life together

here is HOM, putting a new skin onto my cellphone.

even though i know he thinks this is a frivolous indulgence unbecoming of a middle-aged woman.

on wings of memory

paris, 2008

once in a while, in the midst of the busyness of everyday doing and accomplishing, a wild young memory of another long-ago time breezes by and halts you in your steps and you are filled with a delicious mary poppins-mrs harris sense of exquisite wonder as you remember it.

sunday afternoon thoughts

for prayers answered... and denied

storms weathered... and all supplies

for pain and pleasure

for comfort in despair

for grace beyond measure

for calvary's love.

precious Lord, take my hand.

time to go

J1 leaves for college. cue words of wisdom containing the weight of years. i want to tell him to be good. to work hard. to stay safe. to be healthy. to keep in touch. to not be sad. to rejoice in the half full.

in the end, i tell him one thing. remember to say no, i say. when you know what is right and good, dare to say no to the other. go, my son. God goes with you.

mothering blues

J1 leaves for college in 3 days. i find myself becoming a jittery mass of nerves. have you done this? have you thought about that? have you settled? have you paid? yada yada? it suddenly strikes me, to my relief, that this is a reprise of my momzilla act from last summer when it was J2's turn.

it's okay err'body. Cool Mom will return next week. maybe. 

it strikes me that God gives me a past so i can deal better with the present.

payback

the problem with having a super long weekend is that at the end of it when the new workweek rolls along your body has forgotten how to respond appropriately to the alarm. 

oops

flea market!!

in basement 2!!!

on a public holiday!!!!

what J2 and i say is, it is underwhelming.

that is to say it kindly.

aspirations

i attend a talk about renaissance. baby boomers, the speaker says, are born between 1946 and 1964, are careful conscientious self-sacrificng and defined by their work. gen y, in contrast, are self-centered focused on self-fulfilment and defined by their relationships. the typical gen y wants to work part-time, limited hours and no weekends.

well, you know what? i am a gen y trapped in a baby boomer body.

storm

standing between the tower blocks looking onto the overcast skies

feeling the wind almost whip my face

feeling an almost nip in the usual balmy air

safely cocooned by steel and mortar

nice.

living in other climes has given me a fondness for not-so-good weather.

the cup overflows

in everything give thanks

- 1 thess 5:18

a sensible thanksgiving for mercies received

- john bunyan

so J1 leaves for college in a week. not one week, a voice reminds me, but nine months carved out of none. God is generous with his gentle rains even when i forget them so quickly. we are grateful, HOM and i.

machine error

it's been an energy sapping fortnight. work meetings exams and datelines add up to long days into late nights. why is the coffee cuppa getting smaller, i ask HOM. he checks. machine calibration is off, he mutters. the nespresso machine has been delivering mostly water recently.

how are you, my friend asks me today. i've been very tired, i say. my coffee machine fouled up. it's been one long caffeine withdrawal.

brain assault

dis is how my fren writes her notes to mi. do u 1 2 meet, she asks. it drives HOM n mi nuts. she doesn't write english, we decide. she writes alphabet. n sum no.