Like David I am very much enjoying been 26 but I don’t think my blog is so much as it has been very much neglected. Sorry blog, just have not been able to think up a post. Anyway I’ll try and do a bit of a catch up for the last 11 days of been 26.

The last two weekends I have had training for work. I really enjoy training, it would definitely be one of the best parts of my work but it sure is tiring working from 7.30am to 4.30pm two Saturdays in a row.
I also did some fill in work for Jo at GAPP last Monday. I love going to GAPP and sitting in the garden with people and having a cup of tea and a chat. It has such a lovely community feel about it and it is nice laid back spot. I don’t however usually enjoy actually working there but it was a bit better this time. I felt I made some genunie coneections with people beyond them just asking me for some food or money and me saying yes or no.
I had a picnic with some friends from church last Sunday in the park at the end of Glebe Point Road. It was a beautiful sunny day and really relaxing just sitting around chatting on the water and watching other people do the same.
Martin was sick for three days last week. I don’t think I am very good nurse really but I tried. I made some healthy soup for him to eat and bought him lots of cups of water.
I went for a run yesterday. It was the first intentional exercise I have done since winter started. It felt good.
Martin and I have a new house guest. A guy Martin works with from Peru. He will be returning to Peru in September but needed a place to stay until then so Martin said he could stay with us. He is very friendly and it has been good for my Spanish which is pretty rusty these days.
It has inspired me to even start reading in Spanish again. I am reading El Zahir by Paulo Coelho.
On Saturday night we walked into Newtown to see a movie at the Dendy. It was a good walk and being in Newtown made me feel nicely nostalgic. The movie we wanted to see was full though so we had some dinner and walked back to Broadway and saw Hancock instead. I thought it was pretty crap but I guess I knew it would be.
The Saturday before that we had dinner at the local pub and played some pool there.
I also went to the Toxteth for the first time since living here last Thursday. I went to hear some people, including Geoff, talk about crime in Glebe. It was interesting and good to hear Geoff speak again. People seemed very open to creative and compassionate ways of addressing the issue which was exciting. I had a good chat with a lady from one of the Housing Dept.

It has been good to be doing local things, getting to know Glebe and the people here a bit better. I continue to enjoy living here and feel like this is where I want to be in my life right now. In fact in almost every facet of my life I feel I am where I want to be, where I am meant to be. It is good.

Yesterday was my birthday. First in Sydney for awhile and it was fun. At work we had lunch and cake. It was our monthly team meeting and my boss is always looking for excuses to have lunch a cake after so I am not sure how much it was to do with me but it was nice anyway. And the cake was seriously the nicest in the whole world. Ricotta chesse cake from Haberfield. Divine.

In the evening 19 lovely friends joined me at a local Vietamese restaurant. It was fun. I always enjoy having many of my wonderful friends around me.

I turned 26. I didn’t think that was a particularly significant age but then my mum informed that I was oficially no longer youth and would therefore not be able to access any youth services or whatever else. I don’t ever do this, I don’t think so that is not significant but it has hit me the idea that I am not youth anymore. I mean I have probably been doing moving over to this idea slowly over the years but this is really my life now. No more talking about what I am going to do when I grow up. I am grown up.

Today I am sick. Went to bed last night feeling fine and then woke up an hour later with the scratchiest throat, throbbing head, running nose and a really sore nose too. I have never actually had a sore nose before but it sucked. I am not very good at being sick. I really am not one of those people who just gets on with life when they are sick. I just stay home and get better. Some may see that as a weakness but I choose to see it as a positive. Anyway I slept in til 11.30 and then got up and went to the shops for some juice. I picked orange and ginger juice and boy o boy was it good. I felt so much better almost straight away. I also bought some mushrooms, garlic, chilli, leak and am making a super healthy, flu curing soup. And I think it might be yum too. In fact when down at the shops I bumped into Geoff and then Jo came and bumped into us. So Geoff said we should have lunch but I refused. I said no I am sick and nothing I could buy would be as good as this soup and another lie down. So now I am going to eat my soup and lie down.

At the intersection where Bridge Rd meets Parramatta Rd there is a massive advertisement for the NAB that says in giant letters “Know your enemies.” It goes on to say in slightly smaller letters that this is how one succeeds in business. It made me realise that Jesus statement about loving your enemies, that scandalised people 2000 years, is as radical now as it was then. In todays world where everyone is striving for more money, more power, more fame the idea of “love your enemies” is still incredibly counter cultural. Yet how much I would rather succeed at that, succeed at love, at life, at truth than in business.

To finish my two weeks in Hornsby I went to the gym with Lesley. I went on the walking machine and the bike and did some stretches. Not heaps but enough to work up a bit of a sweat. The one thing I do like about gyms is that it tells me how many calories thaht I have burned but I have to say Lesley and I were so busy chatting that I forgot to note.

Being a fun two weeks in Hornsby. Growing up here I don’t think I appreciated enough how pretty it was. Hannah has also continued to be a lot of fun and very well behaved too. I am tired I do confess and very much looking forward to a sleep in on Monday. And in my own bed.

I am reading a book at the moment called “God’s Politics, how the right it got it wrong and the left didn’t get it”. I have to say none of it is that new and it is a little bit repetitive at times but it is interesting enough and I am enjoying it. When you only ever hear Christianity and politics together when it pro Bush it fills me with a little bit of hope (not a heap but a little is all you need) to know that there are prominent American, Christian leaders who are fighting for the core moral issues of poverty and war. In fact it was written in 2004 and the author was already quoting Barak Obama.

So in that spirit congratulations Barak Obama. I have to say I don’t really know much and I was quite excited about the idea of a woman president but from everything I have heard you do seem like a pretty inspiring man really who is interested in change and trying to engage in a more bipartisan style of politics in order to get some things done.

This post will probably be of most interest to Jane and John but others are welcome to read.

On Sunday Martin and I began our two weeks of looking after Hannah. That day we took her church with us and after church I took her to the beach. It was too cold to swim but a clear blue day, perfect for hot chips and a lie around in the sand. I actually really like the beach in Autumn and Winter. There is always far less people so it is more serene and relaxing. Then we went to visit Ryan for tea and figs. Ryan has a very good backyard for Hannah, quite big with lots of branches to break. Ryan and I then decided to go to the ten dollar jean sale to get jeans. They ended up been $20 but that is still very good for jeans and the man in the shop was super friendly. I was a bit worried this wouldn’t be very fun for Hannah but she waited very patiently.

On Monday (thanks to Jane’s very detailed manual) I got her off to school alright. Her respite was cancelled in the evening but that was okay as I don’t work Monday’s so was home to meet her. There was some confusion with the driver but I managed to sort all that out relatively easily. Tuesday went smoothly as well.

All in all we are having lots of fun. Hannah has been a delight and has almost always cooperated with whatever is happening. I am also enjoying living in Hornsby for a little while. It is much quieter than Glebe and there are so many trees. I was a bit disappointed though that the pool’s heating system is not working very well but I managed a swim.

The front page of the SMH today had two stories, The first one began like this, “The chief executive of Macquarie Group, Allan Moss, will leave the “millionaires factory” with a fortune worth more than $80 million, setting new standards in a debate about how much executive pay is too much”. It goes on to tell us that, “It also equates to Mr Moore earning $3053 an hour, awake or asleep, all year.”

The second was about Burma, however the first line was slightly different to the one above, “Don’t worry about the dead bodies; the fish will eat them.” The story went on to describe the situation there, “People were begging on their hands and knees for a single packet of soup,” a team member said. “Please don’t leave us,” cried a hungry young mother nursing her child. She had lost her husband, mother and three other family members.

How has the world come to this? While I don’t think any of us have not thought about these issues before I couldn’t believe that it was there on display in such an obvious way. I suppose, if it gets people thinking it is a good thing but I am concerned it won’t. This is so common place, so normal now. It stunned me though and left me feeling pretty empty.

However thanks goes out to David. I came back to blog this and discovered his post. A speech by Martin Luther King which everyone must read. The paragraph that I most needed was this,

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.”

Thanks to all the people that came to our party on Saturday. I had heaps of fun and I hope you did too. It was a very diverse group of people from all parts of our lives which was very fun. I was especially happy with all the dancing and also the music playing in garage out the back. The food was good too, especially Anmol’s garlic prawns. Thanks Anmol.

I don’t think I am naturally someone who enjoys holding parties, I can find them a little bit stressful so lucky I have Martin in my life who makes me do these things. He loves having parties so much and I usually do end up having a good time.

I hope that everyone out there who reads this blog and knows me, knows that tonight we are having a party and you’re invited. If you didn’t know I am sorry but now you do. It is at our new house, and I think it is going to be fun. Martin has spent the morning in the garden and it looks cool. We have a new table out there which I really like. So come along if you can.