Photo-less

It occurred to me the other day that there are no nice pictures of us around the house except our wedding pictures. In fact, there is a real dearth (I really, really like that word!) of printed pictures at all since Ken and I got married. I have hundreds of photos (note, no apostrophe - that drives me crazy!) of all aspects of life with Jason, but hardly any with Ken.

This isn't because we haven't taken any. Of course we have! Hundreds. Thousands, in fact. Difference is that they were taken with the digital camera and of course, it's not every picture that gets printed. In fact, for us, it's only the very rare photo gets printed out.

So, in the run-up to St Valentine's Day this year and not knowing what to buy for my beloved husband, I decided to get a nice photo frame. I then, well, bascially nagged Ken into taking some pictures of us together to put in the frame. He thought I was just off on one of my whims but, bless him, he went along with it to keep me happy!

The result is that we now have a couple of nice pictures of us (including one in the frame!) and had a couple of really nice, relaxing days together over the weekend.

I'm so incredibly blessed in my life to have Ken. He is my world, and what's better - I'm his!

The Gift of Tears

Last night was Bible study night. It's been a while since we've had the opportunity to get together and we were very glad that we took it last night. We were reading in Luke 4, where the Saviour got up and read from Isaiah, saying that He was sent to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, and so on..

It got us to talking and I mentioned a friend of mine who had recently been having a hard time and had phoned me in tears. Tears so bad they were taking her breath away. You know the sort - the whole-body sob that takes over and you can't control it. I said to my friend at the Bible study that the passage about healing the brokenhearted made me think of her and that she was having such a hard time and had forgotten that God loves her because she feels unworthy of that love.

My Bible study friend immediately picked up a booklet she had been given by another friend and read a page entitled 'Pray for the gift of tears'. I've been thinking about this, and while none of us likes to be sore of heart or grief-stricken the alternative is much, much worse. Imagine being so hard of heart that nothing touches you? Imagine not being able to cry tears of joy? Even tears of sadness can keep us from being hard. If we didn't have the gift of tears I think the world would be a very very ugly place, filled with hard, angry, cynical people.

I, for one, am glad that I cry at the drop of a hat! No longer will I be embarrassed!

Back to life

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

...Back to reality. I've enjoyed the last month or so, with not having a hectic schedule. Back to the real world now, though. The new semester starts this week, so my week looks like this:
Monday: Work from 9am to 5.15pm, College from 5.30-8.30pm
Tuesday: Work from 9am to 5.15pm, Bible study from 7.30 - 9ish
Wednesday: Work from 9am to 10pm (film night for the tenants - Elvis this week!)
Thursday: Work from 9am to 5.15pm, College from 5.30-8.30pm
Friday: Work from 9am to 3.45pm, Ice hockey from 7pm
Saturday: Shopping to replace the broken microwave, putting up shelves and fixing the tv wiring and then Ice hockey
Sunday: Church from 10-1, parents for dinner and finally a bit of rest!

So, it's Monday and already I'm looking forward to Sunday evening for a bit of relaxation!!!

Smugness!

Image by brooklyn via Flickr

I rarely have any occasion to be smug, so when one arises I embrace it warmly! The latest is that I had my college assignments finished before the Christmas break! They add up to approx 6000 words, broken down into 10 weekly assignments and a case study. I was so chuffed with myself that I could relax and enjoy the Christmas holiday, concentrating on doing nothing, wrapping a few presents and just spending time with my family. It was lovely and very, very needed! I did nothing over Christmas. I slept late, ate a fair bit and lazed about.
New Year's Eve was spent with my parents playing board games and some games on their wii. We had a great laugh and at midnight went outside to hear the ship's horns blast the New Year in. We finally made it to bed around 2.30am. It. Was. Nice.

Then, on Sunday, I thought I'd take a look at my college work and get it organised and printed ready to be handed in on Thursday. See? Smugness!

Imagine my horror when the computer won't turn on! I imagined myself having to write all 6000 words again. Finally, the computer DID switch on and I was able to get the stuff printed, but not before all traces of smugness were wiped forever off my face!

Doctor's office

Image by Sarah G... via Flickr

I went to my GP today to discuss the painkillers and anti-inflammatory medications I need to help control the sciatica and fybromyalgia that I'm afflicted with. After the last visit where I cracked my neck at the poor guy and completely freaked him out, I was greeted with, 'Well, what horrible thing do you have for me today?'. Once I was able to stop laughing I got down to the business of the day. We sorted that out and then he decided to give me my flu injection with the most blunt needle I have ever encountered! Really, it hurt!
So, I thought I'd be responsible and ask if there were any pain management, or if at all possible, pain avoidance regimes that I could incorporate into my life. I went in looking for painkillers and anti-inflammatory tablets and came out with those plus...anti-depressants! Allegedly, these tablets can, in very low doses, help stop the pain so the doc reckons it's worth a go. But come on, anti-depressants? I'm still chuckling now!

It's college night tonight. If the tutor asks us again what kind of animal we'd like to be I swear I will not be held responsible for my actions!

Why do I put myself through these things?

Image by y-its-mom via Flickr

So, I'm home from college. I am beginning my third year of five studying counselling, and embarking on the diploma - now somewhat fancied-up and called a foundation degree. Like any course of study there are ups and downs, but for the most part it has been enjoyable!

Tonight, however, didn't fall under that category! Tonight we were doing interesting things like telling complete strangers your fears, figuring out who the significant people in your life are and then drawing a diagram to show this. We spoke of self-concept, self-disclosure and self-actualisation. All very interesting.

Do you know what the class ended with? The tutor going round us all, one by one, and asking what kind of animal we would like to be, and why!

So, where I normally come home quite enthusiastically and excited to share my thoughts and what I have learned, I came home tonight very tired, bored and extremely grumpy!!! Still, at least I'm self-aware enough to realise it!

Memories of Stake Family Camp

1 - The wind and
the rain

2 - Holding onto the gazebo while cooking

3 - Standing under the gazebo while cooking and holding onto it, wearing my waterproof coat and hat because the torrential rain and howling winds meant that we got wet anyway!

4 - The river running through J's tent!

5 - The mud.

6 - The van nearly getting stuck in the mud

7 - The hike to the toilets that were inadequate for the sheer number of people in the two fields

8 - Porta-potty

9 - Ken's magic van

10 The craic