Stuff...

Whoever knew that becoming a couple in a legal capacity was such a long, time consuming, drawn out process! You can change your name at the ATO with just a phonecall, (no marriage certificate or anything), but to put your wife on your NRMA policies/greenslip/whatever, it takes about a dozen phonecalls and hours on hold waiting for "the next available operator". I've got my new driver's license... yesterday we went to Medicare to change my name and get new cards which have each other on them... and we opened a joint bank account. Man, it's all so complicated!

I started back teaching two weeks ago. Always after some time off, I think that teaching is too hard and that I can't do it anymore... but then I get there on the first day and remember that it's okay. :) It's good to be earning money again too.

Speaking of money - I've been working on our budget, and last payday we put it into practice. Yay... sort of. :P We're needing to be quite careful with our spending. I'm getting used to having to shop fortnightly (my mum shopped weekly), but also, I have to remember that I'm not doing the shopping for mum for a family of 5 anymore - I'm shopping for Alastair and I, and we don't need as much food as a family does. Nor do we have space for it. :P Buying two packets of frozen vegies for $6 just because they're on special may not be the greatest idea... because we can't get through them, and only have a little freezer! Yesterday I just went shopping, but when I got home and unpacked it, I couldn't shut the freezer door. I forgot that mum and dad have a chest freezer that the overflow goes into... :P

So lots of learning going on here.

Last weekend we went up to Gilgandra to visit Joel and Katherine for the long weekend. It was really nice (except for the bed!) and we had a great time. :)

Now Alastair is awake and he's made me a cup of tea. :) We're going to snuggle up and watch a movie. Later on, we're going to the footy - go Swans! What a way to spend a Saturday. :)

6 weeks flies by!

Wow, I knew it had been a while - but 6 weeks!?!? A little while ago I realised that I needed to get a lot of wedding stuff thought about during the school holidays, because Term 4 is always enormous with students' exams, Christmas/end-of year stuff, etc, then Christmas comes, and since some places shut from Christmas til halfway through January (and then it will be 8 weeks til the wedding) I really needed to get a few things definitely booked. :) So I spent a lot of time doing that sort of stuff. Actually, since so much has been going on, I think I'll update in point-form:

• I helped at Alastair's church fete and made a billion sausage sandwiches.
• I performed as part of the Fisher's Ghost Youth Orchestra at our Bowral concert.
• Alastair, Donna and I went to a Sons of Korah concert - they are AWESOME!
• Mum had an operation on one of her parathyroid glands. And she broke her hearing aid. :P
• We got my engagement ring repaired - a corner chipped off one of the clasps.
• Alastair and I did the Spring Cycle in Sydney with his Uncle Jonathan. 40km - North Sydney to Olympic Park. Woo - go me! (I was sore afterwards!)
• Lachlan came back from the US for two weeks and competed in the Southern Highlands International Piano Competition - he came 6th out of 18 or so people. :)
• I made a billion phone calls to bridal hair and make-up people, had trials, and booked two ladies in!
• I ordered my wedding shoes online - it took two goes, but I have them now, and they're sooo pretty!
• We attended my friend Ann's wedding. She married Mark, my friend Bek's brother. :)
• I helped out at a school holiday fun day run by Alastair's church - I got the pre-schoolers. Wow, I was tired after that. :)
• I met with a florist, booked her in, and paid a deposit. :)
• Alastair and I spent an afternoon making a list of all the stuff in my glory boxes, so we know what we have and what we don't have.
• I bought all the vases and candle holders for the table decorations for the wedding. And spent hours picking/soaking/scraping off all the price stickers. :P
• I made an album with the pictures from our engagment photo shoot by Bethany (she's an amazing photographer).

• Alastair and I took Donna to see U2 3D at the IMAX in Darling Harbour - they are both obsessed with U2. :) I fell asleep in it. :P
• Alastair and I went to Melbourne with a family from Alastair's church (Scott, Kerryn and their gorgeous kids Ben and Emily), so that Scott and Alastair could do the Around the Bay in a Day ride - 210km! It was a fun weekend... I love the Queen Victoria Markets! My dear fiance has spent the rest of the week there, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow!
• Meaghan did her A.Mus exam - and passed! We are so proud of her!

This week, Term 4 started with a vengeance - it's Friday night, and I've only got half the things crossed off my to-do list this week! Before I finish though, just a quick note to my almost-sister-in-law Carly: of course I don't mind if you comment on my blog! :) (But that game in Canberra was miserable. :P )

Btw, this is my 99th post. I think that's cool. :)

Oh, and we're under five months til the wedding now. That is also cool. :)

Off I go...

Just to let you know that I'll be away for the weekend... I'm travelling up to Dubbo with two friends for another friend's wedding - the four of us were pretty close in our bygone orchestra days... all had our 21sts within a few weeks of each other and stuff. So I guess it'll be special to see Katherine and Joel get married, and great to spend time with Alicea and Louise too - we rarely get to now, as our lives have taken different courses...

Today was a weird day... I flapped around and shopped for winter pyjamas and an outfit to wear to the wedding this morning - and I only had the hour Meaghan was having her lesson to do so. Oh, and I had to find underwear too... joy of joys - I do not love underwear shopping. :P Why does it all seem to wear out at once... does anybody else's do that?? Anyhow, for the wedding, I found a skirt - the only one in the shop - reduced from $69.95 to $19.95... and it fit me perfectly! PTL! Then I bought a black top, which unbeknownst to me was 30% off - so I got the whole outfit for just over $30. I was very pleased, as I love a good bargain... and it turned out to be the high point of my day. :)

Then I rushed to get all sorts of things done, (mostly orchestra-related)... and drove to Burwood for my lesson. While in the area, I had to pick up some music for camp next week from our conductor, and drop some off so that he could have it couriered back to the place we hired it from. But I forgot my half of the deal. I was SO cross and annoyed with myself. :( Then I had my lesson (which was good), and rushed home to rush through a whole lot of work before Mum and Dad left for bible study... man, I just feel like this term has been a permanent rush. :P After doing the dishes and folding the washing, I practised the piano for tomorrow's service and Sunday night's service, since I'm rostered on to play then... then I rushed to get all my stuff packed to go away for two nights. 

Something else weird happened today too, but I still haven't worked out what I think about it, so I can't talk about it here... it was weird enough to make me cry. :(

So many feelings, thoughts and emotions... I don't want to go away... I don't want to watch yet another friend enter the state of marital bliss while I am left alone... I don't want to watch three particular friends go through the heartache they're going through.... I want it to be Monday already. I just need a big hug.

xx

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

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! 

Today I...

... slept in (a bit - not excessively).

... washed the car.

... thought about things and over-analysed them.

... had a lovely shopping trip with a friend.

... had two (fairly major) blonde moments (in public).

... went for a peaceful walk along the bike-track with another friend.

... sent multiple text messages.

... watched a movie with a happy ending.

... made yummy toasted turkish bread sandwiches for a late tea.

... played pool (or snooker - whatever - don't know the difference).

... organised student stuff.

... practiced the songs for church tomorrow.

I think that's about it. It was a pleasant Saturday. But I'm a bit tired now. :)

Oopsy!

Today, unfortunately, I've been a bit scatterbrained. I'm not sure why... maybe other things are playing on my mind...

It started out innocently enough... I went to meet a friend for coffee at 10am. When I got to Gloria Jeans in Camden, right on 10, she wasn't there, so since I needed something in the newsagency, which is next door, I sent her a message saying I'd be a few minutes late, and went in to find my display book refills. It took me a bit longer than I thought it would, (because I couldn't find what I needed...) but I knew that didn't matter - my friend was a bit late for me last time! When I got back to GJ's, I was surprised that she wasn't waiting for me. So I pulled out my phone to give her a call, and saw on my phone "message sending failed". How annoying. So I rang her, and started babbling on about how I was late and I'd tried to message her and blah blah blah, when she said "I thought we arranged it for next week... I'm at work right now!" so you can imagine how blonde I felt then. Oh well. :P 

I then had a bit of time to spare before dropping by another friend's place, so I thought I'd go to the shopping centre 10 mins up the road to get the things I needed at a different newsagency. Fine. I got that out of the way, and walked past a shop with some clothes on sale. I took five or six items into the change room, and was standing there in a long, flowing, teal-coloured skirt wondering why on earth the size 8 was so huge on me. Well... this was my second blonde moment in an hour. It turned out that I hadn't seen the '1' beside the '8', and was standing there in a size 18. It was never going to fit. In fact, Meaghan and I could have both fitted in it. I wondered if the woman behind the counter knew that that skirt (the only one of its kind in the shop) was a size 18, and if she thought I was weird for taking it off the rack. It was a nice skirt, and well-priced too... but it was going to need excessive alterations if I was ever going to wear it. So I left it there.  Oh well. :P

Then, when I was nearly at my friend's place, I got a call to say they were 15 minutes away. That was cool, it's a hilly area, so I went and practised my hill-starts in our new manual car. All was going well, and I was practising in what I call "sets". (I do one "set" per hill. It just means that I don't sit there and rev the guts out of the car in front of one house all the time, when I've done three or four hill-starts in one place, I go and find another hill and give some different houses a turn of watching/listening to me. :P ) So it was going fairly well... it's a little bit hard without someone there to give constructive criticism, but I was doing okay. That is, until my last set. For some reason, I all of a sudden got really bad at hill-starts. I just couldn't work out why. And then I smelt a horrible, horrible smell. So, I put the car into 1st gear. Then I thought to myself "WHAT did I just DO??? I put the car into 1st... that means I've been trying to do my hill starts in 3rd gear... oh dear..." so yeah. That was my third blonde moment in two hours. I was glad for the hug when I got to my friend's house.