I have to confess the faith significance was a bit wasted on me today. Every news item at 6 was about all the various church services in Sydney celebrating Good Friday… I am pretty sure God didn’t mind that after years of being in church because I had to be, I slept in this morning and spent the whole day at home.

It felt good actually, not wracked with guilt as it would have in years gone by. The absence of guilt is a very good place to live and one I am getting used to. (Personally, I think the absence of gilt is a good place too… )

I believe I had neglected to mention I picked up another web contract. This one is a simple interface job for two HTML sites, a kind of quickie job that pays well. I spent most of the day getting the template right so that the content manager can fill it up with all their own goodies. It’s the kind of work I like best actually, getting a photoshop design turned into web friendly format with none of the faffing about of putting content in, proofing etc.

Actually the job is for two of Australia’s more widely distributed Christian magazines so is a bit of a feather in my cap. Consequently I have been working pretty hard on getting the thing perfect… Tomorrow I will work on the other site with a break in the afternoon to go Christmas shopping for the family (Yes, I know it was Christmas ages ago but we are having Christmas in April this year… just because we can! (And because I was broke back then…))

All in all, the weekend is shaping up nicely with a good balance of doing nothing and doing things, of working and playing and plenty of sleeping with a bonus hour tomorrow night because of daylight saving finshing up…

Just Marvellous.

Fragrant Bath, fragrant candles and dim light, the house to myself and travel programmes on the box. The laptop has migrated to the chopping board on my lap and my favourite doona is keeping me warm.

Perfect Evening.

I’m watching a tv presenter walking the Milford Track. The one in New Zealand. A 56 km walk in some of the most glorious scenery in the world. I have never done it but the sight of it on the telly makes me feel all nostalgic for bush and greenery and tramping.

That’s probably hiking to you…

Truth is, I’m not much of a tramper. The idea of it is more attractive than the reality of dragging my upholstery up hill and down dale…

Still, if I am feeling adventurous, I might just add it to the list of things that could be done on holidays… (not the Milford Track, that is… but a ramble somewhere lovely… with a waterfall…)

NZ is a VERY good place for that sort of thing…

Speechless…

The Lion King is equally stunning second time around though I still didn’t feel as though I was IN the music in the way I really wanted to be in going back a 2nd time. I still couldn’t get it loud enough, even from the 2nd row so I imagine to get the sound quality I want it will need to be in my headphones or cranking on the stereo. So I bought the soundtrack. However, am not yet ready to listen to it for fear of dulling the experience and the song [above] that is still filling my head.

There is something about seeing such creativity expressed in movement, music, costume and lighting and in this show particularly it is so incredibly clever. And beyond that, the power of the harmony in the voices takes me closer to God, whether I want to be there or not.

To develop the ability to make people’s spirit soar. That’s what I came to college for, that’s why I sing. To have been graduated for three years of the study of singing and only just figuring that out is tragic. To be expressing that side of myself outside of church seems to be an oxymoron. However, I am sure that even when Jonah and the Wailers do their thing their harmony will have that power though we singers are not worshipping as such.

And for now, that’s plenty.

Ever feel really disappointed that as an adult and a Christian, having a massive dummy spit isn’t really kosher??

Yeah… me too.

I am a little bit tired of being the person that people ask to fix things… it’s a bed I made myself by saying yes too often but I said yes tonight and I really wish I hadn’t.

You see, I am apparently the only person capable of doing screens for the prayer meeting tonight because everyone else is out travelling the world, hanging with their family or spending their time with dying relatives. That’s the bitch about being a single expatriate… no life and no reason to say no.

The reason it made me so furious is because for unknown reasons, I really, really, really love being at home at the moment… probably a little too much actually. So when I am looking forward to an evening at home and I can’t have it I feel really stressed… and not a little ranty. Clearly I really need a holiday. Thank goodness this weekend is a 4 day one and I am going to NZ in 11 sleeps!!!

All this aggro has got me to thinking that it might be a very good idea to set myself some ground rools regarding the holiday to make sure I don’t end up overdoing it there too…

So… here are the ‘Deeleea’s Desperately Seeking a Proper Holiday Rools’.

1. There will be time to read books for fun. [recommendations please – crime particularly but also chick lit desirable too!
2. There will be nothing that HAS to be done.
3. I will see the people I want to see, not necessarily everyone who wants to see me.[actually Fi, that includes you… if you’re up for a blog meet!
4. There will be some things I just won’t be able to do. And that’s ok
5. I will not fill in every minute with doing stuff.
6. Sometimes I will not actually turn the phone on.
7. While I will may be taking the laptop I don’t have to reply to email.[especially not from work]
8. If I don’t get to see everyone I have to accept that it may cause an upset somewhere along the line. I won’t feel bad about that…hopefully.
9. It is ok to sleep in.
10. I will drink less caffeine.
11. I will get some proper fresh air.
12. I will take my camera and will USE it.
13. Being alone is a holiday for me, so there will be time when I want to be alone, and probably a fair bit of it. And that’s ok too.
14. I will let people lavish me with gifts… Oh yes….

Now I am going to write the family and friends version of the rools and distribute them just so people know what to expect… And don’t worry, I’ll do it when I’m feeling less ranty.

[ed. on looking back over this… I feel like I sound like a real cow… sorry about that, but if you can’t be real in your diary where can you?]