Lordy Lord!

As a vocal atheist (yes, I can feel all those Christian mommy bloggers deleting me now....) many of my friends find it highly amusing that I have a lovely picture of Jesus in my front room. (Sorry, I did pop him on the floor to take the snaps as the flash was flaring so much his face was disappearing and frankly - that was kinda spooky!)

I do love this kind of art. If I could afford an original, I would. The light and emotion, as well as the symbolism are just beautiful - regardless of any faith.

So back to why it's in my front room: my partner (the plumber) does work for the Sisters of Charity in Fitzroy. I'm pretty sure he was doing his charitable bit in terms of the bill - which is fair enough given the work they do with the homeless and families in crisis, so they presented him with this framed snap of JC himself.

Naturally, curiosity got the better of me. First piqued by the "Made In China" sticker on the back of the highly elaborative (plastic) frame. (I'm not complaining. The colour and style works brilliantly in the front room!). Prying back the layers, I unearthed the back of Jesus - and it appears that this particular portrait has been clipped from The Christian Weekly (I'm guessing such a publication exists - I don't subscribe as noted in the first sentence.) How natty!

Not content with just this one religious icon, I was quick to snap up a bottle of Holy Water whilst we were in Jordan to add to the collection. For $5, who could resist? It even came with a hologram sticker of authenticity whacked right on the Pope's picture!

I've even done my own art work of the subject of God's existence - or not - which in retrospect is probably a tad agnostic for my current state of mind.

The back side of Jesus - so to speak.

I'm reminded of a conversation with my mate Jez, when I said I'd heard someone comment that they'd rather live their life believing in God to discover there isn't one, than live their life not believing in God, to discover there is one.

He quickly responded that it wasn't an original thought and a friend of his counters it; she's going to live her life like there is no God and if she dies to discover there is one, boy, has she got a thing or two to say to him!!!

Amen.

Chip off the old block

When my partner tells me he hasn't had time to do something (usually something I've asked him to do!) I blithely comment that we all have the same amount of time, it's how we use and prioritise it that makes the difference.

As a Mother Who Works, I do try and squeeze as much in as I can (often too much in honesty) and try to be as efficient with my time as I can.

So I was quite impressed the other night, when Sass the six year old, showered, put on clean undies, school tights and skivvy and said she was ready for bed. This way, she explained, she only needs to spring up in the morning and pop on her tunic and shoes - and she's ready to go!!!

I like her thinking!

Snow White

It was George's birthday on the 12th, so I'm taking he and friend to Gold Class tonight to see Snow White and the Huntsman. I'm quote looking forward to it myself!

So I was telling Sass-the-six-year old this morning as I dropped her off that George and I are going out tonight to a movie. "What movie?" she asked. "Snow White. But not the Snow White you know, it's Snow White and the Huntsman". "Oh, yeah," she said, "the one I know is Snow White and the Six Elves." She slammed the door shut and was gone.

Hmmm. Yet another reflection of my deep, attentive mothering.....

Lots going on in Melbourne!

Where have I been? What a good question!! To start with, we’ve been flat chat pulling together this fund raising event for George’s school. When I say ‘we’, I mean the MJs. Here’s our movie link. It’s pretty cool, even if I say so myself!

The MJs Putting the FUN back into FUNdraising.

As part of this, I came up with this stupid idea that I should ‘marmalade’ all the fruit in our garden and bottle the olives and sell them to add to the funds. Stupid because I can’t tell you how many hours it’s taken – I tell you what, they’d better sell or I will cry.

Marmalade batch 6

 But, I have still managed to get out – naturally! We went to Prince last week and although I’m not a die-hard fan, I do think he’s probably the Mozart/Beethoven of our era. The way he moves from vocals, to guitar, keyboard and dances is absolutely fluid. One of the most amazing things about the concert (aside from running into our neighbours as we rushed in late) was that although the music was so loud, it was palpable on on your chest (even in the nose-bleed seats according to my sister in law), it was the only concert I’ve come out of and not had ears that felt like they were stuffed with cotton wool until the next day. The clarity of the sound was noticeably superior. I don’t know how that works but it was pretty impressive.

I took this on my phone!

The only downer was we’d been in the city for my friend Josh Robbin’s art exhibition, wandered to a bar for a drink or two and then couldn’t get a park anywhere near the venue. Naturally, I was wearing 15cm heels (very Prince!) and was almost crippled walking a good couple of kilometres getting there. On the way home I even braved my socks for a while, but my feet were so tender by then, that was equally as painful. And no, there's not a lesson in that!

Friday night, we headed back into town to one of my favourite venues, Forty Five Downstairs for a bit of burlesque. It’s pretty out there and naughty but well worth it. We’ve been at the end of the catwalk, but this time we were so close to the nudity I was actually a tad nervous! If you like a bit of great theatre (not just the naked stuff!) I’d recommend subscribing (yes, that’s an unpaid, spontaneous plug!). The have some amazing plays with big names like Samual Johnson and John Wood – all brilliant productions in a really intimate setting – if that’s your kind of thing!

PS My proof reader is also a tad under the pump, so I've spared her today's post - hope it's not too bad...

Another Cup Cake Champion

You may recall the last Cup Cake Competition - the one in which the 6 year old came second and I didn't even get a photo?

Well you'll be pleased to know that I've lifted my mothering game. Elle had a Cup Cake Contest recently and here was the one that garnered a 'Highly Commended'. It's a meatball and sauce on spaghetti!

Cute, eh? And she did it all on her own.