Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Hi everybody.

I know it's been a bit since I last blogged but heaps has gone one. I have to be up in about 4 and a half hours because I have a plane to catch, but I'll give you all a really quick update.

• I applied to an early childhood course and had an interview yesterday and I am praying that I get accepted. I think it went very well. I will find out after January 15 if I am accepted. Please help me lift my petition to the Almighty Father through prayer.
• I went for a job interview. Fingers crossed there too, it went well but I think there were a lot of applicants.
• My car is once again dead. If I get this job I may be able to get a new one. More prayer.
• I am off to Sydney tomorrow morning. I will spend the day with my very best friend and I will spend the night at her mother's house before going straight up to my Dads to spend the Christmas with my Dad and my extended family. I am very excited about it.

I really want everyone to have a great Christmas and please, please put a lot of thought in to the real meaning and be careful not to get too caught up in the commercial part of it. Be reflective, be joyful and enjoy the celebration of the birth of our Beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.

Regarding the other holiday celebrations, please be safe if you're driving or traveling. If you're going to be drinking, please do it responsibly.

I hope all of you, my gorgeous bloggy friends, have such a wonderful and happy New Year filled with many joyful blessings.

I won't be online until I get back around January 5. If you need to contact me, please do so by email. I won't have any internet, but I may just be able to get connected or get someone to check for me.

God Bless,

Love always,
Jess

A conversation

Here is an exerpt of a strange conversation I had with someone I know about Jesus. She says she is a pentecostal Christian, but when I questioned her about her spite, she replied that "everyone else did it." I pointed out that perhaps she should make a better example and that just cos other people sin, doesn't make it okay for her to do it too. It was mostly about someone I had busted a bunch of people talking nastily about... She said that she didn't agree with everything her church said (anti-gay etc) I tried to approach it kindly, but it digressed in some kind of quasi-debate... and... it turned strange and I'm trying to understand, but I just don't really get it.

Her: no body's perfect.....not even Jesus and that's what i heard at my CHRUCH
Me: judging homosexuals and teaching that jesus wasnt perfect. So does that mean He wasn't free from Sin?
Me: where did they get that from? lol.
Her: they said he did things and repented which most christians do
Me: i mean like, how did they get that info... (im seriously just wondering)
Her: i wish you wouldn't mock my chruch
Me: im not mocking it ... id really like to know how on earth they got the info that jesus was a sinner and repented
Her: each faith is different and i don't like to judge other faiths (But yet it's okay for her to say nasty things about someone else when the person isn't there to defend themselves.)
Me: how come youre not answering my question about where they got that info from
Her: the pastors don't tell me...so i don't know
Her: well i need to go to bed....my chruch is my chuch and i believe what i believe so can't we just leave it at that
Me: rightio, goodnight
Her: i thoght Catholics weren't meant to judge either...but oh well
Me: I'm not judging, I'm asking you to help me find the teaching.

... strange.

Thanks for wasting my time.

After trying to contact this disability support organisation for the past 2 weeks, including 6 phone calls and 2 visits in to the office (I was promised more than 6 times they would call me back and not once did they honour that promise) and managing finally to speak to someone who actually was at her job for the real purpose (helping people like me), I was directed to file a formal complaint to senior staff. Excellent.

I filed the complaint. Less than 24 hours later someone from snr staff called me back. He called the office in which the ridiculous assessment was made, and they were on the phone to me less than a hour later. It seems that my trip to Sydney was futile because they decided to cover up their pathetic lie about communicating with my doctor (never happened) by telling me that that letter got to me by sheer accident and that they were never intending to cut my financial assistence. I'm sorry, how on earth does a letter with my name, address and customer reference number and previous income details get accidentally mailed to me with a lie attached and a ridiculous assessment outcome?

I am just ever so grateful, Praise God, that I finally got subjected to two employees who actually cared about my situation enough to ensure that it was all smoothed out for the sake of alleviating my stress. I took both of their names and employee receipt numbers so I can call back customer service feed back to compliment those staff members. If it weren't for them I'd still be chasing this crap up.

In other news, I got a ticket to Guy Sebastian's Melbourne concert today thanks to one of my lovely friends. :) That's not 'til February next year though.

Also... I've been reading about Stigmatics and Pope John Paul II and I'm absolutely intrigued by both... Although confused, slightly about Stigmatics -- why does this occur and I don't understand why Jesus would want to make His faithful followers endure what He went through? I'm probably completely looking at this from the wrong angle, so please feel free to correct me... Is it a blessing to be a stigmatic? A few websites I read referred to them as "victims", but others, "blessed" ... I'm confused.

As for Pope John Paul II ... wow, what an amazing man. I already knew he was amazing, but ... reading about his life sure gave me a new appreciation. I didn't know he was so into theatre and he went through such family tragedies and of course, lived through war-torn Poland.... He's just such an amazing inspiration.

I moved my DVD player and VCRs out of my room so that I would be less distracted from reading the bible and my other things that I have procrastinated for so long.

I was invited to a Healing Mass on wednesday and I completely forgot all about it. I really wish I had of went along. I suppose there is always next time. Anyway, it's way too late for me. I'm off to bed.

Goodnight.

To the left, to the left...

On Sunday night I registered on a radio station website to win 2 tickets to this concert that has Guy Sebastian and Damien Leith in it in Sydney (to be honest, I couldnt really give a hoot about the other singers who are going to be there, young divas, callea, Shannon Noll, etc) and it would be an all expenses paid trip to Sydney including, flights, meals and accomodation at Star City in Darling Harbour (and btw, I LOVE Star City, it's the coolest place! Almost as cool as Crown Casino) ...

And so imagine my surprise when FoxFM called me on Monday morning telling me that I'd won 3 cds just for registering and put me in the running to win the major prize. So every hour they called one person to put them in the running and around about 3pm on Monday afternoon they were going to pick who got to go to Sydney. I thought it was a bit funny cos I was just thinking when I registered, why bother, I've never won anything in my life... lol. And so I was pretty stoked to just win the cds -- (Evanescence, Jamiroquai and some compilation album) the DJ told me that promotions team would call me later in the afternoon to get my details to send the cds...

So around about 4pm my phone rang again and I answered it, for a moment I thought, "omg have I won?!" but the man on the end sounded really bored (too bored to be on air) and said he was from FOXfm, and asked how my day had been and what I'd been up to -- then asked if I was having a decent day, and I said "yeah it's been okay." or something like that, and he said; "Well it's about to get better cos you've just won the trip to Sydney!!!!!!!!!!"

It was really exciting because I was already really happy about the cds, but winning a full trip to Sydney!??? Mann!!! How amazing. I know I go to Sydney all the time, and in fact, I am going in like 2 weeks time -- but that's not the point! This is free, and it's at a swanky hotel and I get to have an expensive breakfast, to see an awesome show and all of that -- and I get to take a friend.

Well... choosing the friend part was way too hard. I have heaps of really close friends who are fans of Guy, and so I'm taking my Mum. Fox FM called today to get my details and stuff, and so now it's all confirmed. I'm going to Sydney in late January for this awesome free trip.

:P

Christmas & the like...

Wow, it's been almost a year since I opened this journal... how the time has flown -- and unfortunately my life still isn't much different. But besides that...

I went Christmas shopping yesterday to buy some gifts for my family and a couple of my friends. I normally like to spend a lot on the people that I care about, but ... this year I have the possible impending doom that I may not have any money after the break -- so I'm trying to spend wisely. Finding something special that I know said family or friends will love or making something that I hope they will love.

I decided just to buy my Dad some cooking stuff since he loves to cook -- and also a book that I heard him mention on tuesday night.

I got my Dads girlfriend something for the kitchen and a really pretty pair of earrings.

I got my Mum a pair of earrings, and will buy her something else but I'm not sure what else.

I bought my stepdad a novelty sized box of maltesers and want to get him a book light so he wont annoy my Mum by keeping her up with the lamp every night.

I will buy my neice a Guy Sebastian or Young Divas cd. I haven't decided which one.

I am going to frame a really gorgeous photo of my Grandmother and I at my brothers wedding for her gift and some scented candles.

I bought Valan -- hahaha... yeah right Val, as if I'm going to write it here :P

I am making Penny a "box of me" we had a joke a long time ago that I would make a box from paper mache and paste pics of myself all over it and put inside of it, things all about myself. I joked with Mum that I would make a cd of all my favourite songs -- me singing them!! haha. We also have this joke that we have a pet/friend called Phlegmy that I hoicked up and kept in a vile from when I was sick. Phlegmy has a top hat, a pipe and tips his hat in agreeance when he likes what we are saying and uses words like "touche" and "magnifiscent". I haven't figured out a way to create a real phlegmy, but I will! I'm also going to give her Paris Hilton's album (as a joke).

I bought gifts for my 6 yr old cousin and 6 yr old neice Brianna & Charley earlier this year. A bunch of Mr. Men books and stuffed teddy bears. I love giving kids books. I wanted to give them "Where The Wild Things Are" which was my favourite childhood book, but then I figured that it's gonna be a movie soon -- so why bother?

I have a 13 year old boy to buy for. Any ideas?! I thought of just giving him money ... I decided I will make some earrings and a necklace for my 16 yr old cousin. I haven't seen her in years, and I figured it'd be the most simple thing to do -- I also bought some candles for her as well. I hope she'll like them anyway.

I dunno what to buy for my brother and his wife, but I'm sure I'll come up with something. I have a couple of other friends that I want to buy something for, but I already mostly have an idea of what I want to get them (if I haven't got it already) so I'll see what happens.

Since I am going to be spending from the 23rd til just before New Year with my Dad and none of that time with my Mum, I felt horrible... because my Mum will be spending Xmas alone since my stepdad always shoots off to his parent's house and leaves my Mum at home (family issues w/ my Mum) and she can't go to her sister's because of work on Boxing day... I suggested to my Mum that maybe around the 18th, we should do an Early Xmas. We should set up a real tree, do the decos, have an Xmas dinner, sit around stuffing our face, and watch Xmas movies... She seemed to really like the idea so maybe we'll do it next week.

I am looking very forward to going to my Dads new place. He lives about a 5 minute walk from the beach now and I love the beach. It has been so hot in Sydney and I can't wait to go swimming every single day. I was at his house last September and I was swimming then. In contrast, where I am living now is absolutely freezing still. We had the heater on today and it's the second day of summer. Pathetic.

I am also looking so forward to spending time with my friends and my cousins. I can't wait to take photos and hang out and even take video. It'll be heaps of fun.

Anyway, rambled on enough here. I'm going to make a concerted effort to get to church tomorrow. I realised today how long it's been since I've gone to Mass and how it's actually adversely affected my life. I deserve to be kicked up the butt. I stopped going to my weekly church group too, but that's because the group finished for now (sad :() ... I've had other things go on that's made me take a step back as well, but there's no excuse. At the end of the day, I love Jesus, I want to follow his example, I want to be a good person, I want to sin less and I want to know His Word backward and forward... And I want to receive the Eucharist as often as possible ... and it's not happening from my bedroom.

No wonder God hates laziness.