From My Corner to Yours

Here I am, Send me...

Bika mono ve, mvulusi mono ku lomba. Bu nge vuluswa ba nkaka bika mono ve.


Pass me not, o gentle Savior, hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling do not pass me by.

I Kid You Not, This Conversation Took Place

Me: Bethany, go and get in the shower.
She goes of wailing, because she's been in a foul mood all day, and I'd just scrubbed her hands with nail polish remover, as I'd just caught her hiding and painting her 'nails'

10 minutes later....

Me: Bethany, are you in the shower?
Beth:Yes.
Me: Is it on?
Beth: No

*shakes dumbfounded head*

Being a Responsible Pet Owner SUX

The other day, our 6 year old dog killed a cat; her second in as many months. Calcifer was the first. This second cat, we don't know who it belongs to.

Adam and I made the painful decision to have her put down before it became a very big problem, with disasterous results.

We consulted our vet on the matter, as it is only a very newly aquired behaviour. It seems that the dog we took on taught her to chase, and while it couldn't catch the cats, Ruby could.

She never ate them, and so the vet seems to thinks that Ruby was just playing with them and thus killing them by being too rough, or infact, she may have been brining them to us as presents. It is unclear wether or not it was intentional for the cats to die, however, unfortunately, it was the result.

As a result she has aqcuired 'the taste', the vet said, and it would only get worse. She caustioned us that if we decided not to have her put down, we would need to watch her closely around other pets and small children. While both Adam and I believe she would never, ever hurt a child, we decided that it was safer not to play the maybe game.

Adam took her on his own, and he said to the vet that he felt awful, because she wasn't sick, she wasn't really old... there was nothing wrong with her. She was very understanding and supportive of our decision. While she couldn't flat out say 'yes, you need to put her down', one got the impression she felt it the right move. She told Adam that 6 years for a big dog is actually a really good life. It didn't make him feel any better though.

So, if you have a moment, think of Adam, who has felt this very deeply, she was such a pretty, placid dog, and he loved her very, very much. The kids took it hard, but over it already, the way kids are wont to do. I miss her, and I cried my eyes out yesterday to the point they were itchy when I wasn't weeping. We feel guilty, but conflicted in that guilt.

We are grieving.

Come on over, Come on Over Baby

Head on over to my Xanga and see how much housework I get done today!

I can't work the strikethough here on blogger without it doing it to my entire blog, so we'll have a bit of a clicky party, ok? :)

So, you know that thing I was supposed to be doing this week?

I got sick. Really sick. Like, I-am-going-to-be-praising-God-if-I-survive-the-night sick.

No kidding, I was sure I was going to drown in my own mucus, my head has been that full. I've been sleeping the last two nights with 4 pillows, so as to be semi-upright so I can breathe.

It's always the way. Anytime I make plans to make some headway on the house I get sick, or the baby has a clingy day, or I need to spend most of the day in the car running around after people or something.

Always something.

I know who does it. And I know why.

The enemy knows it frustrates me. He knows it drives my husband crazy. He knows we don't function well in a messy house. He knows the kids are always naughtier, and we argue more. He knows it stresses us out. He knows it impedes hospitality. He knows it keeps us too busy to do anything else. He knows it makes me feel guilty, overwhelmed, belittled and a failure. He knows it makes me even more OCD and he knows the battle I struggle with to keep it at bay and not to let it take over (which results in the most bizarre outcome, but never mind that). He also knows it's a way to isolate me, as I'm too proud and embarrassed to ask for help. He knows it's the best way to keep me uncontented.

He knows it is the best thing to keep us unproductive for the kingdom.

I will get it done. I know I will. As soon as I kick this illness somewhat I'm just going to have to get in there. Write me another list, and set to work crossing it off. I need to find some scriptures to pray first thing in the morning that will help me get motivated, and know that God is on my side, cheering me on, and carrying me through. I'd really love to get a big poster with Colossians 3:23&24 on it and stick it somewhere prominent.

So I'm going to ask all of you something.

What are the scriptures that help you in your mothering/wifing life? What words encourage you, motivate you and help you feel less alone? What should I have scattered around my home in certain places for me to read and lift my spirits and my flagging momentum?

Feel free to bombard. Ask your friends and family, and help a sister out.

We Interupt the Regular Scheduled Programming

They will not grow old, as we who are left grow old;

Age will not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

With all my heart, thanks boys.
Rememberence Day, November 11

Make Your Home a Haven.... week

Crystal at Biblical Woomanhood often runs Make Your Home a Haven Monday's, but, you know, she moved interstate, is pregnant, has a three year-old, so it's been on the back burner for a bit. However, Monica at The Homespun Heart is running a week long version.

I adore things like this. Keeps me focused and motivated.

Most people unclutter and fluff during these. I will be you know, cleaning. I'll even take photos, perhaps. It really is quite frightening, my house. Adam and I got fed up with having boxes of miscelaneous stuff still from the move, so in a moment of insanity no, genious no, not quite sure what exactly, we just dumped them all out on the floor, figuring if it's on the floor, we'll be more likely to pick it up.

*ahem*

There is a pile in my dining room that's been there for two weeks.

There is all our laundry in our bedroom. Unfolded.

Please don't look at my kitchen. I know I try not to.

So. My plan of attack looks like this:

Monday: Master Bedroom (incuding sorting clothes and tidying cupboards) and washing laundry. Folding negotiable.
Tuesday: Kids Bedrooms (see above note) & Bathroom/toilet/laundry (including linen press and organising the bathroom cupboards)
Wednesday: Kitchen and Dining Room (including buffet, linen chest and organising kitchen cupboards and shelves)
Thursday: The "Big Room" (including sorting books, toys and picking the rocks out of the decking. My children are delightful)
Friday: Organise the garage for Adam to tackle on Saturday. Put stuff for the dump in an easy to get to place. Separate keep from donate.

Anyone else joining in? I'll post pictures if you will.

I never was one to stick to anything

So I'm back.

I was browsing through here, as I was updating my "A Thousand Times" (Which I finished! On time!! See them all over there in my side bar) and I noticed on an older post that there were more comments than I remembered. AS I read them, I felt so guilty! Ashley, from Heart and Home, had added me to her blog lines (faint!) and more than a few others said they would be back.

Forgive me?

Truly, in all honesty, it's not that hard to transfer posts from Xanga over here. So I shall. No, I have not magically discovered Self Discipline or Time Management, but, I figure, it'd be good for a laugh to document the path towards it. We have a saying in our home, that our place is like a party that never quits. I have loved documenting our lives on Xanga, it certainly calls for introspection towards your inner motives of life... a common thought through my head is "I really must remember to post about that."

And, true to form, the last Xanga post was a breath of fresh air and wit....

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who's managed to put a disposable nappy through the washing machine"

Because I am all that is eloquent and profound.

To quickly bring all who still trip by here up to date, Adam has turned thirty, and after professing all year that it really didn't phase him, come the day, as he put it "then I arrived here. Get me alcohol." We are absconding for a weekend; we've separated the children to two families, and are having three days of Sweet F A. (That's an Aussie-ism. You may need clarification. Just imagine the F with a few asterisks after it. The last word is All. Does that help?)

We are strongly considering home school next year, (because having my kids at home all the time never drives me up the wall *cough*) but are unsure of how to actually go about it. While we don't want to un-school, we do want to um, how do I say, supplement a lot of the curriculum with biblical principals and teaching, and we don't really know how to go about it, and keep withing guide lines. We do have a homeschooling family in our church (one of only two that I know! It's rare here. Though, as Adam and I discussed last week, if we were on a cattle station [ranch] and were doing Distance Education, no one would bat an eyelid. Home school is pretty much the same thing, though we are within distance of a school) so we are going to talk to them about it a little bit more.

I shan't continue on anymore. But if I may, could I please ask you to drop me a line and let me know you are still here? I am very penitent, and promise faithfully to never leave you again.