Headspace... or lack thereof.

I'm sorry about the depressive style of my recent posts... I'll do my best to change that! The rollercoaster of life is a bit up and down at the moment... and I just need some headspace to think and get my mind around things.

Hurting...

I have hurting friends... and it hurts me that they're going through such turmoil and pain.

Tired...

I'm physically and emotionally very tired. The physical tiredness is pleasant... I've worked hard with my students the last couple of days, and last night helped friends to clean the house they're moving out of. The emotional tiredness is different... I have a couple of needy friends, going through absolute turmoil, and I ache for them. So my heart is a little heavy tonight.

The weekend in review...

So... nothing earth-shatteringly amazing has happened this weekend, but still, it has been pleasant. Well, mostly.

Friday was normal... shopping in the morning and orchestra in the afternoon. We split Training Orchestra up into sections to help them work on their own tricky bits. I took the woodwind section, and those girls were lots of fun. I enjoy that sort of thing.

Saturday... I slept in a bit and did a few things in the morning - not as much as I'd planned, but not to worry, I'll get over that. In the afternoon I went to a wedding! They invited some people along for the ceremony and afternoon tea - and I was one of those. It was really lovely to be able to be part of their special day, and to catch up with others I knew there. It was held in a vineyard at a horse stud, with the birds flying around and horses gallopping around the paddocks in the background! The rain held off (mostly!) and it was just really lovely. Except I felt again, as I always do, just how lonely it is to go to these celebrations on one's own. Starting yesterday, and over the next five weeks, I have three weddings and an engagment party to attend. I guess I'll get used to the feeling. In the evening, I talked on the phone to a friend for two hours. It was hard work.

And today... I played the piano at church for both services. Beforehand, I wasn't too worried about it, but during the FIRST song, a whole bunch of loose pages of music fell off the top and INTO the piano. Which caused significant drama and made me cross and nervous about the rest of the music. :( But in the afternoon, we had family over - Aunty Kriss, Uncle Matt and our gorgeous little cousins, Grace and Luci. :) We had a lovely time with them... took them for a walk down to the park and stuff... it was just really nice. Here's a picture of us...

I was going to put up a really cute photo of Luci too, but I can't make it work, and I'm too tired to fiddle with it for any longer...

After church tonight, I washed the car. And one of our stand-in brothers came over for a few hours... because, as he said, he hadn't been around in ages... hehe... like a whole week! :) So that was nice. 

And now...... we're back into a week of work!

Hmm...

The last two days have been largely unproductive for me. I wonder if that's okay sometimes...

Today I went to Koorong and the DFO at Homebush. As always, I could've spent much longer in both places, but I was operating with time-constraints (as always, too). I knew I didn't have a heap of time, so I decided to only go to my two favourite shops (Jacqui E and Portmans) in DFO, instead of meandering my way through them all. It's such a potluck there - sometimes I don't see one thing I like there! But today, to my delight, I found three lovely blouses - and much cheaper than they'd have been in the stores. :) At Koorong, I had a list, so it was easy. Actually, I had three lists - my own, my mum's, and Bek's. :) I'll have to go back sometime though... I love just browsing through there.

So that's all good. Work has been a bit of a pain in the backside the last two days... but we'll get there.

And that brings you up-to-date with me! xo

Happiness is...

...discovering that two parts of our overseas trip are not going to be quite as expensive as we imagined! :)

(Btw, this WAS going to be Wednesday's post, but... well.... time got away from me tonight!)

I'm on my way to bed...

But I just wanted to say: Today was Tuesday. Actually, today is still Tuesday. But for the first time this term on a Tuesday, I can actually say, "Today was a good day!" and it was! I'm tired, that's for sure... and I even had to teach double lessons and everything... but I still came out smiling! God is good to me.

A couple of things struck me as hilarious today:

• My youngest student is Tiffany, aged 7. She has her lesson straight after school on Tuesdays, and she's a complete beginner. And she comes out with the most outrageous things I've ever heard. As far as I know, she leads a fairly dismal existance, living at two homes and never knowing whether her mum or her dad or her grandma is picking her up, and her big brothers pick on her (or so she tells me, anyhow...). But today, she told me that her mum makes her practice on the carpet, in case she drops her flute. I thought that was a good idea... but then she told me (in a very serious tone of voice) that she hates standing on the carpet because "my alley cat throws up all over it... you know... and that's because of my mum's bras". What the?!?!?! How weird is that?!?!?!
• The other funny thing was teaching at the same school as a friend (actually, he's one of my stand-in brothers) was casual teaching at today. We had to greet each other as Mr. Dench and Miss Glen (except he got mixed up and called me Mrs. Glen!) :P so... it was a weirdly professional environment, but I thought it was a novelty and kinda fun all the same. He got to go ten-pin bowling while he was at work because he was supervising sport today! :)

Okay, so perhaps they're not as hilarious as I made out, and maybe you really had to be there. Sorry. :P And then I found $50...

An update on the last few days...

Wow, life is continually full of ups and downs. I've written that before, I know. But... for some reason it never ceases to amaze me. 

Another update in point form - I wish I would remember to update more regularly!

• Friday: Shopping in the morning, and orchestra in the afternoon. I really, really enjoyed orchestra, for the first time in months. I wasn't worrying about minute details, and I had a ball helping out with training orchestra too. I was helping the three little boys in the percussion section... and by the time their rehearsal was finished, they were really getting it! :) A friend commented on my ease, and the beaming smile I had on. That was especially nice... for so long I haven't been the sort of person that people want to run into on a Friday afternoon, because I was always stressed about everything. One of my stand-in brothers came over in the evening. It was good fun.
• Saturday: I slept in. I had a chat with my real brother on skype. I went shopping with a friend. A few things bothered/annoyed me during the afternoon. I spent the evening with some friends... I was one of three girls who went around to be with these newly-married friends for the evening, to show our love and support as they go through the miscarriage of their first baby. Even though there was an element of what had happened and stuff, it was a really special time together.
• Sunday: Was a busy day... after one of the worst nights of sleep in history! Between church services I caught up on stuff and Meaghan and I visited some friends to find out where in Europe they would recommend visiting. That's right... we ar probably going to stop in Europe after seeing Lachlan at the end of the year! How cool is that?!?! We're also looking at a three-day stop in Egypt (of all places!)... which scares me slightly, but the others promise they'll protect me. :)
• And now it's Monday - the teaching week has begun. It's so nice to not feel completely overwhelmed at the thought of the week... how my thinking has changed. :) It's Week 7 of an 11-week term... we're over halfway! A friend prayed tonight over dinner that we'd look at the work of the week ahead as a blessing, and as an opportunity from the Lord. That was an awesome thing for me to think about. In our particular line of work, we are in contact with SO many different people each day.... what an opportunity that is!

And so begins my Very Busy Tuesday.... I'm tired! I must get to bed before it actually BECOMES Tuesday!

Love you all! 

Just thought you might like to know...

I am feeling really sick tonight. :(

I can hear the wind...

I love it when it's windy... it makes me want to run around and play like a child. 

Well, usually... not when I'm feeling tired and sick and ready for bed. I do enjoy listening to the wind howl around the corners of the house while I'm snugly tucked up in bed though. :)

I got everything crossed off my To Do list today. It rarely happens, so that was a blessing.

Tuesday always ends up such a BIG day!!!

Do I ever get on here and say anything without putting an "I'm tired" in there somewhere?

Well... that's a challenge for another day... cos tonight, I'm TIRED!!!

It's Week 6 of an eleven week term... we've hit halfway! :) I'm feeling much better about all my students... compared to what I was at the beginning of term, anyhow. Things are working out, we're working together and it's working well. :) I'm still getting used to "Miss, can I please...?" and stuff, but it's going okay.

Tonight I even stayed awake during bible study - and it wasn't an effort. :)

Hmmm... the last few days, since I blogged.... Sunday was nice. Megs had an SYO concert which Mum attended, so it was just Dad and I at church. Different, but somehow very cool... and I enjoyed being "Daddy's Little Girl" again. One of my stand-in brothers came for lunch, and he and Dad spent the afternoon together... Dad showed him how to sort out his finances and work out a budget. I pottered around doing ironing, cleaning up my messy desk, and all the other stuff I don't get done during the week, but overheard bits and pieces. My Dad is seriously the coolest guy I know, and I have so much respect for him. The three of us then got to have a good discussion about different issues... from moral issues in movies to recent events that have affected us and things (vague, I know, but I can't really say more than that here)... anyway, the afternoon was a blessing for us all, I think. And to make that Sunday even nicer, I was playing piano at church for both services, and the songs were ALL playable (by my standards!), so that was very cool.

Yesterday... Monday... a quiet morning followed by a busy afternoon of teaching, a good chat with a friend, and then a trip over to Burwood for a study on Augustine.... it was a bit over my head, but good nonetheless.

Tomorrow morning, I have my last student for the week. I love the feeling that 9:30 on a Tuesday morning brings... :)

I should go before I waffle on any further.... I just have so much stuff racing through my mind..... 

Love you all! xo