Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Suprise Hello!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Pray for Resa
33
Today is...
Monday, December 28, 2009
Beauty in the Everyday
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Between Christmas Feasts
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas is here again this year
Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Bethlehem has opened Eden, come, let us see;
(And Mary said to the child,)
“Save the world, O Savior.
from the Kontakion on the Nativity,
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
One of the best parts of being home
Home for my first of two Christmas Feasts
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Busy Setting Up House
Lots of Laundry.
Happy to report that my new laundry room is quite lovely.
I put up this shelf in my
no-storage-what-so-ever bathroom.
Took buying two brackets (uneven walls)
and I lost a drill bit in the wall.
(It is still there).
But the shelf is up and my lovely things on it.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Christmas in the City
I went to a friend's Christmas gathering
this past weekend.
I took these shots on the way there.
I loved how the lights were hidden on the path
and how you had to keep going to
see more of the beauty.
Happenings
(First picture from my new home)
Being in the capital of Canada,
things are always happening here.
Over the weekend the Olympic Flame toured around.
It was rather surprising for a grey day;
I was home and all of a sudden this great radio-like noise boomed out.
Huge trucks (see picture below) announced the flames coming,
and that it was a "historic" event and the longest tour of the flame
ever in Canada.
They were not kidding!
They were still touring around Ottawa hours later;
went in front of my church after vespers.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thinking about the end of the year
There is a lot of snow now, here;
the wind is blowing,
I can hear it by my windows
here on the 8th floor.
I read this blog post about saying goodbye to the year
and realize I need to do just that.
As many who read my blog know,
this year has been with a lot of challenges.
*
A year ago my job was already proving to have
great and serious difficulties;
I was really shaken,
did not even have as much courage for
the corporate Christmas party
I had to go to.
**
In many ways I really loved my job;
running my own library
working for the staff there,
praying for them
silently
and caring.
***
I lost this job due to reevaluations in the end of Lent.
It took me sometime to realize
how I had left the that library
in a much better place
than when I began.
*
And so it goes.
I lost the job.
I left the apartment I loved.
**
But soon it will be a new year.
My life is still unfolding.
***
God is with us.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
My New Home
I hope to get other pictures without window
screen lines.
But, what a nice snowy view!
I am still adjusting to my new place,
my stove and oven needs fixing,
boxes still packed and in the closet,
laundry hidden in bins.
You know, life after a move.
But the view out my living room window
it always brings me back to a place
of thankfulness and wonder.
Cleo was being most shy today.
She is near me as I type this;
I am loving the corner where my gold
chair now resides.
More pictures later,
when further organization is accomplished.
Pray for Resa
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Small steps
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Pictures of transition
I am really missing this kitchen wall.
When ever I look at my buffet,
I miss it.
However, thank God I am here
in my new blue place
with so much potential,
albeit less space.
I must strive to remember the thankfulness I had
cleaning my new apartment
and hanging my Trinity Icon on the wall.
(It is now the first Icon one sees when my front door opens.)
Returning but all is different...
And God provided beauty,
like the sun shining through these clouds,
as seen on my new small balcony.
And the second day I managed,
by the grace of God,
to put up my icon shelf,
and even got it level.
But it has been a hard week,
in ways.
I am about halfway unpacked.
A friend is coming tomorrow to help me,
my table needs to be put together,
boxes moved down from shelves in my closets
so I can put things in order.
Today I tried to put up a shelf in my bathroom,
but try as I may,
I did not get it level and am hoping that one of my friends
can be of help!
(It is a corner shelf and after getting the inside hidden brackets on the wall,
it was not fully even and so did not work).
A small thing,
but it feels big when one needs the shelf in order to empty a box onto!
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Absence
Sunday, November 29, 2009
I am in my new home
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Just had to mention
Tomorrow I move
Tomorrow I take Cleo to my new place.
Last night I cleaned cupboards,
swept and mopped my new floor.
It is good.
I took my final pictures of my current
box-strewn apartment;
Thanking God that He gave me a good place to live
for the past year.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thoughts Amidst Moving
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Prayers Needed Over Seas
Moving days are made of many minutes
My new view!
I got my keys yesterday and took some pictures.
The view off of my small new balcony is quite
diverse.
TALL buildings and cute ones like the
picture above.
So retro, I love it.
My new place needs shelves like you would not believe.
Oh the work to be done...
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Counting the Good Things
I made my first of many phone calls
about my upcoming move.
And my phone provider (I was on hold longish time)
gave me free minutes for my cell
for the needs of moving
and took care of some other matters.
It warmed my heart,
receiving such great customer service.
*
I have been thinking of switching to vonage
but am still unsure.
My friends use them, lots of good services.
But I am uncomfortable with
the long distance service call centre.
They have a script, do not deviate from it,
always make me feel rushed to join them
(I was on the phone more than one hour with them)
and still am not convinced.
Even though they would save me money
the customer service experiences I have had
are all poor, rushed and make me feel like a meaningless number.
They don't know Canada at all.
They wanted me to use the US .com website instead of .ca
they do not know that Ottawa is the Capital of Canada
nor do they even pretend to care.
**
It is not that I think that my current phone provider cares
per say
but the customer service is from somewhere in Canada,
it feels like coming home
after talking with someone from Vonage in Singapore
{I have nothing against Singapore}
but somehow the service gets mistranslated and leaves me
feeling bad for wanting a Canadian
but also really wanting service that is familiar and
that culturally translates kindness and patience to me.
Sorry for the complaint,
goodness this post was to be about
the Good Things,
like increased cell phone minutes
and the customer service person being refreshing,
laughing at my humor
and giving me a break on my cell phone bill.
So,
moving right along;
another good thing today is while I was on hold with vonage
and my current phone provider,
I read new blogs that are on RW's blog list.
Beautiful.
Artistic.
The photographs captured on these blogs
refresh the soul.
Sleeping Beauty
In the midst of the drama of my own
blogged about life,
a few weeks ago,
I saw my first ballet
to celebrate my friend's wedding
that
I attended last weekend.
*
When the curtain began to rise
and
the dancers appeared,
I found myself thinking of Ngaio Marsh
and the novel about her detective
seeing a play where the murder in the play
actually happens.
Marsh's description of the players in the back of my mind,
I began to watch the ballet...
It was very beautiful,
perfect in timing, in the use of props, the costumes.
The sense of a former time created through
this art
was wonderful to behold.
I was surprised at how you can hear the feet tapping when the
ballerinas are dancing en pointe.
I could not help wondering about the lives of the dancers
when they are off stage.
My sense is that their world must be very pressurized,
with very long practice periods
and working with each other to create beautiful art
on stage.
The need for perfection on stage
I imagine is very intense.
Any misstep on stage must be gut-wrenching
to the dancer.