Bidding Wars with The Queen

Good God! It's Friday already, where the hell did the week go? My lack of writing is testament to the fact that I have been busy all week- it's been a nice change!

What have I been doing? Where have the hours gone? Have 12 hours merely been compressed into what seems like a couple of hours during the day, only to find myself hovering over the basin once more, brushing the pearly whites, in anticipation of bed and sleep?

It is fabulous for our days to fly by when we are waiting for something to arrive. Me? I am counting down the minutes until next weekend. Iron-man arrives in Cape Town and he hasn't been here in 4 months, so you can imagine how excited I am to share this weather, this vibe, this pure essence of summer with him. Oh. You can't imagine what that would be like?Something like this...

Another reason why I am quite happy to hurtle through the weeks is that one gleaming light at the end of the yearly-tunnel: End- of-year leave. Back in the years of Varsity, vacation started in early November and came to a lazy close in mid-February. 'Vacs' bled over into early March as everyone knew that 'no one really works in the first two weeks back'. My first 'working vacation' last year brought me back down to earth with, not only a bump on the backside, but whiplash to the neck and spine. I was in a proverbial neckbrace for the first few days of leave, feeling cheated and hard-done-by by the holiday fairy. However, 365 days later, and a whole year's worth of working experience tucked into my pocket, I look forward to my ten days of leave like a kid looks forward to Christmas. It's going to be like ordering a chicken salad and receiving a plate full of complimentary prawns instead. Or...like expecting steamed fish and raw veggies and getting a gourmet burger...(Forgive me the food analogies- I'm on a detox at the moment and food is on my mind...sue me.)

This year my family gets to enjoy the added bonus of enjoying our holiday in a brand new house in the midlands of Natal. Think bubbling wood fires, damp dogs snoring in corners, endless summer days spent wallowing in the lake, far too much to eat and pine trees whispering through the mist as it blankets the heat of a hot summer evening. That is something to look forward to as the days fly by and the hours melt away like wax, is it not?

There is something to be said for taking life a little slower. I know that I am definitely an advocate of the slow lane. So, as much as I look forward to getting to my goals, I have to constantly remind myself to take it easy and enjoy a life worth living. Someone said something pretty profound to me the other day, while lying on the beach watching the sun go down, and it is something I want to leave you with on this glorious Friday.

If your life were up for auction, would you bid for it? And if the bidding became fierce, would you bid fiercely for your life and all that it is made up of?

It is great to look forward to those milestones, that we all measure our lives with, as they bring excitement and love and laughter and all those good things. But I think that the moments in between those milestones, the stolen moments nestled in dusk and the heat just after lunchtime, are the moments that make up our lives. String those moments together and you will have a pearl necklace that even the Queen would be bidding for. Make your life worth the wait...and then give yourself the time to wait for it.

Happy Friday... love and gratitude xxx