1. In Indonesian language there are two words for the English word "love". One is called "cinta", which means eros. The other one is called "kasih", which mean universal love - it can be love towards strangers, God's love towards us, a mother's love, any other kind of love that is not eros.
And funnily enough, the Indonesian version of "thank you", which is "terima kasih", is comprised of the word "terima" = accept and "kasih" = universal love.
And whenever somebody says thank you to you in Indonesian, you should answer "kembali", which is the short version of "terima kasih kembali" - it can be loosely translated as "I return your acceptance of universal love".
2. Just got news that MIL and FIL have found an empty rental apartment near downtown (far away from the house they live in), so it SEEMS that they're going to take it. Yesterday BIL took them there to see the place. If everything works out well and the owner decides to let them have it, next month will be a busy month 'coz we're going to help them to move there.
I actually feel a bit sad that this winter they're not going to live in the house anymore. The house they've lived in for so many years...the house with the strawberry field and the HUGE field and the sauna near a lake...sigh...but life goes on. I just hope my FIL who has Alzheimer's can adapt well to the new place and won't be too disoriented when it's time for them to move.
On the bright side, though, once they move, it's going to be easier for them during winter 'coz they don't have to burn any firewood anymore nor do any yard work. Plus when MIL needs to go downtown, it takes only a few minutes by car. And it's going to be easier for me to visit them by bike or on foot.
3. I'm TRULY thankful for God's creations 'coz then I can cook delicious food by using so many different ingredients...spices, veggies, meat. Yeah, yeah, I'm a foodie, what can I say? ;-D
4. My friend who has PCOS had just given birth to a healthy baby girl and I couldn't feel anything but PURE JOY for her (she's been trying for at least 3 years before she got pregnant with this one - the first pregnancy ended up in an early miscarriage). It's AMAZINGLY nice to feel only pure joy towards someone else's WONDERFUL news (as opposed to feeling a mixture of joy plus envy and/or bitterness and/or questioning God). THANK YOU, God, for helping me get through my infertility issues!!! :-D
5. I have some more fun/touching moments with the customers at work, but I'm going to share them in another post later on. Tomorrow I have an 8-hour-shift, but then I'll have some free days afterwards, so I'll have time to write more later. Now I need to catch up on you people and then I have to watch my taped series from last night, which I didn't get to watch 'coz I was chatting with a close friend ha ha...Busy, busy, busy!!!
Here are pics of some roses (maybe different types) in my MIL's garden...Starting from now I should take as many pics of their place and surroundings as possible before my in-laws move out from there...
Oh, why are they moving out, Amel??
ReplyDeleteCMG: It's too tough for them to live there when there's such a huge field to take care of in winter - so much snow to clear out (to get the newspaper or go downtown they have to have plenty of snow cleared out).
ReplyDeletePlus in the living room there's no electric heater, so they have to bring firewood every day (maybe even more than once a day in the depths of winter) from the shed across the house - going back and forth bringing heavy firewood...it's just too much for them. Plus my FIL's condition WILL get worse as time goes by and my MIL has some health issues, as well.
Isn't it just wonderful to be able to feel pure joy for somebody else? I'm still struggling with this. and recently...a lot of my friends seemed to have all gotten pregnant at the same time..so my facebook newsfeed is always filled with this kind of news, and I almost always can't stop myself from feeling envy and pure jealousy. *sigh* Looking forward to your fun/touching moments post! =)
ReplyDeleteShinta: It's understandable 'coz you just lost your baby girl that you almost had. I'll remember you in my prayers about this - may God help you find serenity.
ReplyDeleteI think one VERY frustrating/maddening part about this type of journey (let's just call it infertility) is that you can't really control your feelings/thoughts no matter how HARD you try...
Hi Amel,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear work is hectic for you at the moment. I know that feeling :-) Hope things quieten down for you soon.
How lovely that your friend just had a baby girl after a few years of trying, that's such heartwarming news.
Hope the move goes well for your in-laws.
Have a great day,
Fish
Ohh... I could feel that it's going to be hard and sad for them to leave that place... but if it's for the best, I hope things are going well and they'll have plenty of rest later. :-)
ReplyDeleteI had my little girl after many years of trying so I know the feeling. You are happy for other but feel a twinge of sadness for yourself which by no means detracts from your happiness for others. Hope your in laws settle in to their new place easily.
ReplyDelete