She’s a Mil

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.

It’s not Martin’s birthday today it was Friday but this weekend has pretty much been taken up with birthday events. On Friday night Matt, Gem, Martin and I went to the Peruvian restaurant for dinner. It was quiet but that was all we could really handle after the previous week and we had a good time. The food was really, really yummy, I think they may have a new and better chief as I think it’s the best it has ever been. I bought Martin a massage, he has been saying he wants one for ages now so I finally got around to getting it. While I was there buying I could not resist the temptation of buying myself one and that way I could keep him company. So on Saturday afternoon we went. It really was a totally unnecessary luxury but I guess if you only do these thing every couple of years it’s okay and it was very relaxing. I was thinking a massage course could be fun and that it would be a really nice skill to be able to offer one’s friends and family when they need it. Especially if they could never afford to actually pay one.

Back to birthday events…. In the evening we had Martin’s party. Another really fun event, with just the right amount of people, mostly good weather, yummy BBQ and wine, some great music (live and not so live) and really interesting conversations. Thanks to everyone that came. And thanks Martin for having a party and putting up with my stresses and just being you. I love you heaps.

Martin got home today. I went to the airport at 9 to get him but he didn’t walk out until about 10:10 so I was very excited by then. We came home and had breakfast with David and Ryan and then we spent the rest of the day just hanging out at home, it was nice. Lots of talks about Peru and more talks about life and what we are going to for the next stage of it. No real answers yet but certainly some ideas are coming to the front more than others. And hey I am enjoying the process. In the late afternoon we finally managed to get out of the house and we went to the fish market, bought some fish and made ceviche. Ceviche is my favourite Peruvian dish so I am looking forward to it. It is just soaking now and we will eat it later. Martin is also having a nap. About half an hour ago he just crashed but I am hoping I will be able to get him up in an hour or so for dinner.

33 hours until Martin gerts home. I am really excited about seeing him.

Well thought I should do a bit of a catch up on how life is going. So it’s going pretty well.

House as always is easy, I mean apart from the fact that we are not able to get an effective system for paying and doing the shopping. I don’t quite understand how five relatively smart people (one of whom is an economist and another who claims to be a genius) can not get something so simple together but we can’t.

Work is busy. I have ten people going through at the moment so that is a lot of work for me but I won’t complain about that. It makes me happy when new friendships start. We had a friendship lunch on the weekend which was fun. I have to say I was somewhat cynical about the whole thing at first, it felt a bit forced but some people do really become very genuine friends. We had two pairs there that had been going for ten years.

Church is very fulfilling. Geoff does such good sermons and the liturgy is really nice. I am also part of small group with people I really like and we have some very stimulating discussions. They have put me one the prayer roster too which I enjoy. Nice to feel like I have something to give and I get some good feedback. That’s good if I ever do want to write this prayer book.

I am excited by the Labor Party’s continuing popularity. Despite coming to the realisation that Kevin may not be the answer to all or problems I am excited about a change and continue to hope in the possibiltiy of a more compassionate Australia.

Marriage is pretty cruisy too at the moment. Martin has particularly impressed me lately with his patientence and kindness and I feel very blessed. We start dance classes tommorrow which I am really looking forward to.

Uni is a bit hectic. I have three things due before the 9th of June so I feeling a little pushed but I should be okay. Then off to Peru on the 21st. We are very excited, was looking through the Lonely Planet the other day which also fueled my excitement.

I haven’t been to Rough Edges for awhile but will be going on Sunday so maybe I will give an update on that sometime soon.

God continues to be very present to me in all these aspects of my life which makes me feel very grateful. It sure makes things more peaceful, more real and more exciting to know that He is always there.

Today I woke up and there was a rose on my pillow.  My husband is such a romantic.  It made me feel all warm inside. 

Tonight we are heading down to Wiseman’s Ferry to spend the night and tommorrow there.  It is not very far away but it will be nice to be out of the city, surrounded by trees and river and have some quality time with Martin.  I think I would be lying if I said it has been a very smooth 2 years but I still think that being married to Martin is the privelege of life and I am very grateful.   

Martin came and had lunch with me today and we went and had a picnic in the park down the road. It is quite a nice park with perfectly mowed grass and flowers and a fountain in the middle but I never see anyone in it. I think it must be that it is in quite a random spot. Anyway today we were in it. We layed on our picnic rug in the shade and ate lunch in our picnic bowls. It was lovely. I felt kind of like a teenager in love.