:Musings:

3/52: Blessings

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Despite new information that my company is rapidly disintegrating at the seams, a disagreement with a colleague I thought was more honest and a cluster headache behind my left eye that caused me severe insomnia, not to mention indescribable pain, I still managed to have a good week!   I think actually focusing on the things that create happy moments and those unexpected surprises definitely do help to balance out the good from the crazy or not so good!  😀  So this week:

  1. First up is the wonderful surprise package I got from my Ravelry pal Kathy.  I’m not even sure now how we connected, but since we have, she’s had a munchkin that I have officially adopted as my nephew.  As an addition to her family/support system, she sent me a wonderful surprise package this week containing:

3 A 3 B 3 C

top to bottom, left to right:

  • 600 yds of Interlacement Irish Linen Yarn in Midnight Blues and some KP Bare worsted — hand-dyed by her.  I sent her the KP yarn as part of a trade.  She made a tunic for my Pooka with it then sent me back some of the remainning.
  • Turquoise and Purple necklace.  Two of my favourite colours!!!  My Pooka Pack — an album of pictures of my little nephew :heart:    Two bottles of  nail polish — one with a matte finish and the corresponding glitter shade.
  • A hand-knit lace scarf with beaded tassels; a hand-knit hat; and a handknit purple scarf.  The yarn for this appears to be hand-spun!  Awesomeness!!!!!!!!

Another “happy” for the week came during my meditation —

Matthew 21:22

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

This was a wonderful reminder.  I had just gotten details of the disastrous state of the agency I currently work at and also news (unconfirmed) that my best assistant is leaving when she comes back from vacation — not that I blame her at all.  You know how processing these kinds of things can be.  All these questions swirling around in my head but that verse reminded me to leave everything I can’t control alone and KNOW without a doubt, I’ll be taken care of as they occur!  Awesomesauce!!!!!

The smell of a freshly cleaned house made me feel content yesterday.  I can’t be the only one who loves the smell and feel of the airiness of a clean house, curtains flapping in the wind and a favourite candle burning!  Tell me I’m not the only one!  😀

My other warm, tingly moment came from a surprise call from a cousin I haven’t spoken to in ages.  He was my ride and die buddy after my parents divorced; I couldn’t have made it through that time without him.  My moving 6000 miles away, him getting married and having children made it harder to stay connected, but WE’RE BACK!!!!!  😀   His call was a wonderful end to the week.

How was your week?  🙂

A Book Review: Madame Bovary

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IMG_1098Emma Bovary — the second Mrs. Charles Bovary,  is a powerful example of the waste of life when a person cannot or chooses not to, differentiate between reality and dreams. She’s an example of ruin of the weak-willed through self-absorption and vain-glory. She wastes her life chasing a unicorn, when she could had a wonderful life being content with the “horse” that was right in front of her.  She had a life that many would have been happy with, and honestly, she should have been happy with it.  She could have been happy with it had she not been the woman she was.   In her discontent, all the things she thought would make her happy including the taking of lovers … didn’t.  What’s more sad is that even at the end of her life, her sense of reality and regret were still distorted.

While Flaubert focuses on Ms. Emma as the book’s protagonist, secondary character — Charles Bovary  was not that much different from her. Also weak-willed, he was dominated by all the of the women in his life. His mother, the first Ms Bovary and even more by the second Ms. Bovary — Emma.  It’s funny, his only show of strength is when he dismissed his mother from his house after she criticized Emma in the last half of the book.  He caused his own ruin by putting her (Emma) on a pedestal which eventually blinded him to her philandering, her over-spending and her truest view of him. How could a person not see or acknowledge the level of disgust she had for him? Rather than face the uncomfortable, he let it drive him mad then eventually to bankruptcy.

Even more distressing, his and Emma’s weak-willed dispositions left their daughter unattended and bound to a life of servitude and poverty.  It was almost as if she didn’t enter their thoughts except fleetingly.

This book was an intense read for me from beginning to end.  I wasn’t sure what my assessment would be since the language the book is written in could be intimidating to the non-reader.  However, as the characters developed, it became intriguing to see what happens next; for me this book was a page-turner from beginning to end.  It was something to see, that despite her weak-willed disposition, Emma became to Leon what Rudolphe had become to her — frightening!

Star Rating: 5 stars

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