Run Baby Run

It has been four weeks since we joined our local Parkrun and I am so surprised to say that I am really enjoying the runs. I have always had a bit of a mental block when it comes to running because I always used to get extremely painful shins and calves everytime I ran. Not to mention the fact that I would hardly be able to move for three days afterwards. This never helped me get over the hurdle of getting to the point of enjoying running. That is until now. First thing Hubby made me do was buy decent running shoes and what a difference it has made – I don’t ever get sore shins and calves anymore which is half the battle won. 

He announced to me one day that he had found a great community event we could be involved in – the Parkrun. Parkrun organise free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They are open to everyone, free, and are safe and easy to take part in. Running in scenic places also makes it far more pleasant and the sense of community fun is awesome. So every Saturday morning we bundle the two boys into the car and head off to our local park called Berwick Springs for our 8 am start. We have even managed to convince Michaela to join us the last couple of times and she has done so well. Like me she went from 0 km to 5 km in one go and was amazed that she could actually do it. This last week she and I both smashed our times for a new personal best so it is very exciting. Parkrun time you each week and then email your results to you later in the day. They also have volunteer photographers who come and take photos each week so the photos on this blog post are courtesy of Parkrun. All they ask is that every runner volunteers at least twice a year to help with the run so that it can continue – pretty good way to get a free run in each week. To find out more go to Parkrun to check it out. I laughed when I saw the photos – I reckon I run so slowly that I look like I am out for a casual walk in all of them. I have also had to learn how to run with a stroller – not an easy task when there are nearly 300 people running and you have to manoeuvre through the throng. It also means that I get to start right at the back of the field which suits me fine. The great thing about this run is that you compete with yourself by trying to better your time each week. I love not having the pressure to feel like it is a race. 

It has also done wonders for my confidence and really motivated me to find some other challenging runs – I have a few in mind but just not sure yet. My ultimate goal is to participate in the Pink Triathlon next January – not a huge event but I have always wanted to do a triathlon ever since Hami caught the bug – watching him participate always motivated me. 

 

The day before Australia Day was an event and  we all had to dress up in our Aussie gear -I donated my shirt to Michaela so she and Hami looked like twins. There were some interesting outfits. I must say as much as I love living here in Oz, I still feel like a Kiwi and see myself as one. I still have a very soft spot for New Zealand and not sure if that will ever go away.

 

 

 

 

 

Perspective

This week has been a crazy week in our household – still applying for jobs but battling a nasty cough and chest infection on top of it. Hami is trying to get exams marked and reports written so he is  feeling the pressure too. Michaela is studying as she writes exams next week and this is a very important time for her. It’s that kind of week where you wish time would just leap forward by a week or two. It has been a sad week for us too – on Wednesday a classmate of Ethans comitted suicide by jumping in front of a train at our local station. Ethan says she was depressed and that this wasn’t the first time she had tried. Today we heard a lovely lady at the church we went to in Auckland died from a year long battle with cancer. When we last saw her she was fine. All this makes me put things in perspective again. I may wish to jump ahead two weeks but actually we need to enjoy every second and moment of time we have – it goes all too fast. It also makes me realise that some things are not a big deal in life. Yes my son may frustrate me at times when he makes no effort at school, but actually that is the least of our worries – he is happy and even though he may be a bit unsocial at times, at least he is not rebellious, doing drugs, hanging with a bad crowd or suffering depression. Things could be a lot worse and we can be thankful that our kids are doing great. I have been feeling very sad for this young girl’s family. Fresh perspective is healthy – seeing things from a different view can be very helpful. This seems to be the recurring theme in our lives lately – seeing things differently – it’s very refreshing.

On the weekend we took the kids out to give Michaela some space to study – we went to a park and Zoe and Aaron had great fun. I love the way kids can  enjoy the simple things in life – even though the weather was miserable and it was cold – they had a ball.

We also got to see Lightning McQueen at the local shopping centre so Aaron was very excited.

The Cat’s Out The Bag!!

Hello world -this is me!! (Yes sounds like a song line I know) but it is a beautiful, but quite crisp day here in Melbourne – I can feel the winter chill in the air now.

Just to let you all know that I didn’t get the job I mentioned in the last post – I thought I would feel really disappointed but strangely enough I didn’t – I am over scouring job ads and applying over and over. I have discovered that one Resume is not applicable to all jobs so each application requires me to highlight certain things and cut out others so this is a time consuming process. I have also discovered that as wonderful as planting churches was and as lovely as ministry was for that season – it has no relevance whatsoever out there in the world – no one really cares about my “church” experience and all the years I was involved – it’s not really seen as relevant or even current – SO I have to really sell myself!! Today I apply for another job so we’ll see how it goes – waiting to hear back (or not) from some other applications!!

Enough about employment!! I mentioned that Hami and I had a dream awhile ago and we were working on something. Well the cat’s out the bag  – it has been launched and although it is a continual work in progress, we are very pleased with it so far. We have started our own website. The aim of this site is to help people from all walks of life in various areas – a lot is based on our personal experience and journey, but it also links people to others sites that have helpful and useful information. There are creative areas, life issue areas, marriage, our spiritual journey, health and lots more – so many areas to flesh out but we keep adding things daily. We know that our site will not be popular amongst certain people – especially religious people – they will certainly get annoyed by our ideas, but even that is not a bad thing – we want people to think for themselves and weigh up things with the Word – not Clergy’s interpretation of the Word for them. So we hope that this will encourage many people over the next season. Our theme throughout the website is “Doing Life Together.” We can be found at http://www.rhythmdlt.com

Other news on the family front – we are all very well – loving the season we are in and the journey we are on. I feel very excited for the future – I really want us to enjoy every day of our lives – living supernaturally in a natural world. This clip is on our website, but I love it so much I had to share it here too, so enjoy – it’s amazing.

Our children are a delight to us – we are enjoying them so much – Michaela turns 18 in a week and it has suddenly hit me that she is an adult really and that we won’t have too many years with her living at home left – I can’t bear to think of it!! Aaron turns 6 in a couple of weeks and he is doing so well at school – settled in and starting to read nicely. Ethan is really enjoying his school year – the practical Electrical course is interesting to him and he is working every Friday with an electrician getting hands on experience -he is very fortunate to have this work – he gets paid so well too which is an added bonus. Zoe is her usual happy self although every now and again a bit of teen attitude sticks it’s nasty head out and we have to squash it down again. Gotta love the teen years!

I really need to get back to taking some photos again – my camera has given up the ghost – well it works but very badly and this has had a big impact on my blogging – another reason to get a job – then I can get a new one!! The book is coming along nicely – I still need some wisdom on publishing but will get there.
Wishing you all a great day!!

Marengo Beach Holiday

In early January we came back from one of the nicest holidays I have had in years. We headed off to Marengo which is just 2 km from Apollo Bay along the Great Ocean Road. We camped in tents and despite the fact that our air mattress deflated every night, I had a wonderful, relaxing time – this is really the first holiday we have had as a family since we went to South Africa in 2007 so it was really needed. The campsite was crowded but absolutely perfect. We could hear the waves at night as we slept. The beach was lovely for swimming and the kids had a ball.

 

We decided to do a trip to the Twelve Apostles and Michaela was our tour guide as she had been there. I am so glad we did the drive – the scenery was breathtaking.

We then headed to Port Campbell for lunch and a swim before returning back to camp.

We had the cutest birds come to our campsite – they would hop right into the tent – these little Superb Fairywrens were gorgeous.

 

Aaron enjoyed his new cricket set and the older kids had a marvellous time catching waves on their bodyboards.

Hami and Ethan had a go at fishing too but caught nothing.

 

We took a walk to the Marriner Falls one day through the beautiful lush forests. The large tree ferns reminded me of New Zealand. Aaron and Zoe were brave enough to hop into the icy water for a dip.

New Years Eve found us heading into Apollo Bay where the kids enjoyed the carnival – Zoe experienced her first ever carnival ride (yes believe it or not at 11) and she loved it.

We saw the New Year in with an amazing fireworks display that we all enjoyed before heading back to our tents.

We were so blessed in that we had the most amazing weather – no rain and beautiful hot days. Hami and I both agreed that having an annual holiday had to become a non-negotiable event in our lives. Looking forward to the next holiday!!

Thanks Everyone

Hi everyone,

I received wonderful news today and it’s all thanks to you!! This is the email I received:

Hi Caro Hemingway,

Congratulations! With 61 percent of the vote, your Hub was selected by the HubPages community as a winner! Excited? We are!

Your profile picture and an excerpt and link to your Hub will be included in today’s weekly HubPages newsletter that is sent to over 150,000 HubPages community members. You will also receive the HubNuggets Accolade, one of the rarest Accolades on HubPages.

Let me be the first to congratulate you and encourage you to continue to write such wonderful Hubs. You’re an example for all Hubbers who are getting started and an encouragement to “veterans” as well.

We hope that you continue to enjoy writing at HubPages and participating in the community. We certainly enjoy your work.

Congratulations again, and we look forward to seeing you around.
– Patty Inglish – MS

What can I say but thank you to everyone who voted for me – without your support I would never have achieved this – it has really helped boost my confidence and will give me more exposure so THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I must say it was a great way to start the day! I have been feeling very excited about certain things unfolding in our lives – can’t exactly say what they are but I have itchy feet (This is probably not a good sign) and I am itching for some change. I can’t help myself – I am a nomad and it’s all my parents fault I think (just kidding Mom and Dad – I love that I like adventure or life would be so boring!!). The last few weeks I have found myself looking at real estate and dreaming of our own home. At this point we would need a miracle to get there, but hey, one can dream right? Now usually when I look at houses, I look at what we could possibly afford – that means they are too small for our family and we would have to squeeze in, but lately I have been looking at my dream property and not at the cost of it -okay I don’t look at homes in the millions – not quite that big a dreamer yet , but I have seen some amazing places that whet my appetite. I figure that if God doesn’t know exactly what I like then I won’t ever get it! This is the kind of house I absolutely love – yes a veranda is a must!!

I am not a girly girl, but when it comes to houses I do like pretty houses.

I have also looked at properties that are on bigger sections and slightly out of the suburbs so that we have views and space – I am longing for country living again and I really don’t know why. In the meantime Hami is indulging me and has built me a chicken coop in the backyard so that I can have a couple of egg-laying chooks. He has completely built this house out of thrown away materials and scraps he has found – the only expense we have had has been the chicken wire and that only cost us $20 for two rolls. Not bad when these coops sell for nearly $400 in the shops. I couldn’t even find one that cheap on Ebay. Couldn’t take any photos today but I will as soon as all building rubble is cleaned up.

Exams are over and Michaela is ecstatic. Zoe is getting ready for her year 6 graduation from primary school and so we are in the process of designing her a dress for it – I have decided to make her one and so hope that all goes well. Aaron starts his prep school orientation next week and is very excited about it all. I hope I will be allowed to take some photos of him.

So this is an exciting end to another year – looking forward to next year being even more promising!!

Every crap day has a silver lining…

I never want to go through yesterday or today again – and thank the Lord I will never have to. Do you ever have days where things just don’t work out and you feel stressed and pressured and the more you try to solve things the more they fall flat at your feet? Yes we’ve had a week like that – so much for our weekend break – I feel totally kaput (think that’s a South African word – basically means completely had the stuffing kicked out of you!!). I discovered to my shock and horror this week that our car registration was due on the 1st of September – problem was though, that it wasn’t yet transferred into our name as we were waiting for our tax refund. So in two days I had to put the car through a road worthy test – that meant we needed four new tyres plus a few other repairs before I could get the car transferred. Then I still had to pay for the next years registration. By lunch time yesterday I physically felt as though I would vomit from stress. I needed about a thousand dollars and all I had was six hundred dollars left on my credit card and a whopping one dollar eighty-seven cents in our bank account. Fortunately through great people we are in relationship with here, we managed to loan the extra as there was a hold on money in one of our accounts till, yes you guessed it, the 2nd of September – one day too late for my registration (they are very strict here!!).

Then to add to it all  hubby had another oesophagus attack. Whenever there is stress this goes off. He has had parent teacher interviews this week and has been working very late. Last night he got some meat stuck in his oesophagus again – result being that we needed to go to emergency again today. He is all good now and back on track – just felt like everything was hitting us in one go.

The point of my story though is not to whinge (believe it or not) but to say that every crap day has a silver lining ( and for those family members back in SA who are gasping at my use of the word crap-it’s not a bad word here – in fact quite expressive if you ask me!!). My silver lining when I arrived home after a day in the roads department and emergency room was a little bunch of daisy type flowers that Aaron had picked for me and put in a little glass jar.

 

 

Added to that was this beautiful bunch of flowers that a friend up the road gave to me.

I realise that I am a lover of flowers – can’t help myself – flowers cure all!!

It’s the little things that make the bad memories evaporate and a glimmer of hope peek through when all else seems beserk!! So thank you for the blessings in tough times too Lord and for flowers – may tomorrow be sunshiny all the way!!