Trumpets & Snowballs

{ Blogging on the run.} Cafe: 'The Vineyard Deli' in Kenridge just a stone's throw from Layla's lovely little playschool. Blackest, luxuriously bitter Lavazza, and a new novel: 'The Enchantress of Florence' by Salman Rushdie. (I'm ashamed to admit this, but I'm a Rushdie-virgin... And reading is SUCH a rare treat for me, so I may as well read something rich in poetry and makes-one-think beauty.) However, getting time to write is just as rare a jewel, so I've split my little hour of solitude into 2 half-hour pockets. Reading? Tick. Writing? In progress.

This morning, I hurried off to Tygerberg Hospital's Dental Clinic --- in particular, the paediatric ward. With a boot full of toys and books Layla's outgrown, I felt elationjoygratitudewonder. And perhaps a small pat on my back from myself. It's unavoidable, I suppose, that giving to others will make one feel good about oneself. But still, feeling good about it made me feel a twinge of embarrassment. The Bible's instructions surrounding giving to others says we should keep it from others. That no trumpets be blown. (Guess I've gone and blown that commandment *no pun intended*!!) But still, I feel that just SOMETIMES, hearing about how the compassionate service and generous giving of others changes the lives of the broken, helpless and hopeless, is important. In fact, I'll go so far as to say it is critically important. Loving goodness is humanity's core function. Society only BENEFITS from loving goodness --- that is: courage, joy, pursuing peace, compassion, active kindness, empathy, humility and honesty. Gratitude for what one has, and lovingly generous 'giving' to others generates more gratitude and more generosity. A reverse snow-ball effect, if you will. (The flip-side of this is that dishonesty, greed and self-pity generates snowballs too...) But still, for what it's worth: when you see or hear about the love of others in action, jump in and get giving! Phone that person or organisation to see how you can get involved, be it money (R10 or zillions, time: an hour a month or more if you can, recycling clothes/toys/books...) Perhaps we can't save the world all on our ownsome, but we can change just one life -- if only for a moment. (*wink* Whatcha waitin' for?)
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All I Want for Christmas (in July!!) Is.....

Layla's molar-teething calmed in the night to allow us both a decent night's sleep - and today I have found a little bit of time to gather my thoughts after two weeks' worth of insanity. As I type, Layla sleeps upstairs, cocooned in a blanket our neighbour gave us when she was born. She is, physically, a petite little thing - still wearing 0 - 6 month clothes! What is NOT petite, however, is her personality - or her appetite for my undivided attention... When she's not teething, she can happily entertain herself for 30 minutes at a time - and then all she needs is a quick cuddle, some milk or a snack. But when she's teething? Oh dear... even putting her down on the ground amidst her mountains of toys automatically pushes her yelp/wail/screech button!

(Hours pass - and my irritability levels rise with no respite from the ceaseless demands of HRM.)

Craig arrived home at 8pm (19 minutes ago) and even though he's had a despicably long day at work, I beg him to please take our child off to bed so I can find a few moments to gather myself - and what remains of my sanity. (So if nothing makes sense, that's why!) On my last Soutpiel post, I received a tongue-lashing for writing such a short post - so here goes: let's hope I have enough time to write something worth sinking your teeth into ;)

Having recently read Julie & Julia, I've been inspired to do four things:
1. Write, write and write some more!
2. Get stuck into that recipe book that's been begging to be set free since I first annoyed my sister's high school Home Economics ethics with my butternut, feta and calamata olives idea!
3. Do as Julie Powell did by adding a 'donate' button to her blog/ (More about that in a moment.)
4. Recommend that you watch the film - but maybe skip the book. The deeper I got into the book, the more I disliked Julie Powell. With a toddleresque penchant for tantrums and something I can't quite put my finger on (selfishness? her revolting, cat-hairy housekeeping habits? the way she treats her devoted husband?) I almost wish I hadn't read the book at all... but the redeeming factors were that I found it a fabulous boost as a writer ("if she can do it, so can I") and also that I discovered Julia Child! Her memoirs about her life in Paris is definitely a book I'm putting on my birthday wish list - though perhaps not so her recipe books filled with too many recipes calling for boiling calves hooves down into aspic. (Blech!)

Anyway, to get back to Point #3. What with trying to launch myself into a freelance writing career, parallel to being Layla's adoring mommy, I haven't got a spare moment to earn the 250GBP I need to buy myself a netbook. Other thoughts I had were to take on a Saturday or a Sunday job, but Craig has to often work on one or both days of the weekend. So apart from having added Google ads to my blog, which earns me 1p a click, it seems impossible for me to get that kind of money together before we fly home to South Africa. (Once we're home, there will be no extra cash at all while we set up home all over again - and laptops are muchos expensive back home.) So... I am hoping that even if little amounts of even 50p get donated, that by the time June rolls around, I might be able to afford the new little laptop I need to keep my writing career flourishing! The laptop I'm currently writing on is beginning to show the feebleness of old-age... It is four years old - a relic from my divorce where all I got was my diamond ring: a nicely massive rock of champagne diamond ovalness, held in a platinum setting of little leaves and other pretty antique-style detailing -- all of my own design, and much lusted after by many a wandering woman's eye! Though it was valued at R42 000, my hunger to be free of the controlling mania of my ex-husband, I asked my dad to sell it for me on the Land Cuiser forum! Ha! Vengeance is mine, saith Lisa. The long and the short of it is that I got just enough money for it to buy myself a laptop. This laptop. It has been a lifesaver in so many ways... I was able to write myself out of a very dark, frightening depression. And while we've been living so far away from our families, it meant that we have been able to 'see' our moms and dads whenever we felt like it. And, most preciously, it meant that Layla and her late Granny Sally could meet - if only via the slightly murky magic of Skype. But the two of them shared a miraculous bond... to see the two of them talking to each, sunny with smiles and laughter, is a memory I take out every so often and shine with care and love.

Craig is back downstairs and it's time for me to be his wife, his friend, his Lisa, for awhile - so let me bid you the sweetest goodnight. Adieu, adieu, adieu, my friends!

PS. I found Julie Powell's original blog dating from 2002 - here is the link: http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/