Thank goodness the daily puppy is updated every day...

...to make up for the lack of posting from me.

So much for those New Year's resolutions I made.

I have blog posts galore to write about such diverse topics as circuses, Pilates, prayer, adopting a new dog and books I've read recently, but they shall have to wait a little while. Hopefully this weekend there will be a window of opportunity to sit down and type something, since we are enjoying a rare month off everything on the church roster. This seems miraculous and blogworthy in itself. No music for me to play, no set up/pack up of chairs, no morning tea preparation, no kids program to organise...what on earth will we do with ourselves on Sunday mornings? Sleeping in sounds like it could be a very appealing option....

All this time on blogger....

....and I have only just worked out how to use all the customisation options.

Be prepared for a few changes.

Although I do have a bit of work to do.

Ah....gotta love a bit of procrastination....

Just noticed....

....that I now appear to be a follower of my own blog. I'm not sure how my photo suddenly appeared there. I can't remember doing anything and of course I now can't seem to work out how to get rid of it.

It's a bit embarrassing. It makes me look like I'm desperate for followers or something. Really, I'm not. Just one of those blogger accidents that I don't know how to fix up.

I've been thinking about a post about motherhood, identity and Christianity

Yes, I know the topic's been done to death. But it's all a bit too hard this afternoon so I found this instead:

Reverse hand show puppets. From here.

And now I'm off to watch (on TV) that horse race that's on today. Not that I'm particularly interested in the outcome. But it does have a bit of added interest this year with royalty being around to present the Cup to the big winner.

Dear blog....

....I've missed you.

Sorry for the bloggy silence, to anyone who still might be checking in.

The assignments are done. Now for a week of good times ahead before I have to do two sessions of vivas with my lovely students. Bless them, they are all stressing about it already.

I suspect I will be joining them in the stressy camp before too long. I've never had to conduct viva exams before but my husband tells me that he has had to deal with a few crying students when he's had to run them. I'm hoping that's just because he's far more imposing and frightening to face than me.

When the blogosphere and the real world intersect

Yesterday I was really excited to meet Wendy in person for the very first time. You can check out her blog about missionary life in Japan here. She is here in Australia at the moment with her family, as they are doing a little bit of work connecting with their supporting churches, and also having some rest and relaxation time exploring central Australia in a motor home. Our family met up with them at a group picnic event, where we also met some of their other friends (including some other bloggers!).

I was a little bit nervous beforehand, to be honest. But it was a lovely time spent chatting and getting to know a bunch of new people. It's a bit strange meeting people face to face for the first time, but feeling like you already know them so well after having read their blogs for ages. So the initial nervousness wore off very quickly, which was great.

So thanks to all for a great day yesterday. Lovely to finally meet you Wendy, and to meet Mel, Sandy, Mrs Q as well!

Have I mentioned before how much I love blogging? So many new friends out there to be made.

Is this all there is?

When I started this blog, however long ago that was, I didn't really have any particular aims in mind. It was more that I liked the idea of somewhere I could write stuff down, become a bit more disciplined about writing regularly, and perhaps have something that I could look back on in future years (or show my kids when they are older) so that I knew what I'd done during this time in my life. Like an online diary. I didn't have any niche topic in mind, although it seems that out in blog world, niche blogs are the cool thing at the moment. Blogs like mine about anything and everything don't attract so many followers because they don't cover anything in particular.

So with those less than specific aims, it's probably no wonder that I feel sometimes like my blog is a bit dull to read for anyone who doesn't know me (or even for those who do). Although I've been thinking lately that that is "life actually" for me at the moment.

The reality is, life for us these days isn't full of the excitement and spontaneity that it was when I first met my husband and we started going out, or even when we only had one child and we were learning about how to be parents. Or when we had far more disposable income than we do now. Now it's about looking after kids, changing nappies, doing washing, making sure homework gets done, feeding the baby, taking kids to after school activities, changing more nappies, cooking food, and paying the bills so we don't lose the roof over our head.

I was listening to some people talking at church yesterday about how they had been out for dinner at a restaurant the previous evening with a group of other younger adults from church. And I felt a tiny bit jealous that it's not so easy for us to just pop out for dinner anymore. I know there are people who'll happily babysit for one child, but four? It's a pretty big ask. And, even if someone is happy to do it, all of this requires planning at least a couple of weeks in advance.

I know all of this really is a first world whine. I mean, having to think twice about going out for a meal at a restaurant? I know it's just petty, but I worry sometimes that this blog reflects that my life is actually pretty boring these days. Who would want to read about this kind of stuff? Sometimes I find myself asking if this is all there is to my life in this season.

And then I remember that I am blessed with a great family, a house, a job which has hours that suit my life stage perfectly, and most importantly, I am a member of God's family. The excitement and spontaneity may be a bit light on some days here, but I need to focus upon the many good things I do have. And the joys that those things bring.

A couple of days ago...

I was reading this post on Femina about the little things in motherhood, like the unloading of dishwashers before the dinner time rush. The point made in it was worth making and helpful to think about, although I confess that most days, my dishwasher is unloaded before the dinnertime rush begins here (we're once a day dishwasher people in this house)...not that I'm proud, or legalistic about it or anything like that. It just happens or it doesn't and we get by either way. On days when it doesn't happen, yes, that does add a little bit of extra effort to the evening chaos and clean-up time.

Anyway, I digress. I was more than a little offended by the use of the word "spastic" in the post. This was in the context of "everything will feel spastic at dinner time" (if the dishwasher is not unloaded). I showed my husband the post. He didn't like the use of the word either. As therapists, we know that the word "spastic" actually means something completely different to that implied in her post. He actually was commanded in first year physio to never refer to other things (or people) as being "spastic" because the term is so offensive to people with cerebral palsy.

He said I should comment. I was unsure. So I didn't. I thought if I did, the comment might get moderated out of existence.

Fortunately, two other Australian readers were braver than me and said something. I'm glad they did (and Deb, if you're reading, was it you that said it first??).

It's just a reminder that we need to be careful about our choice of words on the world wide web. I do read Femina reasonably often. It's quite good, although I think that sometimes it edges into the territory of home and motherhood idolatry a little too far. In general, the posts are helpful and Biblical. But it's a bit of a turn-off when this kind of language creeps in.

Just letting people know....

...that I have turned on comments moderation for my blog.

I had a few too many spammers visiting.

From the onslaught of posts....

....you may be able to tell that I have really missed blogging!?

Okay....

I decided last week that I wouldn't put anything else up on my blog until I had discussed the post I deleted with the person involved.

This has now been addressed. And once again, I would like to sincerely apologise.

It was good to take some time away from my blog for a bit. Time to think about why I have it, and what I should be using it for. A friend suggested I look at the book of James in the Bible. I haven't done that for a while.

It was good to rediscover some very timely verses on the tongue (or in my case, the tongue via the computer keyboard) being "a restless evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8). But also good to know that "we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body" (James 3:2).

So I guess from all that, I realised that there are going to be times when I say the wrong thing and need to ask for forgiveness. Because I am a sinful person. But we are all in the same boat. I guess we all say things sometimes that are better left not said.

Unfortunately, that probably also means that you may continue to see some drivel and nonsense in here from me sometimes. But in future, I will try my best not to hurt other people through what I write. I'll need to keep praying for wisdom in what I say and how I say it.

Last blog post for today....

At the moment, this is doing the rounds of some blogs that I read. I found it here (a very good blog, by the way. The Monday quiz is great fun).

And yes, in my case, it is painfully accurate....

But for me, blogging isn't so much about people looking at what I write or being thought of as an interesting person. It's about thinking about other people's viewpoints, it's about having a bit of fun, it's about practising putting forward an argument, it's getting into the habit of writing regularly (an important skill to have should I ever revisit the goal of doing my PhD).

So even if nobody else is reading, I am still having a good time here.

Funny

And there's more here.

Writer's block

I have it. I can't think of anything to blog about right now that wouldn't be a great big whinge.

So I'll be back when I have inspiration again.

The end of solitude??

I stumbled (belatedly) across this essay online a couple of weeks ago. I found it interesting, because by nature I consider myself to be an introvert. I love being alone.

For those who don't have time to read the whole thing, it argues that the internet, and computer technology in general, has created "a culture of connectivity" in which we crave visibility, recognition and connection with others. And goes on to say that this comes at the expense of our ability to enjoy being alone and to spend time in quiet reflection.

Interestingly, the author also makes the point that "the act of being alone has been understood as an essential dimension of the religious experience." I would agree that it is, and that perhaps people's search for connection with others via Facebook friend counts, following celebrities on Twitter, even in wondering how many people out there are reading our blogs (see this post of mine as an example) can, for both non-Christians and Christians, be a search for connectedness that can really only be found through God.

However, Christianity, as I understand it, is not all about solitude. We were made to relate to God, through His son Jesus and his death on the cross. And it is important to spend time in quiet and solitary reflection through prayer and studying God's word. But we are also made to connect with other Christians. And to non-Christians as well. The internet now allows us to do that in ways we would never have dreamed about a few short years ago. But it shouldn't be a total substitute for face to face connection and relationship-building.

The challenge in todays's plethora of computer technology is how to relate to other people without falling into the trap of "craving recognition." And also in not letting technology dominate our time to the extent that we never take the time to reflect quietly and with thankfulness on all that God has done for us.

Blog neglect

Is currently being experienced here. I have hundreds of things waiting in my head to be blogged about but no spare time. And the space bar on our laptop is not working very well which severely hinders typing speed...

No time for blogging...

Busy busy busy writing this lecture for the Uni students. Done now, I think. I'm a perfectionist so I'm sure I will see lots more possibilities for improvement but good enough to run with as it is I think.

I have a photo of Rosie's cool new/recycled furniture that I want to post but haven't had time to get it off the camera yet.

We had a surprise birthday party for Chris' Mum yesterday at Bribie Island, great fun, lots of happy snaps taken but as with the furniture photo they still need to come off the camera.

Being busy is good in some ways, haven't had much time to sit and think about Liam's operation on Wednesday. Chris is going to Brisbane with him, I am staying home with the other two and keeping things (relatively) normal here.

And in a totally unrelated item of news, I saw an icon from my childhood this afternoon as we were driving to Fingal Beach to take some photos in the last of the afternoon light...a Soft Serve/Mr Whippy van! It was even playing Greensleeves!

I wonder if my blog will ever be interesting enough...

For people to follow it??

Obviously I need more witty and sharp comments to attract them.

I'm not sensing much potential for those in what I have planned for today...filling the new drawers I bought yesterday with Rosie's clothes and then choosing appropriate attire and doing my hair ready for a new driver's licence photo.

Home again

We had a great time. It was interesting going back to a place where we had lived for so long and seeing how much things had changed, or in some cases, stayed the same. Port Macquarie is a beautiful place. Chris and I first met there (and first became parents there as well) so it will always be a special place for us.

Now I'm busy sorting out all the emails that came in while we were away. Listening to another new song we are going to learn at the church camp. This one has a "whistling" part that is being rewritten for our saxophone player, but I'm a bit disappointed that all the whistlers in church aren't going to have their opportunity to contribute...

Next task is to see what all the bloggers I'm following have been up to while I was away.