In Loving Memory



Mousy died last week after a hit and run one morning outside his house. Poor cat. Probably didn't know what hit him. Mousy was my cousin's cat. She loved him very much. Imagine her feelings the morning she found him lying on the road. Mousy was a beautiful cat, he was like Garfield, big and cuddly. Unlike Garfield, he didn't have a sarcastic bone in his body, he was the quiet type. He would be missed.

False sense of slenderness

The next time you go and buy a pair of jeans, remember that the size that you picked might not reflect the real you. Yeap, you read it right!! And the size is likely to be bigger than the size you choose!! A survey was done by The West Australian which put 13 designers to the test and found the discrepancy between the label, some up to 5 inches!! Scary isn't it. Now that's for the ladies'. For the men's, the discrepancy is about 2 inches. Some designers argue 'low—waisted jeans always measure bigger than a traditional waist measurement as the cut is designed to sit on the waist.' Well, there you go.. just think of this the next time you buy a new pair of jeans and if it is low-waisted, it's OK!! Hahah..

Yipppiee!!!

It's the weekend again!!! More time to do my own stuff and not think about work :-) Not that work days are no good, it's the luxury of being able to wake up late on Saturdays! Yeah, especially during the winter month when the sun does not rise until 7 am and it's bloody cold! Haha.. anyway, having said that, the next question is - what to do this weekend?? After doing the usual 'laundry, cleaning, tidying..etc etc..' that is. Hmmm.. last weekend I rearranged the furniture in my unit, now it looks more homey. This week, probably I will just sit home and hibernate, with one or two nice DVDs on, sipping my usual cuppa. It's a nice day out there though, the sun is shining and it is very tempting to go out and enjoy the warmth. Perhaps later this afternoon I will go for a walk down the river. Haven't done that for a long time now. That would be great :-) Or maybe if I am not lazy, might just take the bus to town and go watch 'Transformers'. 'Harry Potter' is playing but will give it a miss until the whole hoo-haa is over. Judging from the popularity of the show, the cinema would be jam-packed with people, especially now with school children on their break. Ahh well.. we'll see. The day is just starting, and another day to go tomorrow.

NAIDOC WEEK Part 2

These pics are taken during the Department's NAIDOC Event held at Westralia Square yesterday morning.

"Ok..ok.. I'm busted!!"

Serenity Prayer


(someone sent me this pic :-) )

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Thought I would share with you this article on 'Prayer' I came across while browsing the internet.

Prayer is a Gift of God by Fr Victor Hoagland

To begin with, prayer is a gift of God. "Gift" is a good word to describe prayer, because praying is not something we can do of ourselves. " We do not know how to pray as we ought," scripture says. Prayer is a gift God must give.

And God gives that gift generously, without consideration of our worthiness or our unworthiness. Sinners as well as saints can pray. People of every religious tradition receive the gift. In fact, every human being is able to pray. The Catholic Catechism reminds us of that by entitling its opening section on prayer The Universal Call to Prayer. (2566-2567)

Yes, all are called to pray. All receive the gift. And, surprisingly, sometimes those thought to be "ungifted" pray best and are graciously heard. That's the lesson Jesus taught in his parable about the Pharisee and the Publican who together went up to the temple to pray. The Publican, an outsider who thought himself unworthy of approaching God in prayer, was found more pleasing by God than the Pharisee, a professionally religious person, who prayed so effortlessly.

Prayer, then, is God's gift to the strong and the weak, to the smallest child and frailest of the old. It's given to those who say, " I'm not really religious; prayer is beyond me." It's given to everyone, no matter who you are.

That's not to say we can't refuse to pray or we can't neglect it. Like any gift, prayer must be received. If someone gives you a beautiful piece of clothing, you may use it or not. You may take it and wear it. Or, you can throw it in the back of your closet and never look at it again. The piece of clothing becomes a gift unused. "If you knew the gift of God," Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well. A Gift was there before her eyes, but she was blind to it.

How tragic to go through life leaving the gift of prayer unused!

Prayer: God's Search for Intimacy with Us

Why does God give the gift of prayer? The main reason is because of love for us. God looks for intimacy with us. How strange that sounds! God all-sufficient, all-powerful, all-knowing, wishes to draw close, to communicate, to speak to us, to seek our response, to hear our prayer. It may seem unbelievable, but it is true.

At the same time, by praying we fulfill the desire we have as human beings to know God. After all, we are made in God's image. Something in in our being thirsts for intimacy with God. That thirst is described in the psalms, O God, you are my God, for you I long. For you my soul is thirsting. Like a dry weary land without water... so my soul longs for you, my God. Something in us cannot be satisfied unless we are draw near to God. "Our hearts are restless," St. Augustine says, "until they rest in you." By praying, we rest in God.

The church in her formal prayers often humbly acknowledges that prayer is God's gift and asks God to give and strengthen that gift in us. At the beginning of her daily prayers, the liturgy of the hours, the church prays two verses of the psalms.

O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

O God, come to my assistance.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Simple, truthful words. I cannot open my lips in prayer unless God give me the gift. O God, come and assist me; help me that I may approach you.

And God does give this beautiful gift. In prayer God comes and helps; God invites us into the divine presence where we can open our lips and our hearts. There God welcomes our slightest word or cry, our smallest effort.

Delighting to give us the gift of prayer, God wishes that we come near to share our hearts and minds, our very life with One who loves us. Prayer is God's precious gift; cherish it always.

Craft adventure

Saw this in the "Better Homes and Gardens" program and decided I would try it out. It turns out quite well. Now it is hanging on my wall, but I must admit it is not 100% done yet. Still need to set the background. A friend suggested using gold paper, that would make the pattern stand out. Perhaps I will try that. I am making 2, I haven't started on the other one yet!! :-) The wonderful thing about it is that it is cheap and if I decide on a change, I could always do another pattern :-)