Nature's paintbrush

I was walking to work earlier this week and the sky was the palest blue, the clouds held a hint of pink and a beautiful silver grey, such SOFT colours. They are such calm, peaceful shades and I marvelled at how different they were to the vivid colours of the South African skies. When the storms come in the clouds can be blue black, the sky is a deep blue and even the hues of the sunset are amazingly bright in their pinks and oranges. We are so lucky to have enjoyed both because they all hold a special beauty and evoke different emotions and feelings.
No matter where you go there will be beauty in the surroundings, whether it be the landscapes, the skies, mountains, weather or people, we just need to open our eyes to the gifts before us.
Okay then nuff said!!!
We have a busy, busy weekend ahead...Don and Maura arrive this evening and I finally get to experience the Irish work Christmas Party in all its glory tonight! Kirstin is also having a friend to sleep over on Saturday so the Rule household will be bulging on Saturday night.....hehe, bring it on!

Friday song - Hungry Eyes

I bought this movie a few weeks ago, one of my all time favourites...have a superb weekend everyone!

Busy...Busy

The silly season arrives early in Ireland, well in Dublin anyway. I cannot blame it all on this fact, but we all seem to be so busy ALREADY. On Thursday evening the school put on a production of Grease...the girls bought tickets to go and watch and the parents were reduced to mere taxi drivers! We made the most of it and went off for a Thai dinner at Siam Thai in Dundrum...the BEST Pad Thai I have ever eaten...sigh. Malcolm and I both had the dim sum to start which was also delicious and for mains Malcolm chose a ginger chicken dish with noodles which was also lovely.
On Friday evening I found myself protecting the D in a hockey match, playing centre back for the first time ever. I have to confess to being terrified - a mistake on my part = goal! Somehow I stepped up to the challenge and played surprisingly well...in fact one of my teammates told me I '" saved" her skin (she was right back) on several occasions by stopping/tackling her mark!
Saturday morning I was up early, Kirstin plays badminton every Saturday and needs to be dropped off at 09h30/10h00, she has made it her personal plan to play badminton in the Olympics one day, so it is crucial that she makes it to all the practices available, the fact that a certain boy plays has absolutely NOTHING to do with her chronic interest in the game.
Having said that the renewed interest in her educational institution is inspiring and as long as she wants to be at school I cannot complain....for now! In all seriousness she is a different child, she has more energy and va voom again, very much the old Kirstin I thought I had lost for a while.
Jessica is still playing hockey, games on Saturdays too and even scored 3 goals in one game...plus numerous goals in other games so she is very pleased wit herself. She is also surprisingly happier about using public transport to make her way home in the afternoon, providing a certain lad is on said transport...oh boy here we go! We had her parent teacher conference a while ago, in fact it was the day after I tore my calf muscle - Malcolm got to go and enjoy the experience of J's teachers waxing lyrical about her all on his own, and they really did. She certainly made us proud!
Back to the weekend then....
I spent the rest of the day between the hair dresser, Mink, the mall and Carla's (for make up)...it was THE day of the Rock Ball and it was such fun being so pampered....and yes I will admit a bit O.T.T of me...but it was only the ONCE, and may never happen again!
The ball was lovely, we had a string quartet at the champagne reception with big fat plump and juicy chocolate dipped strawberries being waved under our noses while we all oohhed and aahhed over each other. Considering we usually meet in sweats, head bands and gum guards it is quite something to see everyone in their finery! The dinner was a four course affair and afterwards there was a live band for the dancing. I got to spend time with M and D, she came to Dublin especially for the ball which was brilliant and we found ourselves curled up on chairs in the residents lounge at 03h00 trying valiantly (and successfully) to finish our bottles of wine. In the morning I discovered that the last bottle had not been my smartest move and my punishments was the third hangover I have ever had to endure in my life...and after numero 2 I remember saying never again...

This weekend we get to hang out with Don and Maura, yes they are popping over for a visit and we are all thrilled...I have my work Christmas party on Friday evening which I am looking forward to...they only arrive in Dublin at 22h00 so the possible plan, if they are in the mood is to meet up in town later....much later! The rest of the weekend the calendar is clear...I think it is my only free weekend until after Christmas now! I guess I will have to watch the alcohol intake on Friday to ensure an enjoyable Saturday! Okay....enough writing, not sure you can all read so much of my drivel in one sitting anymore!

Defeated

Yes I guess I have to admit that trying to maintain a blog, work, sport and a social life is not possible. I am most definitely not superwoman. Even the Friday songs are sitting on a queue and if it was not for the fact that I had set a few up a couple of weeks ago nothing would have popped up on Friday! Work is going well, I had a performance review on Friday and it was all good and my boss is very happy with my progress.
My friends on the other hand must feel deserted, which is horrible because at the end of the day they are the ones who make life fun and interesting, the ones who help me through my bad days, and celebrate the good ones! Hopefully that will all start getting back on track too. So to any of you reading this (if you are even still checking because writing has become so sporadic) I will be trying to fix that soon! I may not be in touch but you are all on my mind!!!

Oh My..A Friday Song

Did I ever think I would post a Boy Zone song??? NO!! But this is kinda fun and I like the video...who knew.

Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon

This is very popular over here in Dublin at the moment, after all the good oldies I thought something new deserved a chance and this got the nod!

By The Way...

Work is awesome! Everything is coming together and I am managing to deal with most of my work ON MY OWN!!! Of course the really complicated queries go to the member on our team who has been there 2 years...and thank goodness the customers know he knows...if you know what I mean! When they call in, they ask for him specifically - great guilt reliever...and something to aspire to as well! Having said all that...I still LOVE Friday!!!! This weekend I am trauling the mall for a red dress, my 'stylist' has advised me that an above the knee red dress is the way to go...we will see what he comes up with! Malcolm is off to London tomorrow morning early, he is FINALLY going to see the Gunners live! I hope that Arsenal make it a great memorable experience for him!

I am discovering....

That this passion test "stuff" is really tough! I started reading the book and next thing I was in tears. Rolling down my cheek tears, not prickling the back of my eyes, brimming but not falling...no full on streaming, wet face the whole shibang! I sat there feeling rather empty and hopeless, having no idea what I was going to list as my TOP 10 passions, and I was only reading the build up to the actual list!
In the end I managed, I think my list has 12 items, and I have discovered that I tend to belittle my passions and accomplishments for some bizarre reason. I have cooking as a passion but then I decided that I was wrong... because I do not rush home every evening to lovingly create marvelous meals, I throw together bolognaise sauces, pasta sauces and stir fries as quickly as possible.
If it was my PASSION surely I would be concocting things all weekend? Never mind the fact that my favourite shop happens to be Kitchen Compliments, that I cannot walk into a book shop and NOT pick up a cook book and that my book collection is 90% recipe books! So yes I have put it back on the list...along with people, yes people I know I have a passion for people.

And a house by the sea...it has wooden floors, light flowing curtains billowing in the sea breeze, an enormous kitchen surrounded by the lounge and dining area and lots of windows, sparsely furnished, but not bare...and I am standing there bare foot in a casual flowing cotton dress, my hair tied up with flour on my cheek....yes you have to visualise...and that is what I saw when I closed my eyes - don't laugh!
Now all of you grab a piece of paper and spend 20 minutes making your own lists...off you go now!

The Passion Test

On Friday I met a friend in town for coffee and we ended up at Waterstones where I came across a book called "The Passion Test" by Janet Bray Attwood and Christ Attwood. This blurb caught my attention:

The simplest, clearest way to get started on knowing what you want is getting clear on who you are

I bought the book because just that morning I had been lamenting the fact that I may need another purpose, also the night before I had been having a discussion with Malcolm about the fact that I do not know who I am and what I REALLY want.
I am trying to listen to signs out there in the universe and maybe this was one...I will let you know how it goes! The blurb was my sign because I cannot tell you who Natalie is, and I think it is about time I found out!

Contemplative

I took today off. It is rather marvelous to start the morning on skype with my sister and now I get to do a blog post too. The problem is I have SO much going on in my head and I am battling to filter it and turn it into something interesting. I was looking at pictures of my girls and it suddenly really struck me, they are BOTH so grown up. Kirstin has suddenly shot up, she has always been a head shorter than Jess and now that space between them is not so obvious anymore. What happened? The other day I was bathing them, dressing them, feeding them, strapping them into their car seats...watching them in my rear view mirror as they both sat in the back. Now I always have one of them sitting beside me in the car. The years have whirled past and I have loved them all but I honestly miss the days when I was mommy. I have a lot more independence than I did when they were younger yet I have never felt more lost. When they were little it was THEM 24/7 and I don't recall ever begrudging them a minute of my time (Malcolm may decide to disagree here???) I had a purpose. Now I have some of my time back, time for myself and I do believe I have tried to make the most of it...but why do I often feel like I am floundering? I am coming to terms with a new set of rules, I know I am still a guide and a teacher to my children and luckily even a friend, but always a parent... the NEED they had has lessened, which is as it should be, if it were any other way I would have been doing them a great disservice, I know that. I guess I need a new purpose...any ideas?
I considered not posting this, but as this is for my family and friends far away I decided that it is something to share, especially to those friends who are still on the journey with little children...hold on to every moment and make as many amazing memories as you can, before you know it, you will be missing that little hand in yours.

Hey Hey it's Friday!!

We watched "What happens in Vegas" on Sunday night and this was one of the songs, great Friday song!!! You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate. Oh and the movie was pretty good too!

Ghouls, witches and more

I went to my first Irish hen party! A very tame affair when compared to the Brits who fly over the pond to Temple Bar for an entire weekend of clucking...and chucking, that would be chucking the drink in, and if the streets of Temple Bar are anything to go by, chucking it back out again too. Anyhoo...this was with a group of work colleagues and after dressing her up in much finery, we proceeded to eat drink and be merry. Malcolm had gone off with a few of his work mates for drinks and once they had all headed to their Halloween parties Malcolm came over and met up with us for the rest of the evening.
At 02h00 I (yes I) sensibly decided to call it a night and we found ourselves battling to get a taxi and contending with a downpour which found us cowering at a bus shelter waving frantically at any taxi until one took pity on us!

I had good reason for bowing out early on Friday - Derrick and Rose's Halloween/housewarming/birthday party...talk about multi-tasking! We were all to get dressed up and go knocking on their door for food, drink, terror and fun at
20h00! The kids had shopped and plotted for a whole day and turned into undercover FBI school girls while I was lucky enough to pick up a pair of dark and light grey striped pajamas which worked well as a prisoner/convict outfit. We went shopping for Malcolm on Saturday morning but of course everything was long gone so we put together an ice hockey player outfit for him (think Jason - in the hockey mask - but only showing his good side...who can tell me what scary movie that was by the way?) and I offered to give him some cuts and bruises but he declined. Well pictures speak a 1000 words so here are a few to share!