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.

I wanted to write this post on Saturday but I could not as unfortunately we still do not have internet at home. 7th April it should be up but until then I have to blog at work which kind of sux. Anyway on Saturday my blog turned four. How interesting reading over some of things I have done and thought, a few cringe moments but mostly okay.

Started reading the Harry Potter series about 6 weeks ago. I had read the first book last year and it didn’t really do it for me but then 6 weeks ago when I had nothing to read and not in the space for something too intense I picked up the second book. Now I am up to book five. Can not seem to put it down. Not sure what it is, maybe I just need a bit of fantasy every so often.

There are still a few boxes lying around with stuff in them and a number of things still need to find a place but basically we are now living in our new home. We have a bed and a lounge room and we manged to cook dinner last night. A simple pasta it was but it was lovely to actually cook something again in my own home.

I feel like I am in the right place. Still feel I have some grieving to do for Enmore but all in all I feel content. Last night Martin and I went around each room of the house and prayed. We also listened to the John Coleman song Keith and Annie played at our wedding and that we listened to on our first night in Enmore. A prayer really that God will bless our house and those that come to it. A prayer that our house will be not only a blessing to us but to others and that we can use it to offer hospitality and friendship.

That evening Jem stayed and she even had a bed. Ryan and Sandy also dropped by for some tea so I felt like we were off to a good start.

I am not doing very well at feeling at peace within the chaos. In fact I feel very much not at peace. Although last night I stayed at Jane, John and Hannah’s house and waking up and looking up at the bush I had a moment of peace.

I really dislike moving. It totally is one of the most stressful, chaotic, unpleasant not too mention dusty experiences. So as you can imagine I am not really looking forward to this weekend and the process of doing just that. And I am especially not looking forward to the fact that I have to do it all again the weekend after that, as we will be living out of boxes at Ryan and Matt’s house for a week before our new place become available.

However last night at my small group we were talking about peace. Mostly about world peace and peace from conflict but we also got on to the topic of inner peace. We were talking about people we know who can be in the midst of total chaos and confusion but still somehow hold on to peace. I am aiming to be like that. Just to try and accept that life will be a little chaotic for a week or so but that’s okay.

I have also been thinking a lot about what they call “stop gap housing”. They talk about this all the time here at Vinnies and it refers to people in a state of secondary homelessness, those staying with relatives and friends as they have nowhere else to go. People who permantly live out of boxes in this state of chaos. They estimate that there are 50 000 people living like this in Australia and I guess I will be one of them for a week and I am very grateful that it is just a week and then I will have my own home. That’s what I will be concentrating on.

We are in for a few more changes this month. As I wrote on February 01st our lease at Simmons Street was terminated in January and so we started looking for a new house. We were struggling to find a house that fit us all and that we liked. In the midst of that someone from our church let us know that they would be leaving the two bedroom house that they rent and would Martin and I like to take it. At first we said no but then after some thought and some discussion with the boys (Ryan, Tom and Matt) we decided that we would take it. We had thought about moving out just the two of us late last year but decided not to, the time just did not feel right. Now however it does feel right so that is what we are doing. We also thought that it might be easier for the boys to find something. That thought turned out to be fantastically wrong but by the time we realised that we had made our decision.

The house we will be moving into is in Glebe, just down from Glebe Point Road. It is one of four owned by our church and in the others live couples or families from the church with whom there will hopefully be some community feel. It has two bedrooms so Jem will live in the other for the two days per week that she is not at L’Arche and I am hoping the rest of the time it will be well occupied by family and friends needing places to stay. It has a pretty nice feel to it though it is very small. We certainly won’t be having the big dinners that we are used to. The other drawback is that it has an out door toilet. Although it is not too far away so we should be okay. I guess I will just have to drink less at night.

I am looking forward to living with just Martin. After five years together it is the first time so it will be a new adventure. I also really like Glebe and will enjoy being closer to the church and community there. Having a spare room to offer people is also very exciting. I am on the other hand feeling pretty sad right now. I am going to miss Enmore and the constant activity of that house. I think most of all though I will very much miss living with Ryan, Tom and Matt. It is especially sad that Tom is moving to Turramurra and so will be very far away. I am sure I haven’t always being completely positive about living with four boys but they really are wonderfully fantastic and would reccommend living with them to anyone. That goes for Jem, Jo and Jon who also lived in the house over the years.

I remember when we were all moving in together some people told me to be careful as it could really ruin the friendships. I am very grateful that, that is not the case with us at all. In fact I think it only made the friendships stronger so that is a good thing to finish on.

Last week we fed our neighbours cat while they were on holidays. As a thank you present they gave us a whole case of wine. It seemed it a bit excessive for what we did but they insisted and it is vey nice wine. When Amber dropped the wine around we were looking at the garden which at this stage is incredibly overgrown but full of veges. We have chilli, basil, pumpkin, corn, tomatoes. I am not really that into gardening as most people would know but it is very exciting. Anyway, I told her if she ever felt like taking anything she would be most welcome. So the other night when Martin and I were cooking we heard someone in the garden. We looked out and there was Amber taking some of our basil. Her husband was making bruschetta. It all felt very neighbourly. Makes me sad to be leaving.

This morning I rode Martin’s bike to church. Martin had gone to a party the evening before and stayed the night so I did not have the car. It was a little scary but mostly fun. I felt not only fit but environmental. Anyway, Martin then met me at church with the car and afterwards he decided to ride the bike home and I drove the car. All the way home we were overtaking each other but in the end he actually beat me. How cool is that. I think I will try and ride more often. The only problem is you arrive where you are going some what sweaty. And I reckon during the week when there are more cars I would be a little bit scared.