nBlog

My Friend Andee brought up a very valuable question in her (fabulous) Blog:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

She asks THE question:

It brings up this question: In a day and age with no Little Yellow Birds and no Expectations of behavior, do I continue to try and instill these old-fashioned values in my kids, or do I throw in the towel and give them a fighting chance amongst peers who have no respect for others, much less, themselves?

And this brings me to a topic that is eating at me since some time now (since it happened, actually). Here is the story [rant on]:

I have the same problem. Here is our personal conundrum:

We have 5 sets of direct neighbors (as we are in the middle of a settling). One family has one kid, Mark, who is 4. The other family has two kids. Their smallest, Alice, 5, plays with Mark. Their older boy, Peter, 8, plays, well, not with many kids, it seems. (Btw, I changed the names. They’re not their real names).

I cannot say I initially disliked them. They are very different than we are, rather uptight and closed. But I remained friendly and did all the necessary neighbor stuff: Invited them to garden parties, wrote them Christmas cards, gave them an Easter basket and so on (although none of this was ever reciprocated, but these are things I do not measure, so I don’t care).

The kids are EXTREMELY well behaved. As far as mute counts as well behaved. You seldom hear them talk at all, and surely not in the presence of adults. But. I am continuously finding out they are… mean. Just evil. I mean it. (more…)

I know I didn’t post much. What with an almost full-time job a new (old) house begging for renovations, and a lovely family demanding care and entertainment, I feel thetime for zeh internetz is limited. And what I have, I usually spend on Worth (as well you know).

But! A time will come where you will hopefully see a post each day. Right, EACH day!

I committed to the 30 Days Photo Frenzy of Worth, where a photo will be taken each day according to a self-chosen topic. I already have my topic, and it will be fun!

We also decided to do a 12 Hours of Christmas photo series, so you will see some Christmas pix for sure. So stay tuned, photos are bound to come.

The Worth1000 photo challenge will happen this January. Unfortunately, I cannot participate this time, because I do not have the time to do so at the moment.

But no one keeps YOU from checking out all the amazing “One Photo A Day” Blogs.

Here is a list, sorted alphabetically by Worth member, followed by the theme they chose for the 30 days.

Andromeda5000 – CloseUp ABC

BerlinBear – Texas Sky

capriccio – Around The House

celticfrog – Weather In Huron County

Clickchick – The Golden Mean

cshutt – Abstracts

Craigr1978 – 105mm lens

cridley – Three Of A Kind

essjaynz – Toys

hickchick33 – One Theme A Week

Icebunny – Things I’ve Yet To Do

Isabella2006 – Macro Photography

kimbomac – Liquids And Glass

kimbomac – Family Portraits

Kookaburra – Shapes From my Kitchen

learn2swim96 – Macro Photos, mostly B&W

lmorrow57 – Sculpture And Statuary

MasterGnu – No Countryside

mennufer – Colors And Shapes (Graphic Abstracts)

mmc9496 – 30 Days Of Various Techniques

MrAverage -Apple Faces

MrNelson – Lensbaby Mono

nofue77 – Visual Diary

Pr4ktic – Beaches Of Rio De Janeiro

Regoch – The Secret Life Of Glass

Rhiannonsmommy – 50mm f1.8 Lens

Secretatlantis – Shapes And Lines In Duotones

SigloV – Using The Canon 85mm f/1.8 Lens at f/1.8

Suedre – Stuff

Suziecuchon – Dallas Fort Worth Texas

thephrog – Monterey Peninsula

tombaretto – Macro

whalelight  – Macro Photos (with subthemes)

WorthyNick – Macro (mostly colour)

Xaromir – Close Up

Enjoy!

So 2008 is drawing to an end. I remember the last New Year’s Eves clearly. All of them sweet, surrounded by friends and loved ones. But all of them summing up a year that was nothing less than difficult.

I remember how my husband and I toasted each other, praying: “May the next year be better than the last. May it finally be better.”

It never was, not really. And I came to the conclusion that this, probably, is life. That there is no such thing as unfettered love and happiness. Who am I to know? (more…)

Winter has been coming. Christmas rushed passed, an old year died, a New Year came.

I did not blog.

And I hereby apologize. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As a reconsiliation, you get the latest family picture. The three of us at Christmas. Aren’t we sweet? Yeah, the li’ll one makes faces, he always does that for the camera. *rolleyes*

So what happened? Well, I took another job. Or the job took me. It was more or less a coincidence. I went out with a friend, and while we were chatting over a beer, she mentioned how desperately they look for people in their office. People to do customer liaison and support. I was big-mouthed as ever and said “Nothing I couldn’t do”. And she said: “OK, see you on Monday”. (It was on a Saturday).

Since then, I’m there. It started as three times a week for 2 hours, now it’s daily from 8 to noon. And I gotta say I like it.

The drawback is – I already had a job. You might recall I was working for a private English school, giving lessons to children, a job I thoroughly enjoy and love. Right now, I am working double: Office in the mornings, school in the afternoon, preparing lessons and doing the conceptual planning for the school.

It’s just too much. Joshua is not taking it easily, he’s throwing tantrums at least five times a day. And I am exhausting myself. I gotta decide. Deadline I set myself is March.

So this is the news. I promise I’ll try to update more often again, but time is sparse these days, really. I just barely find time for producing art, and art is as important as breathing for me.

So I’ll hang in there, and you guys will, too, until I’ve got more time for you again, ok?

Sometimes, I feel sore and desperate? from the children’s? pain and sorrow.

Yes, it’s that topic again; it is touching my life from every possible angle right now, and I don’t really know how to cope, yet.

I talked to a kid some days ago. A teenage kid, an intelligent, talented, nice kid, who had to spill out his heart to someone, and that someone happened to be me. He told me that in a quarrel, his mother had told him she wished she had never had him. (more…)

… even when you’re home.

Yep, I have to admit it: I am kindofa Christmas addict. I love the smell, the decoration, the feeling … well, not the feeling of irritated mums yelling at their kids in supermarkets, though, but the christmassy feeling itself.

So I wish all of you a blessed holiday, whatever you may celebrate.