My extraordinarily ordinary life!
My life is extraordinarily ordinary and this is celebrating and writing about my beautifully ordinary moments.
I have been exercising my prayer muscles more lately and I thought sharing what I’ve always thought was an Irish prayer would be apt, seeing that it was St Patrick’s Day yesterday:
May God give you…
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.
May this brighten your day and give you hope as you read it.
I just finished sending a happy birthday email to a beloved aunt. Earlier today, I chatted to my Abba who is ill in hospital. I was able to see him and he was able to see me. Every Sunday, I chat to my family via Skype. I send free text messages to my family in Manila and friends everywhere in the world via iMessage and other apps.
To all the inventors of these wonderful innovations, I am thankful. The technology not only helps me reach out across the miles, it makes the world a little smaller and living on the other side of the world and getting in touch with family isn’t as difficult as it used to be. You, ladies and gentlemen, should be given medals!
Thank you for the technology!
I very rarely, if at all, post updates about anyone else’s health, except mine. Mainly because I always feel like that disclosure is not mine to make. BUT please could I ask you all to include my father in your prayers.
My Abba was brought to the hospital in the early hours of Thursday, Manila time. It was still Wednesday in England and I was walking to the station to take the train home. I called my mum and she said they decided to bring my Abba to the hospital because he couldn’t breathe. After that conversation, it was decided that it was necessary to move my Abba into the ICU to treat the pleural effusion which meant he had fluid in his lungs. Apparently, they managed to remove 1.5 litres of water from his lungs. Because I bake, I have a visual idea of how much liquid that is and I am thankful that it is no longer in my Abba’s system.
Since then we have been told that my dad was suffering from atherosclerosis (to us non-medical folk it means the hardening of the arteries) and that he can overcome this and get better. The worse case scenario, of course, is that his heart can just decide to stop working. I understand that this is a possibility but right now, I think everyone can understand that I’d rather not think about that possibility right now.
This morning, I called my mum hoping to get a chance to chat to my Abba. In the course of our conversation, my mum told me that my dad has endothelial dysfunction which from how I understand it is part and parcel of his atherosclerosis. I need to read up on this so I can understand it fully. It helps me deal with things if I can understand it. I’m not a doctor, but it’s always easier to deal with things emotionally if you know what you’re up agianst.
I have been crying a lot since Wednesday evening. Partly because I worry about my Abba, partly because I feel completely helpless because I am thousands of miles away. I have repeatedly asked my mum if I need to go home and she said it may be better for me to stay put, to stay where I am for the . It may sound harsh, but apart from waiting, there would be nothing for me to really do. I know that my father is in the best place he can be. He has the best doctors and nurses helping him, and it is true that there is nothing I can really do but to wait.
Even though I have had news that has caused me to cry this morning, I still thank the Lord for each new morning because each morning is another opportunity to be blessed. I am thankful because my Abba is out of the ICU. The road to recovery may be long or short, depending on how Abba responds to treatment, but I understand that it will not be straightforward. I can only keep praying and I can only keep trusting in Him. I know that everything the needs to happen will happen in God’s perfect time. This is a mountain that needs to be climbed one step at a time but I know that each step that we take, we take it with God by our side. Because He promised that He would never leave us, that He would never forsake us.
I rarely write about my faith in God, and it is a constant disappointment that I don’t. Because right now it is my faith that sustains me in this very difficult time. Because I am so far away from everyone, I feel very helpless. Everytime I start to cry, I just ask the Lord to get my father through this, to get my mum through this, to give us comfort so that we, as a family, get through this. I think if I didn’t have my faith to cling to, I’d fall apart, quite easily. My father is my rock and my anchor, and now that he is ill and it is, realistically, touch and go, I feel like I am this close to being cast adrift. But my faith grounds me. I know that everything that happens is part of God’s masterplan. I hold on to God’s promise that He holds us in the palm of His hand and that everything works together for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28).
I didn’t make from-scratch pancakes today, and with today being Pancake Tuesday, that is a tiny bit of a travesty. I will make my cheesecake pancakes on the weekend though. Although, I am slightly hesitant because I do worry about the sugar element of having a pancake weekend! It will need a rethink and a recipe retweak! Ah to have a sweet tooth and be a diabetic! What a life of contrariness do I lead, eh?
I am, however, baking blondies today. A friend who has had a hip operation is visiting the office tomorrow and she mentioned on Facebook that she was craving blondies. So I thought I’d send her home with my almond blondies.
It’s not going to be a surprise because she knows about it. But I thought it would be a good thing to do!
Tomorrow, I’m thinking of baking whoopie pies. Peanut butter and jelly whoopie pies. Let’s see how that works out, shall we?
The last entry on this blog was a post for the New Year. And then nothing.
I haven’t written anything on the blog for 52 or so days. Mind you, it’s not as if I’ve had nothing to write about: I’ve had gripes about commuting, stresses at work, an interesting phone call (that’s all I’m saying about it because that particular phone call must remain a secret! Ha!) a trip back to Manila (yes, I finally went home for an awfully short 11-day vacation!), Korean food discoveries, a weird tummy illness and other health issues and several beauty freebies! Yes, I’ve had a lot of things to write about. But I’ve been too lazy to switch on the ‘puter and start tapping on the keyboard to write about them.
I could actually take myself off the hook and say, “Oh well, you know, real life gets in the way of blogging!” but that’s a major cop out. I used to work a full time job in the Philippines but managed to write entries at night! In hindsight, which we all know is 20-20, I probably should not have deleted any of my old blogs. It might have been a good writing exercise to look at an old blog entry and rip it to pieces! I am, after all, my worst critic!
I’m certainly glad I haven’t written a New Year’s resolutions list. One of the things on that list would be to blog more — and we all know what a rip roaring success I would’ve been on that one! Ha!
I’ve got loads to catch up on…so I guess I’d better get typing eh?
I injured myself yesterday and Spam was to blame. No, not that spam, not the one of the emailed variety.
Yesterday was all about turkey (yes, I’m still trying to rid myself of the leftover turkey that was languishing in the fridge and not preserved cryogenically in the freezer) fried rice and Spam. All my joy and anticipation (turkey fried rice was a favourite) melted away when my forearm was splattered with hot oil from the frying Spam. It hurt. A lot. And if I’m honest, I was more worried that my arm will look more speckled than usual because of the Spam battle scars! My mom warned me yesterday to take care of the blisters as they might be infected. So I will be careful…or at least, I will TRY to be careful!
But there it is. Me injured (again) in the name of food and cooking!
After early morning phone calls to catch a family lunch in Manila, a hurried breakfast after present opening, the mad dash to cook the turkey with all the trimmings, recovering from a food coma, watching the requisite Christmas TV shows (and the Queen’s Christmas message, of course!), and watching the regeneration of the new Doctor, I am now relaxing and taking advice from her Majesty. She said that “we all need to get the balance right between action and reflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock.” And that’s exactly what I’m doing , pausing, reflecting and taking stock — while watching the Downton Abbey Christmas Special.
Christmas has always been wonderful because it has always been magical. It is a season filled with joy and wonder and most of all, love. Because it is love that is the real reason for the season. God loved us so much that He sent his Son to be with us. And because of Jesus’ birth, we have Christmas and we have a wonderful excuse to celebrate (in a big way) faith, love, family, friends, lovely fattening food, and most of all life (with all its joys and sorrows). I hope everyone had a smashingly spectacular Christmas filled with wonderful moments! Merry Christmas everyone!
This is becoming a blog-a-month kind of thing. I’m not happy about that though. I seem to have lost my writing mojo. I love writing but life seems to have overtaken my writing aspirations. What to do? What does one do? How does one conquer writing block?!? How does one climb over the writing wall?!?
Sometimes I look at the social wasteland that is my social life and I wonder what in the world has happened?!? I used to go out for coffee with friends, go window shopping, blog loads and be interesting! Now I only have thoughts that never get written down, that never get expressed. I have become a jumble of insecurities and unrealised dreams. I am completely homesick and I feel like I haven’t achieved anything at all!
I’ve tried everything: post-a-day, post-a-week, post-a-photo, post about food, post about cooking, post-a-whinge, post-a-peeve, deadlines for posts (this particular attempt at encouraging more blogs reminds me of a quote from one of my favourite movies of all time, Julie and Julia,Julie Powell’s husband Eric said about deadlines — “I love deadlines, I love the sound they make as they go whooshing past!”). These tools don’t seem to encourage the blogging juices!
Frustrated am I!
Whinge over.
I am still smarting from the sabotage of my curtains. I have left a message on the Danes’ Launderers and Dry Cleaners answerphone but, of course, as I expected, I have not had heard back from them. I am waiting for my anger to subside before I write an email so that my email is concise and sensible and not anger driven.
I need to look up what my rights are.
I know I signed an Owner’s risk waiver but I don’t think that completely obliterates my consumer rights.
I will find out what I am entitled to. I am good at research so I’m going to find out what options are available to me.
DO NOT USE DANES LAUNDERERS AND DRY CLEANERS!
I think a picture paints a thousand words and I think this picture says it all. The blackout lining in BOTH my curtains were melted. I am absolutely livid but I understand that they think they’re off scot free because I signed an Owner’s Risk waiver. But I am not going to let this go.
On their curtain cleaning page they say that “All curtains are carefully processed then hand pressed and wrapped so they are returned to you in immaculate, crease-free condition.” As you can see, my curtains were not “carefully processed” because BOTH the curtain panels were ruined. Oh and my curtains weren’t inspected. They accepted my curtains and told me how much I had to pay and that was it and to sign the Owner’s Risk waiver without explaining it to me. There was no inspection for care instruction labels.
To add insult to injury, I didn’t find out my curtains were ruined until I got home and excited unfolded my curtains only to find that the blackout lining was completely ruined. All I had was a letter saying they applied the cleaner and everything started disintegrating. That’s not really what I’d call “immaculate and crease-free”.
This was not “an excellent personalised service alongside high quality laundry and dry cleaning.”
