Lending a helping hand

I'll have to find a picture to post here - perhaps the picture of the cake we made? Let me explain. My friend Tennille works for Victoria University in a program that counsels and teaches life skills to high risk teenagers, those that have been neglected and/or abused. Technically their job is to re-engage disconnected youths, which let me tell you, is a lot harder than it sounds. She has a huge heart and it's a wonderful thing that she does. Last week, her students were "graduating" from the program and because this is most likely the only sort of ceremony celebrating any accomplishments they've had, she wanted to make it special. So she came over with a huge tray of cakes that she had baked and we spent the evening constructing the name of her program (TOTeM - standing for The One and The Many) spelled out in cake, with the help of wooden skewers of course. Then came the frosting. Of course we needed to do it in the program colors so we had nearly all of it bright blue with one letter in bright red. There were some errors along the way so the kitchen was littered with pieces of cake in various stages of frosting. When we finally finished and stood back to survey our work, the cakes looked great but the kitchen looked like Cookie Monster and Elmo had met a terrible end. Actually getting it to the ceremony was another thing. We had to anchor these cakes on two large boards so we could transport it. You should've seen the looks I got from the early morning commuters when they glanced over to see me balancing a huge T O T at chest level. Luckily they made it in one piece and still tasted good.

I spent the day with Tennille at the school preparing memory books and certificates, finding kind words to say about students I hadn't yet met, and getting the room they had rented ready for the event. The students began to arrive, some with family in tow and this was a major step for all of these students. Often the family is not very involved with them which is how they ended up in this program. To watch how their faces glowed when Tennille and her colleague Sam stood up and spoke about each individual person was so inspiring! How often can you say let alone witness the fact that you can help change a person's life? It definitely made me feel grateful for the wonderful family and environment I grew up in, that's for sure! So fingers crossed that this is the first step of the rest of their lives and in such a positive direction.

St Kilda Evening

Last weekend, I met up with my lovely Scottish friend Ruth who I met in Tasmania to go explore St Kilda. St Kilda is a town right outside Melbourne on the Bay with a wonderful beach and feel to it. It's been cleaned up in recent years and is now one of the more expensive places to live because it's so close to the city, has a lively night life, bars, cafes and a beach! We made our way down to the beach and were enjoying people watching - all kinds of people enjoying themselves in the warm weather. A guy broke out his tin whistle and started playing, which was soulful and great to listen to. Then 3 guys came down with bongo drums and started playing. After about 15 minutes, the guy with the tin whistle came over and they all started playing together. Then a group of Argentinian tourists came down with a tambourine and they joined in singing and dancing. It was just so wonderful to watch all these strangers come together to just enjoy music on a beautiful beach.

We continued on for tapas outside and to a pub for a few beers while listening to a band. The area is wonderful with a creative edge and a diverse group of people. They have open air markets along the esplanade on Sundays, so I need to hit that up next weekend!

Night markets and barbies

As I hear tales of snow and ice from back home, our backyard barbecue the other night just keeps sounding better and better. It was a perfect night with lots of great food and great company. My cookies were a hit, or rather Betty Crocker's cookies were a hit. Our guests left full and with their lunch all ready for the next day. They got the food, we kept the untouched beers. I thought it was a fair trade.

Last night we ventured to the night markets in Melbourne which are great and not at all like the night markets in Thailand. They're only on Wednesdays for a several months during the summer. There's a live band that plays, beer vendors, food vendors of every variety you could think of, and stalls of merchandise. They have everything from scary witches that cackle and then take off at a dead run in mid-air, to wall aquariums, to jewelry, to licorice stalls, and lots of other things. So people wander around with their beers, examining merchandise, bopping along to the music while they shop. Really so much fun!

Thought I'd switch it up a bit and put the picture on the right for a change. Hope it doesn't throw anyone off :)