Hello Kitty!

No, I haven't taken to the fad that swept Japan. In actual fact, Vaughn and I will be bringing home our own 'kitty' in a matter of weeks! Say hello to Nemo:

Nemo and Family

Nemo's mum is a runaway cat that adopted one of the sem residents and had four kittens in her back courtyard. The kittens are so cute and we couldn't resist adopting one for ourselves (yes, even Vaughn has fallen for the charms of the cats, hence why we are adopting Nemo... and those of you that know Vaughn, will know he was previously not a cat lover!)

Vaughn was trying to stretch his 'obsession' with Martin Luther to the kitten, by naming him 'Luther', but I have put my foot down on that! He will remain Nemo (which he was named by the household he was born in). I think it is quite fitting! Having said that, however, I am SURE I will catch Vaughn out calling him Luther when he thinks I'm not around!

On another note, I can't believe that today is my second last day at the Diocese! Wow! Time has really flown. I'm really nervous today because they are having a farewell for me at morning tea and I HATE saying goodbyes and being the focus of attention! I start my new job on Monday.

Success!

I've found my favourite earrings, but I've also learned my lesson - don't put things in bags together for the convenience of taking a heap of things upstairs at the same time... this time, I found my earrings in a little makeup bag and the only reason they were in there is because I had to take them both upstairs, so I put the earrings in the bag and put the bag on the stairs (I know a few other at sem who do this - we get lazy and when we find things downstairs, that should be upstairs, we just put stuff on the stairs until we are actually going upstairs and take a pile of stuff with us). So then either Vaughn or I took the bag and possibly some other stuff and dumped it upstairs for later... then I put the makeup bag away, forgetting the earrings were in there. Whoops!

I still have yet to find my lip gloss, but have a feeling that it may have fallen out of my hand bag st some stage, so I'm going to count that as a loss. But I was right about the other two items... as soon as I publicly declared I'd lost something, I found them... good old Murphy's Law working in my favourite (generally it's not so kind!)

Have a wonderful day in the LORD, especially because it's Friday!

Found!

My scarf! Silly me... I'd put it in a plastic bag with all my cross stitch stuff, to take upstairs with a heap of things. It then got left in the bag and forgotten, until I saw the bag sitting on the futon in the study and had a glimmer of hope. Success! I found it this morning as I was getting ready for work and was a little disappointed that I wasn't wearing an outfit that it would suit, so I couldn't wear it in celebration of finding what was lost!

I'm still missing my lip gloss and earrings, but I am confident I will find them... eventually!

Until my next post...

Good Lutherans

Playing 500 while drinking good port is a good sign of a Lutheran. However, if you were sipping port out of a pewter port cup that was bought at Wittenberg Castle in Germany, with the Luther Rose, Martin Luther's face and a picture of Wittenberg Castle on it, you couldn't get much more Lutheran than that! Well, Vaughn and I will have achieved this, once we buy our next bottle of port and play some 500. My best friend and her husband bought us the pewter port cups whilst visiting Wittenberg Castle and they are absolutely beautiful. They are so awesome, I just wanted to show them off on my blog spot!

Finders Keepers

Have you ever read the book, 'Finders Keepers'? It's a great children's book by Emily Rodda and I'm sure everyone can relate to it! Basically, it explains why you can't find your keys where you left them and why you always seem to lose one half of a pair socks! A very quick overview is that there are holes between parallel universes. These holes pop up randomly and items we think we have lost, have just fallen through these holes. Some people in the parallel universe then have a special job of finding these objects and return them by throwing them back. Naturally, they won't always land where they came from, which is why your keys aren't where you 'swear' you left them! With regard to socks, my memory is a little sketchy as it was many years ago I read the book, but I think when the people from the parallel universe find socks, they either think they are useless, so don't bother throwing them back, or they like collecting them for themselves (but I can't remember which it is!) and that explains why you actually seem to lose socks and not find them 'relocated'! So why am I telling you all this? Because anytime I misplace something, I think of 'Finders Keepers'. Unfortunately, however, I have misplaced a number of items recently that haven't mysteriously reappeared. This could mean a number of things:

1.The people that should have throw these items back, haven't actually done so.
2.The items have been lost between the barrier of the parallel universes, which has also been known to happen in the book.
3. When the items were thrown back, they were thrown back in completely the wrong direction and are lying unaccounted for in someone's house!

The items were my favourite dangly pink earrings, a musk pink scarf which I love and some brown lip gloss which always came in handy! Murphy's Law now tells me that because I publicly mentioned my 'lost' items, I should find them shortly, which is what I am hoping for! I'm sure I've searched the house as best I can, but I'm also just as sure that I'll be looking through a cupboard in the coming days, find the items and either go "oh yeah, I forgot I put them there" or "what on earth are they doing here and what possessed me to actually put them here?"!

I'll keep you posted!

To Cut or Not to Cut...

I'm majorly overdue for a hair cut and am going to make the appointment with the hairdresser for this week, hopefully! I have the same problem every time - should I grow my hair out and just get a trim or go for a full style cut and just keep it short. The latter always wins, but this time I thought I would call on any regular blog readers to see what they think! Any thoughts out there?!



On another topic, as you can see, Vaughn and I have been 'Simpsonized'. I found the link on another friend's blog and couldn't resist the temptation to see what we'd look like, living in Springfield!

But back to my original problem... To Grow or Not to Grow...

Some things never change and the fact that our lives are constantly changing is the ‘some things’ that never change!

Just a very quick post to update you on my work situation… for those of you familiar with my update headings, you may have noticed that I didn’t include any information on work. Well done if you spotted it!

Anyway, the reason I didn’t update you, was because I was in the process of looking for new work and didn’t want to broadcast it publicly! Well, I have now found a new job and resigned from my current role, so can update you accordingly!

I have been with the Diocese for 10 months and have been struggling for a little while, trying to make it work. Unfortunately it is quite different from what I expected and very different from working in the Melbourne Diocese. Although I love working with the people in the office, I was constantly coming home unhappy and Vaughn and I decided it was time to move on.

I will be starting my new job on 5^th November, working in the city for CB Richard Ellis, a world wide company who deal with different aspects of the property industry. I’ll be the Personal Assistant for the Director of the Valuations and Advisers department and that team. I’m really looking forward to starting there, but like all new jobs, am a little nervous as well!

Well, that’s my update for now… better get ready for work!

We Are Geelong...

Well, it’s been 4 months since last updating the blog, so thought it was time for another update!

Study:
Vaughn has been officially accepted into the School of Pastoral Theology and is now in his third trimester for 2007 and his studies continue to go well. He is now studying Parish Education, Global Christianity, Pentateuch and Introduction to Parish Ministry. Having greater opportunities to read and study the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions in the Book of Concord has been a highlight for him this trimester. The Book of Concord was so significant in his coming to study at ALC, so to now study it in context and see the continued relevance for us as a church is very satisfying for Vaughn.

Vaughn has also completed his field education assignment at the Lutheran Aged Care Village and has just begun his placement with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in military chaplaincy. This is going very well and is something he has been interested in for some time.

Church:

When I last wrote, I mentioned that we were praying for Pastor Detlev Vosgerau to accept a call to Pasadena. He did accept the call, but won’t be starting at the church until at least December. This was going to be a long vacancy, especially for an ALC student who needs to do his placement.

Instead, we have been placed at St Paul’s Lutheran Church Glenelg with Pastor David Altus. It is nice to now have a church home and we are looking forward to settling in there and meeting many new people. We feel quite comfortable there and have already met some lovely people. We have been going to Glenelg for about 4 weeks and it was announced on Sunday that Vaughn is doing his placement there, so we had many people come and make us feel welcome, which was lovely.

Being so close to the beach and all the cafes that come with that, it’s nice to go down there after church to have a coffee/hot chocolate!

My Eardrum:

I had my first hearing test after the surgery in mid August (about 3 months after the operation). The results weren’t as high as what I expected, but my doctor was really happy. He said that my ear is healing well and that the ear drum looks to have repaired itself. It’s a wonderful learning experience, finding out about how the human body works. I saw my doctor in July, just for a check up and that’s when he mentioned that the ear drum had repair itself. However, I found out that’s not all that has to happen. It was swollen after the surgery, so before it will function properly, the swelling needs to go down, so that it can vibrate properly. The scar on the outside of my ear (where they took tissue to graft to the eardrum) is a good indication of how the eardrum is healing.

When I went back in August, I found out that the next step of recovery is for the bones in my ear to get used to working again. As they haven’t been working for so long, they take on the characteristic of ‘arthritic’ bones and are stiff. So, that is a gradual process as well! My next hearing test will be in November (another 3 months from the last appointment). If the doctor is happy with the progress, I won’t have to go back to him again and my hearing should gradually come back. The human body is an amazing thing and it is quite wonderful that science can’t do everything and some things need to be left to nature/God’s Hand (as admitted by my doctor when he first saw me for my perforated eardrum)!

Holidays:

While Vaughn was on semester break, we drove to Melbourne via Hamilton for a week long break. Initially we were just travelling to Hamilton for the weekend, for the school reunion that I’d organised for the class. It was great catching up with people I hadn’t seen in so long! Here are a couple of pictures that Roger Venning took (click here) and here’s a couple I also took.

GSC 1995 School Reunion

Dad took us for a drive around Hamilton, visiting the Wannon and Nigretta falls… they were beautiful! I took these things for granted when I was growing up, but now I love visiting these places!

Hamilton Visit Aug

Once in Melbourne, it was go, go, go!

We stayed with Vaughn’s parents during our time in Melbourne. The next door neighbour’s dog, although annoying with her barking, is very cute!

Angus, getting slower in his old age, is still up for a run with the ball!

Angus

We:

had dinner with Simone (Vaughn’s sister), Rod and the kids (my, they have grown up!)

went and saw “Thank God You’re Here” filmed live (yes, I managed to be seen on camera!). Our episode aired on 19^th September. It was so much fun! There’s not a lot that’s cut between filming and airing but it was interesting seeing behind the scenes. The warm up guy, Brian Nankervis, was very funny!

visited Tess:

Tess

had dinner with some close friends at a wonderful Chinese restaurant and the next day had lunch with Liz and Tisch (who’s engagement party we had missed a month before).

went to my cousin, Dean and his fiancée, Fleur’s engagement party at the RSL club in Watsonia (literally down the road from where we used to live!).

Dean & Fleur's Engagement

Then we drove back to Adelaide, via a night in Hamilton. Whew, what a trip! We needed a holiday to recover from our holiday!

Other News:

There was a lunar eclipse in Adelaide on 28^th August, which I managed to capture on camera. It was fascinating to watch the progression over the night!

Lunar Eclipse

Vaughn and I went to the Adelaide Show in early September. It was fun to go, but now that I’ve done it, I won’t need to go again for a few years. I hadn’t been to the show since before I met Vaughn, so I was keen to check it out after so many years. I think I have come to the conclusion that although it would be more exhausting, it would be more fun to go with kids, to see them enjoying themselves.

I was very excited to be invited to go and see Philip Yancey speak live on 11^th September. My next door neighbour had acquired some free tickets and offered one to me. I’ve always loved Philip as an author, so it was great to hear him speak. Afterwards, I was able to get him to sign one of my favourite books, “What’s So Amazing About Grace” as well as the book he was promoting “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference”. As we were 3^rd in line for the book signing, we were able to speak with him briefly as he hadn’t been sitting there for ages, and therefore getting tired, just wanting to get out the door! He’s a lovely guy and his wife is very sweet and friendly.

Later that week, Vaughn and I travelled to Cape Jervis for a games weekend with a few other sem students and their wives. On the Friday evening, the hosts organised a murder mystery dinner, set in 1959. It was lots of fun and we all dressed up for the occasion (my character was Tiara Diamond and Vaughn’s was Chubby Chedder). On Saturday night, we had a bon fire with port, marshmallows and sparklers! An enjoyable night, but our jackets still smell of the smoke!

Games Weekend

My best friend, Naomi and her husband, Michael (studying at St Louis Lutheran Seminary) gave birth to their son on 25^th September – Asher Benjamin. It really makes me miss her, reading about how she went and seeing the pictures of Asher, not being able to cuddle him!

My cousin, Melissa gave birth to their second daughter, I believe, a couple weeks ago. I don’t yet have full details of this, but congratulations!

One of my American cousins, Karin, got married a couple weeks ago. She forwarded us pictures of the wedding and similar to Naomi having her baby, I miss her heaps! With Naomi & Asher and Karin newly married, it really makes me ‘homesick’ for the USA, even though I’ve never actually lived there to be “home” sick! It just shows the strong connection I have to my family there!

Vaughn has started walking and running with our next door neighbour, which he is finding very energising, but very challenging. Jade (our neighbour) pushes him to his limit, which at the time is hard, but appreciates later on (even though he is sore)! I have started playing squash with another sem wife. Neither of us had played before, but we have improved quite a bit since we started playing a couple weeks back. I’m really enjoying the game and look forward to our regular game on Monday’ nights and whenever we can fit in a game or two during the week.

Some wonderful news… our footy (Aussie Rules) team – the Geelong Cats - finally won the Premiership after 44 years! I watched the entire game on Saturday and enjoyed every minute of it. It was obvious from early on that they had the game won, so it was a relaxed time, but very exciting watching the fantastic moves of the players. The team they were playing against were from Adelaide, so it was a very different atmosphere here, to what it would have been in Melbourne. It was a record win for Grand Finals for the Cats, which added to the thrill.

Prayer Points:

PRAISE: Studies are going well for Vaughn – now in the School of Pastoral Theology

PRAISE: Good recovery from ear surgery so far

PRAISE: My new job provides much needed finance to support Vaughn through his studies

PRAISE: For the wonderful friendships I am forging with a number of the sem wives

PRAYER: That Vaughn continues to do well in his studies

PRAYER: Continued healing of my ear