7 quick takes...

05 July

7 quick takes...

Good morning! Just a quick blog, with quick short takes. Except for this one, as it explains why the other six are quick. Lately I haven't really felt like writing, because I don't feel like my usual self. Because of the pandemic, I have really missed family and being able to share life with people I love. Added to that is the fact that we can't stop time and the girls are growing up fast. Some days I just want to be able to press pause on their development, so that there is not yet another phase hat passes by without being shared with and enjoyed by my family. You can imagine that I was overjoyed when my parents booked a ticket to come. But a day after they booked, Malawi closed her borders without giving some perspective of when they will open again. I think that was the straw that broke this camel's back. The days after that I felt numb and uninspired, as if nothing really mattered any more, as if looking forward to things is pointless because it will be taken away anyway. I find comfort in knowing that there is Someone with a bigger, ultimate plan, and I am doing a little better now, but still not great. There are definitely many nice things that I enjoy, and I will also write about those on this blog. But only writing about that, without writing about how I feel now, would create a picture that's only partly true.
We celebrated Sophie's 7th birthday. Words cannot express how much I love her, and how much I love being her mom and watching her grow into the gracious, generous, creative and life-loving girl she is.
The girls got bicycles. It's hard to learn to cycle where we live now, but after we move, we'll be on a tarred road and the girls can finally give space for this part of their Dutch heritage.
The moving date has been postponed several times because of many reasons, but now we have a real date. We will move the first Wednesday of August and now that we have a date to count down to, it becomes a little more real. I have started to pack, and come to the realization that we don't have that many things, which makes packing hard because we use almost everything we have on a daily basis. Oh well, it also means that packing won't take that much time when we really have to do it.
I got a new toy for my camera. It's a set of prisms and filters one can attach to the camera to create cool effects in the pictures. Playing with them and seeing how light, colours and textures work together to create magic is very cool, so I am apologizing in advance if from now one, all my pictures are a tad bit psychedelic.
Last weekend, we went on a camping weekend away. We booked it because Hartmut's cousin was supposed to come. The closed borders stopped that plan, but we went anyway, and it was just what we needed. Malawi is beautiful and few things bring that out better than camping in nature. It's good to be reminded of what we do have.
That's that. The girls are demanding my attention, and I have some other things to do. Have a great week, take care and be kind to yourself and others!