Mrs M is my hero

I’ve had such a magnificent day today. My husband has pulled out ALL the stops to make my day unforgettable. Not only did he arrange a surprise birthday party for me on the weekend (without me knowing about it! Which is RARE – I have a radar of note), but he got up at 4:30 this morning to prepare a delectable dip for an array of exotic fruits (cherries, strawberries, kiwis, grapes etc) for breakfast. He decorated the house with balloons and got me the most amazing gifts. A good book, a gift voucher for a reflexology treatment at a spa place, a new pair of running shorts etc etc. All of them were thoughtfully selected as only my husband can.

Then at work I was sung to and had a peppermint cream cake bought for me. And I got lovely gifts from my colleagues! Not to mention the numerous SMSes and Facebook messages.

I went home for lunch excited as to what delicacy my wonderful husband was whipping up. He handed me a Fast Mail envelope on the way to the flat. I saw it was Mrs M’s handwriting. I was really touched that she had gone to the effort of writing me a nice card. I carefully opened the pink envelope and studied the cute picture on the front of the birthday card. The card felt fat, as if she had put something extra into the card. I opened it up and there it was. After waiting for 7 months, sending people and going back to the wretched place over and over, trying in vain to phone them over and over, and literally having to put my life on hold, I was finally holding it in my hand. My green ID document with my married name.

I SCREAMED!

Literally screamed. My husband was shocked at my outburst, people were staring… But I didn’t care. Mrs M. You are my hero today. I just had no idea. I thought I would be waiting at least another few weeks. I just can’t believe I have that thing in my hands at last.

Mrs M – THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, you trumped it. I love you!! This has been the best birthday of my entire LIFE!

VICTORY!

It’s really all everyone’s talking about at the moment. Every blog I’ve read today had something to do with the victory. Oh it was just so awesome. I sat on the edge of my seat for 80 minutes. I had a dry mouth and was filing my nails so profusely I’m surprised there’s still something left of them. When the final whistle blew we sat in silence for a few seconds before we screamed. It was just so surreal. We drove through the streets (took a while to find some life – this is PMB after all), and hooted at each other, screamed and waved.

Wow. What a rush! Flags and people hanging out of car windows. I giggled with glee every time a fellow South African returned our hooting. It was as though we suddenly all just knew each other. A great big family. This nation has so much spirit, so much joy, so much to offer… For once the differences were forgotten and all cultures celebrated together for one common reason. It was just magic. It’s at times like these where I really see how the scourge of crime is spoiling an otherwise incredible nation.

Being in the shops on Sunday I heard so many conversations between shop employees about where they had been the night before, how they celebrated, how wonderful the victory and the vibe had been… This nation is on such a high right now.

My personal high is a little over-shadowed by my sick husband. He really is miserable and suffering at the moment. It’s terrible when you see the person that you love more than anyone else in the world suffering, and you are powerless to do anything about it. He’s been booked off for a week. I hope he recovers before our weekend to Cape Town. I swear its stress causing all this. My husband has been seriously ill (I don’t mean sick-but-still-able-to-work kind of sick. I mean seriously-ill-in-bed-booked-off kind of sick) 3 times this year already. That’s just not normal. Something’s wrong here…

So a friend of a friend got married on Saturday afternoon. They left the wedding ceremony at 19:30. I had to wonder what they were doing at 21:00. I mean, it was their wedding night after all... But also the rugby world cup final… Decisions decisions…

Blessings

I consider myself a positive person. Someone that doesn't complain (much) - especially not about trivial things. I complain about big things - crime, the country, orphans, and injustices. Occasionally I will complain about money, and about how purposeless I feel at times, but generally I manage to deal with these things effectively and come out with a positive frame of mind. I really think that we are fortunate, my husband and I. Even though he doesn't always agree. We have a nice* place to stay, always have food on the table, have a car to drive, a job to go to, friends to visit, and sometimes even have enough to go out to dinner. Best of all, I have the best husband in the world. And he has the best wife**.

In short, I think we are quite blessed.

Recently, however, it seems as though blessings have just been showered on us. I didn't actually realise it until today. And I am so very grateful. As if the DVD player wasn't enough blessing for one month, my husband received a bunch of (brand new) theology and philosophy books for free. I now suddenly have a clear idea of what I want to do with my immediate future (and this has really given me purpose again). The finances that were needed for this little venture have just presented themselves effortlessly (well, thanks to wonderful family members that phoned around the whole world for me without any complaints), even leaving enough to fix the car (which we have been waiting to do for AGES). Not only that, but careful saving over the last few months has left us with a little bit extra to spoil ourselves with. Then the wonderful visit with my friend from England was an unexpected bonus. And yesterday I came to a conclusion about my friendships that has really made me feel free and unburdened. And today a friend made me a selfless and amazing offer that I will graciously accept. I am looking forward to a Girl's Night on the weekend, and a visit from my family the week after. And this week our manager has given us an extra half an hour lunch every day.

I find it is SO much easier to give somebody a gift, or bless somebody, than to accept a gift or a blessing from someone. I am so grateful to everyone who has blessed us in the past few weeks. I sometimes feel like we don't deserve all of this. I am finding my thank yous an inadequate compensation for what you have given us.

Thank you, God, for putting these wonderful people in our lives.

*Sometimes debatable (with so much noise from the birds, frogs, crickets, loud kids and students seeming to come together in this hub of activity that is our home), yet still a roof over our heads.
**His words, I promise.