Ever since I was a child of about seven and I saw my dad spitting blood for a couple of days after getting his wisdom teeth taken out I have dreaded getting mine taken out. At that time I remember praying a lot that I would be spared.

Alas, however I was not and last night I went along to the dentist for the removal of teeth. It was perhaps not as bad as I had imagined at that young age and not worth all those years of dread but none the less it was pretty unpleasant. He gave me anaesthetic which was good so I didn’t feel much pain but I sure felt pulling and pushing and yanking. Later in the evening it began to hurt but again some strong pain killers knocked me out pretty nicely. Although they don’t get rid of the yucky taste in your mouth.

One nice thing was is that after it I was informed that I did not have to pay the bill. I was told that they would be sending that to my grandfather who had been in the week before and informed them that he would fix it up. Sweet. The other nice thing was Martin cooked me Rice Pudding for dinner and it was yum. And there was enough left over for lunch today and dinner. I don’t think I am up for solids yet.

Where did this weather come from?? It’s freezing!!

As I don’t work on Mondays this was an extra long weekend for me and a super fun one, spent mostly in and with the Glebe community. Friday, I cleaned my house and did the washing. As we don’t have a washing machine I take it to Jo and Jeremy’s, next door. It is a bit annoying but good for community cause when I was there Jo asked if I wanted to have a cuppa with her and of course I did and we chatted for a whole wash. It is also better environmently and for our budget. In the afternoon Martin and I went for a run. I have a great run around here. I go up to the end of Glebe Point Road and then run along the harbour for a bit and then across Wentworth Park and wind around the streets back home. In the evening we decided to see a movie. Martin said we should also ask our other neighbour if she wanted to come. She is a single lady in her sixties so she was quite suprised when we asked but said yes. We went for dinner before hand and it was really nice hearing a bit of her story.

Saturday again at home, pottering around the house. Did some work on the liturgies for church and for the nominators. At this stage I am really ejoying being a nominator, it is actually quite interesting. It really is a strange thing the Anglican church and its process for finding a new minister but I think I agree with it. In the evening we had dinner with our friend’s Mal and Nadine who also go to our church and live on Glebe Point Road. They are very fun people.

Sunday, we went to church in the morning and then after a big group of us went and had coffee in a cafe down the road. One of the many nice thigns about going to that church is there is never a shortage of places to go for after church coffee. We sat in a lovely courtyard and enjoyed the absolutely perfect weather. Such a nice change from the 13 days of straight rain. Someone said it was the most days of rain consecutively in 70 years. I guess we have needed but boy o boy was I over it. I continued to enjoy the weather into the afternoon by sitting on my front balcony and reading. I just finished Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. Now I have finished Harry I am back into her again. Sitting on the front is also very community-ish as people walk by and smile and say hi and comment on the weather. After a day of sitting around i though I should get some exercise so I wandered down to the pool had a swim and then back to church to pray. A group of us meet each Sunday to pray for the church, especially the nominating process. This week there was just two of us and we decided to sit in the front yard. As we were sitting there two older ladies came up to enquire if there was a service. We said there wasn’t but they could join us to pray. One of them was a Christian from out of town and was very pleased to. The other was a local but wasn’t a Christian, she was just showing her friend where the chuch was. Anyway she said she wouldn’t pray but would sit with us, however in the middle of the prayer she said, “well if there is a God I would like to pray for the poor people living in Glebe”. At the end she asked if we would say the Lord’s prayer. So we held hands and prayed. It was very moving really.

And finally today I met with my friend Jenny, who I have known since birth and we went and saw the Archibald. It was very good really although absolutely packed. Afterwards she came back to Glebe to see my house and we had lunch and coffee. I walked her back to the bus stop and walking down I saw 4 people that I knew. How local is that!!!

Martin and I have just returned from a very fun holiday. We went to Gerringong, an incredibly beautiful place about 5 mins south of Kiama, for five days. The weather was not great but that was actually okay. I think it gave us permission to do a lot of sleeping, reading, eating, drinking coffees and generally sitting around in our hotel and chatting. This was so what we needed. The highlight was probably spending a couple of hours in front of the fire at the very old Berry Hotel.

We did a couple of walks though. Of course along a couple beaches but we also visited the Minamurra rainforest and Carrington falls and took a wander around Berry. We also went to some wineries and checked out the Kiama Blowhole and some other attractions. Oh yes and we took a dolphin cruise and believe it or not saw dolphins. They were amazing and actually swam along with us for about 20 mins. It was very exciting.

I managed to finish Harry as well. Certainly left me with that sadness one feels when they have gotton quite attached to a book and its characters and then it ends. I certainly was not expecting that.

I joined Glebe library today. I was mainly joining cause I am now up to the 7th Harry Potter and I just had to get my hands on it but it made me so happy. I was happy cause joining the library reminded me of when I was a child and my mum used to take Gemma and I there most months to borrow books. It was always hard to choose which one I wanted to borrow but fun. It also made me feel really local. I never realised how communityish libraries were. I mean all over the notice boards they had ads for local groups you could join or volunteer work you could do and everyone is welcome. The place seemed filled with people from all classes, language backgrounds etc. And finally I think libraries are cool cause they really fit with the whole compacting thing. I mean I am not officially doing it but I am always trying to not buy new things and so it is good to think one could read their whole life without ever having to buy something. And all this coolness comes at the grand cost of nothing. Yep totally free with a cool card that has my name on it. So yay to libraries I say. I reckon everyone should join one.

After two days of unpleasant conversation with Optus I finally have a phone and internet and thus am able to make my first post out of Glebe. Horay. It is still in Tom’s name unfortunately and Tom has had his own unpleasant conversations but hopefully that too will be sorted out soon.

Seems like a good time to say all good in our new home. I really like the house, far, far more than I thought I would. In fact even the outdoor toilet which I was a bit anxiuos about has become a blessing in disguise. Someone painted it purple which is a very significant colour for me. Since reading the book “The Colour Purple” the colour purple has always been a reminder to me of God’s generosity and I have come to believe that we will answer for all the blesssings we were given that we did not appreciate. So when I am on the toilet, in the cold or the rain and wanting to feel sorry for myself there is the purple to remind me to give thanks instead.

It is also good for Martin and I to have a bit more space. After a five years of living with others in different communities I think it was time. I have a feeling our days of community are not entirely over but it is good to get some time now on our own for now.

Yesterday Martin and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary. When I consider that my grandparents will be married for 50 years this month it doesn’t seem all that much but significant to us none the less. So congratulations to us I say. The third year was good. Pleased to say each year just gets better and better.

We didn’t do anything. In fact Martin was at TAFE til about 10pm so I ate a Tofu Burger for dinner by myself. However he did leave flowers on my bed and we have a week’s holiday to Kiama booked for 14th – 18th April. I am really looking forward to that. It will be good to celebrate our anniversary and just unwind a bit from last months stresses.