Now blogging

over here. Look forward to seeing you.

More fiction

This is just a silly little piece I scribbled out a little while ago. I think it's quite fun, hope you enjoy it.

The character was a mouse, small wispy whiskers and a plump belly.

"I say, that's a bit rude," he said.

I started a little, not expecting the response.

"Sorry. But it is rather rotund," I explained.

"Yes, but you wrote me like that."

"True. But your love of cheese and chocolate digestives played a part."

The mouse looked downcast.

"So I shall only be svelte and lithe if I don't eat any cheese and chocolate digestives?" he asked.

"I'm afraid so," I nodded.

"I don't think it's worth it," he said, plopping down on his bottom and pulling a crumb of cheese from his knapsack.

I wondered what I could do with him.

"An adventure, of course," he said, although I had not spoken.

"What kind?" I enquired.

The mouse looked thoughtful, patting his belly slowly.

"I think I should like the beach very much," he decided.

"Is the beach really a place for adventures?" I asked

"Not especially, but I do like ice cream."

I paused.

"You're the one who suggested adventures, mouse," I said.

"Mmm. But food is a very important part of adventures you know."

*waves*

Well hello there, nice of you to drop by. Things are pretty busy here right now, cutting my Internet time down dramatically. Where once I could grab an hour here and there, I'm blessed if I get 20 minutes in the morning before everyone else is up. Today I am typing while my four energy balls dance around in the front room.

We're studying ancient Egypt in school at the mo, and naturally mummification has caught their imaginations. Thankfully I've had no adventures with toilet paper and table salt. We're hopefully going to visit the Egyptology exhibit at a local museum on Saturday, which should be a lot of fun.

We're back to doing catechism in the evenings, before our time of family prayer. Each of the children has a certain style of prayer. Reuben thinks volume is the key, yelling his simple little prayer at the top of his lungs. Aurelia is our little intercessor, with about 30 people on her list. Connie is very serious - her list is shorter, but she likes to put a lot of detail in. Eden, well, for Eden it's all about Jesus - she rarely forgets to pray in thanks for His sacrifice.

So that's how things are with us right now. I do hope to return to regular blogging at some point - it's not like there's a shortage of material out there or here - but time constraints are the issue here. In the meantime I do plan to keep checking in here from time to time as I have the opportunity.

On Glory and time wasting

Every where I look at the moment, people are talking about God's Glory and what it means to us personally. I'm reading Holiness by JC Ryle, I'm reading Pyro posts, I'm reading threads on forums about it. It's really challenged me out of a sort of faith malaise, wherein I was just treading water, spiritually speaking.

One thing in particular hit home, and that was the ease with which I can get excited about things other than Christ - I'm known as a big Doctor Who fan, and the relish with which I can embrace a spoiler or new plot point is bordering on the fanatical (the origin of the word fan, of course).

A couple of years ago, I discovered Being Human and loved it, but I deliberately didn't watch the second series because I was far too into it. There are times when standing back from something is a healthy thing to do.

What is different in this past week is that I have been convicted that it's not enough just to stop watching Doctor Who - unless I use that mental energy to be more focused on Christ. I'm not going to stop watching Doctor Who, but I am reining back on my obsession, and using that time and impulse to focus on bible reading and prayer. After all, time is far better spent on something eternal and truly glorious - truly worthy of my fanaticism.

Spoilerific review of Dawn Treader

I totally spoil it in this review, so beware if you haven't seen it


Today I took all my girls to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in glorious 3D. We saw Toy Story 3 in 3D, and it really wasn't worth it, but it was definitely worth it for Dawn Treader. Eventually you kind of get used to things coming out of the screen at you, though.

As to the film, well, I was a teeny bit disappointed. There were plot elements introduced that I wasn't comfortable with, and it wasn't faithful to the book in that regard. In particular they gave Eustace lots of comedy moments which really made him quite likeable, which he really shouldn't be before he is turned into a dragon.

I didn't miss Eddie Izzard as Reepicheep as much as I thought I would, and Simon Pegg is one of my favourite actors, so it was all good on that score. But not enough was made of the song of the Dryad - it was only mentioned once so Reepicheep's fate didn't quite pack the emotional punch it could have done.

The creeping darkness and the swords at Aslan's table was the biggest plot addition, and they changed the order of the events to serve the purposes of the plot, whih irked me a little. The undragoning of Eustace was a little disappointing, but I was pleased they kept the most important parts of Aslan's speech at the edge of the world.

Finally, the closing credits were lovely for anyone who is a fan of the work of Pauline Baynes, so do stay for them. My girls loved it - Eden in particular cried at the ending, so it was a hit among the younger females of the family.

A very happy birthday to me

Today is my 34th birthday and I have spent the whole day in my jimjams. We took a day off school and had hot dogs for tea. My son ran me ragged as he does every day, and I'm a little bleary from being awake in the night with a mysterious chest pain.

I was given an advent candle, and a DVD of the Victorian Farm, wherein historians go back in time (Not literally, that's the province of the Doctor alone) and relive life as it was over 100 years ago.

But by far the nicest gift I received was a handmade book lovingly crafted by my two eldest daughters, containing selected scriptures. Whatever else I've achieved in my 34 years, raising children who do that will remain right up there.

On facebook

I'm not online very much these days - actively home educating three intelligent girls and keeping tabs on one boisterous son means I rarely have the time to sit and write. I visit a couple of forums, read a couple of blogs, and that's about it - as my post count shows on here, I don't have much time to compose blog posts.

I thought facebook would be a good substitute - it's quick, and to the point. But I'm finding out that I absolutely hate it. Some things are a real blessing, and I invariably enjoy the contributions of Stacy MacDonald, Kim Shay and a number of others.

But there are others, and I'm ashamed to say it's mostly my own blood relatives, who continually post blasphemy and crudeness. It's quite unpleasant, and makes me visit facebook much less. All of which is to say, don't expect too many status updates from me in the near future.