A Thought About a Thought

I’ve always loved reading so much!  I remember as a child I loved books and as a teen I think I read every book in every series I could get my hands on (Babysitters Club!!!!).  I always thought that when I had children I would want to instil in them that same love.  Well… that second part isn't panning out like I had planned but luckily I have other little kids around that I can read with. 
When Chris bought the whole set of Roald Dahl books when we first got married I thought he was crazy.  Not crazy for buying the books, but crazy for buying THOSE books.  I mean, I had read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a child but there were WAY more in the set than just that.  As time went by, the books just sat on the shelf.  The longer I lived here, the more I heard about how much the English just love Roald Dahl and ALL of his books. 
I decided that I would take them to the twins house whenever I was watching them and we’d read because the only other books they had there were: a. in German or b. books I'd read them 1,000’s of times before.
So we started with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the kids LOVED it (they were also reading it in school) and I found I loved it too (especially making all the different voices).  We often talked about the factory and did crafts along with what we’d read.  We painted our own interpretation of the factory with chocolate paint (water and cocoa powder), drew the characters, and one day even had “Nerds” from the American shop because – they were made by Wonka!
I was surprised at how fast we got through the book and decided the next book we’d read was called, The Twits.  It was about 90 pages long, so I figured we’d have that book for a few weeks.  Nope – one rainy day we sat down and me and the twins (they are 5 I might add) finished the book in one sitting!  It was great!!
I don't know why Americans do read more Roald Dahl, but the books are very fun!
I found this quote in the book that I loved!  Let me give you some background.  The Twits are a horrible, dirty, ugly, nasty couple.  Who hate everything – even children!  He has a long hairy beard that gets food stuck in it and he never cleans it and she is the most ugly person you’ll ever see!  And they love to play jokes on each other!!  Here is the quote about Mrs. Twit (and why she is the way she is!):

“But the funny thing is that Mrs Twit wasn't born ugly.  She’d had quite a nice face when she was young.  The ugliness had grown upon her year by year as she got older.  Why would that happen?  I’ll tell you why.

If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face.  And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly.  You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.

Roald Dahl – The Twits

Fathers Day Thoughts

Fathers Day is always a bittersweet time for me.  I am so lucky to have an amazing father, an amazing grandfather, and one amazing grandfather in heaven (who I was lucky enough to get to know).  All my life I have been surrounded by these strong men.  All of these men taught me the meaning of hard work, loyalty, spirituality, and unconditional love.  I am so lucky! So this Fathers Day I have a lot to be thankful for – such blessings, I have come to realize, are not given to everyone – and I realize how extremely rare and precious my association with these great men is.  My life would be hugely different if they were not in my life.

But, my heart also hurts on Fathers Day.  My mind is racked with guilt and sadness because there is another man in my life – who because of me, cannot be a Father.  That is a hard burden to carry.  It isn't like I think of it every day, but on occasions like this my deepest regret is that I cant make Chris a Father (or my dad a Grandpa).  This title is one that I know, I KNOW, Chris would excel at.  I watch him interact with children and I think how lucky I am to have someone that kind and gentle in my life. 

Now, just like Mothers Day – I know you don't have to give birth to a child to be a good, positive influence in his/her life.  Chris is the perfect example of that.  He loves his nieces and nephews like a Father, teaches like a Father, and cares like a Father.  Although, he doesn't officially have the title “Father” he lives up to it in so many ways.

So this Fathers Day I want to say to Chris, I’m sorry for not being able to give you children.  But, your strength and example in developing father-like qualities drives me to develop my mother-like qualities.  And although you might not officially be a Father – you love like one, and that is just as good, or maybe even better than just having the title.

I Moved… Part II

The Roman numeral looks a lot better than the “2” right?  Anyway, here I am again, and surprisingly here YOU are again for more of the tour… so without further ado ….

Kitchen:

The Kitchen is sooooooo much bigger than the other flat.  It still has no disposal or dishwasher (except me and Chris) but I enjoy the room.  It is quite outdated, but we actually have cupboards in this flat as well – bonus!!  Just a question – is is strange to have curtains in a kitchen??  Should I get something for the window besides the roller blind?

Our squatty fridge complete with collection of DIY things on top – hopefully when we re-do the Sitting Room we can get rid of this “feature” – not the fridge obviously – the collection….

The window  ledge.  Cookbooks (thanks Mom and Abbie), recipe cards, (the cups have gone now), and plants.

The Bathroom:

The Bathroom is a lot bigger as well.  They put in the 70’s bathtub – just for us (they hate us).  Chris came in the bedroom the other day and said, “Its amazing, after 5 years of marriage I FINALLY have my own shelf in the bathroom!!!”

P.S. Still no shower Boo!!

The Bedroom:

This room needs the most help – by far!  But, it is second on our list so it will have to be plain and boring for now.  Yes, that is a stuffed rabbit, and yes I brought it from America with me, and yes, occasionally it has a spot on my bed.  So what?  My life my business – right!?!?

The view from the bedroom window.  The pub across the street.  People think that because it is a small town that we live in, that it is nice and quiet – its not.  That road has constant traffic all day and on the weekends we have all the drunks walking home from the pubs and clubs and it is NOISY.  That is one downside to moving – at our other flat we were far away from the street we never heard anything.  It’s a bit different now and we are still trying to get used to it.

These are more flats on top and the local take away and fish and chip shop on the bottom.  Sometimes the smell can be lovely – but most the time the smell of the food – all the time, until 2:30 AM is quite sickening.  Oh well!!

The car park.

The Office:

My desk – quite busy I mist admit.  But, there is method in my mess.

Shared bookcase (by shared I mean Chris has a FEW books on here – the rest are mine.).  Also, remember when you were little and you saw adds in the magazines for Sea Monkeys and you asked your mom and she always said no??  No, just me??  Anyway, the other month we saw a kit at the shop for a reduced price and so I got them and now am raising my own tank of Sea Monkeys (but really, that is a whole other post).  Also yes, that is a teddy bear, but I have it here for a reason.  When we first viewed the flat we walked in this empty room and I immediately thought – Nursery!  I realize in my mind that devoting a whole room to a baby that might never be would be silly so the logical thing would be an office – and I love the office.  But, I keep the teddy bear in the room to remind me that miracles do happen and that, if God sees fit, this room might not always be an office.

The view down.  The office is on the same side as the bedroom so the view is pretty much the same.

Chris’ office desk area – empty compared to mine – well they do say opposites attract.

 

Well there you go – there is my new flat.  We really do love it.  There is a lot more room and Chris and I have even had to shout, “Where are you?!??!” Which never happened in the old flat.  I wish I had a magic wand and could have it all decorated to my taste but I am having to learn that, as an adult it takes time.  This is the last move until we move back to America (hopefully) so we want to make it as homey as possible.  I am going to be re-doing the Sitting Room within the month (oh yeah, I’ll take pictures).

Have a good weekend!!!