dear everyone...

Some people send out Christmas "letters" with, or instead of, Christmas cards.
This year, Eorl and I did neither. I'm not sure I even have postal addresses for half the people I would have sent cards to!

The Christmas letter my mother in law sent out had a whole sentence about Eorl and I! It went something like "Eorl and Lauren continue to work hard." That makes it sound like life is very boring for us! So, here is my very general "Christmas letter" summary of my year.

Dear Everyone,
2007 has been a big year! It feels like every year ticks past faster. And in a way, I suppose it does- this year was 1/25 of my life (4%), but when I was 10, a year was 1/10 of my life (10%).

After all the build up, the move to my new job seems to have been worthwhile. While there were many aspects of my old job that I liked, there were also aspects of it which made me very unhappy. I am very happy in my new job, although it's very different, and I'm still settling in. Sadly, it isn't a permanent job, but I think it will be a good "stepping stone" for me- at the end of this locum I will have worked as a Speechie for 2 1/2 years, in 2 different positions- so hopefully I'll be able to get a permanent job!

This year we were involved in lots of different ministry activities. Eorl led youth group, and I taught Sunday School (for the first 3 terms, before taking a break). I did holiday kids club in July, and went straight back to work afterwards (silly). We both did Minis in October, and I had a week off work afterwards (sensible, although I was sick for most of it). While I was at home, Eorl lead on a second camp- Junior High. Then, in November, we spent a weekend on our church youth group camp, where I took on the challenge of cooking for everyone!

We're going to have a few more changes in 2008.
Eorl will be staying at his current school- he's happy there.
But, in January we will be looking for a new church to go to, and a new place to live.

Some people have been surprised to hear that... but we never really thought of where we live now as a place we would stay long term. And, despite how long we were there, I don't think we really ever thought we "fit" at our church. Now that I don't work 10 mins from here, there's nothing to tie us to the area, so we're taking the opportunity to move on.

We haven't exactly decided where we'd like to move to, but we have a general area in mind. The idea is to place us in between where I work, and where Eorl works. This will hopefully decrease the amount of time I spend driving- because I don't commute well. So far it's been okay, but it's summer time, and the novelty hasn't worn off yet!

I've lost 11kg doing weight watchers... which I'm happy with! But, I have a lot more kilos to lose!
I think I initally anticipated that I would lose weight faster than this, but over the past few months, losing weight hasn't always been my first priority (particularly during the few hectic weeks before leaving my old job), so overall I think I've done well.

So, this time next year, I hope to be healthier, living in a different place, and going to a different church. But I plan to stay a Christian (and growing in my faith), married to the same husband, and friends with some of the same people (although I hope to be friends with some new people too!).

Have a Happy New Year!
love Lauren.

PS: I did not go to the dentist in 2007 at all. I'll have to fix that in 2008!

it's real!

Today I got a special envelope in the mail.
It was my letter of offer for my new job!

Having the letter of offer in my hands makes it seem all the more real!

And I have only 10 working days left in this job!
I'm very excited... but also very overwhelmed by the number of things on my to do list!

i wrote a letter today

Eorl and I sponsor a 6 year old girl named Deysi, in Nicaragua. I wrote to her when we first started to sponsor her, and I wrote her another letter today. I’ve had two letters from her- with pictures.

As a kid I really loved getting letters. And I would like to send Deysi letters more often, so that she can enjoy getting letters too.

See more progress on: Write letters to my sponsor child

tax return time...

Eorl and I have survived tax return time for this year.

Eorl submitted his via e-tax at midnight last night.
I submitted mine via snail mail today (e-tax is a great idea, but doesn't work if you're disorganised and can't find last years notice of assessment!).

I'm wondering whose tax return will come back first.
The tax man owes both of us money... so it should be a pleasant surprise when it does happen...

i did(n't)

Since the Cervical Cancer Vaccine first became available, I have been trying to worm my way out of getting the injections done. It seems irrational- afterall, immunisation is for my own good, but I've had some really bad experiences with injections...

But then today, something almost unbelievable happened.
I went to the "Staff Immunisation Clinic" at the Hospital, to get my blood test results. NSW Health have recently changed their policy about what immunisations staff have to have, and because I hadn't had them all as a student(or the follow up blood test I should have had 4 years ago after the course of Hep B injections), they decided to start me off with a blood test, and then give me the necessary injections (I hate blood tests, probably more than I hate injections!).

The doctor looked at my results, and the news was bad.
I had to have:

• diptheria, tetanus, pertussis
• hepatitis B
• measles, mumps, rubella (I was immune to mumps and rubella, but not measles strangely!)

I wanted to run away when I found that out! But I decided to be brave. So brave in fact, that when the doctor offered to give me all three on the same day, I let her!

So now I have two bandaids on my left arm, and one on my right.
The right one hurts more- it was a double dose of Hep B... she warned me that it would! But if I didn't have the double dose, I'd have to have a blood test in 6-8 weeks, and then possibly another needle (if my body didn't respond to the first one).

It did hurt to get them done. But it wasn't as bad as I remembered/imagined! And I didn't pass out this time, which is a bonus.

So, I've decided to be brave, and get the cervical cancer vaccine done too.
I wonder if they'll give me a bandaid that says "i did"- like the ones in the ad...

a new job!

I have a new job!

It's equivalent to what I do now, but at a different Community Health Centre, in a different Area Health Service. It's not permanent... but the contract is 18 months long, and I think I'll be in a better position to get a permanent job once I have had a bit more experience.

There was some talk of Eorl and I moving out of Sydney... but because I've been offered this job, we won't be! I would prefer not to make it public on my blog where it is... but it is closer to bushfires! We won't be moving house at this stage- it is within driving distance.

I'm very excited!

don't they look and smell delicious?

I have a secret love for crayola crayons!
I hadn't thought of them for a while... and then I was doing a "10 second interview" on facebook, which asked what my favourite colour crayon was... and since then, I have craved crayons.
So tommorrow, I'm going to get some crayons (I think I have some hidden in my study), and draw a picture.

Oh, the things I could do if I was on leave more often!

more things to get around to...

I have been neglecting my 43things list for the last little while… but seeing as I’m on leave this week, I think I’ll try to get back into it.

This week I will try to make some progress on:

• fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child
• donate my old glasses to charity
• look after my skin
• Simpsonize myself
• make my own cards

See more progress on: get around to it

sick on an annual leave day...

Today I'm on annual leave.
I'm also sick! That sucks!
Annual leave is not for being sick, it's for having fun!
Sick leave is for being sick!
But my nose/sinuses don't seem to be aware of that!
I am a snot machine...
so I'm on the lounge, under a doona, watching DVDs...

mr potato head was naughty...

It would appear that while I was away, Mr Potato Head was very naughty.
He was busted trying to smuggle ecstasy into Australia!
You can read more about it on the Sydney Morning Herald Website.

money in... money out!

Today was payday.
It was a special payday- because I got a payrise. Because I've now been in this job for 12 months (and 2 weeks), I get paid at a slightly higher rate. It works out as about an extra $50 per fortnight.

I was looking forward to buying something special with my payrise, like I did with the last one... and then today happened. Today, my car went in for service. It was the 80,000km service, and the people at the Toyota Service Centre said it was a major service... which means it costs a lot. Then, they found something else wrong with it- which cost more money! I got the electricity bill today too...

So, I was $50 ahead at the beginning of the day... and $1000 behind by the end of the day, after paying for the car to be serviced, and the electricity bill. So, I think I've spent that payrise! I'm not too upset about it though... having a car that works, and electricity in my house are important to me!

loz returns to blog-land...

It has been quite some time since I've posted here...
And I've received some complaints about that! I didn't realise how many people were reading my blog, until I stopped writing it!

So, I thought I'd return briefly, and give a short update on what's been happening since my previous post...

August 2007
Trying to be healthy was keeping me busy! Between trying to eat good food, and not junk (and staying inside the Weight Watchers Points), and going to the gym, this was keeping me quite busy! To date I have lost 7 kg, which I'm very pleased with!

My nephew Walter was born. He's very cute- but I've only seen photos, I haven't been to see him yet! It's sad that he's in Newcastle- it makes it that bit harder to just "drop in"- because he's so far away. Maybe on the holidays Eorl and I will be able to find time to go, when neither of us is sick! (We were thinking about going one weekend, but then Eorl got a nasty cold, and pharyngitis, and an upper respiratory tract infection... and we didn't think little Walter needed to be exposed to that!)

I won a prize at Starbucks! They had a lucky draw- you put your business card/contact details in, and at the end of the month they draw it. I made a joke of entering once everytime I went in there... and then I got a phonecall to say that I won! I have a little Starbucks bear (I named him Carmello, after my favourite barista!), and a basket of goodies- including chocolate for Eorl to enjoy, and coffee for me to make for our Bible Study group, when it moves back to our house next term (note to self: tidy up! people are coming over!).

My 25th Birthday!
I didn't have a party- because I didn't get around to organising one :( And then when I did, only James could come! But that's okay, I had a nice birthday anyway.
The highlights were: Eorl bought me tulips, my workmates had a little party for me with "birthday fruit salad" (they spied on me to find out what fruit I would like, because they knew cake was out because of the WW thing...), I spent the day with my Mum (no work! ADOs are a fantastic idea!), I went to see Katie Noonan in concert with Liz & Sheena that night (it was absolutely brilliant!), and went to see Brooke Fraser with Sarah, and Rachael and her friends the next night (that was a great concert too!). And I bought myself a new handbag. I do love my new handbag! I should take a photo of it to show off on my blog!

September 2007
Hmmm... well, my work situation has been a bit unpleasant. Too much to do, and not enough time to do it in... I've also been writing job applications, and going to interviews, because of the end of my contract sneaking up on me... no exciting news yet.

We've started preparations for Minis- my Stanwell Tops highlight of the year! A few years ago, it was common for me to be at the Tops at least 3 times in a year... this year, it's just the one. The people from my church organising our church weekend away didn't want to go to the Tops! :( Stanwell Tops is one of my favourite places in the world! And I love Minis Camp! I can't think of anything better to do with a week of Annual Leave next week!

I succumbed to the pressure, and joined facebook. My friends were doing it, and I thought I'd join in. So far it's been pretty fun! I've found some old friends, which is cool! I take pleasure in throwing sheep at people. I have a pet penguin, named Woddles, who likes to eat cherries. And I ignore all invitations to become a pirate or vampire! But I do enjoy playing scrabulous, if you want to invite me to do that!



I don't think anything major has happened, aside from all that!
Life has just be chugging along- and I've been struggling to fit it all in!