MONDAY MELLOW MADNESS...

I hope you all had a stunning weekend.  We were in the middle of a heatwave (in spring folks....summer may end up being brutal) and although some parts of the country were cold and rainy it was a warm 36 degrees in the sun here in Pretoria.

Here is a glimpse at what I got up to...

I took some time to lie in the sun and read....these are the characters from a new Vampire series I am reading..
Well at least this is what someone thinks they should look like...

The series is by J R Ward and it has 13 books....The Black Dagger Brotherhood is an ongoing series of paranormal romance books by author J. R. Ward. The series focuses on six vampire brothers and warriors who live together and defend their race against Lessers, de-souled humans who threaten their kind. 

Lunch with friends

Chocolate martini......"s"

What happens when I play with my fur baby

Went shopping and found a maxi skirt similar to this one

An unhappy Charis after being bathed.....then her bed was missing because it to
needed a clean 

Clean puppy, clean linen and clean bed

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY...

A thoughtful Thursday with a twist.....spring has sprung and there are so many beautiful blossoms, flowers and smells that it seems sacrilege not to share it!!

Here are some photos I have taken in the last week or two......

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.  ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

It's spring fever.  That is what the name of it is.  And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!  ~Mark Twain

Can you spot the bee?

CHOOSEDAY........A SNOW DAY MESSAGE!!

August has arrived and with the first few days being warm as in almost hot I was getting ready for summer.  I even went as far as to wear short sleeves over the weekend and a three quarter sleeve yesterday.

Then last night they said that the temperatures were going to plummet and they were expecting snow even in Gauteng. Now Pretoria is on average between 2 and 3 degrees warmer than Johannesburg and we don't even get the sleet that the Jo'burg people sometimes get during winter. So for that reason I never thought about snow falling here.

This morning as the reports were coming in about snow falling in the outlining areas I was telling my team about my 25th birthday. I was desperate to see snow.  I was travelling in the States and every time I left a place it would start to snow but not while I was there. Philadelphia saw snow as my bus pulled out of the station, DC had snow arrive the day after I left and in New York the snow was slush when I arrived.  I spent my birthday with special friends in Memphis and the Sunday afternoon of my birthday we all took a nap.  I remember my friend Lande waking me up with the words "Lis, its snowing....happy birthday".  I jumped up and raced for the door.  I had no shoes on, no warm jacket.....just a t shirt and jeans and the happiest heart ever!!!!  

I danced in the snow, made snow angels and tried to build a snowman!!!  It was the first time in years it had snowed in Memphis in March.  God gave me the best birthday gift ever. 

As I shared my snow story I got all heart sore and I am not ashamed to say a tear or two made its way down my face. I guess I needed to be reminded about how blessed I am, how much God loves me because lately I have been so miserable.  Between waking up between 10 and 500 times a night for my dad, working 10 to 12 hour days, meeting deadlines and helping out at home I have been running on empty and yes feeling very sorry for myself.  From Friday it escalated and I was in the throws of a very good pity party but then..........

I looked outside my window and saw a flurry fall to the ground.  I stood up and saw more......

It all started with a flurry

Busi and I trying to catch a little of the action

Ilandia and I.....and baby Kayla too!!!

Ok this was the game changer.....first time Ilandia and Busi have seen snow!!!

In fact the first time many of my colleagues have seen snow

Val

Joesph on his way home in the second round of snow we had falling....

It fell much harder and stuck longer the second time around

It last snowed in Pretoria in 1981......I was living near Johannesburg at the time and I remember the pure joy of being a child and playing with my brother and parents in the snow.  I am going to look for those photos because......

I just realised that that is what snow represents to me......joy, happiness, laughter and life!!!

Some days I think that our Heavenly Father just wants to send us a reminder that we are blessed and that miracles do happen.....when we believe!!!

I CHOOSE to believe that the snow falling is a reminder that God is in control and that He knows the plans He has for my life...plans for me to succeed!!!

I CHOOSE (in my arrogance) to believe that the falling snow was a message from God that the pity party is over and it is being replaced by joy, happiness, laughter and life!!!

CHOOSEDAY.......

I am not a big fan of Autumn!!!  I guess for me the changing and falling leaves are symbolic of time moving on, of seasons lost, aging and so on.  It just seems like everything goes from light and pretty to bleak and ugly!

Watching the leaves go from green to dead brown is just depressing!!! Everything starts to look so dull and well.........brown!!!  So in short I have a really bad attitude when it comes to Autumn but then yesterday on my way home my breath was taken away by this sight....

Taken by my trusty BlackBerry

I was so overwhelmed by the beauty that I raced home to get my camera.  Of course by the time I had got back to this spot the light had changed and the effect was gone.....but something started to change in me as I looked at the trees and the different colour leaves.  I went with the feeling and just took a whole bunch of photos.

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." Albert Camus

When I was looking at the photos later I realised I had that same feeling.......I kept on pouring over the photos (some better than others) and finally it dawned on me......I was seeing beauty!!! Amid the brown there were shades of orange and red and yellow and gold!!! In the midst of the dull there was the orange sunset which gave everything a golden glow.

Where I had CHOSEN to seen ugly I was now CHOOSING to see beauty. Isn't that just the way with us humans.  How often don't we judge people based on their appearance or look around a neighborhood and judge the people and the area by what we see at face value.

I CHOOSE to embrace Autumn and to see the beauty it has to offer to see that there is so much more than just dull and brown......I CHOOSE to remember that Ecc 3:1 says "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven." Autumn is a time to remember that there is beauty in everything and in EVERYONE!! 

I CHOOSE to see the beauty......