My Daybook: 17th March, 2021

Outside my window…

the bush appears soft in the post dawn light. There was more rain overnight and the lawn is lush and the paddocks green. So hard to believe only  12 months ago we were suffering through a drought and the after effects of bushfires that decimated 52% of our Valley

I am thankful…

to live in country NSW, we have been spared much of the Covid 19 restrictions of larger cities and in particular Victoria. I often wonder what our children will remember as adults. Our youngest processes changes through play, which includes enactments of border checkpoints and passes and talk of being one and a half metres apart. Life for our children in many ways though has returned to normal, well our new normal

I am thinking…

about how social media giants and the news outlets are controlling and manipulating the masses.  It’s been disturbing me for some time, my latest pondering is this article at Catholic Culture. Lawler discusses censorship and the pros and cons of staying with media giants. This statement was a direct hit: “So if you object to the policies of the internet giants, but continue to use their services, you are working for your enemies.”

and then I’ve still wrestling with my habits, striving to balance connecting with extended family and interest groups, and time wasting. This week I pared down my facebook groups and friends, not that I actually have many but I felt an instant relief. Now looking at Instagram which would be harder one for me to leave as I actually like that medium. All this to say I could disappear of social media in an instant, but rest assured I’ll continue to be here

Learning all the time…

hard to believe we have only 2 weeks left of Term 1!  As First Term’s go we haven’t achieved as much academically as I had hoped. With a fresh, new year I usually anticipate  enthusiasm and energy but it hasn’t quite worked out like that.  After a year mostly at home due to Covid, we seem to have emerged with a bang of extra curricula activities and homeschool friends interactions. Energy is lagging, particularly mine, looking at Term 2 and what we can do to minimise days out

Celebrating the liturgical year……

we have just celebrated Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, it bought a ‘shot’ of joy to see Father wearing a pink chasuble, not long now.  This Lent has been a joyful time, to think only last year our Churches were closed.  Still stunning to think we didn’t celebrate the Easter Triduum in the Churches! Such joy this year, even though there are still restrictions in place.  Our boys were most excited on Sunday when Father told them that finally after a year of not being able to Serve, they can Serve on the Altar again!

lots of Feast Days this week with St Patrick’s Day today and St Joseph on Friday, both are celebrated as Name Days in our family too, so extra special.

a couple of Sunday’s back Prince Charming and I were honoured to be godparents for our friends’ baby. It is rather an extra special responsibility and honour as it was this family’s first Catholic Baptism.  Dad is slowly reverting to the Church, and Mum and children are on a journey towards the Catholic Church

From the kitchen…

consuming less carbs, sugar and gluten in a bid to lose belly fat. Is it working? Well the children say, “I’m losing weight because Mum is on a diet!” True, they are losing weight and I’m not. I suspect I’m going to have to get quite vigilant about nutritional value to be successful.  This is not about a body image issue btw but a concern about heart disease, of which my father died at only 56

I am creating…

still working on adding books to the Australian Books database for my readers.  It really excites me that finally I have a way to share my passion and knowledge of Australian Books with readers.  I’ve a brand new feature just added, named.. Recently Added, my intent is to highlight all the books added in the last month or so.  I’ve also gone down a slightly different path and added a page of Lenten/Easter books. So lots of learning, and stretching and growing in regards to website knowledge. Also striving to be more focused on achieving tasks, setting daily goals

I am working on…

getting my running mojo back. Every Saturday whilst I’m huffing around the Parkrun course I promise myself this will be the week that I’ll begin running mid week again. And then…I don’t

I am going…

to our local Rotary book sale next week!! This will be the third book sale I’ve attended within 6 weeks!! The previous two were in our neighbouring City and town, but this one is in our town. I’ll be helping out, imagine 4 days of book bliss, helping set up, matching people and books and even snagging some goodies for myself and family and friends.  Yep book bliss!

I am excited…

Princess, 19, has been asked to be the Manager of a well known Fast Food Restaurant Franchise. As she had only been working there 5 months it was rather unexpected, though a wonderful opportunity. She has begun her training and should be taking on her new role within a couple of months

I am praying…

• for our son, it’s a special intention and I’ll share soon
• for our friends, a family of eight! who are journeying towards entering the Catholic Church.
• for a young friend who is also entering the Church at Easter
• for the repose of my aunt’s soul, born into eternal life in January

I am pondering….

the importance of recharge time and my increasing craving for it. Once quite social, I am now needing increasing chunks of time to recharge.  Too much people time, too many extra curricula activities and I burn out quickly. Years ago I was far more social, but now I’m not. Is it perhaps that I already live with ‘my mob?’ That I no longer crave adult conversation as the majority of the children in our household are adults, teens and pre-teens?

After Mass on Sunday I asked a parishioner how her sister in law was. She has been unwell and unseen for some time, a mother of nine children, now a great grandmother with 100 direct descendants. The parishioner shared how she hasn’t seen her for some time, as her s-i-l is not up to visitors. Though she is seeing her own children, “she has such a large family I think that’s all she can cope with.” I replied, “I get that, I really do!”

I am reading…

I’ve read a couple of autobiographies recently:

Flight of the Dragonfly: How I Found My Kidnapped Daughters – Melissa Hawach

Melissa was a Canadian, living in Canada, when her ex-husband took her 3 & 5 year old daughters home to visit his family in Australia. Joe Hawach was a Lebanese-Australian and after a visit home he kidnapped his daughters and took them into war-torn Lebanon, a country he had left as a baby.  His family in Australian continued to stonewall Melissa as she sought the location of her daughters.

For 6 long months Melissa and her team of warriors fought to get her girls back home. In the end she went to Lebanon, found her daughters and smuggled them out of the country, a tense and fraught journey

Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal – Connor Grennan

Connor was backpacking around the world and intended on spending three months in an orphanage in war torn Nepal. He was stunned to discover the children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers had promised their families in remote villages to protect them from the civil war for a huge fee. They would then abandon them in Kathmandu far from their homes.

Connor set out to trek through the mountains of Nepal to visit their families and let them know what happened to their children.  Many families were reunited against all odds

I am listening to……

Bella, 7, reading aloud next to me whilst I type. She is re-reading favourite ladybird fairy tales and working on voice inflections and dramatic effects. She is doing a terrific job

I am hearing…

the three younger boys in another room talking loudly about Minecraft, their favourite computer game

I am struggling…

to be there for extended family. As the oldest of 8, my youngest sister is 20 years younger than me, and with PC one of 7 we have a huge extended family. I’ve always taken the role of being the eldest seriously and put much energy into nurturing relationships. As our older children have become adults and our family has begun to grow through marriage, I’m finding my energy increasingly dwindling, is this normal?

Around the house…

Princess, has begun a Cert 3 Applied Fashion Design and Technology course, as well as her trainee Manager studies.  It’s online and she is able to work at her pace, so a huge plus.  This has meant that she is keen to set up a sewing table, though there are no rooms available in the house.  Her solution has been to set up a sewing table in our  library. I’m not thrilled with this solution, the furniture is now crowded, I can’t access a couple of bookcases, I need to think of another solution as it’s not working for me

One of my favorite things…

watching PC enjoying his favourite activity, slashing the paddocks.  Whilst I would see slashing a chore he sees it as ‘his time’, time to be, time to think, time to recharge. I get that

A few plans for this week…

lessons daily, a houseful of friends all day Monday for Writing Club, homeschool meet up at the Park Tuesday morning with our younger two, swimming lessons/squads two afternoons, helping a family member and dance lessons another afternoon, helping at a local opshop on another, running our 16 year old into work or picking her up on average 4 shifts a week, although adult siblings and Dad help out there too. On the weekend is Parkrun on Saturday and Mass on Sunday

A little peek at my day…

lessons in the morning, big sister will pick up middle sister from work, dance lesson in the afternoon. Celebrating St Patrick’s day and a son’s Name Day