Sunday, February 28, 2010

Rebecca's 21st party


Elizabeth and Scott; Rebecca and of course Jan and Chris.
Elizabeth's boss Chris made the perfect Charlie Chaplin and Rebecca looked beautiful.
Almost everyone was in Black and White, so Elizabeth looked fantastic in her green dress. Scott made the perfect Riverboat gambler.
A great evening was Elizabeth's comment




Saturday, February 27, 2010

Softball Sarah

Joy today was watching Sarah at another Softball game. Granny and Granddad came along to the home game to support Sarah and I think they both enjoyed the game.

Sarah batted really well, scoring twice for her team. She was caught out on first base on one occasion, but in doing so, the team got another runner home. So it was a good sacrifice. Unfortunately, they lost to St Pauls 14-10, but the result did not reflect the fantastic game played by all the girls.

The Joy of today was watching my lovely little girl who has always hated sport, flourish and enjoy playing with her teammates and improving week after week.

Go for it Sarah.

Friday, February 26, 2010

I am grateful!

I have always loved reading. For years I have devoured historical novels, romances, fantasty, science fiction and so many other genres. Returning to university to study I have been encouraged to read books that I otherwise would perhaps have ignored. Last year we started way back in early literature with 'Beowulf' and 'The Canterbury Tales' and this year I have been delving into Gothic literature.

As part of my degree, I am required to study Australian Literature and I must admit to having been a little reluctant. Yet, here I am having just finished my first Australian Lit. novel - Coonardoo by Katharine Susannah Prichard and I must admit to having been blown away. It is so rich in its descriptions of life in the outback of Western Australia and the relationships of whites and aboriginals. I was expecting something difficult to read, but I found myself drawn into this beautiful world.

So once more my uni is something I am grateful for.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Girls went shopping

Mom, Elizabeth and I had a morning out shopping.

It was so fun for the three of us to hit the shops today. Poor Mom is looking for a pair of shoes that she can fit her orthotics into. What a job! It is a total nightmare for her, but without these orthotics she wouldn't be walking. So although it is frustrating for her she is also grateful for the healing they have given her.

Unfortunately, her search led Elizabeth and I to buy 2 pairs of shoes each.
Elizabeth needed a new pair of work shoes (2nd on the right) and then fell in love with the high heel black shoes (very right hand pair).


The two pairs on the left are mine. I love the brown pair (2nd on the left) ideal for uni with jeans and then the black high heels were just an indulgence, but then shoes are just my weakness. I felt amazing in them.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Technology

My previous post illicited so many comments that I thought I would write a post about it.

In years gone by, I was totally against digital scrapbooking, but then I refused to see 'Toy Story' when it first came out, because it was animated by computer and not in the traditional Disney style. I admit it I am a little slow to catch onto things. I now look at things like 'Lord of the Rings' and even better 'Avatar' and believe that those worlds just have to exist. The computer technology and CGI (I think that is what it is called) is so much more real than real, that it is impossible to believe that it just doesn't exist in our non-virtual world.

I am completely in love with technology. I couldn't exist without my laptop. It is just amazing and I know that I will be keeping it up to date. It is one of the first things I switch on in the morning and the last that I switch off at night. I check my emails every few hours, check out Facebook and do a little digital scrapbooking. I work on my uni stuff and just check out the times for a movie. I am hooked on technology.

Digital scrapbooking has me totally hooked. I can take a photo and within minutes have it scrapbooked and shared around the world. I have a running 2010 album that I am doing photos on a daily/weekly basis and it is going to be a detailed photo journal of my life. I guess this is part of my passion and it is so much quicker than waiting to get photos printed, then having to find the time and space to traditionally scrapbook them. The other amazing part is the ability to journal. I can insert a full page of text - yes it doesn't have my handwriting (something I was always big on), but if I really want that then I can scan in a written page. Now isn't this all cool.

So in our house we have 4 laptops and an older computer and at times we are all using them. We do however, ensure that we still all make time to be together for family chats in the lounge. Communication is the most important thing - I can communicate with family around the world via technology, but nothing beats our family evenings filled with laughter and joy.

Monday, February 22, 2010

CM & Facebook

I have been trying to figure out a way I could share my CM digital album pages on Vesta as well as Facebook, but it appears that there is no way to copy a single page and post it here, so if you want to see some recent family photos then check them out on Facebook.

I must admit that I haven't quite figured out how Facebook works. I keep checking it out, but there is often just links to games (Farmville) and Astrology charts and everyone adding a friend to their list. Does anyone every write anything for others to share???

My friend Darlene from Canada is really good posting things, so I get to check out what is happening in her world. I also follow her blog which I have enjoyed for over a year now. But, I just don't get the rest. I guess it is perhaps a generational thing for me.

Anyway I love CM digital albums as I am completely up to date with my 2010 photos, as I take them I download them onto the computer and create a page and update my monthly calendar. I am also working on all my 2008 photos which have been sitting in a drawer for over a year now. I guess for me traditional scrapbooking is a thing of the past and so is printing photographs. It took me a while to get into this form of scrapbooking and photography, but now I will never go back.

Well done CM for making it so easy.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Book review

I am reading a very interesting book by Malcolm Gladwell called 'Outliers - The Story of Success'. It is a fascinating book that looks at why some people succeed while others don't. The assumption is that it is usually intelligence and ambition, but this book looks at things like birth place, birth date, family circumstance, dedication (10 000 hour rule - I liked this one) and other things.

It is well written and easy to read and at page 128, I am finding that I keep picking it up to read just another little bit more.

I had never heard of this author before but apparently he has written two other books 'The Tipping Point' - about how we understand the world and 'Blink' about how we think about thinking. These sound really interesting, so I may be diving into his works a little futher.

If you are interested his website is www.gladwell.com

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Busy, busy, busy

We have just had one of the busiest weeks we have had in years.

Friends from the USA came and stayed for 4 intense days of chatting, catching up, having fun and just hanging out. Sandy and Charlie are the most amazing couple I know. Both in their sixties, they have the energy and zest of 20 year olds. Both amazingly fit they bounce through life dragging you along with them.

As houseguests they were wonderful, happy to get up at 5am and let the dog out, feed her and make their own breakfasts before heading out for a morning walk. Always ready to dive into helping in the kitchen or with washing etc and more than ready to feed or keep themselves entertained.

Then today I had the joy of acting as hostess to the wife of a business colleague of Ivan's from South Africa (my home country). Catherine and her beautiful girls Olivia 4 and Pippa nearly 2 spent the day with me, while their Daddy conducted business with Ivan. I was daunted by the idea of playing hostess to them (I have sort of outgrown young children), but I so enjoyed the most delightful morning with an inspiring 4 year old, who has a vocabulary that would put most adults to shame. She lit up my life with delight and joy and I am only sorry I didn't have my camera with me to capture her beauty as she enjoyed a chocolate ice-cream that covered her whole mouth. Little Pippa was so adorable and despite coping with the difficulties of travelling with such young children and dealing with strangers, Catherine and I enjoyed a few hours of chatting and sharing experiences of living in Australia. I think I found in that beautiful child all the delight I have missed of having young children around me. For the first time ever, I realised that I am going to enjoy being a grandmother one day - no not too soon, but I know that I am going to love it.

Life has been extremely hectic for weeks now and the overwhelming feeling of it all has sort of got to me, but as I have sat here to write, I realise that I will cope. Things will slow down a little and I will capture some sense of order and serenity. Hopefully all this will occur soon, as from March 1st, I am back at uni and then who knows how I will feel.

Okay busy world, here I come. Enough dallying in front of the computer screen.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Happy Birthday Elizabeth


Happy Birthday Elizabeth.
Yesterday Elizabeth, Mum and I went to the Chermside shopping centre (the other side of Brisbane). Everyone raves about it and we were certainly impressed. We started with a yummy breakfast and then enjoyed the shops. Looking in all the fun ones without feeling pressured by husbands of little children to hurry up and leave.
This was Elizabeth's gift from Ivan and I, a ring with all the semi-precious stones. It suits her delicate hand so well and she loved it - hmmm what a pity, as I was quite happy to have it if she didn't like it.
Finally, a birthday cake especially for you.
A plain double sponge cake with blackberry jam filling, vanilla icing and sprinkles. What the 20 year old ordered!

Congratulations on your birthday darling.