The Appreciation Factor

Why is it that often ones 'appreciation factor' of certain things kicks in too late?

In yesterday's Travel Section of the Sunday paper, I read one of those pointless interviews that they have with someone who is considered a celeb about "their kind of holiday". 

Of course everyone has what they feel is their perfect holiday, and as an adult, you have the luxury of choosing this holiday for yourself.

I took a deep breath when I got to this question:

Q: "What was your worst holiday ever? What happened?

A: "Barging through France. Trapped in a small vessel for one week with my parents."

Straight away atleast 2 things struck me:

1. I have been looking at barging holidays in France myself, although only for My Man and I.  I had two thoughts on browsing through their brochure. The first was "its pretty expensive for a week," and the second "what a lekker holiday to do as a family."  You can stop when you want to, you have bikes on board to go for long rides, you can fish, you can swim, there are canals with watersports, and castles to explore. It seems like a much better idea than dragging your kid around through French museums, art galleries and cathedrals, doesn't it?  I have no doubt that if this holiday was the worst one he had, that he bitched and performed about how bored he was, and if he didn't he probably sat in a corner and moped around for the duration, which means that if it was his worst, it was twice as much of a nightmare for his parents who had probably saved for ages to get there (especially on our exchange rate) and who had high hopes of a lovely family holiday with plenty for the kids to do, who now had to endure a thick lip from a kid with no appreciation of how much thought goes into stuff like this.
2. The next thought I had was how much I wish I could go back and relive my childhood holidays that my parents took us on. We went camping in the mountains and to game reserves, and I am sure, no, let me rephrase that, I know that I was a perfect cow most times. Sulking because I wasn't with my friends, or it was too long in the car, or it was too cold, probably anything I could find to complain about, I probably did.  I remember those holidays now as amazing times and talk about them as great memories. In fact, when My Girl was born, one of the first things we did was buy a caravan and go to the game reserve. I wanted to share the holidays with her that I had enjoyed myself in hindsight. I wish I could go back and behave properly and make it a better holiday for everyone.

My heart just went out to this guys parents who had obviously gone out of their way to find something that would be fun for their kids, and all it is to him is his worst holiday ever.

Payback time will come when he has kids of his own one day.

Home from the Holiday!

  Well, we went, we saw, we loved and now we are home.

 

We did everything we wanted to do, and I am pleased to report that we did see the Northern Lights so my relationship with the Author is still very much in tact. I think he took me seriously about us having issues if He didn't come out and play. (Shhhh....don't tell Him, but I would still love Him anyway! :-) )

I learnt some stuff these 2 weeks - more than what is noted here but hey... this is a start:

• You can survive the cold if you know how to dress!  Thank you to "My Norwegian Connection" for telling me about the coldcream for your face!
• I could never believe that K-Way fleece could really be THAT warm. I am now a believer.
• Snow is powdery. Yes, books say it. Movies show it. I have felt it. It's awesome.
• Snow can crunch underfoot. Yes, books describe it and in movies you hear it. I crunched snow underfoot.
• Norway is OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD expensive. I can't tell you. They had South African Wine on the menu and for a 1/4 glass of wine we could have bought about 2 full bottles at home. NO kidding. About R80+ for less than half a glass of white wine. I didn't drink much! Everything is expensive.
• I don't like central heating. Although we naturally would have frozen without it.
• I missed colour a bit. No, let me rephrase that. I missed colour alot. The snow and landscape is gorgeous, but coming from a country called the Rainbow Nation - which is appropriate for more reasons than only the people - I missed the colour that I take so for granted each day.

  

 We saw this statue outside the Palace in Oslo and I loved the inscription beneath it. It read: "The People's Love, My Reward."   Not often one hears that these days.

So now the #1 thing on my Bucket List can be ticked (Northern Lights) and My Man and My Girl got to Ski and Snowboard resepctively, so their #1 boxes were ticked too.

I wish I could describe the lights. I can't really. We were in danger of not seeing them at all. The weather had been overcast with snow and fog the whole way. I didn't mind it at all other than it made the lights impossible to see.  Finally, the night before (I think) we were due to disembark, the announcement came through that the lights were beginning to play. We almost ran up to the deck, we were leaving a harbour and there was some light. The lights looked more white/grey, almost like the milky way looks in pictures. We could just make out the lines. My Girl took some pics which showed the lights to be neon green like you see in the movies. My thoughts were "Oh, so they are not really green to the eye, but more in the photo", I stayed out until they disappeared and then went down to the lounge again.

About an hour later, the announcement came through that the lights were out again. I decided I was going to take every opportunity to see them and went out again. This time it was really dark. As we watched the sky just lit up, a collective gasp from all on deck was clearly audible, I am not sure anyone breathed, it was spectacular - beyond green, dancing and twirling over the mountains and across the sky. I don't think I moved. I know I froze but it was worth it. They only lasted maybe 8-10 minutes, if that before they disappeared for the night but it was the most beautiful dance to witness and I felt so privileged and emotional to have seen them.

The next favourite event was the dog sledding! Incredible - at dusk through thick snow across the landscape. Unforgettable. Everything. Completely Unforgettable.

I have been home a week today. Still trying to get used to it. 

Ready For The Risk.

Early on in my spiritual journey I was told that....

"Now you are a Christian you have to:

•  read your Bible every day,
• you have to have a quiet time every day (preferably early in the morning because thats what David did),
• you must go to all the meetings because thats how you will grow, and if you don't the world will devour you."

That was 29 years ago. Also about 20 years ago. Maybe even 15 years ago.

I may even have heard something similar this year.

I have realised during these years that there is nothing "have to" about our spiritual walk. It's not that you have to do those things, but it's because you love God that you want to.  You want to read the Bible, because it's how you get to know him and his heart - but he will not fall off his throne if you don't read it everyday. I have also realised that 'quiet times' are a personal thing, and God has no expectations of me as to when, where or how this happens.   I have found him to be most adventurous in meeting me exactly where I am.

Sometimes I feel as though I take 2 steps forward in my spiritual journey and then 3 steps back when I hear: "That if we don't go to every meeting then the message we are sending to those around us is that something else is more important than God."

Seriously?  If my passion for Jesus is measured by my attendance at Church meetings, let's face it, I may be in trouble. I doubt very much that God measures my passion for him in this way. It is far more likely that people do. So who should I please? 

  

I see Jesus hanging out with people. He didn't hang out in meetings.... or only with the 12!

I would love to be part of conversations where people of all faiths, backgrounds or lifestyle choices are free to hang out and talk about what and how they believe, and everyone knows that their view and understanding of Scripture and of life, is important. We don't have to agree, but we can listen to one another, gain new insights, and learn from one another, rather than judging one another.

I am not against the family of God meeting together, let me please make this clear. It's an important part of our family-life- but how this happens, and the shapes it could take, could look so different if we took the risk. 

I just KNOW there is more. There has to be.

Converted Culinary Challenged Cook?

Do you remember my notebook that I bought at the beginning of 2011 to celebrate my disorganised self?

Ironically, I am using it to organise myself in 2012. Yes, you guessed it, I never even looked at it in 2011!

Essentially, that post remains true for 2012! However, anyone who knows me will know that me and the kitchen do not enjoy a natural friendship. We get together out of obligation and duty rather than a desire to spend time together.

This year, I have decided, (not for me but more for My Man), to try and deepen this kitchen relationship in order to provide him with more creative suppers, rather than the lack lustre plates of food that often are put in front of him.  I am not saying I can't cook. I can. In fact, I am pretty darn spectacular if I want to be.

So, last Sunday, I found my "unorganised" little notebook and copied down the ingredients of some recipes that looked do-able. I carry it with me and now, instead of wondering what to make, I have a quick squiz in the book and know exactly what I need.

I have to say people, that I have used it twice this week and we are only on Thursday!!!   I am feeling rather self-righteous. I need to be careful about that since there was a time I felt like that about going to gym and I have only been once in the last 18 months! Although... having said that, I did go to a Spinning Class last night for the first time in those 18 months and today I am cursing that saddle!

So, *cheers!* here's to me and seeing how long I can keep this organised thing going. I'm betting about a month, maybe less knowing me.

A Disappointing End

I feel I should issue some warning before publishing this... but I don't know what that warning should be. I just need to say this "out loud" so it's no longer in my head. It's never good letting stuff stay up there too long! :-)

Some years ago we bought a small flat for 2 reasons:

(a) As an investment so that when My Man  retires we would have a little something by way of rent to help us out, and

(b) As part of an inheritance for Our Girl

We painted it, ripped up the carpets and sanded floors, retiled and knocked down walls - it is a cool little place! The first few years of it being rented went well, but eventually that tenant moved out and we needed new ones.

The agent found them but they couldn't pay the rental we wanted so we dropped it to something they felt that they could manage.  The first while everything went well, but then, on occasion they couldn't pay the rent and we allowed them to pay what they could to give them time to recover. When it came to rental renewal time and the yearly increase, they couldn't afford it, so we agreed that we would keep their rent the same.

Soon, they just stopped paying. The agent couldn't get hold of them on the phone and would leave messages. No one would answer the door when visited and this went on for ages.  Eventually the agent recommended that we get lawyers involved. We felt sick to our stomachs but realised we had no alternatives having tried everything ourselves via the agents to find our what was going on.

The upshot is that it went to court who ruled in our favour and they had to be out within 5 days.  Today I heard that they didn't leave, and now the Sheriff has to go along with a locksmith and physically evict them. You would think we would feel better. We don't. We wish it had never had to come to this.  Why!? Why didn't they just talk to us!!??

I also feel terrible about them having to leave, because I don't know if they have anywhere else to go. I am sure that they are really nice people and I don't want to see them in trouble!  But we couldn't afford to just leave it since to date we have lost tens of thousands in rental which we had to cover, and we've had to pay thousands to a lawyer - this is money we have to find...not money we have.

Sadly, we are so scarred by this experience, that we are going to sell the flat which means that Our Girl loses out on part of her inheritance and we miss out having that extra investment for ourselves when My Man retires. A disappointing end to a venture that should have been so different.

I. just. feel. sick.

PS: Please don't comment about them in any derogatary way as I am sure that if they could have paid they would have, and I wish that they had just said they needed time, or a reduction or something, because we could have come to some understanding, instead of just avoiding us and all contact.

STOP

Stop.

Do you know what this says?  Let me give you a clue...

OK. Now do you know?

"Stop: To halt the motion or progress of..."  (Online dictionary)

It doesn't say "Pause" nor does it say "Yield".

We have a 4-Way Stop Street up the road from us and everyday, almost without fail, I am witness to people who clearly can't read this word.

Yesterday My Man had had enough. He had stopped at the Stop Street while another car had stopped to his right as well. My Man waited his turn and let the car go - however the car behind the car moving on decided he wasn't going to stop and wait, but would go through straight after the car ahead of him. My Man in the meantime had begun moving when he realised that the other car was going to take the gap. He stopped in the middle of the road and politely motioned to the guy to please go back and Stop to let him go and wait for his turn. The guy had no option but to do as he had been asked, at which point My Man continued his journey.

What made My Man so angry was that the guy had a car full of pre-teens and the example he was setting was not only shocking, but he was endangering their lives.

I feel like a real old lady even blogging about this - but I do find it very disturbing that the most basic of road safety rules are just completely ignored and then all choas breaks loose when someone is hurt, or worse, killed.

We have had the most horrific road accidents over this Christmas period and when I hear how they happened, it appears that 90% of them could have been avoided if people had kept the most basic of laws.

We only have one life and anyone taken too soon is a member of a family who loves them.

Drive safely people.

Life is precious.

Big Dream #1

Do you remember this post?  My Big Dream!

In a few weeks time we will be jetting off to Norway for 2 weeks. We are taking My Girl and my folks are travelling with us. I am beyond excited. I am also, to be honest, a leetle bit nervous.

Not nervous in a negative way, but rather in that I have had very little in terms of planning to do with this holiday. Usually I do all the research, the online bookings and payments. I arrange the holiday completely and know that if anything goes pear - I am to blame!  This time, due to the extreme climate,  I have gone ahead and booked a tour through a Travel Agent. I feel slightly out of control - but I am sure that it will all be fine in the end!

Much research has gone into what we should wear and the shoes we need. Man, for a girl who is happy in the sun with jeans and sandals, this is TOUGH!  (another thing I am slightly nervous about, I am a summer girl!)  We have decided that if we need anything that we hadn't bought here, we will just have to buy it there!

We will be doing all we dreamt of doing! The dog sledding, the viking feast, visiting the snow hotel and more. Hopefully during the few days at sea the #1 thing on my bucket list will appear - the elusive Northern Lights. Honestly, this is thee most important reason for my wanting to go there and if we don't see them, I will be heartbroken. I know, sounds very girly and soppy, not like me at all - but it's not like I can pop back the following week in case they show up!

  

Today I delivered our Visa applications and all things being equal, hopefully we will have them by the end of the month.

In the meantime... will let the excitment build up!