i give it... a 8.5

If I were to rate this weekend, I'd say it was way up there with the happy moments of Europe, GAT, and other such adventures. I guess it's been a while since I've an exceptionally fantastic experience that's really made me smile genuine smiles. So... since happy, good days are such a rarity lately, I thought I'd record what was involved in such a high-scoring, historical event.

SaturdaY:

- Slept in til 10:36am, and decided that it wasn't time to get out of bed, so I stayed under the covers reading "A Return to Modesty." By far, the most thought-provoking but interesting book about feminity and everything good about being a girl (if you ever wonder why women are more powerless than they ever have been in history, why we're so insecure, afraid, and why we should reclaim our dignity... then read that book).

- Got out of bed when I heard the vacuum cleaner running. Attempted to do something productive, but only got as far as plugging in my hair straightener.

- Straightened hair as Sarah lay on my bedroom floor and we began what became a day-long conversation about the perplexities of team life, the things that we're sick of, the need for a bludge, and my deepest desire to be taken care of.

- Opened my bedroom window to find a crisp, warm breeze and fantastically blue sky waiting for me.

- Changed into jeans and my bungee jumping singlet and bashed away at my drum-kit until Sarah was ready... headed to Eastgate.

- Bummed at Bondi Junction for 2 hours (took about 1/2 an hour to find parking... so make that 1.5 hours)... which involved having this for brunch:

Wait: does brunch have to happen before lunch? Because I believe we consumed that wonderful dish at about 1:50pm... but I hadn't had brekky yet, so that counts as brunch.

- After sitting in Gloria Jeans and reading really stupid Hollywood gossip magazines, I'll admit I feel a lot better. I figure if you ever get depressed and think your life is screwing up, then pick up Womans Day or something. All that crap about hollywood actors/actresses... i feel for them. Constantly scrutinised, judged, made fun of... and all they can do is keep on digging themselves into that hole. Pray for 'em.

- To continue our splurge day, Sarah and I finally left and went to East Gardens to attempt grocery shopping. I say "attempt" because it took us about 2 hours of window shopping to finally work up the energy to walk into Woolworths. (haha... yeah like that even makes sense). I'll admit it was so much fun walking around David Jones, General Pants, Portmans, Sportsgirl and a whole heap of chic stores, knowing we were dead broke and couldn't afford anything we tried on. But man it was good to be girly again:

- Here's my dress my Portmans. (I only say "my dress" because I want it.) I hate being poor, but I figure even if I wasn't, I wouldn't buy it because it's over $100.

It's fun shopping with Sare coz she's a punk princess AND a girly-girl, so we're on the same wave length. She'll see a dress, and I'll find a funky shirt, and life is good because we both agree that both are great. And the best part is we both know we're missionaries so we don't actually need to buy anything! So we spent the afternoon being idiots... reminds me of the times in high school when I used to hang with my mates at Westpoint (back when it was a tiny shopping centre) and try on pretty clothes, hoping for a more up-style life. Hahaha...

- Eventually we got REALLY girl, started talking about life, the future, what we'd do if (God-forbid) we ended up like our parents, if it's possible to find the perfect guy, where we would live if we couldn't live in Sydney (which, by the way, is definitely the BEST city in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD), and what type of engagement ring we would want.

This type of conversation, of course, is ridiculous, coz neither of us have boyfriends. But that didn't stop us from walking into Prouds and checking our wedding rings (sad, yes, but I do believe that was the whole point of the day).

- Eventually we bought groceries (spent about $100 at Joes Meat Market, then another $150 at Woolies - who thought feeding 7 people would cost so much a week?!). Our house seems to be getting fuller, now that Justine's moved in. And Taryn's coming back to Sydney after a year in the UK. So the CYS house is buzzing with people...

- So we drove home, absolutely exhausted, but extremely satisfied. Changed into our PJs and sprawled out in our hallway, looking at cookbooks, trying to figure out if we could be bothered to cook anything for dinner.

- Banged away at faithful Ash once again. (I might actually be getting worse at drums, because I haven't been practicing, which is awful).. and got a call from Eddoes, who announced his arrival at my front door.

- Thus started the lazy preparation of dinner. Chicken in cream & mustard sauce and... (haha what else?) RICE. That's when I discovered Edwin actually has a technique to how he eats his food (**note to self: he's good at cooking at rice.)

- And then we ended the fantastic Saturday with a stroll around Sydney. *sigh* How I love my city! We re-discovered Mrs Macquarie's Chair and spent a split-second appreciating it, then drove around to the Rocks. It was nice just walking around, looking at the stars, laughing at random things, saying a prayer on the warf, and admitting (quite thankfully) that I'd never be an upper-class high-roller (ask Edwin what that means, because I'm not sure if I even know).

And thus I ended Saturday somewhat exhausted, but with a massive smile on my face.

Woke up this morning and prayed for energy. I was lying in bed looking at old pictures, when I made a deal with God: "If you give me a good day today... I'll... uh... be good." I'm not sure if I stuck to my end of the bargain, but God did. So to end this historical record of this once-in-a-season experience, here are the highlights of Sunday:

1. Singing @ Mass with Tristan and Bec.
2. Raising enough money for a GK house in the Phils, just from the donations from one Parish. WOW. That got me teary - joyful tears.
3. The little boy (probably about 9 or 10 years old) who stood at our donations booth, tipping out the coins from his wallet. He held them in his hand, looked at us sheepishly and offered his $3.30 towards our mision trip to the Philippines, saying "It's not much, but you can have it." That was a crying moment, right there - how beautiful is that?! I hope he knows that his pocket money just paid for part of someone's new home.
4. The little girl (probably 7 or 8 years old), Dian, who approached me after the 6pm Mass to say, "It's really nice what you guys are doing to help other people. I like it." And put her $1 in my money tin...
5. All the babies at the 10am Mass who got my clucky, and reaffirmed my ultimate desire to be a Mum one day.
6. Meat pies, fish and chips and chocolate milkshakes at the beach with Tristan, Sarah and Bec. Waves are always soothing... thank you God for the water.
7. Afternoon siesta after jam-session on drums.
8. Night prayer....

And although life is hardly fantastic, and things have yet to turn around... I'm oh-so-grateful for good weekends like this. Thank you God!! And I should thank the team while I'm here... they're legends, and I love them. THank you Bec for putting up with me, Sarah for spending time with me, Beth who always makes me smile, Box for your energy, Joe for your servant's heart, Lyndon for understanding me, and Justine for affirming me.

To all the people back at home.. I miss you.

Lord, Your love is unfailing... My fear is lost where you are... Amen.