Monday 23 February 2009

Back in the land of the living

Hello there. I am glad to report that I appear to be over the worst of The Illness. Ugh, it was so boring being ill and unable to breathe but thank you for all your concern. I agree, there's nothing like a common trans-Atlantic virus to bring us even closer.

I felt a lot better over the weekend which was good as we had a lot of things organised and I'd have hated to miss out on any of the fun.

On Friday evening we went to see Slumdog Millionaire. Steva and I started dating in June 2006, got engaged in December 2006 and married in September 2007. We have been to the cinema (I'm British ergo I say cinema!) 3 times together in our lives! Have we had a proper courtship? I'm not sure. Anyway, the film was, well I don't know what to say. Yes, it was enjoyable in many ways, and quite cathartic, but also upsetting and challenging. I spent 6 months working in a Christian school in India in the Himalayas in 1996 so have seen at first hand the poverty, slums, begging and the majesty, splendour and sheer seething mass of humanity that is the sub-continent so it brought a lot of memories back. And it's got a very Hollywood happy-ever- after ending leaving you feeling that money does bring happiness and total fulfilment after all which we know it doesn't... Definitely lots of food for thought there.

On Saturday morning I went to the Ladies' Breakfast being held by one of the local churches (and one that we have visited a couple of times). What a great morning! The speaker challenged us all on the concept of grace and a couple of things she said really struck home with me. She said that one thing that can cause us (she was referring specifically to women) to lose our focus is a tendency to dwell too much on past wrongs and sins, letting them worry us and letting us beat ourselves up with them instead of handing them over to God ONCE AND FOR ALL and then getting on with life. She also reminded us to take life one task at a time, one day at a time and one drama at a time. This was great advice for me given my slightly maddening habit of meeting trouble not half way but about 2cm from my door and crossing a million bridges before I even get to a stretch of water. The other great thing I remember was the section on "Perspective" and the challenge to accept God's grace to get through everything that He sends our way but also to keep it in perspective. Being an individual who loves hyperbole, I'm not totally brilliant on perspective...!

We tried another different local church yesterday morning and enjoyed great fellowship there as well as a belter of a sermon on assurance (so good that I would recommend it and it's already been downloaded onto the church website http://www.ballyloughan.fsnet.co.uk/) which totally set us up for the week ahead. Then later on I got myself in a stew about which church we should decide to go for and came out with the classic line "our problem is that we have far too many good churches near by and we'll never find one to settle in because they are all so great..." What was I just saying about keeping it all in perspective!? Yes, my friends, I really am a work in progress.

Goodness, what a lot of waffle! However it was a great weekend, and meant that I really was not dreading Monday when it came about. That is an achievement worthy of note because my Mondays generally start with a 7am gym class called "Bodypump" which is meant to be good for me but I just don't know sometimes.....

Speak anon.
E

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Sniffles

... and today I have a rotten stinking cold and cannot breathe or speak (that clearly is an exaggeration as I am still alive but you know what I mean!). I feel very sorry for myself. My little nose is raw and my eyes are running. Do you think I caught the bug from my blogging chums who are currently laid low? I've heard of internet viruses you know....

Tuesday 17 February 2009

Today is not good!

This morning our fire alarm started bleeping at about 5am. We have no idea why. Steva got up and pressed a few buttons and it stopped but the noise interrupted our sleep a bit.

Then I got stopped by the police on my way to work: apparently my tyres have an illegal tread. I am so not good with vehicles! So I batted my eyelids in an alluring feminine way at the cops and thankfully they did not fine me or give me any penlty points. Instead I have to get my tyres fixed (the car is at the garage as I type) and then report back to a local police station to show that I have done what I was told. (It's a bit like having done your homework wrong and having to come back the next day with it corrected.)

Next I scooted into the city centre for a meeting for 10am to discover it's happening tomorrow....

Clearly, I am not having the most successful of days and it's not even 10.30am. Goodness knows what else will happen before I make it to bed tonight!

I'll keep you posted...

Friday 13 February 2009

The Wonder of Simple Things

Phew, what a week. Nothing particularly exciting happened but it's just been so tiring and draining being back at work a full week having had the luxury of a holiday and the chance to potter and sightsee.

When I was little, I used to try and do a new or exciting (well, exciting to me) each day. Sometimes I would lie in bed at night thinking of what I had done that day for the first time and counting my blessings. Often these things weren't that amazing per se. I mean it's probably not that world changing to have, let's see... come first in a Physics test or made your first batch of fairy cakes all by yourself but I am sure you can see where I am coming from. As with a lot of childhood things I grew out of this habit which is a shame because I think it's good to find pleasure in the simple things of life.

It's definitely time to re-invent the things of childhood which is what I am going to. So from now on, each evening, I am going to try and think of at least one thing that I have done or experienced that day which has given me a kick. I know I do thank God each day for His goodness to me individually and to Steva & me as a couple but sometimes my prayers are a bit general and not specific so I think I will try and build this new regime into my quiet times too.

Here goes...

What did I do today which gave me that childhood thrill...?

Oh, I sent my sister a Valentine's card (signed - I don't like her to think a game's being played on her) telling her I love her; my husband bought me seafood risotto for dinner which is a favourite of mine (and not of his, the sweetie); I managed to get to bed at about 8pm and had the happiest time snuggling up with Steva, reading the paper and just chatting about stuff. How cool is that?

Go on try it....

Edith xx

Thursday 12 February 2009

A flavour of Egypt

A felucca (boat) on the Nile. They've been using these for centuries...
Avenue of the Ram-Headed Sphinxes, Luxor

Looking wary outside a mosque!





Edith and her local admirers...




Transport, Cairo style

















Whirling dervish



Spot the Sphinx....







Wednesday 11 February 2009

Walk like an Egyptian


I am a child of the 80s. By that I mean I did my growing up during that unfairly maligned decade so have a love of leg warmers, shoulder pads and a dubious taste in pop music. The Bangles were a particular favourite which is why I spent a lot of last week humming their classic hit (the title to this post). Even so, I didn't really manage to walk like an Egyptian: they are a graceful lot and I tend to be, well, clumsy.

However this is just a short post to say "hello" and let you know I am back in the world of blogging.

We had a great trip and I will post some photos etc. in due course. It was AMAZING to walk round the Pyramids and see the tombs where the Pharaohs were buried. In some ways, the country has not changed in centuries. By that I mean it is very Biblical. As I said to Steva as we sat in a sailling boat coasting across the Nile, you could just imagine finding a baby in a basket in the bullrushes.... (not that we did actually. Which is probably just as well as that might have caused a diplomatic incident.)

Oh and yes, for those of you who know I am ever so slightly excitable about weather, it was hot and sunny (not too hot) and, unlike the UK which appears to have come to a complete standstill, it did not snow. I am a total convert to winter sun holidays.

Look forward to speaking to you all again soon.
Edith