Little old men

Today when i left work, it was dark, cold and raining and i didn't have an umbrella, so i had to run from my building, all the way down the terrace through the rain to the bus stop. When i got there, i was drenched. So were the other people all huddled under the bus shelter. While we were standing there all absolutely freezing and trying our best to dry off our clothes, this little old man walked up to the bus shelter. He was fortunate to have an umbrella, so he was dry. As soon as he got to where we were, he came under the shelter, closed his umbrella and shook it vigorously. It didn't occur to him that there were half a dozen freezing people standing right behind him that he was wetting. It was so mean, yet i'm sure he didn't mean to wet us all. None of us said anything, all too polite, i guess, but I just thought it was the most hilarious act of insensitivity i've seen this week. He will probably do it again tomorrow... seeing none of us pointed out his error to him!

Another classic experience i had recently also involved a little old man. This guy was really short - like about a head shorter than me. Anyway, on the bus, i noticed he had a massive bag with him, despite being such a tiny man. I should've known better, but i made the mistake of walking off the bus behind him. As soon as i got off the step, he stopped and i almost crashed into his back, but i took a side step. It was then, almost simultaneously, that he dropped his massive bag on the ground in front of me. I almost tripped. Fortunately, i think and act quickly, so i did a hurdle jump over it and landed ok, despite wearing a skirt and high heels!

All i can say is watch out for little old men. They are hell dangerous. Haha

Singing in a new language

Something very strange has happened recently.

One of the things i remember most about my grandmother is when i was very young, she used to sing in tongues. We would stay over at her house and all night she would be singing in tongues. I didn't understand it back then and I didn't give my heart to God until some 20 years later? At the time, i thought it sounded like the most horrible sound. She would carry on for hours and hours all through the night in a very high voice. It was the strangest thing i had ever heard. I remember covering my ears with pillows (with my hands over the pillows) trying to block out the noise. It seemed to go on forever.

Anyway, a few weeks before my grandmother died, I was praying one night and all of a sudden i started singing in tongues - nothing like my grandmother so many years ago (thank God!) - but just this amazing tune in a foreign language. It sounded like jazzy blues music and it went on for about half an hour. As soon as i started singing, i felt like everything inside me was dancing and it just gave me the most amazing joy inside. When i stopped, i was like 'where the heck did that come from?!?'. Over the subsequent days i would lie down to sleep and then just have a strange desire to sing... and then out would come a tune in a different language. It sounds like it's African, maybe? I am not really a worship person. I mean, i will sing along to music in church, but it's not really something that comes to me naturally. It's not my God-given ministry.

Anyway, the day my grandmother died, it's like this gift just got transferred to me (i wonder if that's possible). Every day since she died, i have found myself singing in tongues and one day, i even sang in tongues for about two hours straight!!! My friend, Narelle, suggested it is my inheritance and is ministering to my mum (it was her mother who died). I think she might be right. Mum can't stop laughing when she hears me and at night, she said it's like a lullaby that puts her to sleep. I wish i had a tape recorder. It is so bizarre. I like how it sounds and every time i get in the car, i sing to where i'm going. At night, i sing myself to sleep. How totally bizarre! Praise God for this gift.

In Heaven

My grandmother died today. I guess i'll see her again one day. She was a devout Christian who loved to pray and intercede for others. God bless her.

Designer shirts

I totally love Ben Sherman designer shirts ... they are the most comfortable and snazziest shirts i've ever had. The thing i like best about them is that they are tailored to create a really nice fit. Every time i wear one of these shirts to work, i get at least one person telling me they like my shirt. I found a little shop in West Perth that stocks them - it's a shop called Soho, which is in Harbortown. Kewl stuff.... yeah, ok, they are pretty expensive, but honestly, you've gotta try wearing them. They just feel a million times nicer than any other type of shirt i've had. These are the ones i have ...

New job

...well the time has come yet again to go hunting for a new job [BIG SIGH!]. It's not that i don't love my current job, it's just that i only have until December before my contract runs out and there are no long-term job prospects in this place, except in a few years time, when lots of staff are planning to retire. That's an indication of the age range in my workplace - i counted, only eight staff are under what i would class as young. The average age is about 50 years old. Funny that, anyway, enough about the demographics, i need to concentrate on finding something i can stay in like longer than a year ... well permanent really.

I have become an expert at changing jobs, packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking, meeting new people, learning new skills, finding ways to maxmise my time, etc... I did have a permanent job, but it got abolished and the department that holds my permanency are being really uncooperative and have thrown an ultimatum at me - basically find a job by the end of the year or don't have a job. They can't really do that, but i'm going to go with the whole idea of what it says in the bible and just respect the leaders God, for whatever reason, has allowed to be put in positions of authority over me. Rather than fight the system, i am going to activiely pursue other alternatives and see where God leads me.

Last Monday, i put in for a permanent job in a place i would never have considered working, its all about protecting Aboriginal heritage and preserving sites that have spiritual and cultural significance to these people. Would be rather interesting, that's for sure, and totally different to what i have done before ;-) Haha ... strangely, i felt like having a go at it, despite not being their preferred Indigenous applicant!

Claremont

Last Monday, i woke up a year older, to my great horror. Why do people want to celebrate getting older? Anyway, as part of a work policy, I organised morning tea. To be a bit different, I threw together an unusual spread. I had a Japanese combination platter (with different types of sushi, katsu, tempora, pickled ginger and oranges), wasabi-coated peas, sweet potato chips, seaweed crackers, iced fruit bread, beanies, tim tams and fruit jelly rings. I figured i was catering for everyone in my office. Fortunately, it was received really well ;-)

Then last night, some of us chicks headed out for dinner and dancing in Claremont. Thanks Christie for organising it. Once again, Simon, Aaron & Jay were singing up a storm. Here are some piccies from last night, starting with Cate and Christie, the two beautiful cousins...

I dunno why, but i was feeling really sad all night, because for some strange reason, i couldn't stop thinking of Ciara Glennon, who was a young lawyer who fell prey to the Claremont serial killer a few years ago. Maybe she walked through the same spaces i did or sat in the same seat. I was thinking about the media coverage after her body was found. Her mum said she could never bear to go to Claremont again and her dad set up a law scholarship in her memory. One of her friends wrote a letter saying she thought only bimbo girls fell victim to sick killers like hers, not intelligent women who watched where they went and were cautious of their safety. Her friends were puzzled over her disappearance. How could such an intelligent girl be conned by someone? What sort of person had committed such an awful crime - they must have been an amazing con artist to win her trust and attention? Could it have been someone they knew? Was it someone that was around last night? I was sitting there just trying to imagine how it had all happened. Weird. Why on earth would all that flood my mind on a night out to celebrate my birthday?

Home no more ;-(

I am totally dumbfounded! Today the owner of the house and i were going to meet so she could formally seal the deal for me to purchase her property. She had already agreed verbally and by SMS and i had already sorted out my finances and settlement agent. However, she had second thoughts and has decided not to sell me the place because she wants more money for it, and is, therefore, going to re-advertise. I didn't anticipate that happening!

To be honest, i am really not that fussed, because it all happened so quickly. I had only put that offer in last Saturday, as my first offer ever, and didn't expect it to be accepted so soon! I was pretty foolish in that i didn't elaborate on my special conditions and i didn't say my offer would expire at a certain date.... meaning that if i hadn't forced her to sign a letter today saying she was rejecting my offer, she could actually have sat on my offer and waited to see if she had had a better offer and only let me know when it was too late to arrange eveything, therefore, making me incur all sorts of penalty fees. I am so grateful mum is a lawyer!

I also feel a hell of a lot richer and might just go out and do some serious shopping now.