Out with the old - In with the new!

I have been in desparate need of a new handbag for ages. This however, is a very difficult project as I have a cupboard full of reject bags, that I buy and then hate once I start to use them. Elizabeth made the comment, that a good bag is one that you don't even notice using, but when it is bad, it annoys you everytime you pick it up. How True!

I have suggested to my local store that they have a 24 hour 'Try and Buy' policy, but I don't think that will work. Anyway the photo above has my old one on the left and my beautiful new leather one, in all my favourite colours on the right. And it is just perfect.

Anzac Day

Today is Anzac Day in Australia (for those non Australians - it is our Memorial Day to all those who have given their lives in war, especially the huge sacrafice paid by the 'diggers' (soldiers) at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli, Turkey, during WW1)

As Middle School Captain, Matthew was asked to represent his school along with all the other leaders in our local Ipswich parade. This is quite an honour and we were so proud of him.


The Senior Captain's leading West Moreton Anglican College and all the other schools in the parade. Matthew turned when I called him, as he marched by.

We then all attended a memorial service in the local park. It was rather warm (30c) so much so, that a few of the soldiers were fainting in the heat as they stood to attention. I am sure many of them had been up since long before day break to also attend the dawn services. St. John's ambulance service worked really hard providing water and relief to many people.

The service however, was moving and beautiful and as our local RSL (Returned Services League) motto says - 'Lest we forget!'

My Beautiful School Children.

This year WMAC did sibling photos for the first time.

It was so good to get one of Matthew and Sarah together.

My first Uni essay back!

Today I got my very first major University assignment back! It was a conversation between a Buddhist monk and a Christian Contemplative practitioner. I wrote about 11 drafts and had a lot of input and suggestions from family and friends. Some of the advice I took and some I ignored, but appreciated it all.

I must admit I was very pleased with the end result, but of course not knowing what to expect I was extremely anxious to get my results.

Firstly the Qld university system marks things on a 1 - 7 basis.
Grade 1-3 Fail
Grade 4 Pass
Grade 5 Credit
Grade 6 Distinction
Grade 7 High Distinction.

Wait for it!


I got a 7+!!!!!!!!

My lecturer wrote: 'Beverly, An excellent paper. It is filled with important insights.' 18/20.

Can you believe it??????

I was shaking with excitement and the wonderful thing was all my 'new' university friends were celebrating with me.

I then spent the next 3 hours starting on the next essay which is due on June 5th, but the buzz of excitement got me going.

I love Uni!

The happiest girl in the world.

Elizabeth fell in love with Bonanza many years ago and always watches the shows on Foxtel. She has also over the years, bought the occasional episode when it becomes available. About 2 weeks ago, she discovered a website that was selling the entire collection 115 discs with 4 episodes on each, yes that is 460 episodes.

She ordered it from the USA and it arrived this morning, so a delighted, happy, over-the-moon girl is now watching her DVD's (she should be working on an essay I think?), but her grin tells the whole story.

Hope you enjoy them all, Elizabeth.

Happy anniversary Mom and Dad

Congratulations Mom and Dad on your 46th Wedding anniversary.

We had a lovely morning out at the shops and a yummy lunch at Hog's Breath Cafe.

Dad had a 300gram Prime Rib steak and Mom and I enjoyed ribs and steak.

We also indulged in Mississippi Mud cake dessert and Sticky Date pudding.

Back on the diet tomorrow.

Friday morning

I have a morning routine - even when we are on holidays!

I usually get up and on my way past my computer I turn it on. I then head into the kitchen and pour myself a glass of orange juice (none in the house today) and then open curtains, let out the dog (if Ivan hasn't already done it). By the time I have done these couple of things, my computer has hummed to life and I open my emails. The days that no-one has emailed me are always a little sadder. I normally write to Michelle and answer other emails when they appear.

Then it is time to log onto Vesta. I used to just go straight in, but now I always check my blogs that I am following and have a lovely chortle at the posts that have come in. It is always such a joy to share news and thoughts from around the world.

If I have managed to get a photo I try and post it and write a little.

Of course some days I am just too slack or too busy and I don't get round to Vesta, but I must admit that I love reading everyone's.

What a great way to start the day.

Now today I also have loads of washing to do, tidying up from our day out yesterday, shopping - a serious shortage of basic essentials (chocolate and toothpaste being high on the list) and some cleaning.

Oh yes, I also have an essay to write. It is due on April 30th and I am back next week, so should get my A into G.

We do have beautiful sunshine today, so if it dries out, also need to mow the lawn, hmmm - that is what 15 year old son's can do?

That is my day, had better get to the shower and get going - no orange juice for me this morning, so day is ruined! Had better get out to the shops for sure.

Wet 'n Wild

Elizabeth and Sarah sharing a coke after a long day of fun!

Matthew and Patrick at the top of the Aqua Racer slide. Matthew is on the Orange mat kneeling in lane 5 and Patrick in Lane 4 on the blue mat.

I only had my little happy snap camera with me and I left it in the locker for most of the day, so I could enjoy the water, hence not many photos.

Unfortunately, this 'big fella' stood up in front of Matthew and Patrick just as I tried to get a couple of photos of them at the bottom. Nevermind - Matthew enjoyed his 'birthday present' day.

Happy 15th Birthday (29th March 2009) Matthew.

Lots and lots and lots of April rain

The Boys out in the rain.
After a very wet weekend, Easter Monday saw our heaviest falls with over 80mm. Last year in April we had just 17mm and this year to date we have had over 200mm.

Although most of our garden handles the water really well, the front is an exception and continually floods. Our winter chore this year is to lift the front path pavers and dig a drainage channel to allow the water to escape. Luckily today Tuesday has been a dry day and the water has slowly drained away.

The funniest part of this photo is all the water and a dead pot plant!!! My lavender just died, I think it just got pot bound and wasn't in the right position. So I now need some lovely winter flowers for the front.

A fishy hobby for our girl

This year our Easter weekend was filled with Sarah's joy at getting her new fish tank.

We used Good Friday morning to move her into her new room. A smaller but far lighter room than she was in previously. Not only that but it also has move privacy for our young lady.

Part of the joy for her is that we bought her a fish tank for her room.

Sarah loves animals and would have lots of pets if we allowed her. So our compromise is a tropical fish tank.

Saturday we went to the Pet Store and she got 3 male guppies, 3 tiger loach fish and 3 tetras. It is truly peaceful and beautiful and her smile says it all.

Today Tuesday - however, we had our first fatality one of her guppies, got stuck in between the filter and the glass and died. Sarah was very brave and despite a few tears and a beautiful burial, which she handled all by herself, she is enjoying her tank.

On Saturday we will get a few female guppies and a few Neon Tetras and she will enjoy her new hobby.

Haircut and Uni

Today is our last day of lectures for a week. We have mid-semester break over Easter. I have plans for some study, but also lots of family time. I am also having my hair trimmed before heading off to Uni for my midday lecture.

The children are all sound asleep, taking full advantage of the holidays. I love it now they are older and have a good lie-in. I wish my brain was not on full alert and thinking all the time about assignments.

My big problem at the moment is that I have to think of a 'short story' for our creative writing task. It has to be a 2300 word story and I have to have the pitch ready by May 6th, and I don't have a clue! Now I am the queen of inspirational story writing, but give me a topic, or a character and I can write anything. The problem is that I can't focus, I can't begin and I have writer's block or maybe writer's overload - too many ideas and no focus.

So if anyone wants to inspire me with a title, character or story hint, just fire away. All ideas gratefully received and filed for future use.

Have a wonderful Easter and a great break.

Two for Tuesday

After Ivan and Elizabeth left, I answered a few emails, blogged for the day and then headed into the shower. After my shower, I decided it was nice and quiet (Matthew and Sarah still asleep), so I hopped back into bed to do some work on my Creative Writing Tutorial.

This is my Blissing for today, studying in bed - what a treat!

Tuesday morning

Ivan has offered Elizabeth a lift to Uni for the last two mornings. This has a two-fold benefit for her, firstly it means she saves the train fare and also does not have to use her car to drive to the station. Daddy gets her company and all is well.

Except - yesterday morning Ivan slept in 'just a little' and so did Elizabeth! She dived out of bed at 6.50am and was ready to leave at 7am (designated departure time) in a flat spin, while Ivan only got up at 7am. So last night the conversation :-

Elizabeth: "Dad what time do you want to leave tomorrow?"
Ivan: "7.30am, no I think 7am, I was a little late this morning."
Elizabeth: "Ok Dad."

This morning I let the dog out at 6am and went back to bed, went sound and woke up again at - yes you guessed it 7am. I woke Ivan and got up, to find Elizabeth fully dressed, sitting playing on the computer - waiting!!!!

She had been up for almost an hour, so that they could leave at 7am. It was so funny, all she kept saying was "Next time I will catch the bloody train, then I can sleep in for another hour"

It has made my morning.

It is finished!

At last it is finished!

My first academic essay! I have been working on this essay for what seems like months, loving all the research, but unsure just how to write it. Today after 9, yes 9 drafts it is finished! Thank you to all my 'editors' I appreciate all the input that you have given me. Now I just have to hand it in on Wednesday and wait for the results.

I am happy with it and am sure that the next one won't be so long and painful a process. In fact even though it is only due on April 30th, I have started already. Getting ahead of the game.

Inspiration!

I started my Blog about 6 months ago after being inspired by my dear friend Michelle http://joyexpress.com.au/ and each and everyday I would try and write a little something. At first I was so excited to have an occasional comment from friends and family and it inspired me to write a little more. I have neglected Vesta a little over the last few weeks, but thought I would share some inspiration that I have found.

This year I started following some amazing and inspirational Blogs and have really found that these has inspired me to work just a little harder at mine. The one that has really struck a chord has been a 365 day project by a lovely lady called Darlene. She lives in Canada and despite a really hectic lifestyle manages to take a photo everyday of her life and blog. Wow!

http://darleneslifeforayear.blogspot.com/

Darlene has even take the time to comment and inspire me, encourage my studies and I love reading her comments. So thank you Darlene. Just meeting new people over cyberspace is an amazing experience and life is now so different. To think that in my parent's generation, letters took weeks to travel overseas and talking to friends on the phone would have been unheard of, yet now I can share a life with a stranger who becomes a friend, all because of a computer, the Internet and a Blog!

A busy, busy week!

It is Friday and I have hardly been on Vesta 'again' this week, yes I am sorry.

We have had a very strange week. Ivan has had a business dinner every single night and I have had Matthew and Sarah off school, unwell all week. Today is the last day of term, so with rainy, inclement weather, I am keeping them home again today.

Yesterday Brisbane copped a hammering with rain, we were lucky only getting around 75mm, but some places got over 400mm in less than 24 hours. Of course that meant flooding and chaos. I had driven into University and luckily had an umbrella with me, as the library was filled with damp, steaming students who had forgotten theirs. Even those who had umbrellas all were sporting their fashion statements of jeans/pants that were wet from ankles to knees. It is amazing how an extreme change in the weather like that, just causes chaos.

I have however, had a really good week. I received my first Creative Writing piece back, and received 4.5 out of 5 for it. She liked the characterisation, but felt that the 'trick' at the end was unnecessary. At first I disagreed as that was the focus when I wrote it, but on reflection I agree, in that it was a characterisation piece. The best part is that I am thrilled with the mark.

I now have an essay due on Wednesday - have the first draft ready. Working on that today! I also have another essay due on April 30th, so am beginning some research on that one.

My hobbies are copping a hammering with all my Uni and Mom work, but I am happy and loving life, so no complaints.

My Mii spent a day on the Wii

I am sure that most of the world has at least heard about the Wii game system. Well Sarah got this for her Christmas gift this year and the children then all clubbed together to buy the Wii fit exercise system and game. I measured up and created a character about 16 days ago, but have never really had a chance to play. Yesterday however, I go hooked. I had a day of achieving nothing else. I ended up doing 1 hour and 31 minutes of exercise on the 'stupid, fun, exciting and enjoyable' game. I spent most of the day with the children as we did 'stepping, boxing, skiing, hula hoops' and lots, lots more. I even held the record for a very short while in the hula hoops. It was almost 4pm, before I finally got to my Uni work, but boy did I have some serious fun. What a special day! Thanks Matthew and Sarah.
What started it all was that Matthew, created a Mii (Character) for Granny and Grandad and Grandad had a go on some of the games. He loved the downhill skiing and the ski jump, doing really well, even setting a record.

It was so funny watching him play and you can see the grin on Matthew's face. The concentration on Dad's face was so funny. His hands were gripped holding his ski poles as he weaved his way through the slalom course. Then of course he decided to try the jogging. About 20 seconds into the course, he grabbed his calf muscle and yelped. Yes, he had pulled a muscle.

Mom had a turn as well, but with her sore feet (heel spurs) she could not do it for long. I think though that she had a great time.

What an amazing day. I must admit I now know how the children become so hooked that nothing else gets done. Not a good idea - I think the solution is a time limit or maybe just a day every now and then to have fun and be a Mii!