The little bar of purple soap

There was once a little bar of purple soap. For days and weeks and what felt like years she sat untouched on the shelf of the local supermarket. Many people saw her but they were distracted by fancy labels and something called BOGOF. She was such a sad little bar of soap. She longed to be free of her plastic wrapper and feel the tingle of droplets on her. She dreamed of feeling the warmth of a hand as it unleashed her soapy goodness onto their skin. She too wanted to 'fly off the shelf' or sell like one of those scrummy 'hotcakes'. Yet, there she sat as her neighbours disappeared and were replaced, her dream of feeling that rush of water remaining simply that - a dream.

One day as she lay there snoozing a little chubby hand reached onto the shelf and she heard it exclaim "I choose this one mummy". My goodness what a fright "are they really choosing me?" she thought to herself "boy am I in for an adventure!" Little did that little bar of purple soap know what adventure she had been chosen for. 

That little chubby hand belonged to Matthew a small boy aged 3 who had decided with his mummy and daddy to fill a shoebox full with presents for a boy the same age as him in a distant land. So the little bar of soap was placed into a box along with a green toothbrush, a dinosaur toy, some sweeties and lots of other goodies that a small boy of 3 delights in. "You are a special bar of soap" whispered Matthew "you are going to go and make someone really really happy at Christmas". The bar of soap was indeed confused but she thought that Christmas must be a magical thing and being special on this magical day probably made you the luckiest bar of soap around. So, nestled into her box with the other goodies she said goodbye to the chubby fingered boy and started to imagine just where this adventure would take her.

First she was taken to a big room where she could see many other boxes filled just as hers was. There she was joined by a story and a wrinkled hand checked to make sure no cheeky chocolate bars had tried to flee with her. After that she went on a short journey to a big depot. The noise of all the other bars of soap excitedly chatting made her feel so warm that she didn't notice the coolness of the room. There was so much anticipation and the little bar of purple soap wondered just where she might find herself when her box, her new home, was opened. 

Her box was placed into a bigger box along with 9 others. The bigger box was plain and brown not fancy like her red and gold one but she felt like this was a good strong box and she would be safe inside. The big brown boxes  were loaded onto a big truck and as she heard the truck creak and then come alive she started to feel a little frightened. 

After many hours and several starts and stops the truck finally ground to a halt. She heard a big metal door open and as she felt the motion of being slid across the floor she realised that she was indeed suddenly flying through the air and into the arms of someone who carried her safely into a warm dusty room.

The little purple soap sits there now. Tired from her journey but eager to find the next chubby hand that will sprinkle water onto her and happily set her free in their family this Christmas. 

To all of you out there who have sent little bars of soap on their way to the poor, the needy, orphaned and sick we thank you. Some of those boxes arrived today and I'm sure in one of them sits a little bar of purple soap longing to make someones Christmas a little bit more special. 

Thanksgiving

So, yesterday was thanksgiving and what a lovely feast and thankfull filled day it was. Thank you to Court and her friends for making it a yummy and laughter filled day - most enjoyable! Here are some shots from the day.......

Started the day with a trip to the theater with the school kids

We went to see capra cu trei iezi - a slightly scary tale meant to teach children to listen to their mothers by showing that if you don't you might get eaten by a big bad wolf who gets his comeupance by being caught and then burned alive. EEK!!

Came home from work to find these busy bee hard workers cooking us our thanksgiving feast.

Beautiful Courtney - I am thankful for all her years of wonderful friendship and the love & laughter she brings me

Table decoration

Cristi with his Indian head-dress napkin ring

Scrummy plate of thanksgiving feast goodness

Some things that my team and I are thankful for

And no thanksgiving would be complete without watching my favourite Tom & Jerry 'the little orphan'. And so in my best American accent I wish a "Happy Thanksgiving y'all".

A few months rolled into one post

It's that time again where I apologise for not updating. I can see that I still have some faithful followers checking this blog held silent for too long and I thank you that you have had faith in me and the will to see what is happening in our lives. However, I have struggled with a serious case of writers block because what can i possibly put up here that is of worth? I tried to get back on the random post track with my last post in August but you know everything that I can write about seems in so many ways so insignificant, compared to the rest of my life and those things that are unable to be said just now, that as soon as I start to pen anything it goes straight into the bin!

I can say that I am thankful for the strength to move forward day by day. For those of you who have lost someone so close I am sure you know that somedays go by a little smoother than others and other days you just want to get home so you don't need to keep the fake smile plasterd to your face anymore. But I do have joy. Cristi brings me so much and as I wrote before he keeps me walking and moving and living and I am able to do those things even when it feels sometimes so empty. So, we have been managing to smile and laugh and get through thesse difficult days. We have had visits from mum/Buni and dad/Grandpa and we are thankful for those who love us and care for us and help us through these times. Learning a little everyday how to better handle the pain and saddness and live/work/love/have a fuller life again.

I thought the best thing to do was to put up some photos so that you can see/read a little about life these last couple of months.......



August - Due to a new found love of watching guiness world record clips Cristi decided that he has a new party trick and use for Courtney's clothes pegs

August - swimming in the lake

September - Grandpa comes to visit and of course they get right on the dam making. Although I think the forest stream was a bit colder than the lake above!

September - we visited a botanical garden in Jibou where Cristi discovered a new found love for plants especially Mimosa Pudica

September - the fair came to town so lots of fun was had on the bumper cars and inflatable slides, eating out and watching the interesting dance moves and loud music of different performers (in fact Cristi has now joined the hip hop dance class and is loving it - his dream is to perform on stage next year)

September - school started (a week later than it should because they simply weren't ready after 3 months of vacation to go back). I am thankful that this year seems a little less stressful as the boy who bullied him a lot has now moved class. It is so nice that every morning is not a struggle to drag him to school. So happy for a happy boy - we just need to work on the frustration that is times tables :)

I have also started back at school (trying to find a photo where you can get an idea of school without too much facial recognition). We have 14 children of varying age and ability in 1 class with most of the time only the 1 teacher and 1 helper (sometimes there is 2 of us but unfortunately Court also has to drive children to Oradea twice a week so that is hard for us). With no formal training for working with children with special needs there is a lot of trial and error and guess work thrown in. We get by but it is a real struggle!! So if any of you out there want to come and volunteer at our school please feel free to do so :) 



October - From one circus to another......we visited the circus with Buni and Cristi got to ride an elephant. He was so super excited! Not everyday you get to do that!

October - The 2 littlest from the family I work with have started going to nursery school so I take them once a week for a bath and change of clothes. They are really just so poor. Their mum is soon due to give birth to her 7th child and they still live in their little room smaller than the one I sit in now with no water, electricity or toilet.

October - Following last years tradition we carved some pumpkins. I am not entirely sure why we decided to make this a tradition as neither Cristi or I enjoy hollowing out the flipping things and mine this year was so tough that I couldn't carve it and had to settle for carving up a butternut squash! However, I will admit the end result was kind of cool and we were all clearly proud of our creations!

November - after almost a year of not leaving the country I decided to venture out and spend the last day of mum's trip in Budapest. So nice to get away from the dust and burst a little the bubble of life here. A lovely day of walking and cycling (a little pedal car - lots of laughs were had) and good food at Sir Lancelots where I had eaten 7 years ago and was so happy to go back to! I recomend it if you are ever in Budapest!

November - seeing the sights - the parliament building in Budapest.