how decadant i am!

what a gorgeous day! i really am anxious for lovely sunny days when we can be outside for hours... i have so much planned for Spring/Summer.
last Saturday i had a fun, hectic, sewing day with my mum and my sister. and i can't wait for these books filled with projects i WILL make...


today i slept for FIVE hours! it would seem luxurious, if i had not been sitting up with Audrey until 4am this morning. she cried all night until i came in her room and she would reach her arms out and say "cuddle". i tried to be stern with her, but how could i not lie and cuddle her. especially when i am away with work for 4 days in a couple of weeks. my boss asked if i could go for an extra day. i pretended i didn't hear him! :) i worry for when she wakes and i am not home. if i am not the one to come to her she cries and i hear her from my bed calling "ma!" i worry for her and i worry for David.
but today. today my mother-in-law has the kids, and i slept. now i have magazines, a coffee, biscuits and Lost In Austen. i think this will be the fourth time i have watched it! sorry Jane, sorry Colin, but i think i like this version better! :) (warning: spoilers follow!)

things green and West Wing. and a bit of resilience.

i have been following this blog for a little while now. Stephanie Nielson and her husband (who i don't know) were in a light plane crash a few months ago. she suffered burns to a large part of her body, her husband to his arm and leg. a couple of weeks ago she came out of hospital, and this week she began posting on her blog again. her posts are inspirational. it makes you realise what the important things are. and reminds me not to focus on the negative: the financial strains, the tensions in relationships, friendships... focus on the good things. the important things and the joyful things. how resilient could i be in such a situation?
i have spent the past couple of months thinking about how i want to live my life. changes to make for the better. and also about my "parenting philosophy". nothing too technical, just to put down things that feel right to me in my (our) parenting. i hope to share them sometime. even just to put it down so i can see where i am coming from as i work to stay focused in the right direction.
but for now i'll share a little spot that i am making my own... once a week I have my lunch here and read a magazine from cover to cover. i figure this is the only way they will get read, rather than piling up beside the lounge. and this is my "peaceful Friday".

because i have posted a couple of West Wing clips this week, i thought i really need to post a scene from one of my favourite episodes. :-D it is from the first season.
Toby (White House Communications Director) was called when a homeless man was found dead in a park. Toby had previously given a coat to good will, but his business card had been left in a pocket. it turned out the guy was a veteran from the Korean War. Toby thought it disgraceful that someone who served his country had died homeless and alone. he arranges a state funeral for him. it was during Christmas, which is why there are also flashes to a children’s choir singing at the White House. i admit i did cry during this episode.

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ps: oh, and thank you Aunty Mel for N's bug catcher!

babbling

i have been posting lots of pics lately, so felt i was due to babble for a bit.

my boss dashed off for Melbourne this morning and as he left mentioned that he had approval for me to travel to East Timor. maybe he didn’t get the hint last week when i said i didn’t want to travel this year… maybe he thinks i didn’t get the hint when he asked “was” i able to go to East Timor if necessary… was that a rhetorical question??
i’ll ignore it for a little while longer.

i’m loving iTunes at the moment which is unusual for me as i have always been someone who likes to have the object in my hand. in this case, a cd with a cover and lyrics… but for less than the usual cost, i can have the cd downloaded straight to my pc and in my ears in a moment. and it means we won’t need a new cd rack. one thing i can’t compromise on is books. i’ve thought of joining a library, but it wouldn’t be the same (for me) as owning the book. besides, at the rate i am reading these days i’d end up with overdue fines and would probably be barred from the public library. to tell the truth though, now that i am back at work i am flying through my reading. currently The Behaviour of Moths.
good buys recently have been Klaus (i burnt a copy for D to listen to in the car, which he is also enjoying). Klaus has a hint of Keith Green passion and piano, which i love. also Kari Jobe – a great worship cd, but bought particularly for the Revelation Song. i posted a clip of that a little while ago.
and my recent iTunes purchase is Rosie Thomas. bit of an independent musician. i don’t know what genre she’d be – probably folk. i’m always drawn to folk music. i love guitar. i wish i could play guitar. i’d play acoustic all the time.
other music I have my eye on at the moment is The Innocence Mission. a bit of Christian indie.
reading up on them led me to this story. you can read about the music teacher and his year 5 choir here.
i greatly admire people who give of their time for others.

i saw Obama gave a speech today in front of the Lincoln Memorial. the nerd in me has had this on my list of places to visit if I ever go back to the States. my sister has been.
you can’t work in the democracy field and not be a fan of Lincoln – the greatest Republican President the US has had. there is a Lincoln quote that i remind myself of from time to time: “He has the right to criticise, who has the heart to help”. maybe today we would say “put up or shut up”.
speaking of all things Washington D.C. – D and i are now into the seventh and final season of the West Wing. what ever will we do when it is over??? ;-)
i did a quiz and apparently i am Donna. which is fine with me as i tend to empathise with her character a lot! and i can't wait to see what becomes of Josh and Donna in the end. after a busy weekend of entertaining, i think i am ready for another episode tonight.


Known as the only one who can control Josh Lyman, she answers to his every bellow. She has a thing for Yo-Yo Ma, philately, and Josh... but won't act on it. Although hired on the Bartlet Campaign by pure luck, Donnatella has now proven herself to be a valuable asset.

:: Which West Wing character are you? ::

do you go to the movies?

another picture from "the album". There are lots of nice ones of children and Victorian ladies, but how about this for a serious family?? check out the guy at the back! looking at the sideburns on him he makes me think of 'Wolverine'!!

Here is a picture of the woman who owned the album - Rose.

Rose married a guy older than her - and wealthy too. she was D's grandmothers' aunt. I'll have to write the story down some time. when her husband died she married the gardener (I think that's how it goes...) here is a picture I love - she is in the front on the left (not very good lighting) and standing at the back is D's maternal grandmother - also named Rose. her mother is sitting on the right, Sarah.

I am in the process of printing old family photographs as we are going to have a "family history" wall in the house. we're still working on which wall though - and on which style of photo frames, so the project has stagnated a little.

changing topics altogether, here are 10 of my favourite movies - favourite being those I will watch more than once. or twice...

1. A Room With A View (always tops my list)

2. Amelie

3. Elizabeth

4. Pride & Prejudice (any will do, but particularly Colin Firth's Mr Darcy)

5. Love Actually

6. The African Queen

7. Before Sunset

8. The Girl in the Cafe

9. Funny Face

10. When Harry Met Sally

11. Possession

12. The Joy Luck Club

ok... I'd better stop now since that is more than 10.

on the movie Amelie though, here is a pic of D and I in Montmartre, Paris at the cafe shown in the film.