perfect dinner, which it turned out was ‘Red Meat Casserole” and I am pretty sure I have pulled it off.  Davo was impressed which is all that really matters.  

Why am I sharing this?  Well I guess it really took my by surprise how much getting this recipe, this meal, just right meant to me.  I have had the recipe since my kitchen tea and knew that at some stage I would have to try it, but even though its just a casserole, this hand written recipe handed to me by Dave's mum, with the family names of George and Crocker (Dave's Nanny's surname) it almost felt sacred, special, like I had been let in completely to the family secret. And now that I have completed my task, I feel like my initiation into the family is complete.   

It also made me wonder what I had to pass on and I have discovered to my surprise that I actually have a few things from my own family cookbook to pass on one day too, probably most notably my mum's chocolate slice, which just between you and me is delicious, and I am sure that I continue to grow as a cook I will bring my own recipe's to the table.  This is something I never really thought about, or never realised would be this important to me, as being a wiz in the kitchen has never really been a goal of mine, but all of a sudden, it is.  Perhaps its the 'traditional wife' in me, I don't know, in fact I am not even sure how long it will last, but I am glad I have experienced this.  It makes me feel like I belong to both families, and that I have family traditions of my very own, that I will one day be able to pass onto my kids (when they come) and their families.

Oh and I made a killer cake... check it out!  Pretty good even if I say so myself!