|
Hi there!
I've read the following statement on other blogs and always thought 'Oh sure!' but now I find myself saying it. "I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged!" But it's true. The days have just rolled by. Busy, productive life days. We finished another term of Sunday School using our new format and it works well so I'll stick with it for the last term this year. Our healthy eating plan is coming along very well. One of the best things I did was signed up recently to Sparkpeople. It's been tremendous and has helped me so much! I would recommend it to anyone. www.sparkpeople.com I am learning to balance my calorie, fat and carb intake which is no easy task Still trying to get my head around the EBAY selling bisso. It's not as easy as I thought but I think I do tend to over complicate things. The paypal account was a little tricky to set up but I think that's right now. The photos have been the hardest. I've taken some and have been fiddling around with photoshop elements trying to make them look decent enough (can't stand shabby looking photos on some ebay listings). All of this of course very much on a part time when I can snatch a moment basis but we're nearly ready to put our first entry in. My dear Malcolm has made the job a lot easier for me by buying me a wireless networking card for my laptop. It means I can take the laptop anywhere in the house (and yard presumably although I haven't tried that yet) and log on to the internet. He did it because I've been to a Specialist about poor circulation in my lower legs. He's prescribed compression stockings which I have to wear every waking hour of every day. It's caused by the veins in the lower legs not pushing the blood back up the leg properly and the blood pooling in the ankles. Caused from of course obesity and sitting at the computer for long periods. They are a pain to wear and often hurt during the day as my legs swell. Malcolm has to tug them on for me every morning and yank them off again at night. Thankfully they are only kneehighs and even more thankfully I won't have to wear them once I lose weight (don't know how much specifically) as the back pressure relieves or something. I tell ya, be careful what you ask the Lord for. I asked Him months back if He could give me something that wasn't life threatening but would be a real pain in the neck and give me added incentive to lose weight - and He did
I've read the replies to my previous blogs and want to thank the kind ladies who took the time to make a comment. I do appreciate the encouragement very much. Denise I recently purchased the ebook 'Cybermoms Guide to creating a home income' and it is a truly marvellous book. I've scribbled notes everywhere and it's open beside me as I fiddle around the ebay site. I found the companion book by Sydney Johnson very helpful as well, so that package is certainly a good investment. In answer to 'Cricket's' reply, yes we do live not too far away from Australia Zoo, the home of the Crocodile Hunter. We are all devastated by his death. He was a wildlife champion and a larger than life personality. Although what you saw on TV was the real Steve. No pretense, just him. He went a thousand miles a minute all the time and his passion for wildlife was deep. His memorial service is scheduled for today and his legacy will endure for many years. His daughter Bindi, although only 8, seems to have the same personality and focus as her dad so it will be interesting to watch her develop in later years. Terri, his wife is a Christian so I am personally very glad about that as she has the Lord's strength to draw upon. And yes Cricket, we did think he was a little 'goofy' sometimes but it was with an enormous affection and we were proud of him. Obviously not everyone liked him but I think he was universally admired here for his conservation work. Paula, I haven't done too much writing of late although I have managed to secure an editor for my manuscript. I am slowly polishing it up and will then give it to her for her verdict. I have been encouraged to send it to a traditional publisher but I am still leaning toward Print on Demand publishing. More on that as it happens.
Well I must finish off here as today we have a KAH meeting. Yes I did get the group up and running. We met for the first time last month at a local hall but decided it would be better to meet at my home so we didn't have to worry about hall fees, numbers attending etc. We've spent the last two weeks cleaning up the patio and playroom. What a job and a half that was. But at least the place is looking pretty spiffy right now. I'm getting more and more into the hang of this house cleaning thing. My friend Diane has a beautiful, welcoming home that is always clean, neat and tidy - despite the fact that they have 6 kids and homeschool them- and I always admire and yes I'll admit it sometimes envy that neat home. She has unwittingly been a wonderful inspiration to me to try harder and take more seriously my role as homemaker - bless you Di! At our KAH meeting today, we are learning how to knit.
Anyway, have a nice life till I talk to you again! |
I find myself having not enough fat grams per day and am in fact way under. But if I try to have as many fat grams as they recommend, my calorie intake is too high. Bother! 
But it's something we'll work out. It all takes time. Meanwhile I have lost nearly 7 kilos, which for all you pound people out there equates to 15.4 pounds! YIPPEE
It feels real good and it's all the Lord's doing!
He's glorious! So I sit on my lounge chair with the family at night and while they watch an old movie or TV show on DVD (we don't watch live to air tv as it's unworthy of our attention!), I work on the laptop with my feet up. Talk about a cushy life.|
Hi, it's been a while since I've put an entry in. Life just seems to slip by sometimes. We get so busy doing our own thing. Pretty soon, we'll be in the twilight years (not to be confused with The Twilight Zone We went to our local show (I don't know what you call them in the States - is it A county Fair?) yesterday, you know...the place with sideshow alley, exhibits, horses and cows being judged, all that sort of thing. I came away with the most disagreeable feeling I've had in many a year. My daughter had a great time but I had a terrible one. Can you belive a 'run-in' with two different people in the space of 10 minutes? The first was a woman that barged herself and children immediately in front of us at an event, completly blocking our view and shoving us out of the way. My husband very politely told her she had pushed in front of us and please move because it was blocking our view. She said something nasty to him under her breath which he didn't hear but I did. Of course I told her - again very politely- that she was being rude, so she had a go at me then. Aargh! My preps for the KAH club are going well. SSchool starts up again this week. We've had a long think and pray about how we are going to do things and are changing a lot. We pray this will help enthuse the kids more. I'm doing a lot of research on starting up an EBAY selling business. I've often wanted to help Jess learn something which will enable her to contribute some income to her own family (when she has one-Lord willing) whilst remaining at home. She is working her way toward a teaching certificate in ballet and tap and she can work part time with that but it suddenly struck me! I can teach her to run her own online business which can be totally run from home. It can be done. It just takes perseverance. So we're starting up our own little ebay business and will work up to it very gradually. I've been doing well with my healthy eating plan. All of us eat a lot less fat and more healthy food choices now. Malc has to lose weight or he will end up with a heart condition like his mum and I have to lose weight because I'm simply TOO big. I have 70-80 kilos to lose, but I will do it as part of a life long change to a healthier lifestyle. I don't care how long it takes. Meantime I have my cyberbuddies on Blubber Bloggers to help me along - and I have found them helpful already, even though I've only been on the list a short while, I have my dear sister-in - law karen to inspire me (she's using the same low fat cook books as me), and my good friends Diane and Tamara to encourage me. Add prayer and I can't go wrong. Well I can and probably will take a lot of detours, but I will get there in the end. Cheerio for now. |
) and will be sitting on the verandah wondering where all the years went to. Isn't it a relief to know that our soul is eternal ? And WHAT a joy it is for me to know that I, and my dear husband and daughter, will be spending that time with Jesus. Thank you Lord! 
I do feel that it is important though not to waste the time that we have right now. I've always been a goal and list keeper to some degree or other, but lately it's becoming more important that I manage my time well, so that I will not be ashamed when called to give account of my life here on this earth. I find the book Managers of their homes to be very good. Someone has recommended The Fly Lady so I must check that out too.
Not a few minutes later, We were leading my daughter through side show alley (she had already been there and enjoyed the rides with dad) when we were hassled by one of the stallholders who wanted us to have a go at knocking down something or other. I smiled as we walked past and said "No thankyou". He then swore at us and called us something not nice (which thankfully my daugher didn't hear). Now I'm ashamed to admit this, but I did not remain a nice, meek, turn the other cheek Christian. I turned around, ripped my sunnies off and started to stomp back to him, ready to give him what for! What a rotten witness that was. My dear mum (also a Christian) stopped me with one word. ELIZABETH! I know I'm in trouble when I hear my name spoken like that by my mum. That stopped me in my tracks and made me realise what I was going to do was not honouring to Christ. So I turned and walked away, leaving my poor bemused family to trail along behind. Hubby had not heard any of this and was wondering why I was having such a hissy fit.
Oh dear. Actually I look back now and think it's quite funny. But not my witness. That was no laughing matter. Well I failed that test Lord. I'll have to go back to remedial class on that one.|
You know, a funny thing happened the other night. Malc and I had just previewed an awful DVD titled "Mean Girls". We were given this DVD by Jessica's Girl's Brigade leader and asked to watch it if we wanted to know what she was intending to show Jess's GB group during their current study on Cosmetology. For those totally ignorant of what cosmetology is - it's the science of make up! I didn't know that either. Now the group that Jess is in in Girl's Brigade are 12-15 year olds. Jess is 12 years old. The movie is an M15, which in Australia means Mature audiences - 15 years and over. The leader was/is intending to show them only certain scenes which deal with peer pressure and getting in with the wrong crowd. All very worthy I'm sure BUT.....we only watched two of the intended scenes (I think there's something like 20) and just turned it off. We as adults would not even watch this rubbish, let alone let young ladies watch it. I guess the point I am trying to make in this rather long winded post, is that it suddenly occurred to me the other night, as Malc and I were discussing this, that as home schoolers, we will not relinquish the responsibility of our child's education to any one else. And yet what are we doing when we drop Jess off at GB, even if it is for only 2 hours once a week? Relinquishing her to someone else. Someone who has different standards to us, however well meaning a Christian they are. After all, they don't know and love our child like we do. I guess it's good therefore that i am in the throes of starting a Keepers at home club with some families in our homeschool network. i think KAH is a far better option for a girl's club because the girl remains at all times under mum's authority and teaching. Well enough ranting for now. |
And this is coming from a Girl's Brigade, which is a Christian organisation and has as it's motto "seek, serve and follow Christ". All this hearkens back to my previous post about the increasing secularisation of the Christian church. Of course our daughter will not be watching this movie, now or any other time, and we have written a loving note to the GB leader explaining our reasoning.|
Well another Saturday is just about to draw to a chilly close in our neck of the world. Well by chilly I mean lower than 20 degrees celcius which is chilly for us. As usual for a Saturday, we zipped out to the shops and came back three hours later laden with groceries and shellshocked at the amount of money they cost. I simply MUST try to be more frugal in our shopping, or organise things better or something Have been busy this week organising a Keepers at Home club for our local support group. We have about 25 girls who are interested. I just have to organise a venue now. I told someone this week that I can't seem to stop organising things and it must be a defective gene or something. Started book 2 of my Sci Fi adventure romance book this morning. It is actually 3 complete stories in one volume, all centering on the history of this seed planet colonised by earth. It took me so long to just put one word down on paper. Unbelieveable! Until I suddenly realised that I was suffering from writer's block! That's never happened to me before. finally I convinced myself to just put pen to paper and write. It didn't matter what gibberish it turned out to be. That got me moving and I ended up doing a couple of paragraphs. I am such a lazy writer. I will do anything, ANYTHING else other than write. Weird huh? anyway I smell chicken kebabs calling my name so must be off. |
My dear Malcolm is busy cooking our tea tonight while Jess and I sit at the computers. We have two linked up, a laptop - which is supposed to be for my writing but generally gets used by Jess for her Maths schoolwork-and another pc in Jess's room which has educational programmes & games on it for her. Not bad for a computer illiterate family. Tomorrow is the Lord's day and we are having our end of term breakup for Sunday School. We finish each term with a party and games time. I am greatly concerned about Sunday School. It has declined markedly in our church this year, which seems to be a general trend in the Christian community everywhere. I read an article written by the head of Scripture Union here and he reckons it is because the church is becoming increasingly secularised. I would agree with that. Anyway, it's nothing the Lord can't handle.|
Well g'day there! It's about time I started to use this blog. When I found the site I got all excited and signed up, then got so busy with life it slipped by the wayside! We were so busy organising a home ed. seminar for the community here in Brisbane that we had no time for anything else. Jess's schoolwork for the two weeks prior consisted of Bible time, making a journal entry and then all things seminar. She sorted books, stuffed sample bags, stuck stickers on bags, and made 100 beaded bracelets which she attached to a business postcard and popped into the sample bags. She then readied her own stall for the day - SarahMaree Jewelry- a little business she has making simple beaded jewelry to sell. She worked out how much money she would need for a float (her dad helped), made heaps of bracelets, ear rings and necklaces, priced and tagged them all, made a stocklist and sorted out how she would set up the stall with her two friends. They worked out how the jewelry would be displayed and how they would work the finances and most importantly, made a list of what snack supplies they would need to get them through the day. The day went well but it was exhausting. The kids had a ball on their stall too. So if someone asks what studies Jess has been doing lately, I say.......oh not much |
