Signs of spring?

Am I losing my mind, or are signs of spring beginning to creep in? The past couple of days have started out foggy, but that has burnt off and we have been left with glorious sunshine and (reasonably) warm temperatures!

Isn't it great?

Added to that is the bizarre, but annual, desire to clear the house of any junk and just give it a thorough clean and tidy through!

Every day as I look out of my office window I can see the wonderful and gloriously quirky daffodils nodding away as they sway in the breeze. It makes me happy! I love these wee flowers! Next on my list of things to look out for will be the budding of the trees and the cherry blossoms in the courtyard! When they are out in full bloom I know it'll be time to get the tent out of storage and dust off the barbeque in preparation for our usual spring/summer adventures!

I find spring a beautifully optimistic season. The days are getting longer and warmer, the flowers begin to bloom and the trees burst into life again. It reminds me that life's trials are temporary and though at times, it may feel as though I'm trudging through the winter muddy slush with my toes frozen and the bottom of my jeans wet and filthy, spring is always just around the corner. The trials will end and there will be a respite - a time to recuperate and recharge before the next lot of buffeting wind, rain, sleet and hail settles in.

So, go on - take a deep breath, smile and be happy. Enjoy the moment!

March madness

I write this today through a haze of lost sleep, so it'll be tough task for me to notice any spelling errors! See, I already caught myself out 4 times already in the space of 2 sentences! It's not good!

Anyhoo, we travelled to Scotland this weekend just past to attend my brother's birthday party. I can't believe I'm old enough to have a brother at 40 - that means I'm next!

So, an uneventful journey was followed by a pretty eventful Saturday. My poor sister-in-law was getting pretty stressed about it and had put in a heck of a lot of work, and just as we were all thinking of getting organised, she had to be taken to hospital with a potentially very serious problem, which looks as though it was sorted in time, thank goodness!

So, we were all at the party and a good number of people turned out. News filtered through about my sister-in-law and it did put a bit of a dampner on it because naturally, our thoughts were with her, hoping that she'd be ok. That meant it took a while to kick into gear, but when it did, it did! It's been a long time since I've had that much fun at a party and what was really nice was that the hubby really let go and had a blast! He surprised everyone there 'cos they've never seen that exuberant side to him. He was FUNNY!

A couple of days later, we're home, even more broke than before and shattered, but we had a great time! Just what I needed to take my mind off March.

Wishing life away...

I'm not usually one who likes to wish my life away. Generally I like every season I'm in and try to make the best of whatever situation I find myself in. I'm more of your 'but on the other side it's good because..' kind of person. This has helped me through more sticky and problem situations that you'd ever believe.

The only exceptions to this rule are the months of February and March which, for me, are emotional roller-coasters.

Roll on April!!

Highs and lows

This last couple of weeks have been quite difficult for us. We have both been struggling with various things that have been going on in our lives and it has made for an unhappy Jiffy and hubby. We've been fine with each other, don't misunderstand me, but just within ourselves there's been room for mood improvement!

I have been very thankful over the years for the mission I served many years ago (although it seems like yesterday!). Mostly because of the great spiritual and life lessons it taught me. A great blessing to come from it is the friends I made along the way. I have been blessed to have great friends all my life, but there is something to be said for living with someone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help your lesson-learning abilities.

Yesterday, I was feeling pretty down about things and as I was just about to finish work, I noticed that one of my companions was online at the same time I was. I thought I'd just say hello and have a quick chat before finishing up. What it turned into, however, was both of us laughing hysterically at the mad and surreal things that happened while we were serving together in the land of the windmill and the brussel sprout! I have rarely been as thankful for the insane things that happen in my life as I was yesterday because it gave me the first real laugh I've had for a couple of weeks!

Now, Sister Lawson, you can SLEEP!

What a weekend!

We had a rather delightful weekend, just past. On Friday night, Ken's brother and sister-in-law came up to visit us and Ikea! We had a really lovely evening with them and enjoyed our chin-wag that went later into the night than we had intended! After a bit of a slow start to Saturday morning, we all made the journey to Ikea. Ken and I spent a couple of hours wandering round the store with them and then we all went to the restaurant for some dime cake and drinks. That's when we had to say our goodbyes. They were planning another assault on the Swedish store and we had to start our journey to Donegal where we were planning to stay overnight.

The journey itself was uneventful, for a change. I drove the entire way while Ken slept almost the entire way! 2 1/2 hours later we were pulling into the drive of our favourite wee B&B - really, we love the place! A lovely evening and night were spent in Donegal.

On Sunday, we awoke to glorious sunshine. We haven't seen too much of that lately! On account of it being such a splendid day we thought we'd make the most of it and go for a drive through the county. So, off we headed. We travelled northwards and through the most rural parts of Ireland and found some beautiful and remote spots. Luckily Ken had his camera so we could capture some of those places and moments. It took 8 hours from when we left the B&B to get home and we were both very tired, but I wouldn't have missed the opportunity for the world. Really, how could I not want to spend time in a place I love with the person I love?

Idiotic me

Because I can, on occasion, be a complete idiot I find myself eating a bit of humble pie. Stupidly, after falling out with my friend, I let my frustration and anger surface in a most inappropriate place - my blog.

It was stupid, thoughtless and potentially very hurtful; no matter what the issues are/were with my friend, she did nothing to deserve the public lambasting she got from me.

Rest assured, I have seen the error of my ways, sent her an email to apologise and deleted the post.

What can I say? I am a redhead with the temper to match and sometimes lack the sense to take a moment and think before I act.

Heart attacks and removals!

Most of you will know that I'm a pretty easy-going kind of person. Most things in life don't stress me out too much. Perhaps a couple of things. Conflict with family/friends and being a passenger in a car!! Specifically, being a passenger in my car!

So, this week, we were helping someone move house and we had a lovely day with them and the missionaries while we did that. Since Ken's van was already emptied out for the house-move, and we had a piano to move to a friend's house, it made sense that we arranged to move the piano today.

So, picture how my day started, since I'm already a terrible passenger before we've set off. We woke up to snow for the first time this year. The piano is well-secured in the van, but still I have mental images of being like something out of 'Only Fools and Horses' with the piano sliding out the back of the van as we pull off, leaving me chasing it down the road! You see? I can already sense that you've pictured the scene and are having a bit of a giggle at my expense.

The first argument of the day came when Ken announced that instead of driving all the way on the main road, he wanted to drive part of the way on the main road and then drive the rest over the Craigantlet Hills! Well, when he said that I told him that he could do whatever the h*ll he wanted but if he was going over the hills he could just stop and let me out right then!

So, an uneasy truce was called as we drove along our way, in the snow! The further we drove, insanely, the worse my anxiety got and the more poor Ken struggled to be understanding and hold on to his temper!

Luckily for us all, about 2 miles from our destination, my Mum called providing me with a distraction, but I could still see the road ahead and hear the creaks of the old piano as we trundled along the road. Still my stress was building.

I begged Mum to stay on the phone with me until we reached where we were going, and thankfully she did, because I was now nearing hysterics. Each time I saw a corner ahead I would groan and hide my head. By the end of the drive, Ken was laughing out loud at my rediculousness as I had the phone in one hand, talking to Mum, the other hand had a finger stuck in my ear and my eyes were firmly shut! The only time I could breathe easy was when the piano was safely installed in its new home!

Just another day in the life of the Mullans!