Friday 27 June 2014

Single sock party

Yesterday my son showed a friend of ours that he had a pair of socks on that were both black but the toe part was red on the one sock and orange on the other.  I commented that my black socks seemed also to be mismatched.  My son blamed it on the "laundry department" i.e. me.  My friend commented that he would never wear mismatched socks.  And seemed to have great sympathy for my son.  Ugh.  

This quickly lead to a discussion about the "single sock laundry syndrome" which is one that will be familiar to all moms ...... what the hell happens to socks in the wash ...... because in my mind they go to that great sock heaven, along with tupperware lids. Our friend looked completely stunned when I told him that we currently have 68 single socks in a basket in the laundry. 

Now:

Did we originally buy them in a pair - Yes
Did we wear them in a pair the first few times - Yes
Did we throw them into the laundry basket in a pair - Yes
Were they washed as a pair - Yes
Did they come out the washing machine / washline as a pair - No 

And therein lies the age old question ..... who has that other one?

So we decided that a "single sock party" is the way to go.  We get a group of  people together who all bring their single socks along. ..... we throw them in piles together according to colour and adult & kids socks.  And then you see if you cannot marry your single socks as close as possible to someone else's. Once this is done we roll up the newly married pairs and donate them to the church Soup kitchen initiative so that when they go out on Friday evenings to feed the street people, they can also give out socks.  

If I have 34 mismatched pairs, can you imagine how many pairs 10 or 20 of us can make?

So come on parishioners and friends ..... let's find a date for the single sock party.  Bring cake, bring colddrink, bring yourselves and most of all --- bring the socks!!!! 

till soon
c'est la vie xxx


Monday 23 June 2014

Retreating into myself .... the Corpus Christi weekend

This weekend past I went on a Corpus Christi retreat with mostly members of my own parish, along with some from other parishes.  The retreat was led by PIE with our very own Fr Chris contributing greatly on the Eucharist, Order of the Mass and of course celebrating our daily Masses over the 3 days. 

What did I leave at home?  Laundry, lists, TV, social media, questions like where is this and where is that from kids, cooking, driving, working, emails etc etc. 

What did I find there?  Peace, quiet, God, fellowship, Worship, friends, SLEEP, the Rosary, insight into my religion, prayer, music, Mass and in many ways .... myself.  Me.  Just Karin.  Not Karin the mom or Karin the employee or Karin the whatever.  Just Karin.  

I know this because during the Mass I cried.  All 3 days.  Why?  Who knows .... it felt like I was a big over-inflated balloon and when you took all the stuff as listed in the 2nd paragraph away, it was like pricking me with a pin .... and as I calmed down, slowed down, breathed .... I cried.  And the best thing is, no-one chuckled, no-one judged, because many were crying themselves.  

When I left there it was with somewhat of a heavy heart ... I would have liked a day or two more. 

When I came home I found all the regular stuff ..... but I did the laundry slowly ..... I took time to do things for me.  Monday came around and my life was chaos again .... at one stage during the morning doing 32 jobs at once I wondered if the retreat had helped.  But I breathed and I switched off the radio on the way to work so that I could listen to God.  Not talk to him, but listen to what he was telling me. 

And sometimes I am not going to look for something or clean something or wash something.  Sometimes I will simply say tomorrow it will be done.  Because now is me time. 

Give yourself space as Fr Chris says ... 

c'est la vie xxx

Friday 13 June 2014

One ball. Millions of people

So life as we know it has come to a temporary halt.  World Cup is the central theme of our home --- meals taken in the lounge .... chefs kits steamed in the lounge .... update of each other's lives ..... yip ..... in the lounge.  Armed with 4 new sherpa blankets ... one for each of us, we have entered the football zone.  

We are not "only during World Cup" soccer supporters.  We are all year round soccer supporters in our house .... so World Cup is huge.  We have drawn our teams in our family pool (yes as per previous blog I have every crap team that somehow managed to drag themselves kicking and screaming into the tournament), we have the chart up ... not the one only entering scores from quarterfinals, we have the large oversized one which shows every result of every match and in addition we follow the updates online and watch every other related programme during this time.  Eug and Nic judge the players on skill alone, Jess and I are inclined to value them even more highly if God has blessed them with wonderful looks, severely powerful thighs etc etc.  We all have our own grading system not so?

Meals than cannot be cooked in under 20 mins will not be served during this time.  Calls unrelated to soccer will not be answered.  Any activity that cannot happen during halftime, will not be happening.  The Nespresso machine has been pre-programmed for optimum cappuccino delivery speed.  Everything has been moved to within arms reach from the furniture in the lounge.  

My son tells us that Soccer is not Everything, it is the Only Thing.  Sometimes he is so wise.  

still hoping for a win by Honduras
c'est la vie xxxx


Tuesday 10 June 2014

Returning ... And the wisdom of a friend

So I went on a small sojourn.  To think and regroup.  To look at what I want to blog about.  I looked at who reads my blog in which countries.  I managed to speak to some of those people simply because their comments on my blogs gave me access to their email details.  It was amazing to discover what draws them and often how people in different countries are drawn for different reasons.  Some like the humour.  Some like the pain.  Nearly all love the honesty with which I write.

The harshest critics are often those who know us the best .... Simply for the reason that they know me.  I read a lot of blogs .... Especially those that are forthright, honest, blatantly stating pain and challenges and concerns.  Sometimes I too have to remind myself that I am not part of the problem when people I know bluntly state what hurts them or has hurt them.  And I have emerged from my break more resolute than ever to remain honest ... Because it is what keeps my readers reading.  And to remind those that know me ... If you read something you think is an issue I have with you ... Please remember that if I have not, prior to the blog post, raised it with you directly, then I am not referring to you .... So don't react as if I am.

Help comes from the most amazing places sometimes.  Like the answer to a prayer.  I would probably still be pondering had it not been for a new friend, also a blogger, who completely unexpectedly contacted me on the weekend.  Our chat went back and forward for quite a while.  This person revealed some very personal things about their life to me ... Which both surprised and touched me.  And as they too are a very open and honest blogger, I listened to the advice and will be mindful of their viewpoint.

So to you, and you know who you are, Thankyou.  You alone are the reason I returned today.

Till very soon
Be an authentic you, always xxx

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