Every new day

Busy week nights are always good. We won our netball game. Girly girl chat at life group. Band practice. Extended band practice for Fusion, our annual youth event. Fusion tonight, finally, and boy, did we ROCK!

And then, there will be no night activites next week. Absolutely none planned. I like. I need some ME time. No netball because we have a bye, which means I get to spend ME time with Grey's Anatomy and don't have to eat dinner at unearthly hours. No life group, because it's once a fortnight. No band practice because of the Hillsong conference. No extended practice because Fusion is over, which then gives me the only thing to look forward to next week:-

One ticket to the Hillsong night conference on Friday.

By the way, my job is on the line. Big news yesterday sparked nationwide shock at the closure of the tin mill. At least 500 jobs will be lost. There will be talks on restructuring my department, maybe redundancies somewhere down the track. Perhaps I should run away while I can.

If that was a penalty, then there are kangaroos in Italy

Cruel. Devastating. Unjust.

It was so undeserving to see the much loved Socceroos exit the World Cup in this manner. But hey, Australia made it to the last sixteen. That is an achievement by itself. And we are proud.

The last minute penalty may have been hugely questionable. Lucas Neill did what he had to do. The Spanish referee saw his version of event, and did what he had to do. Fans of the Socceroos had the benefit of seeing the replay, and did what we had to do. Protest, though in vain.

And did anyone see Totti put his thumb into his mouth after the goal? My immediate thought was that he was mocking the Socceroos, a sign of "Hah, you suckers!" but said later in an interview that the goal was for his son. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but will certainly hate him for life if it had been otherwise, no matter how good looking everyone else thinks he is. Bleah.

Ooops

Apologies to those who were led astray by my convincing statement that Lucas Neill is from Wollongong, where in fact, it was Scott Chipperfield I was referring to in my previous post. It was purely a mistake driven by disorientation of the mind due to sleep defiency syndrome.

Here's something hilarious to redeem myself - a video made for Mother's Day. Thanks Cheryl. I certainly remember being at loggerheads with my brothers. :)

It's not too long now before the Germany-Sweden match...

Good enough

The alarm for 5am rang but was quickly muted. Opening my eyes, I let out a quiet groan. The mind and the body was in serious battle with conflicting intentions. I don't quite recall what happened after that, but I was almost certain I heard the neighbour's television and a subtle roar some time later. Quickly nudging my friend who had bunked over, we dragged our bodies and the doona into the living room only to be greeted in horror with the scoreline of one nil, Australia trailing! An extra five minutes of winks had cost us dearly.

Thankfully, a penalty was awarded before the end of the break. Penalties are the things Viduka misses, and I was sure glad that Moore stepped up to it instead - and he did not disappoint. I later found out that Viduka's sloppiness in the first minute of the game was the main cause that conceded that foolish but amazing freekick to the Croats. The Australian captain has not captured my fancy, and probably never will, for he is unable to dribble the ball for more than five feet before wrongfooting himself, let alone net in a goal. I certainly hope his presence in the starting eleven provides a pillar of strength and confidence to the boys instead, and not the one to look for to deliver the goals in times of desperation.

My excitement was shortlived the moment Croatia tucked in a harmless looking shot soon after the restart and regained the lead. I just could not believe my eyes. Just minutes before, I was re-enacting to my housemate, who had just woken up during the break, how the nervous Kalac had earlier missed catching the waist-high ball in his hand, and missing it again at its rebound. He has my eternal pity, because it is a moment Kalac will find difficult to forget, and probably never forgive himself if Kewell had not found the late equaliser that has placed Australia in the last sixteen. Italy awaits us on Tuesday 1am AEST.

Oh, and have I mentioned Josip Skoko is my Croatian friend's cousin, and that one of our best defender, Lucas Neill is a Wollongong boy? :)

Freethought

My little pansy wansy is blooming. Hoorah! Five pansies at once, each with two overlapping violet petals at the top and three violet with a splash of dark purple, almost black bottom petals. However, it's starting to get a bit leggy and squashy at the bottom. The leaves seem to be fighting for space in that little pot, looking slightly overgrown. Should I just pluck away the leaves, like trimming a plant? I don't know. Is it time to transfer Viola to a bigger pot? I hope not. Gardening is certainly not my forte.

Infectious period

Up until a few hours before the anticipated match, I was still childishly insisting that we play netball. Only because. I have been repeatedly told, as a child, that playing soccer equals nasty injuries.

Word of a soccer match after church was passed around, and when we gathered in the field at the appointed time, we had eleven man in each team. How rare is that! I was very impressed, though many would think a gathering of exactly twenty-two young and middle-aged people is pure coincidental and insignificant, that I couldn't wait to play my first ever soccer game.

And my verdict? Watching the World Cup is fun, but playing soccer is heaps fun!

And my advice? Wear proper soccer boots. Toe blisters are nasty.

For claudsy

I love bargain buys. And I love beads. That newly-opened accessories shop at the mall has 50% off! Weeeeee! And so I treated myself to three pretty necklaces, not even thinking if they will match any of my clothes in the wardrobe.

But they certainly came in handy today. Matched a slightly low-cut black top with one of the beads, finished with a light brown flarey type skirt and brown boots. I finally got to wear my boots, having kept them in the wardrobe for godknowshowlong. It has made its debut Wollongong appearance at a wedding, only to momentarily stuff up the bridal march I was playing - extra high heels means missing the pedal by inches and causing hiccupy transitions. *argh!*

The wedding service was over in half an hour, how good was that. Of course, there was another half hour waiting for the bride's arrival, but that was most quickly forgotten. The groom teared. The bride glowed. It was beautiful.

Of round balls and Harry Kewell

Almost two weeks of hiatus was totally unintentional. I must be forgiven for not writing. The World Cup, is after all, only once every four years. The first round group matches are almost over, with the extraordinary feat from the Socceroos on Monday beating the Asian champions in a game that Australia seemed destined to lose until the last few minutes. My Japanese friend who was watching with me had her bets shortlived. With only eight minutes left on the clock including injury time, the two late Aussie substitutes netted in three superb goals!!

In contrast to that, the Brazil-Croatia match today was totally unworthy of my 5am presence in front of the telly. It was such a frustrating and lazy game by the Brazilians. After the Kaka goal, I retreated to continue my interrupted sleep.

Bad belles of the past

I wanted to sleep through my alarm, fully knowing that the weekend is unplanned. No girly girl dayouts or chai lattes by the beach today. Looking out my bedroom window, the sky is superbly uninviting, and has been for the whole week. I didn't want to plan anything only to be disappointed later by the rain. I hate that.

No plan is sometimes a good plan, for I stumbled upon a christian book store today while strolling home after a tiring combat class. The book store is quietly tucked away behind a church which I eversooften have conveniently walked past. I was tempted to check it out, and I bought a new book called BAD GIRLS of the BIBLE. There are still unread Max Lucado and Phillip Yancey books in my library, yet I was drawn to pick up this book from the shelf. I will tell you how I go with the book, for I am infamously known to buy books, read the first few chapters and eventually lose interest. I was never able to do any justice to those books, having refrained from book shopping for a long period of time.

Goodbye for now as I embrace the smell of newly printed papers and freshly turned pages.

Say thank you

It was freaking cold when I left my house at 6.30 this morning. And when I left the south beach function centre two hours later, just for the record, it was 8 degrees. But the extra effort was worth it - I got a free sausages-bacon-scrambledeggs-mushrooms breakfast which I hadn't had for a very long time.

I was there to support an event that my church was hosting - a Lord Mayoral National Day of Thanksgiving breakky. Sounded really important but I wasn't aware if the Lord Mayor was there. Possibly some very distinguished guests were present.

It's officially tomorrow, but go thank someone for making a difference in your life. It's nice getting appreciated, but even more wonderful to appreciate.

Countdown to the World Cup

A guy friend sent this to me and I thought it was really funny, not!:

An extremely important advice and recommendations is to be passed on to wives, girlfriends, fiancés, mothers, sisters, daughters, etc.(to all women in general) These rules are to be communicated prior to the World Cup in June/July this year.

RULES:

1. From 9th June to 9th July 2006, you should read the sports section of the newspaper so that you are aware of what is going on regarding the World Cup, and that way you will be able to join in the conversations. If you fail to do this, then you will be looked at in a bad way, or you will be totally ignored. DO NOT complain about not receiving any attention.

2. During the World Cup, the television is mine, at all times, without any exceptions. If you even take a glimpse of the remote control, you will lose it (your eye).

3. If you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game, I don’t mind, as long as you do it crawling on the floor and without distracting me. If you decide to stand nude in front of the TV, make sure you put clothes on right after because if you catch a cold, I wont have time to take you to the doctor or look after you during the World Cup month.

4. During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute, unless I require a refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the telephone, or pick up the baby that just fell from the second floor... it wont happen.

5. It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on, and please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV between 12am and 6am, unless they replay a good game that I missed during the day.

6. Please, please, please!! if you see me upset because one of my teams is losing, DO NOT say “get over it, its only a game”, or “don’t worry, they’ll win next time”. If you say these things, you will only make me angrier and I will love you less. Remember, you will never ever know more about football than me and your so called “words of encouragement” will only lead to a break up or divorce.

7. You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me during halftime but only when the commercials are on, and only if the halftime score is pleasing me. In addition, please note I am saying “one” game, hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy excuse to “spend time together”.

8. The replays of the goals are very important. I don’t care if I have seen them or I haven’t seen them, I want to see them again. Many times.

9. Tell your friends NOT to have any babies, or any other child related parties or gatherings that requires my attendance because:

a) I will not go,
b) I will not go, and
c) I will not go.

But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Sunday to watch a game, we will be there in a flash.

10. The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying “but you have already seen this...why don’t you change the channel to something we can all watch??”, the reply will be: “Refer to Rule #2 of this list”.

11. And finally, please save your expressions such as “Thank God the World Cup is only every 4 years”. I am immune to these words, because after this comes the Champions League, Premier League, Italian League, Spanish League, etc etc.

12. Thank you for your co-operation.

Regards,
Men of the World