My Career / Dogs / Crazy Storm / Friends coming over in Days of My Destiny

My work has gone well so far. I am volunteering with the hopes of gaining employment. I work with children that have all kinds of physical, behavioural and mental health issues. Some work really well with routine and are extremely eager to please. Others are wonderful, beautiful people, they just come from a place of trauma and can react extremely quickly and aggressively to triggers. Others look grumpy all the time. Some seem like they don’t even know they are in existence. But you know what… they all need love. And they can all follow instructions. What I love the most about where I am is that the environment is supportive and accepting of these people. The staff are all on the same page. Sure, in the staff room they sometimes bitch about the children, but it’s because they need to vent, or because they know that child really well and they know each other really well, and they’ve been there for years and well, because they can. I have seen them all working with the children and they are ALL amazing. I know I am in the right place. I am 30 and my career has finally taken off with a bang! I am excited and at peace at the same time. It is truly, truly wonderful.

I am looking after a friend’s dog over the weekend. This dog, Ellie, has a lovely nature, she just loves to jump up on you every single time you say her name, lol. She loves my dog but she is about 5 times bigger, so my dog freaks out whenever Ellie wants to play haha. Ellie was barking and barking before, but it was a bored bark, not a bark with any sense of urgency or alert. I said, “Be quiet, Ellie!” and she hasn’t barked since. Lol. Dogs are funny.

It is so windy here at the moment. Nothing new - but yesterday while it was crazy-windy here, my family was being kept safe in the middle of one of the craziest storms anyone I know has seen. Apparently two storms merged together to make this one gigantic freak storm. Cars were damaged, train stations were flooded, trees were snapped off their bases, etc. I’ve seen a few videos today on fb and it certainly looks crazy. I’m just so thankful that all my family (and friends) are okay.

Tomorrow I am having a couple of friends over (you know, the type that don’t snub me on the street - see previous entry lol) with their kids. It will be nice as I haven’t really hung out with anyone for a long, long time now, apart from saying a quick hi and bye as we pass each other, or seeing them because I have to due to favours we do for each other here and there. I’ve invited Kate, Kim and Helen. Kiim said she’ll bring a fruit platter for the kids and I suppose I should bake something or other, even though it’s almost 10 at night haha. I have a pool that mum has loaned me indefinitely and she also gave me a gazebo which we have put over the pool. So the kiddies will bring their swimmers and have a nice little swim. I hope it’s nice weather because the house inside is atrocious. If they’re inside, I think I’ll get my friends and I to hang out on the back verandah as that is the tidiest place at the moment. The kitchen won’t take too long to tidy up but the lounge room has all this washing all over the floor and general kiddie stuff (which doesn’t worry me really). I just hope Kim doesn’t run around the house looking for a child of hers or something because she will be mortified lol. Okay it’s not THAAAAAT bad but there’s a fair bit of dust and stuff around the place. There’s a nice black rug in the “reading area” (which is meant to be like a formal dining area but we put a couch in there and a basket full of books) but it has a big huntsman on it. It’s dead and it’s been there for weeks. I just haven’t really had (read MADE) the time to actually vacuum it away. My friends are coming at 9:30 tomorrow morning, which means I won’t have a whole lot of time to get the house sorted. But oh well, it is what it is. I’m not perfect and neither are they. And that’s okay!!!

There’s a “yard sale” (also known as a “clearing sale”) tomorrow. Basically it’s like a GIGANTIC garage sale. Items for sale could include trucks, tractors, motorbikes, generators, couches, beds, toys, fridges, etc. EVERYTHING. L will probably go to that while my friends are over. The people holding the clearing sale are our former landlords. They are in their 80s and the gentleman was actually BORN IN THAT HOUSE. Can you believe it?!?!?!? They had us over for lunch one day (moons ago) and he showed us the pram he used to sit in. It was basically a handmade thing made of timber, with timber (or steel?) wheels, and it was attached to the handle of a shovel!!!!!! LOL!!!! Seriously, the handle of this pram was an ex-shovel-handle!!! Hahahahahahahahaha!!!! You’ve gotta love the old days hey. Lol. So anyway they used to have thousands and thousands of acres but then they slowly started selling land off and now they’re selling the house and most of everything in it as they are ready to retire. This is a couple who rounds up sheep and shears sheep everyday.. I’m talking THOUSANDS of sheep, so when they say they are ready to retire, they really ARE ready to tire from WORK!!!!!! Hard freaking work!!! Lol. She knits all the time and makes wonderful scarves and things. She is also very proud and will find any excuse to tell you a story about how she saved the day or how wonderful she is in general. That can be really annoying, especially as she can talk and talk and talk, so her stories go on forever, and because they’re all about her, it’s extra hard to stay tuned in, haha.

L is working on Sunday and I’m on prayers at church. Other than that there aren’t any plans this weekend. Oh except for Saturday night when we will be Skyping with the family. Basically my younger sister has finally graduated high school (a huge feat) and so mum is giving her a surprise belated celebration as she was pretty much suffering from heat exhaustion on the day of the actual graduation. Mum has asked us all to prepare something special for her. I imagine this could mean a special meal or a special song or poem or SOMETHING. Mum wants my sister to really feel like the queen of the night. The thing is… I have absolutely no idea what to do. I think mum still views us as young and free, childless people who can whip up a song at a moment’s notice. I used to be able to do that but honestly.... I don’t have that talent anymore because LIFE has started its own course. I have children now, who take up most of my time, which means that my brain just isn’t used to using superfluous, arty, wonderful words to write a song about how wonderful you are. Sorry. I just don’t know what else to do. Because we live faraway, it’s not like I can whip up a meal. I thought of baking something yummy and then eating it while we Skype, but what’s the point in that lol? Isn’t the point to make her feel special, rather than like she’s missing out on this delicious thing I baked?!?!? So I’m really stuck. But I better come up with something before tomorrow night, basically.

Last updated November 28, 2014