Popular

Lately Melissa and I have been listening to the musical "Wicked" and one of our favourite songs is "Popular". It is so catchy and we love it! If you get the chance to listen to do then do so :)

Funnily enough I've been thinking about popularity these past few days.
Is being popular all it's cut out to be? Does it bring disadvantages with it? What happens when because your so popular your guy friends want to be more than just friends and you have to stop being so open and unguarded with them? What do you do when people tell you that "you just shine" when asked what it is that makes the guys fall over themselves?  What do you do when you spend so much of the evening or activity saying " hi" and having people say "hi" to you (because you know so many people) that you don't have time to talk to the real cute guy you have your eye on? Do you then wish that you weren't so popular?
Personally, I never had this problem! I was never popular. I had my close group of friends but I was never in the "really cool" group. The guys I liked hardly ever liked me and the ones that did I didn't have any interest in; except for two guys that weren't members of the church - typical eh? But I guess that is all irrelevant now as Roland found me and whisked me away to Switzerland at the tender age of 18! ;)
But seeing popularity from this other side has made me realise that it's not always as easy as we assume it to be. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side......

Back to being me

Well that took longer than I expected! I've never had a cold that needed a three week recovery but hey, I guess I'm no spring chicken anymore ;) It wasn't just the cold itself, I felt really down and depressed, and had absolutely no energy to do anything. But this week I have felt my energy levels rise and a motivation to get out and about. Even my ironing doesn't look so daunting ;)
I played squash with Melissa on Tuesday morning (she beat me), a game that I haven't played since High School, and had such bad muscle ache on Wednesday that I couldn't even walk up the stairs without moaning! I hurt in places that I didn't know existed! I went to the gym this morning and built up a good sweat on the treadmill while listening to some new music that I'd uploaded onto my iPod.
It feels good to be "me" again.

Well there's one thing to being sick and energyless - I got to read all the books that I'd ordered from Amazon and to watch some old episodes of Vampire Diaries, before season 2 starts next week. Yes, I love the vampire genre although I'm not really an Anne Rice fan - I'm more along the lines of Stephenie Meyer, LJ Smith and Sherilyn Kenyon.
Now that I haven't got any more books to read or programmes to watch, I have time to do the things that need doing.......


The kids have also been sick. Daniel was off school for a whole week (he went back yesterday) and Jordan started feeling bad on Monday.  Sore throat, runny nose.......here we go again!

Jordan started his new guitar lessons last week -  every Thursday at 4.50pm. He aslo has re-started piano lessons with his Dad. He has such a good musical ear. Seminary also started again on Monday morning at 6 am - half an hour later than it was last year - and life and routine has kicked in for Jordan. Now he just has to get fit again.......

Melissa is in limbo at the moment. School doesn't start for another three weeks so she is going through books like a book worm. She has finally been bitten by the book bug - welcome to the Gray family! I am pleasantly surprised how quickly she is finishing the books and they are in English too! Well English is her mother tongue.... She is busy in the evenings with volleyball training, institute and choir. She has her first lesson with a vocal coach tomorrow. She is excited.....

Well I just wanted to let you know that I am "me" again and that you can look forward to some regular blogging again. I may even get around to uploading the other parts of our UK trip.....I know, don't fall over in shock!!! LOL!

See you soon.

Hugs.
Becca

A good day?

There are some days that are better than others and today is definitely not one of the better ones! You see, I'm sick. Melissa was kind enough to share her germs with me resulting in a nasty head cold accompanied with a sore throat. That was Monday and today is Thursday and I'm still feeling pretty sorry for myself. Luckily for me, the sore throat has gone away but in its place is the nasty green stuff with a cough, which means its travelled south!
I slept better last night, which is really positive as the previous two nights were spent on the sofa.....
I hate being sick!!
I feel like I'm in a bubble. Like a spectator looking in. The kids returned to school on Monday and I haven't really talked to them about their new beginning. I don't really want them to come too close to me as I don't want them to get sick, especially at the beginning of the new semester.

While I was lying here, I was wondering what constitutes a good day? And I've come to the conclusion that it's different for every single person on the planet and that the answer could also change every day too. Just take the beginning of my week, for example. On Monday "a good day" included:

• a good start at school/work for everybody
• not too much muscle ache from gym 

By Tuesday "a good day" would have meant:

• no more sneezing, no more sore throat
• being able to sleep
• having the cold meds do their job

Does having "a good day" constitute only of good things happening to us?
Does a mother with a newborn baby call it a good day when her baby hasn't woken up crying every two hours? 
Does a mother of young children class it a good day if she hasn't yelled at her kids and made them cry (even if she was the one that felt like crying)?
Is it a good day when you have succesfully cleaned the house and done the laundry?
Does a teacher call it a good day when he comes home from school and hasn't felt the desire to "strangle" one of his teenage students?

What constitutes a good day, or a bad day, and who decides?  
I guess we decide and it all depends on our viewpoint at that moment. We all have good days and bad days and some days that aren't one or the other. But really it's up to us to decide if the day is going to be a good one by our atitude. Sure I'm sick and I'm stuck in bed but hey, my body is fighting this cold as well as it can and I have a loving family around me to pick up the slack when I can't. It's not really a bad day - it's just a "could have been a little bit better day"! :)
The family will home in an hour ready for their lunch. Thank goodness Melissa is here and thank goodness I have food storage........

Hugs,
Becca

Being happy

I've been a bit philisophical this past week......

If you would have asked me two weeks ago how I was doing I would have answered, "Life is great! There's hardly anything to complain about. I am content." 

If you would have asked me the same question last week then the answer would have been different. I would have said, "I'm angry, tired and I would like to strangle a few people!" 

I guess it's partially my own fault. I was the one that said "everything is great"! I should know by now that as soon as I put those words into my mouth, something always goes wrong! :) I asked myself why it's not possible to have a half a year of trial free life so I can re-charge my batteries for the next trial!?

This past week I've been thinking if it is possible to be happy and content regardless of whatever trials I or my family are facing. I asked myself what changed last week from the week before to make me unhappy? Are the things that made me happy and content the week before still there in my life? I came to the conclusion that I am still happy and content with my life but that external factors caused me to forget that for a while as I concentrated on the bad things that were going on. I let them take over. 

Don't get me wrong, the things we went through last week were (in my opinion) only found in movies directed by Hollywood, and our feelings were justified but I was swallowed up in them and it robbed me of my sleep and made my head hurt!

My feelings of gratitude for my life, my family, Roland's job, our lovely home, the gospel, good health, safe country etc. are ever present and I realise that regardless of whatever goes on in life we shouldn't forget the good things.

Of course there are things that I would like to be different, but I've noticed that nearly all of these things go against somebody else's free will. I know that I can't change anybody; I can only change myself and my attitude towards that problem. For example, I can't make my child get good grades. I can motivate and help where I can but the child himself has to be the one to make the effort. If I were to do his homework he wouldn't know what to do in class or in a test. We have to let our children "suffer" (sacrifice play time to learn for a test) for them to be able to grow and make the progress they need but it doesn't have to be a miserable time.  It can also be fun if we help them see the benefits.

Use me as an example: I hate ironing. I push it away from me as much as I can but it is inevitable that the day will come when child "x" has no more clothes to wear or my darling husband "kindly" informs me that he hasn't got any more shirts in his wardrobe! So I moan and grumble and I do the ironing and funnily enough I don't mind ironing while I'm actually doing it. It's more the thought of doing it that sends me into a tizzy! And I do feel a sense of achievement when all the baskets are empty - I just wish that feeling would last longer than half a day!

Question to self: Does the fact that doing something I don't like to do make me unhappy?

No! Of course it doesn't! My base feeling of happiness and contentment isn't at risk. But I do acknowldge that for me ironing is a "trial" and although I would rather be doing something else, I am aware that it is a necessary part of my duties as a mother and housewife.  Can I learn to love it? I'm not sure about that but I do know that it is in my power how I act and react to it.

So my challenge to myself: Next time a trial comes knocking on my door,  I try to remember what my blessings are and put the trial into the correct perspective. And most important: Remember that the Lord won't give me more than I can handle.

When did I become so wise?!

Hugs all,

Rebecca

  

p.s. if we have to iron in heaven, then I'm not going!!