red shoes size 7

“Political careers end in tears.” So says political editor Laurie Oakes. Went to bed having watched the fighting speech from Kevin Rudd. Woke up to watch the media pack at Parliament House, waiting for the Reporting Officer to bring the result. Half-an-hour later we have our first female PM. Such an historical moment doesn’t have the celebratory feel that I had hoped for and expected. Amid my sadness that Rudd’s primeministership has ended in this way, my disappointment about the seeming limited shelf-life of ‘loyalty’, my frustration over the power and influence of the factions, I have to say that I am looking forward to the entertainment value of Gillard and Abbott locking horns. Politics is a game for mugs and thugs. Where o’ where is the intelligent, compassionate, inspirational leader? Perhaps it’s just not possible in the present flawed political system. Good luck Gillard. You’re going to need it. I didn’t vote for Rudd; I voted for Labor. However, a lot of people would say they voted for Rudd and may be angry about what has happened this morning.

12.12pm - Rudd has made his last public speech as PM. Emotional, teary, and heartbreaking. Ironically, he spoke like the kind of leader I want for our country. Why didn’t he speak more in this way, with such warmth and compassion, during his time in office? Gillard has also spoken with “great humility” and conviction, and made her position very clear. Most interestingly, Rudd has said he will stay on to contest his seat in the next election, and to work within in the government. Will he end up with a portfolio? Gillard would be wise to give him one that matches his personal values and convictions, and let him speak frankly about the issues he feels most passionate - homelessness, asylum seekers, health, poverty, indigenous issues, etc. He has managed to connect more closely with the public, and even the press(!), in the last hour than he was able to in recent months. He was the Kevin Rudd we wanted to see more of, more often.

I was right. I knew there was at least one more box of books down in the garage. I had a look tonight and found it … and three more! Good grief! I’ll go through them in the next few days. A quick look tells me that one is a collection of books I read as a very young child, including some hard cover Dr. Seuss! Awesome! One is a pile of ‘un-reads’, two seem to be books I had culled a while ago but never got around to donating. Those two are the most dangerous boxes of the lot. I remember some were quite good reads. Be strong! Think of them like blood sucking vampires. Even if you let them inside with an invitation, they’re still Blood Sucking Vampires.

How many books have I purged to date? 94

(Plus a green bag full of old magazines dating back to 2005. Oh the shame! The delicious shame!)

It’s been almost a year since the start of the Afternoon Church Adventure. Hard to believe! It’s been an interesting journey. At the review meeting after tonight’s service, people described us as “a community” and “family”. They’re right. We’re a small congregation in comparison to the other services, but that’s actually something a lot of us like. Over the past few months it feels like things have started to gel together. We wanted to offer a service that is Informal, Interactive, and Inviting. It’s getting there. The vibe is definitely informal, and each week is slightly different depending on who is leading. We’re more comfortable having a discussion after the sermon and asking questions. One of the best things is sharing a simple meal after the service. We need to do more about the Inviting. It seems that most people looking for a service to attend would generally consider either a morning or evening service, because afternoon services aren’t that common. But we have some ideas. Ironically, our morning service has grown again! The seats vacated by those who moved to the afternoon service are full. I love my church! Praise God!

loving parents
sunshine
buskers playing James Bond and Star Wars theme music
hot cups of tea
croissants
rainbow lorikeets
friends dropping in
crisp evening walks
shooting stars
red thai curry and chicken
a warm home
sleep

How does one wash jumpers? In the washing machine would be the logical answer. I usually wash them by hand because of some previous unfortunate shrinking and felting experiences with other washing machines. This usually means I end up with a mountain of jumpers to be washed because hand washing is tiresome and the end-to-end process from wash-to-dry is quite long. So today, with some trepidation, I am choosing to be bold and use the washing machine. It’s a nice machine. We have always gotten along quite well. It has a special ‘wool’ setting. I hope it doesn’t let me down. If things go badly, I can always make some cute felt toys, pin cushions, or fuzzy felt pictures. They will make excellent gifts.

I was looking for a photo to accompany the post below on luxury, and stumbled across these lovelies. Check out the youthfulness! Check out my hair! Anyone want to share some memories of that night? (Why am I wearing a party frock and everyone else is in casual garb? Well, it was their (anti)prom night, not mine, so I figured I’d dress up to represent the alternate world view. Or something like that.)

At Dinner the other night, Jane asked us to describe our version of “luxury”. Answers ranged from clean sheets to attending La Premiere. I said a holiday was a luxury, but felt that that was a pretty lame response. So while I’m reformulating my answer, what means luxury for you? If it helps, the dictionary definition is: “The state of great comfort and extravagant living; or an inessential, desirable item that is expensive or difficult to obtain.” From ‘luxus’ meaning ‘excess’.