For the moms out there..
Do you ever feel as though the things you do are simply not appreciated? That you are expected to do things for your family, yet never actually get some sort of recognition? Well here's a little story that my friend Rika sent me, which I think sums it all up...
Invisible Mother.....
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.
It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me
until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave
their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that
will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever
be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.'
That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women .
So there you have it. Remember that you are doing wonderful things which are appreciated and admired, even though it isn't actually verbalised.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
DSD!
Today is Digital Scrapbooking Day and over at W&W there's loads happening. I posted my first blogpost yesterday as part of the new CT . You can view it here - and grab a FREE template.
I had to get back into the swing of things with using FTP and posting on the blog- but sorted it out in no time as my memory came flooding back to me. Happy fond memories of way back when I was designing.
This week has been a turmoil with Shannon's school deciding to incorporate the Grade 7 classes for 2010 into the High School as well as increase class sizes throughout the school from 24 to 28. The parents, needless to say, have been really up in arms over it.
I personally don't mind too much about the Grade 7's moving up to High school, it was just that the school chose to drop this bombshell on us 4 weeks before the end of the school year. Not too fair and rather a shock to us all. As for the increase in the class sizes - that's another matter all together! Surely it's not beneficial to the kids to have bigger class sizes. There are so many studies to prove this!
On a lighter note, yesterday afternoon Reece enjoyed the Fun Day at school - except he got really nauseous on one of the rides (the second time on the same ride!). He couldn't even stand up! Thank goodness he wasn't physically ill! There was another ride where I wish I had had my camera with me- typical - I forgot it at home! They lift them up on chairs using air blown into a kind of balloon-type jumping castle thingy - almost parachute-style. There is a velcro closing door which they open once the kids are around 3 metres up in the air. This causes decompression as the air blasts out and the chairs drop really fast. Reece's expression was so funny- he looked so bewildered as if he didn't know where he was!
Well gotta go now- off to take Reece to cricket at Southdowns festival. I really am not in the mood. We had a lot of rain last night and I have to admit, was hoping the cricket was cancelled!
Oh well.....
I had to get back into the swing of things with using FTP and posting on the blog- but sorted it out in no time as my memory came flooding back to me. Happy fond memories of way back when I was designing.
This week has been a turmoil with Shannon's school deciding to incorporate the Grade 7 classes for 2010 into the High School as well as increase class sizes throughout the school from 24 to 28. The parents, needless to say, have been really up in arms over it.
I personally don't mind too much about the Grade 7's moving up to High school, it was just that the school chose to drop this bombshell on us 4 weeks before the end of the school year. Not too fair and rather a shock to us all. As for the increase in the class sizes - that's another matter all together! Surely it's not beneficial to the kids to have bigger class sizes. There are so many studies to prove this!
On a lighter note, yesterday afternoon Reece enjoyed the Fun Day at school - except he got really nauseous on one of the rides (the second time on the same ride!). He couldn't even stand up! Thank goodness he wasn't physically ill! There was another ride where I wish I had had my camera with me- typical - I forgot it at home! They lift them up on chairs using air blown into a kind of balloon-type jumping castle thingy - almost parachute-style. There is a velcro closing door which they open once the kids are around 3 metres up in the air. This causes decompression as the air blasts out and the chairs drop really fast. Reece's expression was so funny- he looked so bewildered as if he didn't know where he was!
Well gotta go now- off to take Reece to cricket at Southdowns festival. I really am not in the mood. We had a lot of rain last night and I have to admit, was hoping the cricket was cancelled!
Oh well.....
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
What's been happening...
On Sunday 25/10/09....
I got accepted onto the Weeds & Wildflowers Site Creative Team ! What a privilege this is! They had a call for a couple of new CT members about a week ago and they sent me a reply last night. So excited as it means I get all their products for free now! Yay!!! Can't wait to get started. I'm hoping this will force me to scrapbook more now.
I have printed out some of my digi layouts and put them in an album. They look really great and it has inspired me to persevere. I also want to do the occasional hybrid or paper layout - so here's hoping I get my act into gear in amongst all my painting too.
Speaking of painting, I am still finishing off the 'girl with the guitar' for Shannon. It's looking lovely, but taking ages to dry- must be too much humidity in the Summer air at the moment. I also learnt all about Beeswax art last week- what fun!
It really is a fabulous medium. Your only limit is your imagination. This art form started with the Egyptians B.C. - also called Encaustic Art.
I had painted 3 small paintings in oil of indigenous birds and wasn't totally crazy about them- I found them a little boring. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and use beeswax! First I added small random blocks of scrapbook paper to the canvas, not covering the birds, but it did overlap here and there onto the birds.
I then covered the entire surface of the painted canvas with beeswax, then scratched the surface of the wax with a sharp piercing tool to create patterns as well as scratch over the outlines of the bird.
I then used Burnt Sienna oil paint and rubbed it over the surface, removing excess with a cloth. It settled beautifully into the scratches, enhancing the bird and the patterns, but giving an aged, almost fantasy-like look.
At art class yesterday, Johan said I should add some oil paint on top to give it depth- by lightening the background and making it more painterly. That has just finished it off perfectly! I want to finish off the remaining 2 bird paintings and perhaps take them to the house in Olifants.
On Monday 26/10/09...
Bad news- my car decided to pack up again yesterday!! I hate that car!! It seems the electric steering wheel lock is faulty so the car simply won't start. I'm waiting for BMW on call to send a tow truck out to fetch it. I feel like telling them to keep the darn thing!! Did I mention I hate the car? Well Leon says as my motorplan is up next year and as we've had nothing but trouble with the #%&***&^%$!!!*$!!! car, I can look at getting something new - so there's some good news after the bad!! This time I don't want a sedan- I want a small 4x4 - I'm tired of the low car. Good news now is I get to drive the Range Rover for a while!!! Yay!
BMW just phoned now while I was typing this to find out if I can get the car out of 'park' - but it's an Automatic so now goodness knows what time they'll get here as they need a technician to come out with the tow truck as the tech needs to first do something about getting the car to move first! What fun!
Oh well that's my 2 cents worth for Monday.
I re-discovered this amazing site again yesterday- I say "re-discovered" as I had loads of their wonderful handwriting fonts on my old desktop PC – and remembered yesterday that I haven’t downloaded them for my new laptop. So I popped in again and I was amazed at all the amazing new fonts plus they have the most awesome tips for personalizing your blog. So I definitely think I’m going to zshoosh up my blog too now. I just need to discover how to find more time in a day!!Check it out here: Kevin and Amanda.
Wednesday 27/10/09.....
Still now word on my car. No surprise as the repair shop at the BMW dealership is absolutely useless. I have never had any joy with them! So I guess I'll have to chase up on that today.
I'm off this morning to help my Dad look for fabric for their dining room chairs and for a little ottoman type storage thingy. Thye've had the dining suite sanded down and painted off-white. I think it'll make ahuge difference in the house as the house is very dark.
Mom & dad are off to Ian & Nikki for this weekend as it is Ian's birthday on Saturday (31 Oct). Lucky them to be able to get away! I am having withdrawals here as we haven't been to Olifants for so long and with school exams and other commitments, I guess it'll be December before we get there again.
Speaking of this weekend, I've finally got around to organising a Halloween party at home. We kind of miss living in Silver Lakes for the annual Trick or Treating! No-one does ot here as the houses are too far apart (& in my opinion the place has far too many uphills!!!).
so I sent out a cute invitation which I created with Gina Marie Huff's All Hallows' Eve digi kit (at Weeds and Wildflowers). What a cute kit- part of their new Sweet and Simple range.
I tried to add an image now of the invitation, but for some reason Blogger doesn't want to connect - so I'll try later.
Gotta get Shannon studying later for her exams as well as learn some of her words for her end-of-year singing concert. She is singing 5 songs. They're doing a "Cinemagic" theme this year so everything is done in the form of medleys in various movie categories. I think that'll be fun.
So that's me for today. Gotta get moving - sure Dad will be calling me shortly!
Vxx
On Sunday 25/10/09....
I got accepted onto the Weeds & Wildflowers Site Creative Team ! What a privilege this is! They had a call for a couple of new CT members about a week ago and they sent me a reply last night. So excited as it means I get all their products for free now! Yay!!! Can't wait to get started. I'm hoping this will force me to scrapbook more now.
I have printed out some of my digi layouts and put them in an album. They look really great and it has inspired me to persevere. I also want to do the occasional hybrid or paper layout - so here's hoping I get my act into gear in amongst all my painting too.
Speaking of painting, I am still finishing off the 'girl with the guitar' for Shannon. It's looking lovely, but taking ages to dry- must be too much humidity in the Summer air at the moment. I also learnt all about Beeswax art last week- what fun!
It really is a fabulous medium. Your only limit is your imagination. This art form started with the Egyptians B.C. - also called Encaustic Art.
I had painted 3 small paintings in oil of indigenous birds and wasn't totally crazy about them- I found them a little boring. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and use beeswax! First I added small random blocks of scrapbook paper to the canvas, not covering the birds, but it did overlap here and there onto the birds.
I then covered the entire surface of the painted canvas with beeswax, then scratched the surface of the wax with a sharp piercing tool to create patterns as well as scratch over the outlines of the bird.
I then used Burnt Sienna oil paint and rubbed it over the surface, removing excess with a cloth. It settled beautifully into the scratches, enhancing the bird and the patterns, but giving an aged, almost fantasy-like look.
At art class yesterday, Johan said I should add some oil paint on top to give it depth- by lightening the background and making it more painterly. That has just finished it off perfectly! I want to finish off the remaining 2 bird paintings and perhaps take them to the house in Olifants.
On Monday 26/10/09...
Bad news- my car decided to pack up again yesterday!! I hate that car!! It seems the electric steering wheel lock is faulty so the car simply won't start. I'm waiting for BMW on call to send a tow truck out to fetch it. I feel like telling them to keep the darn thing!! Did I mention I hate the car? Well Leon says as my motorplan is up next year and as we've had nothing but trouble with the #%&***&^%$!!!*$!!! car, I can look at getting something new - so there's some good news after the bad!! This time I don't want a sedan- I want a small 4x4 - I'm tired of the low car. Good news now is I get to drive the Range Rover for a while!!! Yay!
BMW just phoned now while I was typing this to find out if I can get the car out of 'park' - but it's an Automatic so now goodness knows what time they'll get here as they need a technician to come out with the tow truck as the tech needs to first do something about getting the car to move first! What fun!
Oh well that's my 2 cents worth for Monday.
I re-discovered this amazing site again yesterday- I say "re-discovered" as I had loads of their wonderful handwriting fonts on my old desktop PC – and remembered yesterday that I haven’t downloaded them for my new laptop. So I popped in again and I was amazed at all the amazing new fonts plus they have the most awesome tips for personalizing your blog. So I definitely think I’m going to zshoosh up my blog too now. I just need to discover how to find more time in a day!!Check it out here: Kevin and Amanda.
Wednesday 27/10/09.....
Still now word on my car. No surprise as the repair shop at the BMW dealership is absolutely useless. I have never had any joy with them! So I guess I'll have to chase up on that today.
I'm off this morning to help my Dad look for fabric for their dining room chairs and for a little ottoman type storage thingy. Thye've had the dining suite sanded down and painted off-white. I think it'll make ahuge difference in the house as the house is very dark.
Mom & dad are off to Ian & Nikki for this weekend as it is Ian's birthday on Saturday (31 Oct). Lucky them to be able to get away! I am having withdrawals here as we haven't been to Olifants for so long and with school exams and other commitments, I guess it'll be December before we get there again.
Speaking of this weekend, I've finally got around to organising a Halloween party at home. We kind of miss living in Silver Lakes for the annual Trick or Treating! No-one does ot here as the houses are too far apart (& in my opinion the place has far too many uphills!!!).
so I sent out a cute invitation which I created with Gina Marie Huff's All Hallows' Eve digi kit (at Weeds and Wildflowers). What a cute kit- part of their new Sweet and Simple range.
I tried to add an image now of the invitation, but for some reason Blogger doesn't want to connect - so I'll try later.
Gotta get Shannon studying later for her exams as well as learn some of her words for her end-of-year singing concert. She is singing 5 songs. They're doing a "Cinemagic" theme this year so everything is done in the form of medleys in various movie categories. I think that'll be fun.
So that's me for today. Gotta get moving - sure Dad will be calling me shortly!
Vxx
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Lessons learnt...
lesson # 1
Blog more! (need I say more)
lesson #2
Scrapbook more. And, here's a new layout which I did, albeit a digital one, at least I've scrapped! I still have to find a good photo for my paper layout I've almost completed about Shannon's obsession with the colour Orange but hey, could that be lesson # 3?
lesson # 3
Finish your layouts you've started!
lesson#4
Paint more! I really need to get into the habit of painting more. As I forgot all my paints and brushes at Olifants, I had to go buy more and after spending close to R2000 on a new stock of paint & brushes I think I really need to get painting! I now have no excuse, here or at Olifants!
lesson # 5
Get kids to do homework really early in afternoon - or it simply doesn't get done! They seem to forget there is something called homework unless I get them to do it as soon as lunch is over. Otherwise come dinner time and we're trying to juggle homework and dinner and bathing etc.
Get kids to do homework really early in afternoon - or it simply doesn't get done! They seem to forget there is something called homework unless I get them to do it as soon as lunch is over. Otherwise come dinner time and we're trying to juggle homework and dinner and bathing etc.
lesson#6
Take more "everyday" photos. Lately all I seem to have are photos of our trips to Olifants. So I think I need to take the time to practise my photography more. i thin I'll start this Saturday with Reece's second cricket practise. he really seemed to enjoy it and is very enthusiastic!
lesson # 7
Make an effort to remember which "practise" or "practice" to use where - instead of just guessing!! I am reasonably good at spelling plus I have a bachelor's degree in English, so one would think that I would be able to remember!!
Monday, October 12, 2009
I'm BACK!!! Yip, I have finally got back to the PC!! I've been painting, visiting the bush, got thru a very hectic school term 3 (including Shannon's Intermediate singing exam).
We've since had 3 visits to our house at Olifants and we look forward to the next visit the minute we leave the reserve to return home. Not sure when we'll get to go again as we have a few busy weekends coming up as well as Shannon's year-end exams and the term is also so short.
Our first visit was quite a task! I drove the Range Rover, Leon the bakkie and trailer and each vehicle was loaded to the brim with new linen, towels and goodness knows what else (except the kitchen sink!).
Corné and Kevin joined us with their kids for the first visit- thank goodness they could help us get everything sorted out.
We had the elephants behind the house pull over a tree and we had to get the rangers to move it (and the ellies) before we could go on our gamedrive.
On our next visit, Ian and Nikki drove down form Letsitele- such a quick 1 hour drive for them.
This was our 'ellie encounter' weekend!! We came across a breeding herd of around 50 ellies and theon young male decided we were not welcome and proceeded to mock charge us. We were relieved to eventually get out of that situation, even though we realised it was only a 'mock' charge, it was deifinitely real enough for us!! Shannon is now so scared of the elephants that she is wary of going on game drives at all.
Our third visit was a full 8 days of bushveld bliss! The kids were on school holidays and Leon took some time off work. Neal and Rika and mom visited for 3 days, then Graham, Rozanne and Scott joined us for the rest. Poor dad volunteered to look after the animals at home as we couldn't get anyone to 'babysit' at home. We had such a fabulous time. Saw so many animals. Ellies again made many appearances, yet thankfully, they were calm. We had a close encounter at hide dam with Graham & co. when a huge breeding herd walked down to drink and bath in thecdam while we were having lunch. We had to quickly make a hasty reverse out their way or we would have been surrounded by them.
It was amazing to watch the tiny baby calves bathing and playing in the dam.
Having spent more time there, we have now managed to clear out a lot of things and throw out stuff we didn't want. So the place is slowly becoming more the way I would like it. I'm looking forward to revamping it next year, but in the meantime I am planning the decorating and assembling all my ideas.
I start my art classes again tomorrow after a few weeks break over the holidays while Johan was away in Italy. I'm also looking forward to hear all about the Bi-centennial Art Expo in Venice that he took some students to. I have also got a few commissions from Ian - a contemporary sunset with elephants as well as a monochrome portait each of Calyleigh and Dee-Anne. I still need to complete the girl with the guitar I'm painting for Shannon's room at Olifants and then will start my task for art classes- a study of Baroque painting. I'm really looking forward to that. It's going to be a big challenge, but I know I'll learn a lot.
Today I also sent off my application for a spot on the Creative Team at Weeds and Wildflowers. I really hope I get accepted as I simply LOVE their digital designs!! I'm hoping this will be the way I'm going to get back into my scrapbooking again after being lazy for so long!
Gotta go now and do some stuff around the house and then pick up the kids.
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