opening the jar

I never thought I'd be a blogger. On the one hand, I'm not the sort of person who wants to spill my heart in public, my deepest feelings, and the circumstances that provoke them, are far too private for that. On the other hand, I'm not the sort of person who wants to write a catalogue of my day's events, I never enjoyed doing that sort of factual writing when I was at school, and I don't enjoy it now. It was always much more fun to make things up, but I would like to imagine that I'm not psychotic enough to write myself an imaginary life. The one I've already got is a full-time occupation! So why start this exercise? Because I intend this to be my sort of blog -- quirky, a bit oblique, sometimes passionate about an issue, sometimes pondering deep things, sometimes simply bemused by the colour of the sky or something funny someone said. You may not learn awfully much about my daily life, but if you hang around and listen in, you may learn something about me, the little quirky things that you would tallk about with a friend you knew very well. i won't post every day, just when I feel like saying something, and who knows whether anyone else will answer? It's a bit like sticking a message in a bottle, not knowing if it will ever come to shore ...

So why a pickle jar? The simple answer is, because I'm a pickle! Ok, ok not literally, literally I'm a middle-aged suburban Aussie woman, with a husband (referred to from now on by his initial A) and 2 grown kids -- a married son and a student daughter still at home. I was a stay at home mum all the years they were growing up, now I'm a part-time theological student (went back to study at age 47 after being a drop out from uni at 20) with dreams of being a preacher. I'm a reasonable cook, a quirky home-decorator, hopelessly untidy (though I do make an effort, really!!) can't sew if my life depended on it, have zero interest in handcrafts, love reading and internet and passionate conversations, my best friends are people I can pray with and laugh with. I write poetry at times, enjoy crosswords, and try to always be there for the people I love. Oh, by the way, my real human name is Lynne (short for Lynnette, but I'm never called that ..