Peaceful existence

Everyday, I walk past this piece of 'art' on Russell Street on my way to work.
Usually, I'm kinda late or nearly late, so I'm walking rather briskly to get there.
This morning, I decided to slow down and take a good look.

It's not so much that I have absolutely no idea what this is... Nor have I really bothered to go close to it to see if there's a plaque that will try and tell me what it is and why I should appreciate and be in awe of it.

It strikes me as beautiful because it's been allowed to linger there
I think most people think it's a bit of a farce, but... but despite that...
it's still there
happily sitting on Russell Street
waiting for people like me to admire it
and wonder whether the artist was mentally challenged.

But I like it,
I like that it's there
I like that it's Ok for it to be there
I like that the people are Ok with it just being there
It's kind of peaceful
I like that
a lot.

Thyme and time again

As I stood over the stove top making what promises to be delicious dinner for the family, I am once again reminded of how the most scarce resource I have at my disposal is time. This came second to thyme - which I have just run out of: making my onion frying moments much less enjoyable.

Anyway, why am I thinking about time while cooking? Quite simply because I really enjoy spending some time over the weekend cooking and catching up with Olga while I pretend to be a chef and force the rest of them to eat my "creations". Spending time with the family is not just free therapy - more than that, it's a necessity, like the air I breathe and like the blood that flows freely in my veins. This Sunday, I'm starting to wonder what else I could be doing with my life to have more of them and less of everything else.

Around my loved ones, I am quite simply a better man, a happy dad and a loving husband.
It doesn't take much to please my girls either
I just have to arrive,
And open my arms.

Much as I like to feed them good food and fill their stomachs
They do a damn good job of feeding me emotionally and filling my heart

So today, I'm feeling emotionally hungry
And I'm wondering whether I eat regularly and enough :)
And I'm wondering whether my life will take me into new directions in 2009
And I'm wondering whether new directions mean more emotional food
Because I love food
I'm just wondering...
Just wandering.

Work and Life

Life is very interesting at the moment. I seem to be lost in a world of pregnancy intensified emotional discussions that seemingly have no rational basis.

The biggest obstacle for me is that I am a fairly logical person. Although I have some level of EQ,my thinking processes are mostly governed by rational and logical thought. These processes are not much help when it comes to discussions that are primarily centered on how you feel, why you feel a certain way and talking about feelings and validating them despite the fact that they come from some place that seem makes no sense.

At work, it's the complete opposite. Most decisions are solely based on supposed rational thought. To me, this is probably just as bad. I'm finding out very quickly that two parts of my life are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum at the moment. Although one might think that that would equate to some level of balance, all it actually does is confuses the hell out me :)

The solution:
1. The best I can come up with is to bring Olga to work and let her sort them out!
2. Bring some files home so my wife can review those and get more in touch with her boring accountant side:) - halfway through the review of one of those files, I'm hoping she'll look up and say :"THIS is what you do for a living? No wonder you don't know ANYTHING!!"

And then ,as if by magic, a certain weird kind of peace will befall upon all aspects of my life :)

The Cold Weetbix Affair

I'm on the bus. I'm a bit tired and even though I think I look fairly grumpy this morning, I am giggling inside because I can't help but find it funny that we are in a state of partial denial when it comes to our microwave.

We are blessed to have a microwave that is somewhat moody. Lazy is probably a better word. So the problem is this: everytime we use the machine for longer than around 5 minutes (as Olga has done last night when she made delicious jacket potatoes), the stupid thing packs up and refuses to heat anything up. Worse than that, it PRETENDS that it's heating something. The lights will come on, the dish will go round and round and it'll beep at of the end, thereby creating the ILLUSION that it's actually done a decent job only to leave you bitterly dissapointed as I was this morning to dicover that my weetbix were left cold and miserable in the breakfast bowl.

But that's not so much the funny part. What I find funny (and actually quite beautiful) is that Olga and I have yet to just 'call it' and throw the damn thing away. Instead, being optimists and often emotionally driven, we keep 'giving it another chance'. My wife was quite firm this morning when I suggested that we chuck it, she said:"we don't need to throw it away just yet, it probably just needs a day or two to recover and then it'll be fine". And I just nodded my head in a way that said :"of course, what was I thinking - we should give the machine another chance"

And so this is the impact that Olga has had on my life - I would have thrown this thing away a long time ago if it was just up to me, but in many areas of my life, I am reminded by my better half to take a bit of a softer approach to life and give it another chance and not to see the world as black or white but rather as the emotional gray that reality often confronts me with.

Who said you couldn't find and count your blessings in a bowl of cold weetbix and a lazy microwave?

Now, on the bus, nearly there, I'm hungry :)

Weekend ramblings

It's Saturday - first day of a long weekend.

I've had lots of sleep - more than I've had the entire week in fact (which isn't saying much)
I'm feeling slightly rested but also - pensive...

Thinking mostly about how much work it actually takes to keep relationships moving, and keeping them sane and staying connected.

Can't help but wonder what life will be like with the next little one who will arrive in two months' time. I know he'll be a catalyst for something - and i'm hoping that that'll be a positive thing :)

Now, I prepare to spend an entire long weekend with the family, a weekend spent with my loved ones, with friends, with good food, with strong tea, with happy faces, with my favourite little person, and with my favourite (slightly bigger than normal right now) person.

As I start winding down - let me go and invest in the one thing where I know the ROI is always great, always positive and always guaranteed.

That's right, I managed to write about spending time with my family using the concept of ROI. haha.