Place: Work

Poison: Vita Weats

Favourite Things: Sara’s pearls

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons cake flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1 Mug

Place: My office

Poison: Long Black

Favourite Things: sex and the city

Carrie Brashaw from sex and the city has been inspiring me. (yes, a little naughty, but oh so year 2000)

Aside from the sex scenes!! Take or leave them…the series is actually really great.

Until the movie came out, I had never seen a series and now I am hooked.

I am especially inspired by her colomn to write more about my everyday.

So hopefully you have noticed more updates on my blog.

Anyways, a book I got out of the library recently is ‘101 things to do before you’re old and boring!’

Its fabulous!

Here they ARE!!! with someones comments written with them. (not mine…no I dont have a husband…)

Go wild.

1)  Send a Message in a Bottle:  Did this as a class project once; never got a response.
2)  Run up an Escalator the Wrong Way:  Did it, but only because I was in a hurry.
3)  Make an Origami Crane:  Too uncoordinated and impatient.
4)  Learn How to Tell When Someone Has a Crush on You (and When They Don’t):  Wish I’d had this list in high school.
5)  Keep a Dream Diary:  Still do this.
6)  Touch These Creatures:  No thank you; there’s no way touching a ginormous hairy spider will improve my life.
7)  Prepare Yourself for Fame:  I’ve been prepared for years; Fame is obviously avoiding me.
 Learn to Play an Instrument:  Wish I’d done this!
9)  Play a Computer Game to the End:  Done this too many times; undoubtedly this says something about my social life.
10) Have an Embarrassing Moment and Get Over It:  This is called life; happens all the time.
11) Get Your School Involved in a World Record Attempt:  So cool; wish I’d though of it.
12) Paint a Picture Good Enough to Hang on the Wall:  When stick people become the next big thing, I’ll be rich!
13) Learn to Whistle (and Make Other Noises):  Still not too good at this.
14) See a Ghost:  Yep, and I’m still recovering.
15) Fart and Burp:  I’m taking the fifth on this one.
16) Make a Swear Box:  Right now, my box is about as big as the Empire State Building.
17) Act in a Play:  Never have, but would like to.
18) Win Something:  Rarely, but it has happened.
19) Make a T-Shirt:  Still have the one I made in junior high.
20) Stay Up All Night:  I have kids; this was a normal routine for a long time.
21) Sleep All Day:  Again, I have kids; this just doesn’t happen.
22) Invent a Secret Code:  Not unless talking to an infant and my cat counts.
23)  Learn to Do a Card Trick:  Does fifty-two card pick-up count?
24) Grow Something from a Seed:  Several times; they usually end up dying anyway.
25) Start a Collection:  I collect angels; statues, figurines, pictures, etc.
26) Help Save the Planet:  I recycle.
27) Turn Back Time:  Been trying to do this since I passed age twenty-five.
28) Learn to Do a Party Trick:  Contrary to popular belief, I don’t think chugging is a party trick.
29) Climb to the Top of a Mountain:  Nope, but I’m open to someone carrying me to the top.
30) Make a One-Minute Movie:  No, but sounds like fun!
31) Host a Party:  Yes, but Tupperware Parties don’t count, either.
32) Visit…:  Never been outside the US, but have been to Arizona, Las Vegas, and Florida.
33) Learn to Bake a Cake:  Of course; that’s why Betty Crocker is so rich.
34) Hide a Treasure and Leave a Map for Friends to Find:  Done this with my kids; alas, no Johnny Depp at the end.
35) Learn How to Ask Someone out (and How to Dump Them):  Afraid my husband wouldn’t appreciate it.
36) Start Your Own Blog:  Several times.
37) Write Lyrics for a Song:  Yes; they sucked.
38) Make a Time Capsule:  No, but I want to.
39) Be a Genius:  Well, duh!  That’s a given!
40) Take Care of an Animal:  Yes, and we’re getting a new calico kitten, Callie, in two weeks!
41) Learn to Like These Foods:  I watch Iron Chef, so I would try just about anything.
42) April Fool Someone:  Not really; it just seems too mean.
43) Do Something Charitable:  I donate to the United Way regularly, as well as give blood to the American Red Cross.
44) Teach Your Grandparents Something New:  I don’t think they’d want to learn what I could teach them.
45) Invent a New Game:  For my children, all the time.
46) Go as Fast as You Can:  I’m pretty sure this is called speeding.
47) Make your Own Badges:  Yep; I’m Supreme Queen Genius of the Universe.
48) Watch These Films:  Most of them!
49) Read These Books:  Most of them!
50) Pretend to Be Sick Convincingly:  This is how I missed most of my freshman year of high school.
51) Save Your Pocket Money for a Month and Spend it All at Once:  That takes self-control; I don’t have any.
52) Learn to Swim:  Yes; I taught myself.
53) Succeed at Something You’re Bad At:  Cleaning my house, although I’m not sure I’m really succeeding.
54) Be a Daredevil:  Except for my love of roller coasters, I’m not really into being wild and crazy.
55) Invent a New Trend:  Wearing sweats and a T-shirt 24/7 hasn’t really caught on yet.
56) Know Who Your Friends Are:  Sure do!
57) Plant a Tree (and Climb it When You’re Older):  Planted one, don’t climb them since I broke my arm doing that at age
8.
58) Start a Band:  No, but I know if I did it would be called “The Geniuses.”
59) Camp Out in the Backyard:  Several times.
60) Learn to Live Without Something You Love for a Week:  I’m not into self-punishment.
61) Join a Club:  I belong to several of them, both on- and off-line.
62) Cook a Meal:  Daily, although I don’t always want to.
63) List the Things Your Parents Say They’ll Tell You When You’re Older:  I wish I’d done that for blackmail purposes.
64) Make Your Bike or Skateboard Look Cool:  My bike was pink and gray, which was cool enough for me.
65) Learn to Juggle:  Too uncoordinated.
66) Have a Snowball Fight and Fun in the Snow:  Every winter.
67) Build the Ultimate Sandcastle and Have Fun in the Sun:  Every summer.
68) Take Part in a TV Show: No, but I was in a commercial once.
69) Make a Scene in a Public Place:  Thanks to my kids, this happens a lot.
70) Spend Christmas in Another Country:  No, and don’t want to; Christmas is for being with family.
71) Do Something Nice Without Being Asked:  All the time; it’s called being a mother.
72) See Your Music Idol Perform Live:  Not yet, but I’m still holding out hope.
73) Have a Sleepover:  They got me through my teenage years.
74) Become a Spy:  I’d tell you about it, but then I’d have to kill you.
75) Watch a Tadpole Grow into a Frog:  Do people really do this?
76) Learn to Say Useful Phrases in Other Languages:  I don’t think foreign curse words is what they mean.
77) Make Your Own Greeting Cards:  I’m cheap, so yes.
78) Hold a Yard Sale:  Just had one not too long ago.
79) Build an Igloo:  Not much use for an Igloo in Illinois.
80) Start Your Own Secret Society:  “Geniuses Unite”; you have to be really not stupid to get in.
81) Research Your Family Tree:  I got too scared to finish.
82) Learn to Skip Stones:  Yep; just watch out for water fowl.
83) Dye Your Hair:  Heck yeah; I’m too young to be gray.
84) Lobby Your Local Congressman:  Several times, for all the good it did me.
85) Write a Story and Get it Published:  Twelve times, in fact.
86) Sing in Front of an Audience:  If karoake counts, then many, many times.
87) Learn to Use Long Words (and Drop Them Into Conversation):  How did you think I got A’s in high school?
88) Blame Someone Else:  Kids are good for lots of things.
89) Learn to Stick Up for Yourself:  Did this around age seventeen.
90) Get from A to B Using a Map:  I’m laughing too hard to answer this one.
91) Send a Valentine Card:  Still send them to my husband after ten years.
92) Have Your Own Plot in the Garden:  It’s there, but it’s dead.
93) Build Your Own Web Site:  Several times; you’re on one now.
94) See Your Name in Print:  Many times; not all of which I’m proud of.
95) Make a Unique Milkshake:  I’ll stick to Jamocha, thanks.
96) Glue Coins to the Floor:  Do you know what that would do to hardwood or vinyl??
97) Learn to Take Great Photos:  Sure, headless people are really in right now.
98) Drive Something:  Car, Limo, and does “driving people crazy” also count?
99) Be Vegetarian for a Week:  Sorry, but this gal is a carnivore through and through.
100)Meet Someone Famous:  I consider all the great authors I’ve met to be famous.
101)Decide What You Want to Be When You Grow Up:  Still working on this.

Place: My office

Poison: Mints

Favourite Things: TED website

I love the TED website and this particular talk about collecting stories is so fab!

Be inspired

A

Place: West End Deli

Poison: Long Mac

Favourite Things: my iphone of course. I am obsessed!!!

We have spent the afternoon in the chemotherapy with the most amazing woman. Sr monica spent her youth as a teacher, she actually taught my mum and her twin in geraldton.

Then she spent 30years in Thailand serving the poor and teaching english to students. She is the most generous woman, who at the moment is battling a crazy cancer that has attached itself to her liver.

Every friday from now as she sits in subiaco, at the chemo centre and we are going to hang out. She is going to teach me thai, in preparation for my upcoming trip to Thailand.

I am so blessed to know her, I will never forget the morning in Thailand two years ago when she made me get up very early and walk to mass. It was so delightful. 5 am walking along a thai road, watching the buddist monks walk their early morning blessing walk.

As we walked along this road, I was reminded of the simplicity of life and the importance of space and meditation.

She is such a delight what a privilege to have fridays with monnie!

Much love

A

Place: Busselton, Western Australia 

Poison: Herbal Tea, chamomile, spearmint, rose buds and more… 

Favourite Things: My old laptop back, its like writing with an old friend. The keys feel familiar. 

I’m Broke 

Are you broke? I am… 

Each of us carry many backpacks filled with the memories and wounds from past hurt and brokenness. Over the last few days in many different ways I have met people whose expectations have not matched up and have felt really despondent and disappointed with life. 

What I have found, in my life, the times of my deepest disappointment have been days or seasons where my perspective is warped and so often the expectations and the hopes are the ones that I have set up for myself rather than by others. 

Does this make sense? Basically my thought is- life’s perspective is changed by the expectations and goals that I set for myself rather than the ones given to us by others. And when we freak out, blaming others for missing the mark, blaming others for what they do wrong, blaming others full stop, it has more to do with what is happening in our world, than theirs. 

That’s why I am so enlivened by the concept and reality of grace. No matter what happens, no matter how disappointed we maybe with ourselves or others, grace covers and makes up for where we lack. 

Its not a soft, fairy, weak grace! It is a strong, relevant, raw and tough one. 

Live life with a knowledge of the grace that has been extended to you. It will shape the perspective you have of others and how you respond to everything that happens in your world.

Place: West End Deli

Poison: Long Black

Favourite Things: books. Any. all. words. words. words

Your soul is the one thing in our world that cannot be purchased on ebay! It comprises of the essential parts of YOU. Your true nature. Your constant companion. Your personality. You.

While it may be impossible to entirely understand your soul, commit to nourishing it or you will loose your way! Our soul needs to be developed, nutured and loved. As much as our physical being. If not more.

Aristotle said it this way…

‘to dwell on what is good, beautiful and true.’

The bible says

‘whatever is lovely, whatever is noble, whatever is true…think on these things.’

How do you cherish your soul?

What is it that feeds your soul?

for polly my flatmate…its fabric softener and white sheets hanging on the line

for my mum…its finding a new creative passion

for bonnie…its a new dress, apple mac computer and a black leather lounge

for me…sticky date pudding

soul-care

Don’t allow anyone to make you believe that it can be for sale.

It cant

A

Place: West End Deli

Poison: Long Black

Favourite Things: Mondays. Long. Slow. touring through the shops kind of mondays.

There is a song from a band called ‘Leeland’ that has been totally wrecking me.

Every time I hear the words, it completely stops me. Stills me and reminds me what I want my life to be about.

Here they are…

There are many prodigal sons
On our city streets they run
Searching for shelter
There are homes broken down
People’s hopes have fallen to the ground
From failures

This is an emergency!

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

There are schools full of hatred
Even churches have forsaken
Love and mercy
May we see this generation
In it’s state of desperation
For Your glory

This is an emergency!

Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children in Christ you stand!
Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children in Christ you stand!

And all Your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

The sense of urgency and immediacy that cries out from this ballad is so confronting.

Listen to this song.

Be inspired.

ouch

A

Place: West End deli

Poison: Long Black

Favourite Things: rockin 90’s hard rock playing in the background. Hilarious, I feel like Im 17 again.

I recieved the most fabulous little magazine advertising rugs. Yep floor rugs.

What made the publication fabulous though, was the short story about an Indigenous Australian Artist, whose canvases have been made into the most amazing floor rugs.

Her name is Minne Pwerle, she started painting in 1999 and she died in 2006. So her 7 year painting career was short lived, but was indelible.

Minnie’s main Dreamings convey her love and frespect for the land, its ability to sustain and the ceremonies around the dreamings.

It is amazing what one woman has done in such a short space of time.

Inspirational!

A

Place: west end deli

Poison: Latte

Favourite Things: Mamma Mia the movie.

I am slowly reading a book at the moment that portrays different leaders and their struggles with life. One chapter in particular has kept me muddled and spellbound at the same time.

A chapter about the writer Leo Tolstoy.

This quote had me captivated…

In the long history of literature, no one has exceeded Leo Tolstoys ability to portray the full essence of life…

Nothing seems to escape him. Nothing glances off him unrecorded…

Virginia Wolf writes of Leo Tolstoy…

‘Every twig, every feather sticks to him like a magnet. He notices the blue or red of a childs frock; the way a horse shifts its tail; the sound of a cough; the action of a man trying to put his hands into pockets that have been sewn up. And what his infalliable eye reports of a cough or a trick of the hands his infallible brain refers to somethinghidden in the character, so that we know his people, not only by the way they love and thier views on politics and the immortality of the soul, but also by the way they sneeze and choke. We feel that we have been set on a mountaintop and hafd a telescope put into our hands. Everything is astonishingly clear and absolutely sharp.’

I want to write like this. I want to truly see people for who they are, with eyes of grace and portray their stories to the world.

I want to express myself with clarity and purpose to encourage our world not to see an ocean of faces, as we walk through a city, but notice the licorice allsorts, the colours, shapes, flavours and intricacies.

I love human beings and all their quirks.

How about you?

what have you noticed lately.

A

Place: My Office

Poison: Diet Coke

Favourite Things: World Youth Day

My family and the media are a buzz with World Youth Day conversations. For those who are in Australia, basically 500,000 catholic youth gather every 4 years, for a sort of spiritual olympics.

2,000 young people are sleeping outside at the Olympic Park car park, in 0degree temperatures. All Sydney backpackers are full to overflowing. The sydney harbour bridge was closed for a peace walk and the police are absolutely blown away that 400,000 people gathered yesterday with no arrests.

Someone just sent me this photo though and its totally post worthy.

(I think its my uncle rob)

Have a great day, World Youth day!

Shine in the darkness

A