March 31, 2008
I am a bit down at the moment, I seem to have lost my zeal for things. Years ago I decided that the above saying was one that I was going to live by, it is hard to do as I tend to worry about things in the future. I learnt that by doing different classes that you shall be ‘mindful ‘ of your actions that you are doing at the moment and I read a similar thing in one of the daily blogs that I read.
‘Being mindful in the present means to be aware of this specific moment in time. You can fully see, hear, understand, and experience your surroundings and your life. You can appreciate the people and things you come into contact with in every moment. Being mindful in the present is something that seems so obvious and ideal, but isn’t as simple of a task as one might imagine.” Taken from ‘The Simple Dollar’
Another blog that I read daily, ‘Down—to—Earth’ takes joy in the everyday things. Rhonda-Jean talks regularly about the turn around of her attitude and the way that she looks at things. She finds great joy in the process of everyday living and in the life that she leads. I always find her blog an inspiration but at times it can be intimidating as there is so much that I don’t do. That is most likely enough putting off, now to do it….the floor is covered in dog hair, there are things scattered everywhere, the house is very untidy and the bathroom needs to cleaned. Wish me luck.
March 22, 2008
My kids think I am strange but I do not like the phone. I really dislike talking on it and it ringing. As soon as it starts ringing, I start counting the number of rings; I do not like the sense of urgency that it creates. Here is my drawing for this week.
March 22, 2008
Just drove pass the little cafe on the corner and it is opened. It is full, people everywhere. Coffee is on special ……..$2 a takeaway cup. We are going to have breakfast there in the morning so I will take some photos. It adds a little life to the neighborhood.
Kylie a big thank you, I had a lovely surprise waiting for me when I got home from work. The bunny is ever so beautiful, here is a photo of my grand-daughter Abby and my friend Sue looking at the bunny. Hopefully mine will be there early next week.
I went to a library in-service last Thursday on networking and use of web 2.00 tools. The networking part was great but the web 2.00 did not live up to expectations. A very young girl who obliviously has a lot of knowledge about the web and how to use it was the speaker. Her audience was a great deal older than her and I don’t think that she felt that comfortable but if she had only realised that the major of us love the computer as much as her and just wanted to learn. She breezed through the interesting and I felt the relevant parts far too fast. I was sad as it could have been great but she did give me some interesting ideas to follow and develop.
For those of you that are following Pen’s adventure, here is part of her last e-mail……
‘I went to my first demolition on Friday. It was two huge pits of about 700 mortars, rockets and projectiles. We got a great briefing, then walked in single file down to the pits to see them before they were blown. We left the site and drove 1.5km to the safe area. The donors stayed closer to where the button to the demolition gets pushed, it is like a bunker under the ground. I heard a little pop and thought it was it. When it actually went, I jumped so high and landed in the arms of some of the de-miners - it was really very funny. It was great to see the work of the teams though, it is incredible. ‘
Now I really should go and sew my bunny.
March 13, 2008
It early in the morning and I want to tell you a story before I go to school. It is a story of waiting, of anticipation. To get to my nearest coffee shop I have to get in the car and drive, as I really live in the beginning of suburbia. Well just around the corner from our house there is a little group of three shops that over the years had seen many different roles. They are now mainly offices except for one. Last year it was a laundromat, then late November there began a lot of activity around it. Every day there were people working on it and they turned a dull, ugly place in to charming little cafe. But it never opened for business, everyday when I drove pass I looked in anticipation that it would be opened. They had a couple of dumbie runs where they had guests come but still it didn’t open. Then one day I saw a man out the front admiring it, so I stopped and asked him when it was opening. The big day was going to be the 7th of March. So it was with great excitement that I drove home that day as finally it was going to be open. Imagine my disappointment it was not and there was a sign out the front saying ‘Chef Wanted’. That was the chef that I spoken to that day, he was so full of pride and joy to think that he was going to have his own place. Now there is no activity there any more, the building seems to be waiting , just like the neighborhood.
March 11, 2008
I wait each week to see what the topic is going to be, it usually comes through early Saturday morning. If I have checked my emails in the night I think & dream about the topic. ……..a bit obsessive I know. Anyway I love this week’s topic and if I find the time I am going to have a go at doing another one. This is my little grand-daughter on a egg hunt in the garden.
March 9, 2008
I loved the weekend but this weekend it is a bit quiet with Pen gone. She has arrived safely and moved into her tent, she says that she did not really understand how isolated it was going to be, she compares it to the Australian outback. I think that Graham understood as he spend a lot of his childhood school holidays near Bourke on his uncle’s family farm. It was miles from nowhere; barren and dry country.
School is busy, World Maths Day was on Thursday and four of our classes took part. It was exciting to see children charged by maths, they logged in and then played against other children from different parts of the world and they also played against the clock. I think that the modern child is at a disadvantage in this situation as they have to be really fast at number operations, similar to how we used to rote learn our number facts years ago. Still it was a lot of fun. Also five of our classes blog and two of them are taking part in on-line projects. So that means that their computer time is very precious to them, trying to find extra time for them is difficult. But I love this job, it has all the elements that keep me motivated and interested; once again I am on a steep learning curve. I have started a library blog which I will use mainly for new resources and to keep people informed on what some of the classes are doing.
We saw the two little girls yesterday, they are both changing rapidly, mainly due to them both going to school. Abby is talking non-stop and is very confident; her teacher describes her as “No shrinking violet”. She has always know her mind and really can’t be talked into something if she doesn’t want to do it.
March 4, 2008
Pen left yesterday to start her new job, she has a lot of travelling in front of her and will not get to her final destination until Thursday we think. She was very excited and full of anticipation to be starting in a new country. It was hard for us and her to say ‘goodbye’ but I have come to the realisation that she loves her work and doing that kind of work is where she wants to be. She says that the aid workers world is a small world and she goes already knowing other workers in the area. That will help her feel at home quicker.
I love this story I hope that her life is not really going to be like this.
Now my other big news is that Sarah, Arthi and Riya leave this week for Vanuatu. Their house was packed up today and they are staying with some friends until Saturday. They had their farewell party last Saturday which started early in the afternoon and went late into the night. I remember those wonderful Canberra parties where people drop in. We will miss them but will be able to keep in contact by Skype and hopefully Ses is going to start a blog.
March 2, 2008
My daughter leaves tomorrow to work in Sudan. While I am extremely proud of her, I am nervous and frighten at the same time. However, I know that she is a very professional young lady and that she will be sensible and that she will do a very good job. So this is my illustration for this week -leap in faith, leap into a different culture, leap into a different world……I think that the title could be any of those.
