Procrastination

I've been procrastinating with this blog, for many reasons, but mainly because I don't really think that daily life is that interesting that you, my audience, would really want to hear about it. Gwyneth's no longer a baby, so there's not the pull of adorable sweet pudgy baby faces (although in my opinion, curly top's face has gotten even more adorable), the first smile, the first steps, the first words, etc. to keep my blog full of a mom's delight. But I don't want to give up. I want to keep plugging along.

I read blogs a lot, I'm ashamedly a bit addicted to a few. They always seem so happy, so full, so much content about complete contentedness. For the moment, I don't have a bunch of warm updates to make my blog a joyride of reading. Of course life is full of up and downs, and even the people that paint an idyllic life on their blogs have their ugly moments, but do they really want to share them. It appears not.

I'm considering breaking the mould of the blogosphere and posting some of the reality.

Moving to Northern Ireland, isn't as romantic as it sounds. There, I said it. It's true. Now to be fair to myself and my new country-mates, I never thought it would be. Sure it's green, and I've seen loads of rainbows...and rain, but there are no leprechauns or pots of gold for general merriment. It is an adventure, but one of navigating new supermarkets and trying to find sugar (by the tea of course, which, by the way is no where near the baking products), learning to use the National Health Service so Gwyneth can see a doctor in the ER after she dents her head on the sidewalk (I must give a plug for socialized medicine, bravo!), and trying to find a job (when apparently you're not even qualified to work at XTravision, a division of Blockbuster). It's hard. It's stressful. It's not romantic, at least in the midst of it. Maybe when I look back on it when I'm 80, I'll change my mind. It takes time though, it's all the hardship involved with total change. Northern Ireland is full of rich treasure. I know it. I just need to have the gumption to keep digging, keep a fresh perspective and I'll find it.

Now about Gwyneth.

The dear Lord knows we love her so, but wow, the terrible twos have come upon us early, and they are terrible. They are no joking matter. They are full of shrieks, screams, wails, and the like. Lets just say our patience is growing by leaps and bounds. It will unnerve the confidence of any good parent. It probably doesn't help that we've got a particularly strong-willed child on our hands. We still have a few magical moments with her from time to time, but the need to hire sitters for some time away is more desperate than it ever used to be. Oddly enough, when we have sitters we always get the report back of how she was an "angel" and a "wee dote" and "didn't cry once." It's time for her to get out, to socialize a bit, which is in the works. She will be going to a childminder or a day nursery twice a week. Maybe she can leak out all her frustration there and then we can come home and experience the angel in there.

I did find a job, which begins in January. I'm really quite excited about it. I will only be working 2 days a week, albeit, 2 very long days. I'll be able to get out of the house, have some adult conversation and do something useful for the general public. I think it will make life feel a bit more balanced. I sure hope so.

Will all of that, I have a headache and am on my way to take a nap. There, it's not all pretty, but it's real. Sometimes really good, and sometimes really bad, and everything in between. It's life.

Mommy Learns a Lesson

Everyday, it seems like Mommy is learning lessons from Gwyneth. She's quite frankly a good teacher. Luckily mommy is usually a good learner and pretty keen on keeping up with her studies. Yesterday mommy learned a good lesson, and surely it won't be one that's forgotten. (There would be pictures to accompany this post, but said mommy decided pictures of the incident would be in poor taste).

After putting Gwyneth down to bed, about 45 minutes later, I heard a bit of commotion and some squealing from Gwyneth's room. Because it had been a while since I put her to bed, I thought I'd better check on her. I approached the door to her room and noticed something odd, light coming from the crack under the door. First of all Gwyneth doesn't get out of bed until either Wes and I give her the go ahead and secondly, she wouldn't be able to reach the light switch. So, I knew that I must have left the light on and immediately thought, it's no wonder she's making noise. I creak open the door and take a peek and there is a proud naked little girl sitting on her bed saying, "potty." Unfortunately I noticed a stench, which really meant there was no need for a potty, the deed had already been done...luckily, it was still contained in the removed diaper, with a few dark smudges on the duvet under Gwyneth's rump. Even though it wasn't much fun to clean, I had just been thinking earlier that day about washing her bedding and also considered how much worse it would have been if Gwyneth was one of those uber-curious children who like to stick their fingers in brown stuff. I actually felt a little pride well up in my when I realized how smart Gwyneth was to be able to take off her pajamas...and how she was able to keep herself fairly clean given the circumstances. I couldn't help but smile.

Lesson learned: Turn out the light. Had I not forgotten to turn off the light, there would have been no chance of Gwyneth getting both her rather childproof pajamas and diaper off. Tonight I didn't forget this one last detail of putting Gwyneth to bed.

It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

All parents are proud of their kids, and I'm admittedly one of them - here's why:





She's just all around amazing!

Little Sweetie

Kids are always making people laugh by what they say or do and Gwyneth is no exception. Today Gwyneth was captivated in the funniest way.

We were at Pizza Hut (yes, they do have them here, and they're actually quite nice and sometimes, you just need a little taste of home) and we were sitting next to a table of three that had just enjoyed their pizza and were on to the sweeter side, dessert. Pizza Huts here also have a sundae bar, and one of our neighbors came back with a parfait glass filled with soft serve, and topped with pink marshmallows. Gwyneth couldn't take her eyes off of it. It's probably the first time we've noticed her breaking the tenth commandment. We quietly snickered as she smacked her lips and was clearly salivating. She was wanting to experience the sweetness so much, she actually opened her mouth as her neighbor took another spoonful of icecream and lifted it to her lips, and as she put it in her mouth, Gwyneth closed hers as if to do her best to imagine the way it tasted and felt as it melted on the tongue. To our surprise, she didn't whine once.

Luckily a dessert on the menu had caught her mom's fancy and she got a few spoonfuls of her own treat.

As Promised

I did promise to upload photos of our new abode, so here they are.

Day Tripping

We went on a day trip this past weekend to Bush Mills, Portrush (fabulous beach, with, believe it or not, waves big enough to surf), and Giant's Causeway. The opportunities to get sun are few and far between, so when the day looked like it would be a good one, we decided to go for it. Here are a few photos.

Catching Up

Well, if you're reading this, it's a wonder that you ever check this site! In all my good intentions, it seems blogging gets last priority. Sometimes I'm amazed that people read this stuff...the everyday details (or in my case really, every month or so details) of what's going on in the Patterson family. I think that's part of the reason why I don't blog so much any more. Our life, at least to us, can be often times very mundane. I'm sure many of you are thinking, "what????, these guys just moved to Northern Ireland." It's true though. I think life anywhere in the world, no matter the destination can have a tendency to get mundane in the details. The grass is not always greener elsewhere...em, unless you come to Ireland, but the sky is not any bluer, that's for sure...

Here's a good example of mundane...I bleached 3 out of my 4 JCrew long sleeve t-shirts. Now these are the staples of my wardrobe, ruined! Not only are they ruined, but they're irreplaceable, at least until my next trip to The States, in which case, it will surely be a different season with different colors. Hmph! So that's the type of excitement that happens in the Patterson household, even though we happen to be living on an island a third of the way around the world (or somewhere thereabouts).

We've got a "whirlie" clothesline, you know those things that stick out of a post and then fold out with clothesline wrapped about it so you can get loads of clothes hung in a relatively small space, and then as the wind blows it spins it around a bit? Well, we've got one of those. It's one of the practical things that I really wanted to get as soon as we arrived here. Although I hate all other parts that involve laundry (the sorting, washing, folding, ironing, etc.), I just LOVE hanging laundry outside and then taking it in. It feels so organic, so healthy. Wes and I are having difficulty guessing when rain will arrive or not. Really it's for the most part cloudy here all the time. Certainly there are times when it's cloudier than others, but I don't ever remember seeing a completely clear blue sky. It for the most part looks like the clouds are threatening to release their moisture in a downpour at any moment, so hanging laundry outside is pretty risky business. We've had a few load of almost dry laundry get soaked, but we'll get better at it I'm sure.

Oh, and another organic feeling thing. We got a big 'ol compost bin for only five pounds! That's quite a deal, and it even came with a kitchen bucket with lid to store your day's worth of compost until you bring it to the bin! Sweet. I was so excited about this, and then calling the waste management facility in our area and purchasing it. It was a little victory in a place where sometimes getting the smallest thing accomplished seems to take quite a bit longer than I'm used to. So, in the end, we have a place that we can pitch our compost-worthy waste, other than the garbage. That in itself is a really good thing, because we can only fill one "wheelie" bin and it's collected every two weeks.

I'm trying to get all the existing beds of weeds cleared out so that come next spring, I can turn in all the compost and have a lovely fruit and veg. garden. It's a bit of a process, but I think it will be worth it in the end. I'm hoping that, we'll end up saving a bit of cash, and also enjoy the benefit of organic produce from our own labors. I can hardly wait until spring, but will have to use the winter to plan out the garden layout and determine when things need to be planted. This is really all new to me, but I've dreamed about this for a long time!

Other news about why we're really here:

The internship is going well. It's just started actually and will be a great experience for both Wes and I, especially as we gear up to church plant. To be able to see the intricate details of church workings, will be so helpful for us. Doing this sort of thing with a child is going to make it extra complicated, but we have no doubt that Gwyneth being here is all part of the grand plan.

We also wouldn't even be able to speak highly enough of our new church home, The Belfast City Vineyard. It's really an amazing church. We have felt so welcomed here by the people and are starting to recognize a number of familiar faces as we head into Sunday mornings. It's been a warm, inviting and comfortable place for us, and although we miss our dear Duluth Vineyard, I think where we're at is quickly feeling like home.

Late in September, I begin my pre-registration classes for becoming a registered childminder (daycare provider). I'm really excited to get started with that. Taking care of Gwyneth on a daily basis is wonderful, but I know that she would desperately like more interaction with other children, not just mom and dad (maybe she's already entering her 16 yr. old stage early when she thinks we're so boring). I'm also looking forward to taking on some kids and just loving them to bits and helping them grow and develop into their potential. I think about when I was working full time, how important it was for me to be able to leave my child in a place where I knew they were being loved and taught positive behaviors, not just kept safe, fed, and changed. I'm excited to help give parents peace of mind while they leave their child as they go to work. Please pray that God would bring the right children into our home.

Wes is looking for jobs currently. There seems to be opportunity out there, but he may run into difficulty proving that he has the credentials for what he applies to since the US system is a bit different than the British one (obviously). We're praying though that God would bless him with a job that will give him the type of hours and pay, to allow him to give a lot to this internship as well.

Really, that's about the news. Oh, and Gwyneth is doing well. She seems to be suffering through some of the Irish bugs here, especially after Sunday morning when she's around kids her own age. I wonder what type of American illnesses she's passing on to them. Apart from that though, she's just been lovely.

I'll have to put of pictures next time...after I charge the camera and then take the pictures. It's on my to-do list.

Cheerio!