Bloggy Giveaways

Shannon of Rocks In My Dryer and Bloggy Giveaways is having another Bloggy Giveaway carnival. There is a lot of fantastic stuff going. Things like an Insignia® Pilot 4GB Video MP3 Player. And Home Organization Books. And lots of jewelery, books, craft stuff, and books. Can you tell which ones I've been entering? There are CURRENTLY more than 850 entries, with at least another 2 days to go!

There is just one problem with this giveaway. Because there are mostly people in the US who are on the net, and many of them have limited budgets, they've limited where their shipping goes to. Which means that us poor Aussies have to sort through 850+ entries to get all excited about the item being given away only to realise that it is open only to those in the USA. And let's face it, only I have enough time to do crazy things like that.

So here is my solution! I'm having a giveaway too! I'm giving away 3 Shirley Temple DVDs. Our Little Girl, The Little Princess, and I'll Be Seeing You. (The links are all to videos but I am giving DVDs).



You can enter if you fit into one of two categories:

1. You live in Australia. Now, I'm really fuzzy on geography, and as a result I'm thinking that Malaysia and Singapore are in fact part of Australia. So Caro, Yi Mei and Yi Peng, you guys can enter! You don't need to have a blog if you fit in this category.

2. You live anywhere BUT you had a giveaway on your own blog that was open to International folks. Like me. Recipocity. Please leave a link to your blog - the giveaway page - so that all of us here can enter into your own competition.

To enter, leave a comment, your blog details if applicable, your email (etc) if not. Winnie, do not post anonymously. That goes for you too Beau. Leave your names!

That's it. On Sunday evening My Time I will be drawing this. I'll use a random number generator.

Clear Out

I'm going to move soon. As such, I'm getting rid of some of my stuff. Does anyone want an ironing board or a printer, or a desk?

Email me or leave a comment. I'm not going to deliever, I don't drive.

Testimony of Sorts

So, as pretty much all of you know, I had pneumonia in November last year, and had probably had it for about a month ahead of my stay in hospital. And as most of you would know, I haven't been getting better in terms of energy levels. Oh, I'm not coughing up my lungs any more, but my energy is still not there. I can't get up early, or stay up late (let alone both at once) and generally I get a lot less done when I am awake. I'm simply not functioning the way I did before I had pneumonia. I was vaguely concerned, because the doctor said that I should get back to my old energy levels within three weeks. But I chalked it up to doctors being lying liars who lie (I've had way too many bad experiences with doctors), and as there wasn't really all that much I could do about it, I decided that it wasn't worth worrying about.

This has actually been very good for me. You see, I'm a Backster. Backsters are from my motehr's side of the family, and we are characterised by a few different things. First, we can make something out of nothing. We can feed pretty much any amount of people on any budget you want. Oh, the food won't necessarily taste any good, but it'll be nutritious enough. Second, we tend to draw the men and then have lots of children. I'd prefer to just draw one who wants to marry me, but the kids'd be great. Finally, we're strong, independant women. Five generations of feminists, usually a generation ahead of the movement. (Good news for all you non-feminists out there - I want to be a SAHW/SAHM, so that's where we'll probably be in 30 years.) I can carry washing machines up steps BY MYSELF. I can do anything.

Except at the moment. At the moment, I can't do all that much. In fact, when I was helping Rebecca in with the books for the bookstore, Joab took the box of books off of me because I looked tired. (I thought I'd covered all that up with make-up.) And as it was, the box was the only one Rebecca would let me carry - it was little and light. And everyone keeps on trying to feed me (which I like) and generally take care of me. I have to accept help from others, and more to the point, I have to continuously through my burdens on God. If I don't I simply can't make it.

Well, I've found out why I haven't been getting better. I have lung damage, probably from having pneumonia for so long without treatment. The damage may be permament. I'll have to go back for tests to see the extent of the damage (it effects my breathing out) but the tests will be just that, tests. My doctor stated that they were "just to see the extent of the damage".

I guess I get to throw my burdens on God for a little longer.

More Quick Reviews

Sons From Afar. Quite good. Very well written, but a little PC for me. I often find Cynthia Voigt to be so, so I wasn't displeased.

Life and Death in Shanghai was FANTASTIC. I don't know why I had it in my fiction section, it's an autobiography. It's the story of a woman who was imprisioned during the Cultural Revolution.

The Rendezvous and other stories was also wonderful. I forgot how much I love Daphne du Maurier. For those of you who haven't read anything by her before, you need to do so. Start off with Rebecca.

Mozart and His Operas was boring. It was pretty much all over my head, as I'm not musically very advanced. It won a whole lot of awards, so I was expecting it to be more a layman's version. It wasn't.

The Watercress Girl was good. HE Bates writes better short stories than he does novels. This collection was all written from the point of view of children, so I really enjoyed it.

Rocannon's World. I forgot why I don't like Ursula le Guin. I remember now. It's because she can't write.

Peer Gynt was weird. Very, very weird. But once you get over the weirdness, then it was good.

The Young Einstein was boring.

That's it. But I should have more blogging today and tomorrow, as I'm expecting to have some time off. Yay for time off!

Photos!

In which I am a cradle snatcher once again

So, after Adam and Allan proposed, they then suggested Daniel. I've had this suggestion before from more than one person, mainly because he's Christian (Catholic) and he wants to get married and have lots of children. Which is a major factor in his favour.

I replied that Daniel wasn't crazy enough.

"Oh, that sound's like a challenge," he replied.

Then Adam brought up the religion issue.

Daniel and I looked at each other, and he said "Sola Scriptura," to which I replied "Prima Scriptura". For those of you who can't follow our Latin, that's him saying "Protestant," and me replying "Catholic".

Jaani then got us to pose looking lovingly into each other's eyes. Which I wanted to be able to post here, but he still hasn't emailed me his photos, so you'll all just have to imagine it.

We looked at the photo, and Daniel said, "Oh, that's efinitely coming out at my 21st."
Me: "You're not yet 21? I feel like such a cradle snatcher!"

Giveaway!

Crystal is currently giving away a $100(US) Vision Forum certificate.

What would I buy?
- Virtuous Daughters Collection (DVD, Book, and CD)
- Passionate Housewives Desperate for God
- The True Story of Noah's Ark (blogged about here)
- Be Fruitful and Multiply
- The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (DVD)
- The Book of Psalms for Singing
- Raising Maidens of Virtue
- The Wise Woman's Guide to Blessing Her Husband's Vision (2 CDs)

It comes to $127.20, but they're all in my cart at the moment, waiting for me to buy them. I'm also tempted by their Heather Harp, which is $325, but it isn't in my budget at the moment, even with a $100 gift voucher. Come on, who hasn't wanted to play the harp. And all comments about me having a piano and two guitars that I never play are strictly not allowed! :P

Book Reviews

I really enjoyed Loving God With All Your Mind. It wasn't as good as Beautiful In God's Eyes or A Woman's Walk With God, but it was pretty good.

Bambi's Children was also excellent. It's by the original author, and his bambi is no disney-fied deer. If you like animal stories, then you will love it.

Praying God's Will For Your Life was a bit of a disappointment. It was well written, but not what I was expecting. If I had read it a year or more ago it would have been excellent.

The Warrior Queens was very interesting. All about different women leaders in war. Not all of them are imitable, but some of them are, rather surprisingly. It was all tied together with the story of Boudicca/Boadicea, which if you don't know then I'm going to have to never speak to you ever, ever again.

How Literature Works was okay. Not brilliant, but okay.

Cosmicomics was awful.

That's it for now!

Question: Do these count as proposals?

This is the first of a series on Steph's wedding. This story take place pretty much towards the end of the evening. There is another story that comes right after it, but I can't blog that because Jaani hasn't yet given me an essential photo.

So, as a few of you know, I've had a few marriage proposals in my time. Unfortunately, they've all been from kids under the age of eight. (Mikey is one of them.) Anyway, Steph had just thrown the bouquet, and I didn't get it. More than that, I didn't even really go for it.

Adam said: "I'm surprised you didn't get the bouquet. I was expecting you to kill to get it."
Me: "Yeah, well, I don't even have a guy."
Adam: "That's because your standards are too high."
Me: "Are not. I only have 5 critera." (tall, Christian, employed or prospects of being so, mature, and MUST WANT CHILDREN)
Adam: "Yeah, that's too many." He pauses, then says, "You could marry me."
Me: "You're not Christian."
Adam: "I'll convert."
Me: "You're too short."
Adam: "I'm your height."
Me: "Exactly."
Allan: "You could marry me. I was brought up in a fundamentalist Christian church."
Me: "But you don't actually believe."
Allan: "So?"

To be continued when Jaani emails me a few photos...

Two Reviews

I hope to be blogging about Steph's wedding tomorrow - when I'm slightly less tired and can tell the stories in a more amusing manner. Plus I'm waiting for a few photos (tell Jaani to hurry up and send us all his - thanks to Claire and Winnie who are organised and have already done so). But be assured, I have funny stories.

So, two quick reviews. I've managed, in addition to being a bridesmaid, going to church and working 9 hours (plus 5 hours of travel time) to read two more of my books from the 888 challenge.

The Web of Time was awful. I'm not even going to look for a link to it.

Me And My Shadows was very interesting. It's by Lorna Luft, who is Judy Garland's daughter. It's about her mother's addictions, her sister's (Liza Minelli) and the author's own. If you like stories of such things, then you'll like this. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not going to keep the book. I'm going to bookmooch it.