List

Matt is 13 tomorrow so I will have three teenagers in the house, at least until Anika's 20th birthday in March next year.

I found this 'to do' list on a note on the desktop of his laptop and it is reproduced here (with permission and with the author's spelling):

Each day:

read bible
clean teeth
exersise
eat all of food given
go outside
write book (164 words)

I don't think that he has any problem with item 4 on the list at the moment. It is very hard keeping a gluten-free son fed when they are *growing* and consequently *very* hungry. I do wonder about the preciseness of the 164 words but, knowing Matt, I don't think I'll ask.

Verse for Today (and everyday)

Australia has certainly had its fair share of disasters in the past couple of months. New Zealand has had a nasty time and now Japan is suffering too. Thankfully my friend Wendy is safe and well although she experienced the earthquake in Tokyo.

I'm thinking of one of my favourite verses which comes from Romans 8: 38-39:

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Phantom Pumpkin Leaver Mystery

On Friday afternoon I was backing out of my driveway to go to the shops. I noticed the mail sticking out of the letterbox and stopped to get it. As I opened the car door I was greeted by a terrible smell. *Note to self: There really is not much worse than the smell of a dead cane toad in your driveway...except two dead toads.*

Extinguished toads aside, as I was approaching the letterbox I noticed a small pumpkin at the foot of the gate. It is a very cute little pumpkin and now sits on my kitchen bench. My camera is on the blink or I would have posted a cute picture.

The problem is, I have no idea who left it there and why. My mother proclaims that it was not her so it is still a mystery.

I'm wondering if the dead toads have anything to do with it and whether midnight will reveal anything???

Why bother?

Whilst doing maths this morning we came across this item in Matt's current text* which went along these (paraphrased) lines:

"Maid Marion saw Robin Hood coming from 100 metres away riding at a speed of 2 m/s (metres per second). The drawbridge is 10 m high and takes 60 seconds to lower. Will Robin make it into the castle?"

Matt looked at it with a strange look on his face and said, "Wouldn't he just stop if it wasn't down? Honestly, he isn't stupid."

I can tell you that if I was Maid Marion I'd be wanting Robin to be smart, or his horse to be an excellent jumper ... lest he end up very wet.

*Maths Quest 1 for Queensland, Lyn Elms, Jacaranda Press