Thursday Thirteen!

So I have been reading in other people's blogs all this that and the other about being 'tagged' to do 'memes' and I think it sounds like fun. The only problem is, I don't know if anyone but my husband has read, does read, or will ever read this blog. Which is fine (sort of) but means I won't get the opportunity to participate in one of these memes unless I tag myself. I feel slightly lame in doing so, kind of like a junior-higher who sits down at a lunch table or walks up to a group at the lockers hoping they will talk to you (answer:they won't). But maybe it's different for adults...

Anyway. I read about this Thursday Thirteen one, and although I don't understand all the technical stuff they are writing about with pings and whatnot, I think I have figured it out, and I'm going to do it! So here goes...

Thirteen Things about Dublin Mom1…. In America I would have described myself as Irish, but in Ireland I am American. 2. We have been living in Ireland for 3 years, in London for 2 years before here, and in Cleveland before that. So far, I like Dublin best. 3. My kids have Irish passports, written in English and Gaelic. So cool. 4. I'm hoping they will have Irish accents, but I know they are more likely to sound American or British (my husband is British). 5. Because neither one of us is Irish, we can try out our Irish accents on each other. In the US and UK, we would get annoyed if the other one try to copy our accent. 6. Mothers in Ireland don't br**stfeed very much (maybe only 20-25% of women even try). I've had the whole range of quizzical to downright disapproving looks when I've fed my kids in public. Yes, I am covered up and discrete, and no, my kids were not old enough to walk around, pull up my shirt, or ask to be fed. 7. In Ireland there is no grape jelly, goldfish crackers, chocolate pudding, or unsweetened Cheerios. Just a few of the things I would give Bupsy to eat if we didn't live here. 8. There is also no Wendy's Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Einstein Bagels, or Cinnabun. Just a few of the places I would go myself to eat if we lived in America. 9. We get charged 5 Euro (around $6.34) every time we put out our 'rubbish bin' to be emptied (along with a 70 Euro/$88.85 yearly fee) so we try to not put it out/fill it up every week. We do this by composting, recycling, and using cloth nappies (most of the time). I am not some hippie. We are just cheap. 10. Our washing machine takes and hour and a half for one load, then all day on the washing line all on the radiators (if it's raining) to dry (the tumble dryer takes up WAY too much electricity, which is also really expensive). I have 2 small grubby children who wear cloth nappies. Laundry is a big part of my life. 11. American TV shows (like Lost, my current favorite) are shown here anywhere from 3-6 months after they are shown in the US, so I have to be careful on the internet not to come across things which would be spoilers to me but aren't there. 12. Two show my daughter wishes they would show here (in English, since they have them in Gaelic): Elmo's World and Dora. 13. There are no outdoor swimming pools here, and I haven't yet found an indoor one that is a) clean; b) has a parent& toddler time and c) isn't crazy expensive. I really want to take the girl swimming, but we usually only go when we're visiting grandparents in the US and UKLinks to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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He knows

Lately (okay, the past two years) I have found it difficult to do the things I feel bring me close to God -- praying, reading the Bible, participating in worship. There's a lot of reasons for this -- the main ones are having small children, which means not much spare time, and starting our own 'emerging church', which means we have different kinds of worship (and also, unfortunately, that we don't yet know many other Christians to encourage us). But there's more to it than that, some of it involves my own laziness, some of it a feeling of ennui and over-familiarity when I pick up the Bible, some of it a serious rethinking of what my faith really means, and separating out my(American evangelical) notions of Jesus and salvation from what is really true.

And all this has been difficult, and made me feel pretty guilty at times. But I'm trying to make a comeback, so to speak, and I the other day I read a little devotion which mentioned the verse about God knowing how many hairs are on your head (Matthew 10:30). I thought about how that could mean literally (God must get frustrated when we get a haircut, or when, like I am experiencing right now, moms go through the post-pregnancy hair loss). But I think Jesus is just being more (extravagantly) figurative here -- God knows us SO well. He even knows what we don't know -- I don't know how many hairs are on my head. But HE knows me better than I know myself.

I thought about how I can tell when Bupsy is tired or unwell just by looking at her eyes. I can tell when she is just about to lose it becuase we've been in the shops for too long. I can tell when she's feeling jealous of her baby brother and needs a cuddle. The Boyo I'm just getting to know, but already I can tell when he's crying because he's hungry, or when he is crying because he wants to be asleep. Sometimes I know them better than they know themselves, and I have to help them to feel better.

God knows what I'm going through, even better than I do. He knows, and understands, and I don't have to feel guilty, because He's right there to help me through it.

Scrubby Scrubby!

This is the name of the new game the Bups and I played on Friday (except she says it more 'scubby scubby').

After a week of not playing outside (rain...in Dublin...everyday) which is not as unusual as we would like, we were all grumpy. Since it was only drizzling, and the Bups had been given a hand-me-down rain suit, I decided that we would just go for it and go out in the garden. Plus, at a barbecue we held for our teen girls group (3 weeks ago!), they had written all over the walls with sidewalk chalk, and I was getting tired of reading 'Emma Rulez!!!' through the didning room window as we ate. It was time for the reign of Emma to come to an end!

So we went out with a bucket of soapy water and a scrubbing brush to attack the wall. I really didn't think the Bups would be too interested, I was assuming she would play for a while and then wander off to play with the sandbox or go inside and try to bring her stuffed animal outside. But she LOVED the bucket and sponges. She loved dipping the sponge in, slopping the water all over the wall, even srubbing with the brush. So although cleaning the chalk off only took about 10 minutes, she played scubby scubby for an hour and a half! And since you can't leave a toddler alone with a bucket of water, I had to stay with her, not go off to do laundry or clean the bathroom or do anything (the Boyo was asleep, inside, the whole time). It was a really nice time to spend together.