Sore Head

I am tired. I was up very late last night with my boy who had a Very Bad Headache. Earlier in the day he’d fallen off a chair and fell into a small gap between said chair and the wall, banging his neck/head in the process. He’d climbed up on the chair to check the calendar to check when R1’s birthday was. Awww…

It was sore. He cried hard but just for a few minutes but then played ‘normally’ for the rest of the day. I say ‘normally’ because, well he was rather tired and silly, but I was confident that he didn’t have a head injury or anything really nasty.

But from 10pm until around 2am he was restless, waking crying quite often and holding his ear on the sore side. Poor little champ. I stayed with him for most of that time cause I wasn’t sure what was wrong and he usually sleeps quite well. In the end after regular doses pamol through the night, we made it to morning and he was fine.

Tonight just before bed, he came to me with a plaster on his head.

“Why have you got a plaster on your head son?’

“It’s so I don’t hurt myself.”

Awwwww…. I love him.

Excuse the bad picture….it’s completely dark in his room, and didn’t want to wake him with using the flash more than once.

Please pray for Zimbabwe

I have been reading This Is Zimbabwe regularly over the past few weeks. The situation there is more than tense. There are ongoing reports of violence, intimidation and torture of civilians. I do not know what the political answer is to these problems and I really hope things don’t have to get worse before things come to a head.

Sometimes I wonder what I can do to help in these situations. Just an ordinary Mum, living in suburbia. I have no friends in high places, I don’t know much about civil action, who or how to write to the authorities, and how to put pressure on people who can make a difference. There are those who continually use whatever legal means are available to them, and write letters and email campaigns to Presidents and Embassies, and the United Nations and the media. And while I think that this is commendable and essential in the struggle, somehow I don’t think Thabo Mbeki would feel compelled to action on the basis of a letter from me. But, I do also firmly believe in a God who can turn things around.

Today there has been a call to prayer for Zimbabwe. I couldn’t help but pass it on to all of you who read here in the hope that those of you who have faith can pray. Let’s pray for a quick removal of unjust leaders, a stop to the violence, and for a just democratic order to be restored.

Tiggerific!

And now for something a little light hearted after all the seriousness. I don’t very Tiggerish actually….feel more like Owl today…how about you?

Your Score: Tigger

You scored 16 Ego, 13 Anxiety, and 15 Agency!

And as they went, Tigger told Roo (who wanted to know)
all about the things that Tiggers could do.

“Can they fly?” asked Roo.

“Yes,” said Tigger, “they’re very good flyers, Tiggers
are. Strornry good flyers.”

“Oo!” said Roo. “Can they fly as well as Owl?”

“Yes,” said Tigger. “Only they don’t want to.”

“Why don’t they want to?” well, they just don’t like it
somehow.”

Roo couldn’t understand this, because he thought it
would be lovely to be able to fly, but Tigger said it was
difficult to explain to anybody who wasn’t a Tigger himself.

You scored as Tigger!

ABOUT TIGGER: Tigger is the newest addition to the Hundred Acre Wood, and he lives with Kanga and Roo, because Roo’s strengthening medicine turned out to be the thing that Tiggers like best. Tigger is bouncy and confident -some of his friends think he is a little TOO bouncy and confident, but attempts to unbounce him tend to be fruitless.

WHAT THIS SAYS ABOUT YOU: You are a positive and confident person. You feel capable of dealing with anything and everything, and funnily enough, you usually ARE. You don’t worry about much, and you love to go out and find new adventures.

Your friends and family might sometimes be a little exasperated by your boundless enthusiasm. You don’t like to admit your mistakes, and when you find yourself in over you head, you tend to bluff your way out of things. You would be surprised, however, at how happy the people around you would be if you would actually admit to a mistake. It would make you seem more human, somehow.

Link: The Deep and Meaningful Winnie-The-Pooh Character Test

We Will Remember Them

ANZAC Day 2008

Auckland War Memorial

Lest We Forget

Terribly serious things I think about

You know you have really nothing to say when your post title is like this one hey?! I just know I still enjoy blogging and haven’t written (anything other than book reviews; and they don’t count) for ages and I also know that the longer it is that I don’t write the harder it will be. Just gotta get back into the routine of twaddling out my personal waffle on the screen and making letting you all read it.

So here, have a look at some of the things that go round inside my brain on any given day at any given time. Some of it’s overly serious.

For instance: It’s the 75th Anniversary of Hitler’s rise to power this year…..and he rose to that position of nasty dictator through a democracy. I find that just a little bit unnerving. We kind of sit back in a democracy and think that all’s well and nice and fair and equitable. Here’s something he said: “How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don’t think.” Doesn’t that just make you stop and think! Sure made me think and more thinking on this I will do!

Or this one: Zimbabwe. Does anyone else think about Zimbabwe? Check out this blog if you want to read what I’ve been reading about the situation there. I find it hard to believe things like this can not only happen but can go on for so long. And no, I don’t have the answer. I wish I did. And China…what’s with China? And Chinese arms going to Zimbabwe? Huh? And the Olympics? Huh?

I know, I know not very cheery, so how about this one: I think about how long it is acceptable to have washing on the line before the neighbours will notice. You know the wash that goes out and is nearly dry but you (OK, I) don’t bring in because I am procrastinating and then it rains and so there’s no point bringing it in any more and maybe the sun will come out in the morning and dry it and then I’ll bring it in. And so on. Repeat all week.

Or this one: Why am I getting so many spam comments on my Christmas post and no others?

Or this one: ( and I know I’m not alone on this one) What’s for dinner? Last night I made a beef stir fry. I didn’t really want beef stir fry, after all I’m happy with a sandwich or… or …well nothing, but I thought it best that the children eat and that I should probably make something for my husband working hard all day and all. WELL. R1 yelled his head off hungry while I was making it, so I fed him other things to keep him going until dinner was ready, by which time he wasn’t hungry. B3 ate plain rice, E5 ate about half, and as for husband, he didn’t have any. It was all served and wrapped up in the fridge for him to eat later and when he came home, he had an ice cream cone and was all satisfied because he’d had a late lunch. Why do I bother? I do not Know.

And today I ‘m thinking that tomorrow is ANZAC day. (It’s the day that marks the first major military campaign of the Australians and New Zealanders and a day when both Australians and New Zealanders remember those who have served.) And last year I remember wanting to go to a dawn service. Maybe tomorrow I will do it.

I Am David

I Am David – Anne Holm

This is a great little book aimed at younger readers. It was written for 9-13 year olds and is about a boy who escapes from a concentration camp and flees across Europe. It is well written, and while as an adult I wanted to know more about where he was and why he was imprisoned (i.e. the politics of it all) it was silent on these issues which is probably appropriate for a younger person, and not altogether necessary for the story in any case.

I enjoyed the character of David, and found myself ever hopeful that he would survive and make it to safety and freedom. The story of David’s live unfolds gradually throughout the book and he discovers along with the reader how he came to be in the camp and why he was helped to survive by the commandant whom he hated.

I remember reading this at school and enjoyed it again this second time around.

The Notebook

The Notebook – Nicholas Sparks

I read this as part of the 888 Reading Challenge and it was from my Books to Movies category. Whenever I see a movie that has been based on a novel, I often wonder whether the book or the movies is better. In this case, I think the movie is better.(Or maybe the movie ruined the book for me?) While I enjoyed the book and it was an easy and fast read, the book was ’shallower’ than I’d imagined. It is a great love story, and the ending bittersweet, but the writing…nothing special.

I still maintain that where possible it’s better to read first and see the movie second.

A Long Way Gone

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier – Ishmael Beah.

Shocking. Violent. Graphic. This book opened my eyes to some of the realities of civil war and conflict for me. I think when we hear these stories in the news of conflicts in Africa and other places, we somehow don’t really get it. This book helped me get it. In it, Ismael Beah tells the story of how one day while away from home visiting a friend the civil war in Sierra Leone reached his home. He is 12 years old, and alone. Little does he know that he’ll never see his family again, and in his attempts to find safety finds himself conscripted into the army, addicted to drugs and committing horrendous acts of cruelty as a boy soldier. He even tells of children he knew who were in training at the age of 7 or 8.

He is one of the ‘lucky’ ones who was helped to get away from the front lines and eventually rehabilitated. He now lived in New York where he works to help children in conflicts.

An excellent book.

The English Patient

The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje

Hmmm. What can I say?

Put me to sleep.

Maybe it’s just me though because there are books written about this book. (!?!???)

Left To Tell

Left to Tell – Imaculee Ilibagiza

Wow wow wow.

This is the true story of a woman’s survival of the Rwandan holocoust in 1994. I had only a basic understanding of what happened there just a few short years ago, but this book helped me learn more about it. The story is so horrific, and it’s shocking to think that it happened under our noses not so long ago.

What stood out for me though was this womans incredible story of survival. She hid in a bathroom along with several other women for 91 days while the killing was going on nearby. Not only that but the house was regularly searched by the killers and miraculously the women were never found. It is also the story of how she discovered God and with Him, hope and courage and a future in the midst of death.

This is a great book to read if you want to see what the world is like outside of our sphere, to be brought to a horrible reality of the evil capabilities of men and women, and to be inspired in a faith that sees hope even in the darkest situation.

I was reflecting on why I am often drawn to read about war etc, and one reason is that I don’t think we should walk around with our heads in the sand (especially in our safe, prosperous nation) blind to the fact that the harsh reality is that these things can happen to anyone, in any nation. But not only that, but time and time again I find that these stories of survivors bring such hope. Amazingly when it seems that there is no hope, and no good and only disaster, the survivors who live to tell their stories share insights that show that people who resist these evils may not necessarily overcome it, but in resisting die with dignity. To me that is hope, and courage and triumph.