Today

Today is our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. We celebrated yesterday morning by going out for breakfast. If we hadn’t, the rest of the week was looking too busy to do anything resembling a celebration. Not only is today our wedding anniversary but it’s also the day we travel ‘up and across’ to the town when Son#2 marries his beautiful bride this coming Saturday. What can I say? As a family we’re looking forward to the privilege of welcoming this beautiful girl into our family. And the Most Adorable Granddaughters in the World finally get a ‘real’ auntie after only knowing six uncles!

When we return on Monday we will be down two family members. Naturally Son#2 will not be with us. He will be with his new wife – as he should be. But DH will not be with us either. Sunday morning he flies out to India to build homes for tsunami victims. It’s all too easy for those of us in the Western World to forget about these disasters soon after they’ve occurred but for the people affected it can literally be years before the pieces of their lives are put back together in any sort of order. Such is the case of the area where he will be staying and working.

So I’ll make the trip back without DH but with three teenage sons all asking me if they can have a turn at driving. I don’t think so! As much as I hate driving, I hate being in the passenger seat even more when they’re in the driver’s seat. Since I've never driven far on New Zealand roads it should be an interesting trip to say the least.

When we get back I hope to finish the wedding quilt (just the binding to go!), do some more writing, and enjoy what is supposedly meant to be a holiday from work. But with the change in family dynamics, things are going to be quite different around here for a while.

So Close

I am 'this close' to finishing the quilt for Son#2 and his bride. I could've finished it today except ... yesterday afternoon I ran out of quilting cotton. You can see in this photo (lower edge) the small area that remains to be quilted:



I can't use just any cotton. It has to be the same colour and type. Realising that I was running out I made a quick dash into town Saturday afternoon but the shop was closed. Notice I said 'shop' and not 'shops'. That's because there is only one shop in our town that stocks the cotton I need. And it was closed.

Today I got DH to drive past the shop when we went into town to get groceries. It was still closed! I know it's a holiday - the last four days have been statutory holidays which would normally be reason to celebrate in our household but not when I've run out of quilting cotton! - but couldn't they have opened just for say half an hour so that I could purchase what I needed!

Okay. I'm only thinking of myself here. But I really wanted to get that quilting done.




Now I'll have to do something else ... something exciting ... like housework.

Favourite Posts for 2009

My readers have told me that they liked the post about the offending patch and this one about shoes but I think this one on commitment was my favourite.

So please share with me, what were your favourite blog posts from your blog for 2009?

Leave the link to your favourite post so that we can all enjoy!

Close Enough to the First

This year I'm only a day late as opposed to last year when I was almost three weeks late with my new year resolutions. I said then, and I'll say it again, I'm not one for resolutions. Probably because I know ahead of time that I'll fail miserably. And when I look at that list, I'm not sure that I successfully completed one resolution on it.

So why am I doing it again this year? Well everyone needs a new start, right? And there's certainly nothing wrong in setting goals. And isn't the definition of success to be able to pick yourself up after failing and try again? In which case, I am definitely quite successful (at least at picking myself up)!

This year I'm going to beak it down into the subtitles on my blog: Faith, Family, Pastimes, Writing, and Feminine Beauty.

Faith. I'll always be a work in progress but specific areas I need to work on include prayer, patience, hospitality, gentleness, controlling my tongue ... and the list goes on. I'd also like to read through the entire Bible in one year instead of the 18 months that I usually take. There's also a number of 'firsts' happening in my own life over the next month and a half and I know I'm going to have to rely on the Lord in ways that I never have before. Some of these 'firsts' scare me stiff - in fact, they all do - but I know that our God is faithful and will not let me down.

Family. This year - this month! - is going to be a time of adjustment for our family. Next week Son#2 gets married and we have the incredible privilege of welcoming a beautiful new daughter into the family. This special event means that Son#2 will be moving out of home. At the end of this month, if all goes according to plan, Son#1 and his family will move out permanently (they've moved out temporarily to farm-sit DIL's parents' farm but will return after the wedding), and then in February, Son#3 and Son#4 will be off to Uni. Our household will go from 10 to 3 and I suspect that DH, Son#5 and I are going to find it very different at first. I'm also going to miss the busyness (well some of it) of the larger household and definitely the childish smiles and chatter.

Pastimes. The one that springs to mind is to finish the quilt before Son#2's wedding! I'm almost there. All going according to plan the quilting will be done before we leave to go away for the wedding (it's not in our town) but I think the binding will have to wait until after the wedding. But the plan is to have it totally finished by the time they return from their honeymoon. Other pastimes include learning the flute and come rain or hail, getting that embouchure right so that I can reach the second octave without overblowing. (Yes I'm frustrated and ready to give up but I won't.)

Writing. This is perhaps the easiest one. I want more time to write but I'm hoping that when the family move out that this will happen naturally. I want to write another novel this year - the third in my Distant Land series. And I have another one simmering away at the back of my mind that I need to take time to stir so that it doesn't all evaporate.

Feminine Beauty. The hardest for last. Again, I want to lose weight. Exercise more. Grow out some or all of my bangs (I've hated them for too long and each year I say I'm going to do something about them but I never do - guess I hate change more than I hate my bangs). Learn to do those things that other women seem to be able to do naturally. Discover the inner beauty (if there is any) and work on that. Sleep more. Smile more. Laugh more. Love more. Live more.

Winner and a New Year

Here goes.

Announcing the winner of my blog giveaway (drum roll please)

... and the winner is Daisy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations Daisy and thank you to everyone else for entering. I really wish I could have given away a book to every one who entered.

And now ... Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bumped: Don't Forget the Giveaway

It seems that the only way to keep my giveaway post at the top of the page is to continually update the date.

So here's the link and I'll keep this post on top. Please check out the giveaway even if you are new to this blog. I want someone to win!

I'm planning to draw a winner as close to midnight as possible on December 31, NZ time and will announce it January 1, 2010 (again NZ time).

(And many thanks to Liliana who did the hard work and discovered that keeping a post on top while adding others can't be done unless the date is changed.)

Preparation

As we prepare the festive food,



clean the house from top to bottom (and everywhere in between),



don silly hats and attend numerous parties,



and make last minute Christmas gifts,



may we not forget the reason we celebrate.



"Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests” (Luke 2:11-14, NIV).

Double Post: Book Launch

I've published this on my writing blog but am posting it again here for those readers that don't usually visit my other blogs. Hence the title.

Today I had the opportunity to officially launch my book at our local Christian bookstore. It began with a friend praying for the book and the impact it would have, which was a really lovely touch. Then it was time to symbolically release the book (my baby!) into the wider world.









I was humbled by all the people who turned out today to encourage and support me and to help celebrate the launch. Even though it's a busy time of year so many were prepared to take time out of their busy schedule and attend.









Even the family got dressed up for the occasion (although I do wonder about the dress sense of some!). Considering they were still in dirty work clothes when I left home (I actually thought they weren't coming but they surprised me) I think they did quite well. And Son#1 took photos with some help from Son#3 (good to know those two years at college didn't go to waste).







A big thank you to the friend who organised it all. I needed the gentle nudge (she'd probably say "huge push") that she provided to make me do this. And yes, we're still talking.





And just a reminder: don't forget the giveaway. I'll be drawing the winner December 31st.